Participants: Stephen Bohr
Series Code: ASTPP
Program Code: ASTPP000026
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00:15 Well isn't it exciting to study God's Word?
00:19 It is amazing. 00:20 You know, as I study Daniel and Revelation, 00:22 I marvel more and more. 00:24 Because every time I study, I discover something 00:26 I didn't know before. 00:28 And just to think that in eternity we're going to 00:30 study forever the plan of salvation. 00:33 It's exhaustless. 00:34 And so it's a wonderful thing. 00:36 Now we want to go back to studying the literary structure 00:40 of the millennium. 00:42 And I believe we're on page 6. 00:45 And so I would like to read the note there. 00:49 You remember that I mentioned as we were closing 00:51 that Revelation 21 verse 1 belongs to chapter 20. 00:55 You remember that? 00:56 Revelation 21 verse 1 is the climax of chapter 20. 01:00 After the wicked are thrown into the lake of fire, 01:02 and the devil and his angels are thrown into the lake of fire, 01:05 then God makes a new heavens and a new earth. 01:08 I want to read the note. 01:11 The chapter division at the end of verse 15 is unfortunate. 01:15 Chapter divisions were not established 01:17 by the original authors. 01:19 They were added for our convenience. 01:22 Revelation 21 verse 1 really belongs to chapter 20. 01:26 In other words, after Satan, his angels, the wicked, 01:29 the grave, and death have been consumed, 01:32 God will make a new heavens and a new earth. 01:36 In short, Revelation 21 verse 1 is really the conclusion 01:40 of chapter 20, not the introduction to chapter 21. 01:45 Now after we studied the third outline, 01:47 we still have some questions. 01:50 Why were the righteous allowed into the city? 01:54 Very important question. 01:55 Why were the righteous allowed into the city? 01:58 What was in the books which condemned the wicked? 02:01 We know that their records were examined, 02:02 but what was in the books that condemned the wicked? 02:06 Another question, were the righteous in heaven 02:08 during the thousand years? 02:11 Now I have in parentheses here, "It is obvious that if 02:14 the saints judge and reign for a thousand years 02:16 but the city does not descend till the thousand years 02:19 are finished, then the saints must have been in heaven 02:21 in the holy city during the thousand years." 02:24 I mean, are you following the logic? 02:27 I mean, it's clear. 02:28 What will life be like in the holy city after sin and sinners 02:32 have been eradicated? 02:33 It's a good question. 02:35 And what will God be like? 02:38 See, this is the climax that we have some important 02:41 questions still to answer after the third outline. 02:44 We know a lot about the devil and the earth 02:47 during the thousand years. 02:49 We know quite a bit about what the saints are going to 02:51 do at the three stages. 02:53 We know now a lot of things about the wicked. 02:55 But we still have some questions that we need to answer. 02:58 And so there is a fourth cycle. 03:01 Let's go to number four. 03:03 God and the holy city. 03:05 Revelation 21 verse 2 begins the final outline 03:09 of post millennial events. 03:11 This outline begins when John sees the holy city, 03:15 New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God 03:19 prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 03:21 So in other words, Revelation 21 verse 2 03:23 begins a new cycle. 03:25 Is that clear? 03:26 The city descends. 03:27 Now let's read the note. 03:29 In Revelation 20:7-9, we are told that the New Jerusalem 03:33 was on earth when the wicked surrounded it. 03:35 Correct? 03:37 It was on earth. 03:39 This means that the New Jerusalem descended 03:41 from heaven to the earth before the wicked surrounded it 03:45 and before they were cast into the lake of fire. 03:49 This being the case, Revelation 21 verse 2 03:52 takes place chronologically before Revelation 21 verse 1. 03:58 Is that clear? 04:01 Notice here that the city is identified by name 04:04 for the first time. 04:05 It is the New Jerusalem. 04:09 Now, there can be no doubt that the righteous 04:14 are in the city when it descended. 04:16 This is true for at least three reasons. 04:18 Text such as 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 04:21 explain that Jesus will take His people to heaven when He comes. 04:25 So they must come back with Him when the city descends. 04:29 And incidentally, they won't technically be in the city. 04:33 They'll descend with Jesus from heaven. 04:35 They were in the city during the thousand years. 04:37 When Jesus descends, the wicked are resurrected. 04:41 Then Jesus and the saints enter the city 04:43 and the doors are closed. 04:45 That's the right sequence. 04:47 But they do descend with Jesus. 04:49 That's the key point. 04:51 So text such as 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 04:54 explain that Jesus will take His people to heaven when He comes. 04:57 So they must come back with Him when the city descends. 05:00 Is that a clear point? 05:02 When the wicked surround the city after the millennium, 05:04 the righteous are inside, right? 05:06 Because they surround the camp of the saints. 05:08 Number three, the millennial condition of the earth 05:11 would make it impossible for God's people to live here. 05:14 Hello. 05:16 How are you going to eat without any vegetation? 05:19 How are you going to live on earth when the earth is infected 05:22 with all these dead bodies on the surface of the earth? 05:24 How could you live without light? 05:28 How could you live with a thousand years of darkness? 05:31 I mean, it's insane that Jesus is going to rule here 05:34 on this earth for a thousand years. 05:35 It's impossible. 05:37 Nobody could survive here. 05:38 Somehow God is going to make it possible 05:40 for the devil to survive. 05:43 Going to keep him alive. 05:45 You know, prisoners are fed. 05:50 Now, John heard a voice from heaven saying that, what? 05:56 That, "The tabernacle of God is..." What? 05:59 "...with men. 06:00 And they shall be His people. 06:03 And God Himself will be with them and be their God." 06:09 Now listen carefully. 06:10 And there's a word that you need to change here 06:13 that is wrong. 06:17 And that is, not "before" the destruction of the wicked, 06:20 but "after" the destruction of the wicked. 06:24 That's just a misprint. 06:26 After the destruction of the wicked, 06:28 God promises to do what? 06:31 He promises to wipe away every tear 06:36 from the eyes of His people. 06:38 And assures them that there will be no more what? 06:42 That there will be no more death. 06:45 That is a promise that takes place after 06:47 the wicked are destroyed. 06:50 Because if the wicked were still being destroyed, 06:53 you could not say that there would be no more death. 06:55 Because they're dying. 06:58 And then it says there will be no more sorrow, 07:02 no more crying, and there shall be no more death. 07:08 And then we find that God promises also 07:10 to give of the fountain of the water of life 07:13 freely to him who thirsts. 07:15 Now let's go to Revelation chapter 21 07:18 and let's read these verses. 07:20 We filled in the blanks, now let's read these verses 07:22 to find out what life is going to be like 07:25 and what was in the records of the wicked 07:27 that condemned the wicked. 07:28 Because you're going to end up with the lake of fire 07:30 for the third time in Revelation chapter 21 verse 8. 07:34 Are there three lakes of fire? 07:36 No, the lake of fire is repeated three times in three cycles. 07:41 Notice Revelation 21 verse 2. 07:44 "Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, 07:49 coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride 07:52 adorned for her husband. 07:54 And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, 07:56 'Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, 08:00 and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people.'" 08:05 That's the covenant formula, isn't it. 08:08 "God Himself will be with them and be their God." 08:12 Isn't this the direction to which the 08:14 plan of salvation is moving? 08:16 That the spiritual and the literal can be together? 08:20 Now Jesus is spiritually with us. 08:22 But we want to be physically with Him, right? 08:25 Verse 4, "'And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; 08:29 there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. 08:32 There shall be no more pain, for the former things 08:35 have passed away.' 08:37 Then He who sat on the throne said, 08:39 'Behold, I make all things new.' 08:43 And He said to me, 'Write, for these words 08:45 are true and faithful.' 08:46 And He said to me, 'It is done! 08:48 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. 08:51 I will give of the fountain of the water of life 08:54 freely to him who thirsts.'" 08:56 And now, what is it that made it possible for God's people 09:00 to be inside the holy city? 09:02 "He who..." What? 09:04 "He who overcomes shall inherit all things, 09:09 and I will be his God and he shall be My son." 09:12 There you have the covenant formula, right? 09:14 So what is the key for being in the city? 09:17 Overcoming. 09:20 But now notice, what was in the books of the wicked 09:22 that condemned them? 09:24 See, the previous outline didn't tell you specifically. 09:26 It simply said that they were judged according to their works. 09:29 But now we have some of those words mentioned. 09:32 And the lake of fire is mentioned for the third time. 09:35 Verse 8, "But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, 09:41 murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, 09:46 and all liars shall have their part in the lake of fire 09:50 which burns with fire and brimstone, 09:53 which is the second death." 09:56 So do we know some of the things that were in the records 09:58 of the wicked that condemned them? Yes. 10:01 By the way, have you noticed that all of these are violations 10:03 of the Ten Commandments? 10:07 So let's go to one final text. 10:10 Revelation 22 verses 14 and 15. 10:12 Notice the contrast. 10:14 Are God's people going to be commandment keepers? 10:17 Folks, God's people are going to be... 10:19 The overcomers are commandment keepers. 10:23 Because outside the city, those who are thrown 10:25 into the lake of fire, it gives this list of sins 10:28 that are violations of the Ten Commandments. 10:31 Now notice the same contrast in Revelation chapter 22 10:34 and verse 14. 10:36 And I'm going to read it as it says in the King James. 10:38 Because as we've studied, it's a more accurate translation. 10:41 Actually, a better rendering of the manuscripts, I believe. 10:48 "Blessed are those who do his commandments, 10:54 that they may have the right to the tree of life, 10:56 and may enter through the gates into the city." 11:01 Blessed are those who what? 11:04 So does God let us into the city because 11:06 we keep the commandments? 11:08 Aren't we saved by grace through faith? 11:10 Sure. 11:12 We're saved by grace through faith. 11:13 But if we love Jesus, we will keep His commandments. 11:17 And if we don't love Him, we won't. 11:20 But this text clearly says, "Blessed are those who 11:24 do His commandments, that they may have a 11:25 right to the tree of life." 11:26 Keeping the commandments has something to do with it. 11:30 As a fruit, not as a root. 11:34 Because the fruit shows if the root is right. 11:39 But now notice the contrast. 11:41 "But..." 11:43 So inside, everyone is what? 11:45 A commandment keeper. 11:47 What about outside? 11:49 "But outside are dogs..." 11:54 It's not talking about... 11:55 There will be dogs, I believe, in the new earth. 11:57 So don't feel bad. 12:00 Dogs are unclean. 12:03 "...dogs, and sorcerers..." 12:06 That's a violation of the first table of the law. 12:09 Because a sorcerer claims to be able to exercise divine power. 12:13 See, for example, voodoo is sorcery. 12:19 So sorcery is a violation of the commandment that says, 12:22 "You shall have no other gods before me." 12:25 "...sexually immoral..." 12:27 Which commandment would that be? 12:29 Seven. 12:30 "...murderers..." 12:33 Murder is the sixth commandment. 12:36 "...idolaters..." 12:38 Number two, right? 12:40 "...and whoever loves and practices a lie." 12:44 That's the one that has to do with bearing false witness. 12:48 So what characterizes those who are outside the holy city? 12:51 They are commandment breakers. 12:53 What characterizes those who are in the city? 12:57 Commandment keepers. 13:00 And the final war is against commandment keepers. 13:04 "The dragon was wroth with the woman 13:07 and went to make war with the remnant of her seed 13:10 who keeps the commandments of God 13:13 and have the testimony of Jesus Christ." 13:16 So the book of Revelation, folks, is about who we worship 13:19 and who we obey. 13:21 On God's side will be those who obey Jesus 13:25 and those who worship Jesus because they love Him. 13:29 On the other side are those who obey the beast 13:33 and those who worship the beast because they love the beast 13:37 more than they love Jesus. 13:38 Or they love their life more than they love Jesus. 13:41 Or they love to be able to go to the shopping mall 13:43 more than they love Jesus. 13:47 But the time is coming when you're not going to 13:48 be able to buy or sell. 13:51 So beware, shop-a-holics. 13:56 All of the toys that we buy are going to burn. 13:59 Even the ties that we have are going to burn. 14:04 So we better not get attached to our stuff. 14:07 Because God has so much better stuff up there 14:10 than we could ever have down here. 14:12 People say, "Oh, but I've got a beautiful house." 14:15 And I say, "Is it made of gold?" 14:18 And they say, "Oh, I've got this real fancy car." 14:21 Does it fly? 14:23 Folks, what we have up there is so much better 14:26 than anything that we can get attached to here. 14:29 And so we should be investing in God's kingdom. 14:32 Everything. 14:34 Time, talents, resources. 14:37 Everything we should be investing, 14:39 placing on the altar of sacrifice, 14:41 now that we believe that we're living in the 14:42 last moments of time. 14:45 So that takes care of the millennium. 14:46 Was the clear? 14:48 Is it important to know the literary structure 14:51 of biblical passages? 14:53 It's vitally important. 14:55 You don't make any sense out of it if you don't see that. 14:59 Now what we want to do is go to this material that is 15:03 stapled together that has this chart on the front. 15:08 And I'm going to make a few remarks about 15:10 some of these materials here. 15:12 They will help you study the literary structure 15:15 of certain passages of Scripture. 15:18 The first one that you have here is titled, 15:20 "The Structure of, The Great Controversy, 15:23 Early Writings, as Compared to Daniel 11 and Revelation." 15:30 Now the interesting thing about this handout is, 15:33 you have in the left-hand column, 15:35 you have a list of events in chronological order. 15:38 Events that are going to take place at the end of time. 15:42 Actually, some of those already took place, 15:44 like the period of papal supremacy, 15:46 the fall of the papacy, the rise of the United States. 15:51 And then you have events that occur in the future, 15:54 like the papacy overwhelming the United States, 15:56 the papacy conquering the world aided by the United States, 16:00 the great shaking as the papacy overwhelms the world, 16:03 the loud cry of the third angel, 16:05 thousands escape to God's holy city, the spiritual city, 16:09 the wrath which results from the loud cry, 16:12 Michael standing up to begin to reign, 16:14 and the close of probation, the time of Jacob's trouble, 16:17 the death decree, 16:18 God's people delivered who are written in the book, 16:20 and then Babylon coming to its end. 16:22 That's the sequence of events. 16:24 And then in the next column you'll find in, Early Writings, 16:27 which is the earliest, Great Controversy, 16:31 you'll find how Ellen White comments on all of 16:33 these things in order. 16:35 The next column you'll find the greater exposition of it, 16:40 of these events, in Great Controversy. 16:44 Then in the third column you have Daniel 11, 16:48 which verses of Daniel 11 cover those events. 16:51 And then in the last column you have the text in Revelation 16:54 that refer to those events. 16:56 So it'll take you a couple of hours to negotiate this. 16:59 Maybe even more. 17:01 And you'll be able to see the structure once again, 17:03 the importance of the literary structure. 17:06 The next page gives you a bird's eye view 17:11 comparing Daniel 11:31 to 12:3 with Revelation 13 and 17. 17:18 See, Daniel 11:31 through Daniel 12 verse 3 17:23 is parallel to Revelation 13 and 17. 17:26 There are five stages in each one. 17:29 And so you can see those five stages on this sheet 17:33 to help you see the structure of Daniel 11 17:38 as it relates to Revelation 13 and 17. 17:42 Then the next page... 17:43 And I'm just going over this very briefly 17:45 so that you see the value of it, so don't just file it away. 17:49 Study these things, because they're important. 17:51 You have the four prophetic outlines of Daniel. 17:55 You have Daniel 2, Daniel 7, Daniel 8:1-14, 18:00 and Daniel 11 verse 2 through Daniel 12 verse 3. 18:04 And you'll see that each one of those prophetic outlines 18:08 presents Jesus, or portrays Jesus, from a 18:10 different perspective. 18:13 In Daniel chapter 2, Jesus is the King. 18:17 He will establish a kingdom that will never be destroyed. 18:21 In Daniel 7, Jesus is seen as He is portrayed in the judgment. 18:28 He goes to His Father for the judgment, remember? 18:31 In Daniel 8, He is presented as the High Priest. 18:36 And the little horn is trying to take away His functions 18:38 as the High Priest. 18:40 And in Daniel 11 and 12, you have Him as the go'el. 18:46 As the Deliverer. 18:48 As Michael who will stand up for His people? 18:51 That's the emphasis. 18:53 So each outline has its particular emphasis. 18:56 And you'll notice that each one has a work of 19:01 Christ that He performs. 19:02 And then on the left-hand column you have all of the kingdoms 19:06 that are represented in each of these outlines. 19:08 Then you have, after that you have what they 19:13 represent in Daniel 2. 19:16 You have the parallel in Daniel 2, rather. 19:17 You have the kingdoms in the left-hand column. 19:19 Then you have the metals and the kingdoms they represent. 19:25 Then you have in Daniel 7 what the beasts represent, and so on. 19:29 And then in Daniel 8 you have the parallel 19:31 to Daniel 2 and Daniel 7. 19:32 In Daniel 11 you have the parallel to Daniel 8, 19:36 to Daniel 7, and to Daniel 2. 19:38 And so you have a bird's eye view of the four prophetic 19:41 outlines that we find in the book of Daniel. 19:44 And then the next one, we already covered, 19:46 the structure of Daniel 1 through 7. 19:50 Remember that Daniel 1 through 7 is a book, right? 19:54 It is a book within the book. 19:57 And then here, the next chart, it says, "Secrets Unsealed," 20:00 at the top. 20:02 It is the chronology of Revelation 10. 20:04 That's what we studied yesterday. 20:06 And here you have everything in the form of a chart. 20:11 The dates and the events. 20:13 You know, you have the trumpet that is covered. 20:16 And so on. 20:17 So when you read the material that we covered yesterday, 20:20 make sure that you have the chart next to it. 20:22 Because it will help you understand so much better. 20:27 Then I want us to go now, and this is what 20:29 we're going to take the time to study more in detail, 20:32 is the literary structure of Revelation 12 to 22. 20:39 The rest of our time this period we're going to take a look 20:42 at the literary structure of Revelation 12 through 22. 20:46 And I might say, you know, those who are going to be 20:48 watching this programming on television, and those who are 20:51 watching this streaming, you're wondering, you're saying, 20:54 "Well, you know, I'd like to have that chart. 20:57 Because I can't follow along as well unless I have the chart." 21:00 Well, the good thing is, if you contact Secrets Unsealed, 21:03 you'll be able to get all of these presentations 21:06 on DVD, and you will also be able to get all the handouts. 21:10 All of the handouts that we've been giving out here 21:13 at Anchor will be available to those who are interested 21:17 in taking this course on DVD, and you'll be able to 21:22 read the materials along with it. 21:23 So let's go to this chart, the literary structure of 21:28 Revelation 12 through 22. 21:30 Now let me explain how we're suppose to read this chart. 21:33 In the extreme left-hand column 21:37 you have the chapters and verses. 21:41 Do you see that? 21:42 And by the way, the chart is to be read from the bottom up. 21:48 You don't read the chart from the top down, 21:50 you read it from the bottom up. 21:51 You see that in the left-hand column you have chapter 12, 21:55 then 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, and so on, all the way to the top. 21:59 So you read the chart from bottom to top. 22:02 Basically, you'll notice here that... 22:05 Let's take for example Revelation chapter 12. 22:09 You read this from left to right. 22:11 Revelation chapter 12 gives you a sequence of events. 22:15 Do you see that sequence of events there? 22:18 Revelation 12 has the complete sequence of events. 22:23 Revelation chapter 13 skips the first and moves on 22:28 and begins at the second stage that is 22:30 mentioned in Revelation 12. 22:31 Do you see that point? 22:33 When you get to Revelation chapter 14, 22:36 it actually skips to the three angels' messages. 22:44 When you get to Revelation chapter 15, 22:47 it takes you further forward. 22:49 It takes you to the time when the three angels' messages end 22:52 and when the Sanctuary closes. 22:56 And then the next one takes you a little bit further forward. 22:59 It's when the plagues are poured out. 23:02 And then chapter 17 and 18 takes you even further forward. 23:06 It takes you to plagues number 6 and 7. 23:11 And then when you get to chapter 19, 23:13 it's plague number 7. 23:15 So are you seeing what's happening? 23:17 In other words, as Revelation 12 through 22 progresses, 23:22 the earlier events fade out, 23:26 and the latter events are emphasized. 23:30 Is that clear? 23:32 And then of course, you get here to the line where it says, 23:36 second coming, the line where it says, second coming, 23:39 and all of the events that you find here on the right-hand side 23:42 are post second coming. 23:45 And there you have the four outlines that we studied. 23:48 The four outlines of Revelation 20. 23:52 Is that clear? 23:53 Now that's the way that we need to read this chart. 23:56 And by the way, you have the dates at the very bottom. 23:58 You have the dates for these events. 24:01 And of course, I have a question mark on the last one 24:03 because those are events that we have no date for? 24:06 Because they're in the future and there is no time prophecy 24:09 that describes them. 24:12 Okay, now let's begin at the very bottom of the page 24:18 with Revelation chapter 12. 24:20 Revelation chapter 12. 24:23 And we're not going to read all of the verses because 24:25 we simply don't have all of the time to read all these verses. 24:28 I'm just going to synthesize and summarize 24:32 the content of each of these portions of Scripture. 24:37 Now Revelation 12:7-9... 24:40 You see that there? 24:41 Revelation 12:7-9 is really a flashback that we find 24:47 in Revelation chapter 12. 24:50 You know, it's kind of like a parenthetical statement. 24:52 It describes that there was war in heaven. 24:55 Michael and His angels fought with the dragon and his angels. 24:58 So that's the reason I put that there 25:01 as first in Revelation 12, because it's reminiscing 25:05 about a conflict that existed in heaven 25:08 at the very beginning, before this earth was created. 25:12 However, in context, even though it hints that there wasn't 25:16 original controversy and that the devil was cast 25:20 out of heaven, technically speaking, within the context 25:23 of Revelation 12, it's describing the victory 25:26 of Jesus on the cross over the devil and his angels 25:29 on the cross of Calvary. 25:31 But I'm not going to get into all of those details. 25:34 You know, if you get the syllabus that I have on 25:37 Revelation 12 and 13, I deal with the literary structure 25:40 more carefully and with that particular point. 25:43 But I put it there because there is a flashback 25:46 to the original controversy in heaven. 25:48 It does refer to that. 25:51 But the devil had a second fall when Jesus was crucified. 25:56 And you say, "How do we know that?" 25:57 Well, because John tells us so. 26:00 John 12 and verses 31 to 33, Jesus says, "Now is the 26:06 judgment of this world. 26:07 Now will the prince of this world," 26:10 or the ruler of this world, "be cast out." 26:14 And he was cast out as the representative 26:16 of this world. 26:19 Because up till the cross, he represented this world. 26:21 He was a usurper. 26:24 Right? 26:26 After the cross, then the devil can't say he's the 26:30 representative, because Jesus redeemed the world. 26:35 He took upon Himself our sins, He died for our sins, 26:42 and He lived the life that we should live. 26:43 In other words, in Himself He established the destiny 26:47 of humanity. 26:49 And so now He is the representative of this world. 26:52 And the devil was cast out as the 26:54 representative of this world. 26:56 And Ellen White also emphasizes that he was cast out 26:58 in the sympathies of the heavenly beings. 27:03 So that's the particular point that Revelation 12:7-9 27:06 is referring to, but that is reminiscent 27:09 also of an original fall from heaven. 27:12 So we're not denying the original fall from heaven, 27:15 because that is included. 27:17 Now what is the next stage? 27:19 Moving on here from Revelation 12:7-9, 27:23 you have Revelation 12:1-2. 27:26 You have this woman. 27:29 And the woman has a Child in her womb. 27:31 And she's crying out in anguish because she wants 27:34 this Child to be born, she wants the Deliverer to be born. 27:38 What stage of the church is being described in these verses? 27:41 The woman represents the church. 27:44 It's the Old Testament church, because the Child 27:45 hasn't been born yet. 27:47 Right? 27:49 Now let me ask you, which empire was ruling during this period? 27:54 Rome. 27:55 But does the vision begin before Rome? 27:59 Yes, because the woman existed before Rome. 28:03 Correct? 28:05 Did the woman exist during the period of the lion? 28:08 Did the woman exist during the period of the bear? 28:11 Did the woman exist during the period of the leopard? 28:14 Absolutely. 28:16 And so the woman represents the Old Testament period. 28:22 Now we move to the next point. 28:25 Revelation 12 then moves on to describe the birth of the Child. 28:33 Which empire are we in there? 28:36 We're in the Roman Empire. 28:38 See, we began in the Old Testament. 28:41 Now when the Child is born we're in the Roman Empire. 28:46 And then Jesus dies and He ascends to heaven 28:50 to God and to His throne. 28:52 That's the resurrection and the ascension of Christ. 28:56 There we are in imperial Rome. 29:02 So far so good? 29:05 Now how many horns does that dragon beast have? 29:10 The dragon beast has ten horns. 29:13 Now listen carefully to what I'm going to say. 29:14 This is very important. 29:17 If you read Revelation chapter 12, 29:20 you get the impression that the dragon had the ten horns 29:24 on his head when the Child was born. 29:29 Because it says there was a dragon that had 29:31 seven heads and ten horns, and he wanted to devour the Child. 29:35 So you say, the dragon had the ten horns 29:39 from the time that he was going to kill the Child. 29:42 But he didn't. 29:44 It's just that Revelation chapter 12 is giving you 29:47 the complete picture of the career of the dragon. 29:50 And let me give you a parallel so that you understand. 29:53 This is something that happens in Bible prophecy. 29:57 In Daniel chapter 7, you have a leopard. 30:02 And that leopard has four heads. 30:06 Correct? 30:09 Does that tell you that the leopard grew four heads 30:12 after it had one head? 30:14 No. 30:16 That picture gives you the leopard in all of its career. 30:22 But then, when you go to Daniel 8, it tells you 30:28 the order in which the four came out. 30:32 It tells you that there was a time when the he goat 30:35 ruled with one. 30:38 And then it grew four. 30:41 So Daniel 7 is giving you the total picture. 30:45 Daniel 8 gives you the description of the sequence. 30:49 Are you with me? 30:51 The same thing happens with this dragon beast. 30:54 You see, in Daniel 7 we are told that there's a dragon beast. 31:00 This dragon beast then grows ten horns. 31:03 And then among the ten comes a little one. 31:08 So Revelation 12 is just simply portraying 31:12 Rome in its total career. 31:16 Are you with me? 31:18 So the second stage covers actually from 4 BC 31:28 when Jesus was born, it covers to the time that Jesus died, 31:34 till the time that Jesus resurrected. 31:37 And we might even take it so far as when Rome was divided, right? 31:42 Because the dragon beast has what? 31:44 Ten horns, when Rome was divided. 31:48 And then what is the next stage? 31:51 The next stage is when the woman flees to the wilderness. 31:57 Are you catching the sequence? 32:00 The woman flees to the wilderness. 32:02 And who is she persecuted by? 32:05 She's persecuted by the dragon. 32:09 Right? 32:12 And what does the dragon represent? 32:15 Well the dragon represents Rome. 32:19 But as we've noticed, it is a different kind of Rome. 32:23 Right? 32:25 Was the church of the Middle Ages persecuted by Rome? 32:29 Of course it was. 32:33 And it's interesting, when you combine Daniel with Revelation, 32:36 you discover Daniel says that the little horn persecuted 32:40 the saints, but Revelation 12 says the dragon 32:44 persecuted the woman. 32:47 So what it's saying is that the little horn was the emissary 32:50 of the dragon. 32:53 And it's still Rome that is persecuting, right? 32:56 It's still Rome. 32:58 So that's why the dragon persecutes the woman. 33:00 And incidentally, listen carefully to this. 33:04 In Revelation chapter 13... 33:06 See, whenever you have the dragon in the Bible, 33:09 in Daniel and Revelation, the dragon represents... 33:14 Satan, yes. 33:16 But it represents Satan working through Rome. 33:20 The dragon always is related to Rome. 33:24 Because it was Rome that tried to kill the Child. 33:29 It was Rome, or the dragon, that persecuted the woman. 33:33 So let me ask you something, when it says that the dragon 33:37 is enraged with the woman at the end of time, 33:41 who's enraged? 33:43 Rome. 33:45 And when we're told in Revelation 13 33:47 that the beast that rises from the earth 33:50 speaks like a dragon, it is speaking like Rome. 33:58 The devil working through Rome. 34:03 And that's in my book, Jekyll and Hyde, if you read it. 34:06 I hope you did. 34:08 It's a little book, but a very important little book. 34:12 Like the little book of Daniel 12 verse 4. 34:17 So far so good? 34:19 So we're going down the line here. 34:21 Revelation 12 verse 6 and 13 through 15 34:25 describe the period when the church fled to the wilderness. 34:31 But then something comes to the rescue. 34:34 What comes to the rescue towards the end of this period? 34:38 The earth. 34:41 The earth. 34:42 It says the earth helps the woman 34:46 and swallows up the waters. 34:47 What do the waters represent? 34:50 Multitudes of persecuting people. 34:53 Not just people. 34:55 Persecuted people. 34:57 And who were the waters persecuting? 35:00 The woman, because it says that the dragon 35:03 spewed water out of his mouth to drown the woman. 35:07 That's during the 1260 years. 35:08 But towards the end of this period, 35:10 the earth helps the woman. 35:13 and swallows up the waters. 35:15 What does the earth represent? 35:18 The territory of the United States. 35:21 Can that be proven historically that this is where people 35:24 found refuge from persecution? 35:26 Absolutely. 35:29 And you read Ellen White, see, the little old lady 35:32 had all of the chronologies straight. 35:34 She knew all of this. 35:36 We have a huge help through the spirit of prophecy 35:40 in the study of Scripture. 35:42 I know people don't like this, but she was an inspired 35:45 commentator on Scripture. 35:49 She is an inspired interpreter of Scripture. 35:54 And that is not a popular thing to say these days. 35:58 In fact, if you go to some of our theology schools, 36:01 they say you cannot include Ellen White in your footnotes 36:05 in your term papers because she wasn't a scholar. 36:09 What you're saying is, that the Holy Spirit 36:11 is not a scholar. 36:16 Because she was inspired by the Holy Spirit. 36:20 Other books are inspiring, but hers are inspired. 36:25 And the more you study them, the more you're convinced. 36:30 There's two kinds of people who criticize her. 36:33 First, those who never read her. 36:36 And two, those who read her with the intention of criticizing. 36:41 And if you're in any of those two categories, 36:44 you will not be blessed. 36:46 But if you come with an open mind and an open heart, 36:49 you will be blessed by the study of the spirit of prophecy. 36:52 You read, Great Controversy... 36:54 You read what's happening with Tony Palmer 36:56 and this charismatic preacher in Scandinavia 36:59 who his whole, you know, he resigned his position 37:02 just a couple of weeks ago. 37:03 He says, "I'm joining the Roman Catholic Church." 37:05 You read that the pope now is a Jesuit, and how the 37:08 United States admires this pope, you say, "Wow, 37:11 where'd this come from?" 37:12 Well Ellen White wrote it 140 years ago. 37:18 And she wrote it at a time when the United States 37:20 did not like the papacy. 37:25 And now, what she said, and people didn't believe back then, 37:31 is happening. 37:33 So how did she know? 37:35 Lucky guess? 37:39 No, she was inspired. 37:43 Period. 37:47 Now I'm into preaching. 37:53 This is so much fun. 37:58 So the earth provides refuge for those who are persecuted. 38:04 And persecution ceases. 38:08 Now, let's go to the next stage. 38:11 Is that the end of the story? 38:14 Is persecution going to arise again? 38:17 Is the same dragon that persecuted during the 38:20 1260 years going to persecute again? 38:26 That's the next stage. 38:28 Revelation 12:17. 38:30 Are you seeing the sequence? 38:33 This is called, the historical flow method. 38:39 It is the method that gives us the message 38:42 that tells us what our mission is. 38:46 If you lose the method, you will lose the message 38:49 and you will lose the mission. 38:52 And that's what's happening in our church. 38:55 We have become evangelical Adventists. 39:00 We've become Seventh-day Lutherans. 39:03 I'm not saying anything bad about the Lutherans. 39:07 They have their church and they have their religion. 39:09 We've become Seventh-day Adventist Presbyterians 39:11 and Seventh-day Adventist Methodists. 39:12 And some are becoming 39:14 Seventh-day Adventist Pentecostals. 39:20 And it's because we have forgotten our prophetic roots. 39:24 And that's why we have Anchor. 39:28 Because God is going to have a people 39:29 on the earth that preserve the special message for this time. 39:34 And we want to be a part of those people. 39:37 We are not everything, but we want to be a part, 39:39 a portion of those people who lift high the roots of the 39:42 Seventh-day Adventist Church, 39:44 and what our message is and what our mission is. 39:46 That's what we're all about. 39:48 It's not about me, it's not about a nice facility. 39:52 It's not about any of those things. 39:54 It's about the message. 39:55 And it's about the mission of the church. 39:59 So then you have in 12:17, the dragon was enraged 40:02 with the woman. 40:06 The dragon Rome. 40:08 The devil through Rome. 40:11 The dragon through the little horn. 40:14 He's enraged with the woman. 40:16 And what does he do? 40:17 He goes to make war with the remnant of her seed. 40:24 What characteristics do they have? 40:27 They keep the nine commandments. 40:31 No. 40:32 They keep the commandments of God, and have something. 40:38 The testimony of Jesus Christ. 40:40 Which is identified as the spirit of prophecy. 40:46 Why do we try to hide the spirit of prophecy? 40:49 We say, "Oh no, in your sermons on Sabbath morning, 40:51 don't quote Ellen White. 40:52 Somebody might be offended." 40:58 You know what? 40:59 The Sabbath morning worship service, 41:01 we welcome visitors. 41:03 I'm happy to have visitors come. 41:05 But the worship service is for the church. 41:08 It is not evangelism. 41:11 If people come and they feel comfortable and they're happy, 41:13 glory to God. 41:15 But the Sabbath morning service is for corporate 41:17 worship of God's people. 41:19 And we can use Ellen White. 41:23 The trouble is, we've converted the Sabbath morning 41:25 worship service into an evangelistic series. 41:28 And there's room, Taj, for evangelism. 41:33 But I don't believe that Sabbath morning is the time. 41:36 Unless you're in an evangelistic crusade, obviously. 41:40 You know, Taj is... 41:44 Cover up your ears, Taj. 41:48 Of all of the evangelists that I've ever heard, 41:52 Taj is the best. 41:56 Glory to God. 41:58 There's a power when he speaks. 42:03 And do you know why? 42:05 Because of the message. 42:08 Because he presents the full Seventh-day Adventist message. 42:12 There is power. 42:14 And you can tell by the number of people who come 42:17 and by the number of people that are baptized. 42:19 It shows that traditional evangelism is alive and well. 42:28 Don't get a big head. 42:32 Yeah, I love Taj. 42:34 We've done two series with Taj at our church. 42:38 And I'd be glad to have him come back for a third. 42:42 See, our Fresno Central people say amen. 42:45 Glory to God. 42:47 So then you have the last stage, which is what? 42:50 The rage of the dragon, Rome, against God's people. 42:58 So you have a complete historical flow 43:01 in Revelation 12. 43:04 From the Old Testament church all the way to 43:07 the final persecution of God's people by Rome. 43:11 Rome wants to kill the Child. 43:13 Rome then has ten horns come out. 43:15 Then Rome persecutes the woman for 1260 years. 43:19 And then Rome persecutes God's end time remnant. 43:23 It's always the devil working through Rome. 43:28 But there's some things that still need to be said. 43:31 So you come to Revelation 13. 43:35 Revelation 13 will re-track what is in Revelation 12. 43:38 See, if you try to read Revelation, you say, 43:40 "I want to know what's going to happen with end time events. 43:43 Let's start at Revelation 12 and we'll get the sequence 43:46 all the way through to Revelation 22." 43:48 It doesn't work that way. 43:50 Because the entire book of Revelation 43:52 works in cycles. 43:54 It takes you forwards and back, forwards and back. 43:58 And you need to know where it takes you back 44:00 or else you're going to get messed up. 44:04 We noticed that when we studied the millennial passage. 44:07 You know, we could take, literally, we could take a 44:10 whole week just to study the literary structure, 44:14 the importance of the literary structure. 44:16 If you want more, I have a syllabus that is called, 44:18 The Wise Shall Understand, 44:21 where I deal with many more issues having to do 44:24 with the literary structure of Daniel and Revelation. 44:29 So you go to Revelation chapter 13. 44:31 The next line above the one that we just looked at. 44:35 There's no mention there of a battle in heaven. 44:39 It's faded. 44:41 It begins in Revelation 13:1-2 with the Old Testament. 44:46 Just like the woman was the Old Testament period. 44:50 It begins there in Revelation 13:1-2 44:53 by mentioning a lion, a bear, a leopard, 45:03 and then it mentions the dragon. 45:06 Is that the same dragon beast that we found 45:09 that tried to slay the Child? 45:11 Yes it is. It's running parallel. 45:15 Now, how many horns does that dragon beast have? 45:21 It has ten horns. 45:25 So there you have pagan Rome. 45:30 Lion, bear, leopard; Old Testament. 45:33 And then you have the dragon beast, which is Rome. 45:38 What is the next stage? 45:40 And by the way, the dragon beast has ten horns. 45:42 So you know that you have Rome divided also there. 45:48 What is the next stage that we found in Revelation 12? 45:53 The woman flees to the wilderness for 1260 years. 46:01 What is the next stage in Revelation 13? 46:07 The same thing. 46:09 There is a beast. 46:11 It's not called the little horn anymore. 46:12 It's called a beast. 46:14 And the beast persecutes the saints of the Most High 46:19 for 42 months. 46:21 Is that the same period? 46:24 Absolutely, same period. 46:28 Is it following the same sequence? 46:30 The same sequence. 46:33 That's Revelation 13 and verses 3 to 10. 46:39 And then, listen carefully, we come to 46:43 Revelation chapter 13 verse 11. 46:46 What was the next stage in Revelation 12? 46:49 The earth helped the woman. 46:52 After this beast governs 42 months, which is the 46:56 same thing as time, times, and the dividing of time 46:59 in Revelation chapter 12, after that you have 47:05 a beast that rises from the earth. 47:10 What is the common denominator? 47:14 The earth. 47:17 Revelation chapter 12 describes the territory that provided 47:22 refuge for God's people. 47:25 But Revelation 13:11 describes the beast that arose 47:31 in that territory. 47:34 The earth. 47:36 The same place in the sequence. 47:38 Are you with me? 47:40 So in other words, in Revelation chapter 12 47:43 it only talks of the territory that provided refuge. 47:46 There was no United States when this territory 47:49 provided refuge for those persecuted in Europe. 47:52 You had colonies of Great Britain. 47:56 Actually... 47:59 You know, nothing against Great Britain. 48:05 You know, I like to tease them. 48:07 I say, "Brother, you know, we're not beholden 48:11 to the queen anymore." 48:15 We've got our own flag. 48:21 We're not like Australia. 48:24 Now I know I'm meddling. 48:26 I'm going to get in trouble here. 48:33 But, you see, what happened was that this country 48:38 provided refuge, but there was no nation 48:41 during colonial times. 48:44 It was only when the United States declared its independence 48:48 in 1776, and then the Constitution, 48:51 the Bill Of Rights, that it became a nation. 48:55 So the earth existed first, and then you have the beast. 48:59 A beast is a nation that rises from the earth. 49:03 Are you with me? 49:05 And it has two horns like a lamb. 49:07 So for a while it's going to help God's people, right? 49:10 Of course. 49:12 But lo and behold, wow, it ends up speaking like a dragon. 49:20 Which dragon? 49:23 Rome. 49:26 Satan working through Rome. 49:29 Because the dragon is the same dragon in Revelation 12. 49:32 It's the same sequence, the same order. 49:35 Is this making sense? 49:39 The structure is vitally important to understand 49:43 the sequence of events. 49:45 So you have this beast that has two horns like a lamb. 49:48 For a while it behaves. 49:50 But then it ends up speaking like a dragon. 49:54 And you know what's ironic about this beast? 49:57 If you read the book about Jekyll and Hyde, 50:02 this beast of Revelation 13, the two horns are not broken 50:08 and then it starts talking like a dragon. 50:10 It speaks like a dragon while it still has the two horns. 50:15 The United States is not going to get rid 50:17 of the First Amendment. 50:21 What the United States is going to do 50:23 is that they are going to violate the First Amendment 50:26 and they're going to say that it's constitutional. 50:32 Let me ask you, would a Sunday law be clearly unconstitutional? 50:38 Would forbidding the observance of the Sabbath 50:40 be unconstitutional? 50:42 Any child in cradle roll would be able to understand that. 50:51 "Congress shall make no law respecting the establishment 50:56 of religion..." 50:57 Would a law establishing Sunday be a violation 51:01 of the first clause of the First Amendment? 51:03 Yes. 51:05 "...nor prohibiting the free exercise thereof..." 51:08 Would forbidding Sabbath observance be a violation 51:11 of the second clause of the First Amendment? 51:14 Yes. 51:16 But you know what the U.S. is going to do? 51:19 While they still claim to uphold the First Amendment, 51:24 they are going to speak like the dragon. 51:27 They're going to make laws, and the Supreme Court is 51:30 going to declare those Sunday laws constitutional 51:35 contrary to the First Amendment. 51:38 That's why it has two horns like a lamb 51:40 and it speaks like a dragon while it still 51:42 has the two horns. 51:44 Are you with me? 51:47 And that's why Ellen White, you know, in Great Controversy, 51:49 she said this is a great contradiction. 51:51 How can it have two horns like a lamb 51:52 and speak like a dragon at the same time? 51:55 It's because it's violating the First Amendment. 52:00 And by the way, the most powerful branch of government 52:02 that we have is the Supreme Court. 52:06 They elected George Bush president. 52:11 Yep. 52:14 Remember, it was taken to different courts and different, 52:16 you know, circuit courts and federal court, and everything. 52:19 But when the Supreme Court said George Bush won, 52:21 that was it. 52:24 They elected the president of the United States. 52:29 Six of the nine justices are Roman Catholics. 52:34 Doesn't bode well. 52:36 Especially in a world where the papacy is so admired now. 52:43 Anyway... 52:46 So do you see the same sequence? 52:50 Now I want you to look at the chart. 52:51 And this is not real clear because it was in red 52:54 in the original. 52:55 So, you know, you can't... 52:58 I suppose we could have copied it in color. 53:00 But do you see, do you notice that after it says, 53:03 "The lamb that speaks like a dragon," 53:07 you notice it says, "14:1-5 climax." 53:14 See, Revelation 13 verses 11 to 18 53:20 is parallel to Revelation 12:17. 53:23 12:17 tells you, listen carefully, 12:17 tells you 53:27 that the dragon was enraged with the woman, 53:28 goes to make war against the remnant of her seed 53:31 who keep the commandments of God 53:32 and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. 53:36 But it doesn't tell you which commandment. 53:40 Does it. 53:42 Revelation 12 doesn't tell you which commandment. 53:43 It says the commandments. 53:46 And it doesn't say what he does to counteract 53:48 the testimony of Jesus. 53:49 It just says he fights against the testimony of Jesus. 53:53 But when you get to Revelation chapter 13 53:56 verses 11 to 18, it tells you which commandment. 54:03 Because the beast that rises from the earth 54:05 enforces the mark of the beast. 54:09 Are you with me? 54:10 Does Revelation 13 amplify 12:17? 54:14 It does. 54:16 It tells you, "Hey, the commandment at issue 54:20 is the one that has to do with the seal of God." 54:24 And of course, the beast imposes his mark. 54:27 And you know what's interesting? 54:29 How the devil tries to counteract 54:30 the spirit of prophecy, which is the gift of prophecy. 54:35 This beast from the earth is called, the false prophet. 54:41 Wow. 54:44 So the devil, the dragon is enraged with the woman 54:47 who keeps the commandments of God 54:49 and has the testimony of Jesus Christ. 54:51 In other words, they keep all of the commandments 54:53 and they have the gift of prophecy. 54:55 And the devil, in chapter 13, he says, "The commandment 54:58 that I particularly hate is the Sabbath. 55:00 That's why I'm going to impose the mark of the beast." 55:02 And he says, "I'm going to counteract the message 55:05 of the true prophet by raising the false prophet." 55:10 Wow. 55:15 And so Revelation 13 ends. 55:16 You know, the mark of the beast is imposed, 55:20 the image is raised up, and everybody is commanded 55:22 to worship the image of the beast, and so on. 55:24 And so when chapter 13 ends, you ask the question, you say, 55:30 "Well, was everybody unfaithful? 55:35 Did everybody worship the image? 55:38 Did everybody receive the mark of the beast? 55:40 Wasn't there anyone faithful?" 55:41 You don't know when 13 ends. 55:44 That's why you need to include 14:1-5 as part of chapter 13. 55:49 That's to the right of the line. 55:51 Are you with me? 55:53 This is really the climax of chapter 13. 55:56 Because chapter 14:1-5 says, yes there was a group. 56:01 They did not receive the mark of the beast. 56:03 They had the name of God written on their foreheads. 56:08 They had the seal of God in contrast to the 56:11 mark of the beast in chapter 13. 56:15 So in other words, chapter 14 takes you to a moment 56:18 after the second coming. 56:19 God's people are standing victorious. 56:21 Because it's the climax after the crisis. 56:25 Is this making sense? 56:28 See how important the literary structure is? 56:33 Now, we only have about a minute left, 56:37 so I'm not going to try to go to the next line. 56:41 But are you understanding what we're studying? 56:45 So in our next session together, what we're going to do is 56:48 we're going to finish looking at this chart. 56:52 And we're going to see some amazing things as we 56:54 move along in Revelation. 56:56 Because have you noticed that, you know, everything is 57:00 streamlined as we go along. 57:03 The earlier events are kind of just, you know, 57:05 "Okay, I already covered this. 57:07 I gave you the reference point. 57:08 Now I want to talk to you about the end time." 57:11 So beginning with chapter 14, he's going to move you forward. 57:15 He's going to move you forward to the time 57:17 when the three angels' messages are proclaimed to counteract 57:21 what the beast and what the beast from the earth do. 57:26 And so when we reconvene, what we're going to do 57:31 is we're going to study the next exciting episode 57:36 in this drama of Revelation chapter 12 through chapter 22. 57:44 So don't miss it. |
Revised 2015-08-05