The Jewish Final Solution to the World's Problem - Revelation, Part 17- The Sealing of the 144,000

[0:00] Return, if we may please, to Revelation chapter 7. Revelation chapter 7 has to do with a very, very dramatic incident that is going to take place during this tribulation period.

[0:17] And if you will note in your bulletin, there is an introductory paragraph about it. Now, relating to the sealing of the 144,000, all of whom are Jewish people from 12 different tribes of Israel, and we are going to see how these 144,000 are divinely enlisted to carry on a worldwide evangelistic ministry, the likes of which the world has never seen.

[0:52] And this will be perhaps the only positive aspect that will come out of the tribulation period, because there will be huge numbers of people who will come to faith and belief in God during this time of intense pouring out of the wrath of God upon the earth.

[1:16] And the article in the bulletin reads, There has to be some very dramatic reason why these 144,000 Jews suddenly become evangelists for the one true God of Israel, when they certainly were not that before.

[1:35] Whatever could it be? We think we have a pretty good idea, and we will discuss it this morning from Revelation chapter 7, with discussion to follow.

[1:46] This will be Revelation number 17 in our ongoing verse-by-verse exposition. For the record, I need to insert here that when we ask the question, whatever could it be, it is my considered opinion, which may or may not be right, that that which will induce these 144,000 to sign on with the one true God and become evangelists has to do with the Russian invasion of Israel that is going to take place at some point in the future.

[2:23] And I would emphasize that this is something that could very well happen that we will witness. I'm not prepared to say we definitely will.

[2:37] I'm just prepared to say we definitely might. And yet, this is something that might occur after the rapture of the church, and we are gone.

[2:48] We will not be here to witness it. But I think the scriptures make it very clear, Old Testament and New, that the Russian invasion that is so vividly portrayed in Ezekiel 38 and 39 cannot be made to fit into the book of the Revelation as regards the great assize or the final wrap-up or the campaign of Armageddon.

[3:19] It just will not fit there. It has to be prior to that time. And I am of the opinion that what is going to take place in that Russian invasion is going to provide the catalyst for the conversion of a huge number of Jewish people, perhaps almost the entire nation.

[3:43] They are going to make a dramatic reversal from where they have been spiritually for the last 2,000 years. Because for those 2,000 years, as Romans chapter 11 makes quite clear, Israel has been under a state of judicial blindness from the Lord because of their rejection of the Messiah.

[4:08] But the time is coming when that veil that is over their spiritual eyes will be removed. And I personally think it will be in conjunction with this Russian invasion that is going to take place.

[4:24] Russia and certain other allies will come storming in to the land of Israel. And the text says to take a spoil. We do not know exactly what that spoil is going to consist of, but it will be significant enough to entice Russia and these allies to come in and attempt to take it.

[4:44] The results, of course, will be absolutely disastrous for the invaders. And we shall see that momentarily. So, first thing I want to do is remind you, if I may, of the three basic purposes for this tribulation period.

[5:04] It is referred to as the time of Jacob's trouble. And Jacob, of course, is a synonym for Israel. In fact, Jacob had his name changed by God to Israel.

[5:17] And it is called the time of Jacob's trouble because he is going to constitute the bulk, receiving the bulk of the persecution. It is going to be the attempt worldwide for the annihilation of Israel.

[5:36] And I want to make a very important distinction here between the Battle of Armageddon, or what might be more correctly stated as the Campaign of Armageddon, because it will not be just one battle.

[5:49] It will extend over a period of time, and it will culminate in that one battle when Christ comes. But I want to make a distinction between the Russian invasion of Israel that is depicted in Romans 38 and 39, and keep that separate from the tribulation period because it just doesn't fit in it.

[6:11] And there are, of course, some scholars who read the passages that we will be looking at in Ezekiel 38 and 39, and they say, this isn't prophecy.

[6:25] This is history. This has already happened. And Ezekiel just recorded it as history. Well, on the surface, that sounds kind of plausible.

[6:39] But when you search history, you search in vain to find anything that even closely corresponds to what is described there.

[6:50] And it becomes patently obvious that the things that Ezekiel describes in great detail do not fit or even come close to fitting anywhere in history.

[7:04] These things have just never happened. And nobody has ever recorded that they happened. Because they didn't happen. They are yet future. And I don't know if you are aware of it or not, but at the time Scripture was written, 23 to 27 percent of everything that was written was prophecy at the time it was written.

[7:31] Much of it has since been fulfilled, but much of it has not been fulfilled. So for anyone who denigrates the idea of prophecy, of it being unprofitable, or whatever they may say, they need to reckon with the fact that fully 25 percent of the Bible is prophetic.

[7:51] And there are things that just will not answer to the prophecies in history. So we have to take the position that either the prophet was mistaken, that God misinformed them, or they have not yet occurred.

[8:08] And we, of course, believe that they have not yet occurred. Now, very briefly, I want to run through, before we look at Revelation 7, and oh yes, one other thing. There is just some fascinating content that Dr. Henry Morris, whom we consulted, I think, in our last session, or the one before, regarding his commentary and his remarks on Revelation, some things that I have to share with you from his commentary, because he writes as a scientist, as well as a believer, and he writes as a hydrologist, someone who is an expert in hydraulic engineering and taught it for several years at Virginia Polytechnic.

[8:48] He's got some fascinating stuff that I am eager to share with you about what is going to transpire regarding the wind and things that are going to happen on the earth and what the angel says in verse 1 of 7, I saw the four angels standing at the four corners of the earth.

[9:06] And some would poo-poo that, and they'd say, no, wait a minute, wait a minute. The earth is a sphere. The earth is a globe. It doesn't have corners.

[9:18] You'll want to bet what he has to share will pull out the corners in stark relief, and it's quite remarkable. And then the wind. These angels holding back the four winds of the earth so that no wind should blow on the earth or on the sea or on any tree.

[9:38] And don't you like it sometimes when you go out on a beautiful day and there's no wind blowing because that always seems to add something, and very often it's negative. Oh, of course, we always enjoy a gentle breeze, but sometimes wind can be a real nuisance and a hazard.

[9:55] And yet, the wind is very, very valuable. we are dependent upon the wind. And someone of Dr. Morris' stature can point that out and make a case for it.

[10:10] And like I said, I'm eager to share it with you. But right now, what I want to get out of the way, and I'm going to do this more than once, every few chapters, as we go through Revelation verse by verse, every few chapters, we're going to go through this again because I want you to always bear in mind the significance and the purpose for this great tribulation period.

[10:32] And your scripture sheet, you will see Isaiah 13 at the top, and it constitutes a revelation regarding the first reason that is given for the tribulation.

[10:45] Why is this time of wrath and judgment coming upon the earth? The three reasons that have been suggested before, we are going to go over again. And the first one is, it will be divine retribution upon sin and evil.

[11:02] And we see that in Isaiah chapter 13. It is referred to in verse 9 as the day of the Lord cometh.

[11:13] Cruel. Do you realize that the loss of life on more than one occasion during this time is going to involve twenty-five, a fourth to a third of the earth's inhabitants as casualties.

[11:51] The death toll will not number in the millions. It will number in the billions. That is absolutely mind-blowing.

[12:05] We cannot begin to fathom the loss of life of that magnitude. Surely, that can't be literal.

[12:18] But the texts affirm it and reaffirm it time and again. That is what is coming during this tribulation period. Verse 10 says, The stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light.

[12:38] The sun shall be darkened in his going forth and the moon shall not cause her light to shine. These are referred to as figurative language.

[12:50] It's called personification. And it is a literary tool that is often enjoyed by the Hebrews. And it assigns personality to certain things that don't have a personality.

[13:04] And here, it refers to the sun as if he were a male. And the moon as if it were a female. So, it is the sun shall be darkened in his going forth.

[13:22] Well, that is simply an expression of Hebrew poetry. And it's, like I said, called personification where you take an inanimate object and you assign personality or humanity to it.

[13:37] It is a literary tool and poets use it all the time for emphasis and for variety and for color. And if you are interested, I think it's on Christianity Clarified.

[13:50] I think it's volume 31 where we deal with literal and figurative language and we give some of these illustrations here. In verse 11, God is speaking through Isaiah and he says, and I will punish the world for their evil and the wicked for their iniquity.

[14:07] In other words, this is simply saying, God's saying, I've had enough. that's it. And that's when this is all going to break loose.

[14:19] It is a kind of repeat from thousands of years ago in the time of Noah when we are told in Genesis 6 that God looked upon the earth and he saw that man was only evil continuously and full of wrath and fury and this was not have been a good place to be during that time.

[14:53] And God brought down the curtain then in the form of the Noahic flood. Now he has contended with this civilization for thousands and thousands of years and many of us have wondered just when will the long suffering of God be exhausted?

[15:16] When is God again going to say, I've had enough. That's it. Well, let me tell you, this is it. This is it.

[15:27] from here, chapter 7 onward, there is going to be nothing but devastation upon this earth. And humanity in general is going to be the target.

[15:41] There will be survivors, there will be huge numbers of people who will not survive. And the reason we find such difficulty in addressing these numbers and contemplating them or accepting them is because we just refuse to believe that something of that magnitude is going to happen and that a loving God is going to be behind it.

[16:08] We just cannot process that. So we tend to try to spiritualize it and say, well, it really doesn't mean that. It's all symbolic and it's not literal, but I think we will be able to demonstrate that it is quite literal.

[16:24] It is quite literal and it is coming. I will punish the world for their evil and the wicked for their iniquity and I will cause the arrogance of the proud to cease and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible.

[16:40] And then Isaiah 24 says, verse 19, the earth is utterly broken down. The earth is clean dissolved.

[16:53] The earth is moved exceedingly. This whole globe, this whole planet is going to tremble and shake.

[17:04] And the earthquakes will be of worldwide proportion. They will not be confined to a certain continent where the tectonic plates are shifted under it.

[17:17] This is going to involve the entirety of the globe. We do not know but what perhaps asteroids from outer space will be pummeling the earth and will actually shake it on its axis.

[17:30] But the text goes on to say in verse 20, the earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard and shall be removed like a cottage and the transgression thereof shall be heavy upon it and it shall fall and not rise again.

[17:51] When I read this about a drunken man reeling to and fro, I remember when I was a kid, we lived in West Main Street and I think I was eight years old at the time here in Springfield and there was a gentleman that lived in the small house behind us and I never did know his name but everybody called him Curly because he had a handlebar mustache and he was always he'd walk down the street curling that mustache and fiddling with that mustache and curling and had a big handlebar mustache and all the neighbors called him Curly and he'd walk down around the corner to Hinkle's Bar and he'd be there for about three or four hours and then when you watch him come home, all of us kids got a big kick out of it because he was really around, you know, and one foot after another and just staggering that's what this earth is going to do, like a drunken man staggering, trembling.

[18:50] These are the negatives that are coming and they are very real and very literal. This is the first reason for the tribulation but the second reason is a real positive and it is going to be the singular bright spot of this whole tribulation period because there are going to be huge numbers of people during the seven year period who are going to get the message.

[19:25] They will receive the wake up call and take it as such. They will understand that this is the wrath of God and they will flee in great numbers to him for salvation, for safety, for refuge.

[19:42] They will be saved and many of them will also be martyred because none of them will be able to wear the mark of the beast and that means they will not be able to participate in any way, shape, or form with the economy.

[20:01] They will not be able to buy or sell. By the way, this makes sense. There will probably be a great deal of bartering going on then where people will not need to exchange money. They will be exchanging goods for goods or services for services but you will not be able to buy nor sell if you do not have this mark of the beast that will be your ticket, your permission and there will be huge numbers of people.

[20:24] In fact, most of the world will take the mark and they will survive only to ultimately lose in the end. So, this worldwide revival is described by Jesus in Matthew 24 when they show him the stones and he says not one will be left upon another and then in verse 4 he begins to give his answer and he says take heed that no man deceive you and that I think implies that there will be efforts to deceive.

[20:54] So, you need to be on your guard because deception is going to be rampant. Deception has always been rampant because this world is the domain of the adversary.

[21:08] 2 Corinthians reminds us that if our gospel be hid it is hid to them that are lost whose minds the God of this world, the God of this age, Satan himself, has blinded the minds of those who believe not.

[21:25] He is a deceiver. He causes people to think things are true that are not true and that things that are true are true. He'll convince them they are not true and this has been going on for a long time.

[21:39] We're told by Peter in 1 Peter, I think it's 5.8, be vigilant. Be on your alert. Be on your guard because your adversary, the devil, walks about as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour and he devours people through deception.

[22:00] Deception is when you cause people to think something other than what it is. That's deception and he is the expert at it and we've got a lot of cohorts out there working with him.

[22:15] So this time of tribulation is also going to be a time of deception. Many will come in my name saying I am Christ shall deceive many.

[22:27] You shall hear of wars and rumors of wars see that you be not troubled for all these things must come to pass but the end is not yet. Nation shall rise against nation, kingdom against kingdom.

[22:40] There shall be famines and pestilences and earthquakes. earthquakes in divers or many or various places earthquakes are going to be simultaneous.

[22:51] It's going to be rumblings of earthquakes all over the place not just in one location as we are accustomed to. And then verse 8 says all these are the beginning.

[23:04] This is just starting. This is going to go on and intensify because the seal judgments that have begun here in chapter 7 and chapter 6 are going to give way to the trumpet judgments and there will be six of those and the seventh trumpet judgment will introduce the seven bowl judgments and each series of judgments is going to be more severe than the one before.

[23:33] All with the effect of on the one hand punishing evil and on the other hand applying incredible pressure with the intent of winning those last few holdouts and causing them to finally see the light.

[23:56] You see God has various ways of getting our attention. I call these God's two by fours and sometimes we have to be hit by a two by four to get the message.

[24:06] But you need to understand God has four by fours. He has eight by eights. He has whatever is needed.

[24:18] And when we do not get the message with the lesser, he increases it. He tightens the screws until finally some people are going to say, this is it.

[24:32] I'm convinced. I'm coming over to that side. And that's exactly what's going to happen to a lot of people who will not be tempted with the lesser judgment, but they may see the light with the greater judgment.

[24:49] All these are the beginning of sorrows. Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted and shall kill you. And you shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake.

[25:02] and then shall many be offended and shall betray one another and shall hate one another. This is going to be a time of inordinate human crisis.

[25:17] And the name of the game will be stay alive. Just try to survive. You've heard the expression, a dog-eat-dog world. that's what this is going to be in spades.

[25:30] It is going to be a time of such critical nature that man has never lived in a time like this. There's going to be deception on every hand and you will not know whom you can trust.

[25:42] It's just going to be a time of unparalleled conflagration. And many false prophets shall rise and shall deceive many. And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.

[26:01] Many are unable and will be unwilling to maintain their faithful position under such intense duress and conflagration.

[26:12] And some are going to, not in a positive way, but in a negative way, just give up, throw in the towel. But, he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.

[26:27] And this is talking about physical salvation, talking about physical survival, staying alive. And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world.

[26:39] At the same time all of this stuff is going on, yes, that's what's going to make this so incredibly dramatic. And a time of such conflagration, the lives of which we have nothing to compare.

[26:51] while all of this death and destruction is taking place, there is going to be the preaching of the gospel of the kingdom. It will not be the gospel of the grace of God, as we know it.

[27:07] That's the gospel we preach today. That's the message for the church age. This is going to be a reversion to the gospel of the kingdom. And what was the essence of the gospel of the kingdom?

[27:17] it was not predicated upon the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. It hadn't even happened yet. And even when Jesus predicted it and told them that's what was going to happen when he got to Jerusalem, none of his apostles believed it.

[27:33] They just couldn't accept it. They wouldn't process it. Peter said, no, no, this shall not be unto you. And Jesus had to rebuke him. So, what this message is going to consist of during the tribulation period is repent.

[27:52] Repent of your sin for the kingdom of heaven is nigh. That's another way of saying repent of your sin because the king is on the way and he is coming.

[28:09] That will be the second coming. That's the message they're going to preach. And it will be a different message. It will be like a reversion to the time of John the Baptist.

[28:22] This is the message that Jesus preached. It's the message that John preached. It's the message that the twelve apostles preached in the early chapters of the book of Acts. It all centered around the coming of the kingdom of heaven to earth.

[28:37] And that's what the message is going to be here. This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world. Who's going to be preaching it? The 144,000.

[28:48] And not only the 144,000 but those whom the 144,000 succeed in reaching, many of them are going to continue propagating that same gospel that they heard and believed.

[29:04] And it will be for a witness unto all nations and then shall the end come. And another way of saying then shall the end come is when Jesus Christ is going to return and put an end to the end.

[29:20] That's what this is talking about. And the third reason if you'll turn your scripture sheet over to Ezekiel chapter 20 this is the third reason for the tribulation period and it is to break the power and the will of the holy people.

[29:38] Ezekiel 20 And by the way as I've already said let me repeat again you can search far and wide through all of the history books that you can find you will not find anything that remotely fits the description that is given here for the simple reason that it's never happened it's prophecy it isn't history and God is speaking through Ezekiel to his people in verse 34 and he says and I will bring you out from the people and will gather you out of the countries wherein you are scattered where are the Jews scattered today everywhere they're all over the earth all over the globe you'll find Jews as a result of their disobedience God told them that he was going to scatter them he warned them I'm going to scatter you I'm going to send you all over the world and that's exactly what he has done there isn't a country anywhere on the face of the earth that doesn't have some

[30:47] Jewish representation in it and now he's saying I will gather you that's another way of saying I've scattered you and I'm going to bring you back I'm going to collect you from everywhere I have sent you I will gather you out of the countries wherein you are scattered with a mighty hand and with a stretched out arm and with fury poured out it's going to be troubling times and I will bring you into the wilderness of the people and there will I plead with you face to face like as I pleaded with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt so will I plead with you saith the Lord and you know what the result of that's going to be they're going to respond God is going to make overtures to his ancient people and they are going to respond

[31:48] God made overtures to his ancient people in Acts chapter 2 when Peter preached on the day of Pentecost and 3,000 responded that was a drop in the bucket that was a very minuscule percentage of the Jews that needed to respond this is going to result in a wholesale conversion God says I'm going to bring all of you who might scattered back to the land and plead with you and something is going to happen in Israel that will cause the Jewish people to respond to God in massive numbers and in their doing so they will acquire the hatred and the animosity of all the other nations that's what

[32:55] Jesus means in Matthew 24 when he says and you will be hated of all nations for my namesake well they're not now true the Jew is hated but it isn't because of their loyalty to Christ and many of those who hate the Jew hate him because of their rejection for Christ and that's another issue whereby they ignorantly engage in that kind of hatred wow verse 36 like as I pleaded with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt so will I plead with you saith the Lord God and I will cause you to pass under the rod that's the rod of discipline and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant and

[33:56] I will purge out from among you the rebels and them that transgress against me I will bring them forth out of the country where they sojourn and they shall not enter into the land of Israel and you shall know that I am the Lord do the Jews know that now absolutely not absolutely not I pointed out to you before there is a disproportionate number of Jews who are atheists atheists don't believe in the existence of any God including the Old Testament God of Israel and this is going to result in a dramatic change then you shall know that I this is a phrase that is used repeatedly in the tribulation period and they shall know that I am the Lord God is going to leave his calling card and there will be no uncertainty about it as for you

[34:58] O house of Israel thus saith the Lord God go ye serve you everyone his idols and hereafter also if you will not hearken unto me but pollute ye my holy name no more with your gifts and with your idols for in mine holy mountain in the mountain of the height of Israel saith the Lord God there shall all the house of Israel all of them in the land serve me there will I accept them there will I require your offerings and the first fruits of your oblations with all your holy things I will accept you with your sweet savor when I bring you out from the people and gather you out of the countries wherein you have been scattered and I will be sanctified in you before the heathen and you shall know that I am the Lord when I shall bring you into the land of Israel into the country for which

[35:58] I lifted up mine hand to give it to your fathers wow there is nothing in history that corresponds even remotely to this and Daniel 12 for the last then I Daniel looked and behold there stood other two the one on this side of the bank of the river and the other on that side of the bank of the river one said to the man clothed in linen which was upon the waters of the river how long shall it be to the end of these wonders or these signs how long is this going to go on I heard the man clothed in linen which was upon the waters of the river when he held up his right hand and his left hand unto heaven and swear by him that liveth forever shall be for a time that's one times add two and a half add a half one plus two plus a half three and a half years 42 months that is 50% of the tribulation period the whole will encompass seven years this is the missing 70th week in the prophecy of

[37:35] Daniel and the 70 weeks that we've examined earlier in Daniel chapter nine we may have to go back there again when he shall have accomplished to scatter the power of the holy people all these things shall be finished Arnold Fruchtenbaum who is Hebrew Christian authored a number of books regarding Israel insists that this and most other scholars would agree with him insists that this is what is designed and what God is going to utilize to break the power of the holy people in other words this tribulation period and bringing them back to the land and seeing the mighty miracles that God is going to do is going to be the instrument that will cause Israel to knuckle under they will submit they will acknowledge they will recognize then they will know that

[38:44] I am the Lord and there will be changes coming so someone submitted a question in writing do the opening of the seven seals begin with the seven year pact with the antichrist and Israel and I'm not sure I wish I had a more definite answer for you I am I am leaning toward the idea that the seven year period actually begins with chapter one and I think that chapter one and two and three that introduce the person of Jesus Christ and chapters two and three that relate to the seven churches of Asia Minor I am of the position that those are all future and that those churches now do not even exist but they will exist when that time comes and the reason they will exist is because if I have this correct and

[39:53] I'm not ready to say anybody should take this to the bank but I am looking for things that fit the chronology and that fit the description and for me this fits this comes together I mentioned in the bulletin that there has to be some reason some cataclysmic event something something of such gigantic proportions that is going to result in the mass conversion of all of these Jewish people what could it be I can't believe that someone is just going to go through Israel and start handing out Bibles and New Testaments and there's going to be a great revival among the Jewish people and they're all going to come to face I think it's going to be something demonstrable something obvious something that the Jew has always responded to and what is it it's a sign the

[40:53] Jews require a sign and is God ever going to give them a sign and the sign he's going to give them I believe is going to be that Russian invasion of Israel and if you will turn quickly I just want to read a brief passage because our time is gone and this is so germane and so critical in chapter 38 and 39 we find Russia and Libya and Ethiopia and verse 5 Persia that's modern day Iran it sure isn't hard to figure out Iran being involved in this is it I mean they are the ones who keep insisting that Israel be blown off the face of the earth Ethiopia and put that's Libya Gomer some scholars think that that is a reference to

[41:55] Germany and all of these and I will all these parts from the north many peoples with you be prepared prepare yourself you and your companies that are assembled about you and be a guard for them in verse seven and after many days you will be summoned in the latter years you will come into the land that is restored from the sword that's another description for Israel Israel has been restored from the sword what was the sword the sword was the conflict that Israel entered into with its Arab nations when it was established as a nation in 1948 they took the land through violence and they were surrounded by Arab enemies on every side and that was the war for independence and out of that war which they by the way didn't have a chance to win but they won it anyway and

[43:01] Israel was established as a state on the back of militarism and conflict that's restored from the sword whose inhabitants have been gathered from many nations to the mountains of Israel which had been a continual waste but its people were brought out from the nations and they are living securely all of them and you this is Russia you will go up you will come like a storm you will be like a cloud covering the land you and all your troops and many peoples with you thus says the Lord God it will come about on that day that thoughts will come into your mind and you will devise an evil plan I don't know if that's going to be the machinations of Vladimir Putin or if it's going to be a successor but it could be no

[44:03] I'm not predicting it I'm just saying it could be we know that things are very dicey right now in the Mideast and they're getting dicier and you will say I will go up against the land of unwalled villages I will go up against those who are at rest that live securely all of them living without walls and having no bars or gates to capture spoil we don't know what the spoil is we don't know what the spoil is I know they have estimated that the resources the mineral resources in the sea are in excess of two trillion dollars I don't know that that's why they're coming but Israel is harvesting frantically the resources of the Dead Sea on a daily basis 24 7 and they're using those chemicals cheapest of which is potash that's used in fertilizers and things of that nature and they are coming verse 13

[45:11] Sheba and Dedan the merchants of Tarshish with all its villages will say to you have you come to capture spoil have you assembled your company to seize plunder these are those who are going to oppose it but they're not going to do anything to stop it carry away silver and gold take away therefore prophesy son of man and say to Gog and this Gog seems to be a title rather than a nation it's a title like emperor Israel are living securely will you not know it are you not going to be prepared to take advantage and you will come up against my people like a cloud to cover the land that will come about in the last days that I shall bring you against my land in order that the nations may know me when I shall be sanctified through you before their eyes and you read on in the text in verse 19 there is going to be a great earthquake in the land of

[46:15] Israel and the fish of the sea the birds of the heaven the beasts of the field all the creeping things that creep on the earth all the men who are on the face of the earth will shake at my presence the mountains also will be thrown down the steep pathways will collapse and every wall declares the Lord God every man's sword will be against his brother you know what this means most linguists and scholars say that this huge invasion that is going to involve this horde from Russia and several of its allies are going to be confronted with such massive confusion and miscommunication they are going to end up turning on each other well it couldn't happen to nicer guys every man's sword will be against his brother and with pestilence and with blood I shall enter into judgment with him and

[47:16] I shall reign on him and on his troops and on the many peoples who are with him a torrential reign with hailstones fire and brimstone and I shall magnify myself sanctify myself and make myself known in the sight of many nations and they will know that I am the Lord and you know who else is going to know that he is the Lord all of Israel because they are going to know that this horde that came from the north was of such a number that they were completely out manned out gunned out everything and God is going to fight for his people and this entire horde the entirety of it we don't know how many there are but they are from all of these nations they are all going to die on the mountains of Israel ergo the 144 thousand are going to come from the

[48:29] Jewish people who will witness this and know that their land has been saved by God and they will sign on twelve thousand from each of the twelve tribes they will have been converted they will have seen the magnificent defense that God has put up absolutely destroying the enemy Israel won't even have to do it God will do it and Israel will believe that will be their turnaround and they will go forth during that tribulation preaching the gospel of the kingdom God has done a great thing for Israel and he's on his way back and he'll be here shortly and you better repent and get your back together that's what they're going to be preaching during that tribulation period well as I mentioned earlier we may be witnesses to this

[49:50] Russian invasion I'm not saying we will be I'm saying we may be would not surprise me one bit if we are and if we are how close do you think that puts the rapture and I'll let you go with this thought by the way the rapture could come before the Russian invasion could come today could come after the Russian invasion all we know is the rapture is going to occur before that tribulation period actually begins that's the only thing we know for sure now think about this and I've given this a lot of thought sometimes at two o'clock in the morning one of the quandaries that I've had and still have to some degree about the rapture is how in the world is the disappearance of all these people going to be explained you're going to be talking about millions of people right here in the

[50:58] United States are just going to vanish think of the chaos and the confusion what happened to these people where did they go what what's going on is this the end of the world well close but think of it this way what if and this is just the possibility okay this is just the wise man what if what if this Russian invasion and the rapture of believers happened within close proximity of each other newsworthiness of one would tend to ameliorate the other because both are going to be events of worldwide scope and if all of the eyes of the world are focused on what is happening in Israel with this invasion and they see the results and the earthquake and the upheaval and the hundreds of thousands of troops dying on the mountains of Israel that's going to get a lot of focus it's going to get a lot of worldwide attention and what if simultaneously or close to that we're taken out of here the rapture happens the newsworthy of one would tend to get lost in the other and the world would have two scenarios to consider at the same time and well just thinking so keep that possibility in mind and would you stand please

[52:40] I'm not finished but I quit father all through these things we see nothing but the absolute certainty of our God to fulfill all that he has promised to his people your covenant stands firm and sure that you made thousands of years ago with Abraham Isaac and Jacob you are God to be trusted and we rejoice over the fact that Israel blinded by their rejection going to have their eyes opened and the time will come when they will look upon him whom they pierced and they will mourn as one mourns for an only son we are so grateful that you are an utterly faithful dependable reliable God in every sense you will fulfill all that you have promised that we can absolutely count on and we just adore you and thank you for being the promise making promise keeping

[53:57] God we ask that you will dismiss us now with your blessing and use the things that we have considered today to provide an impetus for further study and appreciation of the word that you have transferred to us in Christ's name we pray amen