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00:35 Good morning, friends, and welcome
00:36 to Sabbath School Study Hour 00:37 here at the Granite Bay Seventh-day Adventist Church. 00:40 Very warm welcome, as always, 00:42 to those who are joining us online, 00:44 our extended Sabbath School class, 00:46 and also those watching 00:47 on the various television networks. 00:49 Thank you for joining us again 00:50 as we study this very important lesson entitled, 00:54 it's lesson number 12, "Babylon and Armageddon". 00:57 I also like to welcome those who are right here 00:59 in our congregation this morning. 01:01 We have a number of visitors who are with us today 01:04 as well as our regular church members, 01:06 very warm welcome to all of you. 01:08 I'm glad you joined us as we study. 01:10 We knew in the end of this lesson quarterly, 01:12 it's been a very important study entitled, 01:14 "Preparation for the End Times". 01:16 Today we find ourselves on lesson number 12, 01:20 dealing with the subject of Armageddon. 01:22 Babylon and Armageddon, that's lesson number 12. 01:26 Now we do have a free offer that, 01:27 I think, ties in just beautifully 01:29 with our study for today. 01:30 It is a book written by Joe Crews entitled, 01:32 "Armageddon". 01:34 And this is our free offer 01:35 for those who are joining us online 01:38 or watching on the various networks. 01:40 If you'd like to receive a free copy of our book, 01:42 Armageddon, please call 866-788-3966, 01:48 and you can ask for offer number 168. 01:51 For those who are watching online, 01:52 if you'd like to order this book in a digital format, 01:56 you'll be able to download it to your phone 01:57 or whatever electrical device you might have there. 02:00 In order to get that, all you'll have to do 02:02 is text the following number, "40544", 02:08 and you want to text the code "SH012", 02:12 and we'll be able to give you a link 02:13 as to where you can download the book Armageddon, 02:16 and you can read it right there on your device. 02:19 Well, before we get to our lesson study time today, 02:23 instead of having our regular congregational singing, 02:25 we have something special today. 02:27 We have Erwin and Genelle Nanashi 02:30 who will be bringing us 02:31 our special musical item at this time. 03:00 Holy words long preserved 03:07 For our walk in this world 03:13 They resound with God's own heart 03:18 Oh, let the ancient words impart 03:28 Words of life, words of hope 03:34 Give us strength, help us cope 03:40 In this world, where ever we roam 03:46 Ancient words will guide us home 03:55 Ancient words ever true 04:01 Changing me, and changing you 04:07 We have come with open hearts 04:13 Oh, let the ancient words impart 04:29 Holy words of our faith 04:35 Handed down to this age 04:40 Came to us through sacrifice 04:46 Oh, heed the faithful words of Christ 05:00 Holy words long preserved 05:06 For our walk in this world 05:11 They resound with God's own heart 05:17 Oh, let the ancient words impart 05:25 Ancient words ever true 05:31 Changing me, and changing you 05:37 We have come with open hearts 05:43 Oh, let the ancient words impart 05:51 Ancient words ever true 05:57 Changing me, and changing you 06:03 We have come with open hearts 06:09 Oh, let the ancient words impart 06:19 We have come with open hearts 06:25 Oh, let the ancient words impart 06:40 Dear Father, once again we're grateful 06:42 for the opportunity to be able to gather together 06:43 and open up Your Word 06:44 and study this prophetic subject talking about 06:47 Armageddon and Babylon in Bible prophecy, 06:50 what does that mean, 06:51 how does that relate to us today. 06:53 Father, we ask for Your Holy Spirit 06:55 in a special way to guide us, 06:56 this is a very important study and important subject. 07:00 So be with Pastor Doug as he opens the word, 07:02 in Jesus name, amen. 07:05 It's my privilege to invite Pastor Doug to come forward, 07:08 and he'll be sharing with us our study today. 07:13 Thank you, Pastor Ross, and good morning, everybody. 07:17 We've been gone a couple weeks, I don't know if anyone noticed, 07:21 but it's good to be home, want to welcome our friends 07:23 that are watching on satellite or live stream 07:28 or one of the other mechanisms. 07:30 We have a number of people who are members 07:32 of the Granite Bay Church, 07:33 some of them are digital members 07:34 or online members, 07:36 that's folks all around the world. 07:37 We met some when we were on our recent trip 07:39 to the Middle East. 07:41 They have no local church where they can attend, 07:43 and so they become online members of Granite Bay. 07:46 And if you're in that category, 07:47 you'd like to know how to do that, 07:49 you can just go to the Granite Bay website, 07:51 GraniteBaySda.org, 07:54 and they'll share more information there 07:56 with you about what that process is. 08:01 Maybe I should just say we're... 08:03 As I mentioned, we've been gone 08:04 for a couple of weeks to a very interesting part 08:06 of the planet at a very interesting time. 08:10 Pastor Ross, and I, and Karen, and Ruth, 08:13 along with a number of Amazing Facts friends, 08:15 I think we had about 85 or 90, 08:18 a few from the church here, went to the Holy Land. 08:25 There's a couple of speaking appointments there, 08:27 so there was some evangelism 08:29 we were doing while we were there. 08:31 I was able to preach in Jerusalem twice 08:34 as well as various holy sites along the way. 08:39 And a matter of fact, we may have a few pictures, 08:40 oh, they got it up there on the screen, yeah. 08:43 Trinity Broadcasting Network has some studios 08:45 where we are able to preach 08:46 at beautiful outdoor auditorium, 08:48 overlooks the Holy Mountain in the Old City of Jerusalem, 08:52 just beautiful spot. 08:54 And while we were there, it was very exciting 08:58 because we met people who were baptized in Israel 09:02 from watching Amazing Facts programs. 09:05 And that's what it's all about. 09:07 You know, we've been on several channels there, 09:10 Daystar TV and Middle Eastern Television for years, 09:14 and so I've seen the fruit of it. 09:16 And the Bible comes alive, also. 09:19 If you've not been on one of these trips, 09:22 some time in your life, 09:23 I think it's great if you can go. 09:25 If you wait for a time when there's no problems 09:27 in the Middle East, you'll never go. 09:30 So people said, "Aren't you afraid 09:32 there's fighting in the Gaza Strip?" 09:34 I said, "No, that's probably very safe." 09:36 You know sometimes people say, you go to, you know, 09:39 other parts of the world and they say, 09:40 "Do you feel safe in America? 09:42 I hear that they're all killing each other in Chicago." 09:44 I said, "Well, that may be, 09:46 but we're long way from Chicago. 09:48 And where we went, most of the holy sites 09:50 are a long way from the Gaza Strip, 09:51 so don't be afraid by some of those things you hear. 09:55 But it is clear that 09:57 they've got very strong security. 10:01 As we drove along, we went into the Golan Heights, 10:04 we went into the West Bank, we had to pass through 10:07 some very interesting security points. 10:09 We saw signs in red that said, 10:12 "If you are Israeli, do not cross this line, 10:15 your life could be at risk, you could be killed." 10:17 I mean, I took pictures of it, it's pretty strong. 10:20 So there is very definite tension that's there, 10:23 and I've never gone through 10:25 such thorough security getting into 10:30 or leaving an airport as in Israel. 10:33 They pulled our car off the road 10:35 before we got to the airport, Karen's here, she's chuckling. 10:39 They asked us questions separately, 10:41 made her get out of the car, took our passports, 10:43 questioned our driver, 10:44 wanted to see our bags, I mean, it was very... 10:47 Yeah, they stopped the van, made us drive over a mere, 10:50 check for explosives, 10:51 and this is just our taxi to the airport. 10:54 I haven't even gotten to the airport yet, 10:55 then there's another raft of security there. 10:58 So it's clear that they do have security issues there. 11:04 It does strengthen your faith though 11:06 when you get oriented what the Bible lands are, 11:10 and where things happened, 11:13 it's really neat to go to places like Ein Gedi, 11:16 and you say, this waterfall here out 11:18 in the middle of the desert is a place 11:20 where David hid from Saul, and he found Saul in the cave, 11:24 and to see where the Dead Sea Scrolls 11:26 were discovered, 11:27 and to see the eastern gate of Jerusalem 11:31 that is all walled up. 11:32 And then you read in the prophecy of Ezekiel 44. 11:35 It says, "That gate will be closed 11:36 because the Lord has passed through it." 11:38 That's the gate Jesus went through 11:40 during the triumphal entry, 11:41 and later the Muslims walled it up 11:43 to try to prevent the Messiah from coming, 11:45 and they put a cemetery in front of it. 11:46 You read it then in the prophecy. 11:49 And you read where Jesus says, 11:50 "There will not be one stone upon another 11:52 that will not be cast out from the temple." 11:54 And then we took a tour that went underneath 11:56 the Western Wall, 11:59 and you see the great pile of massive stones 12:01 that were pushed off by the Romans, 12:03 and there is a sign that tells you about it, 12:05 not written by Christians, 12:06 but written by the nation of Israel. 12:08 And so you see the fulfillment of prophecy everywhere. 12:11 So it was very inspiring. 12:12 But just one reason, I wanted to tell you about it, 12:14 just as sort of a little mission report, 12:17 is all along the way, 12:18 first of all one of our guides was baptized, 12:22 a Jewish guy baptized by a Seventh-day Adventist minister. 12:26 Now he was just baptized in the Jordan to accept Jesus, 12:29 which is a big deal if you're an Israeli 12:32 and you're a Jew, to say I am accepting Jesus. 12:36 He had not yet joined the Adventist Church, 12:38 but we gave him our book. 12:40 And I took some testimony books with us, 12:42 and so he, and I, and Karen, 12:43 we ate together and hope we'll pray for him. 12:46 I'll not say his name, 12:47 don't want to put him on the spot. 12:49 And it was fun going around because as we were there 12:52 with our group 12:54 doing the inspiration instructional tour, 12:57 I would break away every now and then 12:58 with our crew to videotape things, 13:00 were doing kind of an Amazing Fact thing 13:02 on the Holy Land. 13:04 And people would stop me 13:06 that were with other tour groups 13:07 and they'd say, 13:08 "Oh, we've been watching your program for years." 13:11 Well, one gentleman came up and he said, 13:13 "Can I get a picture with you?" 13:14 And he said, "I was in Chicago. 13:19 And I was at a really bad place in my life, 13:21 struggling with drugs, my life was falling apart. 13:23 I saw your programs, 13:24 and I began to watch every week, 13:25 gave my heart to the Lord," he said, "Now I'm a pastor." 13:29 He's a Baptist pastor but he's a pastor, 13:30 you know, he came to the Lord. 13:33 So he's very happy. 13:34 And then we're coming down the Mount of Olives, 13:37 and this Indian gentleman, 13:38 who was leading a group of Indian Christians, 13:41 and he had his suit on, 13:43 he was just dressed very nicely, 13:44 and I'm wearing a t-shirt 13:46 because we were out all day that day 13:48 and it's 100 degrees. 13:50 And he said, "Can I get a picture?" 13:52 And I'm surprised he recognized me 13:54 because I've got a baseball cap and sunglasses on. 13:57 And he said, "Oh, yeah, 13:59 we watch your programs in India." 14:01 Another pastor from Detroit stopped us. 14:04 We were in Ein Gedi, another couple of messianic, 14:07 Sabbath keeping Christians not Adventist, 14:10 stopped us and got a picture. 14:12 And so it's just wonderful to see the impact 14:14 of the ministry all over the world. 14:17 So just wanted to give you a little update, 14:20 and maybe some time if you've never been there, 14:22 it does really... 14:25 You never look at the Bible quite the same 14:27 as when you kind of get the orientation 14:29 of where the things were happening. 14:30 So it was an inspiring time. 14:33 Anyway, going to get to our lesson, 14:34 very important lesson, 14:35 don't want to gobble up all of our time, 14:37 talking about Babylon and Armageddon. 14:40 We have a memory verse. 14:42 It's from Revelation 17:5, we'll be reading 14:44 part of Revelation 17 in just a moment. 14:47 Give you a chance to find that, 14:48 and I hope you'll say it with me, 14:50 Revelation 17:5 14:52 and this comes from the New King James Version, 14:54 here in your lesson. 14:56 Are you ready? 14:58 "On her forehead a name was written, 15:02 Mystery, Babylon The Great, 15:05 The Mother Of Harlots 15:07 And The Abominations Of The Earth." 15:11 Now whenever you hear the word "mystery", 15:13 the Bible talks about the mystery of iniquity, 15:15 it talks about the mystery of godliness. 15:17 There are not that many mysteries in the Bible, 15:20 but Babylon is a mystery. 15:22 Babylon is a word, a term that you find 15:25 in the Bible all the way from Genesis 15:28 where you may first hear it called Babel to Revelation. 15:34 Not only do you find it in the first book 15:36 of the Old Testament, 15:38 you find it in the first book of the New Testament. 15:40 Have you ever noticed in the genealogy of Jesus 15:43 that Matthew gives, 15:44 he does it in the context of Babylon. 15:48 Look in Matthew chapter... 15:50 This is the section under the wine of the wrath. 15:53 Matthew 1:17, "So all the generations 15:59 from Abraham to David are fourteen generations, 16:01 from David until the captivity in Babylon 16:05 are fourteen generations, from the captivity in Babylon 16:08 until the time of Christ are fourteen generations." 16:12 Then go to Matthew 1:11, "Josiah begot Jeconiah 16:17 and his brothers about the time 16:19 they were carried away to Babylon. 16:21 And after that they were brought to Babylon, 16:23 Jeconiah begot Shealtiel, 16:25 and Shealtiel begot Zerubbabel." 16:27 Who was of the king's seed. 16:29 And then you go to Matthew 1:17, 16:32 "So all the generations from Abraham to David 16:34 are fourteen generations, 16:35 from David to the captivity in Babylon 16:38 are fourteen generations, 16:39 and from the captivity in Babylon 16:41 until the Christ are fourteen generations." 16:44 So it's interesting that Matthew begins the gospel 16:47 by listing three groups of seven. 16:51 Seven's interesting number. 16:52 And you find Babylon mentioned 16:54 one, two, three, four, five, six, seven times 16:59 in the first chapter. 17:02 It's a very interesting grouping. 17:05 You see Babylon is the polar opposite 17:09 of Jerusalem biblically. 17:13 God's people are being called out of Babylon, 17:16 and our ultimate goal is the New Jerusalem. 17:20 When we are going away from Jerusalem, 17:22 and this was all very real, 17:24 having just come from the Old City 17:25 and listening to all the stories, 17:28 were heading the wrong direction. 17:30 When the man fell among thieves, 17:32 he had his back to Jerusalem 17:34 and he was going down to Jericho. 17:37 When the children of Israel 17:40 disobeyed and they turned to idols, 17:42 God punished them 17:43 by sending the pagan king to carry them out, 17:47 they were carried away 17:49 from the Promised Land to Babylon. 17:53 When he blessed them, they came out of Babylon, 17:56 they went back to rebuild Jerusalem. 18:00 We're trying to get to the New Jerusalem. 18:02 When God curse the languages of the world, 18:05 where did that happen? 18:08 They wanted to make a name for themselves. 18:10 And this is Genesis 11, so they were going to build 18:12 a tower to heaven to save themselves. 18:15 God said, "Go scatter, be fruitful." 18:17 They didn't want to. 18:18 They wanted to congregate in one spot. 18:20 So he cursed it. 18:22 The name of that place they called Babel, 18:25 later known as Babylon. 18:28 And it's a symbolic of confusion of tongues, 18:32 and God confounded their languages there 18:35 and this is where we get the word 18:36 "Babbling" from. 18:39 And that's why you may not know 18:40 that a baby is called a baby in English 18:44 because it comes from the word babble. 18:47 Baby is babble. 18:48 Now the original name for Babylon meant Babel, 18:51 was a gate of God. 18:53 It's come to mean babbling because of what happened there, 18:56 but it meant gate to God or gate of the gods, 18:59 and they were trying to find a gate 19:01 to heaven for themselves. 19:03 And so you get these two things in the Bible. 19:07 There are two women. 19:09 You've got God's bride, 19:11 and then you have an unfaithful bride. 19:12 Now one of the great prophetic books 19:14 in the Bible is Daniel. 19:16 Right after Daniel, what book? 19:19 You got to look, don't you? 19:22 What's after Genesis? So you know that. 19:25 What's after Daniel? Hosea. 19:28 So if you go to the book of Hosea, 19:31 the whole book of Hosea is about 19:33 God's people playing the harlot. 19:37 And let me just say, 19:38 God asks His prophet to do something, 19:40 I hope He never asked me to do. 19:43 He says, "Go take a wife of harlotry," 19:47 that'd be kind of tough on a pastor. 19:49 If you get a message from the Lord 19:50 and say, "Go marry a prostitute." 19:53 But sometimes God ask these Old Testament prophets 19:55 to do things to illustrate things. 19:57 I mean He ask Isaiah to take off his clothes, 20:00 we hope he wasn't totally naked 20:02 to illustrate the children of Israel 20:03 were going to be carried off naked. 20:06 You'd probably fire your pastor if he did that. 20:11 He asked Ezekiel to cook his food on dung 20:16 to illustrate that the children of Israel 20:18 we're going to be going through a time of famine. 20:22 He also asked Ezekiel to cut off his beard 20:27 and separate the beard hairs to illustrate 20:29 how they were going to be divided up. 20:30 I mean, He asked the prophets to do some strange things 20:33 to give three dimensional parables 20:35 to help them remember the lessons. 20:38 Told Jeremiah to go, make a scroll, 20:41 put it in a jar, take it up to Euphrates, 20:43 and bury it there, and come and get it. 20:45 That was a piece of a rag, and he buried the rags, 20:48 and it was a ruined garment. 20:49 I mean, He asked them to do some strange things. 20:50 Well, Hosea 1:2 20:55 "Then the Lord began to speak by Hosea, 20:57 and the Lord said to him, 20:58 'Go, take yourself a wife of harlotry 21:01 and children of harlotry, for the land has committed 21:05 great harlotry departing from the Lord.'" 21:08 Not always, but typically in the Bible 21:10 when God talked to Israel and Judah about harlotry, 21:13 what were they talking about? 21:15 Idolatry. 21:16 It meant they were now turning to other gods. 21:19 He often referred to it as idolatry. 21:23 Now with that in mind, we start reading about Babylon. 21:28 And turn in... 21:35 1 Peter 5:13. 21:40 Peter is writing a letter. 21:42 And ostensibly, he is in Rome when he writes this letter 21:49 and he says, "She who is in Babylon, 21:52 elect together with you, 21:54 greets you, and so does Mark my son." 21:58 Why does Peter say, she who is in Babylon. 22:01 This has been much contested. 22:02 As far as we know, there wasn't much happening 22:04 with Christianity in Iraq at the time. 22:10 Very few Jews were still in Babylon at this point. 22:14 During the days of Alexander the Great, 22:16 you remember the Jews were captive 22:18 under Cyrus in Babylon, some stayed behind. 22:21 God said, "Great plagues would fall 22:22 on those who stayed behind, 22:23 come out of Babylon, Babylon is fallen." 22:27 And when Alexander conquered the Persians, 22:31 he tried to move his capital to Babylon, 22:33 he died, Babylon was burned, it fell into disarray. 22:36 By the time of Peter, Babylon had fallen 22:39 under the curse of Isaiah 13, where He says, 22:42 "It will not be built, it will not be inhabited." 22:46 Or the Arabian won't even pitch his tent there. 22:48 It will be a place of doleful creatures. 22:50 God had cursed Babylon saying, "It would never rise again." 22:53 So when Peter says, "The church in Babylon," 22:56 who's he talking about? 22:59 Rome. 23:00 Now let me give you further emphasis of that. 23:04 God had people in Rome, 23:05 Rome was given over to idolatry. 23:08 They had all the idols from the Greeks, 23:09 and all the idols from the Roman religions. 23:12 And even as the church was in its infancy in Rome, 23:16 they were surrounded by idolatry, 23:17 they called symbolically Rome Babylon among the Jews. 23:24 Why? Another reason. 23:25 Why is Peter calling Rome Babylon? 23:27 Did the Babylonians oppressed Israel 23:30 and overcome them? Yeah. 23:32 Were the Romans oppressing 23:35 and had they overcome the Jews again? 23:37 So they saw it as just another Babylon. 23:39 And so that shouldn't surprise you that he said that. 23:42 You look in Revelation 17. 23:44 I'm going to back up to verse 1. 23:45 Revelation 17 is where you find this harlot, 23:49 and it talks about this woman. 23:52 Go to the last verse of Revelation 17, 23:55 that's Revelation 17:18. 23:58 "And the woman that you saw is that great city 24:01 that reigns over the kings of the earth." 24:03 What great city was reigning over the kings of the earth 24:06 when John had the vision of Revelation? 24:09 Rome. 24:10 And so, the early church saw Rome 24:13 as a type of Babylon way back then. 24:17 So, when we talk about Babylon, 24:20 we're talking about ancient Rome, 24:22 was a type of Babel... 24:24 First of all, you get Babel, back in the days 24:27 a city built by Nimrod, 24:28 way back in the Book of Genesis, okay. 24:30 So you get Babel, Babylon, they built a tower. 24:33 Then you got the Babylonians 24:36 who sent ambassadors to Hezekiah. 24:39 And God told Hezekiah 24:41 because you didn't show them the Lord, 24:42 and you showed them your stuff, 24:44 they're going to come back later, 24:45 they're going to take your sons 24:46 and make them eunuch in their palace. 24:48 That's what happened with Daniel, 24:49 Hananiah, Mishael, Azariah, 24:51 they were children of Judah, royal seed, 24:54 descendants of Hezekiah carried to Babylon 24:56 and made eunuchs, 24:58 the very thing He said happened. 24:59 All the treasures Hezekiah bragged about 25:01 were carried to Babylon. 25:03 The Nebuchadnezzar, they were basically imprisoned 25:06 because of the captivity in Babylon. 25:08 He destroys Jerusalem, they held captive there 25:12 under the time of Nebuchadnezzar 25:14 and for several years after him. 25:16 Finally, with the fall of Babylon 25:18 during the time of Belshazzar, in the handwriting on the wall, 25:23 Persians come into power, a joint kingdom, 25:25 the Medo-Persians, Darius the Mede, 25:28 when he died, Cyrus, his nephew, became the king. 25:31 He was a Persian. 25:33 And he told them they could go home. 25:36 But the problem was, 25:38 they'd been in Babylon for so long, 25:40 they'd gotten comfortable. 25:42 I mean, if you live somewhere 70 years, 25:44 how deeply would you put your roots down? 25:47 They spoke the language, you know, Jews in America, 25:49 my mom doesn't speak Hebrew. 25:51 Jews in America spoke American, 25:53 something like English, a little different. 25:57 And our guide in Israel was from England, 26:03 he was a Jew born in England, and I said I... 26:06 I you can tell from your accent. 26:07 He said, "I don't have an accent," 26:09 he said, "you do." 26:10 You got to be careful about it when you're in another country 26:12 telling an Englishman if you have an accent. 26:15 But... 26:17 So they've gotten comfortable in Babylon. 26:20 And God said, "Come out." 26:22 Well, you know, of all the Jews in Babylon, 26:23 very few came back with Ezra and Nehemiah. 26:26 A lot of them stayed there. 26:28 Some of them struggled under plagues 26:29 that later came on those kingdoms. 26:32 God blessed the ones who came back. 26:33 They had some struggles but He protected, 26:35 and blessed them, and prospered them 26:37 during the time of Ezra, Nehemiah, and Zerubbabel. 26:41 But then you got the Babylonians, 26:45 in the time of the early church, 26:46 representing Rome was a type of Babylon, 26:50 that's pagan Babylon, then you have papal Babylon. 26:56 Let's talk about that for just a minute. 26:59 Go to Revelation 17. 27:01 Now what I'm about to share with you, 27:02 most of you know, some are watching 27:04 and they may not know. 27:08 There are several kinds of Babylon that you find. 27:12 There is a Babylon that rules for 1260 years 27:16 and persecutes God's people. 27:19 And to identify who that is, 27:21 you just look at some of the earmarks. 27:23 Protestants typically identified spiritual Babylon 27:28 of the Dark Ages with the Roman Catholic Church. 27:32 Don't get mad at me for saying that, 27:34 I'm stating a fact of history. 27:38 Martin Luther, Calvin Wesley, 27:41 Spurgeon, Huldrych, 27:45 Melanchthon, Wycliffe, 27:48 take your pick, John Knox, 27:50 all looked at this prophecy in Revelation 17 27:53 and said, "No questions, slam dunk, 27:58 without a doubt this is talking about 28:00 the Roman Catholic Church." 28:02 Let me give you a few examples. 28:04 First of all, she's called the mother, 28:06 mother of harlots. 28:07 Harlots because a woman represents what? 28:12 She's got daughters who came out of her. 28:14 Many, many branches of Christianity say 28:19 they broke away and came out of Catholicism 28:22 or at least what we would call the Western Church. 28:28 The word, it's supposed to be Universal Church, 28:30 that's where you get the word Catholic, 28:31 it means universal. 28:32 It is around the world, 28:34 it's the largest Christian denomination 28:37 in the world today. 28:39 It says that it's one with whom 28:42 the kings of the earth who committed... 28:43 Well, let me read this to you. 28:45 You go to Revelation 17:1, "Then one of the seven angels 28:49 who had the seven bowls came and talked with me, saying, 28:52 'Come, and I will show you the judgment of the great whore 28:55 who sits on many waters..." 28:56 Waters represent peoples, 28:57 multitudes, language, and tongues. 29:00 You read that in the same chapter. 29:02 "With whom the kings of the earth committed fornication." 29:04 It is a religious, political power. 29:07 Only church in the world that has a seat 29:09 at the United Nations that has ambassadors 29:11 that go out to the world is the Roman Catholic Church. 29:14 You tell me another pastor that's had a general assembly 29:18 of the United Nations 29:20 and I'll retract, there's only one. 29:23 "With whom the kings of the earth 29:24 have committed fornication, 29:25 and the inhabitants of the earth 29:26 were made drunk with the wine of her fornication." 29:30 It says the wine in her cup is fermented. 29:32 During the mass, 29:33 Catholic Church uses fermented wine. 29:36 That wine is also a symbol of doctrine. 29:39 Jesus said that His teaching is new wine in a new bottle. 29:43 He talks about the gospel is a doctrine of teachings. 29:46 People have been intoxicated 29:48 by the false teachings of Babylon. 29:51 The idea that you die and go right to heaven 29:53 and hell before a judgment is wine of Babylon. 29:56 The idea that a man can change the law of God, 29:58 and change the times and laws, 30:00 and say the seventh day is the first day, 30:02 and freely admit it, and people follow it, 30:06 to say that you can bow down to statues 30:08 when God's Word says you cannot. 30:10 To say that you can call a religious leader, 30:12 "Father" when Jesus had called no man father. 30:14 To say that you can ask a man for forgiveness, 30:19 when only God can forgive your sins. 30:22 I've been going down a long litany of doctrines to say that 30:26 you are to worship Mary, and other dead apostles, 30:29 and pray to them. 30:32 This is just a long list of doctrines 30:35 that would qualify 30:36 as the intoxicating wine of Babylon, 30:39 so that's one thing. 30:40 Has a golden cup in her hand or the central vessel 30:44 in the Roman Catholic worship 30:45 is the golden cup the priest holds. 30:47 Says that she's adorned 30:48 with the colors of purple and scarlet. 30:51 Scarlet is the color of the cardinals' leadership, 30:56 purple is the color of the bishops. 30:58 You've probably seen these assemblies 30:59 where they are in their beautifully, 31:01 brilliant scarlet and purple, and a golden cup. 31:06 Says that she's got many precious stones and pearls. 31:10 Oh, you've got to do is take a trip to the Vatican. 31:11 You'll see things that are ornate everywhere, 31:14 gold and pearls. 31:16 And she's called the "Mother Church". 31:18 Do you know that the pope is not only 31:20 the head of the Catholic Church, 31:22 he is a pastor of the Lateran Church in Rome. 31:26 And on the door of the Lateran Church, 31:28 you'll see an engraving that says the Lateran Church 31:30 is the mother of all churches in the world. 31:34 And just right there, I wish I'd brought my slides, 31:36 I could show you all this, 31:37 you'd probably find it in my presentation on Babylon, 31:41 but I've still got to talk about Armageddon, 31:43 I haven't even gotten there yet. 31:45 Matter of fact, I see someone texting in the question, 31:47 "Is Armageddon a physical or a spiritual war?" 31:50 Someone's texted in. 31:52 Quick answer, a spiritual war. 31:54 Most of the terms and the names that 31:56 you find in Revelation have their spiritual names, 32:02 and Armageddon, 32:03 which we're going to get to in a moment, 32:05 that is also an example of that. 32:07 So it tells us where she is or it says, 32:10 it's a persecuting power. 32:12 "I saw this woman," this unfaithful church, 32:14 "drunken with the blood of the saints, 32:16 and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus." 32:19 All the Catholic Church freely admits 32:21 they're responsible for persecuting 32:25 Pope John Paul II, freely admitted that, 32:28 2000 at a special ceremony where he said, 32:31 we're asking for forgiveness for what some in the church, 32:34 he didn't say, "I did it." 32:35 He says some in the church did it, 32:38 where they persecuted. 32:39 And if you go on tours in Europe, 32:42 many of the churches I've been there and seen it, 32:44 they'll take you to the dungeons 32:46 under the churches 32:47 where they conducted the inquisitions 32:48 and they tortured Christians and Jews, 32:51 and so millions suffered. 32:57 Look at those who were burned at the stake like 33:00 Hus, and Jerome, and others. 33:03 So is no question about 33:05 what this prophecy is describing, 33:07 it tells you where it is. 33:09 "Here is the mind that has wisdom," 33:10 the seven heads on the creature on which the woman is sitting. 33:13 "There's seven mountains on which the woman sits." 33:17 Very few cities are known as the city of seven hills, 33:20 but if you just Wikipedia, Google Rome, 33:24 you'll find one of its names is the city of seven hills. 33:27 And again, it says "This woman is the great city 33:30 that rules over the kings of the earth." 33:32 Now this is very interesting because... 33:36 I'm getting, I got so much yet to cover, 33:39 I'm looking at the clock here, this is a fascinating study. 33:43 Look here. 33:45 Someone's going to read for me, in just a second, Isaiah 13:1. 33:49 You'll have that, Hoftis. 33:50 Before you get to that, I'm going to read 33:52 a troubling passage. 33:54 You read in Revelation 14:8, 33:56 "Another angel followed, saying, 33:57 'Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, 34:00 because she..." 34:01 Not a church, it's a city. 34:03 "Has made all nations drink the wine 34:05 of the wrath of her fornication." 34:06 The teachings have become global 34:08 and it tells us that 34:09 there is forced worship involved 34:11 that happened especially during the Dark Ages. 34:14 The church forced people to believe, 34:17 if not their goods could be confiscated, 34:18 they could be imprisoned and killed. 34:22 Babylon forced worship 34:26 on God's people in the Old Testament. 34:28 What happened with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego? 34:31 Then the king say, you need to fall down 34:33 and worship the way I tell you to worship or you'll be killed. 34:36 But they stood up 34:38 and that's what God's people want... 34:39 Let me read you, Psalm 137. 34:41 This is a troubling psalm, it's somewhat prophetic. 34:45 Children of Israel are carried off to Babylon. 34:49 "By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, 34:51 yea, we wept when we remembered Zion. 34:54 We hung our harps upon the willows in the midst of it. 34:57 For those who carried us away captive asked of us a song, 35:00 and those who plundered us requested of us mirth, 35:03 saying, 'Sing one of the songs of Zion!' 35:06 How shall we sing the Lord's song 35:08 in a foreign land?" 35:09 By the way, this is one of the, 35:11 this very thing happened to many Jews 35:13 who were imprisoned by Nazis in concentration camps. 35:17 They say, "We hear you, Jews, are very talented musicians, 35:20 play for us, sing for us, sing us a Jewish song." 35:23 And the Jews would remember, 35:24 how can we do that in this place. 35:28 "Those who requested mirth of us, saying, 35:30 'Sing us a song of Zion!' 35:32 How shall we sing the Lord's song 35:34 in a foreign land? 35:35 If I forget you, O Jerusalem, 35:37 let my right hand forget its skill! 35:39 If I do not remember you, let my tongue 35:41 cleave to the roof of my mouth. 35:43 If I do not exalt Jerusalem above my chief joy." 35:46 Notice, Babylon, Jerusalem, same song. 35:51 "Remember, O Lord, against the sons of Edom 35:53 the day of Jerusalem, 35:55 who said, 'Raze it, raze it, to its foundation!'" 35:58 To lay one stone upon another. 36:01 "O daughter of Babylon, who are to be destroyed, 36:05 happy is the one who repays you as you have served us! 36:08 Happy is the one who takes and dashes your little ones 36:11 against the rock!" 36:13 Now that is a verse that really troubles people. 36:16 How can someone sing a song as happy as he 36:19 who dashes your little ones against the rock. 36:22 Before I answer that question, I want to read to you 36:24 a prophecy of Isaiah, help you understand. 36:29 "Behold, I will stir up the Medes against them," 36:31 speaking of Babylon, "Who will not regard," 36:35 it was a Medo-Persians that destroyed Babylon. 36:37 "I will stir up the Medes," they were going to fulfill 36:39 the prophecy about overthrowing Babylon. 36:41 "Who will not regard silver, and as for gold, 36:44 they will not delight in it." 36:45 You won't be able to bribe them. 36:47 "Also their bows will dash young men to pieces, 36:52 and they will have no pity on the fruit of the womb, 36:54 their eyes will not spare children. 36:56 And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, 36:58 the beauty of the Chaldeans' pride, 37:00 will be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. 37:03 It will not be inhabited." 37:04 Now why does it say that about dashing the little ones, 37:08 I mean, that's very troubling, that would be in there. 37:12 That was a signal that you would wipeout a people 37:15 when you not only conquered their soldiers, 37:18 but you destroyed the wives. 37:21 They would not even reproduce with anyone else, 37:22 and you destroyed the baby. 37:23 So there was no name, no seed, no people left. 37:28 This is what's going to happen to spiritual Babylon, 37:31 the wicked, what's going to happen to them? 37:33 They are going to meet an end. 37:35 And so think of this... 37:36 Not about human earthly wars, think about this in a spiritual 37:40 sense that those who have tried to persecute God's people, 37:43 it's going to backfire, 37:44 and their name will be forever abolished. 37:46 It will be eternally destroyed. 37:49 That's what this is really is talking about. 37:51 All right, go ahead read for us, 37:54 verse 13:1. 37:57 Isaiah 13:1, "The burden against Babylon 38:01 which Isaiah the son of Amoz saw." 38:05 When you go to Revelation, you're going to see that 38:08 Revelation is composed of prophecies 38:11 throughout the Old Testament, some even from the new. 38:15 And so the fall of Babylon 38:16 is foretold by Jeremiah, by Isaiah. 38:19 You get to Revelation 18. 38:22 Look in Revelation 18:2, 38:24 "And he cried mightily with a loud voice, saying, 38:27 'Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, 38:30 and has become a dwelling place of demons, 38:32 and a prison of every hateful bird! 38:34 For nations have drunk of the wine 38:36 of the wrath of her fornication." 38:37 We read that in 17, talks about the luxury. 38:40 Now when you talk about the fall of Babylon, 38:43 it seems to fall in degrees. 38:44 Notice something here. 38:48 Revelation 16:19, 38:51 "Now the great city was divided in three parts, 38:53 and the cities of the nations fell. 38:55 And great Babylon was remembered before God, 38:58 to give her the cup of the wine 38:59 of the fierceness of His wrath." 39:02 Ever sung that song, Glory! Glory! Hallelujah? 39:06 Takes about the grapes of wrath. 39:09 It's talking about some of these judgments 39:10 that come on Babylon. 39:12 Look in Revelation 18, "Babylon has fallen." 39:15 It says, "It's become the prison of every foul." 39:18 And this is in verse 2, 39:20 "The prison of every foul spirit 39:23 in the cage of every unclean and hateful bird!" 39:25 The spiritualism that's happened here. 39:28 Someone's going to read for me Revelation 18:10 39:31 in just a moment. 39:32 One of you got those, okay? 39:34 I'm going to read 2 Thessalonians 2:9. 39:37 "The coming of the lawless one 39:39 according to the working of Satan, 39:40 with all power, signs, and lying wonders, 39:43 and with all unrighteous deception 39:44 among those who perish, 39:46 because they did not receive a love of the truth, 39:48 that they might be saved." 39:49 It talks about power, signs, lying wonders, 39:52 there's spiritualism in Babylon. 39:56 And then it describes in Revelation 18, 39:59 the fall of Babylon seems to happen in degrees, 40:02 it talks about three parts. 40:05 You notice when we said Babylon is divided, when God... 40:08 Now we're getting into the Armageddon part. 40:12 Armageddon is the battle that takes place 40:17 in a valley in front of Megiddo. 40:21 We were in Megiddo two weeks ago, 40:24 stood there overlooking the Valley of Jezreel. 40:27 And a lot of biblical battles took place in that valley. 40:31 Among them, the battle of Gideon, 40:34 that would be a little bit to the east. 40:38 You had a battle with King Josiah. 40:41 There was a battle with Deborah and Barak. 40:43 It's the crossroads of three continents, 40:46 that Valley of Jezreel. 40:48 Even tectonic plates that go through there, 40:51 and so it sort of symbolic 40:53 of just a very important crossroads 40:56 that needed to be conquered. 40:57 Whoever own that owned everything. 41:00 It was a place of showdowns. 41:01 Now when Gideon fought his battle, 41:03 so these names of these battles, 41:05 you've got to go back in the Bible. 41:06 How did he divide his army? 41:09 He had how many men finally? Three hundred. 41:12 He divided them in three parts, 100 each. 41:16 And he went against an enemy of three, 41:20 the Amalekites, the Midianites, and the people of the East. 41:24 So he had his forces divided in three, 41:26 and they went against three, 41:28 and if you read about the three ways 41:30 that Babylon falls, 41:32 and it talks about three several times 41:34 in these place that come. 41:37 Go ahead, read for us Revelation 18:10. 41:40 Revelation 18:10, 41:42 "Standing at a distance for fear of her torment, 41:44 saying, 'Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, 41:48 that mighty city! 41:49 For in one hour your judgment has come." 41:52 Right here it says, 41:53 "In one hour your judgment has come." 41:56 I'm going to read Revelation 18:17. 41:59 "For in one hour such riches have came to nothing." 42:03 Now I'm going to read Revelation 18:19. 42:05 "For in one hour she is being made desolate." 42:09 Now, when you read in Revelation a day. 42:13 What is a day equal in prophecy? 42:17 Do we sometimes, as we interpret... 42:21 Like when it says for about the space of half an hour, 42:23 do we look at that prophetically? 42:26 Yes, silence in heaven about the space of half an hour 42:29 because if one hour is 1/24 of a day, 42:35 and if there are 360 days in a Jewish year, 42:38 being on a lunar calendar, 42:40 that means 1 hour is 15 days, about half an hour is seven. 42:46 We believe that this is talking about 42:49 that seven day journey 42:51 when God comes and we go back to glory. 42:54 When you read the prophecy in Revelation 9:15, 42:58 "So the four angels, who had been prepared 43:00 for an hour, a day, a month and a year, were released." 43:05 Our expositors, they add up those times 43:07 and they come with a figure including the hour. 43:11 So if Babylon falls in three hours, 43:15 three different ways, and you got one hour, 43:17 it seems that it falls politically, 43:19 you've got the second hour it seems to fall economically, 43:22 in third hour, there's a physical implosion or fall. 43:26 So if a day equals a year in prophecy, 43:32 1/24th of the day, that's a year with 360 days, 43:37 you can check my math, that means 1 hour is 15 days 43:44 so the fall of Babylon, 43:45 it seems like it's happening over a period of 15, 15, 15 43:49 is how much? 43:51 Forty five, very good. 43:53 Now here's a question, I'm going to stir things up. 43:55 I'm just sharing with you what some people believe. 43:58 Just so you'll know. I'm not endorsing this. 44:01 Do you find a 45 day period in Daniel 12? 44:06 What's the difference between 1290 and 1335? 44:12 Forty five, it's a rhetorical question. 44:15 So I'm not going to take that very far 44:17 because I believe... 44:18 Personally, I believe the historic 44:20 fulfillment of prophecy. 44:21 But some have thought, maybe some of these prophecies 44:23 have a dual application. 44:26 I don't want you to think about that too much. 44:28 I want to get you back to our study here, 44:30 talk about Armageddon. 44:34 And if you look in Revelation 16, 44:36 let's read this again, it's interesting, 44:38 I just preached on Armageddon a few weeks ago. 44:40 Revelation 16:12, "The sixth angel," 44:45 this is the plagues that are falling. 44:46 "The sixth angel pours out his bowl 44:48 on the great river Euphrates, and its water is dried up, 44:51 so the way of the kings from the east 44:53 might be prepared." 44:55 Now, you have to know something 44:57 from extra biblical history for this to make sense. 45:00 Babylon was surrounded by a moat. 45:04 Belshazzar, the king, was having a great feast 45:06 when Daniel read the handwriting on the wall. 45:09 At the same time, the Medo-Persians 45:10 had been encamped outside of Babylon. 45:14 Babylonians were not afraid, they thought 45:15 they'll never breach the wall with... 45:17 They'll never breach the moat, but Cyrus did something 45:20 they had not anticipated. 45:22 Way upstream, he diverted the river 45:25 where it ran down the Babylon, he diverted it, he dug a canal, 45:29 there was a dry lake bed, they broke the dam, 45:32 they drained the river, the water level in the river 45:35 almost instantly went down. 45:38 His soldiers, a few of them, were able to go under the wall, 45:41 there were two walls, 45:42 the inner gates had been left open, 45:44 as Isaiah prophesied, 'cause they were drinking, 45:46 they didn't think there would be any threat. 45:48 Needs to go through the inner gate 45:50 to access the river, and they left them open. 45:54 The soldiers have been drinking because of the feast. 45:57 They open the outer gates, 45:59 they let all of their soldiers in, 46:02 and Babylon almost instantly fell in one night, 46:05 Daniel 5 tells us. 46:08 So it talks about the way for the kings of the East 46:10 might be prepared. 46:12 Darius and Cyrus were considered 46:14 good kings for God's people. 46:16 Kings of the East, kind of like wise men 46:18 came from the East with good tidings. 46:21 These two kings let God's people go home. 46:24 They believed in one God, 46:26 whereas the Babylonians were polytheistic, 46:29 the Persians were monotheistic. 46:32 And so there's a type there, 46:34 Cyrus is even called my anointed, 46:35 Cyrus the general, 46:37 which is a title reserved for God. 46:40 "That the way of the kings of the east might be prepared. 46:44 And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs," 46:47 this final battle that transpires. 46:52 "Coming out of the mouth of the dragon." 46:53 Frogs are unclean, their power's in their tongue. 46:57 It's a message, just like you've got 46:59 God's angels in heaven with a message, 47:00 the devil's got his frogs on earth. 47:04 "Out of the mouth of the beast," 47:05 messages come out of the mouth. 47:07 "Mouth of the false prophet, mouth of the dragon, 47:10 they are the spirits of demons performing signs 47:12 that go out to the kings of the earth." 47:13 There... 47:15 Now Jesus said, "Look, if you don't believe My message 47:16 believe Me because of the miracles." 47:18 The devil's going to do the same things. 47:19 He'll say, "I got a message, and I got miracles to back it." 47:22 We're going to have to really go by the word 47:24 in the last days. 47:26 "To gather them to the battle of the great day 47:28 of God Almighty. 47:29 'Behold, I come as a thief. 47:31 Blessed is he who watches, and keeps his garments, 47:33 lest he walk naked and they see his shame.' 47:36 And they gathered them together to the place called in Hebrew, 47:39 Armageddon." 47:40 Arma means Hill of Megiddo, Armageddon. 47:45 I told you that this is a mysterious word, 47:47 it's not found anywhere else, they've not found it yet, 47:49 maybe they'll discover an ancient document, 47:52 not founded anywhere else 47:53 in Greek or in Hebrew, just like this. 47:57 It does sound similar to a phrase you find in Hebrew 48:01 were God speaks to Gideon, said, God spoke to Gideon, 48:04 that sounds like Harmagedon. 48:07 And so they're wondering if they're talking about 48:09 when Gideon that was on the mountain 48:11 and down in the valley where the enemy, 48:14 the million, it looked like they were outnumbered, 48:16 and with a very small force God fought against the enemy. 48:20 And Gideon's weapons 48:22 were all symbols of the Word of God. 48:24 You had, it says, the sword of the Lord and Gideon, 48:26 and they broke the pitchers, and the lamps shined, 48:28 and the trumpets blew. 48:30 God's Word is a lamp, the sword is a word, 48:34 and the trumpet is a word. 48:35 So the lamp is a word, the sword is a word, 48:37 the trumpet is a word, they overcame the enemy 48:40 with the symbols of the Word of God 48:42 there in that valley. 48:44 And so, some have thought, 48:45 "Is this the battle of the Megiddo?" 48:47 Doesn't matter whether you think 48:48 it's Deborah and Barak it's harkening back to. 48:50 It's talking about God fighting for His people. 48:53 Now the battle of Armageddon, it's not a battle 48:55 between Russia and China, 48:56 and even while I was there I heard tour guides 49:00 there at Megiddo, 49:01 I was listening to another tour group 49:03 while we were meeting with our tour group 49:05 and they're talking about, 49:06 "Yeah, the Russians, and the Chinese, 49:09 and the Americans going to gather in this valley, 49:11 and there could be 400 million soldiers." 49:13 And I'm going, "Oh, brother." 49:17 You can't fit 400 million soldiers in that valley, 49:19 and that's not the way we fight today. 49:22 We don't all just march off against each other like 49:24 Napoleon, and Waterloo, 49:26 and they don't do it that way anymore, 49:28 they just, they fire drones. 49:30 And so the battle of Armageddon 49:34 is a battle between those who serve God. 49:36 It tells us the dragon made war with the woman, 49:40 who keeps the commandments of God. 49:41 Her descendants that keep the commandments of God 49:43 and have the testimony of Jesus. 49:45 Christ is seen coming out of the heavens, 49:46 riding on the horse. 49:48 He's got a sword coming out of His mouth. 49:50 Is that a symbol? It's a Word of God. 49:52 It says on His thigh, the Word of God. 49:55 And so it's talking about a battle between the truth 49:58 and the counterfeit in the last days 50:00 for the souls of people. 50:01 It will end up in a great physical conflict. 50:06 And the final battle in the battle of Armageddon, 50:08 it starts before Jesus come, it ends after the millennium 50:12 when fire comes down and devours the adversaries. 50:16 So just like any war, you may have several battles, 50:20 the last battle of Armageddon 50:21 is at the end of the 1,000 years. 50:24 All right, I see another question on the screen. 50:27 "Is it likely that there will be a 3rd world war 50:29 as it relates to Babylon and Armageddon, 50:31 the US and Israel, in the last days?" 50:36 I don't know. 50:39 I don't know if there's going to be. 50:40 I mean, you know, we hear everyone's always struggling, 50:43 man typically has not made a weapon. 50:44 He did not use, 50:45 and we're so concerned right now that it could be... 50:49 Let me back up and say it this way. 50:50 Something I think is going to be a catalyst 50:53 to make the world suddenly very religious 50:55 and to catapult certain religious leaders 50:59 into prominence. 51:00 People do it typically by fear. 51:02 The catalyst could be an economic disaster, 51:06 a global economic disaster. 51:08 It could be a major terrorist event. 51:12 It could be a major natural disaster. 51:15 It could be something that looks like a 3rd world war 51:19 that drives people to religion through fear, 51:23 where they are ready to listen to a totalitarian leader 51:27 that has happened historically. 51:30 Hitler came into power 51:31 on the heels of an economic disaster. 51:34 Napoleon came into power 51:36 on the heels of an economic disaster. 51:37 Those disasters often came because of war. 51:40 The economic disaster in Germany 51:42 came from World War I. 51:44 And Kaiser Wilhelm, Hitler was able to 51:46 use that disaster for them 51:49 to welcome a despot, a dictator. 51:52 Napoleon did the same thing, and Louis XIV, 51:55 and you look through history, 51:56 so I think there's going to be some event, 51:58 whether that disaster will be brought by a 3rd world war 52:02 or natural disaster, I mean. 52:05 We had economic problems after 9/11 52:07 because of Wall Street what happened. 52:10 So I don't know. 52:11 And, then last question. 52:14 What does the Bible say, someone's texting in, 52:17 what is the "Wine" of her wrath referring to Babylon? 52:21 That's referring to some Old Testament prophecies that 52:23 talks about drinking the dregs, the wine of the wrath of God, 52:28 referred to again in Babylon. 52:30 It means, it's unmixed with mercy. 52:33 Got off and mitigates his punishment 52:35 by showing some degree of mercy. 52:37 But when the wrath finally falls on Babylon, 52:39 it is going to be full force, no mercy. 52:43 And anyway, hopefully, you learned something. 52:46 I want to remind our friends, 52:47 we have a free offer about Armageddon. 52:50 You'll enjoy this. 52:51 If you like to get a copy of the book Armageddon, 52:54 then just ask for, 52:56 or call the number 866-788-3966, 53:01 that's 866-Study-More, 53:03 and you can also download this for free 53:06 from AFTV.org. 53:10 Thank you so much for studying with us. 53:12 We'll study His Word together again next week. 53:16 Can't get enough Amazing Facts Bible Study? 53:19 You don't have to wait until next week to enjoy 53:21 more truth filled programming. 53:23 Visit the Amazing Facts media library at AFTV.org. 53:28 At AFTV.org, 53:30 you can enjoy video and audio presentations 53:33 as well as printed material all free of charge, 53:36 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 53:39 right from your computer or mobile device, 53:41 visit AFTV.org. 53:59 For over 60 years, Jeepneys have been 54:01 the virtual king of the road here in the Philippines. 54:04 These unique vehicles that are festive 54:06 with colorful stickers, lights, and chrome have grown 54:09 into the chief source of transportation 54:11 in the country. 54:12 Let's go. 54:17 These iconic four-wheel-drive military vehicles 54:20 made by the Willys Company were known as Jeeps 54:23 because it stood for general purpose. 54:26 And it also came from a character 54:28 in a Popeye cartoon 54:30 that was known as Eugene the Jeep. 54:32 He was an imaginary dog that could crawl 54:34 across the ceilings and the walls, 54:36 and these jeeps could go anywhere. 54:38 When the Americans left the Philippines 54:40 following World War II, it was just cheaper for them 54:43 to leave these thousands of military vehicles behind 54:45 rather than to transport them back to the States. 54:48 The creative Filipino people 54:50 modified these military vehicles 54:52 by extending the frame about six feet. 54:54 They added a couple of cozy inventions 54:56 that are designed to carry about 18 people. 54:59 They put a cab over it to prevent 55:01 the water from coming in, but I've seen 55:04 what looks like 20 to 25 people hanging 55:06 on every possible edge and ledge of a Jeepney. 55:09 They're jumping off, they're jumping on as it goes 55:12 through congested Manila traffic. 55:16 Every Jeepney is little bit different. 55:18 Some are just held together with patches of daily wire 55:21 and bubblegum, a little bit of duck tape. 55:23 Some are little more ornate and modern, 55:25 they've got chrome and stainless steel. 55:28 And there's good reason that the ceilings are padded. 55:33 When one of the local Filipinos wants to ride on a Jeepney, 55:36 they just flag them down, they shout, 55:38 they tap on the hood, and then they jump on board. 55:40 They may not even slowdown when they do this. 55:43 Then they pay about 8 pesos 55:45 which is equivalent of 16 cents for us. 55:47 It's by far the most economical way 55:49 to get around in the country. 55:56 Some Jeepneys are even equipped with an old emergency privy. 56:02 One little downside to the Jeepneys 56:04 is because the cabs are open like this, 56:06 they're not air-conditioned, it gets very hot in summertime 56:09 and all the fumes from the street coming in 56:11 which can make it an exhausting experience. 56:15 One of the downside of the Jeepney is they don't have 56:17 all of the modern safety features, no seatbelts. 56:20 You have to take advantage of the padding 56:22 if you hit a hard bump. 56:23 And if there is a serious accident, 56:25 there is no airbags other than the friends 56:28 that might be sitting around you. 56:29 And that's the upside of the Jeepney 56:31 because you're up close and personal with everybody, 56:34 you make some new friends. 56:35 Riding on a Jeepney requires teamwork. 56:38 If you buy something from one of the vendors, 56:40 you all sort of pass it back to each other. 56:42 And when passengers get on board, 56:44 you just pass your money upfront. 56:51 Thanks a lot. 56:56 Friends, it's safe to say there are no two Jeepneys 56:59 that are exactly the same. 57:01 They're all unique and distinct and so are you. 57:05 Have you ever felt that you get lost in a massive humanity 57:08 and God doesn't notice you? 57:10 The Bible tells us that He knows your name, 57:12 the very hairs of your head are numbered 57:14 and He hears your prayers. 57:15 More than that, the Lord wants to take you to His kingdom, 57:18 you just have to get on board. 57:33 Let's face it, it's not always easy to understand everything 57:36 you read in the Bible. 57:38 With over 700,000 words contained in 66 books, 57:42 the Bible can generate a lot of questions. 57:44 To get biblical straightforward answers, 57:47 call into Bible Answers Live, 57:49 a live nationwide call-in radio program 57:51 where you can talk to Pastor Doug Batchelor 57:54 and ask him your most difficult Bible questions. 57:56 For times and stations in your area 57:58 or to listen to answers online, 58:00 visit Bal.AmazingFacts.org. |
Revised 2018-06-16