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Transcript

It is Done! (The 7th Bowl) | Revelation 16:17-21 | Pastor Daniel Batarseh (Bible Study Series) · Bible Study with Pr. Daniel Batarseh | Verse by Verse Series | Maranatha Bible Church - Chicago

• 0:01
  Let's come together to the Book of Revelation in chapter 16 as
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  we seek to complete this chapter together.
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  By God's grace, it is done. What comes to mind when you hear
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  those words? Perhaps for many, they point
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  back to that sacred and triumphant moment when Christ
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  declared it is finished on the cross, His work being complete
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  there for our salvation. And rightly so.
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  But today we're going to be reminded that this is not the
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  only time the Lord would proclaim a work being complete.
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  We are going to see that He's going to share similar things
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  again in a future time, but for an entirely different reason.
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  What we're about to consider is the Lord declaring something to
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  be done in connection to what will occur when an appointed
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  Angel will pour out the 7th and final bowl of God's wrath upon
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  the earth. And we're going to read it
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  together here in Revelation 16, beginning at verse 17 down to
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  the end of the chapter before we seek to understand God's mind
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  behind it. The 7th Angel poured out his
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  bowl into the air, and a loud voice came out of the temple
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  from the throne saying, it is done, And there were flashes of
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  lightning, rumblings, peals of Thunder, and a great earthquake
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  such as there had never been since man was on the earth, so
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  great was that earthquake. The great city was split into
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  three parts, and the cities of the nations fell.
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  And God remembered Babylon the Great to make her drain the cup
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  of the wine of the Fury of his wrath.
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  And every island fled away, and no mountains were to be found.
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  And great hailstones, about 100 lbs each fell from heaven on
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  people. And they cursed God for the
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  plague of the hail, because the plague was so severe.
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  Father, again we've come to a text where we encounter people
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  cursing you, but we come to bless you.
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  We come to honor you and praise you and lavish you with our
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  adoration. We pray that in this moment we
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  would worship you. And our listening and our
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  hearing and our receiving give us clarity, give us application,
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  and may every truth that is unleashed draw our hearts closer
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  to Thee. We ask these things in Jesus
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  name, Amen. So the reason why we read here
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  the Lord saying it is done from His heavenly throne is because
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  the 7th bowl of God's wrath that will be poured out will mark the
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  completion of God's judgments upon the earth.
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  In other words, everything that needs to be done before the
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  return of Jesus Christ to this world has been settled.
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  It has been achieved. And so the climactic event that
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  we have here essentially provides us the details of what
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  will take place in preparation for the ushering in of Jesus
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  Christ in his second advent. The curtains of the heavens are
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  about to be peeled back and it's going to be what we find here
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  that's going to see it happen. And one of the most interesting
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  things about the verses that we just read, this prophecy that
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  John provides, is how in the ESV the word great appears a total
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  of five times. It's emphasized great, great,
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  great, great. But what's more intriguing is
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  that if you read the original language, the word translated as
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  great, which in Greek as Megas, appears a total of seven times
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  in this text. Look back again here at verse 17
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  where it says the 7th Angel poured out his bowl into the air
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  and a loud voice came out of the temple.
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  See that word loud in the original?
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  It's megas. Scroll down here to verse 21.
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  Look at the very last word where it says here that something is
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  severe. It's going to be severe.
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  And that is in reference to the plague of this bowl.
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  And again, it's the word megas. Does that word sound familiar?
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  It's where we get the word mega. So clearly this is intentional.
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  This is John repeating this to amplify that the events under
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  this judgement will produce mega things.
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  Massive things are going to take place when this judgement is
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  executed. And for the sake of our time
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  today, I would love for us to consider at least three mega
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  things, 3 great things that will occur as the Holy Spirit
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  highlights them for us under this judgement.
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  The first thing that we have to consider here, though there are
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  others that we can investigate, is that there will be a great
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  earthquake. Look again at verse 18.
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  And there were flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of
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  Thunder, and a great earthquake. Not just an earthquake, a great
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  earthquake, such as there had never been since man was on the
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  earth. So great was that earthquake.
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  I mean twice. You're saying it now.
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  Jesus, when He taught about the last days, informed us clearly
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  that some of the birth pains leading up to his return will in
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  fact be earthquakes. There will be literal shakings
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  beneath our feet, but this earthquake is the mother of them
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  all. At this juncture in the
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  Tribulation period, there will be a great earthquake, so
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  massive, so significant, that it will be historical.
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  John tells us plainly that man has never experienced anything
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  like this. And why that's important to
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  under score is because this is yet another confirmation that
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  what we're dealing with here in the Book of Revelation is still
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  yet to come. This is future, unless of
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  course, you are willing to interpret even this
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  allegorically, and some are willing to do that.
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  But I propose that that is very difficult to support because
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  following this description of this earthquake, we are given
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  physical and geographical dimensions.
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  So consider some of the impacts of this great earthquake.
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  Again, in verse 19, the great city was split into three parts
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  and the cities of the nations fell.
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  What are we dealing with here? Actual global impact, tangible
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  results, ramifications, consequences that you can see
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  and feel. And that is further confirmed
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  when we examine what else the Bible has to say about this very
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  earthquake. Because it's not just here.
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  In the Book of Revelation, John singles out one city.
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  He speaks about all cities. But in the beginning of verse
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  19, he brings to our attention the great city.
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  Which city is he referring to? Some would say Babylon because
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  in the coming chapters following this, Babylon is referred to as
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  the great city. But this can also speak of
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  Jerusalem, and that's probably more likely why, because
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  Jerusalem is separate from the other cities of the nations.
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  It's distinct, at least in this context.
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  And more than that, we know back in Revelation 11, verse 8, when
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  we studied about the two witnesses who will be preaching
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  from the streets of Jerusalem that it was also titled as the
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  great city. And so the great city in view
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  here is likely Jerusalem. There are unique things that
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  happen to it in comparison to every other city.
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  It will be split into three parts.
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  And I believe this conclusion is confirmed again when we bring in
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  the totality of God's Word to shed light what's before us.
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  I invite you to go to the prophet Zechariah in chapter 14.
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  We looked at this last week when we consider how significant the
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  city of Jerusalem in the land of Israel is to our eschatology,
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  how the events of the last days will in full unfold.
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  And we're coming back here to these verses that we didn't look
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  at last week to see how this will add more color to our
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  understanding. Zechariah chapter 14, one of the
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  most significant passages in all of the Bible, Chapters 12 to
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  chapter 14, don't come to a conclusion and how you
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  understand the last days without the book of Zechariah.
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  That would be a grave mistake. And I believe a lot of people
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  who have ideas about what the last days will look like are an
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  error because they ignore passages like this.
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  Look at verse 3 of Zechariah 14. Then the Lord will go out and
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  fight against those nations. Pause the nations that surround
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  Jerusalem. According to the previous verses
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  of this very same chapter, He will fight against those nations
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  as when He fights on a day of battle.
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  On that day His feet shall stand on the Mount of Olives that lies
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  before Jerusalem on the east. And the Mount of Olives shall be
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  split in two from east to West by a very wide valley, so that
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  1/2 of the Mount shall move northward and the other half
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  southward. And you shall flee to the valley
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  of my mountains, For the valley of the mountains shall reach to
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  Azal, and you shall flee, as you fled from the earthquake in the
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  days of Uziah, king of Judah. Then the Lord my God will come,
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  and all the holy ones with him. So again, we discussed, we came
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  to this passage to see how Zechariah adds further detail to
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  the 6th and 7th bowls of God's wrath.
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  But I bring this up to us again because I want us to consider
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  the geographical aftermath of Jesus Christ returning to fight
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  against his enemies. There's so many details here and
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  and what we find here in relation to our study is that
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  there will be an actual earthquake caused by the return
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  of Christ that's inferred by verse 5.
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  Look what he says and you shall flee as you fled from the
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  earthquake and the days of Uzziah, king of Judah.
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  Now notice that this earthquake will alter actual terrain in
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  Jerusalem. You have the Mount of Olives,
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  they'll be split in two. You have this valley that will
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  provide a pathway for the Jewish people to flee from their
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  oppressors just before the Lord judges her enemies.
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  And we even see a thematic truth being established here, do we
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  not? When God delivered Israel out of
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  Egypt, He brought them through a valley between towering walls of
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  water. And in this final act of
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  deliverance, they will escape through a valley between
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  mountains. He's come to save his people.
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  And the reorientation of the landscape upon Christ's return
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  is even further fleshed out for us.
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  Scroll down to verse 8. You see where I'm going with
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  this. I hope on that day, the same day
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  that Christ returns, living water shall flow out from
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  Jerusalem, half of them to the Eastern sea, and half of them to
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  the Western sea. It shall continue in summer as
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  in winter, and the Lord will be king over all the earth.
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  On that day the Lord will be 1 and His name 1.
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  The whole land shall be turned into a plain from Giba, the
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  Ramon, South of Jerusalem, but Jerusalem shall remain aloft on
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  its side from the gate of Benjamin, the place of the
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  former gate, to the corner gate, and from the Tower of Hannanal
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  to the King's wine presses. OK, we can't examine every
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  detail presented here, at least for now, but I want us to at
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  least arrive to one simple thing.
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  At the very least, can you and I admit and acknowledge the
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  remarkable detail of what will actually take place, the
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  topography that will ensue at the return of Christ?
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  I bring this to your attention because again, there are some
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  who claim that what Zechariah describes, the very verses that
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  you and I just read are, you guessed it, allegorical that
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  they've been fulfilled in history.
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  Somehow. This doesn't save anything of
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  what's to come. All of what you just heard can
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  be spiritualized, apparently, but the position of these
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  physical changes do not allow for such an explanation.
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  It reinforces contrary to the growing trend today.
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  May I remind you that the land of Israel still has relevance to
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  the Christian faith, namely in how we understand the return of
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  Jesus Christ and His millennial Kingdom.
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  So don't be ashamed of what you believe because it's founded in
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  God's Word. It's found here in Scripture.
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  And just as there was a real earthquake at Calvary when Jesus
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  Christ died, there will be an earthquake when He comes in
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  majesty and glory. One that will bring down every
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  city, one that will change Jerusalem itself as Jesus Christ
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  prepares the very area, the very region of His throne where He
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  will rule and reign forever and ever.
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  Now before we move on, I'd like for us to consider, yes,
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  Zechariah's details here. His his prophecy is very helpful
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  in helping us understand the end, but his attitude about it
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  is what I want to speak about momentarily.
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  Something happens early in Zechariah's prophecy that moves
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  me and I hope it moves you. There's like this interjection,
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  There's this shift in his tone, almost in his language and his
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  grammar. In fact, look at the last part
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  of verse 5 of Zechariah 14. He says then the Lord my God
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  will come and all the holy ones with him.
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  Do you see what's happening? As he's describing this
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  remarkable prophetic sequence of what's going to happen when
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  Messiah returns to this world, he can't help but speak in the
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  personal and he wants. It's as though he's so
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  emboldened, he is so moved by this manifestation, through this
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  prophetic vision, that he declares his loyalty to this
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  Messiah. He is my God.
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  He's not just the Lord. He's not just the God of Israel.
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  He's not just going to rule over the entire world.
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  He is my God. And I want to suggest to you
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  today that Zechariah's attitude, his posture, his act of worship
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  here should be produced in us when we study prophecy.
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  You know why some people study prophecy?
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  So they can get more ammunition for debate about who has the
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  more accurate eschatology and framework of understanding the
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  last days. OK, you guys argue all you want
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  and there is time to debate, but I want to be like this prophet
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  who in seeing and understanding what the Lord will do, causes
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  him to say, Oh, he's my God. I'm unashamed.
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  This should make you and I fearless.
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  This should cause you to be moved.
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  This should cause you to bend your knee and say this is what
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  the Lord will do. And as we put these pieces
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  together, as we realize Zechariah 14 talks about the
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  Lord planting his feet on the Mount of Olives.
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  And then we connect with Acts chapter 1, where Jesus looks at
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  his own and he ascends on high. And the angels promise him that,
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  promise them that he will return the same way that he went up.
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  Oh, it's going to be the feet of Jesus that are kind of common on
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  the Mount of Olives. That's my God, who's given us
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  the playbook. So clearly for us to understand
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  exactly what's going to come to pass, there's going to be a real
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  earthquake and it's going to fulfill prophecy.
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  But Jerusalem is not the only city featured in this prophecy.
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  Come back to Revelation 16 and look at verse 19 once again.
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  And the latter part says the great city was split into three
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  parts, and the cities of the nations fell.
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  And God remembered Babylon the Great to make her drain the cup
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  of the wine of the fury of his wrath.
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  So another city is highlighted by John and it's Babylon the
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  Great. And we're given a preview of her
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  annihilation, her destruction. And so important to God is the
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  downfall of Babylon the Great, this future system that chapters
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  17 and 18 are dedicated to telling us how and what's going
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  to happen to Babylon. That's stunning to me.
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  This is important to God. What is Babylon the Great?
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  We've talked about this briefly in the past, and we'll look at
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  it in greater detail, as I just said.
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  But for now, you can know this for certain.
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  It is actually a literal future city that is going to be the
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  global hub of evil in the world during the tribulation period.
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  In case you doubt that, go to Revelation 18 and just peek for
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  a second and look at verse 9, Revelation 18, verse 9.
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  And the kings of the earth who committed sexual immorality and
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  lived in luxury with her will weep and wail over her when they
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  see the smoke of her burning. They will stand far off in fear
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  of her torment and say, alas, alas, you great city, you mighty
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  city, Babylon. For in a single hour your
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  judgement has come. More to come about Babylon.
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  But for now, for the sake of our meditation, today I want to
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  highlight one thing from our main text.
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  God remembered Babylon. God remembered Babylon.
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  That's not to suggest that he's forgetful or that he loses sight
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  of certain things or things escape his knowledge.
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  On the contrary, this reinforces that nothing evades him.
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  Nothing is ever lost. He holds everything and everyone
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  into account, whether it's our humble service or the sin of the
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  unrepentant. And unfortunately, many
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  interpret God's silence and his lack of immediate response to
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  ignorance, indifference, approval, or even non existence.
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  But John reminds us that God remembers, even if he acts
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  later. And here's how that might be
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  helpful for you and I as the people of God.
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  There's many things that God's knowledge can aid us in.
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  And here's one simple thought for you to consider.
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  There is not a single injustice that's been committed against
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  you that will be forgotten by God.
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  Not one. Go back to Revelation 18, verse
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  20. Why did God judge Babylon, this
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  massive global international system that will export so much
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  filth and persecution? Revelation 1820 gives us one
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  reason. Rejoice over, O heaven and you,
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  Saints and apostles and prophets, for God has given
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  judgement for you, against her, for my people.
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  I'm going to judge Babylon. It's amazing.
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  One of the temptations that appeared throughout the Bible
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  concerning the people of God. Not the evil, not the wicked,
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  those who belong to God. Is that they would want to
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  avenge themselves. They would seek out revenge.
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  If you don't think that's possible, then make sense of
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  Paul's writings, like what he says in Romans 12 verse 19.
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  Brothers, never avenge yourselves.
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  Never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God.
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  You know what that really means. Make room for the wrath of God.
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  Give place to it. In other words, get out of the
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  way when somebody wrongs you. And I am fully aware that in the
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  room with people with this size, some of you have been greatly
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  wounded, not just by those who hate Christians, not just by
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  unbelievers, but those who profess Christ, who have bruised
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  you significantly because of their sin, their betrayal.
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  And I want to simply provide this remedy.
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  Leave room for God's wrath. He remembers.
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  He will not forget, even if it doesn't seem to be acting now.
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  There is a time coming, as long as they remain stubborn in their
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  sin. And perhaps you regularly
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  comfort yourself with the thought of how you can get even
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  with them. How I can pay them back.
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  Here's the problem with that. At least one of them.
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  As one person pointed out, when we seek to repay evil with evil,
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  we often do it with interest. We tend to go overboard, we tend
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  to go beyond, and we make a bigger mess for ourselves and
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  for others. So I want to encourage you with
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  one simple truth from the Scripture and revelation.
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  Find your comfort in the reality that God remembers.
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  He sees it all. Every word of gossip, every
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  slander, every physical abuse, every unfaithful act done by the
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  closest people to you, God remembers.
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  And if those who hurt you are children of His, He will
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  discipline them. And if those who hurt you are
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  enemies of Him, He will deal with them.
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  God remembered Babylon, and we're going to see exactly
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  what's going to happen to her in the coming days.
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  But we come to the final great thing for us to look at in this
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  passage, and that is in verse 20 to verse 21.
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  Let's read it again, shall we? And every island fled away and
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  no mountains were to be found. And great hailstones, about 100
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  lbs each, fell from heaven on people.
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  And they cursed God for the plague of the hail because the
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  plague was so severe. So we heard this already, that
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  the final effect of this earthquake that will take place
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  is that it's going to set the stage for the millennial reign
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  of Christ. And the extent of the damage
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  that it will cause goes beyond just cities falling and
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  crumbling. We actually read here that
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  islands, islands will flee and that everything else will be
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  made a plane. Mountains will literally vanish.
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  They will be brought low. And the way we're supposed to
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  understand this is that there is a shaking coming.
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  That's elaborated in the prophets and what we're going to
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  read in the coming chapters. But there will be some who will
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  escape the earthquake, who will not be directly impacted by it.
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  However, they will not be able to escape God's wrath at this
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  juncture because verse 21 says and great hailstones, about 100
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  lbs each fell from heaven on people.
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  So the final great thing we're looking at is a great plague, a
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  great plague. Hailstones happened today.
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  History records some massive hailstones that have really hurt
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  people, damaged property. The Bible records hailstones and
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  what we have here is something unlike we've ever seen.
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  Imagine a hailstone flinging from the sky around 100 lbs
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  each. That's God.
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  Those are God sized hailstones. But why hailstones?
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  That was my question. Why hailstones?
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  I mean, there's so many other things that we've seen in terms
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  of God's judgment, even his implementation of nature.
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  So why this? Well, here's what you discover
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  in your study of God's Word. Hailstones are frequently used
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  in scenes of God defending his people.
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  So in Joshua chapter 10, when that nation and that generation
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  entered into the Promised land early in their conquest, they
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  went to war with many kings. And in the chapter where the sun
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  stands still, we read that God sent great hailstones and flung
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  them in the direction of those who oppose God's work.
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  And again, in keeping with the theme of the Exodus, John seems
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  to recall and bring to our memory one of the plagues in
• 24:47
  Egypt. Hailstones, the 7th plague more
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  specifically. In fact, you know what God told
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  Job? That one of His weapons of
• 24:57
  choice, the top ones at least are hailstones.
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  Now you don't believe me, baby, Let me read it to you.
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  From Job 38, verse 22 to verse 23, Job 38, verse 22 to verse 23
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  reads. Have you entered the storehouses
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  of the snow or have you seen the storehouses of the hail, which I
• 25:17
  have reserved for the time of trouble, for the day of battle
• 25:20
  and war. So with this in mind, when we
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  come to this seventh bull, we realize something.
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  God is going to war with the final generation of the wicked
• 25:33
  just before Christ comes to earth.
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  But it doesn't end here. It ends here with the chapter.
• 25:45
  It ends here, yes, with a description of what takes place
• 25:47
  in the 7th bowl. But then there's this
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  parenthesis. There's there's this break in
• 25:50
  chapter 17 and 18 and you can make a case at the sequence of
• 25:54
  what we've just looked at continues where in Revelation
• 25:57
  19, verse one. So we're going to have a break
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  here in the next two chapters of what's going to happen to
• 26:02
  Babylon more specifically. And then it's as though John
• 26:06
  presses the play button again in chapters 19, verse 11.
• 26:09
  Just look at it because it's going to give you a preview of
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  something glorious. Revelation 19, verse 11.
• 26:14
  Then I saw heaven open and behold, a White Horse.
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  You know who this is, right? The one sinning on it.
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  It's called, it's called faithful and true.
• 26:24
  And in righteousness He judges and makes war.
• 26:29
  I'm not sure how you've ever imagined Jesus Christ returning
• 26:32
  physically because He will come bodily.
• 26:34
  But one of the things that will go before Him before He does
• 26:37
  come with His Saints are hailstones.
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  And in fact, did you realize back in chapter 16, verse 17,
• 26:46
  how the 7th Angel poured out his bowl into where the air?
• 26:51
  We've seen these divine heavenly saucers being poured out upon
• 26:56
  what? The earth, the sea, springs and
• 26:59
  rivers, even the sun itself. But now we read that it comes
• 27:02
  upon and into the very atmosphere.
• 27:06
  Why is that? You know what I thought
• 27:08
  initially? Because what's left?
• 27:11
  But it's more than that. If we have in mind that this is
• 27:16
  going to swing open the gates of heaven, so to speak, for Christ
• 27:19
  to actually come, then there seems to be some kind of
• 27:24
  cleansing agent with this bowl as it's being poured out into
• 27:28
  the air. Remember what Ephesians 2 tells
• 27:31
  us about Satan, that he's the Prince of the power of what the
• 27:35
  air. And we can almost say it's as
• 27:38
  though God through this is, is removing and purging that domain
• 27:43
  of his influence as the Son of God is ready to enter through
• 27:47
  the heavens and he will. It is done.
• 27:56
  We're studying about this future declaration of finality and
• 27:59
  victory, but we've also come this Sunday to reflect on it is
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  finished. If you believe in the truth of
• 28:10
  it is finished, you don't have to worry about that.
• 28:12
  It is done in this chapter. If you understand the magnitude,
• 28:18
  if you understand the soul saving grace that comes with
• 28:20
  those 3 words that Jesus said with His cracked lips and
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  bruised body and hanging flesh, then you have no reason to fear
• 28:33
  the wrath of God. If you have not put your soul
• 28:39
  into that truth, if you have not surrendered the fate of your
• 28:42
  eternal future into the truth of the Gospel, then you have every
• 28:49
  reason to tremble throughout the series in the Book of
• 28:51
  Revelation. But we are not those who
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  tremble. We tremble, yes, in joy.
• 29:02
  We we tremble in awe, but we tremble knowing also the great
• 29:06
  friggins that God has given us. I'm clean, I'm saved, I'm safe
• 29:13
  forever. That is what we are going to
• 29:16
  savor this afternoon, the fact that Jesus Christ helps us, yes,
• 29:22
  but more importantly saves us from the wrath of a holy God.
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  Let's prepare our hearts to celebrate that truth
• 29:49
  with all that we've heard. Lord, we now turn our attention
• 29:53
  to the truth that brings us here to begin with the gospel, the
• 30:01
  saving love of Jesus Christ. Lord, we pray that you would
• 30:08
  help us remember the great price you paid, that we freely
• 30:14
  receive, so that we can be free, yes, for eternity, but free from
• 30:18
  sin now, free from the power and dominion of all trespasses.
• 30:25
  All iniquity, all rebellion can be broken off of our lives, and
• 30:30
  it has been because of the power of the blood.
• 30:33
  Lord, give us reverence, give us a fear of you in this moment,
• 30:39
  and at the same time, may we rejoice in knowing what is our
• 30:42
  inheritance because of the great price you paid.
• 30:45
  We ask these things in Jesus name, Amen.
• 30:48
  Amen. Let's stand.
• 30:50
  We're going to sing and reflect on these truths and we will
• 30:52
  partake in a moment.