The Jewish Final Solution to the World's Problem - Revelation - Angels Reaping Judgment, Part 2

[0:00] Morning. Beautiful day, nice temperature, low humidity. I don't know how long it will last. In the bulletin, the title of the message this morning is Angels Reaping Judgment, Part 2.

[0:24] I would like you to please turn in the book of Revelation to chapter 14. And this morning, we'll be looking at Revelation chapter 14, verses 14 through 20.

[0:47] And then I looked, and behold, a white cloud. And sitting on the cloud was one like a son of man, having a golden crown on his head and a sharp sickle in his hand.

[1:08] And another angel came out of the temple, crying out with a loud voice to him who sat on the cloud. Put in your sickle and reap, for the hour to reap has come, because the harvest of the earth is ripe.

[1:29] Then he who sat on the cloud swung his sickle over the earth, and the earth was reaped. And another angel came out of the temple, which is in heaven, and he also had a sharp sickle.

[1:48] Then another angel, the one who has power over fire, came out from the altar, and he called with a loud voice to him who had the sharp sickle, saying, Put in your sharp sickle and gather the clusters from the vine of the earth, because her grapes are ripe.

[2:13] So the angel swung his sickle to the earth, and gathered the clusters from the vine of the earth, and threw them into the great winepress of the wrath of God.

[2:30] And the winepress was trodden outside the city, and blood came out from the winepress up to the horses' bridles.

[2:43] For a distance of 200 miles. To say that this defies the imagination is probably an understatement.

[2:59] What we are talking about is, My eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord. He is trampling out the vintage, where the grapes of wrath are stored.

[3:13] He hath loosed the faithful lightning of his terrible swift sword. His truth is marching on. Julia Ward Howe wrote that in the 1800s, commonly referred to as the Battle Hymn of the Republic.

[3:29] And this portion of Scripture is what that is about. That is what it is based upon. We have already noted a number of times, as we worked our way through Revelation, arriving here at chapter 14, that there is a new norm established.

[3:51] And the new norm is that what we would call the natural has given way to the supernatural. What is taking place in the book of the Revelation will be those events that will be transpiring on the earth after the church, which is the body of Christ, has been removed in what is commonly referred to as the rapture.

[4:14] It is this church, these believers who make up the body of Christ, who walk by faith, not by sight. But once that is accomplished, and that dispensation, the dispensation of the grace of God, has been completed, an entirely new dispensation is going to be ushered in.

[4:36] And it is referred to as the 70th week of Daniel. It is based upon a prophecy that we considered sometime in the past. In Daniel chapter 9, it is a time that will last for a period of seven years.

[4:54] It will be broken up into strategic halves, three and a half years each, sometimes described as 42 months, sometimes described as 1260 days, sometimes described as a time, times and a half a time.

[5:11] It is called the time of Jacob's trouble because it focuses primarily upon the nation of Israel and God's unfinished business with his covenant people.

[5:25] This goes all the way back to the book of Genesis. It is not coincidental that we see very vivid and obvious connections between some of the events in the book of Genesis and some of the events that we are describing here in the Revelation.

[5:42] What is taking place in Revelation 14, that passage that was just read, is not actually fulfilled here. It is not fulfilled here in this 14th chapter at all.

[5:55] It is a prophecy of that which is coming, but it isn't realized in chapter 14. It's just predicted in chapter 14. It will be realized in chapter 19.

[6:08] That will be the fulfillment of it. And it is much the same way as the decline and the descent and the fall of Babylon that is mentioned earlier in this passage.

[6:22] And we are looking at chapter 13. I'm sorry, chapter 14 and the first portion that we considered last week that had to do with Babylon.

[6:36] And it is referred to as fallen, fallen as Babylon the Great. But that is not the fulfillment of it at all either. That is just the prediction of it and the fulfillment of Babylon, both political and religious Babylon, will actually occur in Revelation chapter 17 and 18.

[6:54] And that is upcoming and we will be there shortly. So the passage that is in question here has to do with angels that have been assigned to this particular time.

[7:06] And of the six angels, we see angel number four surface in verse 14. Angel number five is in 17. Angel number six is in 18.

[7:17] And the three previous had their responsibilities earlier. Angelic involvement is going to be commonplace. Now, I do not know. I do not know how obvious these angels are going to be to the humans who will be living on earth at the time, whether they are actually going to see these angels visibly carrying out their ministries or whether they are simply going to see the effects and the results of what these angels who have been assigned by God to bring upon the earth are actually going to accomplish.

[7:55] But make no mistake about it. Angelic involvement is on every page of the Revelation. And that is radically different from what we have today in the church age.

[8:07] No one is suggesting that there is no angelic involvement because Hebrews tells us that angels are ministering spirits that are sent forth to minister to those who shall be heirs of salvation.

[8:18] And that includes believers. And all I'm saying, I guess, is this. If there is angelic involvement in our lives today as believers, it is certainly not nearly as obvious as what it is going to be during this time of tribulation.

[8:35] And there is so much involving the angelic sphere that we simply do not know nor understand. But we know that they are agents of God. We do know that they occupy two different areas of responsibility.

[8:51] One is that which is, if you want to call it a responsibility, it is a function of evil. And they are carrying it out under their evil headmaster, who is referred to as the adversary or Satan.

[9:06] And he is the prince in the power of the air. His angels, as far as we can determine, are fallen angels or demons. And they are those whom Christ connected with and did battle with in his earthly ministry.

[9:22] It's the apostle Paul to some degree as well. And a few other incidents in the book of Acts. But we do not see that the way that it was during the time our Lord was here. And during the time when these things in Revelation are going to transpire.

[9:37] I want to emphasize the two different aspects of this reaping that is going to take place. Because there is a reaping and there is a treading.

[9:49] And the angel that is called upon to reap, to thrust in the sickle to reap, he is not going to be reaping grain. He is going to be reaping people.

[10:00] And these will be the souls of people who will be responsive to the gospel that the 144,000 are preaching. And that the angel flying through the heavens is going to be preaching.

[10:15] And this, by the way, would almost be required to be obvious and possible and visible to people on earth. And as we pointed out to you last week, there is going to be a time of great competition that will be taking place.

[10:29] It will be a time of recruiting. The angels that will be flying in the heavens and proclaim the everlasting gospel is going to announce the impending doom and fall of Babylon.

[10:45] And by this time, ancient Babylon, which is now nothing but a waste place, is going to be rejuvenated, revitalized, rebuilt, reconstructed.

[10:56] And this Babylon, I know this is a stretch for you to believe, but I'm totally convinced that it is true. This Babylon is going to become the world center for political and economic and commercial activity.

[11:15] It isn't even close to that now. It is going to surpass New York and Chicago and London and everything else. This is going to be the virtual center of the earth there in Babylon.

[11:27] And this is the same geography as the ancient Babylon in the book of Genesis, over which Nimrod was involved and his wife Samarimus and the building of the Tower of Babel.

[11:42] This was the epitome of evil in that Old Testament period. And it is going to be resurrected. Here, for all practical purposes, is where evil on a large scale began.

[11:54] And here is where it is going to end. And it is quite dramatic, to say the least. So, with this reaping, the first one will be for souls.

[12:05] And these will be people who will respond to the gospel as proclaimed by this everlasting angel preaching the everlasting gospel that we saw earlier. And also, by the 144,000 who will be surviving this time only because they are virtually indestructible.

[12:22] And they are going to have tremendous success. But there are also going to be tremendous numbers of people who will succumb to the competition and the promise that is provided by the Antichrist, who is encouraging them to put all of their eggs in this basket called Babylon.

[12:43] And that's where their future lies. And, of course, they've been warned that that is not the case. But many of them are going to believe it because men are subject to being spiritually blind and spiritually seduced.

[12:57] The Antichrist is going to present a very attractive package. And it's going to consist of something like this. Listen, if you will align your allegiance with me, and if you will receive this mark that indicates my ownership, of you and your cooperation for me, you've got nothing to worry about, I'll take care of you and all of your needs.

[13:22] And I will see to it that everything is provided. And there are going to be hosts of people who are going to buy it. It's going to sound really, really good.

[13:33] And there are those who will stand in line to take this mark. And the mark, the 666 we talked about a little earlier, will be a badge of identity.

[13:44] It will be a mark of ownership and allegiance to the Antichrist, which they will be eager to give. And many who refuse that mark, who respond to the gospel message preached by the 144,000, and by the angel who is flying and delivering the everlasting gospel, many of those who believe are going to be martyred for their faith.

[14:12] And it may well number in the millions. The bullseye, the bullseye of this grand target of persecution and elimination by the Antichrist, the center of the bullseye, will be the Jew and the people of Israel.

[14:38] They are going to be the number one target. And so will everyone else who will not receive the mark of the beast. They will not be able to buy or to sell.

[14:51] It simply means that living is going to become very, very difficult. And people are going to die of starvation, of thirst, and of persecution, of everything that you just can't imagine.

[15:05] In fact, we cannot imagine it. So we've got two reapings here. One is the reaping of souls. And the other is the reaping of the grapes.

[15:18] But this is going to be the onslaught and the demise of the wicked. These two different reapings must be kept separate.

[15:29] The first one is in which God is instrumental. The second, God is instrumental in it as well. But it will have to do with the absolute annihilation of this enemy force.

[15:43] And here it is merely predicted. But in Revelation 19, it will be fulfilled. And I've got some things to share with you that are going to be absolutely mind-bending.

[15:54] And yet they are, I think, very solidly supported, not only by the Revelation passage, but by others as well. And the first thing I would have you do is, if you would go with me, please, to Joel chapter 3 in the Old Testament.

[16:10] The prophecy of Joel. This is very strategic. As well as some of the other prophets. But we're looking at Joel chapter 3.

[16:21] Hosea, Joel, and Amos. Behold, chapter 3.

[16:39] In those days and at that time, when I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem, I will gather all the nations and bring them down to the valley of Jehoshaphat.

[16:57] The valley of Jehoshaphat is the same as the valley of Kidron. K-I-D-R-O-N. It runs right in front of the city of Jerusalem.

[17:10] And it is the valley that constitutes a great divide between the Mount of Olives and the city of Jerusalem. There is this deep divide, this ravine that is called the Valley of Jehoshaphat or the Valley of Kidron.

[17:25] And it is this valley that Jesus crossed on the night that he was betrayed. When they left the upper room and they went down through and across the Valley of Kidron up to the Mount of Olives, where he would spend the night in prayer, where he would be arrested probably at 2 or 3 o'clock in the morning by the chief priests and the officers from the temple who would come and arrest him.

[17:51] And all of the disciples will flee. So this is the geographical area. And if you were to situate yourself on the wall of Jerusalem, particularly if you were there at the western wall on that western boundary, if you seated yourself there, you would have a front row seat to the unbelievable, indescribable carnage that is going to take place right in front there in that great ravine.

[18:18] This Valley of Kidron, called the Valley of Jehoshaphat, is part of the great African rift. It runs all the way from north of Israel all the way down through, clear down into the continent of Africa.

[18:34] And it is an enormous divide, this deep, deep separation in the earth. And here is where an incredible number of people are going to gather themselves.

[18:47] And it is in this valley that the blood is going to flow in a depth to the horse's bridles. I know we tend to look at that with a skeptical eye and say, well, now that's just a little much.

[19:03] I mean, after all, the Bible does use hyperbole in a number of places. How do you know this isn't just hyperbole, just an intended exaggeration? Well, I think the evidence that will be forthcoming will demonstrate that it is not hyperbole.

[19:19] It is quite literal. This bloodbath is going to be the likes of which no one could ever imagine. And the millions, and yes, I said millions of people who are going to be here will surpass any number, any aggregate of human beings that have ever gathered anywhere on the face of the earth, including such notable examples as the Normandy invasion in 1944.

[19:47] That will pale in significance to this. The difference, of course, they will not be coming across water. They will not have all of the ships, etc.

[19:58] They will not have to negotiate the water and the beachhead and everything. They will be virtually trapped in this wedge of land. And there may be in excess of 200 million people.

[20:20] I can't fathom that. I have difficulty getting my brain in gear to contemplate one million. That's a number that we throw around rather loosely.

[20:32] And I'm satisfied that none of us here really has any idea how much a million really is. Just sit down and start counting sometime.

[20:46] Continuing. Joel chapter 3. I will gather all the nations and bring them down to the valley of Jehoshaphat. Then I will enter into judgment with them there.

[21:00] Who's the I? It's Jehovah. It's the Lord of hosts. On behalf of my people and my inheritance, Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and they have divided up my land, they have cast lots for my people, traded a boy for a harlot, and sold a girl for wine that they may drink.

[21:22] Moreover, what are you to me, O Tyre, Satan, and all the regions of Philistia? Are you rendering me a recompense? But if you do recompense me swiftly and speedily, I will return your recompense on your head.

[21:36] Since you have taken my silver and my gold and brought my precious treasures to your temples, sold the sons of Judah and Jerusalem to the Greeks in order to remove them far from their territory, behold, I am going to arouse them from the place where you have sold them and return your recompense on your head.

[21:55] I will sell your sons and your daughters into the hand of the sons of Judah, and they will sell them to the civilians to a distant nation, for the Lord has spoken. Now, as we look at this, some of it sounds reminiscent and familiar to history, and some of it is.

[22:10] But there are events that are described here in Joel and other prophetic portions we'll be looking at that do not have any possible connection with anything that has ever happened historically because there is nothing that answers to it.

[22:23] So this is all future. And the very first verse here, or the second verse, I will gather all the nations and bring them down to the valley of Jehoshaphat. Nothing like that has ever transpired in the past.

[22:35] There is no record of that. But it is coming. And here in verse 9, Proclaim this among the nations. Prepare a war.

[22:45] Rouse the mighty men. Let all the soldiers draw near. Let them come up. Beat your plowshares into swords. That means transfer your items of peace into items of war.

[23:00] Now, we've heard this spoken of the other way around. And it is true of millennial truth where men will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks.

[23:11] That means going from implements of war to implements of peace. But that's not what this is about. This is about the opposite. This is going from peace to war.

[23:22] It is nations. Internationally, arm yourselves. Let the weak say, I am a mighty man. Hasten and come, all you surrounding nations, and gather yourselves there.

[23:38] Bring down, O Lord, thy mighty ones. Let the nations be aroused and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat. For there I will sit to judge all the surrounding nations.

[23:53] Put in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe. Come, tread, for the winepress is full.

[24:07] The bats overflow, for their wickedness is great. Multitudes, multitudes, in the valley of decision, for the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision.

[24:19] The sun and moon grow dark, and the stars lose their brightness, and the Lord roars from Zion, and utters his voice from Jerusalem.

[24:31] And the heavens and the earth tremble, but the Lord is a refuge for his people. And his people here will be his people.

[24:41] It will be the faithful, surviving remnant of the nation of Israel, and a stronghold to the sons of Israel. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God.

[24:55] Do you know something? Israel does not know that now. Israel does not know that now. But they will know that then.

[25:07] Then Israel will know that he is the Lord your God, dwelling in Zion, my holy mountain. So Jerusalem will be holy, and strangers will pass through it no more.

[25:20] And then there is one more reference that we need to consider before I take you to some writings by the scholar Henry Morris, and that is Zechariah chapter 14. If you would come back, please.

[25:32] It's almost at the end of the Old Testament. Zechariah chapter 14. Behold, a day is coming for the Lord when the spoil taken from you will be divided among you.

[26:01] For I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle. And the city will be captured, the houses plundered, the women ravished, and half of the city exiled.

[26:15] But the rest of the people will not be cut off from the city. And then, then, then, the Lord will go forth and fight against those nations as when he fights on the day of battle.

[26:34] He will be the only one who will engage in combat. And his weapon will be his word, the sharp sword that proceeds out of his mouth.

[26:50] This will be the most uneven confrontation in all of the battles of all of human history. There will be one person embattled against the congregation of all of these nations that will number in excess of millions.

[27:14] I know. I know it's hard to imagine. Come on now. Is it really going to be like that, Mark? Yes, it's really going to be like that.

[27:25] And when we get to Revelation 19, you will see it spelled out in very, very obvious terms. So, in some of the previous sessions, I shared with you some of the content of Dr. Henry Morris.

[27:47] And I've probably got, and this is not hyperbole, I'm not exaggerating, I probably have between 80 and 100 different commentaries on the book of the Revelation.

[27:59] Some of them are single commentaries just dealing with Revelation alone and are like that thick. And some of them are just parts of a set that belong to other books as well.

[28:11] And safe to say that a great majority of them are almost worthless. And the reason they are is because so many of them insist on taking these things that we are speaking of as being symbolic, but they are not to be taken literally.

[28:31] And here is a point that I want to emphasize and reemphasize. The Revelation is a book filled with symbols. No doubt about it. Lots of symbols.

[28:43] However, every symbol means something. And the use of the symbols is consistent.

[28:54] You do not have a symbol in one place in the Bible that means this and another symbol the same symbol someplace else in the Bible that means something different. And in the third symbol the same symbol in the Bible meaning something different.

[29:08] Yeah, no, no. There is great consistency among the interpretation of the symbols. And the symbols all indicate something real. For instance, the symbol of the sword that is constantly referred to as the spoken word or the word of God.

[29:26] that the world of God is sharper than a two-edged sword, etc. And Christ, the sword that will proceed out of his mouth. It simply means that it is his spoken word that will be spoken with the power and the ability of a symbol of a sword that cuts both ways.

[29:45] That is how deadly his word is going to be. And it is his word that is going to literally slay this multitude in his army right there in the valley of Kidron or the valley of Jehoshaphat.

[30:00] And some of the comments by Dr. Morris and I ferreted him out because he is just about the most consistent and the most logical and the man who has great reverence for the word of God.

[30:13] And I want to share with you a couple of the paragraphs that he has penned in this volume on the revelation. As John looks forward in his vision toward the end of the tribulation period and sees all the nations being drawn like a magnet to the land of the chosen people, he must sense the enormity of the calamity that is soon to overwhelm them.

[30:37] But he could hardly have anticipated the awful scene that eventually unfolds in his prophetic vision. Nothing less than the sudden spilling of the blood of all the unnumbered multitudes massed together in a great phalanx extending through the whole land of Israel is the terrible sight entrusted to John.

[31:00] The bloodshed is so massive and so quick that the only apt comparison is the spurting of the juice from tremendous clusters of ripe fruit beneath the feet of the great tramplers in a wine press.

[31:18] In a land, of course, that made great use of wine with huge amounts of vineyards all over the place when the vines were ripe, the grapes were ripe, they would bring the clusters in and they would throw them into this huge vat and as some would see, you've seen pictures of this where they get in barefoot and tread those grapes and the juice runs down and is collected in a vat and sometimes they have a press like a wine press that is more automatic and people aren't in it in their bare feet but the idea is to squeeze all the juice out of those grapes and that's what this is likened to here.

[31:58] It is a very vivid kind of illustration of what this is going to be like only it isn't going to be the blood of grapes, it's going to be the blood of humans.

[32:09] This is the same scene to which John is going to appeal in chapter 19 where the fowl of the air and the vultures of the air are bidden to come and partake of the great supper of God.

[32:25] What does that mean? That means the carnage of human bodies and horses that are going to be there involved in this pool of blood that is going to extend a mile wide and 200 miles long with the blood oozing to the bride of the horses, the bridle of the horses.

[32:53] Really? Really? The bodies quickly are awash in their own blood and will soon become carrion for the waiting flocks of vultures that darken the sky.

[33:12] Revelation 19. Thus shall be the unspeakable end of those who worship the beast and receive his mark. The vat of blood will extend for 1600 furlongs with each stadion the equivalent of about 607 feet or a distance of approximately 180 miles.

[33:38] Imagine if you can a massive army of 200 million men. And nowadays, I dare say, it will likely be 200 million men and women.

[33:52] These are going to be recruits from nations all over the globe and they are coming to this place for one purpose only.

[34:03] And that is under the orders of the Antichrist, their sole objection, their sole objective is to completely eliminate the nation of Israel down to the last Jew.

[34:17] And that's exactly why they are coming. Earlier, we saw the Russian invasion in Ezekiel 38 and 39. They are coming to take a spoil.

[34:28] But that's not what this is about. These people, they are coming to absolutely decimate Israel. These are going to be people who are going to buy into the mantra that the Palestinians are publishing right now and that is Israel has no right to exist and they want to see them driven into the Mediterranean Ocean so that the name of Israel will no longer be spoken there.

[34:53] These are going to be in sympathy with that because they are going to be under the leadership and the guidance of the Antichrist. And the Antichrist is, of course, the chief opponent of our Lord Jesus Christ and he is going to be determined to thwart the plan and program of Christ in every way he can and the program of God his Father in every way he can.

[35:17] And one of the most effective ways he can do that is make sure that the promises that God made to Abraham and Isaac and Jacob will never come to pass. And here is where this decisive point is going to culminate.

[35:33] He says, this would allow each man an average area of only 25 square feet in which to maneuver. Think of it. You're working in a five foot square, five foot each way, 25 square feet.

[35:48] That's your space that's allotted to you. If you are one of 200 billion crammed in to a tight place like this. Unimaginable, isn't it?

[36:01] Now, for many years, Dr. Morris was a professor of hydraulic engineering at Virginia Polytechnic Institute before he launched a career into biblical creationism.

[36:17] But he is a man who is with the Lord now and he's left behind a tremendous legacy. Let me continue this. The 200 million is not an impossible number and it is evident from the fact that this is the number of demon horsemen released from the river Euphrates under the sixth trumpet in Revelation 9.

[36:39] We studied that earlier. Remember that? Revelation 9. And the fact that at this time there will probably be still well over 2 billion people on earth.

[36:50] Now, on two different occasions, the earth is going to be depopulated radically. And this is going to come about as a result of some of the atmospheric things that are going to take place and some of the geographical situations that are going to be occurring in addition to the great famine that's going to take place.

[37:06] So the earth is going to be radically depopulated during this time. And there will be one time when literally one-third, one-third of the human beings on the earth are going to be eliminated.

[37:17] And we aren't talking millions. We're talking billions. This is a number that is absolutely incomprehensible to any ordinary person.

[37:30] This is what's coming. And what I'm saying is, and what you need to understand is, this is the end. This is a showdown. This is what everything has ultimately been headed toward.

[37:44] it is now that this is the culmination of it. This is when it is finally happening. This is the answer to what people are going to be saying.

[37:55] Is this the end of the world? Yes. Yes. It is the end of the world as we know it. No. The globe, the sphere, planet earth, is not going to cease to exist.

[38:07] But it is going to be the end of the human order of the world as it has been known. from Genesis on. Here is where everything is going to change.

[38:19] Here is where evil is going to finally be dealt with in a complete way and in a final way. It has been nothing but brewing for millennia.

[38:31] But this is the end. Most of the able-bodied men, possibly also women, will be drafted into the armies of the nations under the beast.

[38:46] If 10% of the world's population is gathered to fight under the beast in the Holy Land, and such seems appropriate in light of the superlatives employed in scripture to describe this vast army, that would come to 200 million, and such a number would become a veritable sea of humanity, a mile wide and 180 miles long.

[39:12] And when the blood suddenly bursts forth from the bodies of these multitudes, in addition to the blood of the horses on which they are mounted, the sea of humanity will become a sea of blood.

[39:26] The blood will drain toward the valley center where it will literally reach to the horse's bridles. All this will take place without the city, so that the holy city itself will not be polluted with this bath of blood.

[39:41] This will be an enormous trench that just runs parallel to the whole western wall of Jerusalem, and it goes clear down through and up into ancient Syria and all the way down to 20 miles above the Dead Sea at the south.

[40:04] This great ravine with all of these people in it. We've looked at the passage in Zechariah 12.

[40:21] There's one in 14, verses 1 through 3 as well. You might take note of that if you want to look at it later. But we'll be unable to occupy it and withdraw their line down toward the wilderness of Judea and along the Jordan River and the Dead Sea, extending down into ancient Idumea or Edom.

[40:39] The great phalanx will project deep into Edom. Edom is southernmost Transjordan as it exists now. This is south of the biblical Moab and it is an area that, by the way, is going to be providentially protected from this final destruction.

[40:58] The Transjordan north and south is going to be the land of refuge for the Jewish people for this remnant and they are going to gather in ancient Petra, which is, by the way, a huge tourist attraction to this day.

[41:13] It is in the land of Mount Seir. This is the land that was originally occupied by Esau and his descendants. He was the brother of Jacob, you will recall.

[41:25] And these are called Edomites. And this is the area where Petra is located. It is where the Jewish people, people in a small, and by small I mean probably no more than a million or two, is going to be gathered during the time, during this time of Jacob's trouble and the intense persecution.

[41:47] They are going to be secreted away there. God is going to providentially protect them and feed them with food and water just like he did when the children of Israel came out of the land of Egypt.

[42:02] And I don't know that food is going to be manna or what it's going to be, but it does say that God is going to protect them and care for them, and the Antichrist will not be able to get to them.

[42:13] And I have no idea what it is that's going to prevent him, but he will not be able to do that. This will all take place during this time. On the north, it will extend to and beyond the great plains of Ezreal or the valley of Jezreel.

[42:32] which is just the name for the same rift only further north near the town of Megiddo, a region known since ancient times by the foreboding name of Armageddon, the Mount of Megiddo.

[42:45] The center of the phalanx will be concentrated in the Judean wilderness opposite Jerusalem in a region where King Jehoshaphat once won a great victory over the animals, over the enemies of God's people, indicated in 2 Chronicles 20 verses 20 through 24, and thus later in scripture called the Valley of Jehoshaphat.

[43:09] The line from Basra through the Valley of Jehoshaphat to Armageddon is roughly 140 miles in length, with Jerusalem closely opposite the middle of it.

[43:21] The 180 miles mentioned in this verse would allow the military forces of the beast to protrude about 20 miles beyond Basra and Armageddon.

[43:31] If the width of the encampment is one and one-third miles instead of one mile, then the termini would be at Basra and Armageddon, assuming one person every five feet as noted above.

[43:44] Whatever the precise numbers and areas may be, at least the biblical descriptions are eminently plausible and may well be taken quite literally.

[43:57] It is this great valley in which the blood will at its center reach the bridles of the horses. The sword of the Lord is filled with blood, for the Lord hath a sacrifice in Basra and a great slaughter in the land of Idumea.

[44:15] Isaiah 34, 6. Who is this that comes from Edom with dyed garments from Basra? This that is glorious in his apparel, traveling in the greatness of his strength.

[44:31] I that speak in righteousness mighty to save. Wherefore art thou in thine red apparel, and the garments like him that treadeth in the winepress? I have trodden the winepress alone.

[44:44] This is Christ speaking here prophetically. And of the people there was none with me, for I will tread them in mine anger, and trample them in my fury, and their blood shall be sprinkled upon my garments, and I will stain all my raiment.

[45:01] For the day of vengeance is in my heart, and the year of my redeemed is come.

[45:13] Isaiah 63, verses 1-4. This is the day of vengeance of God. This is payday.

[45:24] This is heaven's payday upon human evil. And demonic evil, by the way. This vengeance factor.

[45:35] When Jesus visited his hometown, Nazareth, in Luke's Gospel, chapter 4, he was invited to read a portion of scripture.

[45:59] And he opened the scroll to the passage in Isaiah. And it was, I think, this Isaiah 62 or 60.

[46:10] It's in that neighborhood. I won't turn to it. But anyway, Jesus read from this passage, quoting Isaiah. And bear in mind, Isaiah wrote this 700 years before Jesus was ever born.

[46:25] And now he is opening this ancient scroll there in his hometown of Nazareth, where all the local people have come out to see this local boy that makes good. He's returned home.

[46:36] And he opens the scroll. And he begins reading. And it says, behold, the day of the, well, let's go there. Let's go there.

[46:47] Isaiah 60, or I'm sorry, Luke, chapter 4. Luke chapter 4.

[47:06] And verse 14. Jesus returned to Galilee. This is right after the temptation and the power of the spirit. News about him spread throughout all the surrounding district. And he began teaching in their synagogues and was praised by all.

[47:17] Now, this is the very earliest time of our Lord's earthly ministry on earth. Just right before this. He was baptized by John.

[47:28] And then he went into the wilderness temptation for approximately six weeks. And having come out of that, he's gone to his hometown of Nazareth. And so this is very early in his earthly ministry.

[47:39] And we read in verse 16. And he came to Nazareth where he had been brought up. And as was his custom, he entered the synagogue on the Sabbath and stood up to read.

[47:52] And the book of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. And he opened the book and found the place where it was written. And here is what Isaiah said.

[48:03] And here is what Jesus read. The spirit of the Lord is upon me because he anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor.

[48:15] He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free those who are downtrodden, to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord.

[48:31] And he closed the book and sat down. Well, that's not where Isaiah stopped. Isaiah in his reading continued. Jesus omitted something.

[48:46] And what he omitted was the very next line. To proclaim the favorable year of the Lord. That's where he stopped reading. But Isaiah went on to read and to say, And the day of vengeance of our God.

[49:08] What? What? And the day of vengeance of our God. Well, why didn't Jesus read that? Because that was not on his agenda then.

[49:21] All the other things were. But the day of vengeance is reserved for a later time. What is the later time? It's Revelation 14.

[49:34] And the fulfillment in chapter 19. That's the day of vengeance. And that is precisely what John is saying. This is going to be the end.

[49:50] This is just absolutely remarkable. There is more of the same. That buttresses this.

[50:01] And confirms it. And we do not find this in one or two places in scripture. We find it referred to in a number of places.

[50:12] And in each and every one of them. The descriptions are unmistakable. And they are all pointing to this same time reference that we are talking about here.

[50:23] So, how close are we to all of this? Well, I don't think anyone in their right mind is going to set any dates. But that doesn't keep a lot of people who are not in their right mind from doing that.

[50:36] We just don't know. But suffice it to say, we may be a lot closer than you think. Next item on the agenda is the translation of the church.

[50:48] And we don't have any idea either when that's going to be. But it could be before we exit the building this morning. Or it could be five years or a hundred years. We just don't know. We aren't told. But we do know that it is the blessed hope for which the church is to be looking forward to.

[51:07] And we await the coming of the Lord to take us to himself. And then, that 70th week of Daniel, we'll be getting underway. And these things will be coming to pass.

[51:20] So, we are to be forewarned so we can be prepared. And our preparation should be to make certain that we, first of all, that we know the Lord and that we are walking in obedience to his word and his will to the extent of our ability.

[51:36] And then you just relax and commit everything to him. You've got nothing to worry about. Questions or comments? We've got maybe three minutes. Anybody? And if you are, if you are absolutely too stunned to ask a question, I can understand.

[52:03] I've spent, I've spent quite a bit of time with this content over the last month. And each time it leaves me rising at my desk and shaking my head. It just, it's overwhelming.

[52:15] Overwhelming. Before we dismiss, is there anyone with a question or comment? Up here. Byron, here comes the mic. I'm not trying to argue with you or anything.

[52:30] Is it possible that this Babylon could be the new city of Dubai? Because they claim that's supposed to be the new financial capital between Europe and Asia. Well, there's no mention of the United States there.

[52:42] Yeah. Well, it's interesting that you mention that and I don't want to go into it right now because it's too involved. But I do think, and this is just a Wiseman opinion, you can take it for what it's worth and it might not be worth much.

[52:56] But I do think that there is going to be an incredible increase in prominence and relevance in the Mideast the likes of which there has not been since ancient days when civilization was very primitive yet it was still the headquarters of the world such as it was then.

[53:20] And I think that that is likely going to be restored and it could very well and Dubai could easily be a very important part of it.

[53:31] Matter of fact, I may regret having said this but I'm going to say it anyway because I just feel quite strongly about it that Islam that is on the march today may be able to realize incredible gains over the next few years the likes of which would make our heads swim in world prominence and possibly eventually even in world dominance.

[54:04] And I know we Americans don't like to think in those terms at all but there are some mighty powerful dynamics that are taking place right now on the international scene and the Mideast is right at the core of it and there is absolutely no doubt whatever that the adversary is the chief orchestrator and instigator of it and who knows what he may have in his hat of tricks but this is very doable very possible and could also be very very sudden.

[54:37] so with that I'll just leave you something to something to think about don't ask me for any details because I don't have any okay but thank you for your mention about Dubai that could very well play into it big time.

[54:51] Anything else before we dismiss? Well thank you for your kind attention and your patience and I understand that this has probably not been the easiest thing for you to endure but at the same time I am not given to making apologies for the content of the word of God so I'm not going to do that at all this morning but I just want you to give serious and sober thought to these things because let me tell you something God is not to be trifled with and he means business and his word is going to be fulfilled and he is going to do all his good pleasure and he is going to accomplish all that he has said he has going to accomplish and like the prophet Isaiah said as the rain cometh down and the snow from heaven and returneth not thither but watereth the earth and maketh it to bring forth and bud that it may give seed to the sower and bread to the eater so shall my word be that goes forth out of my mouth it shall not return unto me void but it shall prosper in the thing whereunto

[55:59] I send it and with that would you stand please thank you father for this revelation that you've given us we realize these are very difficult things to absorb and none of us here has any real appreciation of what you have been dealing with by way of corporate evil from humanity for lo these many millennia and the time of judgment is ripe even as John is describing it here our only question is why has your long suffering tarried so long but we are grateful that it has that more might be swept into the gospel of the glorious Lord Jesus Christ in whose name we pray Amen