The Jewish Final Solution to the World's Problem - Revelation, Part 13- A Door was Opened in Heaven

[0:00] Turn to Revelation chapter 4, and we'll take a look at the door.

[0:12] Revelation 4, verses 1 through 11. After these things I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven.

[0:26] And the first voice which I had heard, like the sound of a trumpet speaking with me, said, Come up here, I will show you what must take place after these things.

[0:43] Immediately I was in the Spirit, and behold, a throne was standing in heaven, and one sitting on the throne. And he who was sitting was like a jasper stone, and a sardius in appearance.

[1:01] And there was a rainbow around the throne, like an emerald in appearance. Around the throne were twenty-four thrones, and upon the thrones I saw twenty-four elders sitting, clothed in white garments and golden crowns on their heads.

[1:24] Out from the throne come flashes of lightning, and sounds and peals of thunder. And there were seven lamps of the fire burning before the throne, which are the seven spirits of God.

[1:45] And before the throne, there was something like a sea of glass, like crystal. And in the center and around the throne, four living creatures, full of eyes in front and behind.

[2:02] The first creature was like a lion, and the second creature like a calf. And the third creature had a face like that of a man.

[2:16] And the fourth creature was like a flying eagle. And the fourth creature, and the fourth creature, and the fourth creature, and the fourth creature, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God, the Almighty, who was, and who is, and who is to come.

[2:48] And when the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to Him who sits on the throne, to Him who lives forever and ever, the twenty-four elders will fall down before Him who sits on the throne, and will worship Him who lives forever and ever, and will cast their crowns before the throne, saying, Worthy are you, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power.

[3:27] For you created all things, and because of your will they existed and were created. To say the least, this has to be one of the more extraordinary things any human being has ever been able to witness.

[3:50] And one gets the impression in reading over the passage that Gary just shared with us, that the Apostle John is just completely overwhelmed with what he is seeing.

[4:02] He does not have sufficient vocabulary to describe some of the things that he is seeing, so the best that he can do is to use the word like on a number of occasions, or as it were.

[4:18] Because he has no frame of reference for being able to describe with great accuracy exactly what it was, all he can say is what it reminds him of, or what he has in his own personal reference box that he can use to try and describe what it is that he is looking at.

[4:37] To say the least, these are really supernatural, extraordinary things. And you will recall when we began our study of the Revelation a number of months ago, we pointed out to you that we are going to see surfacing throughout this book a number of really supernatural things, the likes of which we have never witnessed.

[5:01] In fact, probably the closest that anything could come to what is going to be depicted in the Revelation has to do with some of the dramatic miracles that our Lord performed when he was here for his three and a half year ministry recorded in the four Gospels.

[5:21] And since that time, with the exception of a few chapters in the book of Acts, the world hasn't seen anything to approach what is going to be described here in Revelation.

[5:33] And I am confident there is a tendency to kind of spiritualize these descriptions and make them something less than real because they do not comport with our experience of reality or with events or situations that we have witnessed.

[5:54] Therefore, we tend to just dismiss them as kind of figurative, as fairy tale, as mythological, or whatever. But I may assure you, and I think you will become more persuaded of it if you are not already, as we move on through this book, that it is going to be characterized by much more that is supernatural than what is natural.

[6:21] It is almost as if the earth is going to depart from a kind of naturalness and be engulfed in a supernaturalness.

[6:36] These are going to be times the likes of which have never been witnessed upon this earth. In fact, if I were to try to draw some kind of a comparison, something that might be related to it, in enormity and indifference, probably nothing but the flood of Noah would suffice, wherein the entire world was completely destroyed by water.

[7:04] That was pretty dramatic and pretty supernatural. So we are going to see a revisiting of the supernatural as we move on through this book. And John is now being given a vision.

[7:18] We are told that he is in the Spirit, and he reminds us of that in verse 2. And he is going to be called upon to witness certain things and then write what he has witnessed and describe them.

[7:32] And we have the benefit of his work, because what he has written is what we are studying. It is the book of the Revelation. Quite some time ago, we pointed out to you also, when we began a series that we entitled The Jewish Final Solution to the World's Problem.

[7:52] And that has to do with what is being recorded here. Not only so, but beginning all the way back with Abraham, God began tinkering with and working on that final problem when he called Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and decided that it would be through that line, that royal line, that the Messiah would come.

[8:15] And Jesus Christ is going to be the antidote to the first Adam. He is referred to in 1 Corinthians 15, I believe it is, as the last Adam.

[8:28] So he is the epitome and the representative of mankind in a positive way, in a redeeming way, as opposed to what Adam was in a negative way and a fallen way.

[8:44] It was Adam and his sin that brought the world into ruin and rebellion, and we today are living with the consequences of that. Matter of fact, you will not find a reasonable explanation for the way the world is, or for the way people are, other than what is depicted in the scriptures, beginning with Genesis.

[9:10] Other than that, you are limited to the psychiatrist's pen, most of whom do not agree with other psychiatrists about anything, so you have no kind of answers or definition there that is given at all.

[9:23] The Bible, and the Bible alone, explains why the world is, why it is the way it is, and where it is going, and what will be accomplished when the end game is realized.

[9:35] And it's all spelled out here in this book. This is one reason why we will see notable similarities, one after another, between Genesis and Revelation.

[9:49] It's perhaps natural for people to think, well, what do they have in common? One has to do with the very beginning, the other has to do with the very ending. Oh, but you see, there is a cohesiveness, there is a coherence between the first book of the Bible and the last book.

[10:04] They are very much wedded together, and what is in between is everything that is working on behalf of mankind in order to bring him to the place where God wants him to be, and that's ultimately where we're going in the Revelation.

[10:18] So, there is an end game. History is not necessarily cyclical, although it appears to be in some cases in that we tend to, each generation tends to bump its head on the same old rock as the others, but more than that, history is linear.

[10:36] There is a beginning and there is an ending, and the ending is what we are working toward as we conduct ourselves through the Revelation. And yet, I cannot help but point this out.

[10:50] And that is the irony of it all that we mentioned a couple of weeks ago. And it is ironic that the very principal people that God is utilizing to realize his end is a people that do not understand that and do not believe that.

[11:13] And I'm talking about the Jewish people, the nation of Israel. It is, I think, extremely ironic that they are the very key. They are the core.

[11:24] They are the catalyst. They are the fulfillment of the promise that God originally gave starting way back in Genesis 3 when he talked about the seed of the woman being Christ and then with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

[11:37] And all that God has done and plans to do through the Jewish people for the most part is lost on the Jewish people. they do not understand.

[11:50] And I'm quite sure they would not agree with what I am saying. But nonetheless, this is precisely what the Scriptures teach. And of course, one reason they wouldn't agree and wouldn't be able to agree is because our Jewish friends do not accept the New Testament as the Word of God.

[12:13] Matter of fact, sad to say, many Jews today do not even accept their own Testament, which we refer to as the Old Testament, as the Word of God.

[12:26] Only the Orthodox do, but many of the others, so-called Reformed Jews or modern Jews, dismiss much of the Bible and what they hold to is primarily because of tradition and because of genealogy, but they do not take seriously what the Scriptures teach in their own Old Testament.

[12:48] And that is sad. So I do think it is very, very ironic that the principal people, the principal medium that God is going to use to affect His program and to provide the final solution to the world's problem is the people who do not recognize that.

[13:07] Ah, the time is coming when they will. And that will be quite a breakthrough.

[13:19] Then, the Jewish people in mass will embrace Yeshua HaMashiach as their Messiah. and God Himself and the person of Jesus Christ returns and fights for His people in Revelation 19 as He fought in day of old.

[13:39] And it is going to be something. So all of this is where we're going. And John is given a vision and we read about this door standing open in heaven. We cannot help but wonder what these items are made of.

[13:52] I do not know exactly how literal this is, but all I know is that this is what John is seeing in a vision. And whether it has to have physical substance and reality behind it that allows him to describe it as that, that may very well be.

[14:09] Whether he's just given a picture of it and an appearance of it, we do not know. But at any rate, he's recording what he is seeing. And it is a remarkable scene. He is in the spirit.

[14:21] That too is an expression that is really somewhat foreign. Because it means that in essence, John is outside of himself, if you will.

[14:33] He is supernaturally beholding something that you and I would not be able to see with the eyes we have under these circumstances. But he is viewing these things and he sees the door standing open in heaven and the first voice which I had heard like the sound of a trumpet speaking with me.

[14:56] Now he doesn't say it's a trumpet. But he says closest thing I can compare it with is something that I have experienced when I have heard the trumpet blast.

[15:09] The trumpet which in actuality was a ram's horn. It wasn't a brass trumpet with valves on it like we see trumpets. It was a ram's horn but it has a very clear clarion call and it is very, very detectable.

[15:26] So, this is what John is hearing. It is a supernatural kind of a sound and the closest thing I can compare it with with anything I've ever experienced is the blast of a trumpet.

[15:39] It comes with that kind of clarity. And, he's speaking with me and the sound or the voice says come up here and I will show you what must take place after these things.

[15:56] That phrase is repeated again at the end of the verse. It began the verse. And all that is suggesting is that this portion of the revelation is chronological to that which is gone before.

[16:10] And when the text says after these things it's beginning the verse of chapter 4 it is talking about what preceded immediately in chapter 3.

[16:21] So, if you ignore chapter divisions as I have told you over the years that you should try to learn to do because there is nothing inspired by chapter divisions God didn't write the Bible in chapters.

[16:36] Chapters were inserted about 500 years ago and before that time they didn't exist. because the writing was just one lengthy continuous document from beginning to end.

[16:52] It is man who has broken down the Bible in chapters and in verses. Originally it wasn't written with either. But for the sake of convenience and the sake of being able to locate a text of scripture having a chapter and verse is like putting an address on a passage and it enables us to find it quickly.

[17:15] Otherwise it would be really difficult. So, I want you to just keep in mind that there is a flow and a continuity between chapters 3 and 4 and when he says after these things he's talking about after those messages to the seven churches have been delivered to the angels of those churches after those things.

[17:35] And then in verse 2 he says immediately I was in the spirit and behold a throne standing in heaven and one sitting on the throne and he who was sitting was like a jasper stone and a sardius in appearance and there was a rainbow around the throne like an emerald in appearance.

[18:09] Note, if you will, his continual usage of the word like. He isn't saying that it is those things. He is not saying it was a jasper stone and a sardius and he is not saying that it was an emerald.

[18:24] He's saying it was like that. I can't think of anything else to call it. That's what it looked like to me. But you may be sure John is witnessing something the likes of which he's never seen before and he's at a loss to describe it because our vocabulary and our use of language is geared to things we have experienced.

[18:47] But he hasn't experienced any of this. So the best he can do is say what comes as close to it as he can think of and that's what he does. Matter of fact, that's what we're going to find all throughout the book.

[19:01] There are going to be a lot of as it were and like so let's get used to it. These precious stones provide a kind of color and brilliance and may I just inject something here and I do not know how much credit to give to this but I suspect that there may be something here more than coincidental.

[19:25] people. I'm talking about a number of NDEs, near death experiences that numerous people have attested to all over the world and for many many years and they have written about some of these experiences and one of the things that so many of them have mentioned is that when they had this near death experience or when they either went to heaven or thought they went to heaven one of the things that really impressed them was the quality and the difference in colors that they saw that they could not relate to that they had never seen anything like it on earth by way of those colors and many also talk about things that they heard that were radically different sounds like they never experienced on earth and colors and pictures like they had never experienced on earth one cannot help but wonder what is really there or what is really taking place is this the mind playing games is this the brain in a shut down expression of fading away exactly what it is we cannot say but so many of those have mentioned the same kind of thing and it does make us wonder because

[20:57] John is at a loss he's using these colors here and then he talks about a rainbow around the throne like an emerald in appearance I don't think of a rainbow as being emerald like in appearance I think of it as being multicolored but this is something different and I don't well you understand my loss and around the throne were 24 thrones so we have a central throne and one seated upon it surrounded by 24 lesser thrones it appears that they are encircling this main throne and upon the thrones I saw 24 elders sitting clothed in white garments how could he identify them as elders may I suggest a very simple solution here

[22:00] I don't know that it has all that much merit but I don't know what else to say I think you can tell that they were elders by looking at them I know you cannot tell that I'm an elder by looking at me but of course I'm being facetious there's something about sometimes when you go into these places that give elder discounts we're tempted to pull out our driver's license because they couldn't believe that we're as old as we really are that's vanity speaking these elders I suspect they just may have had a look of elderliness about them and I hope that's not something related to decrepit because we want to get beyond so these obviously have a glorified body but they have a body that in appearance it would seem enables John to immediately identify them as elders in other words they're not teenagers they look like older people where did this word elder ever come from anyway well actually it's an

[23:02] Old Testament word and it surfaced among the children of Israel because those who were of advanced age were simply referred to as elders gee that's not too hard is it elders is kind of like olders and the elders were generally considered to be people who had more experience more wisdom and more trustworthy and more tried and true and all the rest of it so they were usually put in positions of responsibility and authority and that concept is carried over into the New Testament but nowhere in scripture are we ever told how old an elder has to be in order to be an elder and I don't know why that is but I have a suspicion and my suspicion is just that it could be a relative term because there are some congregations of believers when they are gathered together that those who are 45 or 50 years old are the older persons in congregation they are elders compared to the rest of them but then there may be other congregations where it's those who are in their 80s or 90s who are elders so it's a relative term and maybe elder in a congregation depends on what the congregation's constitution is by way of age makeup so one may be an older or younger person and still be an elder but these apparently are elders at sight and they are sitting clothed in white garments and golden crowns on their heads and suffice it to say that the whole concept of a throne speaks of a regal nature of a capacity to rule and to reign it speaks of one who possesses authority because that's what the throne has always signified from the earliest time in the

[25:01] Old Testament when kings were situated and sat upon the throne it was a place of authority and these twenty-four elders clothed in white garments have golden crowns on their heads well these appear to be human beings the question is which human beings are they and what makes us think they are human perhaps and not angelic well they are clothed in white garments and that seems to be indicative of one who is a recipient of redemption and the white garments in which they are clothed is a symbol of holiness and purity and they have to have to be human beings who have experienced the redemptive grace of God and as a result are equipped or outfitted in robes or gowns of purity and they have crowns on their heads which would indicate that they are recipients of merit there are accomplishments that have been experienced on their behalf they would be referred to as overcomers which the revelation uses a number of times overcomers are those who have gained the victory over the world the flesh and the devil and they are those who have made some kind of contribution to the cause of

[26:43] Christ or the cause of God I cannot identify these it has been forever a puzzle I know I've read a number of commentaries and the commentators are all over the map as to who these are some think that they are angels well they don't qualify to be angels I think I could dismiss that out of hand they're obviously human beings some think that they are 12 who represent the church and 12 that represent Israel like the 12 apostles and the 12 tribes of Israel that is a possibility they could be representatives of them but at any rate these are redeemed individuals and they encircle the throne of this one who is on the master throne sitting there in the midst their having already been crowned suggests that the events described in chapters 4 and 5 have been awarded previously at the Bema seat the award throne of Christ spoken of in 1

[27:43] Corinthians 3 this precedes the celebration of the marriage supper of the lamb and that will be coming later so if that be true then these 24 elders who are wearing their crowns have already been evaluated and have been at the award throne of Christ and as a result have been awarded these particular crowns and you as a believer are promised certain crowns in the New Testament there is the crown of life there is a crown for faithfulness and different crowns are going to be awarded that will be in recognition of faithful service rendered here on earth and that provides a study in and of itself these golden crowns on their heads are simply crowns that are made up and by the way these are Stephanos crowns from which the male name Stephen is taken this

[28:43] Stephanos crown is different from the crown of diadem the diadem crown is a crown that is worn by royalty as the songwriter said bring forth the royal diadem and crown him lord of all but these 24 are wearing Stephanos crown and it is a crown of lesser significance but it is not one that bears the idea of ingrained royalty this is a crown that has been earned and deserved and given as a reward he continues to say that from the throne proceed flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder well he could identify with that if you've ever been outside and have witnessed first hand a lightning storm crashing thunder and so on it can be pretty intimidating and this is what

[29:49] John is describing here and I suspect that what is taking place here is something of sufficient magnitude to really register and be different is there any question that something like this would really get your attention I don't think there is any question and it is something to see in the lightning flashing and the thundering noise it is it is an expression of majesty that leaves John just awestruck because all of the lightning and all of the thunder is under complete control it isn't as though it is lightning or thunder running amok it is a utilized thunder and lightning and it must have been very impressive as it is controlled and there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne which are the seven spirits of

[30:55] God now I take it that these are in reference to Isaiah chapter 11 and verse 2 will not go there but for your leisure you may look it up it is Isaiah 11 2 where there are seven characteristics that are described of the spirit of God and this is probably what John is referring to here by the way we are going to find numerous Old Testament references not only Genesis but a great many others as well here in the book of Revelation because the book of Revelation is going to offer hundreds hundreds of references to the Old Testament once again signifying the very close relationship between this book and all that has preceded it and before the throne verse six there was and here we are again as it were a sea of glass he's not saying it was a sea of glass but he is saying that's the only thing

[32:04] I can think of when I look at this it looks like a sea of glass what it was we really don't know because we don't have vocabulary for it but it wasn't a sea of glass and yet it looked more like that than anything else I can think of that's what John is saying this crystal and in the center and around the throne four living creatures full of eyes in front and behind now we look at a superficial expression of that and there is something in us that wants to go ew ew what must these grotesque things be and do you know why that is often our first reaction it's because we are using ourselves and our appearance as the standard or the medium and we all of course know that we are the best looking and the finest and the you know of course so the point that

[33:15] I want to make here and this is going to surface time and again throughout the revelation don't you dare call these creatures ugly or grotesque because they are the handiwork of the creator and like Ethel Waters used to say honey God don't make no junk what God does he makes things that are beautiful and perfect beyond description and whereas this escapes us because our frame of reference is so limited after all we are the authorities as to what is beautiful aren't we sure like we are in a lot of other things so at any rate just suffice it to say that these are extraordinary they are creatures made of God full of eyes in front and behind but honesty compels me to admit does sound kind of grotesque doesn't it

[34:26] I mean see all these eyes are these eyes that are eyes and how could they be what it appears to be an expression of all seeingness and visibility beyond anything that we would consider normal it is something extra special and God never created anything on a whim God always has purpose and significance behind everything he does and you may be sure he does in these as well and it goes on to say that these are full of eyes in front and behind and the first creature was like a line now he doesn't say it's a lion but he says it looks more like a lion than anything else that I can think of what it really was I don't know but it looks like a lion and the second creature like a calf the third creature had a face like that of a man and the fourth creature was like a flying eagle so here we have a lion which is a lion and so far as animals are concerned it's generally referred to as the king of beasts and it is no coincidence that

[35:55] Jesus Christ is referred to as the lion of the tribe of Judah and that speaks of rapacious and strong and powerful and that's exactly what he's going to be when he comes on behalf of his people in Revelation 19 he will come rapacious like a lion Jesus came the first time as a lamb the lamb business is over that's past that served its purpose but he is no more lamb he will be the extreme opposite he will be the lion of the tribe of Judah and the third creature had a face like that of a man here we get humanity in the picture it's kind of like we have a lion as the beast of the field a calf is domesticated and that's the animal of sacrifice man represents humanity and the eagle represents the fowl it's just about covers the whole area of creation with the exception of marine life which is not mentioned here and the fourth creature is like a flying eagle or the birds of the air and the four living creatures each one of them having six wings are full of eyes around and within and day and night they do not cease to say holy holy holy one holy isn't sufficient because there are three members in the triune godhead and we find this holy mentioned three times and it is a reflection of

[37:53] Isaiah chapter six where there are seraphim and seraphim are angelic type beings there are cherubim and there are seraphim and then there are what we would call the ordinary angels or the archangels like Michael and Gabriel and so on but the seraphim seem to be really really different because they have six wings and Isaiah says in the year that Ken Uzziah died I also saw the Lord and this is the vision that Isaiah was given back in Isaiah chapter six and he sees these seraphim with six wings and he said with two of their wings they cover their eyes and with two of their wings they cover their feet and with two of their wings they did fly I just cannot imagine something like this but I'm sure Hollywood and their special effects crew could probably come up with something that would be maybe a reasonable facsimile

[38:55] I don't know but again this is a really ultra different bizarre kind of creation and by the way we have no call to limit the creative nature of God in anything that he wants to make or do after all he made us as he did he could have made us with two heads and one ear he could have made us with five legs or he could have made us with three arms but he chose the configuration that he did for purposes and reasons that seemed good unto him and all of the creative acts of God are those that are right because they suited him and that's all that matters when you are the creator you are the only one who needs to be pleased think of that when you are the creator you are the only one who needs to be pleased and

[40:03] I think we have a case of that here these living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne to him who lives forever and ever and day and night they do not cease to say holy holy holy is the lord god the almighty who was and who is and who is to come now immediately in our humanity we have a problem with that don't these guys get any days off don't they have vacations surely they don't work 24 7 you mean to tell me all they are doing is shouting holy holy holy lord god almighty who is was and is to come and this is their thing and they do this day in and day out without respite do they get breaks do they have coffee breaks is there coffee in heaven someone says if there isn't

[41:14] I'm not so sure I want you know well nonsense what I'm saying is these are not humans and they don't belong to a human and they don't have rights and they don't have regrets and they are not like we are and they do not think as we think they have a particular function to fulfill and my guess is they're probably quite happy and content in doing it now we look at this and say oh that would bore me out of my skull well of course you're not made for that you're made for something different these are made for that and they are simply fulfilling the purpose for which God made them and I am quite confident none of them are complaining about it none of them are saying oh here I go again holy holy holy holy I'm getting tired of this routine we would get tired of this routine we would be bored with it but this is a different created entity completely unlike anything with which we can identify and we're going to see repeatedly throughout this will be the case am

[42:30] I saying that these things are otherworldly precisely that's what they are they are otherworldly don't expect them to comport with what we know as normal or ordinary or regular because they aren't they aren't and the 24 elders will fall down before him who sits on the throne and will worship him who lives forever and ever and will cast their crowns before the throne the word worship is related to another concept and maybe if you just keep this in mind it will help you put a handle on it worship means worth ship we are to worship that which is eminently worthy of our adoration and our obedience and our admiration that's what worship is you ascribe ultimate worth to the object of worship this is precisely why

[43:56] God issued the directives that they were to worship no one else or no other god or no idols or create anything like that because he and he alone is the only one who is worthy of our worship and he deeply resents honor and glory being ascribed to anyone other than the one who is worthy and that's well within his rights and here is what they are saying worthy deserving art thou our lord and our god to receive glory that is recognition honor and power and the reason why is because thou didst create all things and because of thy will they existed and were created and

[45:05] I've related to you in time past that to the best of my knowledge this is the only place in all of the bible where we are actually told why there is anything and why there is something rather than nothing why did god create anything because he was pleased to do so he just wanted to do it and if you're god you don't need rationale or reason for doing anything other than just wanting to do it now that of course separates him from us because some of the things that we want to do might not be honorable or desirable things but we want but god does that which is honorable and desirable and worthy and the reason he does is because a distinction is valid here and very valuable and we've made it in the past and that is this god does not do what is right what god does is right god god is his own standard for right and wrong so whatever it is that god does that is what is right because the fact that god does it that makes it right that means he himself is the standard for right or wrong and that's decidedly different than saying god does what is right because if you say god does what is right then you take that which is right and you make that the supreme guideline well what is that you need a personality identified with it because you can't just have a thing and god is that personality and within that personal being of god that personal eternal omnipotent omniscient omnipresent being he himself is the standard for what is right or what is wrong and that enables us to say god doesn't do what is right but god what god does is right because he himself is the standard he has no standard that he has to appeal to because he is the standard and that separates him from all other beings and that is dramatic this in my estimation is the only thing that satisfies the longing of the human heart is to understand why there is something rather than nothing and because of thy will they existed and were created god why did you make lucifer as you did because

[48:05] I wanted to why did you make Adam and Eve volitional creatures why didn't you make them so that they would just automatically obey because after all couldn't you look into into the future you could you see the mess these people were going to create how they were going to bring death and disaster and war and ruination and illness and disease and everything else because of their disobedience why did you make them that way why didn't you make them in such a way that they wouldn't be able to disobey and bring all of this and we've got the age old problem then a creature without a will a creature without a volition is just an automaton just a robot but we have a will and you know the beautiful thing about it is God is saying yes I knew full well what Lucifer was going to do I knew that he would recruit a third of the angels to fall with him

[49:09] I knew that Adam would succumb to the same thing that Eve did I knew that Cain was going to slay his brother none of these things were hidden from the almighty God knew full well that his creation was going to fall and along with that creation he built in a system for redemption for correcting it for buying it back for ultimately gaining the upper hand of a fallen creation and that's exactly what he did through the person of Jesus Christ this is what everything is all about this isn't what most things are all about this is what everything is all about this is it there's nothing that exceeds this by way of importance or priority this is where everything is going and we as believers ought to really focus on this and understand that

[50:18] God has his reasons he has his purpose he has reasons and purpose for what he allows to come into your life whether it is good or whether it is ill whether it is joyful or whether it is painful all of these things are within his parameters he knows what he's doing and he's right on schedule and he is ordering all things after the counsel of his own good will and sometimes it really hurts sometimes it really really hurts and it is not the way that we would choose to go at all if we can just bring ourselves to remember God really does know what he's doing even sometimes when you question that he really does even sometimes when you think he can't know what

[51:21] I'm going through or surely he would do something about it maybe my little corner of the world is hidden from God and he's over now he hasn't overlooked anything he knows the way that I take when I am tried I will come forth as gold you know who said that Job a man who knew far more about misery than any of us know and he came out on the other side of it God is worthy God can be trusted God knows God started this whole thing out called creation and he built into it a system and a plan for getting it back for regaining creation and he's doing it through the person of Jesus Christ he is that central figure he is that lamb of God the father sent the son to be the savior of the world wow and this is going to be portrayed out in more and more detail as we go through the revelation because to get to that end game where chapter 20 no tears

[52:40] God's going to dry the eyes everything is going to be as it ought to be there's going to be a tremendous time of difficulty in getting there and that's what the balance of this book is all about it's called the tribulation period it's called the time of Jacob's trouble Jacob is a reference to the Jew and the Jew the nation of Israel is going to be smack dab plum center right in the middle of it they are going to be the catalyst and they are going to catch hell from every direction and yet the lion of the tribe of Judah is going to show himself strong and fight for his people this is what we've got to look forward to in the revelation would you pray with me father we recognize that there is far more that we've been talking about that we don't understand than what we do but the information that you have given us is certainly more than adequate to ascribe to you all glory and honor and wisdom and power just as these four and twenty elders did thank you for being pleased to reveal this content we otherwise would not have a clue but because of what you gave to

[54:17] John on that isle of Patma so many years ago and instructed him to write it down we are beneficiaries of that and as we work our way through this marvelous book we know that more questions will be generated than what we have answers for but we also know that the answers we will be able to arrive at will be adequate for who we are and where we are at the present time that too is a product of your sufficiency thank you for it all in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ Amen