7th Meeting - Revelation 7,8 &9 - Chapter 9

Chapter 9 opens with the 5th angel sounding his trumpet, and I saw a star falling from the sky to the earth. Who is this star? Some people believe that this is Satan when God threw him out of Heaven. Others believe that this is an angel of God sent to earth to open the shaft of the abyss.
What is the abyss, and where is it. This has been subject of debate for a long time. If you refer to the parable of the rich man and Lazarus, the abyss is the separation between the good and bad parts of Sheol. The abyss is mentioned several places in the Bible, and only the very wicked were sent there. The angels that went with Satan at the time of his fall are said to be chained there.
Where is the opening of this abyss located? If you look at Revelation Chapter 2:13 I know where you dwell, where Satan's throne is. This is part of the Letter to the Seven Church's, to the Church of Pergamum in particular. This city was known in the ancient world as a place to find all kinds of debauchery. The Church at Pergamum is a pile of rocks now, if you read the letter concerning it you will understand that the Church was given a job to do and they did not get it done. We also are given jobs by Christ to do, will we be like this Church, or will we do His will? That is the question. This is the most important question, when Jesus comes back will He find you doing His business, or will he find you sleeping? Only you can answer that question. Look at the people that are receiving these punishments, who are they? These are the ones that still have not made a decision to repent and follow God. Repent means to turn from your sin and not to commit it again. God knows your heart and will reward you accordingly. Revelation chapter 9:17 tells us what the world is going to look like at the time of the end. Sin will be what is right and truth will look like a lie. This is only for a period and will not last. It is this situation when Sin is stronger than truth that will bring the Lord Jesus back.

7th Meeting - Continued Revelation 7-9. Chapter 8

Chapter 8 of Revelation opens with the seventh seal being opened on the scroll, there was silence in Heaven for a half hour. This must have been something to behold, from the glimpses of Heaven we have from other places in the Bible, Heaven sounds like a busy place with a lot of praising going on. To have total silence for a half an hour must have been quite deafening. Why was the silence. Awe at what was going to happen. Seven angels were given seven trumpets. Seven is the number for completeness. Another angel has a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. Censer's were part of the worship from the time of the tabernacle until the temple was destroyed. The censer was used to carry the hot coals from the altar of sacrifice to the altar of incense. The incense was mixed with the prayers of the saints and the smoke went up. If the smoke goes up, this signifies that God accepted the prayers and incense. Verse 5 says that the angel filled the censer again and threw the coals on the earth; and there came peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning and an earthquake. Matthew 24:7 says that these are the start of birth pains but the end is not yet.

Revelation 8:7 begins with a plague that has fire mixed with blood hail; this looks like one of the plagues that God used against Egypt to get His people out of bondage. You need to read the story in Exodus, to find that the children of Israel, were not harmed by this plague. In the same way they were spared when the Nile River was made Blood; God will spare His believers from these plagues.

Revelation 8:12 says that the fourth angel sounded his trumpet and a third of the sun was struck, a third of the moon, and a third of the stars. The world is becoming a very dark place.

Revelation 8: 13 tells of an eagle or an angel depending on which version of the Bible you have declaring woe, woe, woe, this is to warn the people living on the earth that there are still three more trumpets to sound.

7th Meeting - Revelation 7,8 &9

Revelation chapter 7 opens with four angels and they were commanded by another angel not to harm anything until seals have been put on the foreheads of the servants of our God. These people are believing Jews that have been scattered by the Gentiles during the time of the Gentiles, as the Lord had promised would happen in chapter 28 of Deuteronomy as part of the curses for their unbelief. This is confirmed by verses 7:5 - 7:8. If you look at these verses carefully, you will see only the tribes of Jacob mentioned. If you look even more closely, you will see, that the twelve mentioned are not the original 12 tribes mentioned in Genesis Chapter 49. Manasseh and Joseph are both mentioned, if you remember Manasseh was Joseph's son, why would he be mentioned here. Not sure, if it was because of the double portion given to Joseph, it should have gone to Ephraim, because he was the one who received the blessing from Jacob. Ephraim and Dan are not listed as the ones getting the seals; could it be because they were the tribes that had the two temples to Baal during the period of the divided kingdoms?

Why are not the Gentile believer's mentioned as being sealed? Ephesians 1:13 says that you were sealed when you believed by the Holy Spirit. The Church is not part of this, because we as believer's are already sealed.

This is part of the prophecy told by Daniel in chapter 12 of his book. The time of the Gentiles will come to a close and the Church and the Jewish believer's will be united at this time.( Daniel 12:10.) Daniel 12:7b says "when the power of the holy people has been finally broken, all these things will be completed." Who would these holy people be??

This will be a time of great trouble and at the same time great hope. The sinful will continue to be sinful, but the ones that believe, or turn from their sin, they will be redeemed. Only the ones who seek the truth, will understand and be saved. This is confirmed by Revelation 7:13-17. God is not saying that the believer's will not die, but when you do you will go to be with Jesus; and if you are spared by God during this period you will be united with Him at His second Coming! Either way you will be saved!!

6th Meeting Continued Daniel Chapter 12

Daniel chapter 12 opens with Michael, the great prince. Since chapter 9 of Daniel we have met Gabriel, a pre-incarnate Christ, and Michael. Michael is the Angel who protects the Jews and the land of Israel. This chapter deals with the time of the anti-christ, and like chapter 11 is quite detailed on what is to happen. However, this is the anti-christ of the Fourth Kingdom. The one who will arise from within the ten kingdoms of the old Roman Empire, not one of the Roman Empire kings, so this is still future. Daniel was told to close up his book and seal it not to be opened until the time of the end. In the Olivet Discourse when Jesus says "When you see the Abomination that causes desolation standing in the Holy Place, let the reader of Daniel know and understand". This means that the time of the end Daniel was told to wait for is now upon us. The man clothed in Linen, who was above the waters of the river is Jesus. He is the one who said the length of time was to be time, times and a half a time (Daniel 12:7). There are two different numbers of days mentioned in Daniel 12:11-12. The first is 1,290 days, when divided by 360(the number to calculate prophetic years) you will get 3.5 years which is equal to time, times and half a time. There are many interpretations to what all this means. We have to remember that God is in control and it will go the way God wants it to go. Bible prophecy can only explain what has already happened after the fact. This is why the Jewish leaders could tell King Herod where the Christ was to be born. It was only after the wise men were in Jerusalem looking for the child, that they could show the birthplace. In teaching my Sunday school class on the Triumphant Entry of Christ, I read Chapter 53 of Isaiah, and asked them who this was. They all said Jesus. Then I pointed to the board and told them that this is Palm Sunday, less than a week before the day that proved that Isaiah was talking about Jesus. Then I asked them again who was Isaiah talking about. This showed that less than a week before the prophecy took place, no one could know who Isaiah was talking about. Bible prophecy can only advise the signs, but does not give there order. We can guess, but we can not say for a fact how it will all unfold. God is in control and He will make everything happen in His time. This is why there are so many schools of thought on how the End will come about. The problem with the schools of thought is, they don't allow God to take bits and pieces of each idea. I think that this will be closer to how the End will come. Only by looking at all the prophecies together, instead of only the ones that back our agenda, are we going to get a clearer idea of how it may come about. God is God, Jesus said in Matthew 7:17 "I have not come to do away with the law or the prophets, but to fulfill. Every cross of the "T" and every period will be fulfilled". This is why I have trouble with putting things in some kind of order. It seems when I try that, everytime I find one verse that seems to order things, I find others that seem to counterdict that order. God can not counterdict Himself and the Bible is All God's Word!! This is what is important to remember. If you are saved, by believing that Jesus died for your sins and rose again, and by His ressurection you also will rise. This is what is important, how this comes about does not make a difference, because you will be with Jesus in Heaven. This should always be our focus.

6th Meeting Continued Chapter 11 of Daniel

Daniel chapter 11 opens with a vision of Daniel in the first year of Darius the Mede, this would be around 539 B.C. This is right after the fall of Babylon and the power shift from the Babylonians to the Medes and Persians. God tells Daniel through an angel how many kings will be part of this kingdom before another kingdom change occurs. Only God can advise details this precise and so far in advance. This is why some scholars say that Daniel had to be written later because it is so accurate. God the creator of the universe and the earth is also Lord over time and space. To deny this is to deny God. God goes further, not only does He advise Daniel how many kings must come before the kinbgdom change, but He also tells Daniel which Kingdom will rise and how this kingdom will be governed. This is in 539 B.C., Alexander the Great did not come on the scene until 323 B.C,
some 216 years later. God does not stop there, He goes on to say that Alexander will stop being the king and the kingdom will uprooted and given to others. This happened, the kingdom was divided between his four generals; and they continued to fight amongst themselves for control of the vast kingdom. Two generals in particular fought the most over control of eachothers land. This would be the Ptolomies (the king of the south) and the Seleucides (the king of the north).
The Ptolomies ruled the lands of Egypt, while the Seleucides ruled the lands around Syria. The locations of both of these kingdoms were on either side of Israel, so war was brought to Israel from both locations. The details of verses 11:5 throught the rest of the chapter read like history instead of prophecy. The fact that history agrees with the prophecy makes it quite hard to believe it was written so far in advance. Only God can be this accurate. If this part of God's Word, is this accurate, then the rest of the Bible has to be also. God can not lie or contridict Himself.

Part of this story includes a Seleucide king by the name of Antiochus IV Epiphanes, this is the one who became the little horn of the third kingdom, that grew out of an existing horn. This king ruled between 175 - 163B.C. He was known to be very visious and tried to wipe out the Jews not only as a people but their religion also. You can look him up in the history books to find out all he did. He is best known for burning the Jewish sacred books and killing mothers and their babies for having them circumcised. He would have the mothers killed and their babies hung around their necks as a warning to others to stop the practice of circumcision. If this was not bad enough he destroyed the altar of incense, built an altar to Zeus and then sacrificed a pig on the altar. This is what Daniel meant when he used the words abomination that causes desolation. Only Daniel and Jesus use these words. Daniel to describe the anti-christ in the third kingdom; and Jesus to describe the ant-christ in the fourth kingdom. Daniel's anti-christ the earth has seen. Jesus' anti-christ has yet to appear.

We need to be aware of what the first anti-christ did, so that we can expose the next anti-christ.
Since Jesus gave us His warning in the Olivet Discourse, and did not seem to hedge who would be witnessing this, I believe we must be ready, we might just be the elect, Jesus was telling to watch out.

The Beautiful Land mentioned in this chapter is Israel, and the Holy Mountain is the Temple Mount.

6th Sunday Night meeting - Daniel Chapters 10 - 12.

Daniel chapter 10:
Daniel starts with in the third year of Cyrus the King of Persia, that would make the date of this vision around 535 B.C. This great war was to be the change from Persian domination to Greek domination. A transition from 2nd kingdom to the third as shown in the Statue dream that Nebuchadnezzar had in chapter 2 of Daniel. This vision was seen and written by Daniel about 203 years before it actually happened. Persia had just taken over power from Babylon, and was very strong at the time of Daniel's vision of its demise. Understandably Daniel was very troubled by what he saw, and could not wrap his mind around the details. God is providing the vision and explaining to Daniel what it means. God is the creator of everything, and is infinite in His understanding, our human minds minds are finite, we can not possibly understand things the way that God understands them. God's ways are not our ways and He knows all things, we do not!
Daniel is upset by what he had seen and broods over it for three weeks.

In verse 4 Daniel sees a figure, this one is different from the one Daniel saw in chapter 9. In chapter 9 Daniel was talking with Gabriel (9:21); the figure in verse 4 of chapter 10 is described in verses 5 and 6. If you look at the description Daniel gives here, and refer to Revelation Chapter 1:13 - 15, you will notice that both men describe someone who could match both descriptions. Daniel has no idea of who this person is, while John on the other hand said he looked like the son of man. It seems that John knows this person, but Daniel does not. Daniel lived before Jesus was incarnated (born), so he would not know who this person was. John on the other hand had a very close relationship with Jesus and would have recognized Him right off. Both men could see Jesus because His being God; He was before the beginning of the world is now and will be after the earth fades away.

When Daniel sees this vision he becomes very scared and sinks to the ground lying before the vision. Verse 10 opens with a hand touching Daniel, not sure whose hand this is. Daniel says that the person he saw is on the bank of the Tigris River, but neglected to say which bank this person was on. I believe the hand belongs to Gabriel, since it was he (Gabriel) that Daniel was close to at the end of chapter 9. The person continues to say that he was sent to Daniel, this seems to confirm that this hand belongs to someone other than the vision on the bank of the Tigris. Again Gabriel apologizes for being detained. This also makes sense that Gabriel would be detained by stronger forces and needed the help of Michael to help him. Michael is the protector of Israel, remember this when reading Revelation. Why are the angels having trouble getting things done on earth during this time? You have to remember that when Adam brought sin into the world, Satan got a large foothold here, God is still in charge, but allows Satan to work, as part of the free will situation. In order to have free will, you must be able to choose either good or evil, and any combination of both sides. God is in control but does not enforce His judgment even though He can. This is what grace means. Mercy is the gift of grace even though we don't deserve it. This is why we need a Savior. If it were up to God there would be no one in Hell. The people who end up there have no one to blame but themselves. They put themselves there.

5th Meeting Revelation Chapter 6

John is watching the Lamb (Jesus) opening the the first of the seven seals on the scroll mentioned in Chapter 5. A white horse appeared with a rider, he was given a crown and he rode bent on conquest. Not sure who this rider is, some say he is the anti-christ, others say he is an angel. I don't believe him to be the anti-christ because he makes his entrance later and not on a horse. The fact that this rider was given a crown bothers me. We learned when we were studying the elders sitting on the 12 thrones could not be angels because they were wearing crowns, at that time it was explained that angels could not wear crowns. Some say that this rider in white is Jesus. I don't believe this to be the case either, since Jesus is opening the seals in order to let these riders come out. When Jesus comes He will fix everything, if you keep reading (Revelation chapter 6), the next riders continue to make things worse.

Thinking back to Jesus' Olivet Discourse (Matthew 24.) Jesus tells about what must happen before the end actually happens. I believe that these riders are in line with what He said. First He mentions wars and rumors of wars, then famine, pestilence, earthquakes in various places.

Another seal is opened (2nd) and another rider comes out, a firey red one, its rider was given a large sword and power to take peace from the earth. This is the rider of war.

Another seal is opened (3rd) and another rider comes out, a black horse the rider has a pair of scales in his hand. This deals with scarcity, not famine yet. I believe that in a time of famine there is nothing. We learned this from the story of Joseph when he was in charge of the grain in Egypt (Genesis 41). If famine were to occur here what is the next rider bringing?

Another seal is opened (4th) and another rider comes out, a pale horse, its rider was death and Hades was following close behind him. They were given the power to kill 1/4th of the earth by sword, famine, plague and by the wild beasts on the earth.

Another seal was opened (5th) and I saw souls under the altar of those who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they maintained. They asked how long before you will judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood? Each of them were given a white robe, and told to wait a little longer. White robe, white horse rider I could not explain, given a crown that the angels can not wear. This is possibly who the white rider is. He was alive when the first seal was broken, maybe still alive now or maybe now dead by the time the 5th seal is opened. It fits with what we know about the martyrs so far.

Next came the another seal opened (6th) and there was a great earthquake, the sun turned black, moon turned red; stars fell from the sky and fell to earth, the sky rolled up like a scroll.
These things sound very familiar and if you go again to Jesus' Olivette Discourse, He will give you an idea of when this will take place. Matthew 24:19 says that immediately after the tribulation of those days. These are Jesus words not mine. Since He is the Son of God, I believe His words.
This happens just before they see the sign of the Son of Man coming in the clouds of Heaven.

Revelation 6:15 - 17, deals with the judgement of those who are left because of their unbelief, that Jesus Christ is their Lord and Savior.

5 th Meeting Daniel chapter 9 and Revelation chapter 6

First year of Darius son of Xerxes, this would make the year around 539/538 B.C. sixty-seven years after Daniel had been taken to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar. Daniel would have been around 87 years old if he was 20 years when he was taken. Daniel was reading Jeremiah 25, and noticed verses 11 & 12; talking about the Babylon king being punished. This had already taken place since Darius was the new king over Babylon, and he was not from Babylon, but was a Mede. Daniel chapter 5 gives you the details of this. Jeremiah 25:12 talks about the 70 years being fulfilled God would punish Babylon for its sins. Daniel knows that the time is about up for Israel to be relieved of this punishment. Daniel starts to fast and pray asking for God's mercy for Israel. Daniel 9:4 - 19, is a very good model for intercessory prayer. If you are wanting spiritual revival in the United States, you might want to model this prayer. You notice that Daniel takes responsibility for all of the sins committed against God by Israel, even ones he is not guilty of committing. Sometimes we think that we are only guilty of the sins we actually commit, but we are part of a nation and as such have a portion of guilt by association. This is a very good model for prayer to confess sins your nation has committed acknowledging the fact that we deserve punishment; and asking that the Lord be merciful to us by forgiving our sins.

While Daniel was praying Gabriel the angel appeared and instructed Daniel about the time of the evening sacrifice. In Jerusalem this would be somewhere around 3 - 5 pm in the afternoon.

Gabriel tells Daniel about seventy 'sevens' are decreed for your people and your holy city to finish transgression, to put an end to sin, to atone for wickedness, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most Holy. Daniel 9:24 NIV.

Gabriel goes on to tell Daniel that there will be from when the decree comes to rebuild Jerusalem until the Anointed One (Jesus) comes. There will be 7x7 + 62 = 69. Prophetic years are measured in 360 days. After the 62 sevens the Anointed One will be cut off and will have nothing.
The first group of sevens - 7 x 7 = 49 years, this has to do with the rebuilding of Jerusalem, not just the Temple. The Temple does not have streets or a trench. You can find more on this in the Books of Ezra (rebuilding the Temple) and Nehemiah rebuilding the city of Jerusalem's walls.
That leaves us 62 weeks multiplied by 7 or 434 years to be accounted for. This would bring us up to the point of Jesus Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. Jesus on that day presented himself to the Jewish Leaders and the people as their Messiah. They rejected Him and had Him killed less than a week later, fulfilling the prophecy that the Anointed One would be cut off and have nothing. Jesus was put into a grave owned by a friend, showing He had nothing.

This brings us half way through verse 26; the rest of that verse does not seem to match the picture we have from history. Since Bible Prophecy is 100% accurate and this looks like a contradiction, the Bible is never wrong so the only other answer that makes sense is that the rest of Daniel chapter 9 verse 26 will take place at some other time. Or left unfulfilled at this time.
Verse 27 states that he will; confirm a covenant with many for one 'seven'. The he described here is the anti-christ, but which one? Since the term of time is one 'seven' this coincides with the anti-christ of the 4th Kingdom, whom we are still looking and waiting for. This seems to prove that verse 26b is also of that time period. Daniel makes very clear that he will set up an abomination that causes desolation, on the wing of the temple, until the time of the end that is decreed is poured out on him. Daniel 9: 27 & 28 NIV.

Chapter 5 of Revelation

This chapter opens with someone asking who is worthy to open the scroll with 7 seals. No one was found in heaven that could open the scroll. John wept because no one was found worthy to open the scroll and the 7 seals. One of the elders said to John do not weep, see the Lion of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed. John saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain standing in the center of the throne, surrounded by the four living creatures mentioned in chapter 4. The Lamb had 7 horns, seven eyes which represent the 7 spirits of God. The Lamb came and took the scroll from the person sitting on the throne. The person sitting on the throne is God the Father and the Lamb is Jesus. Jesus is worthy because He paid the debt of our sins and washed our guilt away with His blood. Verse 13 clearly states that all of God's hosts and His creation was acknowledging that Jesus alone is the only one worthy to open the scroll and the seals that keep it closed.

Chapter 4 of Revelation

Chapter 4 of Revelation opens with John standing before a door that opens in heaven. When you look at this and Daniel chapter 7 vision of heaven they seem similar. Daniel saw thrones and a large throne in the middle of them. John not only sees the thrones, but he tells you how many there are and who is sitting on them. John says that there are 24 thrones and the people sitting on them are dressed in white and wear crowns of gold. John calls these people elders, these are people because they wear white and have gold crowns; angels are not described in this way. If John sees these men in heaven and before the main throne of God they would have to be dead. Moses found out that no one can look on God and live. Now this brings us to John, how is it possible for him to be observing this scene? If you look back at verse 2 of chapter 4, you will see that he is in the Spirit and in this state he can observe heaven without dying. Looking at verse 3, John describes who he sees. The NIV says that his appearance of jasper and carnelian, these colors jasper is a clear stone usually represented as a diamond. The carnelian is a red stone like a ruby. A rainbow resembling an emerald encircled the throne, a greenish tint. The throne has flashes of lightning and rumblings of thunder. This vision is similar to what Ezekiel saw in his vision. Unlike Ezekiel's vision the four creatures appear to be different. In Ezekiel's vision, the four creatures had the four faces only. John says that these creatures are complete, one a lion, the second an ox, the third had a face like a man; the fourth was like an eagle in flight. Each of the creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around, even under his wings. They fell down before God and worshiped Him.