Hey friend, welcome back to the Semi -Seminarian.
Here we are, another week, another episode of
our Bible study. We're calling the Bible for
Grownups. This week we conclude our series. We're
calling the end, I guess you might say this is
the end of the end. We conclude this series by
taking a look at the book of Revelation. As I
approached this subject this last week and really
thinking and studying about it, one of the things
I think is just so important when we get a basic
understanding of the Bible is to have a basic
understanding of this book of Revelation. There
are so many particulars of the... that is contained
within Revelation and so open to interpretation
that it's just not possible in this medium to
truly delve into every particular, but rather,
as we want to do in the Christian tradition,
we look at this book and hope that we can find
Jesus and the gospel message of Jesus, the good
news of Jesus. contained within that message.
It's what I hope to do by trying to highlight
who is Jesus throughout the book of Revelation.
I hope that you will enjoy this episode. We'll
see you on the other side. I wasn't really trying
to talk about this kind of stuff in relation
to Halloween and stuff like that. But you have
to admit, some of the stuff in Revelation can
be kind of spooky. Sometimes it can be scary.
But you know what? Whether you think that or
not, let me just ask you this. How many of us
would say the book of Revelation is intriguing
but confusing, exciting but sometimes scary?
Right? Right. everybody will say, man, why would
you preach out of Revelation? Because it has
all of that weird stuff in there. There's dragons
and there's beasts. There's multiple heads. There's
this number 666. There's all sorts of numbers
and symbols throughout the Revelation. You could
read about 12 stars and 10 horns and 7 heads
and 6 wings and 4 bowls of incense and 2 olive
trees and a partridge and a pear tree all in
this one book. A lot of different stuff. A partridge
in a pear tree. I don't even get a chuckle. I
don't even get a groan. Thank you. And the challenge
is so many people, the truth is, myself included.
But when we think about it, when we read the
book, when we try to read it, sometimes we can
get creeped out. Problem is, one of the reasons
why I think that we... will often have people
get creeped out whenever they think about the
Revelation is because they don't know how to
read it. They don't actually know what is the
book even talking about? Why is it even being
said? Right? We're going to answer these questions
tonight, and I hope that as you read it and begin
to understand it, that you actually experience
something that's actually said, In the book,
the very beginning of Revelation 1 says that
you are blessed if you read it and you're blessed
if you hear it. I know it might sometimes be
confusing. All of the symbology can seem weird.
But the reason for the revelation is to build
your faith. God gives us the revelation of Jesus
Christ. That's verse 1, chapter 1. I just said
that, right? The revelation of Jesus Christ.
And God is showing us what is to come at the
end of time. And if you're a follower of Jesus
Christ, and again, I am teaching this tonight
from the mainline Protestant Christian perspective
here. Again, these images, these images that
come to us from Hebrew tradition, Things that
are borrowed from the Hebrew scripture or what
we might call the Old Testament, they might have
different interpretation through the lens of
the Jewish faith. And I do not mean to deny that
interpretation. That's just not the purpose of
my teaching tonight. My teaching is, my purpose
is to teach this from the Christian tradition.
Right? Through the Christian context. So please
keep that in mind. Maybe not you, but maybe if
you're listening on the podcast, maybe you might
hear something and think, well, I didn't know
that that's how Jewish people interpreted this
imagery or that imagery. And that might not be
the case in the Jewish tradition. I'm making
a Christian argument, okay? So let me begin with
a little bit of backstory about the Revelation
and then break it down in a way that I hope that
we can embrace it and understand it. So the book
is written by John. who was the last living of
the 12 original disciples of Jesus. Now, what's
very interesting is if you know about what happened
to the apostles, the disciples who then become
the apostles, what actually happens to them after
the resurrection. Because they actually all experience
persecution. Each one of them willing to die
for their faith. And okay, Judas kills himself.
John dies, but he had been exiled. He's the only
one that dies of an old age, but he's been exiled
to Patmos. I've got another story from early
Christian tradition tonight that I would tell
you about John that might allow you to put him
in this martyr category. if you believe this
tradition I'm going to tell you about in a minute.
Ten of the original disciples were willing to
die rather than renounce the fact that they saw
Jesus die and they saw Jesus alive. And to me,
that's just remarkable. Put yourself in their
shoes. I mean, I look at my own life and think,
man, I am a nobody. I'm just a fisherman. I'm
nobody. Who am I against the Roman Empire? And
you know what? If I just admit to them, yeah,
we made it up, Jesus really died, right? But
I believe in my heart still that I saw Jesus
resurrected, then what difference does it make
if I tell the Romans what they want to hear?
I don't want to be killed for it. These ten dudes...
were so convicted by the fact that they did see
Jesus alive, they weren't willing to fake anything.
Ten of them died the death of a martyr rather
than just admitting when we said that we saw
Jesus alive after his death, we lied. Right?
And they just weren't willing to do that. Well,
there's one guy left. His name is John. And this
is about 62 or so years after the resurrection
of Jesus, about the year 95 AD. So we're going
to get to 100 and it's going to become the next
century. First century, second century. 95, right
at the end of the first century. John is living
in Ephesus, right here, Ephesus. And there was
an emperor by the name of Domitian who says,
I want you all to worship me as God. And John,
like his buddies, said, no, I've actually seen
the Lord and you ain't it. I'm not going to worship
you. John is considered to have been exiled to
Patmos during a time of persecution, a wider
persecution of Christians by this Roman ruler
here, Domitian. Revelation 1 and 9 says, I, John,
both your brother and companion in tribulation,
was on the island that is called Patmos for the
word of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ.
I was put on the island in exile because of my
preaching the word of God and the testimony of
Jesus Christ. That's how we know that's how he
got there. A biblical scholar from Yale Divinity,
Adela Yarborough Collins, she writes these words.
Early tradition says that John was banished to
Patmos by the Roman authorities, and this tradition
is credible because banishment was a common punishment
used during the imperial times for a number of
offenses, and among those were the practices
of magic or astrology and prophecy. John was
prophesying about the return of Jesus. The Roman
Empire saw that. Look, he had a sizable following
by 95. How do we know? Because he writes his
gospel account of Jesus Christ, and he was so
important about probably 80, 85, 80, and he was
important enough at that time that his memoir
gets saved and passed around. That's how we know
that guy was important and had a sizable following.
He had to have people who had to make copies
of these writings and then distribute them. When
you think about that kind of stuff, it's like,
oh, okay, I can see how. Even though there was
this Roman emperor, Domitian, who has control
over your life, John still has a certain amount
of power. The emperor can't just go and cut his
head off. He's got enough size following here.
Ephesus, which is what used to be called Anatolia,
that's modern -day Turkey today. Northern part
of the Middle East, where Europe ends and the
Middle East begins, or vice versa. Right here
in modern -day Turkey. He had enough size following,
he couldn't just kill him, because it would have
caused an uprising within the province. So you
can't kill him, you put him in jail, essentially.
Right. So they banish him to the Isle of Patmos.
Right. Now, there was a Christian community here
in Ephesus. John, that's why John's here, because
of the Christians that live here. It's also Christian
tradition that you guys remember that it's John
that Jesus from the cross entrusts his mother
Mary to John. Right. You guys know that Christian
tradition says that they moved to. Ephesus. And
there was an early church there. This church
actually was started before Paul. So when Paul
shows up in the 18th chapter of the Acts of the
Apostles, there's already a burgeoning church
there in Ephesus. Right. A lot of it having to
do with the fact that this is where John had
settled. I'm making this point that John's still
kind of a powerful guy here. Right. That's why
he wasn't just right. He wasn't just killed.
And according to Christian tradition for sure,
after the assumption of Mary, the assumption
of Mary is the euphemistic way of saying when
Jesus' mother Mary died and went to heaven. Right?
That's called her assumption. It's just that's
what they call it. John was definitely in Ephesus.
Okay? So he's in this place. John the disciple.
It's very close to Patmos in these islands here,
right? Here's Patmos on this map. There's Patmos
over there in the blue on the other map. And
people like John were kicked off off of the mainland
and onto these islands. So the idea that maybe
John the apostle Is the same John who writes
and is John of Patmos? There seems to be quite
a bit of evidence that this is who we're talking
about, right? And so we have John, the apostle,
the beloved apostle, is the one who actually
gives the full revelation of Christ. Because
it's in John's vision where the fullness of God's
time is finally realized. Revelation is the conclusion
to the story. You guys in these seven churches
are under a lot of persecution. I, John, I am
writing this letter to you guys to encourage
you. And how I'm going to encourage you is I'm
going to tell you how Jesus ends up winning this
whole thing in the end. But before I do that,
seven churches. I need to tell you some things
you guys are doing good about yourself. And I
need to tell you some things you're doing bad
about yourself and fix them. Okay? That's actually
what Revelation is. It's a part of these letters
to these seven churches. Okay? Here's what's
good about you. Here's what's bad about you.
But guys, buck up. Chin up, he says. John says,
because let me tell you how the story ends. That's
what Revelation is. So what is it? It is a revelation
of the fullness of who Jesus Christ fully is.
And so how I would like to explain that is by
breaking Jesus Christ down into five visions
of Jesus Christ throughout the revelation. But
before we get that, I want to tell one cool story
about John. Remember how it's like John is like,
except for Judas, he's the only one who wasn't
martyred, but he was sent to an island. He was
probably only on the island of Patmos maybe a
year or two. No, no, no, no. Before he actually
returned to Ephesus and died. And not only that.
Guys, this is in the Aegean Sea. This is basically
the Mediterranean Ocean. How bad is being banished
to an island in the Mediterranean? Hey, John,
take a couple of years off. Right? All right.
Sounds like John's kind of like compared to his
other 10 buddies and Judas. Well, Judas is Judas.
John's getting the easy way out. But let me tell
you, there is this famous theologian, church
father, early church, second century church father,
Tertullian. Tertullian writes these stories.
Down about the early church stories that have
been transmitted orally to him as someone who'd
grown up in the church. And so at 200, he's kind
of writing a memoir about the last 200 years
through stories he had heard as Christianity
had developed over those years. Right. So that
those things, these early things in the early
church could be memorialized. The story or the
name of this work is. The Prescription of Heretics.
Crazy title, right? But he says that John was
indeed banished to the island of Patmos. And
this is the same John. But in case you think
that he's getting off easy, Tertullian says he
was only banished to Patmos after they had a
spectacle in the Colosseum. in which there was
a vat of oil brought out, and the apostle John
was dipped in the boiling oil, and rather than
boil and die, preached from the boiling oil.
And everybody in the Colosseum that saw it was
instantly converted. How about that for a story,
right? So maybe John, if you want to believe
that kind of story, maybe John did suffer. In
the way that the others. Anyway. John's exiled
to Patmos. And he's actually lived in a cave.
That you can visit today. Right. The place where
it's reported. That an angel of the Lord. Visited
John. And gives him visions. That are recorded
in the revelation. The revelation of Jesus. If
you read chapters 2 and 3. Again. In chapters
2 and 3. We're going to find that what revelation.
The revelation actually is. is a letter to these
seven churches. So, like I mentioned just a second
ago, what I'd like to do is break the book into
five specific sections, and then I want to encourage
you also, again, to not just listen to me tell
you what Revelation means and what's in it, but
read it for yourself. It'll only take about 45
minutes. Read it for yourself. Don't just take
in just, well, the pastor said blah, blah, blah.
Well, guys, the pastor says blah, blah, blah
all the time. Go make sure you figure it out
for yourself. Okay? But you can take out your
Bible app. If you've got that on your phone,
you can start it right now. But I'd like for
you to read the Revelation in the light of these
five sections. The five main themes that we're
going to cover, and I want you to look at who
Jesus is in the Revelation. By examining who
Jesus is in each of these sections. Remembering
that ultimately the revelation is a story about
Jesus. Right? And when you read the revelation
in light of who Jesus is, hopefully you're not
going to get freaked out. It's going to build
your faith. Because that was exactly why the
letter was written in the first place. To build
the faith of these early Christians in the light
of their present circumstances, which as a Christian
in 95 AD was not very good. So remember, before
it, it's about scaring you into becoming a Christian,
about trying to convince you that UPC codes are
really the mark of the beast, that whatever left
behind craziness that you might think of, When
it comes to the revelation, first and foremost,
the purpose of the revelation is to give we Christians
hope in light of a world that is falling down
around us. And that's exactly how these churches
felt during this time under Roman rule. And it's
exactly how we feel today. Right? And why is
that the case? Book of Revelation is not some
secret code. It's not some puzzle to predict
the end of the world. Rather, again, it's this
message to these churches and ultimately what
it says to them and to us today is it's an indictment
that every earthly kingdom you can think about,
even church kingdoms that are founded for the
good reasons, every earthly kingdom, right? We'll
eventually become Babylon. That's the point.
That's why Christ has to return. We cannot make
the world perfect. No matter how hard we try
in our own earthly kingdoms, we will fail. So
if we really believe that there is such a thing
as complete restoration in God, then at some
point the earthly kingdoms must fall all to God's
heavenly kingdom. Yes? That's what this discussion
is all about. So I'm going to break the whole
book down in five sections, so get ready and
listen fast. Okay? Dive in section one. This
includes chapter one through chapters three.
And I want you to, once again, read. One through
three. And as you do, think of this theme. Jesus
is the Alpha and the Omega. The theme of the
first three sections, this overarching idea,
right, in your notes there, is that Jesus is
returning soon. That's the overarching theme,
the source of hope for these Christians. Okay?
Let's look at what the Bible says. Revelation
chapter 1, verse 7. John has this vision. John
says, look, he... Jesus is coming with the clouds
and every eye will see him. This is not the first
return. This is the rapture part. This isn't
what we looked at in week one when he comes back
like as a thief. Those who are left behind don't
even know what happened. This is the second coming.
The first he comes for his church. This time
he comes with his church. Remember how we talked
about that to establish? a new heaven and a new
earth. And every eye will see Him, even those
who pierced Him. And all of the peoples of the
earth will mourn because of them. So shall it
be. Amen. And then it goes on to say, Jesus'
words, I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Lord
God who is and who was and who is to come. Almighty.
I am the Alpha and the Omega. Alpha is the first
letter in the Greek alphabet. You guys see me
bringing up Greek in these lessons all the time.
It's because the New Testament is originally
written in Greek by Greek speakers for Greek
speakers. So they use the Greek alphabet. I am
the Alpha and the Omega. And in what we would
say, I'm A to Z, right? And I'm everything in
between. I was there before the beginning of
the world. Now hear me out. He's saying two things.
Listen, I am here at the beginning of the world
and I am already in the end. Right? I am here
in the beginning of the world. Do you guys hear
how I'm using the verb tense there? Because God
is. Right? God is. Where is, what is, who is,
how is, yes, and everything you couldn't even
think of. Every data point in between, from east
to west, God is. I am already in the end. I'm
the beginning, and I'm the end. And if you want
to know, early Christians, modern day Christians,
If you want to know what's going to happen, you
don't need to worry because I've already written
the last page of the book. And if you're a Christian,
is that something we should be afraid of and
acknowledging? Of course not. I'm the Alpha and
the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning
of the end. I will show you how it ends. And
it ends with good news. Because I, Jesus, the
love of God. am there in the beginning, and I
am there in the end. John goes on in his vision,
verse 14 and 15. He describes Jesus this way.
His head and hair were white like wool, as white
as snow. His eyes were like blazing fire. His
feet were like bronze in the furnace. And his
voice was like that, like the sound of rushing
waters. He goes on to say, in his right hand,
were held seven stars. Now I'm going to just
use this very weak example as an example that
you're going to encounter all throughout the
reading of Revelation. Whenever it says Jesus
is holding seven stars, is Jesus literally holding
seven stars? No. We'll actually find that he's
referring to the angels of these seven churches.
There is tons and tons and tons and tons and
tons and tons of symbolism in Revelation. Don't
take everything in Revelation literally. There
is tons of imagery here, right? And again, John
actually explains that these aren't stars. They're
the seven angels of the seven churches of Jesus
Christ. The purpose of this book, if you were
to hear one sentence, The whole night. As a matter
of fact, you hear this sentence, if you don't
want to hear me back this up, you can go home.
The purpose of the book is to strengthen the
faith of the members of these churches and through
the power of the Holy Spirit to we today by giving
to them and us the assurance that deliverance
from evil powers is certain. And it's close at
hand. The book is written so that we Christians
may know that the ultimate defeat of evil, that
the ultimate coming of God's justice, one, is
certain, and two, is close at hand. Okay? He
says, In his hand he held seven stars, and out
of his mouth came a sharp, double -edged sword.
Again, Don't take this literally. This is not
some circus trick, right? Jesus doesn't pop off
of the, you know, the sideshow and goes, all
right, watch, ready. And I pull swords out of
his mouth. No, the double -edged sword is actually
referring to the word of God. It's symbolism,
right? A double -edged sword was a symbol to
Hebrew people of scripture, of the word of God.
So, out of his mouth comes the word of God. Right?
A theme over and over again. His face was like
the sun shining in all of its brilliance. And
it goes on to say, when I saw him, John says,
I fell at his feet though dead. Now, I think
this is interesting because remember, John is
the beloved disciple. Now, obviously Jesus loved
all of his disciples. Right? But Christian tradition
at least generally confirms that he and John
had some special relationship. That John was
considered the beloved disciple by Jesus, not
just calling himself in his own book. So John
was this friend of Jesus, a special friend of
Jesus. But what's interesting is when John sees
him, it's not like, Bro! Right? Because John's
not encountering in Revelation his bro, Jesus.
Right? He's encountering the Alpha and the Omega.
This isn't buddy -buddy. He's in the presence
of the first and the last. John falls on his
face in awe, in worship as though he was dead.
But what does Jesus do? He places his right hand
on John and said, as angelic beings have said
throughout Scripture, do not be afraid. Why is
the book of Revelation written? So that these
Christians and so that you Christians don't be
afraid. Hear that message. Why? Why should I
not be afraid? Because Jesus, your Savior, is
the first and the last. He goes on to say, I
am the living one. And here's where we'll see
the gospel message, the good news of Jesus, repeated
over and over and again through the revelation.
Jesus says, he actually says it outright. He
says, I was dead, but they couldn't keep me dead.
And I came back. And behold, I am alive forever
and ever. And I hold the keys to death and Hades.
I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the
last, the beginning and the end. I am back. And
I hold the keys of death and Hades. If you see
Jesus in the Revelation, it'll build your faith.
Section 1 shows us Jesus is the Alpha and the
Omega. He is the soon -returning King of Kings
for His church, the Bride. The second section,
chapters 4 and 5, these are two good chapters
to kind of read together, 4 and 5. And when you
read these two chapters, 4 and 5 together, ask
yourself, who is Jesus in 4 and 5? And the answer,
Jesus is the Lamb of God. 28 times in Scripture,
in Revelation, Jesus is referred to as the Lamb
of God. 28 times. What's the main theme of this
section? Jesus is the Lamb of God worthy to open
the scroll. You might ask yourself, rightly so,
what in the world does that mean? Well, read
for yourselves, chapter 4 and 5. And what you'll
see is this. That God is on the throne, and in
God's hand, he holds a giant scroll that's sealed
with seven seals. And the scroll is kind of like
the last will and testament of humankind. It's
kind of a declaration of all that is to come
and that all is to happen for the people of the
earth. And John is like, I want to see what's
on this scroll. And so an angel says, well, who's
worthy to open up this scroll? And everybody's
kind of looking around heaven. And they're kind
of freaking out because they can't find anybody.
John starts to get freaked out. He panics. John
actually starts to cry. Because they can't find
anyone who's worthy. When suddenly John looks
up and he sees a lamb. You can read about it.
It says this way in scripture. Verse 6 of chapter
5, John. Then I saw a lamb, which is Jesus, looking
as if it had been slain. Remember, Jesus was
slain for the forgiveness of our sins. Standing
in the center of the throne, encircled by the
four living creatures and elders. Let me read
on. And they sang a new song to Jesus, the Lamb
of God. You are worthy to take the scroll and
open its seals. And here again, the good news.
The gospel message in Revelation. The gospel
of Jesus being proclaimed once again. Because
you, Lamb of God Jesus, because you were slain,
and with your blood you purchased men and women
for God, From every tribe and language and people
and nation, Jesus is the Lamb of God. Now, some
of us might go, I don't get that imagery. And
you might not. I get that, right? This is one
of those things where I don't want to get into.
Jewish interpretation. I want to stick to Christian
interpretation. And the reason why is because
this would have been incredibly powerful imagery
for the people who would have read John the first
time. His original readers, they would have remembered
first what John the Baptist had said about Jesus.
Some of you might know who John the Baptist was.
And you might know what he says whenever he sees
Jesus for the first time. What's he say? Behold
the Lamb of God. Calls him the Lamb of God who
takes away the sins of the world. John's readers
here in the apocalypse would have also been very
aware of what would have been known as the Passover.
Right from Hebrew scripture. When an angel of
death would pass over all of the households and
destroy all of the households unless they took
an innocent lamb without blemish and sacrificed
the lamb and then took the blood of that lamb
and painted the doorposts. of the house on the
top and on the sides of the house and then when
their homes were covered with the blood of the
lamb the death angel would pass over the homes
and everybody in the home would be spared this
is to me amazing incredible to think about all
the way back right to the passover in the right
at the beginning of the exodus story right we
This is the very, very beginning of the whole
story of these people being freed from the Pharaoh,
finding their way to the promised land. And it's
a foreshadowing of ultimately what's to come
in the New Testament of Jesus of Nazareth, the
Lamb of God. And when John says, I saw the Lamb
of God who was worthy to open up. Sorry. To open
up the scrolls, everyone there in heaven is filled
with hope. Yes, our Jesus is worthy. He is the
Lamb of God. So who is Jesus in the Revelation?
He's the Alpha and the Omega. He is the Lamb
of God. The third section is where it gets crazy.
Chapter 6 through 18. If you're wondering, where's
this stuff that I always hear about, the mark
of the beast, Antichrist, and the 666? Read chapter
6 -18. This is where it is. If you want to freak
out a little bit right before you go to bed,
eat a piece of pepperoni pizza and read chapter
6 -18. You'll have all kinds of crazy dreams
all night long. Who is the Jesus in this section?
Jesus is the righteous judge. When you read 6
-18, remember that Jesus is the righteous judge
and the main theme, is that one of Jesus' commission
is that He is to righteously judge the earth.
Okay? Now you watch TV shows that have these
kind of prophetic voiced guys or gals, right?
With their poofy weird hair. Let me tell you
about Israel and let me tell you about the whore
of Babylon and all that kind of stuff, right?
When they're reading and doing that stuff, generally,
they are either probably referring to stuff you
would find in Daniel or in this section, Revelation
6 through 18. This is the kind of stuff that
people, this is the gory detail stuff that people
for some reason like. I have a few bonus thoughts
about this section, though. It's not in your
notes. I just want to hit these. You can jot
down if you hear something you find of interest.
If this is the kind of stuff you're interested
in. Revelation 1 and 2 shows us that the temple
of Israel will be rebuilt. We don't know how.
We don't know for sure why or how. But it's to
be built there. It's to be rebuilt. Why would
that matter, we as Christians? Rebuild the temple?
Why do we need to rebuild the temple? Why do
we not need to rebuild the temple? Where does
God tabernacle with you now? In your heart, by
way of the Holy Spirit. You become the living
tabernacle, goof. Right? We don't need to rebuild
that big Solomon thing. God's right. God, why
do we need a temple? So that we can encounter
God. You need a building to encounter God? Heck
no. We know that. You don't need me to tell you
that. Right? But, we don't know how, why, whatever.
But it's going to be rebuilt. If you're interested
in the Antichrist, That's Revelation 13, 14 through
16. The Antichrist, the beast, rises and institutes
the mark of the beast. Now, if you go looking
for the word Antichrist in Revelation, you're
not going to find it. But the Antichrist is synonymous
with the beast. And if you read carefully, you'll
see a woman give birth to a beast. And some of
you ladies might say, I've already done that
two or three times. Right? Not that kind of beast.
And if you're going to see in Revelation 13,
3 and 4, the Antichrist is killed and then raised
to life again. All right. Now, this is the one
thing I do kind of one of these weird details
I want to pull out just because I think this
is the one I think is neat. And if you want to
do the Bible study next week and you want to
pull out the one that you think is neat, we'll
trade places and you can do this. Right. So if
this one isn't the neat one for you, I'm sorry,
but this one's the neat one for me. You also
will read it in Revelation 11 about the two witnesses.
that God uses to perform miracles and preach,
they will be killed and also raised to life.
These guys are pretty cocky. You guys should
read about the two witnesses. When they prophesy,
they can shut up the heavens so that it doesn't
rain. They can issue any kind of plague they
want at any time all over the earth. And if somebody
wants to try to kill the two witnesses, they
have this really cool trick to defend themselves.
And it's so cool that I'm not even going to tell
you what it is. because I want you to go and
read it for yourself and say, dude, that's cool.
No, no, no, no. First of all, I can't even, my
wife hates me because when I buy her Christmas
present, the moment I buy it, I call and tell
her what it is. I can't hold, I just can't keep
a secret. I can't keep a secret. I hate it. But
don't necessarily, so I'm going to talk about
the two witnesses for a second. These two dudes
who show up in Jerusalem and they start prophesying,
right? And they have these powers. They start
preaching about the coming of the end of the
world. Now, does anybody know who they're supposed
to be? Moses and Elijah. Revelation 11, 3 through
6. And I will appoint my two witnesses, and they
will prophesy for 1 ,260 days, clothed in sackcloth.
They are the two olive trees. I mentioned that
earlier. The two lambs stands, and they stand
before the Lord of the earth. Here's how they
get to kill people. If anyone tries to harm them,
fire will come from their mouths and devour their
enemies. Have you guys ever played Super Mario?
What's the fire Yoshi? And he hops along and
he spits out fire and it sucks people up, kills
them, right? That's what the two witnesses can
do. They could just spit out fire and devour
you. You can do that anytime they want, right?
They could turn the water into blood. It's crazy.
Now, why Moses and Elijah, right? This is very,
very interesting to me. Let me just read to you
Exodus chapter 7, 17 through 21. This is talking
about Moses. This is what the Lord says. By this
you will know that I am the Lord. With the staff
that is in my hand, I will strike the water of
the Nile, and it will be changed to blood. Remember,
I just said these guys have the power to turn
water to blood. The fish will die in the Nile,
the river will stink, and the Egyptians will
not be able to drink the water. Moses and Aaron
did as the Lord commanded. Moses raised his staff
in the presence of Pharaoh and his officials
and struck the water of the Nile and all the
water was changed in the blood. The fish in the
Nile died. The river smelled so bad that the
Egyptians couldn't drink its water and blood
was everywhere in Egypt. How do we know it's
Moses? Well, we know that one of the things that
one of these dudes can do is take a stick and
make rivers turn to blood. Hey, there's one other
dude in this book that does that. Moses, right?
Check this out. Second Kings. Chapter 1, verse
10, Elijah answered the captain, If I am a man
of God, may fire come down from heaven and consume
you and your 50 men. Then fire fell from heaven
and consumed the captain and his men. Remember
when we had the Bible study about how Elijah
had this show off on top of this mountain with
all of the prophets of Asherah, Baal, right?
And they start dancing. They're trying to figure
out which God could start the fire first. Yeah?
And then whenever Elijah, God starts the fire
for Elijah, then he sends fire down upon the
prophets of Baal and consumes them. Fire fell
from heaven and consumed the captain and his
men. Something Elijah has the power to do. It's
kind of interesting that we just didn't open
up our, you know, pack of Old Testament Hebrew
characters in the Bible. Who should the two witnesses
be? Let's go Moses and Elijah. It's kind of cool
that somebody took the time to think, well, who
does these things? Hey, Moses can do these things.
Elijah can do these things. Also, Moses and Elijah
represent the law. Moses is the bringer of Torah,
right? And prophecy, the importance of the law
and the prophecy of which Jesus becomes both
the law and the prophecy, right? And this comes
from an old Hebrew tradition held that at least
two witnesses were needed to establish legal
testimony. So why are there two witnesses there
in Jerusalem at the end of time proclaiming the
coming of God? Because, in Hebrew tradition,
you need two witnesses to provide legal testimony,
and that's what that is. Revelation 17, verses
12 and 13, Daniel 7, 24. Many people will mention
this is our part about the Antichrist being raised
up to assassinate world leaders, moving towards
a middle one world government, globalist, Alex
Jones. And then Revelation 16 through 19 shows
us the beast, the Antichrist, is defeated at
the Battle of Armageddon. We talked about that
last week. But as you read through these chapters,
remember the theme is Jesus is righteous judge,
and let me show you three different judgments
that are issued upon the earth. The first of
the judgments is known as the seal judgments,
and this is the four riders in the apocalypse
part. That's where we see the moon turn to blood,
bloodshed for more about a quarter of the world's
population, dies from famine, plagues, and beasts
as a result of that judgment. The second set
of judgments are known as the trumpet judgments.
And this is with hail and fire mixed with blood
falling from the sky. This is where we see poisonous
locusts. And can I just pause right here for
a second and just say how creepy that one is
to me? Because man, dead locusts creep me out.
Can you imagine? It's a crunchy thing, you know?
And man, can you imagine poisonous locusts? No
thanks, right? I'm glad I'm not going to be around.
A third of the vegetation destroyed. A third
of the water contaminated. A third of the sea
creatures die. A third of the light is lost.
A third of the world dies. Bad time to be on
earth. Remember that all during this time, God
still is giving people a chance to repent of
their sins. There is still grace even in the
midst of these judgments. The extent of God's
love. The third set of judgments is the bold
judgments. This is where sores will appear on
people with the mark of the beast on them. Water
turns to blood again. At some point, we're just
going to get used to blood 2 -0 is what we drink.
I mean, it seems like every time you turn the
page in Revelation, the water's turning to blood
again. I can't imagine working for the water
treatment plant during the apocalypse. Sun scorches
people. Devastating earthquakes hit. 100 -pound
hail falls from the sky. And as I described this
part, this is the part where a lot of people
will say, I don't like this part. This is the
gross part. This is the part that is stupid.
This is the part that isn't fair. I don't like
this part of the judgment part of the Bible.
And admittedly, you can read this and go, this
is some pretty serious stuff. And a lot of people
would hear me say this and say, that's not fair.
This is important. If you missed last week, I
want to cover again, a very, very important principle.
And that principle is, this actually is indeed
fair. We talked last week. I asked the question,
how many of you know someone who did something
wrong, something horrible, and got away with
it? They were not punished. There was no penalty.
There was no reconciliation for the horrible
deed that they had done. They hurt someone, something
violent, something horrible, and they didn't
have to pay. Whenever that happens, what do we
say? That's not fair. Because inwardly, we know
that wrongdoing should be punished. And this
is the time in history where God says, I am now,
through Jesus, judging the world for its sinfulness.
And it's almost as if you might sense that God
might be sensing our skepticism, right? Is that
really fair? An angel affirms this to John. Revelation
16, verse 5. Then I heard the angel in charge
of the water say, Jesus, the righteous judge,
you are just in these judgments. You who are
and who were the Holy One, because you have so
judged. Who's Jesus in Revelation? He is the
Alpha and the Omega, the Lamb of God. He is the
righteous judge. Number 4, 19 and 20, chapters
19 and 20. Read these together. He's the king
of kings, and he's the Lord of lords. If you
want to take notes to the main theme of this
section, it's when Jesus returns with his church.
Let me read this with you guys. Revelation 19
and 11, John says, he has this vision. I saw
heaven standing open, and there before me was
a white horse. His rider's called Faithful and
True. With justice he judges and makes war. His
eyes are like that of blazing fire, and on his
head are many crowns. He has a name written on
him that no one knows but himself. The text continues.
He is dressed in a robe that is dipped in blood
and his name is the word of God. Remember John
1 says in the beginning was the word and the
word was God and the word was with God and the
word was God. Verse 14 says the word became flesh
in John's gospel. Jesus. His name is the word
of God. The armies of heaven were following him,
riding on white horses, dressed in fine linen,
white and clean. Out of his mouth comes a sharp
sword. Again, this is the word of God, which
to strike down the nations. He will rule them
with an iron scepter. He treads in the winepress
of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty, who
is our Jesus. On his robe and on his thigh he
has the name written, King of kings and Lord
of lords. He is not running for the office of.
He is not a candidate for King of Kings and Lord
of Lords. He wears that because He is. the King
of King and the Lord of Lords. And when you read
the revelation and who Jesus is in this book,
it should build your faith because he is the
Alpha and the Omega. He is the Lamb of God, the
righteous judge. He is the King of King, the
Lord of Lords. And in the final section tonight,
chapters 21 and 22, the last two books, we see
Jesus as the bridegroom. And we, friends, as
the church, we as the body believers are the
bride. The Bible teaches us the principle that
Jesus takes us, the church, his bride, to the
heavenly city. Revelation 21, verse 9. One of
the seven angels who had the seven bowls full
of seven last plagues came and said to me, Come,
and I will show you the bride. That's the church.
That's we Christians. I will show you the bride,
the wife of the lamb. It goes on to say, and
he carried me away in the spirit to a mountain
great and high and showed me the holy city Jerusalem
coming down out of heaven from God. This is the
new heaven and the new earth we're talking about.
This is what we were talking about last week.
Jesus, the bridegroom, comes back for us, the
bride, and takes us to the new heaven and the
new earth. Where there's no crying, there's no
more mourning, there's no more pain. In fact,
this new heaven and this new earth doesn't even
need a sun or a moon. Because in verse 23 it
says, The city does not need the sun or the moon
to shine on it, for the glory of God gives its
light. And the lamb is its lamp. That's hard
to say. And what does the king say? What does
he say at the end of the book of Revelation?
The same thing he said from Genesis. To Revelation.
What is he saying to people today that don't
know him? From the very beginning, at the very
end, he's saying the same thing. Revelation 22
and 17. Come. And let him who hears say, come.
Whoever's thirsty, let him or her come. Whoever
wishes, let him or her take the free gift of
the water of life. What does the spirit and the
bride? Christ. And us. What do we say today?
Come. Are you thirsty? Let me give you this living
water. Jesus says, I am the living water. If
you taste me, you will never thirst again. And
there are those of you, even now, maybe you're
spiritually parched. And maybe you're thirsty.
Searching for something and you know it. You
spent your lifetime searching. For somebody,
somewhere, something that fills that emptiness
inside. And the Spirit says, come, whoever you
are, wherever you are, and taste the living water,
and you'll never thirst again. The good news,
friends, is this. He who testifies to these things
says, yes, Jesus, I am coming soon. Jesus offers
these Christians, we Christians hope by saying
yes. I am coming soon. Remember that phrase,
Maranatha. Lord, come. Maranatha. Come, Lord
Jesus. How does the book end? The great, the
unmerited favor, the grace of the Lord, Jesus
be with God's people. Amen. May the grace of
our God be with God's people. That's why when
you read the book of Revelation in light of who
Jesus is, You're a Christian. You don't need
to be afraid of the weird stuff in this book
because he is coming soon, and that is good.
The Alpha and the Omega, the Lamb of God, the
righteous judge, the King of kings, the Lord
of lords, the bridegroom to take his church to
be with him forever. Friends, may the grace of
God be with God's people forever and forever.
Amen. Any questions? Yes. You know, as I listen
back to tonight's episode, I can't help but continue
to hope that as you've listened, you can hear
the hope that's contained within the revelation
according to John. I had referenced Revelation
22 earlier whenever I talked about how there
wasn't even going to be a need. For light. In
the new heaven and the new earth. But that last
chapter. Of Revelation. Subtitled Eden restored.
And I just think it is such an incredible testimony.
To God's faithfulness that this entire. Work
that we have this collaboration. Between human
faith and divine interaction that we call the
Holy Bible, this book that we study, begins with
God entering the world, creating the universe,
creating a place in which we might dwell with
the Creator. And through all of the ups and through
all of the downs and perhaps If you're honest,
if you go from page one to the very end, maybe
there's more down than up in the story of God
and his people. The faithfulness of God shines
through with chapter 22 as Eden is restored.
That through it all, through the sin, the deception,
the tears, and the heartache, Through the entire
human experience. Eden is restored. But the creation
of God. Returns to the creator. It's a wonderful
story. It's one that should give us hope. Amen.
Hey friends. We'll see you next week. And until
then. Be well.