The Big Picture

[0:00] Well, it's been a while since we've had much of an opportunity for Q&A, and I don't want to take advantage of my time and just assume that you have no questions or comments.

[0:12] So I will entertain at least for a little while before we go to John's Gospel for one of our sessions that are scheduled. But in the event that there's some misconceptions or something that needs clarification over what we have been considering thus far, I just want to give you an opportunity to voice it.

[0:34] If there isn't, we'll go right on. But if there is, I want to make sure that you have occasion for that. So anybody have any questions, comments, concerns I'd like to share?

[0:45] What, Dan? In John, the first miracle that Jesus did was turn the water into wine. Yes. And if you go into that, there's a dialogue there between Mary and Jesus.

[1:00] And they were out of wine at the wedding celebration. Right. They were out of wine. And Mary said to Jesus, we're out of wine.

[1:12] He says, my time has not yet come. Why do you ask me? Okay. What kind of response? I don't quite get that response.

[1:24] You know, he said, Jesus said to Mary. Yeah. I know he meant my time has not yet come, but he was saying, so what? What do you want me to do?

[1:35] Okay. I will give you Wiseman speculation, but you have to take it with a grain of salt because I can't. But anyway, it is a conversation that was taking place between Jesus and his mother.

[1:48] They are at this social occasion where a wedding is to take place. And the traditional wedding required the serving of wine.

[2:00] I don't know if there were more guests than usual or what, or if just ample preparation was not made. But it did become rather apparent that the wine was running out.

[2:13] And that, of course, would be a source of considerable embarrassment for the host or hostess. We do not know for sure, but it's entirely possible that Mary may have been involved in the preparations or in helping for the preparations.

[2:31] But at any rate, she was advised, or she was aware of it because she had a responsibility, that the wine was running out. Now, we cannot hardly understand that, but it did present a kind of a social crisis for them.

[2:49] She went to her son, Jesus, and said, the wine is running out. But they have no wine. And when Jesus, as much as said, well, what do you want me to do about that?

[3:05] My time has not yet come. And I can only surmise from that, because of what's going to be happening very shortly thereafter, that Jesus was on the verge of launching his earthly ministry.

[3:23] It was just a short time before that that he underwent the baptism of John, which introduced him to the priesthood after the order of Melchizedek.

[3:34] He was 30 years of age. And in addition to that, he had already undergone the 40 days of temptation in the wilderness. And the baptism of John and the temptation in the wilderness were both preparatory things for launching his earthly ministry, which is going to encompass about three to three and a half years.

[3:56] My impression is, and that's all I can tell you is my impression, is that Jesus had not yet begun to do that officially.

[4:08] And she was asking him to intervene in this situation with the understanding that he could do something.

[4:22] And the only question is, would he? So she goes to him and explains the situation. They're out of wine.

[4:32] And Jesus is saying, well, I'm not prepared. I'm not ready to launch this thing yet, which is going to be very, very shortly. And she appealed to him.

[4:44] And all I can say is, Jesus simply submits to his mother's wish and to the crisis, if we can call it that, that existed at the time. And he obviously said to her, okay, I'll take care of it.

[5:02] And he said, well, I'll take care of it.

[5:13] And he said, well, I'll take care of it. Now, there's no reason to believe that she knew exactly what he was going to do. But he is as much as told her that he's going to take care of it.

[5:24] And the order is to fill the water pots with water. However, the servants have no idea why, because the problem is, if they knew, and they probably did, the problem is we're running short on wine.

[5:36] We're not running short on water. What's the big deal about filling the water pots with water? But, of course, our Lord knew exactly what he was going to do. He responded and saved the day. And in effect, that launched his miracles, but is going to be inundated, if you will, with miracle after miracle.

[5:54] So, that's probably the best I can do. Does anybody else have anything to share regarding? Yes. I know. One more question on that, Mark. I listened to J. Bernard McGee's translation of that.

[6:07] And he said that he said, now this is speculation. Yeah. J. Bernard McGee's speculation. He said, I wouldn't be surprised if he took the wine with water with a ladle.

[6:22] It was still water, and once you poured it, once you served it, poured it into the cups, turned into wine. Well, we don't know the exact mechanics of that.

[6:33] But we do know one thing. It wasn't water that they served. And not only was it wine, but it was the best wine anyone tasted. And ordinarily, the people were a little surprised because they were aware of the fact that you always start off with the best stuff and serve that, and then you bring in the lower grade stuff.

[6:56] But this has been reversed. This is the good stuff now. And I'm suspecting that no one had ever tasted wine quite as delicious as that. By the time they had enough wine, it didn't make any difference.

[7:08] Yeah. Yeah. We don't know exactly what the mechanics were, but to say it was a miracle is an understatement. No question about that. Anything else you want to mention?

[7:21] Yeah, Roger? This is a little off topic, but there seems to be a lot of concern in the community about Ezekiel 38 and Russia and the army.

[7:32] I think it's Armageddon. And when they get all blowed away, they turn against each other, Turkey and all that. Yeah. Can you explain that, the timeline when that happens? I assume in the tribulation, right?

[7:43] Well, that too is up for debate. And I can just give you a brief summary of the way I see it. And I emphasize that we cannot be certain about this, but I'll give you a Wiseman opinion and you can take it or leave it.

[8:05] But I am persuaded that this Russian invasion, which, of course, with Russia being in the news now, everybody's wondering about this.

[8:17] And that's a legitimate wonder. Ezekiel 37 and 38 relate to the fact that Russia and a couple of her allies are going to come down against Israel.

[8:32] And the text says that they are coming to take a spoil, which literally means there is something of a physical nature in Israel that they are after, and they are coming after it en masse.

[8:52] We don't know exactly who those other countries are that will be accompanying Russia, but it is quite clear that when they descend upon Israel, God himself is going to provide a cataclysmic defeat for this army.

[9:15] It will not be the army of Israel that is defeating them as in defending their country. It will be a divine visitation whereby the army that have invaded Russia and the other countries are going to be absolutely decimated.

[9:33] I don't know exactly what it's going to be, some kind of what we would call maybe a natural disaster, but it's going to literally wipe them out. And Israel is not actually going to have to defend themselves at all.

[9:46] It will be obvious that it is a miraculous intervention. And my thinking is, and again, I posit this with the distinct possibility that I could be wrong.

[10:01] I've given a great deal of thought to Revelation 7 and Revelation 14, both which have to do with the 144,000 Jews, 12,000 Jews from each of the 12 tribes of Israel.

[10:19] Where are these people going to come from? In the first place, they're all males. In the second place, they're all young men. They are all virgins. They have not known women, so they're not married.

[10:30] It seems very, very unique for that kind of situation to exist. And there are going to be 12,000 from each tribe. Well, they don't even know what tribe they belong to now. The only Jews that have any idea at all what their tribal connection actually is are those whose name ends with Cohen, C-O-H-E-N.

[10:50] And there are a lot of Jewish people named Cohen. And then there's another one, and I can't recall exactly what it is, but they are identified with the tribe of Levi. And it just seems incredible that there's going to be 144,000 Jews, men, young men, unmarried men.

[11:10] And these, by the way, are going to receive the seal of God upon them, so they are indestructible. They are virtually incapable of being eliminated.

[11:24] That's a supernatural thing, too. And these 144,000 are going to be proclaiming the gospel. They're in Israel. And when you look at that on the surface, you just can't imagine, well, what in the world is...

[11:38] Do you realize that Israel today is actually a secular state? We think that everyone in Israel practices Judaism.

[11:49] No. Maybe 10 to 15% actually practice what we would call Judaism, and by that I mean the kosher diet and keeping the Sabbath and all the rest. 90% of the Jews in Israel declare themselves non-religious.

[12:07] They are Jews primarily by birth, by ancestry. They were born Jews. But they are not practicing Judaism. So the Old Testament idea of the Jews, etc., and their worship and everything, is pretty much passe.

[12:24] What's going to happen? And this is a scenario that I've put together, and as I said, it could be entirely off the base. But when this army of Israel is decimated on the mountains, I mean the army of Russia is decimated on the mountains of Israel, that's going to be a worldwide thing.

[12:47] I mean everybody's going to sit up and take notes. What is this? And the world is just going to be at a loss to understand what happened or why it happened. But it will be apparent to people in Israel that this was not their doing.

[13:04] This was someone beyond them and their ability to completely ruin that army. And by the way, it's going to take seven months to bury the corpses of those people.

[13:21] This is Ezekiel 37 and 38. It's going to take seven months to bury these people. And you better believe that is going to get the attention of Israel itself.

[13:33] It's going to be a wake-up call to the nation to the effect that their God, whom they have virtually ignored for all of this time, is active, well, and alive on planet Earth, and he has brought this devastation upon this army.

[13:53] My thinking is, that is going to serve as a massive recruitment program for the young men of Israel.

[14:04] They're going to get on board, they're going to align themselves with the cause, and there will be 144,000 of them. You say, well, that's a lot of people. Well, it is a lot of people, but you've got to consider there are many millions of people living in Israel right now.

[14:19] So the 144,000 raising that number is no big deal. And I don't know to what extent this really fits the program, and I view that this is going to occur before the tribulation.

[14:37] The thing that kicks off the tribulation period is, well, I can't actually say that either. Antichrist setting up peace to eat.

[14:49] Well, the thing that actually starts the period, that we want not to start the calendar until, until, until Israel signs that seven-year pact.

[15:05] In Daniel chapter 9, it's very clear. In Daniel chapter 9, Israel will be given a seven-year guarantee for their peace and safety and security.

[15:21] And I think that it is during this time also, by the way, that the temple is going to be rebuilt because something is going to have to happen that will enable Israel to become serious about constructing that temple.

[15:40] And I think I've told you before about the Third Temple Mount Faithful, how that there's a group of Orthodox Jews in Israel now, and we got to meet many of them when we were there in 1990.

[15:52] And they are called the Third Temple Mount Faithful Group. And they are led by a man by the name of Gershom Solomon. Interesting last name, Solomon.

[16:03] And they have devoted themselves to constructing all of the items of furniture that are needed in the tabernacle. The table of showbread, the altar of burnt offering, and the candelabras, all of this stuff, even the outfit and the uniform for the priest to wear, the high priest to wear.

[16:23] They've made all of these things ready to move them into the temple. But they don't have a temple. So something is going to happen that will allow Israel to reconstruct the temple that has been gone for over 2,000 years.

[16:42] And my thinking is that when they are given this seven-year guarantee of peace and security, that is going to be their go-ahead for the construction of that temple, and they are going to build it.

[16:55] And then we are told in the middle of the seven-year period, the tribulation period, the Antichrist goes into the temple, which of course has to exist in order for him to go into it.

[17:11] He goes into the temple and defiles it. And this is what Jesus is talking about in Matthew 24 when he said, when you see the abomination of desolation in the temple, then head for the hills because everything is going to break loose.

[17:34] That is in the middle of the seven-year period. And that means three and a half years into it, during which time they have rebuilt that temple. And it may even be in connection with the dedication.

[17:47] I don't know. But the Antichrist will go into the temple and there he will proclaim himself to be deity. That's why Jesus says it is the abomination of desolation.

[18:02] It means that which abominates, that which defiles and sullies the temple. That will be the Antichrist himself. Now years ago, a Greek by the name of Antiochus Epiphanes did much the same thing to the temple that existed back then.

[18:21] You know what the Jewish position is and how they feel about the abstinence of eating pork. Well, Antiochus Epiphanes, in order to really, in order to really stick the knife in Israel and twist it, sacrifice a sow on the altar of God in the temple.

[18:45] And of course, the Jews just went berserk because that was an incredible defilement. Not only slaying an animal, but the animal, an unclean animal.

[18:55] And there was a great slaughter as a result of that. So the Antichrist is, in a sense, going to mimic that, only instead of slaying an animal, he is going to proclaim himself to be deity and demand that people worship him.

[19:10] And this will be halfway through the Great Tribulation period. And then, some are of the opinion, and I think it probably has some, it probably has some merit, that the, that that is then the beginning of ho flipsis.

[19:26] In the Greek, it's the tribulation, the great one. So, the first three and a half years, the planet is not going to be a good place to be.

[19:37] There's going to be a lot of bad things going on, and there's going to be a lot of persecution, and this will be the same time when men will receive or reject the mark of the beast.

[19:51] That's going to come into play, and the whole world is going to be in crisis. for those first three and a half years. But then, in the middle of that, when the Antichrist pulls off his mask, and it is revealed who he really is, then things are really, really going to get bad.

[20:11] That's when the Great Tribulation begins, halfway through. And that's what the text says, that except those days be shortened, no flesh would be saved.

[20:23] There wouldn't be any survivors. So during that time, that second three and a half year period, it is going to be an onslaught of ruination and deprivation that you cannot imagine.

[20:37] Things that will be at a premium. It's food that is edible and water that is drinkable. Things that we now have in great abundance, they're going to be so very scarce, and it's going to be a very, very difficult time.

[20:51] This is also when people will be having the mark of the beast, and if you do not have the mark of the beast, you will not be able to buy food. You will not be able to buy water. You will not be able to do anything except barter for whatever you can.

[21:06] And survival is going to be the name of the game, and it's going to be a very difficult time. Jesus describes that in Matthew 24 and 25 and also in Daniel chapter 9.

[21:17] So this time is coming. We just don't know how quickly it's coming or how far away it is. Joe? I'm going to back you up to your Russian invasion down coming down against the Israelites before the tribulation.

[21:31] That tells us that the situation in the world right now with Russia is what we're doing supposedly to weaken Russia and make them, you know, nobody.

[21:43] The economic situation isn't going to work. Russia is going to stay in power for a long time, and they're going to be one of the big players when they get towards the end time.

[21:55] So what we're doing now to Russia with all this banking stuff and so forth is totally not going to work. We know that because the Bible says it's not going to work, essentially.

[22:07] Yeah, well, that is true, Joe. Assuming that what's happening now in Russia and Ukraine is going to be one of the key ingredients of what we're talking about because it may, but it may not.

[22:22] And Russia and their activities and what's going to take place could be another 50 years down the road. We just assume that that's what it is now because that's kind of the way it looks, you know, and it may well be.

[22:36] Frankly, I am of the opinion, and this is, again, this is just a wise man opinion. I've been wrong. I've been wrong before, and I can be wrong now.

[22:46] But I really do think we are, I think we are at the foothills of that mountain. And it may very well be coming so that what we think of as prophecy may be a lot closer to being fulfilled than we know.

[23:07] One thing, well, there are a number of things, but I want to mention this because I can't think of anything, I can't think of anything that could produce a greater full-blown crisis for virtually everybody than this.

[23:30] And that is the vulnerability of our whole structure that provides our power and our energy.

[23:46] Those things are so critical that we could very easily be compromised in a matter of minutes by a cyber attack that could knock out our ability to generate power and electricity.

[24:04] And we've talked before about an EMP attack, electromagnetic pulse, and this is a bomb that could be launched from a submarine offshore of New York.

[24:20] And it could even be launched with the submarine under the water and that bomb would go up and penetrate our atmosphere miles up, explode over the United States and it wouldn't kill anybody.

[24:41] But it would effectively neutralize all electronic and electric devices so nothing would work. Your car won't work and even if it did, the pumps that you would need, the gas from the gas station, they won't work.

[24:55] nothing will work, no lights, no electricity, no pump water, no anything. Nothing would bring humanity to a halt more quickly than that.

[25:08] It would result in massive starvation, massive panic, massive robberies, massive looting, massive suicides. You just cannot imagine the cataclysm that would take place.

[25:22] It is something that we have never faced and the only people that would be less bothered by it than any are the Amish and they would be the ones who would be first visited by all of the other people who are doing without and it would be a time of dog eat dog, there would be massive robbery and looting and everything else because the name of the game would be stay alive.

[25:51] drinking water would be scarce. You're not going to go and buy a case of pre-bottled water. These things are not going to exist.

[26:03] We just cannot imagine a time like that but when you are without your energy sources in accordance with the way we have become accustomed to living, we just, you just can't imagine, fellas.

[26:18] even the ability to bury the dead is going to be a major problem. We just can't imagine. We've never been here before and I'm not saying that this is what's coming soon.

[26:32] I'm saying this is what's coming eventually, we just don't know exactly what path it'll take or where it is on the calendar. Roger? When you read Ezekiel 38 is horses and swords.

[26:45] Yeah. If you take that literally that means this stuff gets knocked out. We go back to the... You're right. You're right. Good point. I appreciate you bringing that up because for years, you know, scholars have read this and particularly in Revelation about the swords and the horses and everything and they say, well, you know, they didn't know what else to call it.

[27:07] That's all there was back then. So that's not literal. You can't take... Listen, fellas, I'm satisfied that 90% of the Bible is to be taken literally, was intended to be taken literally because it communicates and we just cannot imagine men engaged in war and conflict with horses and stuff.

[27:30] Well, actually, they were in World War II, you know, not to the extent that they were in World War I, but there were horses and we, we tend to look at that and we say, well, that doesn't mean that, it doesn't mean that.

[27:43] But what are you going to do if your tanks won't work, your planes won't fly, nothing works, nothing, nothing with electronics and nothing with electricity will move.

[27:55] What are you going to do? Well, man will find a way to kill other men and if they have to use old-fashioned methods to do it, that's better than not killing at all.

[28:09] And that's exactly what they will do. So the conflict is something that this is exactly why Jesus described it as it will be a time such as the world has never seen before and will never see again.

[28:25] This is a one-time thing and it's going to be tribulation. The word expressed in the Greek is the idea of a grape, an ordinary grape being placed between your fingers and you start squeezing the grape until it is crushed and the juice runs out.

[28:49] That's pressure, pressure, stress placed upon humanity. Guess who the grape is? humanity is the grape and the tribulation and the pressing is the intense reality of what will be happening and it will be worldwide.

[29:12] There's no place you can flee to to get away from it. The effects of it will be everywhere. Joe? Again, when the Russians come down north there, you say, well, why would they come down to Israel?

[29:26] This little country. Well, it's energy again. People may not know this, but there are tremendous volumes of gas and oil right off the coast of Israel, down under the Mediterranean Sea, and that's of course what rules the energy capture, and there's tremendous volumes that haven't been penetrated yet and used.

[29:49] And many people are not aware of that, but it's not a secret, it's public news, and of course Israel knows it's there, they discovered it. But they haven't done anything about it simply because they're too busy trying to stay alive as a nation.

[30:02] You've got to realize that Israel spends 90% of their income on defense.

[30:13] 90% on defense. And yet, in the midst of that, in the midst of their trying to survive as a nation, they have accomplished unbelievable things in technology, and advanced electronics, and all kinds of really sophisticated top drawer stuff while trying to survive.

[30:42] They are surrounded by enemies on every side. The only, someone said, the only direction that is not unfriendly to Israel is the Mediterranean Ocean.

[30:55] And everybody else has got it in for them. And you know what Iran has been saying, and how close they are to this nuclear device, and how they have publicly, consistently threatened Israel, wiped them off the face of the earth.

[31:14] And fellas, I'm convinced that that's not just talk, that's not just rhetoric. There is an irrational hatred of the Jewish people.

[31:29] And it is irrational. There's no people on the face of the earth that has contributed so much to humanity in the field of medicine, and technology, and advancement, as this tiny little nation, and the Jews that have come from it, and yet they have been made the pariah of the world.

[31:50] And the main reason for that is, is because Satan has got Israel in his sights. For the simple reason that he knows they are the apple of his eye, and that they are chosen for a destiny, and his name of the game is to eliminate Israel so that God may not be able to fulfill his plan and program for the planet.

[32:18] Don? We're a room for Christians, and we abide by this, we know this, by what we read. Now, you're standing there, and you're talking to a group of atheists or non-Christians.

[32:33] The question would come up, why? Why go through all this? Why not just show himself, and that takes care of the whole thing? Why go through all this? If you're talking to a group of non-leaders, they're going to wonder, why go through all this?

[32:51] Why do all this? What's it going to prove? Well, the only reason... I don't know because I ask it... Well, I understand and it's not an easy thing to explain, but I'll do the best I can.

[33:07] In my estimation, a very large reason is because God has seen fit to allow what I consider to be the first institution to legitimately exercise and play itself out.

[33:26] The first institution that God bestowed upon humanity was volition. Volition. That gives to humans a will, an ability to exercise a will.

[33:47] Volition is called... It comes from the same word as voluntary and it means the power to make choices. God has instilled that in humanity and he instilled it also in the angelic sphere before he even created humans and we see that that was played out that was played out when Lucifer, who apparently was the chiefest of angels, decided to rebel against the creator.

[34:23] Now, we're dealing with an area here that is very, very difficult for us to grasp because in the first place we're limited with our own mind and yet the scriptures make it quite clear that Lucifer rebelled against the almighty and you'll find this expressed in Isaiah chapter 14 I think it's chapter 14 where the seven I wills are expressed by him where he says I will do this, I will ascend to the heaven, I will displace the almighty and so on and then we're told that Lucifer succeeded in recruiting a third of the angels that God had created to follow him, to join his side and we don't know how many that was but a third was probably a pretty significant number and as best as we can determine those fallen angels have become in their fallenness have become what the scriptures refer to as demons and the demonic activity and there's a special end for them, Tartarus and so on but we can't get into that so as a result of that of that rebellion

[35:48] Satan came to earth upon the first creation of our parents, Satan came to earth and with his deception he recruited the two humans to join his cause through deception and we know the end result and in chapter 3 of Genesis and we don't we don't have time to go there but in chapter 3 right after the fall of humanity, right after Adam and Eve ate that fruit that somehow changed them and their psyche by putting into them some kind of nature that God did not create there, then as a result of that we are told that God came to them in the garden and he approached Adam and Eve and the serpent and he issued that famous reference in Genesis 3 15 that the woman, the seed of the woman, which means the offspring or the child of the woman, would strike the heel of the seed of the other seed and that's we know that that's going to refer to

[37:11] Christ but he, Christ, that seed would crush the serpent's head delivering a final death blow and that's what's going to come in the end but in the meanwhile there is this enormous conflict that is taking place even as we speak and it is the cosmic conflict that creates conflict all over the world from that time to this.

[37:35] So what we are dealing with is God allowing angels who were given volition, the ability to make decisions right and wrong, and humans the ability to make decisions right and wrong, God has not removed that from them.

[37:55] It is maintained and it also becomes the basis for angelic and human accountability that having volition makes us responsible for our actions.

[38:11] And if God were to simply override all of that and put an end to it all, he would negate that which he has given man and angels and just override it.

[38:23] So it is going to be allowed to play itself out and that is what we call the history of humanity. It started way back in Genesis 3 and it is coming all the way up to where we are now and it has met every century and every millennium with conflict, wars, death, disease, all of these things issuing forth from the negative expressions and activities of human volition and of angelic volition.

[38:59] So there is this enormous conflict, spiritual battle that's taking place now that we don't understand but Daniel talks about it in the heavenlies between these fallen angels and the unfallen angels, great conflict that has taken place.

[39:12] We're unaware of it but it is and it is going on right now. So the time is coming when this thing is going to be allowed to play itself out in accordance with prophecy and what the upshot of it is going to be the fallenness of humanity in exercising that volition in a negative way which has resulted in deprivation, disease, and death.

[39:44] life. And that is what set the stage and provided the necessity for he who is the resurrection and the life to come on the scene and to provide in the meanwhile while all of this is taking place he has provided a stopgap solution for those who are exercising volition in a positive way and the stopgap solution is to provide a salvation, a sacrifice that would allow God to regenerate the soul or the spirit of the individual in a what shall I say in a stopgap measure so that the whole thing is not completed but it is a guarantee that what God has begun by regeneration on the inside he will conclude with regeneration on the outside but that is something that is reserved for the resolution and this final conflict and that will occur when our bodies are fashioned like under the bodies of Jesus

[40:49] Christ. Meanwhile this thing is going to play out so that man with his volition exercising his will is going to demonstrate that he is incapable of anything but self-centeredness and self-will and it is going to bring upon humanity all of the corruption the death the disease everything that goes with it this world that we've got now is in the mess that it is because of what happened in Genesis 3 and it has simply intensified because the more people you get the bigger mess you get so we've got a whole world in crisis and it will not be resolved until our Lord says alright that's enough and he returns and every eye shall see him and this is Revelation 19 and Matthew 24 and 25 and then shall appear the sign of the son of man in heaven coming in power and great glory that will be the end and the first casualty will be the antichrist and he will come and slay with the sword of his mouth and the sword of his mouth is his spoken word so that will be the end of the conflict we call that Armageddon and we will be there you're going to witness that you're not going to be a participant but you will witness it and this is when the Lord comes with his saints we're coming back with him and those who are in heaven now with their glorified body if I'm not sure when we get that glorified body but we will return and

[42:54] Satan will be decimated and he will be incorporated in the bottomless pit for a thousand years the millennium which is the kingdom of heaven come to earth the millennium will be established Jesus Christ will be ruling and reigning on the throne of David David himself according to Hosea will return and he is going to be ruling and reigning and when Jesus promised the twelve disciples when the son of man comes into his kingdom you also shall sit upon the twelve thrones of Israel judging the twelve tribes that will be the millennium and it will be a time of peace and prosperity because Jesus Christ will be ruling with a rod of iron and that means it will be a no nonsense reign and we will be with him we don't know what capacity we're going to be fulfilling but I can promise you this when that time comes there will be a lot of surprises and no disappointments and it's going to be on for a thousand years and we're going to live in a glorified body all that time unable to die with a glorified body but there will be people who will be dying during that time and the age thing will be increased dramatically like it was before the flood when Methuselah lived to be 969 years and one of the reasons that our lifespan is cut short today is not only because of evil and sin and the stupid things we do but the canopy has been removed that protected mankind from intense ultra-violent rays that contribute to the aging process and all the rest that's going to be removed and changed and and the text says that a person who dies at the age of a hundred will be thought to be a child well we don't look at it that way now but this is an entirely different world now so so what we're living in is not the way it's going to be and what we're living in now is not normal although we've come to accept it as normal but this is abnormal this is a fallen world and that's why we have so much conflict and death and disease and everything else this world is the mess that we have made of it and and the lord told our first parents in the day that you eat thereof you will surely die and they died two deaths they died one death immediately and that was a spiritual death that was what influenced and affected and impacted them in their psyche and made them transferred them from being god-centered to being self-centered and that's our problem every one of us born as the seed of Adam is a self-centered self-serving self-perversing individual and the only thing that enables you to overcome that is the infusion of a spiritual dynamic that enables you with that same will to prefer others better than yourself that's supernatural that's not natural what's natural is to put yourself first that's what's natural that's fallen natural what is supernatural is what God has provided for us through regeneration whereby he quickens us and gives us a new nature that enables us with that will to serve him and to serve others and to put others ahead of ourselves etc that's all part and parcel of that new nature and the time is coming when that which has been changed on the inside will be matched by what

[46:56] is changed on the outside and that is a glorified body that will no longer be subject to death disease and all of these things so right now we are engaged in involved in a massive cosmic conflict that most humans aren't even aware is taking place but it is and it is this fellas this is what we've been talking about I guess you would say this is the big picture this is the big picture we we get so involved and caught up in our own tiny little pictures day by day and hour by hour we sometimes completely forget hey there is an end game there is a big picture and everything from Genesis 1 1 is on the way to it we are right now in process this is being played out and it has been played out for flow these nearly 6,000 years and the time is coming when the curtain will come down we don't know if that's going to be very shortly or if it's going to be another hundred years but as I've often said today we are closer to it than anybody else has ever been we just don't know when it's coming and it's dangerous and it's very foolish to set timetables and to assume that certain things are like right now what's taking place in Ukraine and Russia this could be very very significant very significant at the same time it may be a crisis that will pass and eventually it will get resolved somehow and what we're talking about an end game may be a hundred years away we don't know but you cannot help but look at the things that are happening and it makes you wonder any other thoughts Roger well that yeah well that won't be Armageddon that will be the invasion of Israel there will be there will be a couple of other countries yeah but the Armageddon thing we're told is it's going to be a battle that will be that will involve the armies of the world and they are going to gather they are going to mass in the huge huge plains of

[49:49] Israel which is called Har Megeddon and that is in northern Israel and it is a vast vast level like plain it's well it's it's it's kind of like it's kind of like Israel's kind of like our Nebraska and Kansas a big huge plain and it's a great breadbasket for Israel and grows all kinds of crops and grains and everything there in in Megiddo this is about Megiddo and that's where the armies of the world are going to mass and they will be led by the Antichrist and there will be the contingency in Petra in southern Jordan that will contain what is referred to as the the remnants of Israel and they will engage in they will engage in a Bible class that you will not be able to imagine and they are going to come to the conclusion they are going to come to the conclusion that Jesus of Nazareth really was the

[51:04] Messiah oh God what have we done our ancestors our forefathers rejected him and crucified him they blew it big time and now we are confronted with the reality that he really is the Messiah and they will weep and they will mourn for having for their forefathers having crucified the both and they will pray and they will cry out to God to send him back so this time we'll be able to treat him as we should and Jesus will answer that prayer this will be a converted group of Jews there in Petra and this is an area that is huge and it could accommodate hundreds of thousands of people and that's the meaning that Paul is talking about in Romans when he talks about the last days when he says and so all Israel shall be saved he's not talking about every Jewish person in the face of the earth but he means that remnant because by that time two-thirds two-thirds of all of the Jews in the world are going to be eliminated by the Antichrist they will be in his sights and not only Jews but there's going to be a massive slaughter of other people who are not Jews and it will be the death toll guys the death toll is going to be in the billions that's with a B we can't imagine this and the tendency is to say all go on you know well this is this is the end game this is what's coming and there will be a tiny remnant that will be secured and provided sustenance water etc miraculously just like God used Moses to provide it when they came out of

[53:10] Israel and the Antichrist is not going to be able to get at them they're going to be providentially protected and we don't know why it is or how it is but if this if this electronic thing and this electric thing we're talking about if that's still kaput they're not going to be able to launch missiles and things like that to destroy these people they will be sheltered and when when the time is right the armies of the Antichrist is going to march from from Armageddon in the north they're going to mass and come down on Israel and Christ is going to return this is Matthew or this is Revelation 19 Christ is going to return and he will return there to Petra and Israel will follow him and we will witness as he moves north and the armies of Satan are moving south and the conflict is going to take place in the valley of Jehoshaphat which is also referred to as the Kidron Valley and there are pictures of it you can see it it's a great defile it runs all the way from from from Europe in the north all the way down through into Africa and it is down and it's called the Great Rift and that is where the battle is going to take place and it will be right outside the walls of Jerusalem and the carnage is going to be unbelievable unbelievable so well this isn't where we plan to go this morning but this is where we ended up so anyway I've yeah Joe I was going to say between Genesis 1 and 2 there's a great period of time between actually Genesis 1 verse 1 and verse 2 if you really read it well that's that's when the angel world was there and there was a flood there was there's been two floods we think of the flood of Noah's flood there was a flood well before that and that's when God separated the waters that were on the flood he made the atmosphere of the rain and above it's it's you have to look at and study it but there's there was a big flood and it occurred back then too way back then nobody ever knew that but it's there go ahead Mark okay well thank you all thank you all guys for being here and enjoy your breakfast in the day ahead you you