We looked at Revelation 14: 1-8 again and continued to finish the chapter. We had a lot of good discussions concerning the visions of this chapter. We have noticed that the visions focus on earth and then focus on heaven. Mount Zion mentioned in verse 1, would be part of the heavenly vision because the elders, and the four living creatures are there. For the 144,000 to be there they would have to be already dead, since we know that no one can be in the presence of God and live.
The new song they sing that no else knows is the song of compliance and unity with God. This song has not been heard since Adam ate the apple in the Garden of Eden. This is the start of the uprising against the anti-christ, Satan and the false prophet that starts as a trickle and will turn into a wave that will wash all evil away and prepare the earth for the 1,000 year millennium reign of Jesus Christ. Jesus is coming back to reign to show the world how much different a place it would be with God on the Throne instead of Satan running things.
Then you have the first of three angels all with a message. The first angel tells everyone on earth to "Fear God and give Him Glory". Do not put the mark of the beast on yourself, stand and be couragous for God and not Satan. The second angel comes and warns "Fallen Fallen is Babylon the Great". Babylon when mentioned in the Bible has the same connotation with it that Sodom and Gomorrah have; except Sodom and Gomorrah are known for only one type of sin(sexual) and Babylon was know for allowing all types of sin both material and sexual. That is why the word adulteries was used, you notice that it is plural meaning more than one. Here God uses the angel to expose Babylon's sins to the world. Babylon here is used to mean the whole world not the ancient city. The world has been made to know that they have sinned against God. The third angel comes close behind, and says that God's judgement is about to take place and advises who it will be that God's Wrath will be waged against. Notice he(the angel) describes all that will fall under this wrath. The beast, and anyone who receives the beast's mark. This warning is very clear. If you are alive during this time and you follow Jesus Christ, you have to stand for Jesus. Just like the martrys of old stood up against the Romans; "Trust and Obey" is the order of the day for believers. Jesus told us over and over again stay true to the end; this is also what Paul meant when "He said Finish the race".
Verse 14 gave a little trouble. It talks about someone seated on the cloud like the son of man. Most thought this to be Jesus, but if you keep reading the passage, you find that another angel is telling this son of man what to do, and he has a sickle in his hand. This son of man is another angel whose job it is to put God's orders into action. The crop he is harvesting are grapes, not wheat. In the parable of the "Farmer and his Enemy", we learned that after the farmer sowed his field, he went home, and that night his enemy came and sowed tares(weeds) into the field. The farmer not knowing continued to care for his complete field not knowing that he had been compromised. It was not until the field was almost ripe for harvest, that the farmer learned of his fate. He could not pull the tares (weeds) out at this time because he could damage some of his good wheat in the process. He chose to wait until the harvest, then he had his workers harvest the weeds first, and throw them into the fire. The good wheat was then harvested and put into the barn. This opened up a big can of worms in class. This seems to run in the face of what the pre-tribulation crowd believes. This parable comes from Jesus' own mouth, along with the explaination. These are not my words, but God's. Bible prophecy can not be fully understood until after it happens. This is why the Jewish scholars could find out where the Messiah was to be born. If the wise men were in Jerusalem looking for the child, He had to already been born! This is why they could tell where he would be born. There was no need to look for the child until then. You notice that even after they looked up the location, none of them went to see the child, unbelief it did not effect them at all. This is how sin works and how it can control us.
Back to the grapes, why grapes? I asked in class if anyone knew the "Battle Hymn of the Republic", we started to recite the words of the song until we got to "the grapes of wrath are stored". They all kind of said "Wow"! Then it was confirmed when they read further on in the passage. We closed with the last verse of chapter 14 with the vision of the blood rising to a level of a horse's bridle, that would be about 4 - 5 feet depending on the size of the horse, distance of 1,600 stadia about a mile and a half. This is a considerable large river or pool.
Monday, August 31, 2009
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
11th Meeting Revelation 13 Con't & Chapter 14:8
We continued discussing the differences between the Holy Trinity and the satanic trinity. The Holy Trinity represents The Most High God who created the heavens and the earth and everything in it.
Satan is the great deceiver and as such, will try to trick people into believing that he is God. The created can never be greater than the creator. He will do this by having the anti-christ be struck with a fatal looking blow that will look like it will kill him. Then the anti-christ will recover and the unbeliever's will start to follow him. This anti-christ will be able to do incredible things, and many of the things he does will look like the miracles of God of old. The unbeliever's will be flocking to him and calling him savior. To the elect(the chosen people of God who are here during this time), the ones that Daniel and John talks about as doing battle with satan during this time. To these people, God gave them His Word (the Bible) and it is through this Word, that they will be able to see the truth; and unmask the devil's plot and expose it for what it is. This will make satan angry and as the Jews and Romans did to Christ's follower's after Christ's death, they will try to round up all of them and kill them. We talked about how God was going to protect His own during this time. The Jewish believer's were sealed in Revelation chapter 7, I asked why only the Jewish believer's were sealed? Christians are sealed at the time they are indwelt with the Holy Spirit when they first believe. The elect are already sealed by God.
The last part of Chapter 13 deals with the mark of the beast. Nero the Roman leader, satisfys this requirement of the number 666. Does this mean that we dismiss this as fulfilled? Maybe. But, prophecies can come true over and over again. Look at chapter 28 of Deuteronomy, that states that the Isrealites will eat their children. This has happened more than once. In order for it to occur again all of the factors that made it occur in the first place must be exactly the same. For this reason, you can't count out things that happened as not being able to happen again.
We started chapter 14 of Revelation, this is a transition chapter that introduces the characters for the next part of the story. We got as far as verse 7. We will look at this chapter totally next week.
Satan is the great deceiver and as such, will try to trick people into believing that he is God. The created can never be greater than the creator. He will do this by having the anti-christ be struck with a fatal looking blow that will look like it will kill him. Then the anti-christ will recover and the unbeliever's will start to follow him. This anti-christ will be able to do incredible things, and many of the things he does will look like the miracles of God of old. The unbeliever's will be flocking to him and calling him savior. To the elect(the chosen people of God who are here during this time), the ones that Daniel and John talks about as doing battle with satan during this time. To these people, God gave them His Word (the Bible) and it is through this Word, that they will be able to see the truth; and unmask the devil's plot and expose it for what it is. This will make satan angry and as the Jews and Romans did to Christ's follower's after Christ's death, they will try to round up all of them and kill them. We talked about how God was going to protect His own during this time. The Jewish believer's were sealed in Revelation chapter 7, I asked why only the Jewish believer's were sealed? Christians are sealed at the time they are indwelt with the Holy Spirit when they first believe. The elect are already sealed by God.
The last part of Chapter 13 deals with the mark of the beast. Nero the Roman leader, satisfys this requirement of the number 666. Does this mean that we dismiss this as fulfilled? Maybe. But, prophecies can come true over and over again. Look at chapter 28 of Deuteronomy, that states that the Isrealites will eat their children. This has happened more than once. In order for it to occur again all of the factors that made it occur in the first place must be exactly the same. For this reason, you can't count out things that happened as not being able to happen again.
We started chapter 14 of Revelation, this is a transition chapter that introduces the characters for the next part of the story. We got as far as verse 7. We will look at this chapter totally next week.
Monday, August 17, 2009
10th Meeting 8/16/09 - Revelation Chapter 13 Con't.
We started this meeting with verse 5. The beast that came out had all of the animal parts of the vision in Daniel Chapter 7. In verse 1 this beast had seven heads, 10 horns and 10 crowns. This beast had seven heads and one of the heads seemed to have a fatal wound in one of its heads, but this wound healed. This beast alludes to the anti-christ mentioned as the second little horn in Daniel 7:8. This little horn comes out of the fourth kingdom (Rome) and is different from the little horn of the third kingom (Greece). Verse 4 of Revelation says that men worshiped the dragon because he had given authority to the beast, and worshiped the beast and asked who can stand against him? The dragon mentioned here is a symbol of the devil (Satan), this beast is the anti-christ of the fourth kingdom prophesid in Daniel chapter 7. As in Daniel, this anti-christ Blasphemes God and slanders His name for 42 months (3.1/2 years, 1,260 days). In verse 7 of Revelation this beast is given authority to make war against the saints and to conquer them. The beast was given authority over every tribe, people, language and nations. Verse 8 of Revelation explains it better, all those whose names have not been written in the book of Life belonging to the Lamb that was slain (Jesus) from the creation of the world. The unbeliever's will be under the control of this beast; but the saints (believer's in God whose names are written in the book of Life) will make war and will be conquered during this time. Verses 9 & 10 of Revelation chapter 13 confirm this. Some of the saints will be killed(martyred) during this time.
Verse 13:11 opens with another beast coming up out of the earth this time instead of the sea. This is the false prophet that works hand in hand with the anti-christ during the 42 month period. This beast completes the Satanic trinity that Satan has assembled, to further mock God.
You have:
Satan is the great deciever, and as such he will do everything in his power to try to achieve his agenda. Since he has taken on the aspects of God. He has three parts, like God; his anti-christ was wounded and seemed to heal of his wound unlike God, and he has a helper to try and force his will on people unlike God and the role of the Holy Spirit. Satan can not be exactly like God, and this is how you will be able to expose him. Knowing the Bible is the only way you will know the true attributes of God from the pseudo-attributes of Satan.
Verse 13:11 opens with another beast coming up out of the earth this time instead of the sea. This is the false prophet that works hand in hand with the anti-christ during the 42 month period. This beast completes the Satanic trinity that Satan has assembled, to further mock God.
You have:
Satan is the great deciever, and as such he will do everything in his power to try to achieve his agenda. Since he has taken on the aspects of God. He has three parts, like God; his anti-christ was wounded and seemed to heal of his wound unlike God, and he has a helper to try and force his will on people unlike God and the role of the Holy Spirit. Satan can not be exactly like God, and this is how you will be able to expose him. Knowing the Bible is the only way you will know the true attributes of God from the pseudo-attributes of Satan.
Monday, August 10, 2009
9th Meeting Revelation 13 Additional
When I was talking about the 4 kingdoms beast that came out of the sea, I neglected to include that according to the statue described in Daniel Chapter 2. The period we are now looking at is the bottom part of the statue the clay and iron feet and toes of the statue. The ten toes represent the 10 kingdoms of the ancient Roman empire; from which the second anti-christ will come from. If you remember when we studied Daniel 7, the kingdoms of the statue of chapter 2 were given animals to describe them. The first anti-christ was to come from the third kingdom Greece, this little horn would grow out of an existing horn. This horn has been assigned to Antiochus IV Epiphanes, who lived during the period between Malachi and Matthew 164 B.C. This is not the little horn mentioned in chapter 13 of Revelation.
The little horn mentioned in chapter 13 of Revelation comes out of the ancient Roman Empire from the feet of clay and iron. The ten toes of the statue represent the 10 kingdoms of the ancient Roman Empire at this time. This is still future to us as we still do not know who these 10 kingdoms are. This will have to take place before we will know where the anti-christ is to come from. The origin of the little horn of this beast is different from that of the third kingdom; in the third kingdom the little horn grew out of an existing horn. This will not be the case with this little horn. This little horn will come to power on its own and without the help of an existing kingdom. This insures that it will come on the scene unexpectedly.
I asked the question to whom is Jesus talking to in the Olivet Discourse when He tells them to beware when they see the Abomination that causes Desolation standing in the Holy Place, let the reader of Daniel know and understand. If you want to see the whole quote look on the right column of my blog. Those Bible verses are there to remind me of what Jesus and the prophets had to say on this subject. Jesus said in His sermon on the Mount Matthew 5:17 -19 that He did not come to do away with the Law and Prophets but to fulfil them. These are not my words but God's Words. If you have a problem with them your complaint is with God not me.
Going back to Matthew chapter 24, who are the elect that Jesus is saving from the tribulation period by shortening the period? If the elect are already raptured before this, who is Jesus talking to. He could not be talking to them, they are already present with the Lord, why would they care what is happening on earth??
The little horn mentioned in chapter 13 of Revelation comes out of the ancient Roman Empire from the feet of clay and iron. The ten toes of the statue represent the 10 kingdoms of the ancient Roman Empire at this time. This is still future to us as we still do not know who these 10 kingdoms are. This will have to take place before we will know where the anti-christ is to come from. The origin of the little horn of this beast is different from that of the third kingdom; in the third kingdom the little horn grew out of an existing horn. This will not be the case with this little horn. This little horn will come to power on its own and without the help of an existing kingdom. This insures that it will come on the scene unexpectedly.
I asked the question to whom is Jesus talking to in the Olivet Discourse when He tells them to beware when they see the Abomination that causes Desolation standing in the Holy Place, let the reader of Daniel know and understand. If you want to see the whole quote look on the right column of my blog. Those Bible verses are there to remind me of what Jesus and the prophets had to say on this subject. Jesus said in His sermon on the Mount Matthew 5:17 -19 that He did not come to do away with the Law and Prophets but to fulfil them. These are not my words but God's Words. If you have a problem with them your complaint is with God not me.
Going back to Matthew chapter 24, who are the elect that Jesus is saving from the tribulation period by shortening the period? If the elect are already raptured before this, who is Jesus talking to. He could not be talking to them, they are already present with the Lord, why would they care what is happening on earth??
9th Meeting Revelation 12 & 13 - Rev. Chapter 13.
Chapter 13 opens with the dragon standing on the shore and a beast comes up from the sea.
This beast has parts of it that we have studied in Daniel. It resembled a leopard (Greece), but had feet of a bear (Medo-Persia), mouth of a lion (Babylon), beast (Rome) was the 4th animal that Daniel could not describe. This beast seems to be made up of all the parts of the ancient kingdoms that have come before. In verse 3 one of the seven heads seemed to have a fatal wound, but the fatal wound had been healed. This is Satan's attempt to make himself to be on the same level as God. Satan is the great accuser of the brethren. When Satan pulls this off it will fool a lot of men and they will follow the beast and Satan.
The pre-rapture group was vocal again at this time. Saying that the the saints would not be fooled.
When this was said, I asked who these saints are if they have already been raptured? The answer came back that these are the tribulation believers who are the saints. I continued to ask how did they become believer's if all the teachers and believer's had already been taken up? They answered that the Holy Spirit would teach them. To which I asked this question, I thought that the Holy Spirit had to step aside in order to set up the rapture. If He is in heaven with the believer's then how did these tribulation saints become believers??
It was here that I brought up the parable for the wheat and tares. The farmer doesn't know that his land has been compromised until the wheat starts to mature. He could not pull the tares (weeds) out at this time, because it would be possible to damage the good wheat in the process. The farmer had to wait until the time of harvest, where he had the tares harvested first and then the good wheat. The tares (weeds) went into the furnace to be burned and the good wheat went into the barn. The harvesters were angels, symbolizing end times. I told another parable of the 5 wise and 5 foolish virgins and the wedding feast. They are waiting a long time for the groom to come. When he finally comes the 5 wise had enough oil to last through the feast; but the 5 foolish virgins did not have enough oil and they asked the wise to share, but they could not. The five foolish had to go out and buy oil and by the time they returned, the 5 wise had gone out to meet the groom and bring him into the wedding feast and the door was closed and locked behind him. When the 5 foolish tried to enter they were told to go away. Both of these parables were told by Jesus to explain about his 2nd coming. Since all ten virgins were invited to the feast, they were all believers. Why were 5 accepted and 5 rejected? The 5 rejected heard the word but did not act on it.
This is our problem today, do we just hear God's Word, or do we act on it by implementing it into our lives? Only you can answer this question.
We will pick up Revelation 13:5 next week.
This beast has parts of it that we have studied in Daniel. It resembled a leopard (Greece), but had feet of a bear (Medo-Persia), mouth of a lion (Babylon), beast (Rome) was the 4th animal that Daniel could not describe. This beast seems to be made up of all the parts of the ancient kingdoms that have come before. In verse 3 one of the seven heads seemed to have a fatal wound, but the fatal wound had been healed. This is Satan's attempt to make himself to be on the same level as God. Satan is the great accuser of the brethren. When Satan pulls this off it will fool a lot of men and they will follow the beast and Satan.
The pre-rapture group was vocal again at this time. Saying that the the saints would not be fooled.
When this was said, I asked who these saints are if they have already been raptured? The answer came back that these are the tribulation believers who are the saints. I continued to ask how did they become believer's if all the teachers and believer's had already been taken up? They answered that the Holy Spirit would teach them. To which I asked this question, I thought that the Holy Spirit had to step aside in order to set up the rapture. If He is in heaven with the believer's then how did these tribulation saints become believers??
It was here that I brought up the parable for the wheat and tares. The farmer doesn't know that his land has been compromised until the wheat starts to mature. He could not pull the tares (weeds) out at this time, because it would be possible to damage the good wheat in the process. The farmer had to wait until the time of harvest, where he had the tares harvested first and then the good wheat. The tares (weeds) went into the furnace to be burned and the good wheat went into the barn. The harvesters were angels, symbolizing end times. I told another parable of the 5 wise and 5 foolish virgins and the wedding feast. They are waiting a long time for the groom to come. When he finally comes the 5 wise had enough oil to last through the feast; but the 5 foolish virgins did not have enough oil and they asked the wise to share, but they could not. The five foolish had to go out and buy oil and by the time they returned, the 5 wise had gone out to meet the groom and bring him into the wedding feast and the door was closed and locked behind him. When the 5 foolish tried to enter they were told to go away. Both of these parables were told by Jesus to explain about his 2nd coming. Since all ten virgins were invited to the feast, they were all believers. Why were 5 accepted and 5 rejected? The 5 rejected heard the word but did not act on it.
This is our problem today, do we just hear God's Word, or do we act on it by implementing it into our lives? Only you can answer this question.
We will pick up Revelation 13:5 next week.
9th Meeting Revelation 12 & 13 (8/09/09)
Revelation Chapter 12 opens with a woman with 12 stars above her head; she is pregnant and having birth pains. This woman is symbolically Israel; we know this from the 12 stars above her head. These are for the 12 tribes of Israel. To this is added a red dragon, this is symbolically the Devil. The dragon sits in front of the woman waiting for her to give birth so that he can devour the child. This child is born a male child who will rule all nations with an iron scepter. This child is Jesus and he will rule when He comes again. The woman's child is snatched up to God and His throne. The woman fled to a place in the desert to a place prepared for her by God, where she will be taken care of for 1,260 days. The woman will be taken away and protected by God for 3.1/2 years.
Verse 7 opens with a war in heaven between Michael and the dragon. The dragon was not strong enough to win so he was thrown out of heaven. Verse 11 talks about they (the saints) overcame him (the devil) by the blood of the Lamb (Jesus Christ), and by the word of their testimony; they did not shrink from death. These are the saints who will oppose the devil during the time of tribulation.
It was during this time in the Bible study when questions arose to who exactly these saints are. Since chapter 12 opens with the woman symbolizing Israel, it would stand to reason that these believer's are part of the people of Israel. Is it only the believers of Israel is another question, I don't feel we have enough information at this point to discuss it further.
The end of chapter 12 ends with the dragon pursuing the woman into the desert to destroy her. A river of water comes out of his mouth to try to destroy her but the earth opens up and swallows the water. The woman and the rest of her offspring. If the woman represents Israel, and she/they are in the desert, then who are this additional part of her offspring? This is quite interesting, and created lots of questions as to the identity of these offspring. The fact that the woman represents the believing Jews of Israel, the offspring also has to be a group of believing non- Jews. We had a big discussion concerning the rapture at this point. The loudest group was in favor of a pre-tribulation rapture. My question to that was if the believer's are taken before the anti-christ is uncovered, then who are these saints? They answered that these are the ones who come to belief during the tribulation period. My question to them was if all the believer's are raptured, then who will be left to teach these people to have them become believer's (saints)?
Verse 7 opens with a war in heaven between Michael and the dragon. The dragon was not strong enough to win so he was thrown out of heaven. Verse 11 talks about they (the saints) overcame him (the devil) by the blood of the Lamb (Jesus Christ), and by the word of their testimony; they did not shrink from death. These are the saints who will oppose the devil during the time of tribulation.
It was during this time in the Bible study when questions arose to who exactly these saints are. Since chapter 12 opens with the woman symbolizing Israel, it would stand to reason that these believer's are part of the people of Israel. Is it only the believers of Israel is another question, I don't feel we have enough information at this point to discuss it further.
The end of chapter 12 ends with the dragon pursuing the woman into the desert to destroy her. A river of water comes out of his mouth to try to destroy her but the earth opens up and swallows the water. The woman and the rest of her offspring. If the woman represents Israel, and she/they are in the desert, then who are this additional part of her offspring? This is quite interesting, and created lots of questions as to the identity of these offspring. The fact that the woman represents the believing Jews of Israel, the offspring also has to be a group of believing non- Jews. We had a big discussion concerning the rapture at this point. The loudest group was in favor of a pre-tribulation rapture. My question to that was if the believer's are taken before the anti-christ is uncovered, then who are these saints? They answered that these are the ones who come to belief during the tribulation period. My question to them was if all the believer's are raptured, then who will be left to teach these people to have them become believer's (saints)?
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
8th Meeting - Revelation Chapter 10 - 11
Chapter 10 opens with a strong angel holding a small scroll and asks John to eat it. This is not the first time a prophet was asked to eat a scroll, and that it tasted good in the mouth and turned the stomach sour. This is symbolism for judgment; it means the same here. The angel said there would be no more delay. This means that the time of grace is over, and it will be too late to ask for mercy. We now have more than enough sin to convict us and judgment is now due. We are talking about non-believers here. If you are a believer in Christ, you are already sealed and your destination is sure. God is getting ready to judge the whole world.
This brings us to Chapter 11, John is asked to measure the temple of God, but not the part given to the Gentiles (non-Jews). The Gentiles will trample the holy city for 42 months. This is the last part of the time of the Gentiles. During this time two witnesses will prophecy against the earth and prophecy on the truth of God. These witnesses are men as verse 6 states. However, to the identity of these witnesses there has been much speculation. John was present at the Transfiguration of Christ, he had no problem ng the identities of Moses or Elijah at that time. The fact that John does not advise their identity is interesting. Malachi said that Elijah would come before the Messiah to make way for His coming. We know that God used John the Baptist in this position at that time. God can use whoever, He chooses to do His will. There is no Biblical proof to who these two are or what their identity is. For me to change my mind on this I will need chapter and verse. The beast comes out of the abyss and fights with these witnesses and kills them. They lie on the streets of Jerusalem for three and one half days. The whole world rejoices at their death, and it is seen throughout the earth. Television makes this possible, we did not have world communications until recently. By recently, I mean within the last 20 - 50 years. In relation to when the book of Revelation was written, and the age of the earth, this length of time would be considered recent. After they have been dead, God breathes life into them and calls them to Heaven and they disappear in the clouds. Clouds here is a form of the shekinah glory that stands as a attribute of God. The last thing mentioned in this chapter deals with the ark of the covenant. The ark that Moses had made has been missing even before Jesus' time on the earth. I don't believe it to be that one but another, remember that God was the one who gave Moses the dimensions and instructed him on how to construct it. The tabernacle was to be a model after the one in Heaven. I believe that this ark is the one that is in heaven. Since the vision is from Heaven this would make sense.
This brings us to Chapter 11, John is asked to measure the temple of God, but not the part given to the Gentiles (non-Jews). The Gentiles will trample the holy city for 42 months. This is the last part of the time of the Gentiles. During this time two witnesses will prophecy against the earth and prophecy on the truth of God. These witnesses are men as verse 6 states. However, to the identity of these witnesses there has been much speculation. John was present at the Transfiguration of Christ, he had no problem ng the identities of Moses or Elijah at that time. The fact that John does not advise their identity is interesting. Malachi said that Elijah would come before the Messiah to make way for His coming. We know that God used John the Baptist in this position at that time. God can use whoever, He chooses to do His will. There is no Biblical proof to who these two are or what their identity is. For me to change my mind on this I will need chapter and verse. The beast comes out of the abyss and fights with these witnesses and kills them. They lie on the streets of Jerusalem for three and one half days. The whole world rejoices at their death, and it is seen throughout the earth. Television makes this possible, we did not have world communications until recently. By recently, I mean within the last 20 - 50 years. In relation to when the book of Revelation was written, and the age of the earth, this length of time would be considered recent. After they have been dead, God breathes life into them and calls them to Heaven and they disappear in the clouds. Clouds here is a form of the shekinah glory that stands as a attribute of God. The last thing mentioned in this chapter deals with the ark of the covenant. The ark that Moses had made has been missing even before Jesus' time on the earth. I don't believe it to be that one but another, remember that God was the one who gave Moses the dimensions and instructed him on how to construct it. The tabernacle was to be a model after the one in Heaven. I believe that this ark is the one that is in heaven. Since the vision is from Heaven this would make sense.
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