http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hHY557xFH54 - a neat video on Revelation if it became a movie...
We now return to a scene taking place in heaven and signs that point us to the second coming of Jesus Christ. There are clear signposts for us to see.
3 Types of Signs
1. Signs that are leading up to the end of time.
The beginning of birth pangs – We are living with signs that point us to the reality that we need a new heaven and a new earth. Mark 13:5-8 Don’t be deceived by false teachers who want to give you all the details figured out. Don’t be drawn in by all the flash and hype especially in the secular realm that tries to pull you in with everything from UFOs to aliens to Mayan predictions. These are the signs that sound like a rumbling in your car.
2. Signs that precede the end.
These are the signs that tell us that the time is close. Apostacy is one of them and it refers to those who will turn away from their faith. They want the blessings, but they don’t want the follow through of commitment. There will be a greater influence of evil and increase in persecution. There will be a stronger ‘for or against’ in relation to faith as the difficulties increase. This is where there is more than a rumbling in your car, now there is squealing and your brakes are metal on metal...the heat is on!
3. Signs that accompany the end of time.
These are the dramatic signs and this is when the engine falls out of your car!
In the timing of this passage, we don’t necessarily see a timeline, but what we see that there are fast forwards and rewinds going on all throughout this Revelation of John.
There are four specific teachings here that give us a great strengthening hope.
Some people trust God when... the sun is shining on them
other people trust God if... He comes through for them
and then there are those that trust God no matter what!
Again, in chapter 7, it is a shift of focus and the group is vast. We move from the throne room to the family reunion to everyone who has a white robe from the Lamb. So, who can stand? And who can fall on their faces in worship? It is a limitless number of people from every tribe. Rewind with me to the Olympics in Vancouver and picture with me all the athletes entering into the stadium from every nation. It is a beautiful and complete picture of who we are all in Christ.
God is unfolding His plan. 7v1-3
He is in control of the process. It is not just a ‘train wreck’ going on here. There is increasing power, increasing glory and increasing confidence and hope going forward here. We can trust God. We see a group of angels who are the servants of God that do His bidding in His timing. God has allowed evil because He has allowed choice on the part of mankind. We see a picture that He is protecting His chosen ones. He knows what they are up against and what they are facing.
The vision of the 144 000 7v4-8
The first picture we see is that of a family reunion. We need to recognize from Scripture that the number 12 is very significant in that it represents the people of God, the structure of heaven. It is not just a random number, but it is a ‘complete’ number. So while there have been those who have been fixated on this number and even gone as far as predicting who the 144 000 are, let’s remember there is a strong sense of symbolic significance. There is a clear design to this vision.
It is of interest to note that the tribe of Dan and Ephraim are omitted and possibly this is due to their own idolatrous worship. Genesis 49:17 ‘Dan will be a serpent by the roadside, a viper along the path...’
Certainly John wants us to know that there will be faithful witnesses among the Jews who will testify to the living God. God wants us to get it...there will be Jewish believers that will represent all the tribes of Israel. In Romans 11 Paul spoke of a great in gathering of people from the Jewish nation. It will not just be only 144 000 from the nation. It could be a specific group that will be redeemed during the Great Tribulation. We also see this number again in Revelation 14 and they are spoken of as the firstfruits of those who have been redeemed.
The main point is that there are Jewish believers who are sealed by God’s Spirit as a sign of their security and protection. God is going to protect them for His purposes much like He did with His children in Egypt when the blood on their doorposts sealed them from the angel of death and protected their firstborn.
There are those ministries today that are dedicated to reaching Jewish people today that have spoken to us here like Chosen People Ministries and of course Jews for Jesus.
Once again, we have an opportunity to learn lessons about unpacking the Word of God. Last week we looked at the importance of not making arguments from silence and this week, ‘know your context!’
In reading the Word...5 things to remember.
Context / Observation / Meaning / Application and Response
We are sealed! 7v9, 10
Ephesians 1:13,14
There is a coming Great Tribulation and there is a great tribulation going on right now and these promises are for all those who have been sealed by the HS of God.
The Calm Before The Storm Revelation 8,9
These verses begin by depicting a silence that you expect before a storm. The leaves on the trees are blowing backwards and you know it is coming. It is time for God to act in response to all the prayers of the saints. It is a powerful moment and a sense of awe during this awesome quiet. As one has said, ‘it is a quietness of the soul’. It is not about me, it is not about us, it is about God.
Here we see the angels who not only declare His praises but who carry out His judgments.
In the OT temple, the outer court had the altar of sacrifice and in the inner court was separated in two with the curtain to protect the Holy of Holies and the presence of God and in there was the altar of incense. v3-5
Hebrews 9:3,4
Your kingdom come, Your will be done is a prayer that we have been told to pray by Jesus and this is God’s ultimate will being done. It is a prayer that evil will be done with, that temptation will be finished with, that we will live in God’s presence forever.
The series of judgments that follow are indicative of God’s love for His people.
There are the tribulations that many believers are already facing; there will be a Great Tribulation and the Bible also speaks of the ‘Day of The Lord’
· 1st Trumpet 8v7
Fire and blood are part of this pronouncement and 1/3 of the earth is burned up. What is the symbolism of 1/3rd. It is symbolic of universal suffering and it is also symbolic of the plagues in Egypt. God is giving us a picture to help us understand something that already has taken place. It was localized in Egypt and ultimately what did God do for His children. It was through all these devastating plagues that God led His people to the Promised Land.
When you see what God did in Exodus, He is doing in Revelation. Instead of wandering we will be worshipping Him. The ultimate goal was that those who had hard hearts would soften them and return to Him.
· 2nd Trumpet 8v8,9
Mountains are thrown into the sea; 1/3 of the sea in turned into blood, as well as creatures in the sea and ships.
God is allowing people to see the truth of what is happening in the world. It is not going to last
· 3rd Trumpet 8v10,11
Fire is depicted as the judgement that contaminates streams and water that are essential for life. 1/3 of the people die because the water becomes undrinkable.
The star is wormword which means bitterness. Another picture of what took place in Exodus 15:22-27 where the water became bitter. When Moses took the wood (which has been said to represent Christ’s cross) and threw it in the water, it became sweet. It is Christ who is the only One who can make the bitter sweet in our lives. He takes our sin and cleanses us. He is our river of living water. We want Jesus to be our Saviour not our Judge. However when we trust in ourselves and in our own plans, the sweet will become bitter.
· 4th Trumpet 8v12,13
1/3 of the sun, moon and stars are struck causing a 1/3 of the day/night to be without light. There is this natural darkness that represents God’s disapproval of man’s satanic ways.
And yet with all these intense and powerful judgments, it is still going to get worse, it still continues to unfold. The realization is that this world is not a place for us to put our hope in.
We need to understand these things when studying Revelation:
-Prophetic revelation - Jesus is coming back.
-Prophetic interpretation - I believe that Jesus is coming back before this tribulation
-Prophetic speculation – I believe Jesus is coming back before 2020 and it is going to be a nuclear bomb.
While there are those who say we are going to destroy ourselves, ultimately God will be in control the judgments as they unfold.
why v13.... the 1st 4 trumpets are focused on creation, the last 3 are now focused on mankind.
· 5th Trumpet 9v1-12
Satan is a fallen angel and he is the star here who is given a key to the abyss. The Abyss is not hell, it is like hades, a holding place where one awaits the final judgment. It is a place of punishment.
Satan is prince of the world but it is only a temporary reign that God has given him. This world is not the ultimate source of evil.
Now the sun and sky are completely darkened by the smoke that rises from the Abyss. A small picture of this would be the volcano in Iceland that covered much of the Atlantic sky near Europe and forced planes back on the ground.
This trumpet is descriptive of the invisible spirit world that exists all around us. The locusts have been described as the demons and the way that they will possess and torment people in the end times. They aren’t allowed to kill, but to bring the kind of agony that people will long for death. The exempt are those who have the seal of God. Once again we are seeing Exodus terminology.
In Zephaniah 1:3; Hosea 4:2,3 we also see similar events predicted surrounding this time.
· 6th Trumpet 9v13-21
Where we see death not being granted as a release from torment, we now see death take full force in the 6th Trumpet as death visits 1/3 of the population of the earth. The Lord uses angels to exact His pronouncements and the four angels mentioned are in the Euphrates River where the first rebellion occurred. The Jews would understand that this river separated the Roman nation from the Jewish people. It was the dividing line where the attacks would come from.
These angels draw on a vast army of wicked spirits to bring this devastating punishment.
God is now answering the prayers of His suffering saints under the altar of incense and sacrifice. At the same time there is an opportunity to respond in the midst of this intense trumpet of judgement and the sad reality repeats itself in that we are left with the depraved response on the part of those who survive.
The death sentence is seen in these verses - “The rest of mankind that were not killed by these plagues still did not repent of the work of their hands; they did not stop worshipping demons, and idols of gold, silver, bronze and wood – idols that cannot see or hear or walk. Nor did they repent of their murders, their magic arts, their sexual immorality or their thefts. v20,21
Death is the ultimate judgment for someone who has completely hardened their heart against God. He judges with death those that hold back his plan of salvation from unfolding. It is in the face of death of those around us that we have sobering moments about life and death and eternity. There is still 2/3rd who have an opportunity to respond to Him. He is incredibly patient not willing that any should perish.
The Truth is Bittersweet. Revelation 10
Before the 7th trumpet sounds, John whisks us away to another vision of the angel who comes with the final scroll representing the judgements.
Here John is asked specifically to not write down the vision. There are still things that we do not know, we don't have the full prophetic revelation.
Again we have the picture of SEVENS and now it is represented by 7 thunders. It is a powerful and triumphant shout of a lion. Now the 7th angel comes to tell John to eat the contents of his message. It is sweet to taste but in the end it turns sour in his stomach.
Ezekiel 3
The takeaway in this chapter for us today is that it is hardly enough for us just to read the Bible and think that somehow that is sufficient for us. It is so imperative that we become absolutely saturated in His Word that it completely takes hold of our mind and heart. It is only when His truth takes hold of us that it will take root in others.
So John absorbs the contents of the scroll and he is satisfied and upset all at the same time because while He knows that justice is being served, it still is very difficult to pronounce terrifying judgements. So while we empathize with the sufferings of believers all over the world, we know their day will come and even in death they will be victorious.
The Living Testimony of Two Witnesses Revelation 11
It is the natural end of the world... we are at that pregnant pause between the 6th and 7th trumpet judgment.
We see the vision of the 144 000 and the great multitude between the 6th and 7th seal...a similar theme.
We get a picture of what life will look like before His return.
In Ezekiel 40-48, we have a measuring rod that was given...the measuring rod doesn’t just indicate size and length but its place of security and safety. God’s pleasure and protection doesn’t mean we won’t have to survive intense persecution; however in v2, it will be for a limited time.
42 months; 1260 days – 12:6 The woman is being nourished during this time. If it is a literary convention, it also the same as time, times and half a time or 3 and ½ sets of seven...The Church will be persecuted for the period of time from Christ’s ascension to His return.
We just might need to readjust our expectations as there is one who will continue to make life and ministry very difficult for us.
These two witnesses refer to the witnesses that go out to the rest of the world. They are also connected to olive trees and lampstands.
Lampstands and olive trees - They were connected with the ministry of Zerubbabel ...They also represent the church serving in the temple and its reconstruction like we the Church, the body of believers, who serve now
Psalm 52
The witnesses will be preserved v4-6 they will have a voice and the witnesses will persevere until death v7,8
We also need to note that at the Lord’s appointed time , they are resurrected in full view of all those to whom they were witnesses to! v11-14
· 7th Trumpet 11v15-19
The 7th angel pronounces the third woe and it begins with very visible signs in lightening, rumblings, peals of thunder, an earthquake and a great hailstorm. In many ways, the 7th trumpet gives way to the 7 bowl judgements. This trumpet has been said to provide us with a panoramic view of the rest of Revelation in that future events are already being seen as the present. It envisions the establishment of Christ’s worldwide kingdom and reign, the judgement of the nation that rage against Him at Armageddon, the judgement of the dead and the rewarding of the faithful servants of God.
Psalms 2:1-5
The Takeaway
Apart from the seal of God in our lives through the Holy Spirit, there is no protection, there is no peace, there is no hope, there is no security.
May we continue to be witnesses of this great truth with the boldness of heaven’s glory in the face of hell’s fury.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RihfmBH8JbQ - Salvation Belongs To Our God
Questions For Discussion
1. In what ways is Jesus’ power over sin and death pictured in the giving of the first 6 trumpets?
2. What comparisons exist between the physical temple in Jerusalem of previous generations to the believer’s body as the temple of the Holy Spirit?
3. What is the essential purpose of the two witnesses in Revelation 11:3-14?
4. What aspect of the nature of God is most readily evident in the proclamation of the 7th Seal?
5. What does it mean to you to know that you have been sealed for the day of redemption?
Ephesians 1:13,14
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