The Jewish Final Solution to the World's Problem - An Introduction to the Book of Revelation, Part 2

[0:00] Recently, we discussed the dramatic difference between what we called the infancy of humanity compared to the later maturity of humanity.

[0:11] And by infancy, we meant mankind nearer to his Genesis creation, as opposed to mankind 4,000 years later, around the time of the birth of Christ, and more particularly, add another 50 years to that, and it approximates the beginning of the church, the spiritual body of Christ, via the revelation given by the risen Christ to the newly called Saul of Tarsus.

[0:39] He became the Apostle Paul to the Gentiles. In early Genesis, God began his relationship with humanity. Adam, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, and Aaron, the judges, the kings, Old Testament prophets, all the way to Christ and his earthly ministry.

[1:00] All of these connections between God and these earlier, whom God had designated his chosen people, consisted largely of physical encounters of one kind or another.

[1:13] Comparatively speaking, little was abstract, but nearly everything was physical and concrete. Face-to-face encounters with the Creator and humans were common.

[1:29] The multitude of miracles God performed from Egypt to Israel were all physical, and things attested to by man's five senses.

[1:40] So also, to and for the Egyptians, via the plagues and their destruction at the Red Sea. Other miracles performed by way of Elijah, such as floating axe heads, leprosy healing of Naaman, and such like, including Lijah, leaving a physical earth in a physical chariot, are even escalated later in the person and work of Christ during his earthly ministry.

[2:11] All his miracles were designed to reveal his identity, and the identity of the one who sent him, in a way that was unmistakable. Spoken of as his works that he did.

[2:26] And they were all attested to, not by man's mental mind and logic, but by man's eyes and ears, sense of taste and touch.

[2:38] They were concrete, definite, obvious, so as to be clearly registered and understood. There was no abstraction here.

[2:48] All was plain and obvious, hard if not impossible to miss, and intentionally so. God was revealing himself to man so as to make sure he got it.

[3:04] Illustrate between art forms one might see in an art gallery. And this is probably as simple an illustration as I can come up with.

[3:16] The art forms that you would see in a gallery. Ordinary art is designed to be obvious, plain, up front. There it is. What you see is what it is.

[3:29] Whether it's da Vinci's Last Supper, scientific drawings by Michelangelo, or his sculpturing of David, or Rodin's sculpture of the Thinker, all of these are plain, concrete, definite.

[3:44] And no one looks at these works of art and asks, what is this? We know what it is. It's obvious what it is. But Picasso and those of his genre engage in abstract art.

[4:01] And you look at it and you ask, what is it? Why is it? Maybe it's upside down. Maybe I need to turn it around.

[4:14] Maybe it makes sense if you look at it in a different way. The colors and shapes are physical, but the message, or whatever it's supposed to be, or portray, is not.

[4:26] It is very abstract. And as one looks at it, yes, it does look a little bit like a human figure. What is the artist trying to say with this?

[4:38] Well, the artist strolls along and says, I see you're admiring my painting. What do you think of it? Well, I guess it's okay, but I don't know what to make of it.

[4:49] What is it anyway? What do you, well, can't you see? It is obvious that the object in the picture is dealing with the struggles and the vicissitudes of life that come his way, and he's having a difficult time.

[5:06] Oh, well, that's what you call abstract art. The message, or whatever the message is supposed to be, is not concrete.

[5:19] It's very abstract. The interpretation, if there is one, is in the mind of the viewer, and three or four different people will stand there studying this thing, and each one will come up with a different conclusion as to what it is.

[5:32] Likewise, children are great literalists. They are not into abstraction, but concrete perception. And perception is the key.

[5:44] Eye and hand appreciation. Not mental, but physical. You can't tell them only so that they absorb it in their mind.

[5:55] That isn't sufficient for a child. You have to show them so they will get it. We call this show and tell. But don't expect them to get the tell if you leave out the show.

[6:10] The tell is the mental and the abstract. The show is the concrete and the physical. Personally, I can well recall my parents telling me something when I was a child that I was supposed to do or not do, and after failing to comply with what I was told to do or not do verbally and mentally, I then heard those dreaded words.

[6:39] Did you ever hear these words from your parents? Since you refuse to listen and obey, you will just have to feel. That's concrete.

[6:54] That was moving from the abstract to the concrete. A switch or a paddle was a very concrete object lesson. It was appropriated and understood through the physical application of the board of education to the seat of knowledge.

[7:12] Learning when mature enough can be via the abstract, such as verbal instructions, because one can construe in their own mind then with their thought, thinking, and imagination as to what is being involved.

[7:29] Verbal instructions can suffice for someone who is able to think abstractly, but discipline and punishment is almost always physical.

[7:40] With the church, the spiritual body of Christ, the physical connection to God gives way to the non-physical, the abstract, rather than the concrete.

[7:52] Paul clearly reveals this in 2 Corinthians 5 when he says, we walk or conduct our lives and being on the basis of faith, not sight.

[8:03] Faith is the abstract. Sight is the physical. God has moved his people from the infancy of humanity with sight to the maturity of humanity with faith.

[8:16] This is what characterizes the body of Christ, as opposed to the ancient people of Israel. Those who have responded positively to the physical and the concrete can move on to the spiritual and abstract, as is the body of Christ.

[8:34] The physical is reserved and those who have for those who have not responded to it, the physical returns.

[8:46] Let me restate that. The physical is reserved and returns for those who have not responded to it. The book of the Revelation is a clear setting forth of earth and mankind being faced with perpetual physical punishment.

[9:08] Revelation represents a reversion of humanity back to a much earlier time of humanity's infancy. We are going forward and going back at the same time when we come to the Revelation.

[9:25] and with that in mind, I would ask you to turn to that last book in the Bible, if you will, and we will make our way rather gingerly through these 22 chapters.

[9:38] I know you are thinking right now that it can't be done, at least not by Marv, but I'm going to make you eat those words if I have to keep you here till three o'clock.

[9:53] In verse one of chapter one, we have the true title found in the first verse. If your Bible is like mine, it probably says something about the revelation of John at the beginning, but that is not the title that the Spirit of God gives to it.

[10:08] The title that the Spirit of God gives to it is in the very first verse, in the first few words, it is the revelation of Jesus Christ. And in verse three, we have the promise of the blessing, which I assume can be appreciated only if one is able to garner understanding.

[10:27] It is very difficult to be blessed by something if you cannot understand it. There has to be at least a modicum of intelligence here and appreciation for what is being said in order to derive the blessing.

[10:39] And verse four conveys a general message regarding the revelation of Jesus Christ, and it is for the information to seven particular churches.

[10:50] churches. They will be found in chapters two and three. Verses thirteen through eighteen provide a vivid description of the glorified and exalted Jesus Christ as John the beloved was able to see him in the vision that was provided to him.

[11:09] John receives then in verse nineteen his commission to record all that he sees regarding what he has seen the things he will be seeing in his time and the things he will see which are yet to come upon the earth.

[11:26] So here in one fell swoop of verse nineteen we have an indication that this is going to incorporate the past the present and the future. In chapters two and three there are personalized and different messages to each of seven churches all of which are identified as being in Asia Minor that is today's nation of Turkey.

[11:51] Strengths and weaknesses of each church are revealed by Christ. John recorded all of these while situated on earth viewing this vision from the vantage point God had provided him.

[12:05] In chapter four and verse one and I trust you are just thumbing through the pages as we discuss these things John views heaven in a vision while on earth and he is then beckoned to come up to heaven to witness what is occurring there.

[12:25] Christ is enthroned surrounded by worshiping creatures angelic beings and a mysterious twenty-four elders whose crowns they will cast before his throne acknowledging his having created all things and that will be in verse eleven I want to inform you and warn you in advance that there is going to occur in the revelation angelic beings who will have great roles of responsibility throughout this book there will be an abundance of good angels there will be an abundance of evil angels each will be adequately identified as we move on through the book this is the consummation of the cosmic conflict that God is going to resolve and it is going to be a pull out all the stops this is going to be the absolute ultimate in

[13:32] God's revelation and judgment against sin and the rebellion of mankind his long suffering and patience has endured for a long time and now in the revelation it comes to an end in chapter five there is a book actually more than a book it is a scroll they did not have books as we know them but it is a rolled up scroll that is sealed with seven seals it is brought forth and becomes the focus as to its opening and revealing of this scroll contains the revelation of what is yet to take place on the earth in verse nine of chapter five the only qualified person able to open the seals is the one who alone is qualified that is Christ himself and he does so and he is to dispense the justice that will be forthcoming revealed by the seals because he alone was responsible for the redemption of the world credit is given him verse nine chapter six is the opening of the first of seven seals from the scroll it reveals the dreaded four horses of the apocalypse white horse red black and pale in that order each will represent a different feature of what is going to transpire upon the earth the red the white rather will be indicative of the false christ the false messiah that is the horse ridden by the antichrist not to be mistaken by the white horse that christ will be riding in chapter 19 of revelation the red horse is that which will depict war the black horse will be depicting famine and deprivation and the pale horse will be speaking of death all of these are to incur upon the earth in rapid fire order one after the other and you can understand how there is a natural progression here because whenever conflict is involved when you have conflict it automatically presents war is the outbreak of it when people or nations have disagreements and there is deception such as will be engendered by the rider on the white horse he will deceive and as a result there will be war that is the red horse and as a consequence of war there is always the famine that will exist we are facing problems now in the

[16:18] Mideast with hundreds of thousands of refugees fleeing from Syria and from Iraq fleeing for their lives with their clothes on their back many of these people are under nourished are doing without the necessities of life many have already died of starvation these are the predictable results of war it always happens where there's war there's always refugees world war one world war two all the rest of them and then of course the end result of that is the pale horse and that is death in chapter seven we have an interlude or a period of restrained judgment and let me just insert something here for your information because it is essential and that is one of the great difficulties in dealing with the book of the revelation is the sequentiality that is involved the chronological order and it is very easy to misplace some of these items because we seem to think that there should be a natural progression chronologically and in some respects there is but some of these other events will represent a considerable period of time that might endure for the whole first three and a half years so it is difficult to plot something as being next in order when it is always there and in focus chapter seven this interlude or period of restrained judgment in other words it is a time of quiet it is a time when the world is taking a breath catching its breath if you will it will be the time of the hundred forty four thousand twelve thousand from each of the twelve tribes of

[18:06] Israel will be commissioned and sealed for worldwide evangelism in an increasingly evil world and this is going to take place during the first three and a half years there's going to be an enormous worldwide evangelistic effort that will in many regards be successful it will be conducted by twelve thousand Jews from each of the twelve tribes they of course will have to have come to faith themselves before they will be evangelists to other Jews but that is going to transpire in this time period about fifteen hundred years and it was worldwide destruction by water this great tribulation will be accumulated human evil for about forty five hundred years since and counting and it will be worldwide destruction for the same reason as the flood that is human evil revelation chapter eight each of the seven angels is assigned to his own trumpet and the first four of the seven sound their horns here in chapter eight with the result of one third of the entire earth being burned up including one third of all trees and green grass the ecological effect upon the planet is going to be absolutely astounding with the sounding of the second trumpet what appears most likely to be a huge meteor is thrown into the ocean which consequently will become blood this probably means that the chemical composition of the meteor is such that it is toxic to all marine life in that area as well as to any ships in

[22:06] that area and one third of each will be completely destroyed the third angel sounds his trumpet and in verse 10 a similar projectile from outer space contaminates one third of the earth's freshwater lakes and rivers this is likely a release of demonic activity possibly a demon given the name wormwood that will be responsible for the death of many angel number four results in the light giving bodies of sun moon and stars being diminished in their capacity by one third in verse 13 we have provided what is called a triple woe that informs us that the worst is yet to come woe woe woe and each of those woes and what they bring will be identified in subsequent chapters as the first the second and the third woe the fifth angel continues in chapter nine with another star most likely an angelic being and almost every time in the revelation where we see the word star it is in reference to an angelic being either fallen or unfallen will provide rationale for that conclusion later on most likely this will be a demonic angelic being who will open the abyss and release hordes of incarcerated demons described as locust like in appearance we cannot imagine what these things are going to look like they are going to be neither animal nor human they are going to be supernatural in their origin and in their activities these seem to be associated with the demons that are confined now in the bottomless pit and they are going to be released when

[24:20] Jesus was preparing to cast demons out of one who was possessed the demons pled with him please don't send us to the pit that was obviously a place with which they were familiar and dreaded going there apparently that is where many of them are consigned even to this day we don't know what that consignment consists as far as we know these are spirit beings even though they are evil and fallen and if so they do not possess physicality but apparently they are able to assume some physicality because they are going to inflict terrible physical wounds and pains on physical human beings when they are released this is the fifth angel and he is the one who releases those from the abyss these hordes of incarcerated demons described as locust like in appearance these will torment humans with stings producing excruciating physical pain for which there is no apparent remedy there will be no antidote there will be no way of reversing this this supernatural malady will persist for five months or 150 days the pain will cause people to be suicidal but they will be unable to take their own life their leader is none other than

[25:45] Apollyon which means the destroyer it is Satan himself this is the first woe of the three woes in 913 of Revelation angel six sounds the trumpet resulting in more grotesque demonic beings numbering 200 million who will be responsible for the destruction of one third of the world's population numbering in the billions not merely millions the sad human response to all this destruction will be impossible though it seems it is found in the last verse of chapter 9 let me read it and they did not repent of their murders nor of their sorceries nor of their immorality nor of their thefts and because they will not repent what will

[26:51] God do God will intensify the punishment following the judgments described from the sixth trumpet that closes chapter nine there is a cessation of direct judgments for a period of time the six trumpet judgments concluded the first half or three and a half years of the total time of the great tribulation even though direct judgments are not now forthcoming immediately following the sixth trumpet there will still be key events and conditions being realized in an ongoing way these will include the two witnesses who will have been ministering all throughout the first half of the tribulation period and they are mentioned in Revelation chapter 11 and they will be contributing to that time of evangelism these are not next in chronological order but are active all during the first half of the seven years so also is the activity of the angel and the little book described in chapter 10 verse seven of chapter 10 makes it clear that thus incident is also part of the content of the sixth angel and yet anticipates the appearance of the seventh angel and his trumpet the seventh angel will not sound his trumpet until chapter 11 and verse 15 17 included as well also during the first half of the seven year tribulation is the description and activity of religious

[28:34] Babylon recorded in chapter 17 it has been present and operative all along and does not sequentially surface in chapter 17 but is merely described here as to its activity bear in mind if you will that apart from sequential or chronological events there are conditions and events that are operative during the entire period of the first half and these include the ministry of Elijah the 144,000 and worldwide revival the ministry of the two witnesses who many believe to be Moses and Elijah and the political system of the ten kings plus the religious system of Babylon these five are all found in the seal and trumpet judgments so they are all operative active during the first half of the tribulation period during the period in the middle of the tribulation when specific judgments are not occurring this is the time

[29:41] I referred to that appears to be a breather there is a let up of the punishment and judgment numerous things are nonetheless taking place among them are fifteen things the little book of chapter ten the second worldwide conflict of Daniel eleven the antichrist will be mortally wounded in chapter thirteen and verse three satan will be cast down to earth depriving him of access to heaven in chapter twelve verses seven through twelve the antichrist will be resurrected in chapter twelve which of course will be a counterfeit kind of resurrection mimicking the resurrection of our Lord the prominent world leaders will be killed three prominent world leaders will be killed and seven others will submit to the demands of the antichrist and that is stated in revelation seventeen verses twelve and thirteen as well as Daniel seven twenty four religious

[30:43] Babylon will be destroyed by the antichrist political power in seventeen sixteen the two witnesses who previously were indestructible will be killed in chapter eleven verses seven through thirteen the antichrist will succeed in putting these two witnesses to death the world will then engage in worship of the antichrist in chapter thirteen the rise and influence of the false prophet will be demonstrated in thirteen verses eleven through fifteen the six six six mark of the beast is revealed in chapter thirteen verses sixteen through eighteen the seven year covenant established between the antichrist and the nation of Israel is broken as recorded in Daniel nine and referred to by our Lord in Matthew twenty four the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel in chapter nine and Christ in Matthew twenty four already mentioned will occur in the temple at

[31:45] Jerusalem wholesale persecution of the Jewish people will follow the revealing of the antichrist as predicted by Jesus in Matthew twenty four and revelation fourteen is the connector between the events revealed in chapters ten through thirteen and the events to follow in fifteen and sixteen chapter fourteen of revelation contains seven angelic proclamations first the counterfeit trinity will fail it is made up of satan the antichrist and the false prophet each of whom mimic the father the son and the holy spirit this is recorded in chapter fourteen and the first five verses the warning and the effect of the coming bowl judgments will be delivered in chapter fourteen verses six and seven and the demise of religious

[32:47] Babylon the great is described in chapter fourteen and verse eight the demise of political Babylon under the antichrist is following in verses nine through twelve and in special blessing for saints who die in the second half of the tribulation period is found in fourteen thirteen the time of reaping which is positive and there will be a great number of people come to faith during this time of reaping the reaping is a positive reaping as one would go into a field and reap grain in a positive way to be stored in the storehouse only in this case the reaping will be of human beings and they will be individuals who will respond to the gospel message and they will be saved during this tribulation period however there is a negative that follows because those who are not reaped will be treaded upon and that is the time of treading that follows in verses 17 through 20 of revelation 14 and that is the treading like the treading of the winepress of the wrath of God squeezing out the grapes that will be judgmental it will not be salvational as will be the time of reaping and then the seventh and last trumpet sounds in chapter 11 verses 14 through 19 and it is also the third of the three woe judgments it is announced originally in 8 13 and I would like to read for your consideration if you would turn to it please chapter 11 and verse 14 through 19 if you have your

[34:45] Bible let's look at that if we may chapter 11 of revelation when the last trumpet sounds verse 14 the second woe is passed behold the third woe is coming quickly and the seventh angel sounded and there arose loud voices in heaven saying the kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ and he will reign forever and ever those of you who are fans as I am of Handel's Messiah recognize these to be in the lines that George Frederick Handel wrote into the Messiah and this is part of the hallelujah chorus that will be repeated over and over it is found here in verse 15 and verse 16 tells us and the 24 elders who sit on their thrones before God fell we give thee thanks O Lord God the

[35:45] Almighty who art and who was because thou has taken thy great power and has begun to reign and the nations were enraged and thy wrath came and the time came for the dead to be judged and the time to give their reward to thy bondservants the prophets and to the saints and to those who fear thy name the small and the great and to destroy those who destroy the earth and the temple of God which is in heaven was opened and the ark of his covenant appeared in his temple and there were flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder and an earthquake and a great hailstorm all of these things that are described simply escape us in our imagination because we have no frame of reference for these things not even Hollywood with their capability of sound effects and special effects can produce what we are going to see witnessed here chapter 19 chapter 19 records the marriage supper of the lamb when believers will be united in fellowship with

[36:58] Christ prior to returning to earth with him in verses 11 through 14 Christ will confront the beast and his earthly armies and will defeat them single handedly by his spoken word in 19 21 described as the sharp sword that goes out of his mouth it is not a literal sword but it is symbolic of the spoken word of Christ the beast that is the antichrist and the false prophet are both dispatched to the lake of fire in 1920 while all who supported them are slain by the word of Christ chapter 20 records the binding of Satan into the abyss where he will remain for 1000 years during which time Christ rules worldwide from Jerusalem believers will reign with Christ fulfilling assorted assigned responsibilities during this millennium in verse 7 of chapter 20

[38:06] Satan is released and proceeds to renew his activities of deception he successfully recruits a very large following all of whom of course will be individuals with volitions who will possess unglorified bodies they will have bodies like yours and mine today they will not be any different and they will be recruited by Satan there will be a destruction in a moment of massive judgment and execution that is recorded in chapter 20 and verse 9 the great white throne judgment is recorded in chapter 20 verses 11 through 15 and those before the judge have their day in court with the lake of fire awaiting chapter 21 introduces a new heaven and a new earth the angel who delivered the seventh and final bowl of judgment introduces

[39:11] John to the bride the wife of the lamb in verse 9 its description and unparalleled glory is recorded in verses 11 through 27 this apparently reveals the eternal state every possible provision is made for its inhabitants it consists of a cube its shape and approximates 1500 miles in its dimensions verse 6 reminds us of the purpose of this book that was first mentioned in the very first chapter verse 1 and if you look at verse 6 of chapter 20 I'm sorry chapter 22 and verse 6 these words he said to me these words are faithful and true and the Lord the

[40:11] God of the spirits of the prophets sent his angel to show to his bondservants the things which must shortly take place and by word of explanation just let me introduce this if I may that phrase shortly is used also in the early verses of chapter one and as one would give this a cursory reading for the first time you realize that John is seeing this vision 2000 years ago and the text says that these are things which must shortly come to pass we look at that and we wonder well how can the passing of 2000 years be considered shortly but the understanding of the word shortly and its derivation and as the Greek uses the word it does not mean that they are to happen very soon in the near future it means that these events when they begin to transpire are going to occur like a blitzkrieg in rapid fire order bang bang bang bang one thing after another it will start out with the seals then it will move to the trumpets then it will move to the bowls and very seldom will there be any appreciable let up and when there is a let up it is merely due to the long suffering of

[41:35] God to give unrepentant man an opportunity to assess what God has done already come to his senses and repent of his sin many will and and then the conflagration will continue and with the last with the last vial the last bowl it is the worst of all it is the last woe each of those three woes when they are announced woe woe woe each woe is worse and more extensive than the woe before it each one calibrated in such a way as to cause man to see the error of his way and many will and many will not and those who will not will pay of course a tremendous price another blessing is promised to the one who heeds the things of this book in addition to the blessing promised the one who reads the things of this book in chapter one the blessing of

[42:48] God is promised to whoever reads the book but it would seem to me to be axiomatic that the book must be read with understanding because how can one possibly derive a blessing if there is no understanding do you know what a blessing is a blessing in this context is actually an emotional thing it's an emotional stimulation a blessing is a feeling but it is a feeling that is based on what the intellect is able to appropriate and understand and the blessing is the result of understanding and appreciation it is the emotion of euphoria of relaxation of peace of contentment of all the positive things that go with it but those things cannot be in order and they cannot be fulfilled if there is no understanding so how can it be that the spirit of God has given us this closure the last book of the Bible with the intent that this is very deep stuff it's all symbolism and it's all weird things that you can't begin to understand it anyway so just ignore it which is precisely what many people do

[43:59] I cannot tell you over the last 50 years how many people have told me I but let me tell you the blessing is worth all the time and effort that you put into it to get a handle on it and are we going to plumb the depths of this book of course not we haven't plumbed the depths of any book the book is a divine book it has no bottom to it you'll never plumb its depths and will never fully understand the revelation I things among many others that heaven is going to consist of is an incredible education and you won't have to take out a student loan to get it it is going to be amazing absolutely amazing well the exalted and victorious

[45:00] Christ himself concludes this book beginning in chapter 22 and verse 16 and here's what Jesus says I Jesus have sent my angel to testify to you these things for the churches I am the root and the offspring of David the bright morning star and the spirit and the bride say come and let the one who hears say come and let the one who is thirsty come let the one who wishes take the water of life without cost I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book if anyone adds to them God shall add to him the plagues which are written in this book and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy God shall take away his part from the tree of life and from the holy city which are written in this book he who testifies to these things says yes

[46:09] I am coming quickly amen come Lord Jesus the grace of our Lord Jesus be with all amen and I want to conclude what I have written for your consideration with a couple of explanatory comments because ordinarily the Bible does not communicate the kind of content that is found in the book of the revelation I mean there are some pretty horrendous things in the Old Testament there is a lot of blood and gore and so on and all of these things here's what I want you to understand more than anything else and it's difficult for us fallen human beings to get our mind around this because being fallen and being sinful creatures though we are we just can't grasp this concept and truth be told we really don't want to grasp it but what this is all about this final assize this time of tribulation this judgment this pouring out of the wrath of

[47:21] God upon the earth what it is all about is human sin and the natural reaction of most people to something like that is oh I don't think it's that bad yes it is we don't think it's that bad because we look at our sin only from a human perspective someone has said we have no idea of what it would feel like or what it would be like to be an absolutely holy person and be violated and sinned against by the population of the earth incessantly and repeatedly and here God is going to drop the curtain he's had enough his long suffering in the first destruction of the earth with

[48:24] Noah and the ark was as a result of 1500 years of human sin and rebellion and God looked down upon the earth chapter 6 says of Genesis and behold the earth was filled with violence and corruption God brought an end to it how much more violence and corruption is this earth filled with now that we have had 4500 years to add to that plus a significant increase in population that numbers now somewhere between 6 and 7 billion people this is the wrath of an utterly righteous God bringing a long overdue justice upon mankind and I want you to understand one thing more very very importantly mankind will not be receiving anything by way of the horrors of judgment the deprivation the blood the holocaust everything that goes with it he will not be receiving one iota of anything that is not justly deserved keep that in mind this isn't going to be some kind of an unfair judgment where innocent people are going to be judged everyone under the pale of this judgment is going to receive perfect justice then and ultimately that's the only thing

[50:12] God traffics in is perfection and his justice will be perfect as well that means there will not be one single opportunity or occasion for anyone to cry it isn't fair I don't deserve this everyone on the receiving end of whatever the wrath of God involves will know full well they are receiving exactly what is deserved not one bit less nor more and we are going to find repeatedly a return to the supernatural it is virtually absent in the church dispensation the body of Christ we do not find the kind of miracles occurring here in the body of Christ in a time when we walk not by faith not by sight but by faith that is not part and parcel of this particular dispensation this is the dispensation of the grace of

[51:19] God but under the dispensation of Israel with that parenthesis removed the reversion is right back to where Israel was before the church began where everything was very physical a lot of supernatural activity in the gospels and in the book of Acts the apostles performing miracles Paul raised a couple of people from the dead and so on that was common fair under the dispensation of Israel but not in the dispensation of the church oh we have our miracles too don't get me wrong God isn't limited I'm not saying he can't do miracles in the church age I'm saying it's certainly not the norm it is the exception when miracles occur so what we're going to have with the revelation with the church the body of Christ removed there is a reversion to the motif that was in force before the church ever came into being and that was the physicality the materiality the concrete and the supernatural anybody here had any encounters with an angel

[52:29] I haven't certainly not to my knowledge but there are going to be a lot of angelic activity and a lot of demonic activity during this 70th week of Daniel because after all remember those 70 weeks are all Jewish weeks church does not figure into any of those weeks the church does not belong in any of those 70 weeks we are completely separate from that and where we are now is at the end of the 69th week where the 70th week has not yet begun it is held in abeyance and that's what this seven year period of tribulation described in revelation is going to be it's going to be that tag along 70th week thousands of years after the first 69 weeks are already past and here we are in this interim the church the body of

[53:36] Christ we don't belong to any of those weeks because we are not Israel we are a combination of Jew and Gentile molded into one new man which is the spiritual body of Christ and the emphasis is on the spiritual what is it with Israel the emphasis is on the physical the material the land the temple the covenants the ark all of those things physical that's the elemental stuff and that's what the world is going to be returned to it's kind of like the physical for the slow learners and the no learners and God is going to reverse all of humanity back to what it was again with one goal in mind will they get it it says concrete as material as physical as in your face as it can possibly be and there will still be those who will shake their fists at the heavens and not repent fortunately there will be multitudes who will and many of those who will will be executed by being beheaded they are those who will be under the altar crying out to

[55:00] God for justice how long how long before you return so all of these things will be forthcoming and I know you've got a jillion questions so do I so do I but when we engage this we will begin taking them verse by verse sometimes we may be able to cover an entire chapter but I can promise you it will not take 66 one hour sessions as it took us several years ago because well I won't make any promises but it won't be 66 hours okay there's a lot here to consider and you know what you don't have to have a terribly active imagination to look at the way the world is going now and ask yourself the question you know how much longer can this world as we know it endure this kind of thing you know what's what's what's in the offering so would you stand with me please father there is not a one of us here including myself that does not have more questions than what we have answers but we simply pray that what has been shared thus far will be something upon which we can build that you will use it to increase our understanding and that through it all as a result of this study we will see and appreciate anew the ugliness and the depths of human sin while at the same time we will be enamored and overwhelmed by expressions of your grace your mercy and your love for you have an arm that is extended every day outstretched to a disobedient gain saying people because in so many ways

[56:48] Gentiles are just like Jews all made from the same human stuff all fallen all self satisfying and self pleasing all in desperate need of the redemption that you've provided for us through the Lord Jesus Christ we pray that this will be a time of great enlightenment as well as great appreciation for who and what you are and what you've made us in Christ we ask it in his name amen