1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:06,780 Everybody already remembers everything I said last week so no need to recap. 2 00:00:08,220 --> 00:00:16,580 Okay, just checking. Can anybody tell me the four different views we were 3 00:00:16,580 --> 00:00:23,180 looking at last week? Anybody remember what they were? Check, check, check, check, check. 4 00:00:23,180 --> 00:00:33,380 Okay, we've got historicists, what else? Futureist, 5 00:00:33,380 --> 00:00:38,780 Preterous, and Idealists. Yeah, very good. Alright, you did have some homework. I'm not 6 00:00:38,780 --> 00:00:44,700 gonna technically grade you on it right now, but we can dive into it as we go. So 7 00:00:44,700 --> 00:00:48,020 we're gonna go much slower this week, right? Last week was kind of fast moving 8 00:00:48,020 --> 00:00:51,140 through some things. I don't expect you to remember it all. Remember, the whole 9 00:00:51,140 --> 00:00:57,340 point of last week was just to show you that I know you probably grew up hearing 10 00:00:57,340 --> 00:01:01,180 one way and one way only talk, and you probably believe something your whole 11 00:01:01,180 --> 00:01:06,940 life, but it's always good to actually read the views of other people and see 12 00:01:06,940 --> 00:01:11,100 what other people have come to a conclusion on and challenge ourselves to 13 00:01:11,100 --> 00:01:14,700 maybe think about Scripture in a way that we haven't before. And I'm not saying 14 00:01:14,700 --> 00:01:19,540 the other views are right or wrong. I'm just saying that, and this is always my 15 00:01:19,540 --> 00:01:24,420 point. Whether it's about revelation or anything else, I try to always tell 16 00:01:24,420 --> 00:01:29,220 people everybody has a reason for believing what they believe. You know, 17 00:01:29,220 --> 00:01:34,700 very rarely do you find someone who just believes something to believe it. Usually, 18 00:01:34,700 --> 00:01:39,020 give people the benefit of the doubt. Usually, they have pretty good reasons for 19 00:01:39,020 --> 00:01:42,380 believing that. Now, that could be they grew up hearing that. It was the only 20 00:01:42,380 --> 00:01:46,860 thing they ever learned, but people have reasons for it, right? So this week, we're 21 00:01:46,860 --> 00:01:53,660 going to cover just two bowls, maybe only one, just depends on how far we get. I'm 22 00:01:53,660 --> 00:01:57,020 just kidding. We're only going to get to one bowl tonight, okay? We're only 23 00:01:57,020 --> 00:02:03,980 doing one. So we're at the sixth angel in the sixth bowl, and here's what we want 24 00:02:03,980 --> 00:02:09,940 you to notice here about this one in particular. We're talking about who these 25 00:02:09,940 --> 00:02:14,140 bowls are poured out on and what their destruction is. So notice with the sixth 26 00:02:14,140 --> 00:02:20,220 one, this bowl is getting poured out on the Euphrates. That's going to be key for 27 00:02:20,220 --> 00:02:24,340 many of the different interpretations that we're going to read tonight and go 28 00:02:24,340 --> 00:02:29,100 over tonight. So it's poured out on the Euphrates in such a way that here's the 29 00:02:29,100 --> 00:02:32,260 consequence of it, or the result of it, is that the water is going to be dried up. 30 00:02:32,260 --> 00:02:36,980 So as you're thinking about this, as you're going through this, you need to 31 00:02:36,980 --> 00:02:41,860 be thinking about the fact that this is happening to the Euphrates, the water is 32 00:02:41,860 --> 00:02:48,820 dried up, and it's to do something. It's to prepare the way for the kings from the 33 00:02:48,820 --> 00:02:55,820 east. And then you have mention of what I like to call the unholy trinity. So you 34 00:02:55,820 --> 00:02:59,220 have the biblical trinity, the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit. Then you have the 35 00:02:59,220 --> 00:03:04,460 unholy trinity because it says, and I saw coming out of the mouth of the dragon 36 00:03:04,460 --> 00:03:11,260 and out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet, three 37 00:03:11,260 --> 00:03:17,180 unclean spirits like frogs. So unclean spirits like frogs. So here you have the 38 00:03:17,180 --> 00:03:22,580 unholy trinity, you've got the dragon, the beast, and the false prophet. And here's 39 00:03:22,580 --> 00:03:26,500 what's happening out of their mouths. So just picture this if you would, as we're 40 00:03:26,500 --> 00:03:29,300 reading Revelation together, trying to think through what this could possibly 41 00:03:29,300 --> 00:03:34,100 mean. The picture we're given is that a famous river, the Euphrates, is dried up, 42 00:03:34,100 --> 00:03:38,020 and the reason it was dried up was to prepare the way for kings coming from 43 00:03:38,020 --> 00:03:43,180 the east. And then you have a dragon, a beast, and a false prophet who out of 44 00:03:43,180 --> 00:03:51,340 their mouths are coming these spirits, unclean spirits like frogs. Pretty 45 00:03:51,340 --> 00:03:56,620 interesting stuff, right? Yeah. So this is where people have a hard time if you're 46 00:03:56,620 --> 00:04:01,060 going to interpret Revelation literally the entire way through. This is typically 47 00:04:01,060 --> 00:04:05,460 where people will find some difficulty. You could stick to a very literalistic 48 00:04:05,460 --> 00:04:08,820 approach and say that there will be some unclean spirits who open their mouths and 49 00:04:08,820 --> 00:04:12,780 some demonic frogs come out. That's a possibility, but it's usually here that 50 00:04:12,780 --> 00:04:18,500 people find it's hard to interpret literally. Alright, verse 14, for they 51 00:04:18,500 --> 00:04:24,180 are demonic spirits performing signs who go abroad. So watch what's happening 52 00:04:24,180 --> 00:04:28,820 here. These demonic spirits, they go abroad in order to do what? They go 53 00:04:28,820 --> 00:04:34,260 abroad to the kings of the whole world to assemble them for battle on the great 54 00:04:34,260 --> 00:04:37,500 day of the Lord. So these demonic spirits are going out to the world in order to 55 00:04:37,500 --> 00:04:42,700 get kings of the world to come and assemble for this great battle on the 56 00:04:42,700 --> 00:04:48,300 day of God the Almighty. Verses 15 and 16, behold, so this is kind of a 57 00:04:48,300 --> 00:04:53,420 parenthesis here, behold I'm coming like a thief, blessed is the one who stays 58 00:04:53,420 --> 00:04:59,940 away keeping his garments on, that he ma that should be may, that's on me, that he 59 00:04:59,940 --> 00:05:06,300 may not go about naked and be seen exposed and they assembled them. Now 60 00:05:06,300 --> 00:05:09,900 here's where we get to a key phrase that you've probably heard in Revelation 61 00:05:09,900 --> 00:05:20,940 before. They assembled them at the place that in Hebrew is called Armageddon. 62 00:05:20,940 --> 00:05:26,820 Everybody's heard this one before? Armageddon? Yeah? Okay. Anybody know what 63 00:05:26,820 --> 00:05:34,740 Armageddon means? You good? Anybody know what Armageddon means? 64 00:05:38,580 --> 00:05:45,180 We use that word all the time, right? That's a common church word. Alright, I'll 65 00:05:45,180 --> 00:05:47,900 write it out for you. 66 00:05:47,900 --> 00:05:59,620 See, I knew if I did this y'all would immediately get the answer. So the place 67 00:05:59,620 --> 00:06:04,420 in Hebrew is called Armageddon, which is actually just two Hebrew words mixed 68 00:06:04,420 --> 00:06:09,580 together. You have har right here, that says har, which means mountain. So now you 69 00:06:09,580 --> 00:06:16,420 know a Hebrew word, har means mountain, and this word is mageddo, right? So this 70 00:06:16,420 --> 00:06:25,300 is actually a place, mageddo, or magiddo, some people will say, or 71 00:06:25,300 --> 00:06:30,100 megeddo, different ways to say this, but it's a valley. It's known for being a 72 00:06:30,100 --> 00:06:35,900 valley, and so this is technically literally saying at the place which in 73 00:06:35,900 --> 00:06:41,860 Hebrew is called the mountain of mageddo, or the mountain of the valley, which is 74 00:06:41,860 --> 00:06:49,180 kind of oxymoronic in one sense, but it's the mountain of mageddo. So if you're 75 00:06:49,180 --> 00:06:53,420 looking at the different views, I don't know if you formed your opinion yet. Did 76 00:06:53,420 --> 00:06:58,100 anybody form an opinion on those verses and what they might mean? 77 00:07:01,940 --> 00:07:06,660 Very good, Michael. Yeah, I don't know that that's technically like theologian 78 00:07:06,660 --> 00:07:10,940 of the night, but maybe historian of the night. You can win that one. Actually, I've 79 00:07:10,940 --> 00:07:15,860 got that in my notes here in a second. So if you look at the historicists, almost 80 00:07:15,860 --> 00:07:19,700 all of the historicists will say that this relates to the Turkish Empire 81 00:07:19,700 --> 00:07:23,620 primarily because of the mention of the Euphrates River, right? That's where they 82 00:07:23,620 --> 00:07:27,740 get the Turkish Empire from, and the Ottoman Turks, they were in power for a 83 00:07:27,740 --> 00:07:34,940 long time, and so they say that this is a reference to the Turkish Empire losing 84 00:07:34,940 --> 00:07:39,420 their power, so basically falling out of power, which is going to allow for 85 00:07:39,420 --> 00:07:44,460 gospel conversion. So once the Turks and the Ottomans are out of power, people are 86 00:07:44,460 --> 00:07:49,180 going to be more receptive to the gospel, and you'll have many converts that way. 87 00:07:49,180 --> 00:07:53,660 And they identify this bull with the revolt and insurrection that happened 88 00:07:53,660 --> 00:07:58,180 in the Turkish Empire in the year 1820. So I told you, historicists, 89 00:07:58,180 --> 00:08:03,380 they love exact dates, and so they say, hey, this revolt happened in 1820. That's 90 00:08:03,380 --> 00:08:07,380 what this is referring to. Now, when it comes to the unclean spirits like 91 00:08:07,380 --> 00:08:12,340 frogs, they would say, some of them at least, would say that the three unclean 92 00:08:12,340 --> 00:08:18,900 spirits represent infidelity, popery, and priestcraft. Remember, everything with the 93 00:08:18,900 --> 00:08:22,900 historicists has to do with the pope in some way, shape, or form, and so they look 94 00:08:22,900 --> 00:08:27,460 for anything that can relate to the pope, and so they say that the pope has to be 95 00:08:27,460 --> 00:08:31,940 one of the three unclean spirits. Again, I sympathize with that view. Don't know 96 00:08:31,940 --> 00:08:35,820 that it's right, but I like where their heads at, and so they would say that this 97 00:08:35,820 --> 00:08:41,140 is seen in France and England because these three things began to rise with 98 00:08:41,140 --> 00:08:47,460 intensity in 1830. Others would say that it refers to paganism, the papacy, and 99 00:08:47,460 --> 00:08:53,580 Islam. So this is interesting. They will actually identify Islam as being one of 100 00:08:53,580 --> 00:09:08,660 the three unclean spirits. Anybody have a guess as to why that is? A lot of it, I 101 00:09:08,660 --> 00:09:13,380 think, has to do with the Euphrates again and being part of the Turkish Empire, 102 00:09:13,380 --> 00:09:18,820 which you have a great deal of Islamic believers in that region of the world, 103 00:09:18,820 --> 00:09:22,780 and so they see that the rise of Islam, particularly in that region of the world, 104 00:09:22,780 --> 00:09:28,460 is an example of one of the unclean spirits. Now most of them would say that 105 00:09:28,460 --> 00:09:32,540 the final battle of Armageddon is not a literal battle, but it's a spiritual 106 00:09:32,540 --> 00:09:38,540 conflict. Others say it is, and it's on international proportions. So here where 107 00:09:38,540 --> 00:09:43,180 we get to the the Preterist view. Now the Preterists, remember, they're always 108 00:09:43,180 --> 00:09:47,220 thinking about either the fall of Rome or the fall of Jerusalem. That's 109 00:09:47,220 --> 00:09:50,940 immediately where their mind goes. So they see this, and they say that this 110 00:09:50,940 --> 00:09:56,140 has to be a reference to the imminent fall of Rome. So basically when the Bible 111 00:09:56,140 --> 00:10:00,860 says here that the Euphrates is going to be dried up, they said that that is a 112 00:10:00,860 --> 00:10:07,340 reference to say Rome is about to fall. And what's interesting about this is 113 00:10:07,340 --> 00:10:14,580 that this is exactly how Cyrus the Great, the Persian, he conquered ancient 114 00:10:14,580 --> 00:10:18,340 Babylon. Right? So here was what was interesting about that. The way Cyrus 115 00:10:18,340 --> 00:10:25,020 conquered Babylon is he diverted the water flow of the Euphrates, and once it 116 00:10:25,020 --> 00:10:29,220 was dried up it allowed his troops to march under the walls of Babylon 117 00:10:29,220 --> 00:10:34,260 because the river flowed under the walls. So the river dries up to do what? To make 118 00:10:34,260 --> 00:10:40,020 way for the kings coming in, and they go under the wall, and that's exactly how 119 00:10:40,020 --> 00:10:44,780 Babylon fell. So the Preterists sees this, and they see that reference to the 120 00:10:44,780 --> 00:10:48,620 drying of the Euphrates, and they say, well that's a common phrase at the 121 00:10:48,620 --> 00:10:51,740 time, and it became a common phrase at the time. Right? So if you were to say 122 00:10:51,740 --> 00:10:57,020 that the Euphrates was drying around Rome, it was a way of saying Rome's 123 00:10:57,020 --> 00:11:01,820 about to fall. We have sayings like this today. If you were to say, 124 00:11:01,820 --> 00:11:06,540 Greg Berryhill's here, so that's perfect. If you were to say that Greg Berryhill's 125 00:11:06,540 --> 00:11:12,860 house was like Fort Knox, what am I communicating to you? He's got a lot of 126 00:11:12,860 --> 00:11:17,420 guns, and that place is locked up. You might try to break into other places, 127 00:11:17,420 --> 00:11:20,580 you're not getting into Greg Berryhill's house. So we use a phrase like 128 00:11:20,580 --> 00:11:25,340 that place is like Fort Knox to communicate a place's safety and ability 129 00:11:25,340 --> 00:11:30,420 to withstand invasion. They use the phrase the drying of Euphrates to 130 00:11:30,420 --> 00:11:35,660 symbolize and signify some nation's imminent fall. And so what they do is 131 00:11:35,660 --> 00:11:40,060 they look at this, and they would say the Euphrates is drying around Rome, which 132 00:11:40,060 --> 00:11:44,700 means Rome is about to fall. And so they would say just like ancient Babylon 133 00:11:44,700 --> 00:11:49,460 fell, the new Babylon, which they viewed as Rome, was getting ready to fall as 134 00:11:49,460 --> 00:11:52,940 well. So you can understand, like even if you don't agree, do you see where they're 135 00:11:52,940 --> 00:11:57,460 coming from? They're still seeking to be true to scripture and make sense of it. 136 00:11:57,460 --> 00:12:01,580 When they see the reference to the frogs, they see that as an illusion to the 137 00:12:01,580 --> 00:12:07,540 plagues of Egypt. And so what they would say is just as Egypt, literal physical 138 00:12:07,540 --> 00:12:13,100 Egypt, had literal frogs as part of their plagues, they would say that symbolic 139 00:12:13,100 --> 00:12:16,940 Egypt, which they viewed as Rome, they were symbolically Egypt, they were going 140 00:12:16,940 --> 00:12:22,860 to have symbolic frogs or spiritual frogs. So since Rome was like a spiritual 141 00:12:22,860 --> 00:12:28,780 Egypt, they were going to have spiritual frogs cast upon them. When they look at 142 00:12:28,780 --> 00:12:32,860 the Battle of Armageddon, they see that as referring to the mountain in the field 143 00:12:32,860 --> 00:12:36,580 of Megiddo, which we talked about earlier. Remember Armageddon just means 144 00:12:36,580 --> 00:12:41,700 mountain of Megiddo. And if you remember, that's actually where Jezebel and her 145 00:12:41,700 --> 00:12:45,940 prophets were defeated. That's where the Canaanites were defeated, and that's where 146 00:12:45,940 --> 00:12:50,820 King Josiah was killed. And so they see that as being significant. This is a 147 00:12:50,820 --> 00:12:56,300 place where defeat is happening. This is a place of slaughter. And so 148 00:12:56,300 --> 00:13:00,380 Preterus would see Armageddon as being a place of slaughter, whether that's 149 00:13:00,380 --> 00:13:04,980 literal or not. It was a way of referring to a place's demise. And so they 150 00:13:04,980 --> 00:13:08,420 believed that it's either going to be Jerusalem or it's going to be Rome, but 151 00:13:08,420 --> 00:13:12,420 one of these places is about to come down because the river Euphrates is 152 00:13:12,420 --> 00:13:16,660 drying around it. Then you get to the Futurists. This is the view you're 153 00:13:16,660 --> 00:13:20,580 probably most familiar with. Most people in church are probably most familiar 154 00:13:20,580 --> 00:13:25,220 with the Futurist view. So the Futurists, they see the drying of the 155 00:13:25,220 --> 00:13:31,220 Euphrates and the kings of the east as referring to very specific nations. So 156 00:13:31,220 --> 00:13:36,740 they would believe it refers to places like China, Japan, North Korea, Mongolia, 157 00:13:36,740 --> 00:13:42,940 and India. These great nations of the east. And they see this text as saying 158 00:13:42,940 --> 00:13:47,740 that these nations are going to rise to great power in the world. That these 159 00:13:47,740 --> 00:13:50,980 nations are going to be the ones that are ultimately responsible for the one 160 00:13:50,980 --> 00:13:55,220 world government that so many people talk about. And that these nations are 161 00:13:55,220 --> 00:13:59,780 going to basically be governing the world at some point in the future because 162 00:13:59,780 --> 00:14:04,900 they are the nations that have the kings from the east. They believe, of course, 163 00:14:04,900 --> 00:14:10,260 that Armageddon refers to the Mount of Slaughter. And they actually locate this 164 00:14:10,260 --> 00:14:14,580 in a very specific place. It's a place that's a mountain that overlooks the 165 00:14:14,580 --> 00:14:19,660 valley of Estralon and a great plane in the northern part of Palestine, which 166 00:14:19,660 --> 00:14:25,420 Michael, great reference tonight, Napoleon himself even said that this would 167 00:14:25,420 --> 00:14:30,020 make an ideal battleground for the armies of the world. So futurists locate 168 00:14:30,020 --> 00:14:34,540 this in a very specific place. And this is the exact place that Napoleon himself 169 00:14:34,540 --> 00:14:39,820 said the greatest battle that ever occurred could occur here with all the 170 00:14:39,820 --> 00:14:45,460 armies of the world. Fun fact though, and this isn't in the notes, this one's for 171 00:14:45,460 --> 00:14:50,740 free. This particular valley where people like to locate this, if it's actually 172 00:14:50,740 --> 00:14:55,540 talking about Megiddo, which Armageddon does refer to, the mountain of Megiddo, 173 00:14:55,540 --> 00:14:59,420 there's not actually a mountain in Megiddo. So in this particular valley, 174 00:14:59,420 --> 00:15:04,140 there is no mountain, which probably means there's some theological significance 175 00:15:04,140 --> 00:15:07,780 to a mountain being in a place where there is no mountain and what's happening 176 00:15:07,780 --> 00:15:14,180 there, but that's for another day. The idealist, he views this bull as being 177 00:15:14,180 --> 00:15:18,660 like the others in the sense that it describes events that are going to be 178 00:15:18,660 --> 00:15:26,140 recurring throughout history, but will just reach their climax prior to Jesus' 179 00:15:26,140 --> 00:15:30,700 return. They also generally agree that the preterist, well with the preterist that 180 00:15:30,700 --> 00:15:34,380 the dry end of the Euphrates is an illusion to the fall of Babylon and is 181 00:15:34,380 --> 00:15:39,180 meant to depict the imminent fall of Satan's kingdom. So rather than seeing 182 00:15:39,180 --> 00:15:44,220 this as predicting the fall of Rome, rather than seeing this as predicting the 183 00:15:44,220 --> 00:15:48,960 fall of Jerusalem, the idealist is going to look at this and say, yeah, Babylon 184 00:15:48,960 --> 00:15:53,580 fell in this way and just as Babylon fell in this way, the Bible is saying here 185 00:15:53,580 --> 00:15:57,820 that God is going to do that to Satan's kingdom, that God is saying the river 186 00:15:57,820 --> 00:16:02,820 Euphrates is drying around Satan's kingdom because Jesus is going to return 187 00:16:02,820 --> 00:16:09,580 and he's about to bring it down. It's got an imminent fall that is coming. About 188 00:16:09,580 --> 00:16:14,180 the unclean spirits like frogs, they believe that this refers to God releasing 189 00:16:14,180 --> 00:16:18,020 demonic spirits into the world. So pay attention, God is sending the demonic 190 00:16:18,020 --> 00:16:22,980 spirits into the world to gather the kings of the world into the battle in 191 00:16:22,980 --> 00:16:27,740 which they are to die. Now, here's what's interesting about that. You might be 192 00:16:27,740 --> 00:16:31,340 thinking, well, that is outlandish. That would never happen. There's actually a 193 00:16:31,340 --> 00:16:34,420 story in the Bible where this very thing does happen. You'll remember the story of 194 00:16:34,420 --> 00:16:41,820 Ahab. Ahab was drawn into the battle in which he died because there was lying 195 00:16:41,820 --> 00:16:46,700 spirits in the mouths of God's prophets or in the prophets of Ahab at least and 196 00:16:46,700 --> 00:16:52,740 these lying spirits told Ahab to come to battle and he died in that battle. And so 197 00:16:52,740 --> 00:16:56,940 the idealist sees this example in Scripture and they say, well, that's 198 00:16:56,940 --> 00:17:00,580 exactly what God is doing in the world now, that there are demons in the world 199 00:17:00,580 --> 00:17:04,940 now. God is still sovereign over the demons and so he is allowing the demons 200 00:17:04,940 --> 00:17:11,020 sending them into the world to draw those who are against God into their final 201 00:17:11,020 --> 00:17:14,460 defeat. No matter what that is, you know, it could look differently for different 202 00:17:14,460 --> 00:17:18,020 people. It could be all sorts of different circumstances, but they're 203 00:17:18,020 --> 00:17:23,340 saying that God is the one who is putting this spirit out there to draw 204 00:17:23,340 --> 00:17:29,100 people who were already in rebellion against God to their final defeat and 205 00:17:29,100 --> 00:17:34,820 so they won't be able to stand in the end. Now, again, the idealist would point out 206 00:17:34,820 --> 00:17:39,300 that Armageddon is symbolic because there is no mountain upon the plane 207 00:17:39,300 --> 00:17:43,740 that bears that name and so they would conclude that the name is symbolic and 208 00:17:43,740 --> 00:17:49,260 used for effect. So rather than suggesting a place of slaughter, it's 209 00:17:49,260 --> 00:17:52,540 suggesting a place of slaughter rather than a precise location. So when you're 210 00:17:52,540 --> 00:17:56,340 thinking about Armageddon, it's using it for the effect that that word has. 211 00:17:56,340 --> 00:18:00,580 Armageddon, it refers to a place of slaughter just as we talked about with 212 00:18:00,580 --> 00:18:04,860 Josiah and others, the Canaanites, Jezebel and her prophets all dying there. 213 00:18:04,860 --> 00:18:08,980 It's saying that this is a place of slaughter and it's not meant to actually 214 00:18:08,980 --> 00:18:14,060 give us a precise location. Do you see the difference here? So the word is used 215 00:18:14,060 --> 00:18:19,540 for an effect, not a geographical location. Many idealists would say that 216 00:18:19,540 --> 00:18:25,300 Armageddon refers to all times an occurrences in which the Lord miraculously 217 00:18:25,300 --> 00:18:30,900 and suddenly reveals his power to rescue his people and defeat an enemy, but 218 00:18:30,900 --> 00:18:34,060 here's where they would say, right? So they believe that this occurs throughout 219 00:18:34,060 --> 00:18:38,860 history, that anytime the Lord intervenes in a miraculous way to deliver 220 00:18:38,860 --> 00:18:44,100 his people or defeat an enemy, that is a precursor to the final Armageddon. They 221 00:18:44,100 --> 00:18:49,420 would say it's a picture of Armageddon that is to come, but they look ahead to 222 00:18:49,420 --> 00:18:54,740 that final time, that final day, the final Armageddon. When Jesus is going to 223 00:18:54,740 --> 00:18:58,180 return, the Bible says he's going to defeat the man of lawlessness. He's going 224 00:18:58,180 --> 00:19:02,060 to overthrow Satan and the beast and the false prophet. He's going to bring 225 00:19:02,060 --> 00:19:06,740 Satan's kingdom to nothing. He's going to throw him in the bottomless pit and 226 00:19:06,740 --> 00:19:10,740 that's going to be the final Armageddon. There will be no more after that, 227 00:19:10,740 --> 00:19:15,660 because after that we have peace. There's no more rebellion. There's no more sin 228 00:19:15,660 --> 00:19:20,300 because Jesus returns and he makes all things right. And so what they're 229 00:19:20,300 --> 00:19:24,140 saying is we're getting glimpses of Armageddon throughout history and it's 230 00:19:24,140 --> 00:19:31,220 anticipating the final Armageddon. Do we see that? Everybody, yeah? Good? Good? 231 00:19:31,220 --> 00:19:37,060 Okay. All right. What do we have for questions? And then we go back real 232 00:19:37,060 --> 00:19:40,940 quick. I think we skipped the fifth bowl because that was your homework. So we'll 233 00:19:40,940 --> 00:19:43,900 just go over that real quick. Any questions about this so far? I just 234 00:19:43,900 --> 00:19:48,500 wanted to do one bowl tonight because I know that the Armageddon bowl, there's a 235 00:19:48,500 --> 00:19:55,220 lot of discussion on it. Many people think it's a future nuclear war that's 236 00:19:55,220 --> 00:19:58,660 going to happen. Many people think it's the nations of the east rising up. Many 237 00:19:58,660 --> 00:20:02,820 people think it's already happened. Many people think it's still to happen. A lot 238 00:20:02,820 --> 00:20:07,020 of different views, but I think you can see basically what the Bible is saying 239 00:20:07,020 --> 00:20:11,620 here is that no matter which view you fall into, no matter what camp you fall 240 00:20:11,620 --> 00:20:16,460 into, ultimately there is coming a day of the final Armageddon when Jesus is 241 00:20:16,460 --> 00:20:19,820 going to have the victory and that's the point. Jesus is returning, which is why 242 00:20:19,820 --> 00:20:23,860 he throws that parentheses in there. Behold, I'm coming soon like a thief and 243 00:20:23,860 --> 00:20:28,620 blessed is the one who is taking refuge in him. So he's saying all of that 244 00:20:28,620 --> 00:20:33,100 is a reminder that no matter which camp you fall into, at the end of the day, as 245 00:20:33,100 --> 00:20:37,980 Michael said last week, at the end of the day, Jesus is coming back and he's 246 00:20:37,980 --> 00:20:41,540 going to have the victory and that's our hope. It's not in did this happen to Rome, 247 00:20:41,540 --> 00:20:45,180 is this Jerusalem, is it some nuclear war? The whole point is it doesn't matter. 248 00:20:45,180 --> 00:20:48,820 Jesus is going to win. Be satisfied with that. Can we be satisfied with that? 249 00:20:48,820 --> 00:20:52,620 So let people have their different views and just hoping the fact that 250 00:20:52,620 --> 00:20:56,500 Jesus is going to have the victory. Anybody have any questions before we 251 00:20:56,500 --> 00:21:05,100 just do a quick quick quick quick summary of Bowl Five? No questions? 252 00:21:07,660 --> 00:21:13,820 Because that's what God's wrath has been poured into or filled into. And you see a 253 00:21:13,820 --> 00:21:18,460 little bit of that in Revelation 14 where it talks about God's wrath has been 254 00:21:18,460 --> 00:21:23,140 filling up and there ultimately his wrath is filled up into these bowls that are 255 00:21:23,140 --> 00:21:29,180 poured out onto different parts of the earth. Good question. Anybody else have 256 00:21:29,180 --> 00:21:32,380 any other questions? Did I hear another one? 257 00:21:32,380 --> 00:21:47,940 Yeah. 258 00:21:54,340 --> 00:22:02,220 Yeah. Oh, I agree 100%. So I think actually Gabriel was still there in Persia. 259 00:22:02,220 --> 00:22:06,540 It was another angel who came to Daniel. But yeah, he was saying, Hey, Gabriel is 260 00:22:06,540 --> 00:22:11,740 fighting against the prince of Persia, the basically the demon who is influencing 261 00:22:11,740 --> 00:22:18,460 the kingdom of Persia. And also what's interesting in that is even after they 262 00:22:18,460 --> 00:22:23,220 were under demonic control, God is still going to use Persia to defeat Babylon, to 263 00:22:23,220 --> 00:22:28,380 bring his people who ultimately would be released by Persia. So that's another 264 00:22:28,380 --> 00:22:32,980 example of God working all things for the good of his people and God's 265 00:22:32,980 --> 00:22:48,140 sovereignty over even situations like that. Yeah, immediately. Yeah. See, I think 266 00:22:48,140 --> 00:22:50,860 that's interesting because I know we mentioned this earlier in the book of 267 00:22:50,860 --> 00:22:56,940 Revelation. But people today just think in terms of the physical and not the 268 00:22:56,940 --> 00:23:06,180 spiritual, but 100% 100% there are still demonic influences in places of 269 00:23:06,180 --> 00:23:09,500 government. I know that's not hard for you to believe, right? I would imagine so. 270 00:23:09,500 --> 00:23:13,540 Right? Everybody been paying attention to politics lately. Like it's not hard to 271 00:23:13,540 --> 00:23:19,260 see how demonic politics is getting, but world governments and even the way 272 00:23:19,260 --> 00:23:25,140 nations are being led by people in power. There's a clear demonic influence and 273 00:23:25,140 --> 00:23:31,100 we're to be aware of that. And again, I love this country, but it's clear to me 274 00:23:31,100 --> 00:23:35,940 that there is heavy demonic influence in this country. You see the things that 275 00:23:35,940 --> 00:23:39,100 this country is promoting. You see the things that this country is condemning. 276 00:23:39,100 --> 00:23:42,980 And it's completely backwards to the Bible. Everything that God hates and 277 00:23:42,980 --> 00:23:47,380 despises our country is saying, yeah, we love those things. And how could you not 278 00:23:47,380 --> 00:23:52,460 love these things? And everything God loves, our nation is trying to tear apart. 279 00:23:52,460 --> 00:23:58,500 Like primarily the family or the church. Our world wants to tear the family apart. 280 00:23:58,500 --> 00:24:01,580 They want to encourage people. You don't have to get married. You don't need to 281 00:24:01,580 --> 00:24:05,540 shackle yourself down like that. You don't need to have kids. They're literally 282 00:24:05,540 --> 00:24:08,580 telling you don't need to have kids. Just focus on you. Do what you want. You 283 00:24:08,580 --> 00:24:12,500 don't need to, you know, bring forth children into this world. It's all about 284 00:24:12,500 --> 00:24:17,060 you. And so they hate the family. They hate children. They hate parents. They 285 00:24:17,060 --> 00:24:22,620 love the free sex movement and indulging in that and satisfying every single 286 00:24:22,620 --> 00:24:25,940 desire you have. And at the end of the day, I'm like, we're just, it's Romans one. 287 00:24:25,940 --> 00:24:30,780 It's Romans one reads like a newspaper today. Does it not? You look at Romans one 288 00:24:30,780 --> 00:24:34,260 and you're like, oh my goodness, this is happening all around us. And what's 289 00:24:34,260 --> 00:24:40,900 really telling is the very last part of Romans one. Paul says it's not enough for 290 00:24:40,900 --> 00:24:46,140 people to have sin in the world. They want to promote it. That they want you to 291 00:24:46,140 --> 00:24:50,500 be on their side and promote that sin in the world. And so absolutely, there is 292 00:24:50,500 --> 00:24:54,940 clear demonic influence in America today. There's clear demonic influence in 293 00:24:54,940 --> 00:24:59,780 American politics today that's invading the school system today. I mean, you just 294 00:24:59,780 --> 00:25:04,820 look at the, look at the shootings that have taken place and you can't tell me 295 00:25:04,820 --> 00:25:08,460 there's not demonic influence. And we talked about this, I think last week, 296 00:25:08,460 --> 00:25:12,980 right after the school shooting in Georgia is that this isn't a gun control 297 00:25:12,980 --> 00:25:16,940 issue. This is a spiritual issue. This is the way children are being brought up 298 00:25:16,940 --> 00:25:20,340 today and what they're exposed to and the demonic influences that are present 299 00:25:20,340 --> 00:25:26,820 in their lives in every single school shooting or mass shooting since 2020 has 300 00:25:26,820 --> 00:25:30,860 been carried out by a person who's transgender. Every single one. If you 301 00:25:30,860 --> 00:25:35,140 look since 2020, every school shooting or mass shooting in America has been 302 00:25:35,140 --> 00:25:39,060 carried out by someone who identifies as transgender. Now that tells me again, 303 00:25:39,060 --> 00:25:44,700 this isn't a gun control issue. This is a demonic issue. This is Satan blinding 304 00:25:44,700 --> 00:25:51,300 the minds of unbelievers. This is Satan blinding us to what's all around us. It's 305 00:25:51,300 --> 00:25:56,140 Satan corrupting minds and distorting minds and twisting minds to the point 306 00:25:56,140 --> 00:25:59,580 where children feel like their only option and the one that makes sense to 307 00:25:59,580 --> 00:26:03,540 them is to go and shoot up a school or a church or a movie theater. And that's the 308 00:26:03,540 --> 00:26:07,340 world we're living in today. And then people deny that there's anything more 309 00:26:07,340 --> 00:26:11,420 than the physical. And I don't understand how you can come away with that 310 00:26:11,420 --> 00:26:14,660 conclusion. You look at what's going on in the world today and you have to 311 00:26:14,660 --> 00:26:19,540 understand, you have to see it is so evident that there are demonic influences 312 00:26:19,540 --> 00:26:23,460 all throughout this world. So anybody else have anything they want to add on 313 00:26:23,460 --> 00:26:29,060 that? Yes, nations are being run by demons. That's the conclusion there. You can 314 00:26:29,060 --> 00:26:32,700 quote me on that one. I'm okay with it. All right, real quick. Let's just go over 315 00:26:32,700 --> 00:26:37,380 this. The fifth ball it's poured out on the throne of the beast. That's your key 316 00:26:37,380 --> 00:26:42,500 phrase there. And we said it's plunged into darkness. And ultimately all of it 317 00:26:42,500 --> 00:26:46,580 leads to the fact that they did not repent of their deeds. So that's kind of 318 00:26:46,580 --> 00:26:51,780 the takeaway conclusion is that no matter what happened to them, they didn't 319 00:26:51,780 --> 00:26:55,340 repent of their deeds. So what did you think the historicists would say about 320 00:26:55,340 --> 00:27:02,100 this? Quick two or three word summary. What are they gonna say? What would they 321 00:27:02,100 --> 00:27:05,260 say the throne of the beast is? 322 00:27:07,180 --> 00:27:12,940 Was that you Steve? What did you say? That's right. It's the Pope brother. Of 323 00:27:12,940 --> 00:27:17,820 course it is. The historicists, everything is about the Pope. And so they see the 324 00:27:17,820 --> 00:27:23,700 throne of the beast is referring to Rome or the papacy. And that's generally what 325 00:27:23,700 --> 00:27:26,300 they think although they throw some stuff in there about the French 326 00:27:26,300 --> 00:27:30,140 Revolution. All right, what about the Preterist? It's all about the Pope and 327 00:27:30,140 --> 00:27:32,940 the French Revolution every time. What would the Preterists say about the 328 00:27:32,940 --> 00:27:37,860 throne of the beast and the darkness? What were you thinking? Where do they 329 00:27:37,860 --> 00:27:41,340 always go to? What's their go to? 330 00:27:42,100 --> 00:27:48,780 Preterist past. So where are they thinking? Fall of Rome. That's right. Yeah. So 331 00:27:48,780 --> 00:27:54,060 they would say the throne of the beast is Rome the city not like Rome the 332 00:27:54,060 --> 00:27:59,780 papacy. And they think it really refers to Nero's suicide which led to the 333 00:27:59,780 --> 00:28:04,740 collapse of Rome and darkness in Rome. And so they see that this is a clear 334 00:28:04,740 --> 00:28:10,100 reference to Rome's power being diminished because of Nero's suicide. 335 00:28:10,100 --> 00:28:14,660 All right, what do you have for the futurist? So Preterist is past, futurist is 336 00:28:14,660 --> 00:28:19,900 obviously some point of the future. What do they think the throne of the beast is? 337 00:28:19,900 --> 00:28:32,580 Yeah, pretty much. The Antichrist's throne, Satan, they see it as the kingdom of Satan 338 00:28:32,580 --> 00:28:37,700 in the world and that the world is going to experience Satan's kingdom, the 339 00:28:37,700 --> 00:28:41,020 injustice, the blindness, madness, defiance, all that kind of stuff. And 340 00:28:41,020 --> 00:28:44,820 they're going to continue to experience that because people do not repent of 341 00:28:44,820 --> 00:28:48,980 their sins and so naturally they're going to experience the fall of that. So 342 00:28:48,980 --> 00:28:52,580 finally what would the idealists say about this? What would be the throne of 343 00:28:52,580 --> 00:28:56,900 the beast and darkness and stuff like that? 344 00:29:03,060 --> 00:29:06,980 No, you're thinking futurist but yeah, they would, I think they'd agree with you 345 00:29:06,980 --> 00:29:13,100 there. They'd like to identify nations by name. So idealists though, they would 346 00:29:13,100 --> 00:29:18,220 say that the first four bowls, they relate to realms of nature and what's 347 00:29:18,220 --> 00:29:22,620 interesting is the last three bowls relate to political type, the sphere of 348 00:29:22,620 --> 00:29:27,740 politics and political power. And so since they see the events of revelation as 349 00:29:27,740 --> 00:29:32,060 being cyclical, they note that there is a partial fulfillment found in the fall 350 00:29:32,060 --> 00:29:36,980 of Rome. So yeah, that was a great demonic kingdom that God brought to 351 00:29:36,980 --> 00:29:41,460 nothing. So that was a fulfillment but it's not the fulfillment. Basically what 352 00:29:41,460 --> 00:29:47,220 they're saying is that what happened to Rome is eventually going to happen to 353 00:29:47,220 --> 00:29:53,220 all nations who oppose Christ. So Rome was a snippet of what was to come. What 354 00:29:53,220 --> 00:29:56,460 happened to Rome is going to happen to every nation that opposes Christ and 355 00:29:56,460 --> 00:30:00,900 ultimately it's going to happen to Satan's kingdom. Christ is going to bring 356 00:30:00,900 --> 00:30:05,540 it to nothing. So the throne of the beast would literally just refer to Satan 357 00:30:05,540 --> 00:30:10,540 and his kingdom and saying that Jesus is going to bring it to nothing in the 358 00:30:10,540 --> 00:30:16,460 world. Alright, we got through six bowls. Next week we are not going to be talking 359 00:30:16,460 --> 00:30:25,100 about the bowls because this Sunday the sermon is Matthew 16. Most people would 360 00:30:25,100 --> 00:30:30,980 preach verses 13 through 20 but I couldn't get through that. So I'm only 361 00:30:30,980 --> 00:30:36,420 preaching verses 13 through 17. This is Peter's confession where he proclaims 362 00:30:36,420 --> 00:30:40,940 that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God. So we're going to get through 363 00:30:40,940 --> 00:30:46,220 that much on Sunday. But then there's the fun section after if you read in your 364 00:30:46,220 --> 00:30:52,220 Bibles the rest of that paragraph where Jesus talks about he renames Peter. So 365 00:30:52,220 --> 00:30:56,420 he says you know you're Simon but now you're Peter and upon this rock I will 366 00:30:56,420 --> 00:31:00,300 build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. And he talks 367 00:31:00,300 --> 00:31:03,820 about giving them the keys of the kingdom whatever you bind on earth we 368 00:31:03,820 --> 00:31:07,300 bound in heaven whatever you loose on earth we loosed in heaven. So we're not 369 00:31:07,300 --> 00:31:10,020 getting to any of that this Sunday. We're going to cover that on Wednesday 370 00:31:10,020 --> 00:31:15,140 because that is one of the key passages if not the key passage where Roman 371 00:31:15,140 --> 00:31:21,140 Catholics say this is Jesus instituting the first pope that he is saying Peter 372 00:31:21,140 --> 00:31:26,500 is the rock and upon Peter he is going to build his church and he's giving Peter 373 00:31:26,500 --> 00:31:31,300 the keys of the kingdom and he's given him all this papal power and so he is 374 00:31:31,300 --> 00:31:36,540 making Peter the first pope and that's going to be continued as Peter dies and 375 00:31:36,540 --> 00:31:40,420 names a successor and all that kind of stuff. And so the question we want to 376 00:31:40,420 --> 00:31:45,180 consider next Wednesday together is is that what Jesus is doing here? Is he 377 00:31:45,180 --> 00:31:50,420 instituting the papacy? Is he making Peter the first pope? If not what on earth 378 00:31:50,420 --> 00:31:57,100 does he mean by upon this rock I will build my church? So that's what I want 379 00:31:57,100 --> 00:32:00,820 you to think about. In preparation for next Wednesday go read that passage in 380 00:32:00,820 --> 00:32:06,580 Matthew 16 and be asking yourself if it's not Peter what is the rock upon 381 00:32:06,580 --> 00:32:14,460 which Jesus builds his church? You'll find it in Matthew 16. Alright Michael 382 00:32:14,460 --> 00:32:38,820 Stevenson? If you start being so wise I'll...