Participants: Pr Shawn Boonstra
Series Code: TAP
Program Code: TAP000002
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00:36 Mamma, she often told me
00:41 That soon you would take us home 00:45 But the years flew past and now at last 00:50 I have children of my own. 00:54 Now I can't help, but wonder 00:58 When I look at my daughter's eyes 01:02 How can I keep her hoping 01:06 How can I keep the dream alive 01:10 Of Your appearing 01:14 How I long for You to come 01:18 Just to know the battle's won 01:22 And my journey will be done at Your appearing. 01:28 Lord, can You speed that blessed day? 01:34 In my heart and soul I pray to keep the faith 01:40 'Till Your appearing. 01:59 Sometimes I sit in silence 02:03 And gaze at the Eastern sky 02:06 Then I dream of when You'll come again 02:11 And I hear that midnight cry. 02:15 But then Your tender mercy 02:19 you tarry just one more day 02:24 Knowing there's one who has not heard 02:28 but longs to know the way that You're appearing 02:34 Will all share an eternal life 02:39 It will in the warning strife. 02:43 There're won't be no more sad goodbyes at Your appearing 02:50 Lord can you speed that bless a day 02:55 In our hearts we all must pray to keep the faith 03:02 Till Your appearing 03:10 How long, dear Lord 03:13 Till You come to earth to claim us for Your own 03:18 We long to hear the trumpet sounding 03:22 That will call us to our home 03:32 At Your appearing 03:38 You will bring us to Your side 03:42 It was for this You bled and died 03:46 Cause long to claim Your bride at Your appearing, 03:52 in a chariot of fire. 03:58 Let it be our souls desire to see Your faith 04:05 At Your appearing 04:10 At Your appearing 04:16 Your appearing from Heaven oh Lord, At Your appearing 04:22 At Your appearing from Heaven dear Lord 04:31 Your blessed appearing. 04:38 Your blessed appearing... 05:02 The battle of Armageddon, is this a great military battle? 05:07 A nuclear disaster, is it caused by famine or disease? 05:13 Or even an asteroid slamming into the planet? 05:16 And what does a dragon, a beast and a false prophet 05:19 have to do with it? 05:21 Right now, get ready for Planet Earth's Final Battle. 05:32 Again I want to welcome all of you to the special 05:35 meeting called "The Appearing". 05:37 To all of you who are joining us from locations around 05:39 the country and around the World welcome to you as well! 05:43 This time is my privilege to introduce to you Shawn Boonstra. 05:46 Pastor Shawn Boonstra is the speaker director 05:48 for the "It is Written" television program. 05:51 He is leading this special presentation on the 05:54 appearing of Jesus Christ. 05:55 Please welcome Shawn Boonstra! 06:07 Good evening! 06:09 Good evening and welcome back to "The Appearing" 06:12 We are now on night number two. 06:13 Last night we looked at a planet in upheaval. 06:16 Our subject tonight is Planet Earth's Final Battle. 06:19 But before we get into it 06:20 let me explain a little bit what is coming. 06:23 We're on night #2 of five presentations. 06:25 If somebody is joining us for the first time 06:28 out there across America and around the World, 06:30 we'd invite you to keep coming each night. 06:33 Each night's presentation is going to build on the 06:35 information presented the night before, so you don't want to 06:38 miss any of it. 06:39 It's just five short nights, but they may prove 06:41 to be some of the most important nights 06:44 you've ever spent. 06:45 Because we're going to open up the Bible. 06:47 We're going to look at ancient prophecies 06:49 and we're going to see what it is that God said 06:52 is going to happen just around the corner. 06:54 Tonight's subject is... 06:56 I've already forgotten tonight's subject. 06:58 What is it? 07:00 Oh, I'm so proud of you. 07:02 Planet Earth's Final Battle. 07:03 Tomorrow night will be "The Appearing". 07:06 When the appearing happens, 07:08 what will it be like? 07:10 Then, on the next night, the forth night, 07:13 we'll be talking about a medieval cover up. 07:16 Something happened in history. The subject is 07:18 "When History Repeats Itself". 07:20 Something happened in history 07:22 that might be tampering 07:23 with how you've been viewing the world 07:25 and how you've even been viewing the Bible. 07:28 That's on the forth night. 07:29 And then on the fifth night, "The Day After", 07:32 what happens one day, one minute, one hour, 07:36 one heart-beat after the appearing? 07:38 Sure Planet Earth comes to a halt, 07:41 a lot of catastrophic things happen, 07:43 earth changes, but what happens one minute after that? 07:46 That's on the fifth night. 07:48 Tonight's subject Earth's Final Battle, 07:50 The Battle of Armageddon. 07:52 Now again tonight, our text book is going to be the Bible. 07:55 The Word of God. 07:56 And it is my firmly held conviction 07:59 that this is not like other books. 08:01 This book changed my life. If you would have met me 08:03 twenty years ago, you wouldn't have believed it was me. 08:06 This book changed my life because 08:08 it introduced me to a loving God. 08:10 This book changed my life because it taught me 08:13 that God loved me, 08:14 that He has a plan for planet Earth, 08:16 and He has a plan for my life. 08:17 This book has a power that God has breathed into it 08:20 and because it's His book, I'd like to ask His blessings. 08:23 So why don't we bow our heads together and just pray? 08:26 Father in Heaven, 08:28 tonight we are delighted again 08:31 to have an opportunity to open the Word of God. 08:34 We are delighted to be able to hear 08:36 the voice of our Creator. 08:38 It is our prayer tonight, 08:40 as we study the Scriptures, 08:42 that You would help us to hear Your voice clearly. 08:45 That we'd be able to put aside the distractions 08:47 of the world for just a moment. 08:49 That we can step into Your presence 08:51 sit at Your feet and learn from You. 08:54 Gracious Lord, most of all, we would like 08:57 to see the face of Jesus. 08:58 We know when He appears, we will see it. 09:01 I ask tonight though that we can catch a glimpse of Him. 09:05 That You would bless the words that I speak. 09:08 So that tonight I could represent the courts of Heaven. 09:11 Lord, I am a sinner and I need You to forgive me. 09:14 I ask that You would bless me in a way 09:17 that I don't deserve 09:18 so that we could see truth from the Word of God. 09:21 I ask in Jesus' name. 09:23 Amen. 09:24 Earth's Final Battle, the Battle of Armageddon. 09:29 Let me ask you a question tonight. 09:31 What is the Battle of Armageddon? 09:34 I could walk into any bookstore 09:36 in your city here, in Southern California, 09:38 in your city out there, in the satellite audience, 09:41 I could walk into any bookstore 09:43 and there will be ten, twenty, a hundred books 09:46 on the subject of Bible prophecy 09:47 and probably the biggest section 09:49 out of all those books 09:50 will be the books that deal with the Battle of Armageddon. 09:53 And I've noticed something interesting. 09:56 I have this disease, I can't help it. 09:58 I must buy books. 09:59 I buy two or three books a week. 10:01 Sometimes I go into a store 10:02 and I will clean them out. I can't help it. 10:05 I go on a trip. My wife the first question 10:07 she asks when I come home is: 10:08 How many did you buy? 10:10 I buy thousands of books 10:12 they are stacked high in my garage four feet deep. 10:15 I have bought every book in existence 10:17 on the Battle of Armageddon. 10:19 Unless one has been printed in the last 24 hours, 10:21 and I don't know about, I have got them all. 10:24 And I've noticed something. 10:25 When you open those books and you begin to read them, 10:28 no two of them agree at all. 10:30 Nobody seems to know exactly 10:32 what the Battle of Armageddon is. 10:34 I've actually gone out into the streets 10:37 both in North and South America 10:39 and I've asked people: What do you think 10:41 the Battle of Armageddon is all about? 10:44 I have gotten the most remarkable answers 10:46 you can imagine. Some people would say: 10:48 Hey, I know what the Battle of Armageddon is. 10:51 The Battle of Armageddon is going to be this great 10:53 military conflict. 10:55 Somehow, probably, in the Middle East 10:57 probably in the nation of Israel, 10:59 an army will come from the North maybe the Russians,. 11:02 although some people are changing their minds on that 11:04 since 1989, 11:05 but maybe the Russians, 11:07 will come and there will be this great 11:09 military conflict 11:11 and that will be the Battle of Armageddon. 11:14 Other people say: No, that's not it at all. 11:16 It's not a military conflict. 11:18 It's when we have a nuclear disaster that wipes us out. 11:21 That's what the Battle of Armageddon will be. 11:23 And back before 1989, people said: 11:26 Hey, it's going to be Russia, 11:27 and The United States of America 11:29 but since then, they kind of changed their minds 11:32 and said maybe it's going to be some rogue nation out there 11:35 that finally has the audacity to push the button 11:37 send up a missile and wipe us all out. 11:40 We saw last night that we have the ability to wipe us all out 11:43 fifty times over in one hour today with 11:45 all the nuclear war heads on the face of the planet. 11:48 So, some people say: 11:49 Okay, it's going to be a nuclear disaster. 11:51 That's what the Armageddon is. 11:53 Other people say: No, no, that's not it at all. 11:55 It's going to be a famine. 11:56 When I was born and I am not all that old, 11:58 but when I was born there were about 4 billion people 12:01 on the face of the planet. 12:02 At the turn of the last century I don't know how many it was? 12:05 Two, three billion at the beginning of the 1900's. 12:07 Today it's 6.5 billions 12:09 and they're saying that in a short space of time, 12:11 we're going to have ten billion, fifteen billion, 12:14 twenty billion, probably in our life time. 12:16 And it's crowding gets worse, and worse. 12:18 We're going to run out of food faster that we've ever dreamed. 12:21 And, so Armageddon is going to happen 12:23 when we run out of food, 12:24 people raise up against each other, 12:26 it is going to be a famine. 12:27 No way, somebody else says. It's not going to be a famine. 12:30 It is going to be pestilence. 12:32 It's going to be all those funny diseases that 12:34 are breaking out in hospitals all over the place 12:36 those big, killer super bugs, 12:38 one of them will get out of the hospital doors into the streets 12:41 and people will going to die in droves 12:42 and that's going to be the Armageddon. 12:44 On, no, said somebody else. 12:46 That's not Armageddon. 12:47 Armageddon is when an asteroid or a comet 12:50 slams into the face of the Earth 12:52 and wipes us all out. 12:53 Kind of the way that some people believe 12:55 it wiped out all the dinosaurs. 12:57 Now, Hollywood believes this scenario 12:59 they came out with a movie a few years ago 13:01 starring Bruce Willis and was called 13:03 Armageddon. 13:04 And the whole premise of the movie was that they 13:06 had to get out in outer space 13:07 and they had to blow the comet up before it hit the Earth. 13:10 Some people say: That's it, it's going to be 13:12 this body, this object from outer space 13:14 that smashes into the Earth. We're going to have a... 13:17 I guess it won't be a nuclear winter, we would have 13:19 an asteroid winter here on planet Earth. 13:20 And everything is going to change: 13:22 the climate is going to change, and there is going to be 13:25 survival of the fittest after that. 13:27 I have heard every answer you can imagine. 13:30 In the streets of Sao Paolo, Brazil, 13:32 I asked a bunch of people what do you think Armageddon is? 13:35 And I got every one of those answers 13:37 I just gave to you, plus one more. 13:40 One guy said: Oh, Armageddon 13:42 I know what that is... Just a minute... 13:44 Yeah, it's that cream that you put on your feet 13:47 for athlete's foot. That's what Armageddon is. 13:50 I have had every answer under the Sun. 13:54 And some people said to me: You know why you're getting 13:57 all those answers? 13:58 It's because you can't understand Bible prophecy anyway 14:02 You read the book of Revelation 14:04 and everybody has their own opinion 14:06 they just make up whatever fits. 14:08 I remember as a kid I opened the book of Revelation. 14:10 My parents gave me a Bible 14:12 the finest gift they ever gave me. 14:14 I opened the Bible and I started to read the book of Revelation. 14:18 And had vials and trumpets and beasts and plagues 14:21 and a whole bunch of stuff that I just didn't understand. 14:25 And some people say: 14:26 Hey, nobody understands that stuff. 14:28 Nobody can understand it, that's why you have so many opinions. 14:31 I remember one family member who I love dearly 14:34 came to me once and said: Why do you study all that 14:37 End-of-the-world stuff from the Bible anyway? 14:39 It doesn't matter. Nobody understands it. 14:42 It doesn't make any sense. 14:44 Just one question that I have. 14:46 If it's in the Bible and it doesn't make any sense, 14:49 why did God put it in there? 14:50 Is He playing a game with the human race? Is He just saying: 14:54 Hey, I'm going to put a bunch of stuff in there 14:56 that nobody is going to understand and I'm going to sit 14:58 back and watch 15:00 as everybody debates it? 15:01 People have been saying for generations: 15:04 you can't understand prophecy, you can't understand 15:07 the Book of Revelation. Billy Graham tells the story, 15:10 in his autobiography, 'Just as I am'. 15:14 About the day, that his mother picked up her Bible, 15:16 and decided, that she is going to read the Book of Revelation. 15:19 And he describes how she finds joy in that Book, 15:22 because it spoke about the appearing, about how 15:26 Jesus was coming again. And that gave her great hope. 15:29 But then her pastor found out, that she was reading the Book 15:32 of Revelation, and he got a little worried. 15:34 And he paid a visit to Mrs. Graham, and he said: 15:37 Mrs. Graham I understand, that you have been reading 15:39 the Book of Revelation, is that true? 15:41 Oh, yes it is, she said. 15:42 I find such hope in that book, it gives me joy. 15:46 He said: You can't read that book. 15:48 She said: Why not? 15:49 He said: Well if you read that book, you'll go crazy. 15:54 Now, I can understand why he might have said that. 15:59 I can understand, because if you 16:01 look at the history of this world, 16:03 in the last generation or two, you can find a whole bunch 16:05 of people, who started to read Bible 16:07 prophecy and went a little bit crazy. 16:09 David Koresh in Waco, Texas 16:12 believed himself to be Jesus Christ. 16:14 He issued a manifesto on the Book of Revelation. 16:17 He said, we will come out, if you read our manifesto 16:19 on the radio waves. It was all based in Bible prophecy. 16:23 He took a little bit of Bible prophecy and he went 16:26 completely off the deep end. 16:27 Charlie Manson, the same thing. A story that a lot of people 16:30 don't know, is that Charles Manson was a member of a cult, 16:34 in his youth, known as The Process. 16:36 And in the Process, he learned a lot of strange 16:38 things about Bible Prophecy. The reason that Charlie Manson, 16:42 ordered the killings in 1969 of Sharon Tate... 16:46 The reason he ordered the killings in 1969, 16:48 was that in he mind he thought, that one race will blame 16:52 another race for those murders. And it will start a great 16:55 race war, which would develop into the battle of Armageddon. 16:59 and that he would rise to the top, as the world's savior. 17:03 A lot of people have taken a little prophecy and they've 17:05 gone off the deep end, so in a way I don't blame 17:09 Mrs. Graham's preacher for being just a little bit concerned. 17:13 But the question again tonight is this: 17:16 Is Bible prophecy really unintelligible? 17:20 Is that like a violin, that you can 17:22 play any old tune you want on? 17:24 And invent whatever meaning you want, 17:26 'cause nobody can understand it anyway? I don't believe it. 17:29 I don't believe God toys with us, I don't believe God trifles 17:32 with us, I believe He wants us to know, 17:35 what the future holds, because He wants us to have a security, 17:38 that He is in control, and this planet is headed somewhere. 17:42 The very title of the Book of Revelation tells you, 17:45 that it's not unintelligible. 17:47 It's called the revelation, in Greek the Apocalypse, 17:50 what is it mean? It means the unveiling, 17:52 it means the revealing. God's not trying to confuse you, 17:55 He's trying to reveal something to you, and He says so 17:58 in the first few verses of the Book of Revelation, in 18:01 Revelation 1:3, an angel appears to John the apostle and says: 18:18 Now, let me ask you a question tonight, 18:20 it's not a difficult question. The question is this: 18:24 If this Book is unintelligible, is it possible that God could 18:29 still bless us for reading it? The question is this: 18:32 Does it sound to you, from the words of revelation itself, 18:36 as if God meant for this Book to be a big confusion? Yes or no? 18:41 No, that wasn't very fast, I put everybody to sleep 18:43 in six minutes flat tonight. 18:46 Does it sound to you, like God didn't intend for us to 18:49 understand this Book? No, He said, listen: 18:52 You read that book and I bless you. 18:54 You keep the words of that Book, and I bless you. 18:57 God said, you were suppose to understand this, 18:59 and He says it again, at the end of the Book. 19:01 The angel comes back to John in chapter 22, and says: 19:13 This was not a closed Book. This is not meant to be something 19:17 that was sealed up and shut away forever. 19:20 So let me ask you a question tonight: 19:22 what does the Bible say about the battle of Armageddon? 19:27 If God meant for us to understand it, and to read it, 19:30 what does it actually say about this epic last day battle. 19:34 Does everybody's opinion matter? 19:36 Does everybody's opinion on equal 19:38 footing, equal bases, does it matter what we believe about it? 19:42 What does the Bible actually say about this last day battle? 19:46 Would you like to see it? 19:48 Yes. 19:49 Only half of you would like to see it this evening. 19:51 Would you like to see it? 19:53 Yes! 19:54 All right, I'm going to show you. 19:55 But buckle your seat belts, we going to turn 19:57 to the Book of Revelation, chapter 16:12. 20:00 The Bible says in Revelation 16:12 20:25 Let me pause there, and point something out. 20:27 Here we have, the Bible says, in the last days 20:30 kind of a counterfeit trinity. 20:32 There are three of them, there is the dragon, the beast 20:35 and a false prophet. This last day deception that goes 20:39 out across the whole world, a global spiritual deception. 21:01 That expression only happens a few time in the Bible, and every 21:04 single time it's in reference to the second coming of Jesus. 21:23 In which language? 21:24 In the Hebrew, Armageddon. 21:29 What in the world, does it mean, all that stuff? 21:34 The beast, the dragon, the false prophet, 21:37 gathering everybody together, in the place called in the 21:40 Hebrew tongue, Armageddon, Jesus comes as a thief. 21:43 What in the world does it mean? 21:45 I'm going to give you a key tonight, that unlocks 21:47 the Book of Revelation in a way you may've never seen before. 21:50 Approximately two-thirds of the language 21:53 of the Book of Revelation is borrowed or quoted directly 21:56 from the rest of the Bible. If you open the Book of Revelation, 22:00 I wish somebody had explained to me this sooner in life. 22:03 If you open the Book of Revelation, and you see 22:05 something you don't understand, chances are you can look it up 22:08 in the rest of your Bible, and it will spell it out 22:11 as plain as day. Now, this is a specially true 22:15 of the Book of Daniel. 22:17 If there is something in Revelation, you don't understand 22:20 go to the Book of Daniel, it will probably explain it. 22:22 And incidentally the reverse is true. 22:24 If you see something in Daniel, you don't understand, 22:27 chances are, the Book of Revelation will explain it. 22:29 Two-thirds of the Book of Revelation is language borrowed 22:33 from the rest of the Bible. And God says, here is how 22:36 He want you to study. He actually lays it out in detail 22:38 in the Book of Isaiah, as He talks about how He communicates 22:42 with His people. He says: 22:51 Now what's God saying? 22:53 I have a friend, who recently had a surgery and they had to 22:56 remove mussels from this part of his body, to the other part. 22:59 And he said: I feel like, I came right out of Isaiah 28. 23:02 Here a little, there a little, line upon line, they took... 23:05 What's God trying to say? God's trying to say, that you 23:08 need to study your Bible, the way you do a jigsaw puzzle. 23:11 What do you mean by that pastor? I mean, go through the whole 23:14 Bible, gather all the texts on 23:15 any given subject, that you try to study. 23:17 Get them all. 23:18 Pastor that sounds like work. Well, yes, it is work 23:21 and God wants you to do that work. That is the only way, 23:24 you get any benefit out of reading the Bible. 23:26 Go get all the texts, put them together, and then you'll get a 23:29 a picture, that is unmistakable and can only be interpreted, 23:32 one way. It's like doing a jigsaw puzzle. 23:35 I don't do jigsaw puzzles, 23:36 so I don't know what a big one looks like. 23:38 But let's say that you have a 50,000 piece jigsaw puzzle. 23:41 I don't know, if that's a big one? 23:43 Is that a big one? All right. 23:45 50.000 pieces, you pick up a little piece, and you say, 23:48 hey look at this. This is a picture of a dog. 23:51 I know what the whole picture is, it's a picture of dogs. 23:55 So you put it on the table. You pick another piece, and say 23:57 oh, no this one is a pig, it doesn't fit. 24:00 You think, OK now I've got it, it's pigs and dogs. 24:04 I got to work this in, it has nothing 24:06 to do with the sermon tonight at all. 24:08 My daughter said the other day: Mommy, Daddy, 24:11 when they sheer sheep, do they turn into pigs? 24:15 I said, what in the world made you think that? 24:17 Because I heard, she said, that when you shave a sheep, it likes 24:20 to roll around in the mud - it must become a pig. 24:23 So you've got your dog, and you got your pig. 24:25 Then you say, this is it, it's dogs and pigs. 24:28 But soon you have a barn, and the next 24:30 thing you know, you have some cows, 24:31 and you have a house, and you have a sunset, 24:33 and you think, ah, the whole picture 24:36 is a country side. 24:38 You got to go through the Bible, and 24:40 get all the pieces line upon line, 24:41 precept upon precept. Let's do that. 24:43 with the battle of Armageddon, and 24:45 see how clearly God can speak. 24:47 Here is what we already know, about this battle. 24:50 It is a global, spiritual deception. 24:52 We heard about the beast, the dragon, the false prophet 24:55 going to all the world, they perform sings and wonders. 24:58 Which incidentally is important to note, 25:00 if something is miraculous, it is not necessarily of God, 25:05 particularly in the last days, God says, watch out, 25:07 even demons perform signs. 25:09 There is a global spiritual deception. 25:11 It told us about Kings from the East, 25:13 it talked about the Euphrates being dried up. 25:16 It talked about "I come as a thief", which we already know. 25:19 and you'll see in your lesson. This is a reference. 25:22 to Jesus appearing. The appearing. 25:25 And then it talks about this place, called in the 25:27 in the Hebrew tongue: Armageddon. 25:29 Now, this word is a very important clue. 25:33 Because the entire Book of Revelation was written, 25:35 in the Greek language. But John changes languages 25:39 for one word, and He says: 25:40 God gathers everybody, into this place called 25:43 in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon. 25:46 What does that word mean in Hebrew? It's actually two words. 25:49 Har Megiddon. What does that mean? 25:53 It means: "The mountain of Megiddo". 25:57 That is an important clue. OK preacher? 26:00 What is the mountain of Megiddo, have to do with anything? 26:04 I'll show you. I'm glad you asked. 26:07 Megiddo is a little valley, out in the Middle East, 26:10 in the nation of Palestine. 26:13 The origin of Palestine nation is Israel. 26:15 This is a little valley, Megiddo, it is only 20 miles 26:18 A little tiny place, 26:20 and yet somehow the whole world will be gathered there. 26:23 Now, in this valley are three mountains. 26:25 There is Mount Carmel, now that's the place 26:28 where Elijah met the prophets of Baal. 26:30 Elijah stood up, because God's people turned away from God, 26:34 and he challenged them to return. 26:36 That's significant. That's in the valley of Megiddo. 26:39 On another edge is Mount Tabor. 26:41 Some scholars believe, Mountain Tabor is where 26:43 the transfiguration on the mount took place. 26:46 What's the transfiguration on the mount? 26:48 Well, the transfiguration on the mount is when Jesus 26:50 appeared in all His glory, to three of His disciples. 26:53 He was transfigured, He became glorious, 26:55 and next to Him appeared Elijah and Moses. 26:58 One person who had died, and one person who had been 27:01 caught straight up to heaven. 27:02 If you read that story, it says a little bit before, 27:05 Jesus told his disciples, some of you here will not die, 27:08 until you will see Me coming in My glory. 27:10 The transfiguration on the Mount, 27:11 if you will, is like a little tiny picture, 27:14 of the appearing of Jesus Christ. 27:16 And, so that mountain is also in this valley. 27:19 There's a third mountain, Gilboa, I don't know yet, 27:22 why Gilboa, I don't know if there 27:23 is a connection, or anything 27:25 interesting there, but three mountains 27:27 a little valley, 20 miles across, 27:29 this is one of the most active pieces of real estate, 27:32 on the face of the planet, historically speaking. 27:34 This is the cross roads of the ancient world. 27:37 From here you can take a road North, to Europe, 27:40 you can take a road East, to Persia, 27:41 and you can take a road South, to Africa, 27:44 All the roads of the ancient world met in this valley. 27:47 And because they did, all the armies 27:50 of the ancient world met in this little 20 mile valley. 27:54 And when they met, what do you think they did? 27:59 What do armies do when they meet? 28:01 Fight. I knew you are an intelligent audience. 28:04 When they got together in this little valley, 28:06 they fought. More battles have been fought here, 28:09 then just about any other piece of real estate 28:11 on the face of the planet. It was in this valley, 28:14 in the Old Testament, that Deborah and Barak 28:16 defeated the armies of Sisera. It was in this valley 28:19 that Joshua leading the nation of Israel 28:22 defeated the Kings of Canaan. This a valley, where a lot 28:25 of literal military conflicts took place. 28:29 But it's also a place, where a 28:31 lot of spiritual conflicts took place. 28:33 It was in this valley, over on the eastern edge 28:36 in a little place called Endor, that King Saul went 28:39 to a spiritualist medium for advice, 28:42 against the will of God. And the next day, the Bible says 28:45 with that advice he went out to the battle field, 28:48 and lost his life. 28:50 There was a military conflict going on, but the bigger issue 28:53 was the spiritual conflict. And of course it was in this 28:57 valley where Elijah confronted the priests of Baal 29:00 at Mount Carmel. 29:02 In Megiddo a lot of battles have been fought, 29:04 both literal battles and spiritual battles. 29:08 So the question is, why does God refer to that valley 29:12 in the prophecy of Armageddon? 29:14 What's the point that He's trying to get to? 29:17 Why does he talk about Megiddo? 29:20 Well, for the answer... 29:22 I want to invite you in your imagination at least, 29:25 to travel back in time with me 2,500 years 29:29 to the city of Babylon. 29:31 This is one of the most important cities 29:33 in Earth's history. 29:34 And it was the center of the world 2,500 years ago. 29:38 And as you and I are standing outside this marvelous city, 29:41 coming from inside the city, 29:44 we can hear the voices of partying, 29:46 and carousing and carrying on. There is a party going on 29:51 in the city of Babylon. 29:53 The weird thing about it is, is while they were partying inside, 29:57 there is an army gathered around the outside of that city, 30:00 and everybody knew it. 30:02 They all knew that army was there 30:05 and yet they were throwing a party. 30:07 The Bible describes that party in Daniel, chapter 5 30:10 which proves to be one of the important keys 30:12 to understanding the Battle of Armageddon. 30:14 Here is the party. 30:36 Inside the city they knew the Persian army had gathered. 30:40 They knew there was an attempt to take down the city of Babylon 30:43 But the king said: Conquer Babylon? 30:45 That's not even possible! 30:47 Our walls are so high, no army will ever go over. 30:51 Our walls are so thick, you can drive two chariots 30:55 side by side of top of the wall, 30:57 no army will ever dig through that wall. 30:59 We have enough food for twenty years, 31:01 and we have the river, the river Euphrates, 31:04 they goes right through the middle of that city, 31:06 we have all the water, we will ever, ever need. 31:10 Bringing it on. History tells us, 31:11 they were so confident at points, 31:13 they were throwing food off the walls, 31:15 to the Persians, taunting them, 31:17 saying: "You will never ever take Babylon!" 31:21 Secure in themselves, even though the armies 31:24 from the East were outside that city. 31:28 And as they were partying, the Bible says, that suddenly 31:32 a severed bloodless hand appeared in mid air, 31:35 and in flaming letters, wrote four words on the wall: 31:39 "Mene, Mene, Tekel Upharsin. " 31:44 All of a sudden the party ground to a halt. 31:47 The king's knees began to knock together, 31:50 he called the wise men 31:51 of the kingdom and said: What in the world does that mean? 31:54 On the wall, I want to know what that means. 31:56 Nobody could interpret it. 31:57 One old queen said: "You know, we used to have somebody here, 32:00 who could interpret stuff like that. 32:02 His name is Daniel. " 32:04 "Go, get him" said the king. 32:06 Daniel came in and interpreted it for him. 32:09 King, he said, it says: 32:20 Belshazzar was so confident that night that nothing could happen, 32:24 nothing could change that he had taken the sacred vessels 32:27 out of God's temple in Jerusalem, 32:28 the vessels which his grandfather had ceased, 32:31 as he conquered Israel 32:32 and they were throwing a blasphemous party 32:35 with the temple vessels. 32:37 They were so confident. 32:38 Daniel said: "This is it. 32:41 There really is a God, He's been watching you, 32:44 you've been found wanting and tonight Babylon will fall. 32:48 That's exactly what happened. 32:50 Cyrus, the general, the Persian general was outside the city, 32:53 and he looked and he thought: "We can never get over 32:55 those walls, they are too high. 32:57 We can't dig through those walls, they are too wide. 33:00 But maybe... 33:03 we can go under the walls. 33:05 And they went upstream on the Euphrates river, 33:08 he dug 180 channels 33:10 on both sides of that river, 33:11 he diverted the flow, and as the water went lower and lower, 33:15 he created a virtual highway under the wall into the city. 33:18 The only obstacle left was a set of walls 33:21 that ran the whole length of that river, 33:23 and they had locked gates in them. 33:25 But that night 33:27 they were so busy drinking, they forgot to lock the gates 33:32 and Cyrus took the city. 33:34 Now here's what's stunning. 33:36 In the book of Isaiah, more than a hundred years 33:38 before Cyrus was born, the Bible told us 33:41 it was going to happen. 33:46 He names him, 33:48 God named Cyrus a hundred years before he was born. 34:15 Prophesied in detail, a hundred years before Cyrus was born. 34:20 Now, let's think about this story, 34:22 because it is the key to the battle of Armageddon. 34:25 In this story the Euphrates river is dried up, 34:29 so Cyrus can go under the wall. 34:30 Kings from the East, yes plural, 34:33 because the Persian government was a dual government, 34:36 the Medes and the Persians. 34:38 The Kings from the East marched to the city of Babylon. 34:41 In the Bible, Cyrus is called "God's anointed one. " 34:45 In the Hebrew is Meshach. 34:48 It's Messiah, the word that' actually used. 34:50 Cyrus, it says, it's the picture of the Messiah 34:53 Than after Babylon falls, the Persians let Israel go back 34:57 to the promised land, 34:58 God's people go home. 35:00 Now, this is important to understanding both 35:03 the battle of Armageddon and the appearing, 35:06 the second coming of Christ. 35:08 Let's look at the Prophecy one more time. 35:10 Revelation 16: 12 35:25 When John writes this prophecy, he's thinking back 35:29 well, he's thinking back 500 years at this point, 35:33 to the fall of the city of Babylon, he's saying, 35:36 if you want to understand something about the appearing, 35:38 go back in time, look at Babylon, that's the key 35:42 to understand the appearing, the second coming of Christ. 35:45 John is telling the story of God defeating 35:49 a last day spiritual Babylon, so that he can take His people 35:54 to their promised land. 35:56 When Jesus appears. Mathew 24 says that Jesus 36:01 is the King from the East. 36:11 And when Jesus comes, the Bible says, 36:13 He conquers the city of Babylon. 36:15 Revelation 16, the very same prophecy, 36:18 a few verses later. 36:32 This is a prophecy about spiritual Babylon 36:35 in the last days. 36:36 The battle of Armageddon is primarily a spiritual conflict. 36:43 John is saying: look back in history, 36:45 there was a literal nation of Israel, 36:47 and a literal city of Babylon, 36:49 God had Babylon fall, so that Israel could go home 36:51 to their Promised land. 36:53 Then he says, in the last days, there'll be a spiritual Babylon, 36:57 and it's mentioned 6 times in the book of Revelation. 37:00 6 times Babylon is mentioned, and it's always a symbol of 37:03 worldwide religious confusion. 37:06 God said that it will be a Babylon in the last days. 37:08 And the Bible says in the Galatians chapter 3, 37:11 that everyone who is Christ's, is Abraham's seed. 37:15 There will be a spiritual Israel in the last days, 37:19 a people that God will bring home, 37:21 as he defeats Babylon. The Bible describes it in detail. 37:26 Why the valley of Megiddo? 37:28 It's because the primary mountain in Megiddo 37:31 is mount Carmel, 37:33 where Elijah called the prophet of Baal to task. 37:37 he stood on the mountain and he called Israel, 37:39 who had once served God, 37:41 who had once worshiped God, but had gone away 37:43 he called them back to God, he said: "Come back, 37:46 before it's too late. " 37:48 The Bible records his message. 38:02 The issue in Armageddon is a spiritual issue, 38:05 we have gotten so wrapped up in that little piece of real estate 38:08 I'm not going to say, there will never be a military conflict 38:11 in the Middle East. It's actually pretty likely 38:14 something like that is going to happen. 38:16 But it's not the primary issue. 38:18 The issue in Armageddon is not a military issue, 38:21 It's a spiritual issue. 38:23 The Bible says, God calls the entire human race 38:26 up to mount of Megiddo and the message on the mount of Megiddo: 38:30 How long are you going to halt between two opinions? 38:32 If the Lord is God, then worship Him. 38:36 It's a spiritual issue. 38:38 And the Bible says, that the battle of Armageddon ends 38:41 as the appearance take place and Jesus comes. 38:45 Revelation 19: 39:06 Who is he talking about? That's Jesus. 39:11 ..."And the armies... 39:18 That in the Bible, by the way, you'd seen it in your lesson, 39:21 represents the Word of God. 39:31 The issue is spiritual. 39:33 There may be tanks and planes and guns in the Middle-East 39:36 very soon, I don't know. 39:39 But the issue primarily is spiritual. 39:41 God gathers the whole world unto that mountain 39:43 and He says: 'How long are you going to halt?' 39:46 You're just about out of time, Jesus is coming. 39:50 Why would you choose anything but the Kingdom of Heaven? 39:54 Why would you choose anything, 39:56 but a God who loved you enough to give His life for you? 40:00 Jesus' vesture's dipped in blood. 40:02 You know who's blood I believe that is? 40:05 It's not violence on the planet, it's His own blood. 40:08 It's dipped in His own blood because He would do anything, 40:11 to make sure you made it, 40:13 that you made it on the day of the Appearing. 40:16 A reporter was in the city of Chicago. 40:19 He was staying up on the 18th floor of a hotel. 40:21 As he was working in his room one afternoon when he heard 40:24 a terrible ruckus in the hallway. 40:26 And he stuck his head out on the hallway and heard people yelling 40:29 'Fire, fire!' 40:30 So he closed the door, 40:32 he got a towel, he made it wet and put it under the door. 40:34 And then he called his editor: 'You're not going to believe 40:36 this! I'm up on the 18th floor of this hotel 40:40 and it's on fire! 40:41 This is the greatest thing that has ever happened to me. 40:44 I'm going to sit here in the hotel, 40:46 I'm going to report what it's like to be in a burning hotel, 40:48 you can print it in the newspaper!' 40:51 The editor said: 40:52 'You are a fool. Get out of that hotel!' 40:54 'No, there's no convincing me. I'm going to stay. 40:56 I have an exit plan! 40:58 I will make my decision to get out of here 41:00 a little bit later. I'll get out, don't worry!' 41:02 So he sat there, he reported, what it was like 41:04 to hear the noise in the hallway. 41:06 These people panicked to get out. 41:07 He reported what it was like to feel the 41:09 door of his hotel get warm. 41:12 He reported what it was like to smell smoke. 41:15 And than the time came to get out. 41:17 So he hung up the phone, 41:19 he pulled the towel away, 41:20 opened the door, gone on his hands and knees, 41:22 crawled down the hallway to the fire exit 41:25 and it was completely blocked off. Couldn't get out. 41:28 So he crawled very quickly back to his hotel room, 41:30 closed the door, put the towel back, 41:32 got out to the window, opened it up, looked down, 41:35 and there were some firemen down below. 41:37 'Help!'- he said. 41:39 Firemen looked up, they couldn't believe there's still 41:41 somebody in there, 41:42 when there was time enough 41:44 for everybody to get out. 41:47 They looked up, they said: 41:48 'We don't have a ladder that goes that high. 41:50 You're going to have to jump!' 41:52 He got up on the ledge, 41:55 braced himself between the two sills, 41:58 closed his eyes, 42:00 took a deep breath, 42:02 thought about where the net was, 42:05 and jumped. 42:09 ...And the newspaper said he missed the net. 42:13 ...And what a shame, 42:16 when everybody has time to get out. 42:19 God says, 42:21 the issue in the last days is spiritual. 42:24 There's all the time in the world to get out now. 42:27 'I gave my life for you. 42:29 Why not come home with me?' 42:31 It's a spiritual issue. 42:32 And it's a decision the whole world is faced with 42:35 just before Jesus comes! 42:38 Now it's time 42:39 to get out lesson number 2. 42:41 We're going to look at what we've just covered. 42:43 Open the Bible, 42:44 go into it in just a little more depth. 42:46 Your local moderator wherever you are in the world tonight 42:49 it's going to lead you through this Bible study 42:52 and we're going to go through it right here 42:54 in Southern-California too. 43:48 OK. If you're staying with us tonight, 43:50 here in Southern-California, joining our discussion, 43:52 it is time to get out lesson number 2. 43:54 And again tonight, my friend, Dan Houghton is going to come up 43:57 and lead us through the lesson. Dan, come on up. 44:04 Thank you, pastor Shawn. 44:06 You know, isn't it exciting to think about 44:09 the fact, that there is a final battle and 44:11 you have a little glimpse into what that might be? 44:15 I want to invite you to take your lesson. 44:20 You should have it. Looks just like this, 44:22 for those of you who are joining us 44:24 from wherever you are 44:26 in this country or in this world. 44:27 You should have a little lesson like this. 44:29 It's called 'The Appearing'. 44:31 Lesson number 2. 44:32 We're going to open that up and we're going to fill out 44:34 each one of these blanks. 44:37 You're a great class. 44:39 It's time for the quiz, as they say. 44:41 But it's an opened-book quiz, that's the good news. 44:44 Okay! 44:46 Revelation is a book that some people 44:50 have said is sealed. 44:52 You heard pastor Shawn talking about that. 44:54 You can't understand it! 44:55 It doesn't make any sense. All those things are confused 44:59 to our modern-day mind. 45:02 Question number 1. 45:03 "Throughout history many have suggested that the book 45:06 of Revelation is a mysterious sealed book, 45:09 that it's virtually impossible to understand. " 45:12 What does the Bible say about this? 45:16 I want you to look 45:17 at Revelation chapter 1, verse 3: 45:22 Does that sound like God doesn't want us to understand 45:24 what's in the book of Revelation? 45:26 A blessing is pronounced, 45:37 1. There's a blessing. A special blessing. 45:42 carries this on to the next level: 45:50 Right there the angel says: 'Don't seal this book. ' 45:55 When someone tells you, 45:57 that the book of Revelation can't be understood, 45:59 you shouldn't read it 46:01 or that it is sealed in for some other time, 46:03 what are you going to say? 46:05 It's wrong. That's not the case. 46:07 So, the answer to this question, 46:09 what does the Bible say about Revelation 46:11 being impossible to understand? 46:13 1. God offers a blessing. 46:16 There's a special blessing 46:18 to those who read Revelation 46:20 and do what it says. 46:22 2. And the angel declares that the book is NOT sealed. 46:29 It's not sealed. 46:30 The book of Revelation is for you and for me and for our time 46:34 specifically. 46:36 Question number 2. 46:43 You heard pastor Shawn talking about that. 46:46 There's one book of the Bible that 46:49 is borrowed from very heavily. Do you know what that book is? 46:52 The book of Daniel, that's right. 46:54 Especially the book of Daniel. 46:57 You also may want to put a little note 46:59 in your lesson, there you heard pastor Shawn say, 47:02 that 2/3 of the book of Revelation is 47:04 drawn from other parts of Holy Scripture, 47:07 but particularly from the book of Daniel. 47:11 Number 3. 47:22 Okay? 47:25 Line upon line, 47:27 precept upon precept, 47:29 you know what does that really saying? 47:31 Okay. Isaiah 28:10 47:35 'precept upon precept' says it twice. 47:42 The Bible gives it's own best 47:43 approach to interpreting it's prophecies. 47:45 What is that? 47:47 It is comparing Scripture with Scripture, 47:51 allowing the Bible to interpret itself. 47:55 Not taking the word of some human scholar, 47:59 but letting the Bible itself explain 48:01 what it means. 48:03 And it allows you that way to get the big picture. 48:06 When you take here a little, there a little, 48:08 you get a complete picture of what Scripture is saying. 48:13 The word Armageddon. 48:15 How many of you've noticed every time there is a 48:18 conflict of any kind of significance in our world. 48:22 The news anchors will use the word Armageddon, 48:28 as if they say 'This may be'. It is like 48:30 our whole society is wondering: is this the big one? 48:47 Mountains of Megiddo. 48:48 You heard pastor Shawn talk about the importance 48:51 of that little 20 mile wide valley 48:54 in the Nation of Israel, where a cross roads of 48:58 our world met many battles were fought. 49:01 But what is the significance in Scripture 49:04 of that particular piece of real estate? 49:10 Remember? They were three mountains. 49:13 You're right. The mountain of Carmel. 49:16 Mount Carmel as I remember pronouncing it 49:19 from my early study of Scripture. 49:21 Mount Carmel. What happened on that mountain? 49:25 Elijah challenged 49:27 the prophets of Baal. And there was a spiritual 49:30 show-down. Is that right? 49:31 What happened there? 49:34 That was the site of Elijah's spiritual challenge to those 49:38 involved in false religion. 49:40 And that is an incredibly important point 49:43 with this lesson and this presentation. 49:47 When we talk about the appearing, 49:49 what happens just before the appearing. 49:53 There is a call, a spiritual call 49:56 to all peoples of the world 49:59 who are all gathered 50:01 for the great battle of Armageddon. 50:03 And what that says from a spiritual 50:07 way is a challenge to 50:08 false religion, so that everybody has a choice 50:12 that they can make for truth. 50:15 Okay? 50:16 as we move along. 50:31 The fall of Babylon, okay? 50:45 All right. And that was number six. 50:48 The fall of Babylon, Cyrus diverted the Euphrates river 50:52 and it was dried up so that they could walk in. Now! 51:06 Now we're going to read two passages of Scripture, 51:26 This ancient city is still symbolic of this desire 51:30 on the part of humanity gone astray 51:33 to rebel against God. 51:35 And it comes down the symbolism right before the appearing. 51:45 What's the significance of the white horse? Anyone remember? 51:48 White horse is how the king comes. 51:50 Okay? Jesus is riding on that... 51:58 This is a spiritual judgment and a spiritual 52:01 world where's this taking place. 52:13 Okay? 52:15 Jeremiah 29:10 52:29 This is talking about literal Babylon. 52:32 Cyrus comes in and 52:34 makes the judgment allowing the children of Israel 52:37 to go back to their home country, their home land. 52:41 So what was the main reason why this happened? 52:46 He was causing you to return to this place. 52:48 Okay? 52:50 Number 7 in your lesson. 52:51 Be sure that you write that down. What was the reason why? 53:04 We need to say a loud Amen for that. 53:07 Can you say Amen about that? Amen! Thank you! 53:14 You know, that's something that when you talk about deception, 53:18 and if you look back at the issue 53:20 that Elijah was dealing with 53:22 on Mount Carmel. 53:24 There was an issue between what was true and what was false 53:27 in worship. Prophets of Baal, prophet of God. 53:32 Just because there are miracles, 53:34 if they go against what's in God's word, 53:36 even the demonic powers can work miracles. 53:39 Read Revelation 13:13-14. 53:53 Now, if that kind of deceptions going to be going on, 53:55 how important is it for you to know 53:58 what the word of God says? 54:01 Very, very important. 54:12 Very, very important 54:14 for you to know the difference, and that is based 54:17 upon the revealed word of God in Scripture. 54:26 I want you to visualize that for a minute. 54:29 What is it mean for Jesus to have a sword 54:32 coming out of His mouth? 54:33 What is that sword represent? 54:36 It's symbolic. Would you agree with me? It's symbolic. 54:38 Okay? 54:40 The sword represents what? 54:42 Let's look at Hebrews 4:12 first. 54:54 Now we'll look at Ephesians 6:17. 55:03 When He comes, He is coming with His own words 55:07 in His mouth. So how important is it, 55:09 that we know what his words say, 55:12 if He's coming at the appearing 55:14 with His word in His mouth, 55:15 we better know what His Word says. 55:18 Let's look at the lesson, at the conclusion of the battle. 55:21 Jesus has a sword coming out of His mouth. 55:23 What does that represent? Please write this down in your lesson. 55:43 The Bible, the Holy Scriptures are where the answers are. 55:47 And I thank God that pastor Shawn was able to open up 55:50 from Scripture tonight, 55:51 to give us another little insight 55:54 into the things that are building up to the Appearing. 55:59 Now, I believe that the battle of Armageddon is complete. 56:03 You have finished your lesson. 56:04 I guess the big question that I have again tonight 56:09 is where are you going to be, 56:11 when the appearing occurs? 56:13 I'd like to invite you to bow your heads with me as we pray. 56:17 Heavenly Father, 56:19 I just want to thank You for the privilege that we have, 56:22 of exploring deep into Your Word. 56:26 I want to thank You that You are appearing again on this planet 56:29 to take us all home. 56:31 Continue to open our minds and bless us as You are revealed 56:34 during these meetings. 56:36 In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. 56:38 Amen. 56:43 Closed Captioning by Christian Media Services 56:48 www. chms. ro |
Revised 2014-12-17