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Survivors of the Wrath of God (Revelation 71–8) John MacArthur · THE BELIEVER'S CHURCH | Let’s Build Our Faith Together

• 0:01
  Speaker 1: Let's open our Bibles then together tonight to Revelation chapter 7.
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: We have much in store for us as the Word
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: of God.
• 0:11
  Speaker 2: Is opened.
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: Coming to chapter 7, of course, is somewhat of a
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: significant milestone in this book. It means that the foundational
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: six seals are behind us, which lay out really the
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: judgment of God over the period of time called the
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: tribulation which is yet to come. And 7 is sort
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: of slid right in between the sixth and the seventh seal.
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: If you look at chapter 8 verse 1, when He
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: broke the seventh seal there was silence.
• 0:46
  Speaker 2: In heaven for about half an hour.
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: So we're taking a bit of a respite here in
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: the fury of the sixth seal before the seventh and
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: final seal is broken. After all of the furious, devastating
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: judgment of chapter 6, the first six seals, this chapter
• 1:04
  Speaker 1: offers a moment of calm, a moment of promise, a
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: moment of hope.
• 1:11
  Speaker 2: It offers insight into escape.
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: To borrow the words of an Old Testament prophet, in
• 1:19
  Speaker 1: the midst of wrath, God remembers mercy. Now as we
• 1:25
  Speaker 1: have been learning, the future of our world will bring
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  Speaker 1: a time of unbelievable terror, a time of horror, a
• 1:32
  Speaker 1: time of slaughter. It will come from the hand of
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  Speaker 1: the very One who made the world, the very One
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  Speaker 1: who entered the world as a baby, the very One
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  Speaker 1: who was crucified and rose again, even the Lord Jesus Christ.
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  Speaker 1: He is the one who is unrolling the seven-sealed scroll.
• 1:52
  Speaker 1: He is the one who is taking charge of His
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  Speaker 1: universe in this prophetic picture. He, along with the one
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: who sits on the throne, His Father, God Almighty, are
• 2:00
  Speaker 1: effecting these powerful judgments on the earth. As we went
• 2:06
  Speaker 1: through the six seals, we saw how the period of
• 2:08
  Speaker 1: wrath to come is described in six different phases. First
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  Speaker 1: there is a false peace, then war, then famine, then
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  Speaker 1: pestilence and death, then vengeance, and then fear as the
• 2:20
  Speaker 1: final day of the Lord comes crashing in in the
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  Speaker 1: sixth seal. I also told you that the sixth seal,
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  Speaker 1: described in chapter 6, verses 12 to 17, says, is
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  Speaker 1: what triggers the day of the Lord. The sixth seal
• 2:35
  Speaker 1: and the day of the Lord are really synonymous, as
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  Speaker 1: I understand Scripture. Although what has come before is the
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  Speaker 1: work of God and the wrath of God, it is
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  Speaker 1: preliminary to the final great day of wrath, as it's
• 2:48
  Speaker 1: called in verse 17, which we could call the day
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  Speaker 1: of the Lord. And that's typically what God does. There
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  Speaker 1: are preliminary judgments that act as a warning, and then
• 2:58
  Speaker 1: the final.
• 2:58
  Speaker 2: Day of the Lord comes.
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  Speaker 1: We see that historically even as we see it here prophetically.
• 3:04
  Speaker 1: The world up to this time, that is up to
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  Speaker 1: the sixth seal, has not been willing to acknowledge God.
• 3:11
  Speaker 1: Believers in the world, people have been converted and so
• 3:14
  Speaker 1: there are believers in the world, and believers in the
• 3:16
  Speaker 1: world have been giving testimony to the Word of God
• 3:19
  Speaker 1: and telling people that this that is happening to them
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  Speaker 1: is the judgment of God. But they are not believed,
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  Speaker 1: ultimately they are persecuted and killed if possible, in an
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  Speaker 1: attempt to silence them. Finally, when the sixth seal hits, however,
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  Speaker 1: the world cannot escape that this is God.
• 3:39
  Speaker 2: They know it.
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  Speaker 1: And in verse 16, they say, fall on us and
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  Speaker 1: hide us from the presence of Him who sits on
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  Speaker 1: the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb for
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  Speaker 1: the great day of their wrath has come. And who
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  Speaker 1: is able to stand? When the culminating fury comes, they
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  Speaker 1: know it's God.
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  Speaker 2: It is then that most likely they will acknowledge that
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  Speaker 2: all that they have been experiencing has come from the
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  Speaker 2: hand of God as manifestation of His judgment.
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  Speaker 1: They are, as we noted last time, scared to death.
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  Speaker 1: I quoted you out of Luke where the Bible tells
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  Speaker 1: us that they will faint for fear, and the word
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  Speaker 1: faint means to die. Some of them during this time
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  Speaker 1: of the sixth seal will be scared to death. The
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  Speaker 1: ones that don't die out of fear are going to
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  Speaker 1: want to be dead, and they're going to cry for
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  Speaker 1: the rocks to crush their life out rather than have
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  Speaker 1: to face God and Christ alive, thinking perhaps that way
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  Speaker 1: they'll escape. What they say at the very end of
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  Speaker 1: verse 17 is very important for understanding the next chapter.
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  Speaker 2: Because they ask the question, who is able to stand?
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  Speaker 1: And that question is in part answered in chapter 7.
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  Speaker 1: In fact, we could safely say that chapter 7 is
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  Speaker 1: the answer to that question. Who will survive the divine fury?
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  Speaker 1: Who will survive the anger and wrath of God? Who
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  Speaker 1: will survive the collapsing universe? And the worst is yet
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  Speaker 1: to come. Trumpet judgments in chapters 8 and 9. Bowl judgments,
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  Speaker 1: as they're called, in chapter 16. And all of them
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  Speaker 1: seem to be embraced within the horrors of the sixth seal.
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  Speaker 2: Who can survive it?
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  Speaker 1: When you look at the sixth seal and the seven
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  Speaker 1: trumpets and the seven bowl judgments, and you add the
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  Speaker 1: cumulative effect together, the question is a very good question.
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  Speaker 1: Who can survive? And chapter 7 helps us answer that.
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  Speaker 1: First of all, let me quickly say that the ungodly
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  Speaker 1: can't survive.
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  Speaker 2: They will not survive.
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  Speaker 1: In 1 Thessalonians chapter 5, we've gone back to that
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  Speaker 1: book numerous times in our study because they're so closely related.
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  Speaker 1: It says at the end of verse 3, they shall
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  Speaker 1: not escape. And of course, it's speaking of the unbelievers
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  Speaker 1: who will feel the fury of destruction from the hand
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  Speaker 1: of God. In 2 Thessalonians chapter 1, it says that
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  Speaker 1: when the Lord Jesus, verse 7, is revealed from heaven
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  Speaker 1: with His mighty angels in flaming fire, He will deal
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  Speaker 1: out retribution to those who do not know God, to
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  Speaker 1: those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.
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  Speaker 2: These will pay the penalty of eternal destruction.
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  Speaker 1: There is nothing in that passage either that gives a
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  Speaker 1: glimmer of hope to any unbeliever that he or she might.
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  Speaker 2: Survive the wrath of God.
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  Speaker 1: In chapter 2 of 2 Thessalonians and verse 12, it says,
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  Speaker 1: in order that they all may be judged who did
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  Speaker 1: not believe the truth but took pleasure in wickedness. The
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  Speaker 1: day of the Lord in terms of its effect on
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  Speaker 1: the ungodly seems to be absolutely comprehensive. So the ungodly
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  Speaker 1: will not survive. But there are some people who will
• 7:11
  Speaker 1: survive the holocaust of God's wrath. They'll live through the
• 7:15
  Speaker 1: sixth seal. They'll live through the trumpet judgments. They'll live
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  Speaker 1: through the bold judgments.
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  Speaker 2: And they will actually go into the millennial kingdom alive.
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  Speaker 2: All of the judgment fury of God will miss them.
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  Speaker 1: All of the holocausts that are going on in the
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  Speaker 1: natural world around them will not touch them. They will
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  Speaker 1: also be protected from the murderous efforts of Antichrist and
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  Speaker 1: the rest of the world that aligns with him to
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  Speaker 1: wipe out the Jews and the Christians. They'll survive it all.
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  Speaker 1: The wars, the famines, the earthquakes, the plagues, they'll survive
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  Speaker 1: it all, every bit of it. They will survive rampant sinfulness,
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  Speaker 1: running amok on the earth as the restrainer, the Holy
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  Speaker 1: Spirit lets go and sin runs its course. They'll survive
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  Speaker 1: the belching out of hell of previously bound demons who
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  Speaker 1: will increase the demon force on the earth. They will
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  Speaker 1: survive the terror of Antichrist who rules the world and
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  Speaker 1: sets himself up as the only God to be worshiped.
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  Speaker 1: They will survive his blaspheming, his murderous intent. They will
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  Speaker 1: survive all of His enterprise. This man who has desecrated
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  Speaker 1: the temple, set himself up as God, committed an abomination there.
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  Speaker 1: They'll survive it all. And they'll go right on into
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  Speaker 1: the kingdom. Who are these people that will survive?
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  Speaker 2: Well, let's meet one group of them. Chapter 7, verse 1.
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  Speaker 1: After this, I saw four angels standing at the four
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  Speaker 1: corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of
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  Speaker 1: the earth, so that no wind should blow on the
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  Speaker 1: earth or on the sea or any tree. And I
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  Speaker 1: saw another angel ascending from the rising of the sun,
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  Speaker 1: having the seal of the living God, and he cried
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  Speaker 1: out with a loud voice to the four angels to
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  Speaker 1: whom it was granted to harm the earth and the sea, saying,
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  Speaker 1: Do not harm the earth or the sea or the
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  Speaker 1: trees until we have sealed the bondservants of our God
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  Speaker 1: on their foreheads. And I heard the number of those
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  Speaker 1: who were sealed, 144,000 sealed from every tribe of the
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  Speaker 1: sons of Israel. From the tribe of Judah, 12,000 were sealed.
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  Speaker 1: From the tribe of Reuben, and then it goes on, Gad, Asher, Naphtali, Manasseh, Simeon, Levi, Issachar, Zebulun, Joseph,
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  Speaker 1: and Benjamin. Now this is a fascinating section and a
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  Speaker 1: fascinating group. It is obviously the logical answer to the
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  Speaker 1: question at the end of chapter.
• 10:00
  Speaker 2: 6, as I said. In the midst of judgment there
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  Speaker 2: is to be mercy. As I read that, I was
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  Speaker 2: reminded of that wonderful and hopeful and encouraging text in
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  Speaker 2: the last book of the Old Testament, namely the book
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  Speaker 2: of Malachi. It too talks about the day of the Lord.
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  Speaker 1: In chapter 3 and verse 16, Then those who feared
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  Speaker 1: the Lord spoke to one another, and the Lord gave
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  Speaker 1: attention and heard it. And a book of remembrance was
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  Speaker 1: written before Him for those who fear the Lord and
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  Speaker 1: who esteem His name.
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  Speaker 2: What were they talking about?
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  Speaker 1: Well, they were speaking to each other because they were
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  Speaker 1: hearing the prophecy about the day of the Lord, and
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  Speaker 1: they were saying to each other, I wonder what will
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  Speaker 1: happen to us. And the prophet says, The Lord knows
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  Speaker 1: about them, and the Lord has a book, and in
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  Speaker 1: that book are written the names of those who fear
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  Speaker 1: the Lord. And when the day of His fury hits,
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  Speaker 1: verse 17 says, they will be mine.
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  Speaker 2: On that day, says the Lord of hosts, I will
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  Speaker 2: prepare my own possession.
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  Speaker 1: I will spare them as a man spares his own
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  Speaker 1: son who serves him. So, you will again distinguish between
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  Speaker 1: the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God
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  Speaker 1: and one who does not serve Him. For behold, the day,
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  Speaker 1: that's the day of the Lord, is coming, burning like
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  Speaker 1: a furnace, and all the arrogant and every evildoer will
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  Speaker 1: be chaffed.
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  Speaker 2: That again is the universal destruction of the ungodly. And
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  Speaker 2: the day is coming that will set them ablaze, says
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  Speaker 2: the Lord of hosts, so that it will leave them
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  Speaker 2: neither root nor branch. But for you who fear My name,
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  Speaker 2: the Son of Righteousness will rise with healing in His beams,
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  Speaker 2: and you will go forth and skip about like calves
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  Speaker 2: from the stall. I think what He is saying as
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  Speaker 2: He looks at the end time of the day of
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  Speaker 2: the Lord is that God will protect the righteous, and
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  Speaker 2: they will enter into His kingdom, whereas He will destroy
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  Speaker 2: all of the wicked.
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  Speaker 1: Now we see a glimpse of that right here in
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  Speaker 1: this text that I just read to you. God knows
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  Speaker 1: who belongs to Him and God knows how if He
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  Speaker 1: chooses to protect them. In the destruction that He brought
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  Speaker 1: in the flood, He knew how to protect the eight
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  Speaker 1: people that He wanted to protect. In the destruction that
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  Speaker 1: came in the city of Jericho, He knew how to
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  Speaker 1: protect the one woman He wanted to protect, Rahab. And
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  Speaker 1: the destruction that came to Sodom and Gomorrah, which was
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  Speaker 1: massive and wholesale, He knew how to protect the family
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  Speaker 1: He wanted to protect.
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  Speaker 2: That's the family of Lot.
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  Speaker 1: And when He set about to devastate, destroy, and slaughter
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  Speaker 1: in the land of Egypt, He knew how to protect
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  Speaker 1: those He wanted to protect there as well.
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  Speaker 2: God knows who He wants to protect.
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  Speaker 1: And the wrath will come, and the wrath belongs to
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  Speaker 1: those who do not know God and do not obey
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  Speaker 1: the gospel of our Lord Jesus.
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  Speaker 2: And when the full.
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  Speaker 1: Fury of that wrath hits, it's going to consume the ungodly,
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  Speaker 1: but some of the godly will survive. And one of
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  Speaker 1: the groups that will survive is here identified as these 144,000, 12,000
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  Speaker 1: out of each of the tribes of Israel. Now let
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  Speaker 1: me just digress for a moment so that I can
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  Speaker 1: give you some broader picture here. We look at the
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  Speaker 1: period of the seven-year tribulation as a time of judgment,
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  Speaker 1: and indeed it is. As it unfolds in the seven seals,
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  Speaker 1: it is a time of judgment, as the trumpets and
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  Speaker 1: bowls will affirm. But it is also a time of redemption,
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  Speaker 1: and we need to remember that. That same seven-year period
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  Speaker 1: is a time of salvation, a time of redemption. Yes,
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  Speaker 1: God will judge Satan and God will judge demons and
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  Speaker 1: God will judge sinners, but God.
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  Speaker 2: Will also redeem.
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  Speaker 1: We meet the redeemed out of this time period, don't we,
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  Speaker 1: back in chapter 6, where we see under the altar
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  Speaker 1: the souls of those who were slain because of the
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  Speaker 1: Word of God and because of the testimony which they
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  Speaker 1: had maintained. And we meet those who were redeemed out
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  Speaker 1: of this period in chapter 7, starting in verse 9.
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  Speaker 1: A great multitude, nobody could even count them. They come
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  Speaker 1: out of every nation and tribe and people and tongue,
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  Speaker 1: and they stand before the throne and before the Lamb,
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  Speaker 1: and they're clothed in white robes, and they have palm
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  Speaker 1: branches in their hands, and they are singing about salvation.
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  Speaker 1: And verse 14 says, these are those who come out
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  Speaker 1: of the great tribulation and have washed their robes and
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  Speaker 1: made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Now
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  Speaker 1: would you notice a distinction there? The first group in
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  Speaker 1: chapter 6 is in heaven. They're under the altar in heaven.
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  Speaker 1: The second group appears to be standing on the earth.
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  Speaker 1: There will be people redeemed during that time period. Some
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  Speaker 1: will die and go to heaven. Some will live to
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  Speaker 1: enter the kingdom. Many of the Gentile believers will die
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  Speaker 1: from the persecution. Some of them surely will die from
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  Speaker 1: the physical factors of earthquakes and famines and pestilences and
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  Speaker 1: the breakup of the universe and asteroid showers and meteorite
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  Speaker 1: showers and the chaos in the universe. But some of
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  Speaker 1: them will survive and go into the kingdom. Even those
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  Speaker 1: who die will be immediately ushered into the presence of
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  Speaker 1: the Lord, won't they? True Christians may die in the persecution,
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  Speaker 1: but that's not God's wrath. That's God's grace, because when
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  Speaker 1: they die, they leave all the persecution to enter into
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  Speaker 1: the glory of the presence of the Lord. And certainly
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  Speaker 1: the suffering of this world, as Paul said in Romans 8,
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  Speaker 1: isn't worthy to be compared with the glory which belongs
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  Speaker 1: to those who know Him. True Christians may die in
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  Speaker 1: the earthquakes and die in the famines and the plagues
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  Speaker 1: and destructions that come in the seals and trumpets and bowls.
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  Speaker 1: That probably will happen. There's no reason to assume that
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  Speaker 1: it won't. But that's not God's wrath on them. The
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  Speaker 1: persecution isn't God's wrath on them, and neither is the
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  Speaker 1: judgment that falls in the world that may cause their death.
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  Speaker 1: That's simply another way for them to be ushered into
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  Speaker 1: God's presence also. So those believers among the Jews and
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  Speaker 1: those believers among the Gentiles who die in the persecution
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  Speaker 1: will enter into the presence of the Lord, and those
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  Speaker 1: who die in the terrible judgments of the world will
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  Speaker 1: really escape them. But there will be many Gentiles and
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  Speaker 1: many Jews who will not die.
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  Speaker 2: They will survive to populate the kingdom. We know that
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  Speaker 2: the Jews will be living on the earth in the kingdom.
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  Speaker 2: That's clearly promised in the scripture. It is also promised, as.
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  Speaker 1: We shall see in the scripture, that all the nations
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  Speaker 1: of the world during the kingdom are going to be
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  Speaker 1: coming to Jerusalem. And they're all going to be looking
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  Speaker 1: at the Christ. They're going to be hanging on the
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  Speaker 1: coattails of a Jew. Every Jew says the Old Testament
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  Speaker 1: prophet will have 10 Gentiles hanging on his clothes saying,
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  Speaker 1: lead me to the Messiah. So there are going to
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  Speaker 1: be nations of the world in the kingdom as well
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  Speaker 1: as the nation of Israel, which means that some of
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  Speaker 1: them have to survive into the kingdom. The only ones
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  Speaker 1: who will survive will be believers. Jesus made this very
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  Speaker 1: clear in Matthew chapter 25 when He said in the
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  Speaker 1: separation process, I separate between the sheep and the goats.
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  Speaker 1: The goats represent the ungodly who are cast into outer darkness.
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  Speaker 1: The sheep represent the Christians who go into the kingdom.
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  Speaker 1: When the kingdom is initiated, the thousand-year kingdom, it is
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  Speaker 1: populated only by believers.
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  Speaker 2: Believers of the nation Israel, believers of the nations.
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  Speaker 1: Of the world, that God allows to survive the persecution
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  Speaker 1: and survive all of the holocausts of the world, and
• 18:00
  Speaker 1: they become the populace that starts out the millennial kingdom,
• 18:03
  Speaker 1: and they begin to reproduce and populate the world during
• 18:07
  Speaker 1: that thousand-year reign of Christ. Now, among those who will survive...
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  Speaker 1: is this very, very unique group. We do know that
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  Speaker 1: the Lord is going to save Israel during this time.
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  Speaker 1: The prophets called this time the time of Jacob's trouble,
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  Speaker 1: but it is also the time of Jacob's conversion. It
• 18:30
  Speaker 1: is the time when Zechariah speaks very directly to the
• 18:34
  Speaker 1: salvation of the nation Israel. Listen to what he says,
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  Speaker 1: chapter 12, verse 10. I will pour out on the
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  Speaker 1: house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the
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  Speaker 1: spirit of grace and of supplication, so that they will
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  Speaker 1: look on me whom they have pierced, and they will
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  Speaker 1: mourn for him as one mourns for an only son,
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  Speaker 1: and they will weep bitterly over him like the bitter
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  Speaker 1: weeping over a firstborn.
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  Speaker 2: They're going to see Christ for who He was. In
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  Speaker 2: that day there will be great mourning in Jerusalem, like
• 19:00
  Speaker 2: the mourning of Hadrad-Durman in the plain of Megiddo. And
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  Speaker 2: he goes on to talk about the mourning.
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  Speaker 1: Verse 1 of chapter 13, In that day a fountain
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  Speaker 1: will be opened for the house of David and for
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  Speaker 1: the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for impurity.
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  Speaker 2: There's going to be salvation.
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  Speaker 1: Down in verse 9, He says, I'll bring the third
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  Speaker 1: part through the fire. Refine them as silver is refined.
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  Speaker 1: Test them as gold is tested. They will call on
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  Speaker 1: my name. I will answer them. I will say, they
• 19:31
  Speaker 1: are my people. And they will say, the Lord is
• 19:34
  Speaker 1: my God. That's the conversion of Israel. Two out of
• 19:38
  Speaker 1: three of them will be purged out.
• 19:40
  Speaker 2: Ezekiel talks about.
• 19:42
  Speaker 1: The purging out of the rebels, chapter 20 and verse 38.
• 19:47
  Speaker 1: One-third will remain after the purging, and that third will
• 19:51
  Speaker 1: be the redeemed Israel who have looked upon the Messiah
• 19:56
  Speaker 1: and seen Him for who He really is. Chapter 14
• 20:01
  Speaker 1: of Zacharias says, Behold, a day is coming for the
• 20:03
  Speaker 1: Lord when the spoil taken from you will be divided
• 20:05
  Speaker 1: among you. I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem
• 20:08
  Speaker 1: to battle. The city will be captured, the houses plundered.
• 20:10
  Speaker 1: The women ravished, half the city exiled, but the rest
• 20:13
  Speaker 1: of the people will not be cut off from the city.
• 20:15
  Speaker 1: Then the Lord will go forth and fight against those
• 20:18
  Speaker 1: nations as when He fights on a day of battle.
• 20:20
  Speaker 1: And in that day His feet will stand on the
• 20:21
  Speaker 1: Mount of Olives, which is in the front of Jerusalem
• 20:24
  Speaker 1: on the east.
• 20:24
  Speaker 2: And the Mount of Olives will.
• 20:25
  Speaker 1: Be split in its middle from east to west by
• 20:27
  Speaker 1: a very large valley, so that half of the mountain
• 20:30
  Speaker 1: will move toward the north and the other half toward
• 20:32
  Speaker 1: the south.
• 20:34
  Speaker 2: The Lord is going to make a valley right through
• 20:36
  Speaker 2: the very heart of the land of Israel.
• 20:40
  Speaker 1: Right from the Mediterranean Sea, moving right through the city
• 20:43
  Speaker 1: of Jerusalem. He'll cut a huge valley, and into that
• 20:47
  Speaker 1: valley will gather the nations and separate them, the sheep
• 20:51
  Speaker 1: from the goats. You will flee by the valley of
• 20:58
  Speaker 1: my mountain, for the valley of the mountains will reach
• 21:00
  Speaker 1: to Azel. Yes, you will flee, just like you fled
• 21:02
  Speaker 1: before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah, king of Judah.
• 21:05
  Speaker 1: Then the Lord my God will come and all the
• 21:07
  Speaker 1: holy ones with him. Looking at the coming of Christ
• 21:13
  Speaker 1: in the eyes of Zechariah, he sees it as a
• 21:16
  Speaker 1: time of Israel's conversion and a time when all the
• 21:19
  Speaker 1: nations are called together to be devastated by the coming Christ,
• 21:23
  Speaker 1: to be judged as to whether or not they enter
• 21:26
  Speaker 1: His kingdom. So there will be then, at the end
• 21:30
  Speaker 1: of this time period, a protection of certain people from
• 21:34
  Speaker 1: the nations and certain from Israel who have come to
• 21:37
  Speaker 1: faith in Christ and and they will go into the kingdom.
• 21:42
  Speaker 1: As I said, many of the believing people will be killed,
• 21:45
  Speaker 1: but not all of them.
• 21:47
  Speaker 2: Not all of them.
• 21:48
  Speaker 1: This is the time of which Paul spoke when he
• 21:50
  Speaker 1: said all Israel will be saved.
• 21:52
  Speaker 2: God purges out the rebels.
• 21:53
  Speaker 1: The rest see their Messiah, believe, are redeemed. And we
• 21:56
  Speaker 1: don't know of that number how many, but obviously a
• 21:59
  Speaker 1: large number will survive all of this and enter into
• 22:02
  Speaker 1: the kingdom. Now, among these people who survive is this
• 22:09
  Speaker 1: group in Revelation chapter 7. Let's go back and look
• 22:13
  Speaker 1: at them. And I needed to give you that context
• 22:15
  Speaker 1: so you'd understand. They're not the only survivors, but they're
• 22:18
  Speaker 1: a very unique group, and their survival is crucial to
• 22:21
  Speaker 1: the rest of the survivors, and I'll show you why.
• 22:25
  Speaker 1: These folks have been saved earlier. I think it's important
• 22:28
  Speaker 1: to note that. It isn't telling us that at the
• 22:32
  Speaker 1: time the sixth seal hits, 144,000 people become converted.
• 22:37
  Speaker 2: No.
• 22:38
  Speaker 1: I think long before this, they have become converted. Long
• 22:42
  Speaker 1: before this, they have looked on Him whom they have
• 22:44
  Speaker 1: pierced and mourned for Him as an only Son. Long
• 22:47
  Speaker 1: before this, they have understood the saving message of the
• 22:49
  Speaker 1: gospel of Christ. Long before this, they have heard the
• 22:52
  Speaker 1: testimony of the Word and believed. They have been saved
• 22:56
  Speaker 1: earlier than this. They have been preserved up till now,
• 22:59
  Speaker 1: and now as the final fury hits, they will be
• 23:02
  Speaker 1: singled out for special service and special protection. They don't
• 23:10
  Speaker 1: experience temporal wrath or eternal wrath.
• 23:14
  Speaker 2: Other believers will experience.
• 23:15
  Speaker 1: The temporal judgment and not the eternal one as they
• 23:18
  Speaker 1: may die in the persecution or in the holocaust that
• 23:22
  Speaker 1: takes place. Now the vision unfolds in three perspectives. Let's
• 23:26
  Speaker 1: look at the first one. Let's call it wrath restrained.
• 23:29
  Speaker 1: Wrath restrained, verse 1.
• 23:31
  Speaker 2: After this.
• 23:32
  Speaker 1: I hate to stop after two words, but I need to.
• 23:36
  Speaker 1: After this is a very important phrase. You see it
• 23:38
  Speaker 1: numerous times in the book of Revelation. Wherever you see it,
• 23:41
  Speaker 1: it introduces a new vision. It introduces a new vision.
• 23:45
  Speaker 1: We saw back in chapter 4, verse 1, where we
• 23:49
  Speaker 1: came to that vision of heaven. We see it again
• 23:52
  Speaker 1: in chapter 7 down in verse 9 after these things.
• 23:56
  Speaker 1: And it usually is followed by idon, the verb I saw,
• 24:00
  Speaker 1: I looked. And it signals John's new vision. The sixth
• 24:05
  Speaker 1: seal vision is set aside now and he sees a
• 24:07
  Speaker 1: new vision. It is also safe to say that there
• 24:12
  Speaker 1: could be a chronological perspective here as well. There seems
• 24:16
  Speaker 1: to be a chronological perspective in the after this of
• 24:20
  Speaker 1: chapter 4, verse 1. That is, it moves on from
• 24:22
  Speaker 1: what is being discussed in chapters 2 and 3. And
• 24:26
  Speaker 1: this particular after this, introducing a new vision, seems to
• 24:29
  Speaker 1: flow in chronology as does the one in chapter 7,
• 24:32
  Speaker 1: verse 9. So there is a note here that this
• 24:35
  Speaker 1: is a new vision, but also there can be a
• 24:38
  Speaker 1: chronological sequence as well.
• 24:41
  Speaker 2: This scene seems.
• 24:42
  Speaker 1: To fit right in after the sixth seal is opened,
• 24:46
  Speaker 1: right after the sixth seal begins to unfold as described
• 24:50
  Speaker 1: in verses 12 through 17, and before the trumpets and
• 24:55
  Speaker 1: before the bowls are poured out in the real fury
• 24:59
  Speaker 1: contained within that sixth seal.
• 25:03
  Speaker 2: The scene then shifts from judgment to another vision.
• 25:07
  Speaker 1: It's the vision not of the judgment on the ungodly,
• 25:10
  Speaker 1: but a vision of a special protection on the godly.
• 25:14
  Speaker 1: He says, in this vision, I first of all saw
• 25:16
  Speaker 1: four angels, four active, powerful agents of judgment. Even in
• 25:21
  Speaker 1: the parables of Jesus, you see Him talking about the
• 25:23
  Speaker 1: angels being.
• 25:24
  Speaker 2: A part of the final fury and the final judgment.
• 25:27
  Speaker 1: These powerful active agents of judgment are carrying out God's
• 25:30
  Speaker 1: will in this great time of the wrath of God.
• 25:36
  Speaker 1: And John says, I saw these four angels and they
• 25:39
  Speaker 1: were standing at the four corners of the earth holding
• 25:43
  Speaker 1: back the four winds of the earth so that no
• 25:46
  Speaker 1: wind should blow on the earth or on the sea
• 25:48
  Speaker 1: or on any tree. Now the angels are very powerful
• 25:53
  Speaker 1: beings and Here you have four angels who can hold
• 25:58
  Speaker 1: back wind.
• 26:00
  Speaker 2: Powerful beings. They work with the elements of nature.
• 26:05
  Speaker 1: You see that elsewhere, and I don't want to take
• 26:07
  Speaker 1: too much time, but there are a couple of other
• 26:09
  Speaker 1: places where you see that in the book of Revelation.
• 26:12
  Speaker 1: In chapter 16, verse 5, there's an angel involved with
• 26:15
  Speaker 1: controlling the waters. And in chapter 14 of Revelation, in
• 26:19
  Speaker 1: verse 18, there is another angel who.
• 26:22
  Speaker 2: Has power over fire.
• 26:24
  Speaker 1: An angel with power over fire, an angel with power
• 26:27
  Speaker 1: over water, and here are four angels with power to
• 26:29
  Speaker 1: control the wind. When Psalm 103 verse 20 says they
• 26:34
  Speaker 1: are mighty in strength, it means just that.
• 26:39
  Speaker 2: Now, they're standing at the four corners of the earth.
• 26:42
  Speaker 1: And, you know, the skeptics will always say, well, ha, ha,
• 26:44
  Speaker 1: this was obviously written before people knew the world was round.
• 26:49
  Speaker 1: because the world doesn't have four corners. Well, let me
• 26:52
  Speaker 1: answer that by saying this. There are four points on
• 26:55
  Speaker 1: a compass.
• 26:56
  Speaker 2: Is that not true? North, south, east, and west.
• 27:00
  Speaker 1: And those four places on the compass are the four
• 27:03
  Speaker 1: points from which wind originates.
• 27:05
  Speaker 2: We always say wind comes from.
• 27:07
  Speaker 1: The north or the south or the east or the
• 27:09
  Speaker 1: west or some variant of that, south by southwest or
• 27:13
  Speaker 1: north by northwest or whatever, but everything configures around those
• 27:17
  Speaker 1: four compass points.
• 27:18
  Speaker 2: So, It is accurate to describe it in that way.
• 27:24
  Speaker 1: It also tells us that this basically means the wind
• 27:30
  Speaker 1: is not blowing.
• 27:31
  Speaker 2: Quite an interesting phenomenon.
• 27:33
  Speaker 1: For whatever period of time this little interlude takes place,
• 27:37
  Speaker 1: wind doesn't blow. In wanting to kind of understand this
• 27:41
  Speaker 1: from a scientific standpoint, I looked up some material by Dr.
• 27:45
  Speaker 1: Henry Morris, who is a well-known creation scientist, and listen
• 27:48
  Speaker 1: to what he wrote. In terms of modern technology, it
• 27:52
  Speaker 1: is essentially equivalent to what a mariner or a geologist
• 27:55
  Speaker 1: would call the four quadrants of the compass or the
• 27:58
  Speaker 1: four directions. This is evident also from the mention of
• 28:01
  Speaker 1: the four winds, which in common usage would be, of course,
• 28:04
  Speaker 1: the northwest, south, and east winds. Parenthetically, accurate modern geodetic
• 28:09
  Speaker 1: measurements in recent years have proved that the earth actually
• 28:13
  Speaker 1: does have four corners. There are four protuberances, those are
• 28:19
  Speaker 1: things that stick out, you understand. There are four protuberances
• 28:24
  Speaker 1: standing out from the basic geode, that is the basic
• 28:28
  Speaker 1: spherical shape of the earth. The earth is not really
• 28:32
  Speaker 1: a perfect sphere.
• 28:34
  Speaker 2: It is slightly flattened at the poles.
• 28:37
  Speaker 1: Its equatorial bulge is presumably caused by the earth's axial
• 28:41
  Speaker 1: rotation and its four corners protrude from that. The meaning
• 28:46
  Speaker 1: here is undoubtedly that the angels located in four different
• 28:50
  Speaker 1: key positions on the earth, perhaps one at each pole
• 28:53
  Speaker 1: and two at the opposite ends of a strategic equatorial diameter,
• 28:57
  Speaker 1: are able to control the great atmospheric circulation which governs
• 29:01
  Speaker 1: the winds of the earth. When John first saw these
• 29:06
  Speaker 1: four angels in particular, they were already engaged in the
• 29:09
  Speaker 1: remarkable labor of restraining the great wind systems of the earth,
• 29:12
  Speaker 1: keeping the winds from blowing on either land or sea.
• 29:16
  Speaker 1: The circulation of the atmosphere, he writes, is a mighty
• 29:20
  Speaker 1: engine driven by energy from the sun and from the
• 29:23
  Speaker 1: earth's rotation. The tremendous powers involved in this operation become
• 29:28
  Speaker 1: especially obvious when they are displayed in the form of
• 29:31
  Speaker 1: great hurricanes and blizzards and tornadoes. These winds of the
• 29:35
  Speaker 1: earth make life possible on earth through the hydrological cycle
• 29:39
  Speaker 1: transported water inland from the ocean with which to water
• 29:42
  Speaker 1: the earth. Yet the angels, only four of them, have
• 29:46
  Speaker 1: turned off this gigantic machine.
• 29:48
  Speaker 2: End quote. No wind, no breeze, no rustling of leaves,
• 29:57
  Speaker 2: no waves breaking on the shore.
• 29:59
  Speaker 1: Everything is deathly still. No clouds moving. They're holding it back.
• 30:08
  Speaker 1: The verb holding back gives you the idea that the
• 30:11
  Speaker 1: wind would like to go. It wants to move and
• 30:13
  Speaker 1: they restrain it. It wants to be released. It wants
• 30:18
  Speaker 1: to blow its fury.
• 30:22
  Speaker 2: And believe me, it will.
• 30:24
  Speaker 1: When those angels let go, the wind will do its
• 30:30
  Speaker 1: judgment damage. That introduces us also to another component in
• 30:35
  Speaker 1: the day of the Lord. We talked about the breakup
• 30:37
  Speaker 1: of the universe and the stars falling and other astral
• 30:41
  Speaker 1: bodies falling. We talked about earthquakes and the shaking of
• 30:44
  Speaker 1: the whole universe. Add to that that in all this
• 30:46
  Speaker 1: chaos going on, the wind is going to be magnified
• 30:50
  Speaker 1: and accelerated so that there will be hurricane-type effects on
• 30:54
  Speaker 1: this globe, but not yet. Wind is often, by the way,
• 30:58
  Speaker 1: associated with God's judgment. Jeremiah 49, 36, 2 Samuel 22, 11,
• 31:04
  Speaker 1: Daniel 7, 2, Hosea 13, and verse 15. God is
• 31:09
  Speaker 1: associated with the wind. God moves in the fury of
• 31:11
  Speaker 1: the wind. And frankly, the next phase of God's judgment
• 31:18
  Speaker 1: involves this.
• 31:19
  Speaker 2: Go over to chapter 8 because this is really important.
• 31:25
  Speaker 1: The angel there takes a censer in verse 5 of
• 31:28
  Speaker 1: chapter 8 and fills it with fire from the altar
• 31:32
  Speaker 1: and throws it to the earth. And this is another
• 31:34
  Speaker 1: one of these fiery bodies coming down to hit the earth.
• 31:39
  Speaker 2: And following this, peals of thunder and sounds and flashes
• 31:44
  Speaker 2: of lightning, and all of a sudden what you see
• 31:47
  Speaker 2: here is the angels are letting go. And the wind
• 31:52
  Speaker 2: comes and it drives the storms, the thunder and the
• 31:56
  Speaker 2: flashes of lightning. The earth begins to tremble.
• 32:01
  Speaker 1: And the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared
• 32:03
  Speaker 1: themselves to sound them. And the first sounded and there
• 32:06
  Speaker 1: came hail and fire mixed with blood. And they were
• 32:09
  Speaker 1: thrown to the earth. And a third of the earth
• 32:11
  Speaker 1: was burned up. And a third of the trees were
• 32:13
  Speaker 1: burned up. And all the green grass was burned up.
• 32:17
  Speaker 1: And the second angel sounded, and something like a great
• 32:20
  Speaker 1: mountain burning with fire was thrown into the sea, and
• 32:23
  Speaker 1: a third of the sea became blood, and a third
• 32:25
  Speaker 1: of the creatures which were in the sea and had
• 32:27
  Speaker 1: life died, and a third of the ships were destroyed.
• 32:30
  Speaker 1: And the third angel sounded, and a great star fell
• 32:33
  Speaker 1: from heaven burning like a torch, and it fell on
• 32:36
  Speaker 1: a third of the rivers and on the springs of waters,
• 32:38
  Speaker 1: and so forth. What it said back in verse 1 was,
• 32:43
  Speaker 1: hold back the wind. so that it doesn't harm the earth,
• 32:48
  Speaker 1: it doesn't harm the sea, and it doesn't harm any tree.
• 32:54
  Speaker 1: What I just read you in chapter 8 was the
• 32:57
  Speaker 1: fury of judgment that devastated the sea, that devastated the land,
• 33:02
  Speaker 1: and burned up a third of the trees. The very
• 33:06
  Speaker 1: judgments described in the trumpet judgments are precisely what.
• 33:10
  Speaker 2: Are being held back.
• 33:14
  Speaker 1: Until this act can be carried out in chapter 7.
• 33:19
  Speaker 2: The wind is roaring but restrained.
• 33:21
  Speaker 1: And when it breaks loose, it becomes the agency which
• 33:25
  Speaker 1: catapults this stuff into the earth, terrorizes the earth so
• 33:30
  Speaker 1: that a third of the earth and a third of
• 33:32
  Speaker 1: the sea and a third of the living plants and
• 33:36
  Speaker 1: ultimately a third of humanity are massacred.
• 33:40
  Speaker 2: But not yet. Wrath restrained. Second point, saints sealed.
• 33:48
  Speaker 1: Why is this wrath being restrained for a moment? Why
• 33:52
  Speaker 1: is there a moment of calm in the midst of
• 33:55
  Speaker 1: the storm? And you can only imagine, I don't know
• 33:59
  Speaker 1: how long this will last, but in all the fury
• 34:01
  Speaker 1: that's been going on, when all of a sudden it
• 34:03
  Speaker 1: comes to a stop, the world will wonder what has happened.
• 34:08
  Speaker 2: And verse 2 says, I saw another angel. John says.
• 34:13
  Speaker 1: He was ascending from the rising of the sun. And
• 34:17
  Speaker 1: he was having the seal of the living God. And
• 34:20
  Speaker 1: he cried out with a loud voice to the four
• 34:21
  Speaker 1: angels to whom it was granted to harm the earth
• 34:23
  Speaker 1: and the sea. And he said to them, do not
• 34:25
  Speaker 1: harm the earth or the sea or the trees. In
• 34:28
  Speaker 1: other words, don't let that wind go. Don't let those
• 34:31
  Speaker 1: trumpets be blown until we have sealed the servants, the doulos,
• 34:36
  Speaker 1: the slaves of our God on their foreheads. Now he says,
• 34:41
  Speaker 1: I saw another angel. another of the same kind, similar,
• 34:49
  Speaker 1: let's put it that way. I saw another angel, similar
• 34:54
  Speaker 1: to the other four. You say, well, could this be Christ?
• 34:59
  Speaker 1: People have said, could it be Christ? I don't think so.
• 35:02
  Speaker 1: Because of the use of the plural pronoun we in
• 35:04
  Speaker 1: verse 3, do not harm the earth or the sea
• 35:07
  Speaker 1: or the trees until we And there that angel identifies
• 35:10
  Speaker 1: himself with the other four angels. At this point, although
• 35:14
  Speaker 1: Christ can be identified in the Old Testament as the
• 35:16
  Speaker 1: angel of the Lord, He's not coming back as an
• 35:18
  Speaker 1: angel now.
• 35:18
  Speaker 2: He's coming back as the glorified Christ.
• 35:22
  Speaker 1: So this is another of these powerful angels who speaks
• 35:24
  Speaker 1: to his four fellow angels. Notice where he comes from.
• 35:28
  Speaker 1: It's quite an interesting note. It says the angel ascends
• 35:31
  Speaker 1: from the rising of the sun. That's simply a prosaic
• 35:35
  Speaker 1: way of saying the east ascends. The sun always rises
• 35:38
  Speaker 1: in the east. The angel ascends from the east. Now John,
• 35:43
  Speaker 1: when he was experiencing all of this and writing, it
• 35:46
  Speaker 1: was on the Isle of Patmos in the Mediterranean toward
• 35:48
  Speaker 1: the west, and to the east would be the land
• 35:51
  Speaker 1: of Israel, the land of Messiah, God's promised land, and
• 35:55
  Speaker 1: the land of the 144,000, the twelve tribes. So John
• 36:02
  Speaker 1: sees this coming from the Holy Land, and there is
• 36:06
  Speaker 1: this angel.
• 36:08
  Speaker 2: And he ascends, and he has the seal of the
• 36:12
  Speaker 2: living God. What is this?
• 36:16
  Speaker 1: I have a ring on my finger that was made
• 36:17
  Speaker 1: to me by, for me, by my friend Felix Martin
• 36:21
  Speaker 1: Del Campo, who's a dentist. He likes to tinker around
• 36:24
  Speaker 1: with things, and in 1985, when I became the president
• 36:27
  Speaker 1: of the Master's College, he made me this ring from
• 36:30
  Speaker 1: gold that he uses as a dentist. I'm sure he
• 36:33
  Speaker 1: replaced a number of gold fillings with something else, and.
• 36:37
  Speaker 2: The Here they are on my finger. No, I don't
• 36:40
  Speaker 2: believe that.
• 36:41
  Speaker 1: But he likes to work with that. He said, I
• 36:42
  Speaker 1: want to make you a ring, and I want to
• 36:44
  Speaker 1: make you a ring that says the Master's College and
• 36:48
  Speaker 1: has your logo and your initials and the date and
• 36:51
  Speaker 1: the Scripture. And he made me this ring and gave
• 36:54
  Speaker 1: it to me as a gift, and it is a
• 36:57
  Speaker 1: signet ring. It's really a replica of ancient rings that
• 37:00
  Speaker 1: were used by officials or kings to lay their seal
• 37:04
  Speaker 1: in clay. We don't use them that way anymore, but
• 37:07
  Speaker 1: that's really what they were originally for. It has raised
• 37:11
  Speaker 1: letters and a raised logo, and if I dip it
• 37:13
  Speaker 1: into something that might give it a slick surface and
• 37:17
  Speaker 1: stick it into some soft dough or soft clay.
• 37:19
  Speaker 2: It'll leave the imprint.
• 37:23
  Speaker 1: This is the kind of seal that you have here
• 37:25
  Speaker 1: in this word, sphragos, which often meant a signet ring,
• 37:30
  Speaker 1: some king or official used to stamp documents. You remember
• 37:33
  Speaker 1: how they would melt wax and then stamp into the
• 37:36
  Speaker 1: wax the seal marking ownership, authenticity, and security.
• 37:40
  Speaker 2: You find this used in the Old Testament.
• 37:42
  Speaker 1: I don't need to take you to all the passages,
• 37:44
  Speaker 1: Genesis 41, Esther chapter 3, chapter 8, Daniel chapter 6.
• 37:49
  Speaker 1: And it was used to put the official authenticating seal
• 37:52
  Speaker 1: of ownership and protection. This is mine. This is authoritative.
• 37:58
  Speaker 1: This can't be opened because it's my possession. Only by
• 38:03
  Speaker 1: those who are authorized. So here comes this angel.
• 38:07
  Speaker 2: And he's got the seal.
• 38:08
  Speaker 1: Not the seal of some earthly monarch, but the seal
• 38:10
  Speaker 1: of the living God. Not the seal of some dead idol,
• 38:14
  Speaker 1: but the seal of the living God. Not the mark
• 38:18
  Speaker 1: of some false teacher, but the true and living God.
• 38:27
  Speaker 1: People in ancient times knew about this because commonly there
• 38:32
  Speaker 1: were logos similar to a signet ring like this that
• 38:35
  Speaker 1: identified the deities of old. And sometimes when worshipers went
• 38:39
  Speaker 1: to the temple to worship, they would have the signet
• 38:41
  Speaker 1: of that deity tattooed on their body.
• 38:44
  Speaker 2: That was not uncommon. Heraclitus writes about.
• 38:47
  Speaker 1: The fact that people commonly like to have the seal
• 38:50
  Speaker 1: of their God put on their bodies so that they
• 38:54
  Speaker 1: would be always identified as belonging to that deity. Well,
• 39:00
  Speaker 1: there's one dominating false deity in the time of the
• 39:03
  Speaker 1: tribulation who makes everybody do that.
• 39:05
  Speaker 2: Who is it? Antichrist.
• 39:07
  Speaker 1: He makes everybody take the mark in the forehead or
• 39:11
  Speaker 1: on the back of the hand.
• 39:13
  Speaker 2: And if they don't, they're going to die.
• 39:15
  Speaker 1: That is to say, if they will not publicly identify
• 39:18
  Speaker 1: with Him as their God and take His mark, they
• 39:22
  Speaker 1: will die. In chapter 13 of Revelation, chapter 14, chapter 16,
• 39:26
  Speaker 1: chapter 19, and chapter 20, it talks about the.
• 39:30
  Speaker 2: Mark of the beast, the mark of the beast, the
• 39:32
  Speaker 2: mark of the beast, which means the seal of the
• 39:35
  Speaker 2: Antichrist that people take, that links them with Him as
• 39:42
  Speaker 2: belonging to Him, following Him.
• 39:46
  Speaker 1: So here comes the eternal God and He's got His
• 39:49
  Speaker 1: own mark and His own sfragas, His own seal. And
• 39:55
  Speaker 1: this angel carrying the seal of the living God cries
• 39:59
  Speaker 1: out with a loud voice to the other angels who
• 40:01
  Speaker 1: are holding back the wind so it doesn't harm the
• 40:03
  Speaker 1: earth and the sea and says, don't harm the earth,
• 40:05
  Speaker 1: the sea, the trees until we have sealed the bondservants
• 40:09
  Speaker 1: of our God on their foreheads. Antichrist did it on
• 40:12
  Speaker 1: his and we're going to do it on God's. It's
• 40:18
  Speaker 1: not new for God to put His mark on people.
• 40:22
  Speaker 1: He put a mark on Lot when He wanted to
• 40:23
  Speaker 1: save him. His mark was an angelic escort. He put
• 40:27
  Speaker 1: a mark on the children of Israel who were to
• 40:29
  Speaker 1: be spared in the slaughter of the firstborn.
• 40:31
  Speaker 2: The mark was the sign of the cross on the
• 40:32
  Speaker 2: doorpost and the lintel of the house.
• 40:35
  Speaker 1: He put a mark on Rahab, a scarlet cord hanging
• 40:38
  Speaker 1: from her window that marked her out as one whom
• 40:41
  Speaker 1: the judgment would miss. But the best illustration of this,
• 40:46
  Speaker 1: a graphic one, is back in Ezekiel chapter 9, and
• 40:49
  Speaker 1: I want you to look at it.
• 40:51
  Speaker 2: Ezekiel chapter 9 and verse 3.
• 41:02
  Speaker 1: Then the glory of the God of Israel went up
• 41:04
  Speaker 1: from the cherub on which it had been to the
• 41:06
  Speaker 1: threshold of the temple. And he called to the man
• 41:09
  Speaker 1: clothed in linen at whose loins was the writing case.
• 41:14
  Speaker 1: Ezekiel sees this vision, and here is a guy who
• 41:17
  Speaker 1: appears clothed in linen who's got a writing case.
• 41:20
  Speaker 2: What's that?
• 41:21
  Speaker 1: Well, it would be a little case that he carried,
• 41:24
  Speaker 1: and in it would be ink, or in it would
• 41:27
  Speaker 1: be some kind of a seal that could be put
• 41:31
  Speaker 1: on parchment, put on papyrus.
• 41:34
  Speaker 2: Whatever it was, put on vellum, which is an animal skin.
• 41:41
  Speaker 1: This guy's responsibility was to mark things, to write things.
• 41:46
  Speaker 1: Verse 4, the Lord said to him, Go through the
• 41:49
  Speaker 1: midst of the city, even through the midst of Jerusalem,
• 41:52
  Speaker 1: and put a mark on the foreheads of the men
• 41:53
  Speaker 1: who sigh and groan over all the abominations which are
• 41:56
  Speaker 1: being committed in its midst. You go through the city
• 41:59
  Speaker 1: and you find the holy people. You find the people
• 42:02
  Speaker 1: who can't tolerate the fact that the Son is being
• 42:05
  Speaker 1: worshipped in my temple. You find the people that can't
• 42:09
  Speaker 1: tolerate the abominations of other gods in the temple. You
• 42:13
  Speaker 1: find those people who are loyal to the true God
• 42:15
  Speaker 1: and you put a mark on their heads. But to
• 42:20
  Speaker 1: the others, he said in my hearing, go through the
• 42:22
  Speaker 1: city after him and strike. Do not let your eye
• 42:26
  Speaker 1: have pity and do not spare. Anybody who's not marked
• 42:29
  Speaker 1: by the guy with the writing case, he says to
• 42:30
  Speaker 1: the other.
• 42:31
  Speaker 2: Of the hosts, kill them. Kill them.
• 42:35
  Speaker 1: Utterly slay old men. young men, maidens, little children, and women.
• 42:40
  Speaker 1: But do not touch any man on whom is the mark.
• 42:47
  Speaker 1: God says, I'm coming in judgment and I'm going to
• 42:50
  Speaker 1: spare the people that are marked. That is precisely the idea.
• 42:54
  Speaker 1: Now you can return to Revelation chapter 7. Precisely the
• 42:58
  Speaker 1: idea here. Look at chapter 9 for a moment of
• 43:02
  Speaker 1: Revelation verse 4. The fifth angel sounds in the opening
• 43:09
  Speaker 1: of chapter 9. The bottomless pit opens up. Smoke comes
• 43:11
  Speaker 1: billowing out. And out of the smoke, locusts. These probably
• 43:17
  Speaker 1: refer to demonic hosts. And as these demons come belching
• 43:22
  Speaker 1: out of the pit of hell, verse 4, they were
• 43:25
  Speaker 1: told they shouldn't hurt the grass of the earth, nor
• 43:28
  Speaker 1: any green thing, nor any tree, but only the men
• 43:31
  Speaker 1: who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads.
• 43:37
  Speaker 1: The seal of God then was a protection. It made
• 43:43
  Speaker 1: these people invincible against the judgments. Anyone could die in
• 43:53
  Speaker 1: the judgment except those people marked out. So the angel
• 44:01
  Speaker 1: says in chapter 7, don't let the wind go. Don't
• 44:05
  Speaker 1: let the devastation carry on. Don't blow the trumpets yet
• 44:09
  Speaker 1: until we seal the bondservants of our God on their foreheads.
• 44:17
  Speaker 1: The word harm, do not harm the earth in verse
• 44:19
  Speaker 1: 3 indicates that this is a judgment wind and that
• 44:21
  Speaker 1: the result would be devastating ruin.
• 44:25
  Speaker 2: But it's got to wait.
• 44:28
  Speaker 1: We need to seal them. These are the redeemed people
• 44:33
  Speaker 1: that are to be protected. Now would you please notice
• 44:36
  Speaker 1: they already belong to the Lord. They aren't saved here.
• 44:39
  Speaker 1: They've been saved before this. They are redeemed people.
• 44:43
  Speaker 2: I believe they are.
• 44:44
  Speaker 1: People who have lived faithfully, powerfully, effectively preaching the Word
• 44:48
  Speaker 1: of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ.
• 44:51
  Speaker 2: They have not died as martyrs. They're still alive. And
• 44:54
  Speaker 2: they are to be protected.
• 44:57
  Speaker 1: If you want to know a characterization of these people,
• 44:59
  Speaker 1: look at chapter 14.
• 45:00
  Speaker 2: This is crucial.
• 45:01
  Speaker 1: Chapter 14, verse 1, I looked, and behold, the Lamb
• 45:12
  Speaker 1: was standing on Mount Zion. Now the Lamb is back.
• 45:17
  Speaker 1: He's returned. He's on the mount, and with Him are
• 45:20
  Speaker 1: the 144,000. Guess what? They made it through. They were sealed,
• 45:26
  Speaker 1: and they were preserved. And they had the mark. And
• 45:30
  Speaker 1: what was the mark? Verse 1, they had His name
• 45:32
  Speaker 1: and the name of His Father written on their foreheads.
• 45:34
  Speaker 1: People say, what's the mark? What's the mark?
• 45:35
  Speaker 2: There it is. That's the mark.
• 45:39
  Speaker 1: They had the name of the Lamb and the name
• 45:42
  Speaker 1: of the Father on their foreheads. And I heard a
• 45:47
  Speaker 1: voice from heaven like the sound of many waters, like
• 45:48
  Speaker 1: the sound of loud thunder. And the voice which I
• 45:50
  Speaker 1: heard was like the sound of harpists playing on their harps.
• 45:53
  Speaker 1: And they sang a new song before the throne and
• 45:55
  Speaker 1: before the four living creatures and the elders. And no
• 45:57
  Speaker 1: one could learn the song except the 144,000 who had
• 46:00
  Speaker 1: been purchased from the earth.
• 46:02
  Speaker 2: That tells us they had been what? Redeemed. And what
• 46:07
  Speaker 2: were they like? Verse 4, these are the ones who
• 46:10
  Speaker 2: had not been defiled with women.
• 46:12
  Speaker 1: They were morally pure. They have kept themselves chaste. They
• 46:17
  Speaker 1: are the one who follows the Lamb wherever He goes.
• 46:21
  Speaker 2: They have been purchased, redeemed from among men as first
• 46:24
  Speaker 2: fruits to God and to the Lamb, and no lie
• 46:27
  Speaker 2: was found in their mouth. They are blameless. You know
• 46:31
  Speaker 2: what I see them as? Tribulation elders. Qualified at that level, blameless, pure,
• 46:40
  Speaker 2: undefiled with women, chaste, redeemed, following the Lamb obediently.
• 46:46
  Speaker 1: They are a new kind of first fruits to God.
• 46:51
  Speaker 1: What does that mean? First fruits always means the initial,
• 46:55
  Speaker 1: the initial ones. The first, when the full crop comes in,
• 47:01
  Speaker 1: you have it all. But the first fruit is the
• 47:04
  Speaker 1: first crop.
• 47:05
  Speaker 2: To come in.
• 47:06
  Speaker 1: As men plant fields, they plant one field during this
• 47:09
  Speaker 1: week and maybe another field the next week and so forth.
• 47:12
  Speaker 1: And so they come in as staggered as they are planted.
• 47:14
  Speaker 1: And when the first fruits come in, that's the indication
• 47:17
  Speaker 1: that the full crop is coming. I see the 144,000
• 47:19
  Speaker 1: as the first fruits of a redeemed Israel. The first
• 47:21
  Speaker 1: fruits of a redeemed Israel. but they've already been converted.
• 47:30
  Speaker 1: These are Jews who have come to Christ, Jews who've
• 47:34
  Speaker 1: been redeemed, kept themselves pure and chaste, been obedient to
• 47:37
  Speaker 1: the Lamb, done whatever He asked, no lie found in
• 47:41
  Speaker 1: their mouth. They were honest, they had integrity, and they
• 47:43
  Speaker 1: were without any blame. The most faithful, loyal, diligent, holy
• 47:51
  Speaker 1: servants of the Lord during this time, they are the
• 47:54
  Speaker 1: cream of the crop. They stood for Christ against everything
• 47:57
  Speaker 1: while the world sinned and the world blasphemed and the
• 47:59
  Speaker 1: world mocked and the world cursed.
• 48:01
  Speaker 2: They were pure and they were devout and they were
• 48:03
  Speaker 2: godly believers who served the Lord.
• 48:06
  Speaker 1: And I personally believe they must have been very instrumental
• 48:09
  Speaker 1: in the conversion of other Jews and Gentiles as well.
• 48:13
  Speaker 1: They are really a missionary corps.
• 48:16
  Speaker 2: And I think their sealing in some ways is a reward.
• 48:23
  Speaker 1: They have been purchased from among men as firstfruits to
• 48:26
  Speaker 1: God and the Lamb, firstfruits of a new redeemed Israel.
• 48:33
  Speaker 2: The whole nation.
• 48:34
  Speaker 1: Eventually will come, for all Israel shall be saved, says
• 48:36
  Speaker 1: Romans chapter 11. I believe these 144,000 have been instrumental
• 48:42
  Speaker 1: in the salvation of other people in their own nation
• 48:44
  Speaker 1: as well as other nations of the world. I believe
• 48:48
  Speaker 1: that they are probably very much a part of what
• 48:51
  Speaker 1: it says in Matthew 24, 14, where we're reminded, the
• 48:56
  Speaker 1: gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole
• 48:58
  Speaker 1: world for a witness to all the nations, then the
• 49:01
  Speaker 1: end will come.
• 49:01
  Speaker 2: I believe they've been a part of that great missionary force.
• 49:04
  Speaker 1: Do you know right now, probably there may be 50,000
• 49:08
  Speaker 1: missionaries in the world today, and out of that 50,000,
• 49:12
  Speaker 1: who knows how many of them are effective other than God?
• 49:16
  Speaker 1: but in this day imagine one hundred and forty four
• 49:19
  Speaker 1: thousand committed, sold-out Jews who understand who their Messiah is,
• 49:24
  Speaker 1: who are devoted to Him, who are holy, godly, and pure,
• 49:27
  Speaker 1: and who have been instrumental in the salvation of many.
• 49:31
  Speaker 1: That's this group. They have preached judgment. They have warned
• 49:35
  Speaker 1: about the impending day of the Lord. They have called
• 49:37
  Speaker 1: people to repentance right through the tribulation time. And now
• 49:41
  Speaker 1: they are going to be delivered, and they're going to
• 49:43
  Speaker 1: go right on into the kingdom time, and they're going
• 49:46
  Speaker 1: to keep on preaching in the kingdom. And to the
• 49:48
  Speaker 1: people that are being born in the kingdom, who will
• 49:51
  Speaker 1: be born, of course, still in sin because they'll be
• 49:53
  Speaker 1: born by human parents. Even though their parents are Christians,
• 49:56
  Speaker 1: many of them will rebel and they will preach to
• 49:58
  Speaker 1: them and call for repentance. They will go into the
• 50:01
  Speaker 1: kingdom and preach as they did during the time of
• 50:03
  Speaker 1: the tribulation. I believe by their service, by their instrumentation,
• 50:10
  Speaker 1: all Israel will be saved. When the kingdom starts, each
• 50:17
  Speaker 1: tribe will have its own land and each tribe will
• 50:20
  Speaker 1: have one of the apostles as its spiritual.
• 50:22
  Speaker 2: Judge and leader. And they will evangelize the rest of
• 50:26
  Speaker 2: the world.
• 50:27
  Speaker 1: And there'll be 12,000 in each of those tribes who
• 50:30
  Speaker 1: are the leading evangelists and the leading missionaries, even during
• 50:34
  Speaker 1: the kingdom period. You say, well, when they get into kingdom,
• 50:39
  Speaker 1: they must be living a long time because it'll take
• 50:41
  Speaker 1: a while for babies to be born to grow up
• 50:43
  Speaker 1: to reject Christ.
• 50:44
  Speaker 2: That's right. They'll live a long time.
• 50:45
  Speaker 1: In fact, the prophet said that a person who dies
• 50:48
  Speaker 1: at the age of 100 will die as a baby.
• 50:51
  Speaker 2: Life will be elongated.
• 50:54
  Speaker 1: They will be spared because of their faithfulness and allowed
• 50:57
  Speaker 1: to preach right through the judgment, be instrumental in the
• 51:00
  Speaker 1: conversion of Israel and the innumerable host of Gentiles, I
• 51:03
  Speaker 1: think in verse 9, are part of the fruit.
• 51:05
  Speaker 2: Of what's going on in verses 1 to 8. God,
• 51:10
  Speaker 2: I believe, will pick out the choice ones, the cream
• 51:14
  Speaker 2: of the spiritual crop. And a final point. Israel identified.
• 51:22
  Speaker 1: Wrath restrained, saints sealed, Israel identified.
• 51:26
  Speaker 2: Who are they? It should be pretty clear since it
• 51:31
  Speaker 2: tells us.
• 51:34
  Speaker 1: It says in verse 4, there were 144,000 from every
• 51:37
  Speaker 1: tribe of the sons of Israel. Now, how hard is
• 51:39
  Speaker 1: that to figure out? Some people say it's the Seventh-day Adventists.
• 51:43
  Speaker 1: Others say it's the Jehovah's Witnesses. Some say it's the Mormons.
• 51:49
  Speaker 1: Some say it's the British Israelites. Many people today, even
• 51:54
  Speaker 1: in American evangelicalism, say it's the church. I don't know
• 51:57
  Speaker 1: how you get the church out of a statement like this, 144,000
• 52:03
  Speaker 1: sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel. You
• 52:08
  Speaker 1: don't even have to be Phi Beta Kappa to interpret this. Now,
• 52:16
  Speaker 1: that does tell me something about election, because I'll tell
• 52:20
  Speaker 1: you one thing. Just by sheer random human choice, you
• 52:24
  Speaker 1: couldn't come up with 12,000 from every tribe. So God
• 52:29
  Speaker 1: must be involved. This is one of the great and
• 52:32
  Speaker 1: hidden proofs of elective purpose in redemption. God knows the
• 52:35
  Speaker 1: number He wants, and He knows the number He wants
• 52:38
  Speaker 1: from every tribe. Here will come these powerful, godly Jews.
• 52:51
  Speaker 1: They will be made jealous, Romans 11 says.
• 52:53
  Speaker 2: I love that chapter. They will be made jealous by
• 52:58
  Speaker 2: the church.
• 52:59
  Speaker 1: I think it will start right after the rapture. I
• 53:02
  Speaker 1: think the Lord's going to convict their hearts and they're
• 53:04
  Speaker 1: going to say, where did the church go? You mean
• 53:07
  Speaker 1: to tell me that they went up to be with
• 53:09
  Speaker 1: the Lord? You mean to tell me that what it
• 53:11
  Speaker 1: says in John 14 happened, that the Lord was away
• 53:13
  Speaker 1: preparing a place for.
• 53:14
  Speaker 2: Them and He's now taking them to be where He is?
• 53:18
  Speaker 2: But we're His people. What about us?
• 53:22
  Speaker 1: And Paul says they will be provoked to jealousy, and
• 53:24
  Speaker 1: out of that jealousy they will turn to the Messiah.
• 53:29
  Speaker 1: And they will be converted and redeemed, and they will
• 53:32
  Speaker 1: start witnessing. And then the Lord will take the best
• 53:35
  Speaker 1: of them, 12,000 out of every tribe, and He'll seal them.
• 53:41
  Speaker 2: So that they can't be touched.
• 53:43
  Speaker 1: And they'll go right on through the judgment and right
• 53:46
  Speaker 1: on into the kingdom to be His special evangelists. Now
• 53:51
  Speaker 1: just a couple of notes of great interest.
• 53:54
  Speaker 2: You see the 12 tribes there?
• 53:57
  Speaker 1: Judah, Reuben, Gad, Asher, Naphtali, Manasseh, Simeon, Levi, Issachar, Zebulun, Joseph,
• 54:05
  Speaker 1: and Benjamin. I need to say this so that you'll
• 54:08
  Speaker 1: not be confused. In the Old Testament, there are a
• 54:12
  Speaker 1: number of different listings of these tribes, and they're different.
• 54:17
  Speaker 1: Sometimes the order of birth is followed, such as in
• 54:19
  Speaker 1: Genesis 29 through 35. Sometimes the order of Jacob's blessing
• 54:25
  Speaker 1: is followed, such as in Genesis 49. Sometimes the order
• 54:29
  Speaker 1: of encampment is followed, such as in Numbers chapter 2.
• 54:33
  Speaker 1: Sometimes the order of the census before the invasion of
• 54:36
  Speaker 1: Cana is followed, such as Numbers 26. Sometimes the order
• 54:40
  Speaker 1: of blessing and cursing is in Deuteronomy 27. Sometimes the
• 54:44
  Speaker 1: order of Moses' blessing, Deuteronomy 33. Sometimes the order of
• 54:48
  Speaker 1: the princes in Numbers chapter 1. Sometimes the order of inheritance,
• 54:52
  Speaker 1: Joshua 13 through 22. Sometimes the order by the wives
• 54:57
  Speaker 1: and the concubines, 1 Chronicles 2 through 8. Sometimes the
• 55:01
  Speaker 1: order of the gates of the city, such as Ezekiel 48.
• 55:03
  Speaker 2: So the order changes a lot.
• 55:07
  Speaker 1: And there are sometimes variations even in the names. Let
• 55:10
  Speaker 1: me show you why. There are several interesting things here.
• 55:13
  Speaker 1: The first tribe named is Judah. But Judah wasn't the firstborn.
• 55:22
  Speaker 1: Reuben was. Why isn't Reuben first? And the answer is,
• 55:26
  Speaker 1: Judah is named first, though he's not the firstborn of
• 55:29
  Speaker 1: Jacob or Israel, because according to 1 Chronicles 5.1, Reuben
• 55:34
  Speaker 1: lost his birthright because he sexually defiled his own father's
• 55:39
  Speaker 1: bed and who he slipped down from the primogenitor role.
• 55:49
  Speaker 1: Then you have another interesting note down in verse 7.
• 55:52
  Speaker 1: It includes Levi. Now Levi was the priestly tribe from
• 55:56
  Speaker 1: which the Levites come. And they never were given a territory.
• 56:02
  Speaker 1: So why are they included here? They're usually kind of
• 56:05
  Speaker 1: on the outside. They were the priests to the whole
• 56:07
  Speaker 1: nation and never had a territory. Why are they included?
• 56:11
  Speaker 1: And the answer is because Dan is left out. The
• 56:14
  Speaker 1: tribe of Dan is left out because of gross idolatry.
• 56:19
  Speaker 1: Dan was the only tribe that failed to conquer its territory,
• 56:22
  Speaker 1: Judges chapter 1.
• 56:24
  Speaker 2: And Dan wholly turned to idols, Judges 18.
• 56:30
  Speaker 1: Because of Dan's gross sin, and because in Deuteronomy 29
• 56:36
  Speaker 1: verses 18 to 21, it says that anyone who brings
• 56:39
  Speaker 1: idolatry into Israel will have his name blotted out. The
• 56:43
  Speaker 1: tribe of Dan is removed, and Levi slips into his
• 56:45
  Speaker 1: place to keep the twelve. You will be happy to
• 56:51
  Speaker 1: know that in the millennial listing of the tribes, Ezekiel 48,
• 56:55
  Speaker 1: Dan is included. God's grace triumphs on Dan's behalf and
• 57:00
  Speaker 1: Dan is brought into millennial glory, but Dan is not
• 57:03
  Speaker 1: protected through this because of idolatry.
• 57:08
  Speaker 2: Then one other note.
• 57:14
  Speaker 1: Instead of having Ephraim and Manasseh, you have... In verse 6,
• 57:23
  Speaker 1: Manasseh only, and down in verse 8, Joseph. Usually to
• 57:29
  Speaker 1: get the listing of twelve, Levi not having a territory,
• 57:33
  Speaker 1: the two sons of Joseph, Manasseh and Ephraim, are listed.
• 57:39
  Speaker 2: But Ephraim is left out. Why?
• 57:42
  Speaker 1: Because Ephraim was addicted to idols. Ephraim was a defector
• 57:48
  Speaker 1: from the house of David. And Ephraim was an ally
• 57:51
  Speaker 1: of Judah's enemies. So some interesting notes here. So Ephraim's
• 58:00
  Speaker 1: place is taken by his father Joseph.
• 58:04
  Speaker 2: Do the Jews know what tribe they're a part of? Nope.
• 58:07
  Speaker 2: No Jew knows.
• 58:07
  Speaker 1: The records have all been lost and destroyed at the
• 58:09
  Speaker 1: destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D., but God does.
• 58:13
  Speaker 2: God knows.
• 58:14
  Speaker 1: And isn't it amazing how pure the Jewish people have remained?
• 58:18
  Speaker 1: They still have a tribal heritage. They just don't know
• 58:19
  Speaker 1: what it is, but God does. And there are still
• 58:23
  Speaker 1: going to be 12,000 of every tribe. It is possible
• 58:28
  Speaker 1: that this could be emblematic, 12 being somewhat of a
• 58:32
  Speaker 1: number of comprehensiveness or completeness such as.
• 58:35
  Speaker 2: 12 apostles, 12 tribes.
• 58:36
  Speaker 1: 24 elders representing the church being a multiple of 12.
• 58:45
  Speaker 1: Some people think this could be representative of a wider
• 58:49
  Speaker 1: range of Jews who are protected to enter into the kingdom.
• 58:53
  Speaker 2: We don't know that. It's possible.
• 58:55
  Speaker 1: But for certain, there will be 144,000 of them. There's
• 58:59
  Speaker 1: no reason not to interpret this literally. The numbers in
• 59:02
  Speaker 1: the other parts of the book of Revelation, such as
• 59:04
  Speaker 1: forty-two months, twelve hundred and sixty days, three and a
• 59:07
  Speaker 1: half years, one thousand years, four angels, seven trumpets, seven seals,
• 59:14
  Speaker 1: seven bowls, three unclean spirits we take literally, so why
• 59:20
  Speaker 1: not a hundred and forty-four thousand?
• 59:24
  Speaker 2: Now in closing, this is a very critical passage. Why?
• 59:26
  Speaker 1: Because it shows God has a great elective purpose for
• 59:29
  Speaker 1: the Jew. that God has not finished with Israel. History
• 59:34
  Speaker 1: has been unable to blot out the Jew. Genocide has
• 59:36
  Speaker 1: failed to remove him.
• 59:37
  Speaker 2: Why? Because God wants them around. You say, well, what
• 59:41
  Speaker 2: about the northern kingdom?
• 59:42
  Speaker 1: Didn't the northern kingdom, ten tribes, all get carried away
• 59:45
  Speaker 1: into captivity, and all that was left was the southern
• 59:48
  Speaker 1: kingdom of Judah and Benjamin?
• 59:50
  Speaker 2: How are you going to get the twelve tribes out.
• 59:51
  Speaker 1: Of those two remaining ones? Listen very carefully. Yes, when
• 59:55
  Speaker 1: the kingdom divided, ten tribes went to the north. Yes,
• 59:58
  Speaker 1: they were taken away captive. In 722, yes. But before
• 1:00:04
  Speaker 1: they were ever taken captive, remnants from those ten tribes
• 1:00:09
  Speaker 1: had filtered back down into the southern kingdom so that
• 1:00:11
  Speaker 1: all twelve tribes were reconstituted even within Judah and Benjamin.
• 1:00:20
  Speaker 2: The tribes aren't lost.
• 1:00:24
  Speaker 1: God knows where they are and God is going to
• 1:00:26
  Speaker 1: redeem Israel and He's going to choose 12,000 from every
• 1:00:29
  Speaker 1: tribe to be His witness nation That's so wonderful. Because
• 1:00:34
  Speaker 1: the first time around, Israel blew it, didn't they? They
• 1:00:37
  Speaker 1: were given this same opportunity once, and they blew it.
• 1:00:41
  Speaker 1: And next time, they won't. They'll see their Messiah, and
• 1:00:45
  Speaker 1: they will become the witness nation God has always intended
• 1:00:48
  Speaker 1: them to be.
• 1:00:48
  Speaker 2: That's why He called them in the first place. He
• 1:00:50
  Speaker 2: didn't call them to be an end. He called them
• 1:00:52
  Speaker 2: to be a means to an end. He called them
• 1:00:54
  Speaker 2: to be a witness nation. They failed.
• 1:00:56
  Speaker 1: But the time will come when in His wonderful grace
• 1:00:58
  Speaker 1: and His everlasting and unbreakable covenant, He will come back
• 1:01:01
  Speaker 1: to Israel, He will redeem Israel, He will purify them,
• 1:01:05
  Speaker 1: He will put them in the place of being His
• 1:01:07
  Speaker 1: witness nation, the greatest force of missionaries the world has
• 1:01:09
  Speaker 1: ever known. And the result of their effort, a redeemed
• 1:01:13
  Speaker 1: Israel and a redeemed humanity that is innumerable according to
• 1:01:16
  Speaker 1: chapter 7 and verse 9.
• 1:01:20
  Speaker 2: What does that tell me about God? That tells me
• 1:01:22
  Speaker 2: that God is faithful, no matter how complex and difficult
• 1:01:25
  Speaker 2: it is, with all the grief that Israel has caused Him,
• 1:01:30
  Speaker 2: it will not violate His ultimate purpose with that nation.
• 1:01:34
  Speaker 2: We have a faithful God. Amen? Faithful God.
• 1:01:40
  Speaker 1: And that moves right down to His relationship to those
• 1:01:43
  Speaker 1: of us who are His children.
• 1:01:46
  Speaker 2: Father, thank You for our time tonight in Your Word.
• 1:01:48
  Speaker 1: What a great, great section of Scripture, how enriched we
• 1:01:51
  Speaker 1: are How blessed it is to know that in the
• 1:01:54
  Speaker 1: future your people, Israel, who failed once to be your
• 1:01:57
  Speaker 1: witness nation, will have a second opportunity and will succeed
• 1:02:01
  Speaker 1: by the power of your Holy Spirit.
• 1:02:04
  Speaker 2: Oh, Lord, how thankful we are for that.
• 1:02:06
  Speaker 1: In the meantime, help us to have a tender heart
• 1:02:09
  Speaker 1: toward Israel and to call them to Christ. We know
• 1:02:12
  Speaker 1: that you even now will call a remnant from Israel
• 1:02:16
  Speaker 1: of believing Jews who will embrace the Savior. We look
• 1:02:20
  Speaker 1: forward to the day when all Israel will be saved
• 1:02:23
  Speaker 1: and a worldwide revival like this world has never known
• 1:02:26
  Speaker 1: will take place. From the greatest missionary force that have
• 1:02:28
  Speaker 1: ever walked the globe, from every tribe and tongue and
• 1:02:32
  Speaker 1: people and nation, souls will be redeemed to enter into
• 1:02:38
  Speaker 1: your kingdom. We pray for that great day. And we
• 1:02:44
  Speaker 1: in confident faith thank you that whatever you plan, you
• 1:02:50
  Speaker 1: bring to pass. In the meantime, we thank you for
• 1:02:55
  Speaker 1: redeeming us and calling us to yourself and making us
• 1:02:59
  Speaker 1: the witness nation for this time.
• 1:03:02
  Speaker 2: May we be faithful. Not unfaithful, as was Israel. For
• 1:03:11
  Speaker 2: Christ's sake. You've been listening to John MacArthur, Bible teacher
• 1:03:17
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• 1:03:20
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• 1:03:30
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• 1:03:33
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• 1:03:43
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