back to indexWed Bible Study - Revelation Lesson 9
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Heavenly Father, we thank you for giving us this time. 00:00:12.160 |
We pray, Father, that your word would be what feeds us. 00:00:16.440 |
Help us, Lord God, that we would be people who hunger and thirst for righteousness, that 00:00:22.040 |
we would desire you and actively, Lord, pursue you. 00:00:27.120 |
We pray, Father God, that you would help us to be genuine in our faith, that we would 00:00:32.480 |
not hide in traditions, in habits, but genuinely search our hearts, Lord God, that we may worship 00:00:42.240 |
Help us, Lord God, to examine our faith, that we may grow and mature, that we would, whatever 00:00:48.200 |
we do, that we would do in spirit and in truth. 00:00:50.480 |
We pray, Father God, that the focus would be upon your word, that things that we do 00:00:54.480 |
understand and things that it may be harder for us to understand. 00:00:59.040 |
Help us, Lord God, to glean from all of these things and to really have an impression in 00:01:03.400 |
our heart, Lord, that the Holy Spirit desires. 00:01:06.040 |
So we entrust this time to you in Jesus' name we pray, amen. 00:01:11.120 |
Okay, so as a quick overview, if you remember, if we look at chapter six, the seal judgments 00:01:18.360 |
were opened up and it went up to the sixth seal. 00:01:23.480 |
And remember, like part of the thing that I asked you to observe is when these seals 00:01:28.680 |
were being opened, what was the progression of these judgments? 00:01:40.120 |
So in each one of these, with the exception of the fifth one, the fifth one explains about 00:01:46.640 |
the martyrs who are under the altar basically as an act of sacrifice. 00:01:51.280 |
But if you look at the first, second, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth seal, each one of 00:01:57.720 |
And then there's chapter seven is kind of like a parenthetical statement where it's 00:02:03.000 |
not necessarily taking a break, but it opens up the sixth seal. 00:02:06.320 |
But before it gets to the seventh seal, and with seventh seal, I asked you to kind of 00:02:11.600 |
look at to see if that's opening up and within the seventh seal, the other judgment, 00:02:17.000 |
the trumpet judgments, and then within the seventh trumpet, the bowl judgment is coming 00:02:24.560 |
Whatever the case is, again, we're going to be looking at that in the coming weeks, 00:02:28.540 |
but before the seventh seal gets opened up in chapter eight, the sixth seal opens up 00:02:33.640 |
and then what we are seeing in chapter seven is happening within the sixth seal. 00:02:40.760 |
So there's an escalation of what's happening in these judgments. 00:02:45.040 |
And remember we talked about that last week, like we study these things kind of to observe 00:02:53.640 |
And remember we talked about last week, like if you were the first recipients of this letter, 00:03:04.880 |
You might have read this things like, who are these eagles? 00:03:08.800 |
You might have asked that question, but what would have been a universal response from 00:03:21.360 |
Think how you would response if you read this letter for the first time as a first recipient. 00:03:36.440 |
Even if we don't understand the details of what's going on, the immediate response of 00:03:39.920 |
everybody would be there's an imminent danger that's coming upon the world. 00:03:45.320 |
So yes, the end conclusion is Christ is going to come and he's going to redeem us. 00:03:53.480 |
But prior to us getting to that point, he says, here's these things coming and these 00:04:01.400 |
Remember we talked about that in one of the seals, one of the judgments, they have a fourth, 00:04:10.040 |
they have the authority to wipe out a fourth of the world, right? 00:04:20.080 |
So all these things that we can think about, it's intensified and it's increasing, right? 00:04:26.080 |
And remember I talked to you about if you read ahead, if you look at the trumpet judgments 00:04:29.920 |
and then by the time we get to the bowl judgments, it's going to make the seal judgments seem 00:04:35.360 |
And this escalation is not going to end until we get to the very end. 00:04:43.480 |
And we're only in the beginning part of this. 00:04:46.280 |
That the real intense judgment is going to be seen in the latter part of the trumpets 00:04:53.120 |
So the immediate response of everybody who reads this is there is a sense of urgency, 00:04:59.160 |
There might be relief for somebody like Apostle John who's being persecuted and under hardship 00:05:05.120 |
that is promised that the Messiah is going to come and deliver them. 00:05:09.000 |
But at the same time, if you knew that this judgment was coming upon the world, remember 00:05:17.000 |
When Christ comes in his full wrath, what is the response of the world? 00:05:30.280 |
How does it describe the response of the people when Christ comes? 00:05:45.320 |
If you don't know the answer, look at your Bible. 00:05:55.740 |
And they cry out to the mountains to cover them. 00:05:58.420 |
So tremendous fear comes upon them because Christ is not coming as a humble servant to 00:06:08.620 |
So the second time he comes, he's going to come to consummate everything that he started 00:06:13.400 |
with his death and resurrection, which is to bring the judgment. 00:06:16.320 |
And at the end of this judgment, he's going to deliver his church and we'll be in a new 00:06:21.800 |
So if you heard this for the first time, the natural reaction obviously would be fear. 00:06:28.480 |
What is another thing that you would think of if you knew that Christ was going to come 00:06:31.700 |
and he's going to come in his full fury and you knew that a fourth of everybody you know 00:06:38.800 |
can die of famine or disease as an act of God's divine judgment, what would your response 00:06:49.200 |
Don't think theologically, just think what would your, huh? 00:07:01.480 |
I would think, I mean, I don't know if all of you would think that way. 00:07:04.520 |
I would think the first thing you think about like all the people that you know who are 00:07:08.040 |
under this judgment that they need to know, right? 00:07:12.320 |
But do you think that the Holy Spirit had intentions to sober the church with this letter? 00:07:20.640 |
You think there's a reason why God left it semi-ambiguous? 00:07:25.320 |
There are certain things that seem clear and certain things that are ambiguous on purpose. 00:07:30.920 |
When he says to watch carefully so that it does not overtake us like a thief, he wanted 00:07:34.880 |
every generation, every Christian from that moment on, whether he came that year, whether 00:07:39.760 |
he came 2,000 years later, that every generation is to examine this book and to have the same 00:07:45.320 |
effect on us, that we ought to live soberly, not like we're going to be here forever. 00:07:51.240 |
You know, we typically don't think about death until death comes, right? 00:07:56.080 |
But if you're studying the book of Revelation carefully, how can you not come out of this 00:08:00.160 |
thinking if you really believe this, a sense of urgency, right? 00:08:05.700 |
Sense of urgency for me to live soberly and sense of urgency to spread the gospel. 00:08:09.960 |
And I think that's exactly what was intended in the letter and the reason why he gave it 00:08:16.300 |
So he doesn't say, "Well, he's not going to, don't worry, he's not going to come for another 00:08:20.700 |
Like, oh, 2,000 years, don't have to worry about that. 00:08:23.300 |
He made it specific enough and ambiguous enough so that every generation there was a possibility 00:08:31.340 |
And there's no human being that has ever lived that had to wait more than 80, 90, 100 years, 00:08:42.400 |
But that time that we have from the moment we meet Christ until he comes, we were to 00:08:47.340 |
live with this in mind, with this vision in mind, that Christ is going to come, but when 00:08:57.420 |
So chapter 6, we saw the beginning of this elevation of judgment and then there is a, 00:09:04.940 |
Actually if you look at number 1, okay, the chapter 7 is divided into two parts. 00:09:13.180 |
You'll see the first part ends in verse 8 and it's talking about the 144,000. 00:09:19.140 |
The angels begin and one of the angels tell them to withhold the judgment until the full 00:09:24.260 |
number of the seals have been confirmed and 144,000 and then after that, the great multitude. 00:09:39.980 |
I forgot, but yours is empty anyway, so you just kind of have to figure out what's missing, 00:09:46.620 |
So you're going to take a little bit longer, right? 00:09:52.540 |
If you look at the end of chapter 6, in verse 17, it says, in verse 16, "Calling to the 00:09:59.740 |
mountains and the rock," this is the response of the world. 00:10:02.020 |
He says, "Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne and 00:10:06.900 |
from the wrath of the Lamb, for the great day of their wrath has come and who can stand?" 00:10:12.900 |
So chapter 6 ends with this rhetorical question. 00:10:16.800 |
If this is really going to happen, who's going to be able to make it out of this? 00:10:21.860 |
And so chapter 7 is an answer to that question, right? 00:10:26.420 |
That yes, if God doesn't intervene in some way, the whole earth would be wiped out. 00:10:31.940 |
It would be the end of human history and no one would be able to withstand this. 00:10:36.060 |
And that's the beginning of chapter 7, and he shows us, like, who's going to stand this? 00:10:43.300 |
And that's basically the answer that he gives, right? 00:10:46.340 |
So in verses 1 to 3, they describe the work of the four angels holding back the four winds, 00:10:54.340 |
So in other words, the four winds in other parts of the Bible is described as wrath. 00:11:00.940 |
So whenever we hear this term in the Old Testament, prophetic, apocalyptic literature, it's typically 00:11:11.580 |
It's like the full wrath of God, again, the imagery that these four corners represent 00:11:17.420 |
to us is that his wrath is not just going to come in one direction, right? 00:11:22.020 |
Remember, he's already described that there's going to be a famine, there's going to be 00:11:28.660 |
So when he says the judgment is coming in four corners, these angels are holding it 00:11:38.300 |
Famine is coming not in one direction, but in every direction, right? 00:11:43.140 |
Like things that you couldn't have thought of. 00:11:46.460 |
So when we think about today, like persecution and hardship and disaster for Christians, 00:11:54.060 |
A lot of times it could come from your neighbors, it can come from financial hardship, it can 00:12:01.460 |
come from within the church, it can even come from within the home. 00:12:06.020 |
So when God's judgment is described, and he says he's withholding, in verse 7, "After 00:12:13.340 |
this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four 00:12:16.940 |
winds of the earth, that no wind might blow on earth or sea or against the tree." 00:12:22.060 |
So each one of these descriptions, again, in Daniel 7, 2, it describes the four winds 00:12:29.660 |
of heaven to churn up the great sea and the four great beasts to come forth on their mission 00:12:36.620 |
Jeremiah 49, 36 and on, it says, "The four winds carry out the fierce anger of Yahweh 00:12:43.820 |
So again, the four winds are descriptions of the completeness of his wrath. 00:12:51.420 |
So obviously it's metaphorically speaking that it's going to come in every which way. 00:12:59.540 |
It says in verse 2, "Then I saw another angel ascending from the rising of the sun with 00:13:03.580 |
the seal of the living God, and he called with a loud voice to the four angels who had 00:13:07.580 |
been given power to harm earth and sea, saying, 'Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees 00:13:13.980 |
until we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads.' 00:13:18.780 |
And I heard the number of the sealed, 144,000 sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel." 00:13:24.880 |
So again, the answer to the question that chapter 6 ends with is who can stand this? 00:13:30.100 |
He said, "These people that they're going to be mentioning here, the 144,000 and then 00:13:35.020 |
the great multitude, is because God is telling the angels to hold off until it's time." 00:13:48.060 |
When the full number of his elect are sealed, he said, then he's going to let the angels 00:13:53.820 |
go and then the corners of the earth is going to collapse. 00:13:57.700 |
And everything that he's talking about is going to unfold. 00:14:01.460 |
So right now, no matter how chaotic things may get, economically, politically, North 00:14:09.060 |
Korea, it seems like the nuclear bomb is going to go off. 00:14:12.380 |
There's been periods in human history where I think people would have thought God must 00:14:19.860 |
You can think about all the different wars and disasters, the Holocaust, World War I, 00:14:26.820 |
I think if there's great fear, there's a great fear of World War III with nuclear bombs, 00:14:34.340 |
But all of these things are going to pale in comparison to when God says it's time, 00:14:43.020 |
And everything that is holding back his wrath, we're only seeing glimpses of his wrath. 00:14:50.980 |
So where you and I are right now, we've only seen glimpses of his glory. 00:14:56.420 |
The world has only seen glimpses of his wrath. 00:14:59.660 |
So when he comes, we're going to see him in his full glory. 00:15:02.520 |
But as we see him in his full glory, the world will also see the full wrath. 00:15:08.140 |
So chapter 7 is basically encouraging the church, yes, this is going to happen, but 00:15:14.220 |
it won't happen until the full number has been sealed. 00:15:18.660 |
And so that's what chapter 7, the beginning is. 00:15:23.820 |
Verses 4 to 12, it describes the people who will be sealed. 00:15:29.340 |
And he says, "In order that they may stand in the day of judgment." 00:15:36.940 |
What's interesting is it says the seal is going to have the name, have God's name upon 00:15:49.580 |
The mark of the seal that will be on the foreheads will be the father's name. 00:15:53.540 |
And again, it is repeated in chapter 22, verse 4. 00:15:58.940 |
But you know what's interesting about this is the mark of the beast, right, those who 00:16:03.780 |
are not followers, they do not have the seal of Christ, it says the alternative of that 00:16:09.180 |
is that they're going to have the mark of the beast. 00:16:12.000 |
So Christians will have the mark of the father on their forehead, but the non-Christians 00:16:21.500 |
Meaning, if you think about the rebellion of Satan, from the very get-go, he wanted 00:16:30.540 |
And ever since then, the greatest thing that Satan does is to mimic what God does. 00:16:37.240 |
He wants the worship that people give him, the glory and honor, and that's why his attack 00:16:43.620 |
to get some of his glory was to go after his children. 00:16:48.180 |
And so it says when deception comes, how is he going to come? 00:17:00.900 |
And that's why if you look at the Ten Commandments, one is, "Thou shalt have no other gods before 00:17:07.700 |
me," because Satanic attack is constantly tempting us to worship other gods. 00:17:13.260 |
But the second temptation is not to make any graven images. 00:17:19.500 |
To say, kind of like, remember when they made the golden calf and said, "This is Yahweh, 00:17:30.140 |
One is to introduce a completely different idolatry, and the second temptation is to 00:17:35.500 |
introduce God and worship a god in your own image. 00:17:40.300 |
And the third is not to use the Lord's name in vain, that we would basically project what 00:17:48.660 |
"Oh, we're doing it for God, but it has nothing to do with him," which is what the Pharisees 00:17:54.660 |
They had the right theology, they had the Torah, and they wouldn't even say his name, 00:17:59.080 |
but he said, "You call me Lord, Lord, but I have nothing to do with you." 00:18:05.940 |
So the satanic activity within human history is to always mimic what Yahweh does, because 00:18:16.500 |
So at the end times, it says that the children of God are going to be sealed with the name 00:18:21.220 |
of the Father, and the Lamb, but those who do not have the seal of Christ is going to 00:18:33.160 |
So some of you may have attended seminars about this, and that we're going to get chips 00:18:45.140 |
They had a whole movie based upon that, and some people who've read that or heard that 00:18:50.440 |
always comes and asks, "What do you think about the chips?" 00:18:53.860 |
I don't think it's going to be that deceptive. 00:18:56.700 |
I don't think you're going to get a chip so that you can bank better, and then one day 00:19:01.820 |
realize, "Oh shoot, I got the mark of the beast." 00:19:06.420 |
I think it's going to be a willful denial of Christ. 00:19:09.700 |
So whatever that mark may be, whether that's a physical mark or whether that's a spiritual 00:19:13.620 |
mark, that it's going to be a willful rejection of God. 00:19:21.940 |
So I remember when I was younger, the older pastors who kind of believed this would say, 00:19:27.100 |
"Oh, don't ever get the chip, or don't ever get tattoos, because that might be the mark 00:19:31.980 |
And I remember, "Well, they know better than me. 00:19:35.980 |
And then I started reading, and it's like, "No, that don't make any sense." 00:19:44.300 |
The next big question in this is then, who are the 144,000? 00:19:49.940 |
So many different groups have different interpretation of who they are, and there are some interpretations 00:19:57.340 |
within the evangelical boundary, the Presbyterians and the Baptists and non-denominational. 00:20:06.220 |
But then you have some groups who have claimed, like the Jehovah's Witnesses, that the 144,000 00:20:12.940 |
Have you ever talked to any Jehovah's Witnesses about this? 00:20:17.740 |
If you ask them, they will never tell you that that's who they are, because they can't 00:20:24.780 |
The best that they can tell you is, if they did enough good works, they're hoping that 00:20:28.940 |
they might be one of these 144,000, and they believe it's a literal 144,000. 00:20:33.940 |
But they're not allowed to have assurance of salvation. 00:20:36.920 |
So they're working hard, going door to door, being persecuted, hoping that if they do enough 00:20:44.840 |
So I've seen variations of this in the local church, the Church of Christ. 00:20:51.660 |
Especially where there's works-based salvation, I found that this is one of the interpretations 00:20:59.460 |
Whether that's a literal 144,000 or figurative, you have to work to get it. 00:21:11.060 |
Some say, since they believe that the Church has completely replaced the need for Israel, 00:21:16.260 |
that this number from the tribe of Israel is also symbolic, referenced to the whole 00:21:22.740 |
And so they just look at it as all the numbers are symbolic, all the 12 tribes are symbolic, 00:21:28.860 |
and so they just kind of interpret it as this is just the church. 00:21:34.460 |
And typically if you meet a friend from the Presbyterian church, this is typically the 00:21:41.740 |
And again, I'm not going to go too deep into this, but they believe that the church has 00:21:49.980 |
Israel was the church of the Old Testament, and the church is the Israel of the New Testament. 00:21:55.840 |
So the nation of Israel is gone, and it is complete. 00:22:00.940 |
And so because of that, when they talk about at the end times, it describes the Jews and 00:22:05.300 |
the 12 tribes, this can't be the literal Israel. 00:22:09.660 |
Because in their theology, Israel is already gone. 00:22:15.140 |
Another variation of that view is some believe that it is figurative number of Christians 00:22:22.580 |
So instead of it being all the church, that this is a specific – and there's a reason 00:22:27.260 |
why they say this, because this answers the question of the great multitude that comes 00:22:33.260 |
So how do you identify – if 144,000 is just the church, and then verse 9 and on is also 00:22:39.620 |
the church, how do you make this distinction? 00:22:41.880 |
So they came up with a variation of the second view, is that this is talking about a part 00:22:53.240 |
And obviously the number one is not an orthodox view. 00:22:56.200 |
Second and third view, it depends on which commentary you read. 00:23:00.400 |
I think I already told you that I lean toward the fourth view, which is some believers that 00:23:08.600 |
it is figurative number of converted Jews at the end times. 00:23:13.200 |
And I'm going to make a case for this, at least briefly. 00:23:19.160 |
I went to a dispensational school, a progressive dispensational school, who was very clear 00:23:24.480 |
about he's going to come before seven years, and in the middle the persecution is going 00:23:30.320 |
to start, and at the end of it, Christ is going to come, we're going to enter the millennium. 00:23:35.800 |
And there was a lot of that that was very confusing. 00:23:38.700 |
I saw some parts of it and some parts I didn't see. 00:23:44.580 |
I didn't really learn a lot of eschatology growing up, even though I grew up in a Presbyterian 00:23:51.120 |
But there's something about like, Israel is going to come back? 00:23:56.400 |
Didn't make a lot of sense to me, especially after Israel was destroyed in AD 70. 00:24:02.800 |
And they don't even speak the Hebrew language, not the language that they spoke at that time. 00:24:08.680 |
And so at the end times, Israel is just going to reappear? 00:24:16.420 |
But I'm going to make a case of why I lean toward that, and I can always change. 00:24:22.560 |
But what caused me to think that this in particular is in reference to Israel, to Jews. 00:24:31.240 |
It doesn't mean that it's the national Jew, meaning that the whole country, but why this 00:24:40.880 |
In the New Testament, we are told repeatedly that salvation first comes to Jews. 00:24:47.020 |
Remember in Romans 1 16, Paul says that the gospel saves the Jew first and also to the 00:24:53.040 |
And he says to the Samaritan woman that, you know, if you're talking about truth, that 00:24:58.560 |
the Jews have the truth, but God is looking for people who worship in spirit and in truth. 00:25:04.600 |
So he says that the Jews had the benefit of having the law. 00:25:08.840 |
Now all of that up to this point is just verses. 00:25:15.400 |
But the part that really caused me to think and change my mind about this was when I was 00:25:23.740 |
And what really changed my paradigm was study through chapter 9 through 11, especially chapter 00:25:29.280 |
So if you can turn your Bibles to Revelation, not Revelation, Romans chapter 11. 00:25:38.000 |
Now this argument started all the way from the beginning of chapter 1, right? 00:25:43.640 |
We've been studying the book of Romans and he's primarily addressing Jews who had a hard 00:25:50.240 |
time with the gospel, meaning that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 00:25:55.160 |
meaning everything that I've done is useless, then what benefit is there from being a Jew? 00:26:02.740 |
And so he's been trying to convince Israel or the Jews that you have huge benefits. 00:26:08.840 |
So the argument picks up in chapter 9, right? 00:26:13.600 |
Then all of that was for nothing if God chooses us and the Gentiles and Jews are the same? 00:26:18.280 |
And then it culminates all the way up to chapter 11 where this is the question that the Jews 00:26:36.440 |
And then he begins to explain all throughout chapter 11 that God is not done with Israel, 00:26:42.240 |
that they've experienced a hardening of their heart and so they've been cut out because 00:26:48.320 |
And he says, but don't look down on these Jews because through them you came the gospel. 00:26:54.440 |
Right now because they're rejecting the gospel, they've been cut out and you have been grafted 00:26:57.840 |
in but there's going to come a time when they will repent and they will be re-grafted in. 00:27:03.040 |
So in verse 11, so I asked, did they stumble in order that they might fall? 00:27:08.000 |
Rather through their trespass, salvation has come to the Gentiles so as to make Israel 00:27:13.960 |
So the period of Gentiles has come and in order to stir them up to repentance to bring 00:27:19.740 |
So you and I are living in a period where the Gentile church is where Christ is ruling. 00:27:26.020 |
And he's using the Gentiles to wake up the Jews again. 00:27:31.540 |
So repeatedly over and over again he asked that question, then what about the Jews? 00:27:43.540 |
It's just that they will also have to repent and come in. 00:27:48.700 |
Now you could say, well, that doesn't necessarily say that Jews are going to remain separate. 00:27:54.700 |
If they get regrafted into the church, don't they all just become one big group? 00:28:01.500 |
Now you can make that argument, but if you read from chapter 9 through 11, Paul makes 00:28:19.380 |
Remember if you read the gospel of Matthew, one of the major themes of the gospel of Matthew 00:28:33.780 |
You know, when the kingdom of God comes, can we sit on the left or to the right? 00:28:40.940 |
There was a part of the understanding of the kingdom of God that they didn't fully understand 00:28:45.460 |
that the Gentiles were going to come in and they're going to be grafted in. 00:28:48.260 |
But the Jews always thought that Christ is going to come and he's going to restore Israel. 00:28:57.100 |
So when the Jews are asking about the kingdom, he doesn't correct them and say, no, it is 00:29:06.260 |
So if you look with me, before he leaves, the disciples clearly don't have a clear picture 00:29:14.500 |
In their idea of the kingdom, the Gentiles don't exist or they basically have to repent 00:29:24.180 |
Remember all that the disciples were thinking when Jesus was going to the cross, when he 00:29:28.220 |
says I'm going to go to the cross and be crucified and raised. 00:29:31.260 |
Remember Luke and I mean, James and John, when the kingdom comes, can we sit to the 00:29:38.740 |
Who's going to be the greatest in God's kingdom? 00:29:46.820 |
But when Jesus goes to the cross, they're confused because Jesus never corrects them 00:29:58.520 |
So he goes to the cross, he's like, wait a second, if he dies, who's going to be the 00:30:05.520 |
And that's why I believe that they're watching from a distance. 00:30:11.940 |
He's going to pretend that he's going to give in and all of a sudden he's going to show 00:30:19.620 |
And that's why when Jesus is crucified, the disciples gave up. 00:30:24.200 |
Even though Jesus said he's going to rise in the third day, they didn't hear any of 00:30:27.380 |
that because their hope of the kingdom was crushed when he died. 00:30:32.260 |
And even after he was resurrected, it wasn't until after he resurrected, they started remembering 00:30:36.260 |
he did say he was going to come back from the dead. 00:30:44.560 |
He said in the first book, Acts chapter one, in the first book, okay, I won't read all 00:30:50.220 |
of that, starting from verse three, he presented himself alive to them after suffering by many 00:30:57.220 |
proofs, appearing to them during 40 days and speaking about the kingdom of God. 00:31:03.140 |
So what was the primary thing that he was teaching the disciples? 00:31:07.400 |
About the kingdom, because this was on their mind. 00:31:11.580 |
And while staying with them, he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait 00:31:22.140 |
So in verse six, so when they had come together, they asked him, "Lord, will you at this time 00:31:32.340 |
So the whole time they were following Jesus, they're thinking about the kingdom. 00:31:37.780 |
They're confused because he dies and they said, "What's going to happen to the kingdom?" 00:31:44.860 |
Jesus spends the time after resurrection talking about the kingdom. 00:31:48.660 |
So when Jesus is about to leave, he said, "Is it now?" 00:31:51.860 |
We thought it was going to be before you went into Jerusalem, but now that you're going 00:31:54.420 |
to ascend, is it now you're going to restore the kingdom of what? 00:31:59.420 |
If Jesus was teaching them after the resurrection that Israel and the Gentiles are going to 00:32:10.440 |
But the question that they ask is, "Are you now going to restore the kingdom to Israel?" 00:32:17.260 |
Jesus' response, he said to them, "It is not for you to know the times or the season that 00:32:24.380 |
In other words, you're not going to know and I'm not going to tell you. 00:32:29.380 |
He doesn't correct them and say, "You still asking me that question? 00:32:34.260 |
After all of that, you still haven't heard me?" 00:32:43.620 |
Because if you didn't, yeah, it's going to be a long Bible study. 00:32:53.180 |
If the kingdom that he's referring to is the establishment of the church, as some believe, 00:33:04.980 |
then Jesus knows exactly when the kingdom is coming. 00:33:09.500 |
Because he tells them the Holy Spirit's going to come and he's going to inaugurate the church 00:33:22.140 |
When the Holy Spirit comes, makes a dwelling among them, that's the beginning of the church. 00:33:28.000 |
So when the disciples ask, "Are you now going to restore the kingdom of Israel?" 00:33:35.620 |
He doesn't say, you know, he says, "Wait, it is not the time." 00:33:41.180 |
But if he was referring to the church, he would have said, "Wait a second, it's going 00:33:58.780 |
So along with that, along with the other things that I've said to you, along with that, if 00:34:03.780 |
you come to this passage in Revelation chapter 7, it distinguishes between the Jews and all 00:34:12.460 |
So if you look at the second part, he said, "I looked a great multitude that no one could 00:34:16.220 |
number from every nation, from all the tribes." 00:34:19.780 |
So every nation, all the Gentile world is distinguished with who? 00:34:28.820 |
So, when you put all of that together, it seems like to me that God is not done with 00:34:37.860 |
Is that going to be a spiritual Israel within the church? 00:34:44.540 |
But he does not extinguish the hope that the disciples have of restoring Israel. 00:34:55.340 |
So though he is experiencing the kingdom on earth through the church, the full manifestation 00:35:02.860 |
or restoration of what he had planned is going to happen in the millennium, we believe in 00:35:08.740 |
the millennium, where Israel is going to take the front seat. 00:35:14.780 |
And everything that he promised to the nation of Israel will be fulfilled at that time. 00:35:22.380 |
And so that's why in the Old Testament, a lot of the prophecies that he gives to the 00:35:25.500 |
nation of Israel, where a part of the universal church believes that it was all fulfilled 00:35:32.020 |
in the church, where I believe, and again, the progressive dispensational or dispensational 00:35:37.940 |
will believe that a lot of that will happen in the millennium. 00:35:50.420 |
Yeah, that's how the dispensations will interpret that. 00:36:50.060 |
So she's talking about the dry bones in Ezekiel 37. 00:36:53.900 |
So some of you guys who know that argument, we can talk about it another time, but I don't 00:37:00.780 |
But again, I'm just telling you this is where I lean. 00:37:05.380 |
If something is shown to me that's like, "Huh, okay, I don't get that." 00:37:09.460 |
But it seems like to me that God is not done with Israel. 00:37:16.460 |
The number of 144,000, I think there is a, again, in my opinion, a decent explanation 00:37:27.900 |
The number 144,000 can be explained by how Israel was organized. 00:37:33.160 |
In Numbers 31, 4 through 6, Moses actually organizes the nation of Israel by 12 tribes 00:37:41.120 |
and each tribe having a thousand soldiers, right? 00:37:55.840 |
It slips my mind, but one of the commentaries I'm reading. 00:38:02.920 |
He suggests that the battalions of 1,000 were fairly standard units that Israel used and 00:38:07.800 |
that each tribe supplies 12 battalions, which would make 12 times 12, which would make 144,000. 00:38:17.760 |
And in Revelations chapter 12, 7 through 9, it talks about the spiritual battle that will 00:38:24.640 |
So this is often described, again, in Revelation 14, 1 through 5, 144,000 comes out again, 00:38:36.800 |
and these 144,000 are described as virgin men, right? 00:38:41.920 |
Who serve the Lamb of God and they follow Him everywhere He goes. 00:38:47.120 |
Now, the significance of that is Numbers 1, 45 and 46. 00:38:56.000 |
Remember how we talk about how, you know, when Israel went into the desert, there were 00:39:00.440 |
Well, the 600,000 men described in Numbers 1, 4 to 5 are described as men under the age 00:39:12.920 |
So this census that they took of Israel that came in were not just everybody. 00:39:18.920 |
It was just men under 20 who was able to fight. 00:39:21.400 |
So the actual number probably is way over a million people. 00:39:28.840 |
So what Craig Keener thinks is that this number is actually a description of a Jewish army. 00:39:42.280 |
But he's talking about an organized Jewish army who has committed themselves to the work 00:39:47.560 |
of Christ, the Lamb, in the last days, which makes sense, okay? 00:39:52.720 |
That this is not just a random number of people, a random group of normal citizens, but these 00:39:58.240 |
are people who are serving the Lord in a very specific way. 00:40:01.840 |
And again, if you connect the dots in the way that they took census in the Old Testament, 00:40:06.680 |
that this is actually talking about a Jewish army, possibly, okay? 00:41:29.320 |
So again, it begins with a description, possibly, of a Jewish army, whether that's spiritual 00:41:35.880 |
or whether that's physical, who's going to fight alongside with Christ at the end. 00:41:43.320 |
And then the great multitude that follows, he said, these are the ones who are coming 00:41:53.040 |
Now the word for tribulation typically means trials or hardship. 00:41:57.560 |
The word is used generally talking about the judgment of God or it could be famine or whatever 00:42:04.680 |
But in this case, the word the, the article is, I don't think it's in the ESV, but in 00:42:10.200 |
the Greek it has the article D in front of it. 00:42:12.600 |
So in the English, when we say the, the the is put in pretty much everywhere, but every 00:42:18.040 |
once in a while we will say it is the, the church or the house. 00:42:24.760 |
We're singling that out for, for specific purpose. 00:42:29.520 |
So in the Greek, the word tribulation in front of it is the article the, and so what it means 00:42:35.040 |
is this tribulation is not any ordinary tribulation. 00:42:38.920 |
This is the tribulation that's been prophesied all through the prophets, all through the 00:42:44.880 |
Jesus is Matthew chapter 24, everything that he's been saying in Thessalonians, the tribulation, 00:42:52.160 |
He said, these are the people who come out of that, right? 00:42:56.000 |
This is part of the reason why, oops, part of the reason why, you know, I kind of lean 00:43:02.960 |
toward post-tribulation because when I look at the language here and other parts, it says 00:43:07.280 |
those who, who persevere to the end will be saved. 00:43:11.120 |
And so even here, he doesn't say he's going to preserve them, meaning pluck them out and 00:43:16.000 |
He said, these are the people who go through the tribulation without forsaking Christ. 00:43:21.400 |
So it seems like to me that the church is actually going to go through this tribulation 00:43:26.120 |
and everyone's faith, genuine or disingenuine, is going to be tested and only true faith 00:43:40.480 |
Before the four creatures would initiate worship, so again, if you remember in the beginning 00:43:45.080 |
of chapter one and chapter six, that the four creatures function for what purpose? 00:43:51.760 |
They're constantly surrounding the throne of God saying, holy, holy, holy, right? 00:43:57.520 |
And so they are basically the worship leaders and they would initiate the worship. 00:44:02.000 |
The elders would initiate and then bow down and worship. 00:44:04.400 |
When the elders would bow down, the angels would bow down, right? 00:44:08.080 |
In this heavenly scene, it's the opposite where the multitudes begin to cry out and 00:44:16.200 |
And then the angels respond and then the elders and then the creatures. 00:44:19.920 |
And so it's kind of like a back and forth, right? 00:44:23.160 |
So the scene that we see in heaven is the creatures initiate and then once they initiate, 00:44:28.120 |
the congregation would sing and then when they would sing, the others would sing. 00:44:31.680 |
It was just this scene of worship going back and forth from the congregation to the choir 00:44:36.240 |
directors, to the choir directors, to the elders, to the angels, back and forth. 00:44:46.380 |
So this scene that we see at the end of chapter seven, that's the picture of heaven that we 00:44:54.480 |
When we get to Revelation chapter 21, there's going to be a more detailed description. 00:45:01.120 |
It's not, you know, it's going to be talking about all kinds of precious stones and the 00:45:06.520 |
But when we think of heaven, at least something tangible that we can picture of what heaven 00:45:11.800 |
is going to look like, this is the scene that is pictured for us by Christ, right? 00:45:18.400 |
We typically think of green pastures, lakes, mountains, angels, I don't know, buffets, 00:45:28.240 |
whatever it is that we're hoping, you know, whatever it is that we imagine, but we don't 00:45:33.720 |
have to imagine because this is the scene that is given to us, that we're going to be 00:45:37.960 |
as closer to the glory of God than we've ever been. 00:45:42.660 |
And you see how nobody's like, hey, how come you're not worshiping over there? 00:45:47.480 |
They're bound down because they're in the presence of his glory, right? 00:45:52.100 |
That's what we're going to be seeing up in heaven. 00:45:56.320 |
So when we think of heaven, like what to look forward to, right? 00:45:59.880 |
So people who hunger and thirst for righteousness, he said, what's going to happen? 00:46:07.320 |
So the hungering and thirsting for righteousness in the end is a hungering and thirsting for 00:46:15.480 |
So those who hunger and thirst for his glory are going to be satisfied because you're going 00:46:20.880 |
to be in the presence of his glory like you've never been before. 00:46:26.080 |
But if the presence of his glory is not something that stirs you up, something to look forward 00:46:31.120 |
to, if watching a basketball game is more exciting to you than worshiping God, it's 00:46:38.240 |
just a matter of time that that's going to take you away. 00:46:41.680 |
It's just a matter of time because Satan can give that to you. 00:46:46.160 |
The only thing that Satan cannot mimic is his glory. 00:46:57.800 |
The whole world experiences this in different avenues. 00:47:00.840 |
The only thing that Satan cannot mimic is his glory because only God has that glory. 00:47:09.280 |
He's trying to get us and draw us away from him by imitating everything else, right? 00:47:16.320 |
So if what we're looking for isn't the glory of God, satanic work will eventually mimic 00:47:25.760 |
– it's not going to replace it, but it'll mimic it enough to bring – if that's what 00:47:34.920 |
That's why I think being lukewarm is so dangerous. 00:47:39.720 |
It's not like, "Well, at least I'm at church." 00:47:42.960 |
It's like, "No, you could be spiritually dead at church." 00:47:47.520 |
I mean, you have – when you talk about the glory of God, there's nothing stirring in 00:47:53.280 |
There's no actual planning of going after and wanting more of. 00:48:03.240 |
But when we get to heaven, this is the scene that he gives us. 00:48:05.720 |
I want to spend maybe at least just a few minutes talking about the very last part where 00:48:10.080 |
it – again, this is a description of what heaven is going to be like. 00:48:14.760 |
And I want to give you some opportunity in your small group to talk about this, but it 00:48:19.320 |
says, "Therefore, they are before the throne of God and serve him day and night in his 00:48:24.880 |
Again, serving him is going to be our reward, right? 00:48:29.360 |
It's not like, "Oh, we got to go there and serve too. 00:48:37.040 |
Because again, that's somebody who's not worshiping God, just not doing the work. 00:48:40.560 |
He said, "When we get to heaven, part of the reward is that we're going to be worshiping, 00:48:44.720 |
serving him day and night, and he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence." 00:48:49.560 |
The literal interpretation of that is he's going to pitch a tent among us, right? 00:48:56.040 |
Meaning his dwelling isn't going to be coming and going. 00:48:58.040 |
It's going to be a permanent presence within us. 00:49:00.840 |
Verse 16, "They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more." 00:49:04.880 |
Now, we can immediately, like if you're poor and you know what it means to be hungry and 00:49:09.240 |
thirsty, like really hungry and thirsty, right? 00:49:11.880 |
I mean, obviously, that would have immediate application, but for most of us, we probably 00:49:17.920 |
don't even know what that means, other than like you skip breakfast or you fasted for 00:49:22.240 |
a couple of days on purpose, not necessarily because we didn't have food. 00:49:26.000 |
But when Jesus talks about hunger and thirsting, you know he meant a lot more than physical 00:49:33.160 |
There's an emptiness, a longing for something more that this world can't give, that you 00:49:38.760 |
can find friendship, money, and travel and do all of this stuff, and at the end of the 00:49:42.800 |
day, it's just kind of like a, you know, you just kind of get a scratch in your back, but 00:49:50.720 |
So if you go and eat of the bread of this world, you will be hungry again. 00:49:53.640 |
If you drink of the water of the world, you will be thirsty again. 00:49:56.420 |
So what he's talking about here is more than just physical food and thirsting. 00:50:00.060 |
He says that in heaven, our longing and our desire is going to be fully satisfied because 00:50:06.520 |
he who satisfies is going to pitch a tent among us, and he's not going to come and go. 00:50:12.500 |
The author of life is going to be in the midst of us permanently. 00:50:15.880 |
The sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat. 00:50:18.960 |
You know, when I think about that, I immediately think of Jonah sitting out in the sun, right? 00:50:24.320 |
He's just annoyed because this, you know, this covering just disappears. 00:50:28.600 |
Like, oh God, you know, I'm about to die because of this. 00:50:32.360 |
And he says, you know, the annoyance of that is going to be gone. 00:50:37.080 |
Verse 17, for the lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd. 00:50:42.920 |
You know, usually who's the one shepherding and who's the one being shepherded? 00:50:49.880 |
It's interesting the wording here where he says, it's the lamb. 00:50:53.000 |
Lamb is usually the one being shepherded, but he says that lamb is going to shepherd 00:50:59.400 |
The lamb who made himself a lamb, the Lion of Judah who made himself a lamb, a servant, 00:51:06.640 |
he will now shepherd us and he will guide them to the springs of living water and God 00:51:13.360 |
And then fulfillment of what Jesus said, he who is least in the kingdom shall become the 00:51:17.000 |
greatest and no one humble himself more than Christ. 00:51:21.400 |
And so at the end, Christ, the lamb, is going to be exalted as a shepherd and he will lead 00:51:31.960 |
So one of the things that I asked, I think in your small group, is take some time to 00:51:37.960 |
think about what it says here and what part of that do you long for, look forward to when 00:51:45.360 |
So the questions about persecution, you know, one and two, what's the worst thing that has 00:51:52.300 |
ever happened to you because of your faith in Christ, right? 00:51:57.920 |
Two, John is writing to churches that are enduring and will endure persecution and suffering. 00:52:02.680 |
There's, throughout Revelation, acknowledgement that the followers of Jesus will suffer and 00:52:09.560 |
Why then do we so often receive suffering in our lives as an anomaly or why does suffering 00:52:17.640 |
Theologically, we know, but it's almost like a knee-jerk reaction when something goes wrong 00:52:24.880 |
Knowing that we've been warned, encouraged, and prepped for it. 00:52:32.240 |
Take some time to look over the passage that we just read at the end and which part of 00:52:36.600 |
the description about heavenly scenes stand out to you the most and look forward to the 00:52:41.120 |
So maybe in your small group, take some time to discuss that, okay? 00:52:43.680 |
So let me pray for us and then I'll end it for this evening. 00:52:56.620 |
We know, Father, that all that we are reading and studying, that none of this, Lord, is 00:53:03.200 |
possible without the sacrifice that you've made. 00:53:10.920 |
You for whatever the reason decided to have mercy and compassion on us and to persevere, 00:53:17.880 |
Lord God, even at times when we are distracted and unfaithful. 00:53:23.300 |
I pray that your word in Revelation would have the same effect on us as it did to the 00:53:31.080 |
Help us, Lord God, to not to allow our comfort and ease to dictate our lives. 00:53:38.760 |
Help us to live with a kingdom paradigm, to know, Father, that we are not citizens of 00:53:48.600 |
Help us to number our days, to know just how short our lives are, that we would not be 00:54:01.640 |
I pray, Father, that each one of these visions, whether it is clear or ambiguous, would cause 00:54:07.860 |
us to be sober, that stir in us a greater hunger, Lord God, to see you, and a real desire, 00:54:21.520 |
Help us, Lord, in our discussion, in our fellowship, in our study, that we may be sharpened, that 00:54:28.040 |
each one of us would actively think how to provoke one another on toward love and good 00:54:32.680 |
deeds, especially as we see the day drawing near.