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00:35 Hello friends, we want to welcome you
00:37 to Sabbath School Study Hour here at the Granite Bay Church. 00:40 And today, we have a very special lesson, 00:42 we're going through preparation for the end times, 00:45 and the lesson today 00:46 is actually dealing with Jesus in Revelation, 00:50 and our teacher is going to get to that 00:51 in just a few minutes, 00:53 but before we do, 00:54 we want to welcome our singers out. 00:55 We're going to praise God with song, 00:57 and then we're going to be getting into the study. 01:01 We're going to sing about Christ coming, hymn number 213, 01:05 Jesus Is Coming Again. 01:07 And if that is your hope and your dream, 01:09 I invite you to just sing along, 01:11 we're going to sing all four verses 01:13 of Jesus Is Coming Again. 03:32 You know, as we look around us, those words are true. 03:37 And I am so looking forward to that day 03:39 when Jesus comes and takes us away from all of this. 03:42 Until then, I pray that all of us 03:45 remain faithful to His cause. 03:47 At this time, Pastor Doug will bring us our opening prayer. 03:56 Thank you to our singers. 03:58 Welcome once again, friends. 03:59 I want to also welcome those who are watching 04:01 via one of the internet outlets, Facebook 04:04 or some other mechanism. 04:06 And now if you have questions about the lesson today, 04:09 you know, Pastor Ross and I 04:10 both wanted to teach the lesson today 04:12 about Jesus in Revelation, 04:13 and we arm wrestled and he won. 04:17 It is just one of the most splendid themes, 04:19 so you may have some questions about Jesus in Revelation, 04:22 if you have questions about that, 04:24 send them in somewhere around 04:25 three quarters of the way through the lesson, 04:27 we'll be going over that. 04:28 And we also have a free offer 04:30 that goes along with our study today. 04:32 They're going to put that up on the screen for me right now. 04:35 We're going to be giving out the DVD 04:36 from the Landmarks of Prophecy series 04:38 called Return of the King. 04:40 And so, if you want a free copy of that, 04:42 that's our offer 841, 04:45 it's called Return of the King 04:46 from the Landmarks of Prophecy series. 04:48 At this time, we're going to begin with a word of prayer, 04:51 and I'll invite Pastor Ross to come up 04:52 and to share our lesson with us. 04:55 Loving Father, we want to thank You 04:58 that Jesus is revealed in this Book of Revelation. 05:01 And as we talk about the theme of preparing 05:03 for the final days, 05:04 Lord, we just pray that our minds will be open 05:07 to hear Your voice speak, 05:08 that the Holy Spirit will just give us clarity, 05:11 and we pray that we can be inspired to be more like Jesus 05:14 as a result, in His name we pray. 05:17 Amen. 05:18 Welcome again to Sabbath School. 05:19 It's always a joy to see you here week after week 05:22 and also our friends who are joining us online. 05:24 Especially, we want to greet our online members. 05:27 We are delighted that you're part of the church family here, 05:29 even though you can't be here in person, 05:31 you can tune in every week and study along with us. 05:34 As Pastor Doug mentioned, 05:35 we've got a fantastic series of lessons this quarter 05:38 that I'm very excited about. 05:40 It's dealing with end time events. 05:41 It's just so happens, one of my favorite books in the Bible 05:44 is last book in the New Testament, 05:46 of course, the Book of Revelation. 05:48 Today, we're gonna spend quite a bit of time 05:50 looking at some rather important passages 05:52 in Revelation that highlight Jesus and His ministry. 05:56 Sort of on a side note, one of my other favorite books 05:59 in the New Testament is the Book of Hebrews, 06:01 which also highlights Jesus and His high priestly ministry 06:04 in the heavenly sanctuary. 06:06 We probably won't have time 06:07 to get into too much of that this morning. 06:10 But we are going to spend quite a bit of time 06:12 looking at Revelation. 06:13 The theme for our lesson today 06:15 is Jesus and the Book of Revelation. 06:18 And we have a memory text, it's Revelation 3:21, 06:23 I'm going to read this straight out of our lesson, 06:25 it says, "To him," Jesus speaking, 06:27 "To him who overcomes, 06:28 I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, 06:32 as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne." 06:37 So there is a promise 06:38 that Jesus gives to the Church of Laodicea, 06:40 that is the seventh church 06:41 and he says to those who overcome, 06:43 they're going to be able to sit down with Me on My throne. 06:46 And whose throne is Jesus seated on? 06:49 His Father's throne. 06:51 It's probably one of the greatest promises of all 06:53 that you can find in the Book of Revelation, 06:55 a promise to those who overcome. 06:57 Now, as you know, chapter 2 and chapter 3 of Revelation 07:01 are letters to the seven churches, 07:03 each of those seven churches 07:04 represent seven phases of the Christian era. 07:07 And to each church, Jesus gives rebuke, 07:10 He gives words of encouragement, 07:13 and He also gives promise. 07:15 Incidentally, there's only two churches 07:17 that don't receive any word of rebuke, 07:18 that's the Church of Smyrna, the persecuted church, 07:21 and the Church of Philadelphia, the church of brotherly love. 07:24 But it is interesting when you look at all of the promises 07:27 that Jesus offers to those who overcome. 07:30 To the church of Ephesus, that was the first church, 07:33 Jesus said, "To those who overcome, 07:35 they get to eat from the tree of life." 07:38 To the Church of Smyrna, that was the persecuted church, 07:42 especially around 300 to 313 AD, 07:46 10 years of supreme persecution during the time of Diocletian. 07:51 There is a promise that Jesus gives to those 07:53 who are persecuted, He says, 07:54 "Those who overcome will not be hurt by the second death." 07:59 To the church of Pergamos, Jesus gives the promise, 08:03 "If you overcome, you will eat of the hidden manna." 08:06 It also says, "I'll give you a white stone and a new name." 08:11 So three things promised to those who overcome 08:14 during the time period of the church at Pergamos. 08:16 To the church of Thyatira, 08:18 interesting promise Jesus gives here, 08:20 "To those who overcome, 08:22 they have power over the nations." 08:24 Of course, they're going to sit with Christ on His throne, 08:27 they will be power over the nations. 08:29 He will also give them the morning star. 08:32 Who do you suppose the morning star is? 08:34 That's Jesus. 08:36 So Jesus is going to give Himself to those who overcome. 08:39 To the church of Sardis, the promise is, 08:41 "You will be clothed in white garments." 08:44 To the church of Philadelphia, 08:45 the promise is, "To those overcome, 08:47 they will be a pillar in the temple of God." 08:50 Meaning, they will always be in the presence of God 08:54 and they will also receive a new name. 08:56 And then our memory verse to the church of Laodicea, 08:59 probably one of the greatest promises to the seven churches, 09:03 "I will grant you to sit with Me on My throne, 09:06 even as I am seated on the Father's throne." 09:09 So there are some of the promises that Jesus 09:11 gives with reference to those who overcome. 09:15 Now on Sabbath afternoon, 09:16 the focus of this lesson as we mentioned 09:18 is Jesus and the Book of Revelation. 09:20 We have an opening statement 09:22 I'd like to read from the lesson. 09:23 Revelation is all about Jesus, about He who is, 09:27 about He who was, and He who is to come. 09:31 It's about what Jesus is 09:32 and what Jesus will do for His people, 09:36 especially as it relates to the end of time. 09:38 Any focus on last day events 09:40 must keep Jesus front and center of necessity, 09:44 which is exactly what the Book of Revelation does. 09:47 This week's lesson, 09:48 we'll look at Jesus in the Book of Revelation. 09:51 So I suppose a good place to start in our study 09:54 of the Book of Revelation and Jesus 09:56 is the very beginning, Revelation 1. 09:58 If you have your Bibles, 10:00 you can turn to that Revelation 1, 10:02 and we're gonna read the first three verses here. 10:04 Revelation 1, and I'm going to read the first three verses. 10:09 Revelation 1:1, 10:13 and it begins with these words. 10:15 And by the way who wrote the Book of Revelation? 10:18 It was John. 10:19 When was the Book of Revelation written? 10:21 And where was John when the book was written? 10:24 He was on the Island of Patmos, 10:25 we'll look at that little later on. 10:27 As best we can tell, the dating for the Book of Revelation 10:29 is somewhere around early AD 90. 10:33 By this time, the other apostles were all dead. 10:35 John, being the youngest of the apostles outlived them. 10:38 He was ministering at the church in Ephesus. 10:42 And by the way, that's the church 10:43 that is first addressed in Revelation 2, 10:46 the late church of Ephesus. 10:48 It's believed that he was pastoring there 10:49 in the church of Ephesus. 10:51 And then he was ended up on the Island of Patmos, 10:55 because he refused to worship at the Emperor's shrine, 10:57 I'll tell you a little bit more about that, 10:58 but I'm getting ahead of myself. 10:59 So here, John is on the Island of Patmos, 11:02 it's somewhere around 90 AD. 11:04 And this is what he has to say 11:05 as he receives these visions about end times. 11:09 Revelation 1:1, "The Revelation of Jesus Christ 11:14 which God gave unto Him to show to his servants, 11:17 things that must shortly take place, 11:19 and He sent and signified it 11:21 by His angel to His servant, John." 11:22 Notice the phrase 11:24 The Revelation of Jesus Christ." 11:28 The word revelation means revealing. 11:30 And it's kind of an interesting way it's worded there. 11:34 It could be understood as the Revelation of Jesus, 11:37 meaning Jesus is the one doing the revealing. 11:41 Jesus is showing us something, the Revelation of Jesus, 11:44 but it could also be understood 11:46 as that which is revealed is Jesus. 11:51 Can you see it both ways? 11:53 The word there "Revelation" comes from the idea 11:56 of lifting the lid on a basket or a pot 12:01 for the purpose to reveal the contexts 12:03 or whatever is inside. 12:05 Now, that's kind of the root meaning of the word. 12:07 So when it says, it's the Revelation of Jesus Christ, 12:10 it's as if Jesus is lifting the lid on a basket 12:13 to reveal something inside, 12:15 but that which is revealed inside is Jesus. 12:20 You understand? 12:21 It's the Revelation of Jesus, 12:22 Jesus is revealing Himself and His acts through history. 12:26 Then the verse goes on and it says, 12:28 "Which God gave unto Him to show to His servants, 12:31 things that must shortly take place. 12:33 And He sent and signified by an angel to his servant John." 12:35 So God, the Father 12:37 is the fountain head of all truth. 12:38 Jesus receives this truth from the Father, 12:42 He then sends it by an hand of an angel, 12:45 sends it by an angel to John, who is on the Island of Patmos. 12:49 John writes down everything that he sees, 12:51 everything that he hears, 12:53 as well as what the Spirit reveals to him, 12:54 the testimony of Jesus. 12:56 So the Book of Revelation is a firsthand account 12:59 of what John is revealed in vision. 13:02 That which God gave to Jesus, 13:04 Jesus sent by the angel 13:05 and John wrote it down for us. 13:07 If you look in verse 2, when John says, 13:09 "Who bore witness to the word of God," 13:12 speaking of the prophet, 13:13 he wrote down everything that he heard, 13:16 "and the testimony of Jesus Christ." 13:19 Now, we need to let the Bible interpret itself. 13:21 What is the testimony of Jesus? 13:23 Revelation 19:10 says, 13:25 "The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy." 13:29 So John was a prophet. 13:30 The Holy Spirit was revealing things to him. 13:32 He wrote down what he heard, 13:33 he wrote down what the Spirit revealed to him, 13:36 and then it says, "He wrote down 13:37 everything that he saw," that's verse 2. 13:41 And then looking at verse 3, 13:42 it says, "Blessed is he that reads 13:45 and those that hear the words of this prophecy, 13:49 and keep those things which are written there in, 13:52 for the time is near." 13:53 So the Book of Revelation 13:54 covers the entire Christian time period, 13:57 from the time of the apostles, 13:58 all the way down to the church of Laodicea. 14:00 The church today talks about the second coming, 14:03 talks about the 1,000 years of the millennium, 14:06 and then it talks about the earth being recreated, 14:08 and that's in Revelation 21. 14:10 So Revelation covers the whole Christian era. 14:14 One of the three things that people need to do 14:18 according to verse 3 in order to be blessed. 14:21 John says, blessed are those who do what? 14:24 Who read the book. 14:25 And then what else? 14:27 Those who hear the book. 14:28 And what's the third thing? 14:29 Keep those things that are written therein. 14:32 Now, the way the Book of Revelation came to us, 14:35 John was a prisoner on the Island of Patmos, 14:37 who received these visions, 14:39 he wrote them down in a letter form, 14:42 and then he sent this letter to the church of Ephesus. 14:45 You can just imagine, 14:47 word gets out to the members of the church of Ephesus 14:50 that a letter has just arrived in the mail 14:52 from their beloved John. 14:55 Of course, they knew that he was in the Island of Patmos. 14:59 They hadn't seen him, 15:00 they hadn't heard from him for a long time, 15:02 and suddenly a letter arrives in the mail 15:04 and it's written by John himself. 15:06 Could you imagine the excitement? 15:08 That Sabbath gathered there in the church, 15:10 in the church of Ephesus. 15:11 And one of the elders gets up and he says, 15:13 "We've got a letter that's just come 15:15 from our beloved Apostle John." 15:17 And he opens up the Book of Revelation, 15:19 and probably in one reading, 15:21 he reads through the entire book. 15:23 And everybody sits and listens. 15:25 And maybe they read it again for a couple of weeks. 15:28 So John says, "Blessed is he that reads, 15:32 blessed are those who hear," 15:34 that would be those in the congregation, 15:36 and then "blessed are those who do." 15:38 So after the letter was read to the church of Ephesus, 15:41 there were a few scholars in the church, 15:43 and they carefully copied everything 15:45 that John had written in his letter, 15:47 then they would keep the copy, 15:49 and they had mailed the original 15:51 to the next church, 15:52 the church of Smyrna. 15:53 And the same thing would happen in Smyrna. 15:55 An elder would get up in the church, 15:57 he would read the letter from John, 15:59 they would carefully copy it by hand, 16:02 and then the letter would be sent to the next church, 16:04 and the next church, and the next church. 16:05 Each church would make copies, 16:07 and that's why we have many different manuscripts 16:10 and copies of not only the Book of Revelation, 16:12 but many of the letters that Paul wrote, 16:15 they dealt with it in the same way. 16:16 It would be read in the church, and then carefully copied, 16:19 and then it would be sent on. 16:20 So we don't have any of the original manuscripts, 16:22 but there are many copies available, 16:25 at least portions of New Testament letters 16:28 that are available today. 16:29 And the more archaeologists dig, 16:32 the more they find these different manuscripts. 16:34 So there's quite a few of them out there. 16:36 All right, so there is a blessing 16:37 upon those who read, those who hear, 16:39 and most importantly those who keep the things 16:43 that are written therein. 16:45 Okay, a little bit more background 16:46 to the Book of Revelation 16:47 as it relates to revealing Jesus. 16:49 There is a structure that we find 16:51 both in the books of Daniel and Revelation, 16:53 they are both prophetic books, 16:54 and they have a similar structure. 16:57 One of the common structures that we find 17:00 is the books are divided up 17:01 roughly into a historical section 17:03 and then an eschatological section 17:06 or end time events section. 17:08 You find that in the Book of Daniel, 17:10 there's some stories and some history, 17:12 but then you also have the vision portion of the book, 17:15 and that's true also with the Book of Revelation. 17:17 Now, I'm gonna have somebody read for just, 17:20 in just a moment, 1 Corinthians 10:11. 17:23 Do you have a microphone there? 17:24 You've got the mic, 17:25 okay, I'll have you read that in just a minute. 17:27 But before we get to that, 17:28 roughly the Book of Revelation is divided up, 17:30 the first section or first half of the book, 17:33 from about chapter 1 through to chapter 11 17:36 deals more with history or historical events 17:40 during the Christian era. 17:42 And then starting in chapter 13 through to 22, 17:47 it's dealing more with end time events, 17:50 or really issues relating to our time. 17:52 You'll find chapter 12, which we're going to spend 17:54 a little time studying here in more detail 17:56 is summary of the historical portion 18:01 of the Book of Revelation. 18:02 Now, there are exceptions to that. 18:04 You'll see some verses scattered 18:05 in the first part of the book 18:06 that really relate to events taking place today. 18:09 For example, you have the sixth seal 18:11 which is in Revelation 6, 18:14 and you have the seventh seal, 18:15 which is silence in heaven 18:16 about the space of half an hour, 18:18 that's in Revelation 8, 18:19 that's really referring to the second coming of Christ. 18:21 The sixth seal also brings you 18:23 right up to the second coming of Christ, 18:24 but for the most part, from chapter 1 through to 11 18:27 deals more with the historical events, 18:29 chapter 13 onwards deals more 18:31 with the future events or current events 18:34 that we're living in 18:35 and things that must take place. 18:36 But why do we have this history 18:38 in the books of Daniel and Revelation? 18:40 Let's take a look at 1 Corinthians 10:11. 18:43 "Now all these things happened to them as examples, 18:47 and they were written for our admonition, 18:50 upon whom the ends of the ages have come." 18:52 Thank you. 18:53 So according to Paul there in 1 Corinthians, 18:56 these historical accounts 18:57 that we have both in the Old Testament 18:59 and also in these prophetic books 19:01 were written for what purpose? 19:03 They were written as examples. 19:05 Examples that we can learn from 19:07 and specifically who are the ones 19:09 who ought to learn from these examples? 19:11 Those who are living near the end of time, 19:13 upon whom the end of the ages come. 19:16 So they are valuable lessons 19:17 that we can learn from this historical portions, 19:19 the books of Daniel and Revelation, 19:21 and, of course, many of these historical portions 19:23 of the Old Testament, New Testament as well. 19:25 They are there as an example. 19:27 Now as I mentioned that transition chapter 19:29 between the historical portion of Revelation 19:32 and then the eschatological portion 19:34 is really Revelation 12. 19:36 And in our lesson, they actually encourage us 19:38 to look at the entire chapter. 19:40 Well, it just so happens 19:41 that this is one of my favorite chapters 19:44 in the Book of Revelation. 19:45 So we'll take a few moments to look at it, 19:47 because it covers the great controversy theme 19:50 throughout the Christian era. 19:51 So, hopefully you've got your Bibles in hand. 19:54 And we're gonna take a look at, just a quick overview 19:57 so to speak of Revelation 12. 20:01 Beginning in verse 1, it says, 20:02 "Now a great sign appeared in heaven," 20:04 Revelation12:1, "a woman clothed with the sun, 20:08 with the moon under her feet, 20:10 and on her head a garland or crown of twelve stars." 20:13 In Bible prophecy, what does a woman represent? 20:15 It represents a church. 20:16 A pure woman represents the true church, 20:18 an impure woman, as you find in Revelation 17, 20:21 represents a corrupt church or a fallen church. 20:25 Here, this is the description of the true church. 20:28 The woman is clothed with the sun. 20:31 The Bible tells us in the Old Testament 20:32 that the sun, S-U-N shall arise with healing in his wings. 20:37 Who is the sun, a symbol of? 20:40 Jesus, the Son of God. 20:42 It says that she's standing upon the moon 20:45 and she has a crown of 12 stars. 20:46 Where does the moon get its light? 20:49 It gets its light from the sun. 20:51 So the moon reflects the sun. 20:53 Who does the sun represent? 20:55 It represents Jesus. 20:56 Where can we find the clearest reflection of Jesus 21:00 and His teachings today? 21:02 In the Word of God, right? 21:04 In the Word of God. 21:05 Jesus says, "It's the scriptures 21:07 that testify of Him." 21:09 So what needs to be the foundation of the church 21:12 in the last days. 21:13 She stands upon the moon, 21:15 what needs to be our foundation? 21:17 The Word of God. 21:19 Does that make sense? 21:22 Is it important for Christians in the last days 21:25 to know and be rooted 21:27 and grounded in what the Bible says? 21:32 Jesus said in the last days, 21:33 the devil's deceptions will be so well crafted 21:36 that he will deceive if possible, who? 21:39 Even the very elect. 21:40 Who is the devil going after anyway? 21:42 He is not going after the lost, he's already got them. 21:45 But the ones that the devil wants to deceive 21:47 in particular are those whose names 21:49 are written in the Lamb's Book of life. 21:51 He wants them to believe his lies 21:53 and let go of their faith in God 21:55 and be deceived. 21:57 That's why knowing the word, 21:59 keeping the commandments of God, 22:01 being rooted and grounded in the scriptures is critical, 22:05 especially in the last days. 22:07 So here we have a church 22:08 described as standing upon the moon, 22:10 she is grounded upon the Word of God. 22:12 She has a crown of 12 stars. 22:14 Numbers in Bible prophecy are significant. 22:16 The number 12 represents the church. 22:18 You have the 12 tribes of the Old Testament, 22:20 you have the 12 apostles of the New Testament. 22:23 Very quickly on a side note, 22:24 the number one in Bible prophecy 22:25 represents unity of purpose. 22:27 The number two represents the Word of God, 22:30 the law and the prophets, the two witnesses, 22:32 the two-edged sword. 22:33 The number three represents 22:34 the Godhead, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. 22:37 The number four represents the earth, 22:40 the four points of the compass, north, south, east, and west, 22:42 otherwise known as the four winds of heaven. 22:45 The number five represents doctrinal teaching, 22:47 the first five books of Moses represents doctrine 22:50 or teaching the Pentateuch. 22:52 The number six is man's number. 22:54 Man was created on the sixth day of the week. 22:58 What is the number of the mark of the beast? 23:01 666. 23:02 How many 6's? Three. 23:04 It's man's attempt to usurp God's position. 23:08 Incidentally, the false Trinity in Revelation 16 23:10 tells us is the dragon, the beast, 23:13 and the false prophet. 23:14 The dragon tries to take the place of God, the Father. 23:16 The beast power tries to usurp the position of Jesus, 23:20 and the false prophet tries to usurp 23:22 the position of the Holy Spirit. 23:23 Of course, the number seven in the Bible represents what? 23:27 Perfection or completion, that's God's number. 23:30 And I better hurry up, 23:31 we're never gonna get to our passage if I keep going. 23:34 Verse 3, it says, "Another sign appeared in heaven, 23:37 behold, a great fiery red dragon 23:40 having seven heads and ten horns, 23:41 and seven diadems upon its head." 23:43 So we don't have time to get into the details here, 23:45 but verse 4 says, 23:46 "His tail drew a third of the stars of heaven, 23:49 threw them to the earth. 23:50 The dragon stood before the woman 23:51 that was ready to give birth, 23:52 to devour her child as soon as it was born." 23:55 Who does the dragon represent? 23:57 We don't have to guess as to who the dragon is. 23:59 Matter of fact, Revelation 12 tells us verse 9, 24:03 "So the great dragon was cast out, 24:05 that old serpent of old called the Devil and Satan. 24:08 So the devil is there ready to devour this child 24:11 that is born to the woman as soon as he is born. 24:14 It was the devil working through Herod or pagan Rome 24:17 to try and destroy Jesus as soon as He was born. 24:21 Verse 5 says, "She brought forth a male child, 24:23 who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron," 24:25 we'll talk about that later, 24:27 "and the child was caught up to God and to His throne. 24:29 That's referencing after the resurrection, 24:31 Jesus ascended up to heaven. 24:33 But after Christ ascends to heaven, verse 6 says, 24:37 "Then the woman fled into the wilderness, 24:40 where she had a place prepared by God, 24:41 that they should feed her there 1,260 days." 24:45 And we have in Revelation 12 24:47 and in some other passages as well, 24:49 a wilderness time period. 24:51 The wilderness time period described here is 1,260 days. 24:55 One prophetic day is equal to what? 24:57 One literal year. 24:58 So for 1,260 years, 25:01 the true church of God was in hiding, 25:03 it was in the wilderness. 25:05 That time period began 25:07 when after Christianity was legalized around 313. 25:12 There were a number of pagan teachings and doctrines 25:14 that made its way into the Christian Church, 25:17 538 is when the bishop of Rome, otherwise known as the pope, 25:21 received civil authority to so called correct heretics, 25:25 meaning he could persecute 25:27 those who refused to acknowledge papal supremacy. 25:30 The true followers of God who didn't want to bow the knee 25:33 and kiss the ring of the pope, they fled into the wilderness. 25:36 A well known group 25:37 or the Waldenses in the mountains 25:39 of northern Italy for about 1200, 25:41 well exactly, 1,260 years, 25:43 from 538 through until 1798 that God's true church 25:49 was more so in hiding. 25:51 Now, near the end of that 1260 year time period 25:54 persecution had slowed down 25:56 in some of the nations of Europe, 25:58 but still it was a time period of persecution 26:01 for the true followers of God, 26:03 that's that 1,260 days or years that you read about there. 26:07 Now, the question that comes up then is, 26:09 why is this dragon so angry with the woman? 26:11 Why does he try and destroy her child, representing Jesus? 26:15 And the question needs to be answered. 26:17 What's the reason for this conflict? 26:19 Well, the reason is given in verse 7, 26:22 it kind of jumps us back in time, 26:24 way back before the creation of the earth. 26:26 It says, way back when, we don't know for sure 26:28 when this happened, 26:29 but we know it was before creation. 26:31 It says, "War broke out in heaven," 26:34 War starts in heaven. 26:36 "Michael and His angels fought with the dragon, 26:38 and the dragon and his angels fought." 26:41 Now the dragon is Satan, 26:43 Michael is the prophetic name of Christ. 26:46 In Jude, Michael is referred to as the archangel. 26:48 Some people think, "Well, wait a minute, 26:49 how can you say Michael is Christ 26:51 when it's said to be an archangel?" 26:53 The word "Archangel" means 26:55 covering cherub or covering angel. 26:57 It's the messenger, it's the one in charge, 27:00 it is the general of the angels. 27:03 Arch-angel doesn't mean He's an angel, 27:06 but He's above the angels, He's commander of the angels, 27:08 He's in charge of the angels. 27:11 Jesus is the one in charge of the angels, 27:13 He's not an angel. 27:15 So what's interesting to note 27:16 that when Jesus comes the second time, 27:19 His voice raises the dead. 27:22 And you read in Thessalonians 27:24 that when Jesus comes, or Corinthians rather, 27:26 when Jesus comes again with the shout, 27:28 with the voice of the archangel and the trumpet of God, 27:31 and the dead in Christ shall rise first. 27:33 So Jesus says the voice that raises the dead 27:36 is the voice of the Son of man. 27:37 And Paul says in Corinthians 27:39 that the voice that raises the dead 27:40 is the voice of the archangel, 27:42 and Jude tells us the name of the archangel is Michael. 27:45 So if you put all of those verses together, 27:47 Michael is the symbolic name or prophetic name of Jesus. 27:51 So Jesus, the leader of the heavenly host of angels, 27:54 the good angels are at war with the Dragon, Satan, 27:57 and those angels that sided with him. 27:59 And by the way, I skipped over that a little earlier, 28:01 it says in verse 4 that the dragon's tail 28:05 drew a third of the stars of heaven. 28:07 According to Revelation 1, stars represent angels. 28:11 The devil was able to deceive 28:12 a third of the angels of heaven 28:14 to join his rebellion against God. 28:17 It's also interesting that it uses the word tail. 28:19 How did the devil get all of the angels? 28:22 Used his tail. 28:23 What does that tail represent in the Old Testament? 28:26 It represents lies and deceit. 28:29 False prophets in the Old Testament 28:31 are said to be as the tail or tail of the scorpion. 28:35 So here the devil through lies and deceit, 28:37 he's able to deceive a third of the angels 28:39 to join his rebellion against God. 28:41 All right, so this war breaks out in heaven. 28:43 The devil eventually loses the war, verse 8, 28:46 and he is cast out of heaven. 28:49 Verse 10, "Then I heard a loud voice in heaven saying, 28:52 "Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, 28:54 and the power of His Christ has come, 28:56 for the accuser of our brethren, 28:59 who accused them before our God day and night, 29:01 has been cast down." 29:02 Now, there are two things I want you to note. 29:04 Early in the chapter, 29:05 the devil is cast out of heaven, 29:08 here in verse 10, it says the devil is cast down. 29:12 The casting out and the casting down 29:14 does not occur at the same time. 29:17 The devil is cast down when Jesus dies on the cross, 29:21 when it says salvation is now come, 29:23 then it was very evident. 29:25 After Adam gave his allegiance to the devil 29:28 instead of his allegiance to God 29:29 way back in the Garden of Eden, 29:30 the devil claimed the earth 29:32 as his dominion, as his kingdom. 29:33 He claimed to be the representative of the earth. 29:36 That's why you read in the Book of Job, 29:38 there is a gathering of the sons of God, 29:40 these representatives of the unfallen worlds, 29:43 and Satan shows up, 29:44 and God said, "Where did you come from?" 29:46 And he says, "Oh, walking up and down on the earth, 29:48 walking through my kingdom." 29:50 And God says, "Well, if you notice 29:51 there's somebody in your kingdom 29:52 that really belongs in My kingdom." 29:54 And Satan gets all upset. 29:56 He says, "Well, the reason Job worships you 29:58 is because of all of the blessings 29:59 You've given upon him." 30:00 So the devil claims the earth as his. 30:02 Jesus even acknowledged that 30:03 and said the prince of this world, referencing Jesus, 30:07 but when Jesus died on the cross, 30:09 he became our second Adam. 30:12 He now is the representative for us in heaven. 30:16 He is our advocate with the Father, 30:18 He is now our high priest. 30:19 So in that sense, the devil is cast down. 30:22 He is losing his dominion, 30:24 the kingdoms of this earth 30:25 are soon to become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ. 30:28 Verse 11, speaking of those who overcome, 30:31 "They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, 30:33 by the word of their testimony, 30:34 and they did not love their lives unto death." 30:38 Then verse 12 says, "Rejoice, O heavens, 30:40 and you that dwell in them! 30:41 Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea! 30:43 For the devil has come down unto you, having great wrath." 30:46 Notice the last part of verse 12, 30:48 "because he knows he has," but a what? 30:51 "Short time." 30:52 The devil is running out of time, 30:54 and like a maddened criminal, 30:55 he's doing everything he can to bring pain and sorrow 30:59 to as many people on the earth, 31:00 especially the followers of God. 31:04 And he knows his time is running out, 31:05 he's doubling his efforts to bring chaos, and violence, 31:08 and disaster here upon the earth. 31:12 All right, verse 13 then, it says, 31:14 the woman or "When the dragon saw that 31:17 he had been cast down to the earth," 31:18 that occurs at the crucifixion, 31:20 cast to the earth, "he persecutes the woman," 31:23 that's the church "that gave birth to the male child." 31:27 It's the New Testament time period. 31:28 Verse 14, "But the woman is given two wings 31:31 of a great eagle that she might fly into the wilderness," 31:33 that is that 1,260 year time period, 31:36 "where she should be nourished by the Word of God 31:39 for a time times and a half a time." 31:41 Now the word "time" in the Bible means a year. 31:44 There are 360 days in a Hebrew year, 31:47 so if you do the math, 31:48 you got 360 plus 360 times 2 plus half of 360, 31:53 it works out to 1,260 days, 31:55 exact same time period that we had spoken about earlier, 31:59 538 through until 1798. 32:02 You know, in the Bible, the original, 32:04 it didn't have sort of exclamation marks. 32:07 So how did the Bible writers emphasize something important? 32:10 They couldn't underline it either, 32:12 they repeated it. 32:14 That's why Jesus says, "Verily, verily I say unto you." 32:19 Why does He repeat it? 32:20 Because it's very important, He wants you to take note, 32:23 exclamation point, all right. 32:25 So John repeats this time period, 32:28 because it's important time period, 32:30 we call this the wilderness time period. 32:33 And then it goes on verse 15, 32:34 "So the serpent spewed water out of his mouth 32:36 as of a great flood after the woman 32:39 that he might cause it to be carried away by the flood. 32:41 But the earth helped the woman, the earth opened up its mouth, 32:44 and swallowed up the flood 32:45 which the dragon spewed out of his mouth." 32:48 Now, water in Bible prophecy according to Revelation 17 32:51 represents multitudes, and nations, 32:52 and kindreds, and tongues, 32:54 so the devil is now working 32:55 through the various nations of Western Europe 32:58 to try and persecute those who are holding on 33:00 to the truths of the scripture. 33:03 But there is a place of safety, it says, 33:05 the earth helps the woman. 33:07 What nation around 1798 33:09 as the first beast power of Revelation 13 33:13 receives its deadly wound? 33:15 One of the lamb like beast, according to Revelation 13 33:18 was arising on the scene 33:19 from a sparsely populated area of the globe, 33:23 The United States of America. 33:25 And those who first settled 33:27 in the United States of America, 33:28 for the most part, came seeking religious freedom. 33:32 They wanted to escape the persecution 33:34 that came through the church and the states of Europe, 33:37 and they came to a country where they could worship 33:39 according to the dictates of their conscience. 33:42 So that's a reference right there in Revelation 12 33:44 to the United States as being a place of freedom 33:48 at the end of that 1,260 year time period. 33:50 Although there is a change according to Revelation 13. 33:52 All right, last verse, verse 17. 33:55 It says, "And the dragon," 33:56 Satan, "was enraged with the woman," 33:58 the church, "and he goes to make war 34:01 with the remnant of her off spring 34:03 those who do," what? 34:04 What are the two characteristics 34:06 listed there in verse 17? 34:08 They keep the commandments of God, and what else? 34:11 They have the testimony of Jesus Christ. 34:13 Now, remember, John is said to have the testimony of Jesus. 34:16 Did John the Apostle have the spirit of prophecy? 34:19 Yes, he was a prophet. 34:21 He saw dreams, he had dreams, he saw visions, 34:24 he heard the Word of God. 34:26 Revelation 19:10 says, 34:28 "The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy." 34:31 So in the last days, God has a special gift for His church. 34:35 Through the ministry of the spirit of prophecy 34:38 to help, guide the church in the last days. 34:40 It doesn't take away from the scriptures, 34:43 matter of fact, any prophet must be 34:45 tested by the scriptures. 34:47 The scripture is the ultimate authority. 34:49 But through the gift of prophecy, 34:50 God helps guide us 34:52 and gives more specific instruction 34:54 as to how to navigate the challenges 34:57 that we face in our lives today. 34:59 So in a very special way, 35:00 God has blessed the remnant church 35:02 in the last days through the gift of prophecy. 35:07 Okay, we're going to take a look at Monday's lesson, 35:11 and it's entitled, "Images of Jesus". 35:14 I'm gonna have somebody read Revelation 1:18 here 35:16 in just a few moments. 35:19 Revelation 1:4, 5, I'm gonna read this quickly 35:22 and then we'll have Revelation 1:18. 35:24 "John to the seven churches which are in Asia: 35:26 Grace to you and peace from Him 35:28 who is, who was and who is to come, 35:30 and from the seven Spirits that are before His throne." 35:33 Now when it says he who is, who was, and who is to come, 35:36 who is that referencing? 35:39 Jesus claims the title 35:41 as the one who is, who was and who is to come. 35:44 But it is also a title that is used 35:46 with reference to God, the Father. 35:49 Typically, in the Bible 35:50 when you have a reference of the Godhead, 35:52 the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, 35:53 it's almost always listed in this order, 35:55 God, the Father first, 35:57 then Jesus, then the Holy Spirit. 36:00 Almost always in that order. 36:02 However, here in Revelation 1, the order is slightly changed. 36:07 It begins by addressing the one who is, 36:09 who was and who is to come, that's God, the Father, 36:11 but then it skips Jesus and it goes to the Holy Spirit 36:15 and it says, "The seven Spirits which are before His throne." 36:18 Now you might be wondering what does that mean 36:20 the seven Spirits before the throne? 36:22 Are there seven Holy Spirits or is it just one Holy Spirit? 36:26 Well, there is one Holy Spirit, but there are seven attributes 36:29 of the Holy Spirit that we find, 36:31 revealed in the Old Testament. 36:33 And if you want the verse for that, 36:34 that's Isaiah 11:2, 36:37 where it speaks of the spirit of the Lord, 36:40 the spirit of wisdom, the spirit of understanding, 36:42 the spirit of counsel, the spirit of might, 36:44 the spirit of knowledge, 36:45 and the spirit of the fear of the Lord. 36:47 Seven attributes of the Holy Spirit. 36:49 So this greeting comes from God, the Father, 36:51 and then from the Holy Spirit, and John reserves Jesus, 36:56 the third one to talk about, 36:57 because he has a lot more he wants to say about Jesus, 37:00 so He brings greetings from the Father, the Holy Spirit 37:03 and then he gets into Jesus. 37:04 Look at verse 5, and from Jesus Christ, 37:08 Now, John is referred to in the gospels 37:10 as the disciple that Jesus loved. 37:12 He was the youngest of the 12, 37:14 and it seemed like his heart was more open 37:18 to the teachings of Jesus 37:19 and to receiving the love of Jesus 37:21 than maybe some of the other disciples and Christians, 37:24 he just had this deep love for Christ. 37:27 He really appreciated it in a tremendous way 37:29 what Jesus had done for him personally. 37:32 And we got some of the most beautiful passages in scripture 37:36 dealing with the love of God are penned by John. 37:39 John 3:16, "For God so loved the world..." 37:43 And John tells us that we need to love as God loves us. 37:47 He tells the church members, love one another. 37:50 It says he's the firstborn of the dead. 37:53 Now, was Jesus the first to be resurrected 37:57 and taken to heaven? 38:00 Do you have an account of the Old Testament 38:01 of anyone who was resurrected 38:02 and then taken to heaven? 38:05 We do, Moses. 38:07 There are also accounts of those 38:08 who are resurrected, but then they end up dying. 38:10 Jesus resurrected Lazarus and others, 38:12 but they died and they are waiting for the resurrection. 38:14 We do an account of Moses quoting the Book of Jude 38:16 who died and then he was resurrected 38:18 and taken to heaven. 38:19 So he probably was resurrected in his immortal state, 38:21 in the immortal body, like Jesus, 38:23 when Jesus rose from the tomb. 38:24 But when it says, he is the firstborn 38:26 from the dead, 38:27 it is not so much referencing the sequence of time, 38:31 meaning Jesus is the first to be resurrected 38:33 and ascend to heaven, 38:34 rather it is emphasizing the importance of His position, 38:39 because Jesus rose from the dead, 38:42 we have hope of a resurrection, does that make sense? 38:45 So Jesus is first in position. 38:48 He is first in opening the way for others to be resurrected, 38:52 so that's what it mean when it says 38:54 that He is the firstborn from the dead. 38:55 Ruler of the kings of the earth, 38:57 that, of course, happens in its fullness 38:59 when Jesus comes again. 39:00 And then notice what John says, 39:01 He can't talk about Jesus 39:03 without talking about the love of Jesus. 39:05 "To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins 39:09 in His own blood." 39:10 And then he goes on and talks about 39:12 how Christ has made us kings and priests, 39:14 and so on and so forth 39:15 a little later in that same chapter. 39:17 All right, we're gonna read another verse in Revelation 1 39:19 that describes Jesus and what He does. 39:22 So let's take a look at Revelation 1:18. 39:26 "I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, 39:31 I am alive forevermore. 39:33 Amen. 39:34 And I have the keys of Hades and of death." 39:38 Okay, so here Jesus is speaking 39:40 and He says, "I'm the one that was dead, 39:42 I'm alive, I live forevermore, 39:44 and I have the keys of Hades and of death." 39:46 The word Hades there just simply means the grave. 39:49 Now Jesus said in John 5:25, "Most assuredly, 39:53 I say unto you, the hour is coming, 39:55 and now is, when the dead will hear 39:57 the voice of the Son of man and those who hear will live." 40:02 So Jesus is the power to open the grave. 40:05 Of course, that's what's been emphasized, 40:07 especially at that time 40:09 when the church was facing severe persecution, 40:11 how comforting were the words that Jesus says, 40:13 "Do not fear those who can destroy the body. 40:15 I have the keys of the grave. 40:17 I can open the grave." 40:19 And then in Revelation 19:11, 40:22 we have another passage talking about Jesus, 40:25 describing a few characteristics of Christ. 40:29 This is now talking about the second coming of Jesus. 40:32 Revelation 19:11, "Now I saw heaven opened, 40:35 and behold a white horse, 40:36 and He that set upon it is called faithful and true." 40:39 Who is the one seated upon the white horse? 40:41 Jesus. 40:42 What is the title given to Jesus? 40:44 Faithful and true. 40:45 In what way was Jesus faithful to a promise 40:49 that He made to His disciples? 40:51 What did Jesus promised the disciples in John 14:1-3? 40:56 Uh, I heard it. 40:57 Jesus said to the disciples, 41:00 "If you believe in God, believe also in Me. 41:02 In my Father's house there are many mansions. 41:05 If that were not so I would have told you, 41:06 'I go to prepare a place for you'. 41:09 And if I go and prepare a place for you..." 41:10 What's the rest of the promise? 41:12 "I will come again." 41:15 John was there in person. 41:16 He heard the words of Jesus 41:19 that Jesus was going to come again. 41:21 Now in Revelation 19, 41:22 Jesus is pictured as coming again on this white horse 41:26 and He is faithful and true..." 41:28 Faithful to His promise, Jesus will come again, 41:31 that says, "And in righteousness 41:33 He judges and makes war." 41:35 Verse 12 says, "His eyes were like a flame of fire 41:39 representing purity, power, 41:42 and upon his head there were many crowns." 41:45 Something interesting to note. 41:47 You read the description of Jesus given in Revelation 1. 41:50 I don't think we're going to have time to get to that 41:52 but that was also in our lesson. 41:54 Jesus described as wearing the high priest's rob 41:57 and it talks about His hair being as white as wool. 42:00 Doesn't say anything about 42:01 what Jesus is wearing on his head, 42:04 but here in Revelation 19, 42:06 when it's talking about Jesus coming the second time, 42:09 now it is describing Him wearing a crown. 42:12 Did a priest wear a crown of royalty? 42:14 No, but a king did. 42:16 So there are different phases to Christ's ministry. 42:18 When He was on the earth, He came to bear our sins, 42:21 to die as our sacrifice. 42:23 Jesus now in heaven, 42:24 He's ministering in the heavenly sanctuary 42:25 as our High Priest. 42:27 Revelation describes Him 42:28 wearing the high priest's clothe, 42:30 but now in Revelation 19, 42:32 He is coming as our Deliverer, 42:33 coming as King of kings and Lord of Lords. 42:37 All right, moving on. 42:39 "Many crowns upon his head, 42:40 He had a name written that no one knew except Himself. 42:43 He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood 42:45 and His name is the Word of God." 42:47 No question as to who we're talking about here. 42:49 It says, "In the armies of heaven..." 42:50 verse 14, "clothed in fine linen, 42:53 white and clean, followed him on white horses. 42:55 Now out of his mouth goes a sharp sword, 42:58 and with that He should strike the nations, 43:01 and He himself shall rule them with a rod of iron. 43:05 He treads the winepress of the fierceness 43:07 of the wrath of Almighty God." 43:09 I want to say something about the rod of iron. 43:11 At first reading, it might give you the impression, 43:13 "Oh, Jesus is just really, really angry 43:15 and He's coming the second time to get even with the wicked." 43:18 Not necessarily, the rod of iron, 43:20 if you want to understand what that means, 43:22 you need to go back to the Old Testament. 43:24 David says in Psalms 23, "Thy rod and thy staff..." 43:28 what do they do? 43:30 "They comfort me." 43:31 Now the shepherd would have a rod 43:32 and the shepherd would have a staff, 43:34 primarily the staff that's the part of the crook 43:36 on the top was used to guide the sheep. 43:38 So if a little sheep was wondering 43:40 close to something dangerous, 43:41 the shepherd could reach out his staff 43:42 and pull the sheep back. 43:44 But if a wolf came to steal one of the sheep, 43:47 the shepherd wouldn't worry with his staff, 43:50 he'd pick up his rod 43:51 and the rod was used to defend the sheep. 43:55 So here Jesus, the good shepherd 43:57 it's described as coming again 43:58 and He's coming with a rod of iron. 44:00 He's coming to the defense of His people. 44:03 Why is He coming to defend His people? 44:05 According to Revelation 13, "Just before Jesus comes, 44:08 there is a universal death decree 44:10 that is passed against God's people, 44:13 and God is not going to stand by ideally 44:15 and allow the devil to destroy His faithful ones. 44:18 In the last moment, Jesus comes with the rod of iron 44:22 to deliver His faithful people." 44:24 Are you with me? 44:26 So this rod of iron isn't just an angry Jesus, 44:28 it is a Jesus standing up to defend His faithful ones 44:33 that crown to Him day and night. 44:35 It says, "He comes to tread 44:36 the winepress of the wrath of God." 44:38 This is an interesting imagery that you have here 44:41 and it comes from Isaiah 63:2-3, 44:45 I'm going to read this to you, Isaiah 63, 44:48 bear in mind the imagery talking about His coming 44:50 to tread the winepress of the wrath of God. 44:54 Verse 2, Isaiah 63:2, the question is asked, 44:57 "Why is your apparel red..." 45:00 He is talking about the Messiah Jesus' second coming, 45:03 "Your garments like one who treads the winepress." 45:06 Then Jesus speaks, "I have trodden the winepress alone 45:10 and from my people no one was with me..." 45:13 Jesus defends this, "For I have trodden them in my anger 45:16 and trample them in my fury, 45:18 their blood is sprinkled upon my garments 45:20 and I stain my robes." 45:23 So here, the destruction of the wicked 45:24 at the second coming are described 45:26 as grapes thrown into the winepress. 45:29 Jesus is the one that comes 45:31 to the deliverance of His people, 45:33 the wicked are destroyed 45:34 with the brightness of His coming. 45:36 You also find that same imagery by the way in Revelation 14, 45:40 following the proclamation of the three angels' messages, 45:42 talks about a harvest of the earth. 45:44 There is a harvest of wheat representing the righteous, 45:47 and there is a harvest of grapes 45:49 representing the wicked. 45:50 The grapes are gathered 45:51 and thrown into the great winepress of the wrath of God. 45:54 Okay. 45:55 We're going to read one more verse here, 45:58 one more thing verse 16, 46:00 it says, "Then He has on His robe 46:01 and on His thigh a name written, 46:03 'King of kings and Lord of lords'" 46:05 as described in the second coming of Christ 46:07 is coming as a king. 46:09 All right, we have somebody 46:10 that's going to read for us now, 46:11 Revelation 21:6, 46:14 and this is also referencing Christ 46:17 in the Book of Revelation 46:18 and connected to some event that He does, 46:20 so Revelation 21:6. 46:23 Revelation 21:6, 46:25 "And He said to me, 'It is done! 46:28 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. 46:32 I will give up the fountain of the water of life 46:35 freely to him who thirst.'" 46:37 Thank you very much. 46:38 Notice the words of Jesus says, "It is done." 46:43 Can you think of another time in the Bible 46:45 when Jesus said, "It is done?" 46:48 What did Jesus said on the cross? 46:50 He said, "It is done." 46:51 What was done on the cross? 46:53 The first phase of Christ ministry for man. 46:56 He was our sacrifice, 46:58 He laid down His life as a sacrifice for our sins. 47:01 Now, we are at the end of Christ's priestly ministry, 47:05 you have the second coming, 47:07 it's got the 1,000 year millennium 47:09 and then the earth is made new, 47:11 and again the words are heard, "It is done." 47:15 Christ has finished His phase as our high priest. 47:19 He's no longer a priest but now He is King 47:21 and His Kingdom lasts forever and ever. 47:25 So it's interesting to note those words "it is done" 47:27 and you can actually research that in scripture, 47:29 it's kind of interesting. 47:30 Well, Pastor Doug, I see we have some questions 47:33 that have come in from our Facebook audience 47:35 and we're going to try and take a few of those, 47:37 and if we have any time left after that, 47:38 we will highlight a few other points 47:41 mentioned in the lesson. 47:43 So, Pastor Doug, welcome. 47:44 Hi. All right. 47:46 We're going to begin by taking a look at our first question 47:48 and this is the first time you've seen the question, 47:50 the first time I am. 47:51 Who are the two witnesses in the Book of Revelation? 47:55 Very simply, it represents the Word of God. 47:57 And you read about this in Revelation 11, 48:00 and it talks about these two witnesses 48:03 that prophesied 1,260 days. 48:07 Now this is a time period 48:09 that appears three different ways in Revelation. 48:12 One time it's called the times, the time and half a time, 48:15 it's called 42 months. 48:16 In fact, you can read about 48:18 the 42 months in Revelation 11:2, 48:22 it says, "They will tread the holy city 48:23 underfoot for 42 months." 48:25 And then, you even get another three and a half days, 48:29 if you go to Revelation 11:11, 48:31 "Now after three-and-a-half days..." 48:34 42 months, if the months have 30 days 48:38 is 1,260 days. 48:41 That's the same time period that you find 48:44 is that great persecution that goes from 538 to 1798 48:49 when the Word of God was being suppressed. 48:51 It says, "These two witnesses, 48:53 plagues can go out of their mouth." 48:55 They are like the two olive trees, 48:57 they are like the two candlesticks 48:58 by the throne of God, and it's representing, 49:01 "Although thy word is a lamp unto my feet." 49:03 And you can also look two individuals appear to Jesus 49:07 on the Mount of Transfiguration. 49:09 You find this in Mark 9, one is Moses, one is Elijah. 49:14 One represents the law and one represents the prophet. 49:17 They are both pointing to Jesus and saying, 49:19 "He is the Messiah that we have spoken of." 49:22 The law and the prophets all points to Jesus. 49:24 So if you say, "The New and the Old Testament, 49:26 the law and the prophets, 49:28 commandments are written on two stones. 49:31 It's a sword with two edges. 49:34 The Word of God, that's the two witnesses." 49:36 And I don't have time to get into the whole prophecy 49:38 about France. 49:39 Okay. 49:40 Next question that we have. 49:41 Why does God use symbols to explain prophecy 49:45 in the Book of Revelation? 49:46 Good question. 49:47 There are several prophecies in the Bible 49:50 that are apocalyptic prophecies that use visions. 49:55 Ezekiel, Zechariah, Daniel, Revelation, 49:59 they are the main apocalyptic prophecies. 50:02 All of them are given 50:04 when the writers are in captivity. 50:07 For example, in the prophecies of Revelation, 50:10 it talks about the fall of Rome. 50:13 Well, that would be considered treacherous 50:16 if you were to talk about 50:17 the overthrow of the Roman Empire 50:19 and so, God protected the prophecies 50:21 by kind of putting them in code. 50:23 Daniel in his prophecies, doesn't he talk about 50:25 the overthrow of Babylon and Persia? 50:27 They are given in sort of a symbolic language 50:29 so the Jews would understand, 50:31 so that it wasn't seen as treason 50:34 and it preserved it. 50:36 And I think even in Revelation, 50:38 it says, "God sent and signified it 50:40 to His servant John." 50:42 The word "signify", it means, to sign-a-fy. 50:46 It's sent in the symbols and signs 50:49 so that the wise will understand if they study. 50:53 I also think just to add to that, Pastor Doug, 50:55 I'm grateful that Revelation and Daniel 50:57 are written using symbols. 50:59 I find it a whole lot easier to remember 51:01 symbols or pictures than just text. 51:04 So in Revelation, it talks about the dragon, 51:06 I have this picture in my mind 51:07 of what the dragon could look like, 51:09 or the woman standing upon the moon 51:10 with a crown of 12 stars, we have a picture of that. 51:13 The beast rising up from the earth and the sea. 51:15 I think it's a whole lot easier 51:17 for us to remember these important principles 51:19 because they're presented in symbolic imagery. 51:22 Another reason is in order to understand these symbols, 51:24 you have to go back to the rest of the scripture. 51:27 So in that way, it protects from a private interpretation 51:31 of what these things might mean. 51:32 If you really want to know what the symbol means, 51:34 you have to go back and study the context 51:37 and see what else in scripture talks about this symbol, 51:39 so I think it's a good reason for that. 51:41 Another question that we have is, 51:42 can someone receive the mark of the beast now? 51:47 Well, the mark of the beast becomes especially a problem 51:51 when they make a law 51:52 that is compelling people to worship the beast 51:55 or they'll be killed. 51:56 And since that law is not in effect now, 52:00 you can certainly be lost now, you can turn to the devil now, 52:05 you can be controlled by evil forces now. 52:08 It has been that way 52:09 from the time of king to the present. 52:11 But the special mark of the beast mentioned 52:13 in Revelation says that, "When no man can buy or sell 52:18 and they're forced to make a choice, 52:20 and both sides of the issue 52:22 are clearly presented to humanity, 52:24 and there will come a time 52:25 when the whole world will be polarized 52:27 into one of two groups. 52:29 One group will have the mark of God, 52:31 it's kind of scares you to say it that way, right? 52:33 But it's the seal of God. 52:35 And the other group has the mark of the beast. 52:38 And so these are the two contrasting sides 52:40 in the last days. 52:42 You want to add to that? 52:43 No, I think that's about it for Christians. 52:45 We're going to probably hold that one until next time, 52:47 that might actually tie in to one of our next show. 52:48 Thank you Pastor Ross. 52:49 Looking at the clock and we're running out of time. 52:50 Thank you for your questions, 52:52 our friends on Facebook have sent that in. 52:53 If you didn't get, 52:54 weren't able to get to your question this week, 52:56 maybe we can address that next week 52:57 as we continue our study on end time events. 53:00 I have three minutes 53:01 and I want to close with one very important theme 53:03 that our lesson brought out 53:05 that I think it's important for us to understand. 53:07 The entire Book of Revelation 53:08 is written in the imagery of the sanctuary, 53:10 you don't want to miss that. 53:12 Revelation 1 begins by describing 53:14 Jesus standing amongst 53:15 the seven-branched candlesticks. 53:18 In the sanctuary, where would you find 53:19 the seven-branched candlesticks, 53:21 in the Holy or the Most Holy? 53:22 In the Holy place. 53:24 You read a little further in the Book of Revelation, 53:26 Revelation 11 talks about the altar of incense, 53:30 talks about the souls under the altar. 53:33 If you look at the Book of Revelation, 53:34 it's as if Jesus is actually moving 53:37 through the heavenly sanctuary. 53:39 Chapter 1 describes 53:40 Jesus standing by the seven-branched candlestick, 53:42 then as you keep reading through Revelation, 53:44 it's actually Revelation 4:1 and 2. 53:49 No, that's not the one that's talking about. 53:52 Let's see, it's Revelation 6:9, 53:54 it talks about the altar of incense. 53:56 And then when you get to Revelation 11:19, 54:00 now Jesus has entered into the Most Holy place, 54:03 we have the Ark of the Covenant that's brought to view. 54:06 So it's important if you want to study the Book of Revelation 54:08 and understand the Book of Revelation, 54:10 we need to recognize 54:11 the context of the heavenly sanctuary. 54:15 The courtyard represents the earth, 54:17 that's where Jesus died. 54:19 When Jesus ascended to heaven, 54:20 He began His ministry in the first compartment 54:22 of the heavenly sanctuary. 54:24 At the end of the 2,300 days of Daniel 8:14, 54:26 Jesus entered into His final phase 54:28 as a high priest in heaven, 54:30 that was in the Most Holy place in Revelation 11, 54:33 when the seventh trumpet sounds 54:36 describes the Ark of the Covenant 54:37 where Jesus is following His work 54:40 in the Most Holy place. 54:42 Jesus then stands up and says, 54:45 "He that's holy, let him be holy still. 54:47 He that's filthy, let him be filthy still." 54:49 He removes His priestly robe, puts on His kingly robe 54:54 and then Jesus described 54:55 as coming as King of kings and Lord of lords. 54:59 So in your study of the Book of Revelation 55:00 recognize the imagery that we find there, 55:03 it's sanctuary language, it's sanctuary imagery. 55:05 We need to go back and take a look at Hebrews 55:07 that teaches us about the heavenly sanctuary 55:10 where Jesus, our High Priest ministers for us. 55:13 All right, well, those are just a few of the highlights 55:16 that we find in Revelation with referencing Jesus. 55:18 There's probably a whole lot more we can say about that. 55:21 I would like to encourage you, 55:22 maybe if you have a little time this afternoon, 55:25 look in Revelation 1, 55:26 read the entire chapter, 55:28 you'll have different descriptions of Jesus 55:30 found in those passages. 55:32 You might also want to spend a little time 55:33 reading through Revelation 19, 55:36 the last part that talks about the second coming of Jesus 55:39 which describes Him coming 55:40 as King of kings and Lord of lords. 55:43 And then, again, I would encourage you to read 55:44 the last portion of Revelation 14, 55:48 which again talks about the harvest of the earth 55:50 and Jesus coming the second time to deliver 55:53 those who have put their trust in Him. 55:55 So again, I'd like to thank those who joined us. 55:58 Just a reminder, we do have a free offer, 56:00 and that free offer if you like to receive it, 56:02 just call the number there on the screen. 56:05 It's one of the sermon series 56:07 in the Landmarks of Bible Prophecy, 56:09 it's offer number 841. 56:11 We will be happy to send that to anybody in North America 56:13 who calls and asks. 56:25 Friends, one of the amazing things 56:26 you will often find in the South Pacific Islands 56:29 like here on Fiji is the Wiwi plant. 56:32 Now in North America if you want to build a fence, 56:34 you got to get a fencepost, 56:35 and then you put the wooden fencepost in the ground, 56:38 and then after few years they're gonna rot 56:40 and break off unless they're specially treated. 56:42 But here they got these trees, the Wiwi tree, 56:45 they can cut them right out of the woods, 56:47 they'll take a stick, they'll stick it in the ground. 56:50 And because they have so much rain and precipitation, 56:52 it begins to sprout and turns into a living fencepost. 56:56 It makes up its mind 56:57 that it's gonna flourish wherever you stick it, 56:59 which is a good lesson for you and me. 57:01 So you might wonder sometimes 57:03 if you've got a purpose in life. 57:04 You might feel like you are growing sort of 57:06 sporadically in every direction, 57:07 and then along comes this person 57:09 who cuts you down and carries you off, 57:12 he sticks you in the ground. 57:14 But you look back and you say, there was a plan, 57:16 there was a purpose. 57:18 God knows how to teach us 57:19 how to prosper where He plants us. 57:22 You might wonder why the Lord has put you 57:24 where He has in life. 57:25 But you can put down roots and you can grow, 57:27 and you can serve a great purpose for God. 57:29 You know, it's like God says in Jeremiah 29, 57:32 "I know the plants that I've got for you 57:34 to give you a future." 57:35 God has a purpose for your life, friends. 57:37 And He can help you to prosper and grow 57:39 wherever you're planted. 57:45 Can't get enough Amazing Facts Bible Study? 57:48 You don't have to wait until next week 57:50 to enjoy more truth-filled programming. 57:52 Visit the Amazing Facts media library at AFTV.org. 57:58 At AFTV.org, you can enjoy video and audio presentations 58:03 as well as printed material 58:04 all free of charge, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week 58:08 right from your computer or mobile device. 58:11 Visit AFTV.org. |
Revised 2018-04-12