1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:06,600 left off in this chapter last week and we were beginning to study the opening of 2 00:00:06,600 --> 00:00:12,720 the seals, the seven seals, and we started with the first four which were the 3 00:00:12,720 --> 00:00:18,560 first four horsemen and we saw the effects that they have on the world. 4 00:00:18,560 --> 00:00:22,560 You've got the one riding the white horse, he comes conquering, he's wearing a 5 00:00:22,560 --> 00:00:27,120 crown, he's got a bow, you've got the one on the bright red horse who's going to 6 00:00:27,120 --> 00:00:30,800 take peace and he's going to cause war and all that type of stuff. The one on the 7 00:00:30,800 --> 00:00:35,640 black horse who brings famine and economic troubles and then the one on the 8 00:00:35,640 --> 00:00:39,760 pale green horse, remember he looks like a zombie horse is the color they use to 9 00:00:39,760 --> 00:00:46,920 describe corpses, he brings death to the earth and we said that the opening of 10 00:00:46,920 --> 00:00:53,440 these seals is the birth pains of the end, right? In other words the opening of 11 00:00:53,440 --> 00:00:59,280 these four seals marks the beginning of the end and as we were concluding last 12 00:00:59,280 --> 00:01:03,880 week we were saying that all of these horsemen and their effects that they 13 00:01:03,880 --> 00:01:08,640 bring on the earth they are present now and we see their effects all over the 14 00:01:08,640 --> 00:01:15,400 world now and so when you begin to talk about the end and the end times, one of 15 00:01:15,400 --> 00:01:19,760 everybody's favorite subjects in the church is the end times and when you 16 00:01:19,760 --> 00:01:22,800 start talking about that where do people start looking, all right? They go to 17 00:01:22,800 --> 00:01:26,400 Revelation, fine but then they want to say okay I want to make sense of it so 18 00:01:26,400 --> 00:01:31,000 where do people start looking and trying to you know engage their mind in this 19 00:01:31,000 --> 00:01:37,800 idea of these thoughts about the end time? No one say John Hagee, okay? You're 20 00:01:37,800 --> 00:01:46,120 immediately dismissed if you say John Hagee. Okay Daniel, that's one. Newspaper 21 00:01:46,120 --> 00:01:50,280 article, right? I guess no one reads the newspaper anymore so you turn on what? 22 00:01:50,280 --> 00:01:53,960 You turn on the news and you start seeing all these things that are going on in 23 00:01:53,960 --> 00:01:57,920 the world and you know there are people who will sit in front of TV and they'll 24 00:01:57,920 --> 00:02:00,720 just watch the news for hours and hours and hours and then they've got their 25 00:02:00,720 --> 00:02:03,760 Bible and they're basically looking at the news and their Bible at the same 26 00:02:03,760 --> 00:02:07,280 time they're going well here it is you know these are all the signs that the 27 00:02:07,280 --> 00:02:12,600 end has come and they start looking for these markers but if they can't find 28 00:02:12,600 --> 00:02:17,320 any it's a common question for people to get concerned with timing, right? They 29 00:02:17,320 --> 00:02:22,360 want to know the exact timeline of events, do they not? A lot of people go to 30 00:02:22,360 --> 00:02:25,640 Google and they'll say what's the timeline for the end times and they find all 31 00:02:25,640 --> 00:02:29,640 these nice neat little charts and stuff like that and they want to know when is 32 00:02:29,640 --> 00:02:33,040 it going to happen, what's the mark that it's beginning and when it starts taking 33 00:02:33,040 --> 00:02:38,920 too long people begin to say well how long Lord when is all this going to go 34 00:02:38,920 --> 00:02:42,600 down? We know that you say it's going to go down but when exactly is it going to 35 00:02:42,600 --> 00:02:46,280 go down and here's what prompts that question even more it's when people 36 00:02:46,280 --> 00:02:50,600 start looking at all the pain in the world and they look at the suffering in 37 00:02:50,600 --> 00:02:55,720 the world they look at death they look at injustice that's going on in our 38 00:02:55,720 --> 00:03:01,520 country and all around the world and they go where are you God? When are you 39 00:03:01,520 --> 00:03:07,440 going to get involved? If you are really there why aren't you doing something? When 40 00:03:07,440 --> 00:03:12,600 are you going to do something? They can start getting impatient and these are all 41 00:03:12,600 --> 00:03:18,760 the issues that our passage this evening addresses. Our passage this evening it 42 00:03:18,760 --> 00:03:25,560 reminds us that God is not an unconcerned uninterested bystander but that 43 00:03:25,560 --> 00:03:30,560 he has not forgotten his people or his plans that he is working all things 44 00:03:30,560 --> 00:03:35,400 according to his perfect time. We don't need to be paying attention to the news 45 00:03:35,400 --> 00:03:38,720 wondering okay is this part of the timeline of events is this a marker of 46 00:03:38,720 --> 00:03:42,280 this is this according to this chapter what not none of that should be our 47 00:03:42,280 --> 00:03:46,240 concern. Jesus even told his disciples in Acts chapter 1 when they're like hey 48 00:03:46,240 --> 00:03:49,120 what's going to be the sign that all this is going to go down are you going to 49 00:03:49,120 --> 00:03:54,120 restore Israel now? Jesus said why don't you not worry about that don't worry 50 00:03:54,120 --> 00:03:57,280 about all the events and how they're going to play out and all that kind of 51 00:03:57,280 --> 00:04:02,480 stuff why don't you go and spread the gospel go and tell everybody about me 52 00:04:02,480 --> 00:04:07,560 and about what I'm doing and that's what Jesus encourages us to do here he says 53 00:04:07,560 --> 00:04:10,800 yeah look here's a bunch of stuff that's going to happen but you don't need to 54 00:04:10,800 --> 00:04:14,960 concern yourself with the timing you need to focus on the fact that God has a 55 00:04:14,960 --> 00:04:19,200 plan and he's working all things according to his plan and his plan is 56 00:04:19,200 --> 00:04:24,240 good. Now when the end does finally come it'll be a time of vindication for God's 57 00:04:24,240 --> 00:04:29,720 people and it will be a time of judgment on the rest of the world. So we're in 58 00:04:29,720 --> 00:04:34,680 this section like I said of the seven seals the first four were the horsemen 59 00:04:34,680 --> 00:04:41,520 but they are part of the seven seals but this isn't the only series of seven in 60 00:04:41,520 --> 00:04:48,280 Revelation is it? Anybody know of any other sevens in Revelation? Seven churches 61 00:04:48,280 --> 00:04:57,040 okay yeah that's one. Anybody else sevens in Revelation? Blessing? I don't know maybe. 62 00:04:57,040 --> 00:05:00,760 Yeah yeah a currency is a word blessing I didn't know if you were following something. 63 00:05:00,760 --> 00:05:08,480 Gene help us out here. Okay well giving the two that you're thinking of right 64 00:05:08,480 --> 00:05:19,920 now. Okay Gene deferring the answer I know he knows this but we also have seven 65 00:05:19,920 --> 00:05:25,520 trumpets yeah sound familiar? Seven bowls of judgment or God's wrath and 66 00:05:25,520 --> 00:05:31,560 actually all of these happen one right after the other right you get the seven 67 00:05:31,560 --> 00:05:35,720 seals then you get the seven trumpets and there's a little interlude there and 68 00:05:35,720 --> 00:05:42,000 then you get the seven bowls of God's wrath and one common thing when people 69 00:05:42,000 --> 00:05:45,280 are reading Revelation how do you read a book? This one's really easy easiest 70 00:05:45,280 --> 00:05:49,360 question I'll ask all night how do you read a book? Usually front the back right 71 00:05:49,360 --> 00:05:54,800 and as you read it what happens the story progresses and that's how people 72 00:05:54,800 --> 00:05:57,920 read Revelation they start at the beginning they go okay I'm gonna read it 73 00:05:57,920 --> 00:06:01,040 all the way through to the end and this is just a nice neat little story that's 74 00:06:01,040 --> 00:06:05,360 just progressing all the way through. My question is is that how Revelation works 75 00:06:05,360 --> 00:06:16,880 though? Maybe I'm trying to trick you Tina. Okay but that's how people often view 76 00:06:16,880 --> 00:06:22,720 these series of sevens right they are in their minds they think and it could be 77 00:06:22,720 --> 00:06:26,240 I'm not saying it's not yet but just give me some time Tina let me work up to it 78 00:06:26,240 --> 00:06:31,400 alright some people will say well these are chronological events I have to 79 00:06:31,400 --> 00:06:37,320 happen in a certain sequence first you get all seven seals and then you get all 80 00:06:37,320 --> 00:06:44,720 seven trumpets and then you get all seven bowls of God's wrath now I am asking 81 00:06:44,720 --> 00:06:51,280 the question but what do we think about that? Is that right? Is it wrong? Is it a 82 00:06:51,280 --> 00:06:55,160 yes? Is it a no? And if you're gonna answer I'm gonna make you defend it 83 00:06:55,160 --> 00:06:57,760 because I don't want you to be like well you asked the question so you must 84 00:06:57,760 --> 00:07:02,360 think it's this one. What's the thing the answer okay? Does it happen 85 00:07:02,360 --> 00:07:08,120 chronologically? Is it sequential or is it something else? 86 00:07:08,840 --> 00:07:16,760 That's a good point Doug. It's true. 87 00:07:16,760 --> 00:07:27,400 God's timing is something completely different right? Yeah what do y'all 88 00:07:27,400 --> 00:07:33,280 think? Seven seals, seven trumpets, seven bowls is it sequential? Do all the seals 89 00:07:33,280 --> 00:07:36,720 have to happen in order for the trumpets to start? Do all the trumpets have to 90 00:07:36,720 --> 00:07:40,360 blow in order for the bowls to be poured out? 91 00:07:40,360 --> 00:07:49,680 Okay yes that's right. 92 00:07:58,200 --> 00:08:02,400 That's right. Good answer. Anybody else want to contribute? Do we think 93 00:08:02,400 --> 00:08:06,160 chronological or something else? 94 00:08:06,160 --> 00:08:10,960 Man we don't have anyone just wanting to put their foot down tonight. 95 00:08:17,160 --> 00:08:22,680 All right see here's a man who's willing to put his foot down. Doesn't matter if 96 00:08:22,680 --> 00:08:25,960 he thinks he's right or wrong he says this is what I think all right. Anybody 97 00:08:25,960 --> 00:08:29,920 else want to agree or disagree with our resident theologian and end times expert 98 00:08:29,920 --> 00:08:37,520 Gene McKinney? Doctor Gene McKinney? 99 00:08:39,640 --> 00:08:42,840 Okay. 100 00:08:53,920 --> 00:08:58,880 Okay all right gentlemen time to defend your position what makes you think it's 101 00:08:58,880 --> 00:09:04,720 not chronological if we're reading it one thing after the other after the other. 102 00:09:29,600 --> 00:09:42,440 You turn the page it's like oh it's missing again. Okay Joseph do you want to help him out? What makes 103 00:09:42,440 --> 00:09:45,640 you think it's not chronological? 104 00:09:45,640 --> 00:09:56,200 Okay. 105 00:09:56,200 --> 00:10:00,240 Okay all right so yes. 106 00:10:00,240 --> 00:10:19,840 Okay so yeah I would say that they are non chronological that they are 107 00:10:19,840 --> 00:10:24,960 cyclical in other words these are things that are going to continue to happen 108 00:10:24,960 --> 00:10:31,320 until the end and as Tina pointed out God is a God of order and so there is an 109 00:10:31,320 --> 00:10:34,480 order there's a pattern to things and you can recognize this pattern with the 110 00:10:34,480 --> 00:10:39,600 seals the trumpets and the bowls for instance the first five of whatever it 111 00:10:39,600 --> 00:10:44,440 is the first five seals first five trumpets or bowls they are always things 112 00:10:44,440 --> 00:10:50,360 that are going to happen within human history all right these are all things 113 00:10:50,360 --> 00:10:55,680 that happen throughout human history but then interestingly enough when you get 114 00:10:55,680 --> 00:11:01,200 to the sixth one the sixth thing whatever it is one of these it always marks 115 00:11:01,200 --> 00:11:06,880 the end of human history that is when everything comes crashing down and the 116 00:11:06,880 --> 00:11:10,280 earth starts melting away and things are falling from heaven and all this kind 117 00:11:10,280 --> 00:11:14,600 of stuff very apocalyptic type stuff it's the signal this is the end we're 118 00:11:14,600 --> 00:11:20,440 wrapping this thing up and then the seventh thing always starts the final 119 00:11:20,440 --> 00:11:24,120 judgment every single time and here's something else that's very interesting if 120 00:11:24,120 --> 00:11:28,080 you want to just be a Bible nerd like me and look for patterns right when you 121 00:11:28,080 --> 00:11:33,760 begin to go from six to seven you can see that it'll start talking about the 122 00:11:33,760 --> 00:11:37,360 hundred and forty four thousand who are redeemed it starts talking about the 123 00:11:37,360 --> 00:11:41,480 God's people who are redeemed the people who were saved by the lamp every 124 00:11:41,480 --> 00:11:45,800 single time there's like always that mention of God's people before the 125 00:11:45,800 --> 00:11:49,800 final judgment and so we need to recognize this pattern because we're in 126 00:11:49,800 --> 00:11:53,240 this section and believe it or not even though it still feels like we're pretty 127 00:11:53,240 --> 00:11:57,080 early on in revelation this is going to take us all the way to the end I mean 128 00:11:57,080 --> 00:12:00,480 this is going to take us all the way to the end of revelation with the end of 129 00:12:00,480 --> 00:12:04,920 the bowls and the coming judgment all that kind of stuff but let's dive in a 130 00:12:04,920 --> 00:12:10,520 little bit and try to at least show so we can get an idea that things are not 131 00:12:10,520 --> 00:12:16,280 sequential or chronological as many believe that they are it's fairly easy 132 00:12:16,280 --> 00:12:20,640 to prove for instance when the angel blows the third trumpet was on if you 133 00:12:20,640 --> 00:12:23,720 could put revelation 810 on the screen so if you want to write down the 134 00:12:23,720 --> 00:12:29,080 reference revelation 810 when the third when the angel blows the third trumpet a 135 00:12:29,080 --> 00:12:36,880 star falls from heaven and it poisons all rivers okay trumpet blows star falls 136 00:12:36,880 --> 00:12:45,600 from heaven do what yeah poisons the rivers right so then when you look at 137 00:12:46,240 --> 00:12:53,480 revelation 613 mizan if you put that reference on there the sixth seal is 138 00:12:53,480 --> 00:12:57,320 open which we're gonna maybe covered in probably not covered tonight next week 139 00:12:57,320 --> 00:13:04,000 but when the sixth seal is open all the stars fall from the Scott now why would 140 00:13:04,000 --> 00:13:09,360 that matter if the seals are open first and they come before the trumpets and 141 00:13:09,360 --> 00:13:14,200 the sixth seal says all stars fall from the sky and then you come over here and 142 00:13:14,200 --> 00:13:19,040 the third trumpet is blown what happened do you remember something fell from the 143 00:13:19,040 --> 00:13:24,600 sky and poisoned rivers a star right well if all the stars have already fallen 144 00:13:24,600 --> 00:13:29,600 and how is there a star still left to fall and poison the rivers doesn't make a 145 00:13:29,600 --> 00:13:34,880 lot of sense not only that another reference mizan 8 7 when the first 146 00:13:34,880 --> 00:13:40,400 trumpet is blown the Bible says that the green grass all the green grass is 147 00:13:40,400 --> 00:13:48,360 burned up but then when the fifth trumpet is blown in revelation 9 4 the Bible 148 00:13:48,360 --> 00:13:54,920 specifically says that the locus do not harm the grass well why would you say 149 00:13:54,920 --> 00:13:59,920 that if there's no grass to harm in the first place if all the grass is already 150 00:13:59,920 --> 00:14:04,960 gone you could just say locus came the fact that you have to mention that the 151 00:14:04,960 --> 00:14:10,320 locus are not going to harm the grass implies what that there is grass to be 152 00:14:10,320 --> 00:14:15,800 hard and so therefore you can see that as we study revelation and remember it's 153 00:14:15,800 --> 00:14:21,360 going to take us from here chapter 6 all the way to chapter 19 and 20 these 154 00:14:21,360 --> 00:14:24,640 things that people think happen chronologically and they're looking in 155 00:14:24,640 --> 00:14:27,640 the news and the newspapers and everything for say okay that's a sign of 156 00:14:27,640 --> 00:14:31,000 the times that's this that's this that means we're must be pretty close to the 157 00:14:31,000 --> 00:14:36,440 end of revelation when in reality these things happen all the time they are 158 00:14:36,440 --> 00:14:41,080 cyclical you see these patterns going on and on and on and these events and 159 00:14:41,080 --> 00:14:44,960 things happening all throughout human history now you might be thinking well 160 00:14:44,960 --> 00:14:48,800 pastor I don't remember a star falling from the sky and poison a third of the 161 00:14:48,800 --> 00:14:52,760 rivers how about you explain that and to that I say we'll get there in a couple 162 00:14:52,760 --> 00:14:56,560 weeks probably I'd be a month or so I don't know our timing is real weird it 163 00:14:56,560 --> 00:15:00,680 took us two years to get through Genesis so but the point is we can't explain 164 00:15:00,680 --> 00:15:04,680 that we will explain that when we get there but I just want you to understand 165 00:15:04,680 --> 00:15:09,400 that when we are studying these and we're going through these these are there's a 166 00:15:09,400 --> 00:15:14,440 pattern here it's cyclical in the way that you can understand these best is 167 00:15:14,440 --> 00:15:19,880 not that these are necessarily separate things that are happening and they're 168 00:15:19,880 --> 00:15:26,200 all sorts of just not related at all but a better way to understand these is 169 00:15:26,200 --> 00:15:32,880 that they are all describing the same events from a different perspective 170 00:15:32,880 --> 00:15:37,360 right that's how the gospel writers right to right people will look at Matthew 171 00:15:37,360 --> 00:15:41,880 Mark Luke and John and they'll say you know Matthew said this but Mark said 172 00:15:41,880 --> 00:15:46,800 this what's going on here like we just talked about Jesus freeing the men of 173 00:15:46,800 --> 00:15:51,240 demons right and Matthew says there were two and Mark says there's one and 174 00:15:51,240 --> 00:15:53,920 people go well there's a contradiction right there well no it's not a 175 00:15:53,920 --> 00:15:58,840 contradiction Mark just focuses on one Matthew focuses on two not a big deal 176 00:15:58,840 --> 00:16:02,160 at all you know there's not a contradiction there it's just that 177 00:16:02,160 --> 00:16:06,480 their their focus is different you look at the same thing all throughout Matthew 178 00:16:06,480 --> 00:16:12,000 he orders his gospel thematically he always has hey here's this big idea that 179 00:16:12,000 --> 00:16:15,800 Jesus was teaching on and oh by the way here are some things that he did that 180 00:16:15,800 --> 00:16:21,840 demonstrated that big idea Luke was a medical doctor and a historian that man 181 00:16:21,840 --> 00:16:25,960 is as black and white as it gets everything is chronological and 182 00:16:25,960 --> 00:16:28,880 sequential and this is the order that it definitely happened in because I'm 183 00:16:28,880 --> 00:16:32,680 Luke and I recorded it and I'm a historian there you go but are they 184 00:16:32,680 --> 00:16:36,800 recording different events no you're just recording the same events from 185 00:16:36,800 --> 00:16:39,920 different perspectives or another way to think about it let's say that I was 186 00:16:39,920 --> 00:16:44,040 leaving here tonight and I pull out in the road and I get a terrible car accident 187 00:16:44,040 --> 00:16:49,480 and all of you are on the stairs and you witness it happen cops arrive on scene 188 00:16:49,480 --> 00:16:54,520 and they say what happened you're gonna tell them what you saw Alex pulled out 189 00:16:54,520 --> 00:16:58,880 of here something went down he hit a car a car hit him big explain it roll blah 190 00:16:58,880 --> 00:17:02,920 blah blah blah blah blah but if he asked me to explain it I'm gonna have a 191 00:17:02,920 --> 00:17:07,120 different perspective or am I not you're gonna have a general one outside 192 00:17:07,120 --> 00:17:11,560 looking in you can maybe take in more of the scene maybe I never even saw the 193 00:17:11,560 --> 00:17:14,720 car coming I was saying I don't know I was driving one second next second I'm 194 00:17:14,720 --> 00:17:18,520 upside down and you guys are asking me what happened I have no idea you know 195 00:17:18,520 --> 00:17:21,840 it was a bloody mess in here and outside you might say well I didn't see any blood 196 00:17:21,840 --> 00:17:28,000 but it looked pretty bad so all of these things are describing the same event but 197 00:17:28,000 --> 00:17:31,360 from different perspectives and that's what we need to understand so all of 198 00:17:31,360 --> 00:17:35,800 these the seals the trumpets and the bowls they go together and they are 199 00:17:35,800 --> 00:17:40,800 describing similar events or same events but with different perspectives I 200 00:17:40,800 --> 00:17:46,400 like the way that that one theologian was describing this when he was talking 201 00:17:46,400 --> 00:17:49,760 about the seals and the trumpets and the bowls how he worked together he said 202 00:17:49,760 --> 00:17:55,600 the theme of the seven seals is God's restraint of judgment for the sake of the 203 00:17:55,600 --> 00:18:01,400 church the seven trumpets they announced the victory of God's judgment over the 204 00:18:01,400 --> 00:18:07,000 world and the seven bowls depict the wrath of God's judgment upon the 205 00:18:07,000 --> 00:18:11,680 unbelieving world and so we need to keep that in mind as we go through this 206 00:18:11,680 --> 00:18:15,880 passage and as we continue our study of revelation so that we don't get confused 207 00:18:15,880 --> 00:18:20,240 and think that something hasn't happened yet or this or that they work 208 00:18:20,240 --> 00:18:23,840 together all right so we're only going to get to the fifth seal tonight look 209 00:18:23,840 --> 00:18:28,000 with me verses 9 through 10 with all that in mind understanding that there's a 210 00:18:28,000 --> 00:18:34,280 pattern here and things one through five happen in human history this is what we 211 00:18:34,280 --> 00:18:42,880 read when he opened the fifth seal I saw under the altar the souls of those who 212 00:18:42,880 --> 00:18:49,640 had been slain for the word of God and for the witness that they had born they 213 00:18:49,640 --> 00:18:56,040 cried out with a loud voice oh sovereign Lord holy and true how long before you 214 00:18:56,040 --> 00:19:03,880 will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth now something 215 00:19:03,880 --> 00:19:06,480 interesting for you to know all throughout the Bible there are two 216 00:19:06,480 --> 00:19:13,960 alters anybody know what those two alters are Bible quiz of the night the 217 00:19:13,960 --> 00:19:22,880 altar of burnt offerings very good yeah and the altar of 218 00:19:25,600 --> 00:19:31,560 yeah yeah very good miss Vicki all right you can get that that was okay the 219 00:19:31,560 --> 00:19:36,160 altar of burnt offering and the altar of incense but throughout revelation 220 00:19:36,160 --> 00:19:40,440 there's only one altar and it's interesting because they kind of combined 221 00:19:40,440 --> 00:19:47,560 the the themes of sacrifice and prayer together and so you see that here at 222 00:19:47,560 --> 00:19:51,440 this altar and you see that there's some people who are under the altar and 223 00:19:51,440 --> 00:19:56,760 they're crying out to God is there anything weird about this anything 224 00:19:56,760 --> 00:20:01,160 strange anything that sticks out to you when you see these people in whatever 225 00:20:01,160 --> 00:20:07,680 kind of situation they're in they're under the altar okay the whole thing is 226 00:20:07,680 --> 00:20:11,760 strange welcome to the book of Revelation 227 00:20:17,000 --> 00:20:24,280 okay unexpected all right let's start with the first thing under the altar 228 00:20:24,280 --> 00:20:43,000 what do we make of that I probably wouldn't use those exact I don't know 229 00:20:43,000 --> 00:20:48,960 that if that's the reference but that was a good try I like it could be it 230 00:20:48,960 --> 00:20:55,200 doesn't say yeah things so probably same idea so when we're picturing this we 231 00:20:55,200 --> 00:20:59,640 don't need to be picturing like a giant altar with I've seen statues of this 232 00:20:59,640 --> 00:21:03,480 actually in paintings of this a giant altar and there's a whole bunch of 233 00:21:03,480 --> 00:21:06,400 people who are like trying to crawl out of the altar and they're getting their 234 00:21:06,400 --> 00:21:09,440 head out and they're screaming and asking God how long ago Lord and they're 235 00:21:09,440 --> 00:21:14,600 just kind of being crushed by the way to this altar actually the way that it's 236 00:21:14,600 --> 00:21:20,040 written in the Greek basically just means that they are at the foot of the 237 00:21:20,040 --> 00:21:24,040 altar or kind of beneath the altar you can imagine they're in the shadow of 238 00:21:24,040 --> 00:21:29,040 the altar so yeah yeah so like you have this giant altar and they're at the very 239 00:21:29,040 --> 00:21:33,080 bottom and they are said to be underneath the altar in that way they're 240 00:21:33,080 --> 00:21:36,880 beneath it or at the foot of it basically see idea that they are resting in 241 00:21:36,880 --> 00:21:42,200 the shadow of God's altar and they are resting in his protection and so here's 242 00:21:42,200 --> 00:21:46,120 my question who are these people 243 00:21:48,880 --> 00:21:53,760 we said you said Stephen martyrs martyrs 244 00:21:55,200 --> 00:21:58,640 on agreement martyrs 245 00:21:58,640 --> 00:22:16,280 very interesting question are they part of the hundred forty four thousand all 246 00:22:16,280 --> 00:22:24,280 right jean that's strike one two more and we're out in ten minutes yeah yeah 247 00:22:24,280 --> 00:22:29,040 so Tina you'll have to wait until revelation seven whenever we get there 248 00:22:29,040 --> 00:22:32,360 for the hundred forty four thousand but that is an interesting question are 249 00:22:32,360 --> 00:22:36,520 they part of them very interesting we'll address that later but martyrs are we 250 00:22:36,520 --> 00:22:41,680 all on agreement we think martyrs that's the answer okay why use that word 251 00:22:41,680 --> 00:22:58,160 what's a martyr because of their faith Justin Justin martyr church history 252 00:22:58,160 --> 00:23:06,360 reference very good Joseph um anybody know what the Greek word martyr means 253 00:23:06,360 --> 00:23:11,680 and put it right here has nothing to do with any of this but it's the only 254 00:23:11,680 --> 00:23:15,000 right I have on the board 255 00:23:16,360 --> 00:23:23,880 Greek word martyr just means witness so this is what we have here interesting 256 00:23:23,880 --> 00:23:29,520 sometimes the Bible does this where you have a word either in Hebrew or in Greek 257 00:23:29,520 --> 00:23:35,160 or Aramaic and the translators are like I'm not gonna translate it I'm gonna 258 00:23:35,160 --> 00:23:40,240 transliterate it which is basically you take something from the letters in one 259 00:23:40,240 --> 00:23:44,880 language and you basically try to find equivalence in your own so you read the 260 00:23:44,880 --> 00:23:49,800 Greek word martyr and guess what it is in English martyr that's that's a 261 00:23:49,800 --> 00:23:54,440 transliteration that's how that works okay so they decided not to translate it 262 00:23:54,440 --> 00:23:58,560 and so then the word witness became associated with people who were dying 263 00:23:58,560 --> 00:24:02,160 for their faith because they were witnessing to others they were sharing 264 00:24:02,160 --> 00:24:05,400 their faith and so what do you call them if you're Greek speaking people hey 265 00:24:05,400 --> 00:24:10,560 what happened to that witness he died oh he's a martyr and so that's actually 266 00:24:10,560 --> 00:24:17,240 who is here under the shadow of God's altar it's a group of people they're 267 00:24:17,240 --> 00:24:21,000 called martyrs in the Greeks just witnesses they are witnesses for Jesus 268 00:24:21,000 --> 00:24:26,240 but should we believe that there are many people here who actually were killed 269 00:24:26,240 --> 00:24:31,440 for their faith yeah absolutely I mean they're gonna go on and actually say 270 00:24:31,440 --> 00:24:35,120 that some of them did in fact die for their faith they were killed for their 271 00:24:35,120 --> 00:24:39,120 faith but I think it's more appropriate to understand this group under the altar 272 00:24:39,120 --> 00:24:44,560 as being representative of all Christians who are persecuted for their 273 00:24:44,560 --> 00:24:51,160 faith they are all witnesses for Jesus they have born witness to Jesus and to 274 00:24:51,160 --> 00:24:56,280 his gospel I mean Jesus and Matthew 24 said that all believers would be 275 00:24:56,280 --> 00:25:01,000 persecuted for their commitment to the church we talked about this last week 276 00:25:01,000 --> 00:25:06,440 that there the Christians are the single most persecuted group throughout all of 277 00:25:06,440 --> 00:25:11,360 human history or at least for the past 2,000 years we have been the single most 278 00:25:11,360 --> 00:25:17,120 persecuted group on earth there have been more Christian martyrs in the 20th 279 00:25:17,120 --> 00:25:23,400 century than in the previous 19 centuries combined and so Jesus's words of 280 00:25:23,400 --> 00:25:29,760 course ring true that all Christians are persecuted to some degree for their 281 00:25:29,760 --> 00:25:34,600 faith they will bear persecution for their faith it will suffer persecution in 282 00:25:34,600 --> 00:25:37,400 other words what Jesus is saying here you have a picture of the church and he 283 00:25:37,400 --> 00:25:42,520 says it is a persecuted church the church always has been and always will be 284 00:25:42,520 --> 00:25:46,880 there are people who like to imagine this golden age where Christians in the 285 00:25:46,880 --> 00:25:50,320 church will never be persecuted and that's just not gonna happen 286 00:25:50,320 --> 00:25:55,680 Christians are never gonna reach this this state where there's no longer 287 00:25:55,680 --> 00:26:00,000 persecution there's no longer suffering they are always going to be a 288 00:26:00,000 --> 00:26:03,920 persecuted people and so like Tina said it's interesting notice what what 289 00:26:03,920 --> 00:26:08,480 they're saying they say oh sovereign Lord holy and true how long before you 290 00:26:08,480 --> 00:26:14,600 will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth now the 291 00:26:14,600 --> 00:26:20,280 reference those who dwell on the earth in Revelation is just referring to who 292 00:26:20,280 --> 00:26:26,080 evil doers the wicked on the earth so this isn't referring to all humanity 293 00:26:26,080 --> 00:26:29,400 without discrimination this is the evil doers who are on earth the wicked those 294 00:26:29,400 --> 00:26:35,000 who are unbelievers who have rejected Jesus and his gospel and these Christians 295 00:26:35,000 --> 00:26:39,680 are wondering how long and that's interesting is it not I mean because when 296 00:26:39,680 --> 00:26:43,040 we think about a Christian in heaven we don't think about this kind of thing do 297 00:26:43,040 --> 00:26:47,560 we we always think about this blissful state that they're in we always think 298 00:26:47,560 --> 00:26:51,760 about them just you know running down streets of gold and crystal seas and 299 00:26:51,760 --> 00:26:55,320 all this kind of stuff and you never think about the the multiple times in 300 00:26:55,320 --> 00:26:59,640 the Bible where we read about people like this who were crying out saying oh 301 00:26:59,640 --> 00:27:05,680 Lord how long until you avenge us or you never think about people in heaven 302 00:27:05,680 --> 00:27:10,600 wanting anything right but then the Bible say that we will be longing with 303 00:27:10,600 --> 00:27:15,400 anticipation for the resurrection and our resurrection bodies and so there is 304 00:27:15,400 --> 00:27:19,600 some sort of longing still in heaven you see these human characteristics coming 305 00:27:19,600 --> 00:27:24,480 out and Jesus they're asking him how long because they've given their lives 306 00:27:24,480 --> 00:27:28,160 for him whether they were killed literally for their faith whether it's a 307 00:27:28,160 --> 00:27:32,400 figurative Lord I was your witness and yet I still suffered death on the earth 308 00:27:32,400 --> 00:27:37,080 and it's full of wickedness so why are the wicked prospering and the righteous 309 00:27:37,080 --> 00:27:42,040 are suffering how long until you do something about it and don't we 310 00:27:42,040 --> 00:27:47,200 encounter people who ask that same question today I mean I've encountered 311 00:27:47,200 --> 00:27:52,200 people who have claimed to be Christians and something terrible happens in 312 00:27:52,200 --> 00:27:58,480 their life I mean horrible and they say well if God was so good where was he in 313 00:27:58,480 --> 00:28:06,440 that situation if your God is all all loving and all powerful and he can do 314 00:28:06,440 --> 00:28:09,960 something then why doesn't he do something why did he allow that thing to 315 00:28:09,960 --> 00:28:14,280 happen to me why didn't he give me what I was asking for I tried I prayed I 316 00:28:14,280 --> 00:28:17,920 begged him I was doing everything that I thought I was supposed to do and where 317 00:28:17,920 --> 00:28:22,480 was God in all of it because he was nowhere to be seen we not still see 318 00:28:22,480 --> 00:28:29,600 people asking this question today where are you God how long when are you going 319 00:28:29,600 --> 00:28:44,000 to show up and do something and what do you think people want in that moment yeah 320 00:28:44,000 --> 00:28:48,880 that's right they want an answer when they are begging God where were you how 321 00:28:48,880 --> 00:28:52,240 long when is this all gonna come to an end when you're gonna do something they 322 00:28:52,240 --> 00:28:55,920 want an answer have you ever noticed something about God's answers they're 323 00:28:55,920 --> 00:29:00,880 usually not the thing we were hoping to hear right you see that all throughout 324 00:29:00,880 --> 00:29:04,000 the Bible you see it especially in the Gospels with Jesus when they're asking 325 00:29:04,000 --> 00:29:07,320 Jesus about something I mean just think about his time with Pilate and 326 00:29:07,320 --> 00:29:10,080 everything and Pilate's like all right look I can let you off the hook okay you 327 00:29:10,080 --> 00:29:14,720 just got to come clean are you the king of the Jews and he what does Jesus say 328 00:29:14,720 --> 00:29:20,880 you say I am Pilate's like pleaded with him he's like I can get you off you 329 00:29:20,880 --> 00:29:25,680 don't have to go to the cross just tell me are you the king of the Jews what's 330 00:29:25,680 --> 00:29:32,600 true Jesus just silent God's answers usually and very often are not the 331 00:29:32,600 --> 00:29:37,960 answers that we are actually wanting to hear in the moment that's the same here 332 00:29:37,960 --> 00:29:41,520 we'll get to verse 11 and then we'll end for the night but notice what his 333 00:29:41,520 --> 00:29:50,240 response is then they were each given a white robe and told to rest a little 334 00:29:50,240 --> 00:29:55,080 longer until the number of their fellow servants and their brothers should be 335 00:29:55,080 --> 00:30:01,000 complete who were to be killed as they themselves had so what is the white 336 00:30:01,000 --> 00:30:10,080 robe symbolize okay purity purity of their faith what else you wash your 337 00:30:10,080 --> 00:30:14,760 robes white as snow what does that typically mean yeah forgiveness of sins 338 00:30:14,760 --> 00:30:19,480 is it's also the white we talked about last week with the the first writer 339 00:30:19,480 --> 00:30:25,040 whites the color of victory and so it's a reference also to the victory that 340 00:30:25,040 --> 00:30:30,680 they have secured to the perseverance in the faith and God tells them to rest a 341 00:30:30,680 --> 00:30:40,920 little longer until what time when is the time yeah that's right until the 342 00:30:40,920 --> 00:30:46,680 number the full number he says the complete number until that number has 343 00:30:46,680 --> 00:30:51,320 been reached I'm not doing I'm not going I'm not coming back I'm not 344 00:30:51,320 --> 00:30:56,000 vindicating I'm not pouring out wrath I'm not judging none of that until that 345 00:30:56,000 --> 00:31:02,240 full number is complete so that tells us a few things doesn't it it tells us God 346 00:31:02,240 --> 00:31:08,040 knows exactly how many people are going to be killed for their faith when you 347 00:31:08,040 --> 00:31:11,560 hear about a Christian who dies at the hands of someone because of their faith 348 00:31:11,560 --> 00:31:15,680 you hear about Christian martyrs in person that is not a time to say well 349 00:31:15,680 --> 00:31:20,120 why didn't God step in and do anything that's a time for you to remember God 350 00:31:20,120 --> 00:31:24,200 knows the complete number of those who will ultimately give their lives for 351 00:31:24,200 --> 00:31:29,400 their faith that he knew it was going to happen before they were ever even born 352 00:31:29,400 --> 00:31:34,960 it also tells us he knows how many Christians are going to die before 353 00:31:34,960 --> 00:31:40,480 Jesus returns is that number of mystery to him is God just waiting around I mean 354 00:31:40,480 --> 00:31:43,480 people have this idea God's just waiting and then one day he's just going to make 355 00:31:43,480 --> 00:31:48,520 the decision okay now I'll send Jesus back now he's waiting for certain things 356 00:31:48,520 --> 00:31:54,040 to happen and until the full number of Christians have come to faith until the 357 00:31:54,040 --> 00:31:57,120 full number who are going to be killed for their faith actually reaches 358 00:31:57,120 --> 00:32:03,040 completion until the full number who are going to be saved will be saved God's 359 00:32:03,040 --> 00:32:09,360 not going to send Jesus back that means God also knows how many people are 360 00:32:09,360 --> 00:32:15,360 ultimately going to come to salvation and he has a plan he has a good plan 361 00:32:15,360 --> 00:32:19,840 that's going to unfold in his perfect timing and so he's encouraging people 362 00:32:19,840 --> 00:32:26,680 here to wait and rest in his protection and under his sovereign care what we'll 363 00:32:26,680 --> 00:32:30,440 get to this some next week but I just want to let you know what his plan is 364 00:32:30,440 --> 00:32:34,640 here is that when he does ultimately send Jesus back it's going to be a 365 00:32:34,640 --> 00:32:39,400 vindication of his people it's going to be a justification of their faith not in 366 00:32:39,400 --> 00:32:43,160 the sense that he's going to declare them to be righteous but their faith is 367 00:32:43,160 --> 00:32:46,440 going to be justified in the sense that he is going to show the entire world 368 00:32:46,440 --> 00:32:51,160 their faith was not in vain they weren't believing a myth or a fairy tale or 369 00:32:51,160 --> 00:32:57,400 anything like that they knew me I knew them and they were my people I am 370 00:32:57,400 --> 00:33:03,240 coming back to show you that I am real and you should have listened because 371 00:33:03,240 --> 00:33:06,600 when that time comes not only is it a time of vindication for God's people it 372 00:33:06,600 --> 00:33:11,520 is a time of judgment upon the world and there is no escaping that we get into 373 00:33:11,520 --> 00:33:16,880 that next week some about there is no escape but the hope for us as Christians 374 00:33:16,880 --> 00:33:22,320 when we are growing weary in our faith when we are asking those questions about 375 00:33:22,320 --> 00:33:27,080 where are you God how long God when will you get involved God when are you going 376 00:33:27,080 --> 00:33:32,520 to do something God the encouragement for us is to remember that God always has 377 00:33:32,520 --> 00:33:38,720 a plan that he is always working that plan that his plan is perfect and good 378 00:33:38,720 --> 00:33:43,040 and it will come to pass and there is not a thing that you or anyone else or 379 00:33:43,040 --> 00:33:48,960 this entire world can do to stop the plan of God from unfolding he is coming 380 00:33:48,960 --> 00:33:54,320 back and he will vindicate his people and all of our despair all of our 381 00:33:54,320 --> 00:33:59,120 struggles all of our suffering all of the mocking and persecution that we have 382 00:33:59,120 --> 00:34:04,080 endured they are going to be shown to be justified for the sake of Christ 383 00:34:04,080 --> 00:34:09,400 because he comes back and he says these are my people and I am here for them the 384 00:34:09,400 --> 00:34:14,000 rest of the world they suffer the wrath and the judgment of God and that's a 385 00:34:14,000 --> 00:34:20,080 scary thing to suffer so we'll get into that next week but about our youngest 386 00:34:20,080 --> 00:34:36,600 person here rather than our oldest give our word of wisdom for the night