Latest / Faith by annm2705 / 735. Bible Study: Isaiah 48 (Delays, Secrets, Trouble, No Peace - Foretold by God)

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735. Bible Study: Isaiah 48 (Delays, Secrets, Trouble, No Peace - Foretold by God) · Faith by annm2705

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Chapter 48 from the book of Isaiah.
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Let's first pray. Dear God, please be with us as
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we read through this chapter and give us wisdom and insight and
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the application to our lives. We ask for this in Jesus name,
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Amen. This chapter is titled Stubborn
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Israel. Listen to this, you descendants
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of Jacob, you who are called by the name of Israel and come from
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the line of Judah. So this is very specific that he
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is speaking to the line of Judah, the people of Israel.
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And we know that Judah was separate from what was called
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Israel. There were 10 tribes that were
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part of Israel. Now this is about Judah.
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This is the line that Jesus came from that he's speaking to.
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So Isaiah is saying this. You who take oaths in the name
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of the Lord and invoke the God of Israel, but not in truth or
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righteousness. You who call yourselves citizens
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of the holy city and claim to rely on the God of Israel, the
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Lord Almighty is His name. I foretold the former things
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long ago. My mouth announced them, and I
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made them known. Then suddenly I acted and they
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came to pass. For I knew how stubborn you
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were. Your neck muscles were iron,
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your forehead was bronze. So that when I read that about
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iron and bronze, several different thoughts came to mind.
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Like if your neck muscles are iron, they don't bendy too
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easily, they don't turn, they don't repent.
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So that was like one of my initial thoughts.
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And then your forehead was bronze.
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That would be like a hard headed, you know, like a metal.
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So that's one aspect of it. But then I also thought about
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iron and bronze and it reminded me of basically Nebuchadnezzar's
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dream in the book of Daniel, chapter 2.
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And sometimes God when he reveals things, he uses the same
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things over and over and scripture interpret scripture
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like we find out what a meaning is by looking in other places.
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So this is it's just something that I think again, this was
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talking about when Cyrus from Persia, which is modern day Iran
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conquered the Babylonians and well, actually he came to is he
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allowed Israel or I guess Judah to rebuild the temple.
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I mean, he allowed them to worship again.
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But God in the prior chapter, he revealed through Isaiah that
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Cyrus, this was 100 years before Cyrus was born.
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He even named, gave his name to Isaiah and and then this all
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came to be. And this is like another proof,
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like the prophecies prove that God is real.
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And when he speaks through a prophet, when it happens, it's
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for God's glory. It's to reveal that God is real
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and he reveals things that there's later on.
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It tells us that God reveals secret things to his prophets.
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So anyway, let's talk about I'll, I'll read what the study
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Bible says and then for these chapters here and then are not
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these chapters, but these verses and then I will mention this
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Daniel 2. I'll get into that.
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So what types of oaths did God's people take?
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People took oaths to affirm loyalty to someone, to testify
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in court, to promise something to God or another person.
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This text might refer to religious or interpersonal oaths
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that were neither, that were either not kept or wrongly
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taken, such as an oath of vengeance.
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But the crux of the matter seems to be that although they went
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through the motions of worshipping God, their worship
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was insincere. And God says that many times
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he's like, you know, with their lips, they announce it, but not
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it's not in their heart. And that's something else that
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we need to be cognizant of that if we are just saying I'm a
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Christian and with our mouth, we're professing that, but our
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actions don't show that. We better rethink.
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Are we the same as what God describes here?
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Are we the same that we are honoring him with our lips but
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not by our actions? So why did God reference
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Israel's neck and forehead? The stubborn Israelite
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Israelites were often compared to stiff necked animal that
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stiffens its neck and refuses to be LED.
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The connection here between the forehead and bronze is less
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clear. Perhaps the metaphor alludes to
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male animals butting heads, or it may refer to people thrusting
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their faces forward as they stubbornly insist on having
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their their own way. That might have been the posture
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of the hardened and obstinate Israelites when God promised to
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give Ezekiel a response to a forehead like the hardest stone.
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So yeah, hard headed, We use that word today.
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So maybe that's what it is about.
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I don't know. So anyway, let's talk about
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Daniel chapter 2 and what it says.
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So Nebuchadnezzar, who was the king of Babylon, had this dream,
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and Daniel interpreted it, and here's what it says.
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Your Majesty looked, and there before you stood a large statue,
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an enormous, dazzling statue, awesome in appearance.
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The head of the statue was made of pure gold, its chest and arms
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of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze, its legs of iron, its
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feet partly of iron and partly of baked clay.
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So I have an illustration in my study Bible that is very, very
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helpful because I guess because I'm a visual person.
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And so it has this drawing of the the statue and and it shows
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how these visions in chapter 2, Chapter 7, chapter 8 in Daniel
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all line up and that the head of gold is the Babylonian empire,
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our modern day Iraq, where it's located.
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The chest and arms of silver was the Medes in Persian, our modern
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day Iraq. So these are different kingdoms
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that come up against the Jewish people.
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The 3rd Kingdom is the belly and thighs of bronze.
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So so notice the metals here it's gold, then silver, then
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bronze, then iron, then feet of clay and iron mixed.
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So the empires, the gold empire was Babylonian or in Iraq land,
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the silver was the Medes and the Persians are Iran.
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The bronze was what the Bible refers to as Grecian often, but
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it's actually Yavon and Yavon is Turkey, Syria, Iraq and Iran all
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together. So it was this this area that
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encompassed a lot more. It was, you know, the Assyrian,
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well, it included that part, but it was, it was Ionia.
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And this is really interesting too.
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So this was this is bronze and it was during the period of 330
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BC to 146 BC. So this is, this is much later
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than the what we're reading about in Isaiah, the prophecy.
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So this would come after that. But it's it's just amazing
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because the the ram is Iran and the goat is like Turkey, Syria,
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Iraq, Iran is the Yevon. So maybe like Turkey.
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And then oftentimes it talks about the Assyrian coming from
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the north in relation to the end times, the lawless 1.
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And there's many who expect someone from the north to be the
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lawless one that comes into the scene in the final end times.
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But that's speculation there. The legs of iron is like a is
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the Roman Empire. And you know that there's some
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like mixture of the Roman Empire that's at the very last one, the
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10, the 10 toes. And I think the 10 toes are very
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interesting because that last beast, you know, it has the I
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think it has 10 heads. But then three of them are 10
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horns. I'm sorry, 10 horns.
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But then three of the horns are uprooted by 1.
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So then it has seven. And that's the Beast of
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Revelation that's also described.
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So just think about this, 1000, hundreds, I guess hundreds of
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years have passed by, but God revealed to Daniel, he revealed
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to John, he reveals to I think other prophets too, when he
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talks about iron and bronze. So I think there's some
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significance and we might learn something from this, the use of
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the iron and bronze in a metaphorical sense whenever we
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see that that it could possibly relate to the same things.
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So here again, let's say bronze would be like Turkey, Syria area
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and then iron would be like a Roman Empire.
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So they have let's go back to Isaiah and what it says.
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It says your neck muscles were iron.
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So very rigid, not turning, not repenting, but the iron was
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Roman. So and this is speaking to the
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people of Judah. So there's some just something
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to think further about. And then the forehead was
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bronze. And if that's like the I Ionian
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or the Ion, actually, I think it means like the son of Apollo,
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which is really interesting because in the Book of
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Revelation, it talks about this destroyer coming up that is
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called Apollyon or there's multiple names like in the Greek
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and in the I forgot what other language it is, but there's it's
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basically the destroyer that comes up.
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And so could that destroyer come from the Turkey, Syria, Iraq,
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Iran area or the area formerly known as Yavan YAVAN, just a
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thought. And is it a combination of that
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area plus some Roman entity that comes in the in the very end
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times? Because a lot of times it we
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find in Scripture that even though these things happen that
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are partial fulfillments along in history, there's an ultimate
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fulfillment in Bible prophecy that comes at the very end.
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So they're often foreshadowing of prior or, you know, they
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foreshadow future events that will come.
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So anyway, I, I just wondered like, could the forehead being
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bronze and if that's Ionia or Apollo the destroyer, could it
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also indicate maybe the mark of the beast?
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That's who it comes through? I don't know.
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It's, you know, it's a thought and it's speculation.
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So it's nothing that I'm proving.
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It's just something to look at and something that came to mind
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when I read through this. But I definitely think it's, you
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know, not repenting. You know, your, if your neck
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muscles are iron, they're not going to bend easily.
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You're pretty stubborn. You're not, you're set in your
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waist. And if your forehead was bronze,
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that's that's a hard head, not one that you can penetrate.
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So like your thoughts won't change, your mind's not
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changing. And all along we know that is
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applicable in Scripture, that God is very frustrated with the
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lack of repentance, turning from evil and turning towards God.
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And that's what he he talks about continually through
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Scripture. So then it goes on to say Isaiah
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continues to say, therefore I told you, well, I don't, I don't
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know if I should go back to the book of Daniel and talk about a
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little bit more about that. I might.
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I'll go back 'cause I kind of stopped.
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I'll start again. The head of the statue is made
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of pure gold, it's chest and arms of silver.
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So the gold is Babylon, the chest and arms of silver, Iran,
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and it's belly and thighs of bronze which is the Ion Ionian,
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Turkey Yavon. It's legs of iron which is Roman
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is partially, its feet partially of iron and partly blaked baked
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clay. While you were watching a rock
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was cut out, but not of human hands.
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So a rock being cut out, a lot of times Jesus is referred to as
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the rock and it says by not by human hands.
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So by God's hands it struck the statue on its feet of iron and
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clay and smashed them. I think this refers to Jesus
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returning at the very end because these are all
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progressive kingdoms that come and the feet are at the very
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bottom. It starts at the top and goes to
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the bottom, and that's what Jesus will destroy that so it
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says. Then the iron, the clay, the
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bronze, the silver and the gold were all broken to pieces and
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became like chaff on a threshing floor in the summer.
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The wind swept them away without leaving a trace, but the rock
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that struck the statue became a huge mountain and filled the
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whole earth. Mountain in here, symbolically,
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I think is a power, a strong power, and I think that's what
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is referring to Jesus. He, he became a strong power and
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filled the whole earth. This was the dream, and now we
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will interpret it to the King. Your Majesty, you are the King
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of kings. The God of heaven has given you
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dominion and power and might and glory in your hands He had.
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He has placed all mankind of the beasts of the field and the
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birds in the sky. Wherever they live.
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He has made you ruler over earth.
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Them you are that head of gold. So Nebuchadnezzar, king of
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Babylon, was the head of gold. After you another Kingdom will
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arise inferior to yours. Next 1/3 Kingdom 1 of bronze
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will rule over the whole earth. Finally, there will be a fourth
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Kingdom strong as iron. For iron breaks and smashes
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everything, and as iron breaks things to pieces, so it will
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crush and break all others. Just as you saw that the feet
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and toes were partially were partly of baked clay and partly
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of iron, so this will be a divided Kingdom, yet it will
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have some strength of iron in it.
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Even as you saw iron mixed with clay.
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As the toes were partly iron and partly clay, so this Kingdom
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will be partly strong and partly brittle.
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And just as you saw the iron mixed with baked clay, so the
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people will be a mixture and will not remain united any more
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than iron mixes with clay. In the in the time of those
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kings, the God of heaven will set up a Kingdom that will never
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be destroyed. That has to be when Jesus
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returns, nor will it be left to another people.
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It will crush all those kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it
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will itself endure forever. That's Jesus.
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This is the meaning of the vision of the rock cut out of
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the mountain by not of human hands.
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A rock that broke the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver,
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and the gold to pieces. The great God has shown the King
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what will take place in the future.
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The dream is true and its interpretation is trustworthy,
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so then it continues on. But so that's about Jesus, you
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know, final Kingdom here on earth.
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All right, let's go back to what Isaiah was saying to them.
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Therefore, I told you these things long ago before they
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happened. I announced them to you so that
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you could not say my images brought them about, my wooden
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image and metal. God ordained them.
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You have heard these things. Look at them all.
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Will you not admit them from now on?
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I will tell you of new things, of hidden things unknown to you.
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They are created now and not long ago.
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You have not heard of them before today, so you cannot say
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yes, I knew of them. You have neither heard nor
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understood from of your from of old.
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Your ears have not been open. Well, do I know?
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Well, do I know how treacherous you are?
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You were called a rebel from birth.
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That's kind of like all of us. We all were pretty much sinners.
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Are rebels, rebels to God. We didn't want to listen to Him.
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We wanted to do things our own way.
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Pretty much applies to all of us.
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So maybe we can learn from this. He, Isaiah continues.
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For my own name's sake, I delay my wrath.
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This does apply to us because I want to read to you what what
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Peter says in Second Peter chapter 3 verse 9.
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The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise as some understand
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slowness. Instead, He is patient with you,
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not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to
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repentance. So God wants us to come to
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repentance. So I will read a little bit
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more. I, I think I'm just going to
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read this whole chapter. It's pretty short, second Peter
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chapter 3, but it's really important.
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So this is Peter, one of the disciples of Christ, who says
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this. Dear friends, this is now my
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second letter to you. I have written both of them as
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reminders to stimulate you to wholesome thinking.
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I want you to recall the words spoken in the past by the holy
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prophets and the command given by our Lord and Savior through
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your apostles. Above all, you must understand
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that in the last days, scoffers will come scoffing and following
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their own evil desires. They will say, where is this
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coming? He promised.
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Ever since our ancestor died, everything goes on as it has
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from the beginning, since the beginning of creation.
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But they deliberately forget that long ago, by God's word,
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the heavens came into being, and the earth was formed out of
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water and by water, by these waters also the world of that
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time was deluged and destroyed. He's referring to the flood of
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Noah by the same word. The present heavens and earth
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are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and
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destruction of the ungodly. So those who are living ungodly
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will receive judgment and destruction.
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But. Continuing on from Peter, but do
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not forget this one thing, dear friends, with the Lord, a day is
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like 1000 years and 1000 years are like a day.
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So I think that's very important scripture for us to remember
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that a day to the Lord is very different.
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We're talking about an eternal Lord, someone who doesn't have a
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beginning and an end. So a day to him is easily 1000
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years and to us that's a long time.
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So Peter told this, you know, a long time ago, you know, in the
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early AD periods, like, you know, I don't even, I didn't
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look to see what time, what day, what years the book of Peter was
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written. But I think the Book of
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Revelation in 90 AD was the last one written.
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So it was definitely before 100 AD.
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So this is written a long time ago telling people that you
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know, it's basically be be patient because the Lord's being
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patient and he doesn't and it'll say it this next sentence.
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So I'll read it from Peter. The Lord is not slow in keeping
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his promise as some understand slowness.
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Instead, he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish,
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but everyone to come to repentance.
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That's just like I said, for my own name's sake, I delay my
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wrath. Then Peter going back to what he
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says. But the day of the Lord will
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come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with
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a roar, the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth
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and everything done in it will be laid barren or burned up.
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Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind
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of people ought you be? Ought you to be?
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You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the
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day of God and speed it's coming.
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That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by
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fire, and the elements will melt in the heat.
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But in keeping with His promise, we are looking forward to a new
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heaven and a new earth where righteousness dwells.
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So God promised that there's a new heaven and a new earth
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coming. So when we get too wrapped up in
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our worldliness and achieving all these things and building up
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things here on earth, we have to remember that's not going to
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last forever. Like we are storing up things
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for ourselves that will be gone. We have to be ready to part with
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everything we have here on earth.
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And it doesn't just mean like when we die and go to heaven,
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but in the end times, like the things that we build here,
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they're going to, it's going to be gone.
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It's really, truly going to be gone because God said it.
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And so it will happen. So that's another reason why we
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should always make our priority God.
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We can't make anything of this earth our priority because it's
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not going to last. So then, dear friends, since you
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were looking forward to this, notice that you know these are
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people who believe and he's saying they're friends.
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You know, since you were looking forward to this.
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So we are looking forward to the new heaven and new earth.
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Make every effort to be found spotless, blameless, and at
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peace with Him. That's where we should all be
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right now. We need to make sure we're
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living holy. Make sure we're living in
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accordance with God's commands. And it's not so that we get to
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heaven. It's because if we live
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according to His commands, we are showing God that we love
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Him. And don't you think it would be
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important to let God know that we love Him?
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Don't you think our relationship, God's all about
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relationship. He wants people to turn to him
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to have a relationship with him. So if we are being the rebel
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that we were from birth, do you think that's a good feeling for
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God? Do you think God appreciates
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that and is like feeling this love from us when we are
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rejecting Him and rebelling against Him?
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It says here, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless
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and at peace with him. If we're not feeling at peace
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with him, we need to address that because it just, there's a
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lot of talk right now. There's a lot of speculation,
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which I have not prayed about, but I personally don't think
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it's going to happen. But I could be surprised.
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But so many people are talking about Rosh Hashanah in 2025
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being the time that God gathers his people.
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Now, I from reading scripture, I don't see that happening unless
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suddenly, which this does talk about suddenly, just sudden
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destruction of Mystery Babylon. But unless there's a sudden
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destruction of Mystery Babylon and that's what the abomination
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of desolation is. If that is revealed in some way,
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who knows? There's all kinds of speculation
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about the abomination of desolation talked in the book of
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Daniel though. So if that is revealed, if that
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is done and then this lawless 1 is seen, yeah, it could happen.
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But as far as I'm concerned, we we've got like a month right now
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and sure it could happen like really quick, all that stuff
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could, but that's I just, I guess I anticipated it to take a
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little bit longer time. But there are so many people who
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are saying they get confirmation from God about September, Rosh
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Hashanah, which is like the 23rd, 24th, 25th of September of
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2025. We'll see what happens.
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Like, you know, if nothing happens then, you know, we just
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keep watching to see other events that the Bible tells us
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about. But here's another thing to
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think about. What if those people are right?
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And what if all of us are, you know, saying, well, I don't
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really think it's going to be right then, but it really, truly
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happens like the thief in the night.
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Are you prepared? Am I prepared?
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Are we ready? What if, what if God does?
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What if he decides this is it and it's coming right now.
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Just something to really seriously consider.
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So going back to what Peter says, bear in mind that our
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Lord's patience means salvation, just as our brother Paul also
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wrote to you with the wisdom of that God gave him.
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He writes the same way in all his letters, Speaking of them in
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these matters. His letters contain some things
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that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable
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people distort as they do the other Scriptures to their own
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destruction. Therefore, dear friends, since
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you have been forewarned, be on guard so that you may not be
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carried away by the error of lawless and fall from your
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secure position, but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord
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and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be glory both now and
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forever. So I think that was a relevant
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thing that applies to all of us today.
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So then going back to Isaiah, he says we'll continue where I left
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off. For my own sake, I delay my
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wrath for the sake of my praise. I hold it back from you so as
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not to destroy you completely. So God's being gracious and
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allowing people, giving people time to repent and turn to Him.
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Isaiah says, see, I have refined you, though not as silver.
28:21
I have tested you in the furnace of affliction.
28:26
So here we see that affliction is or can be testing because it
28:33
says I have tested you in the furnace of affliction.
28:38
So sometimes when we are going through that furnace of
28:41
affliction, that's a testing. So we just have to endure to
28:45
prove ourselves to God, to prove that we do love him, that we're
28:51
not going to turn away from him because there's lots of parables
28:55
where that Jesus told where, you know, somebody's faith and
29:00
belief in God just goes away because hard times come on them.
29:03
So then they turn away from God. So God's doing a separation
29:07
right now of the, as it is, I guess called in the Bible, the
29:14
sheep and the goats, those are who his, those who are his true
29:18
followers and those who are not. There is a separation that's
29:23
coming. And then Isaiah says, for my own
29:27
sake, my own sake, I do this. How can I let myself be defamed?
29:32
I will not yield my glory to another.
29:35
So in all things God is first we have to recognize who God is and
29:42
put him on a pedestal seriously because of who he is.
29:46
Like he, there's no one that you can compare to God.
29:53
And he created us and he created us out of love and, and just
30:00
like out of, you know, his enjoyment, his pleasure, he has
30:04
pleasure in US and pleasure in a relationship with us.
30:08
It's he, I don't know, there's, it's, it's all out of love.
30:12
Even though we're talking about wrath, this is like getting rid
30:16
of the evil in the world. But ultimately God is love and,
30:21
and you can't and God is just so he has to have the wrath.
30:26
He has to get rid of the evil. So, and sometimes we're more
30:32
evil than we want to admit. And God has to use this burning
30:37
through the fire thing, the furnace thing, the refining
30:40
thing to purify us. We have to come under some heat
30:45
because then we turn to God. Then we get our priorities
30:48
straight, and then we can be saved because ultimately it's
30:53
for our good, for our benefit. Because if we keep on the same
30:57
path and we keep doing evil, we have judge, wrath and
31:03
destruction ahead of us. And God doesn't want that for
31:06
us. Going back to Isaiah, listen to
31:09
me, Jacob, Israel, whom I have called, I am he, I am the 1st
31:14
and I am the last. So this is kind of important for
31:17
the people of Judah, the Israel, the Jewish people, because I am
31:27
the 1st and I am the last. The Jewish people don't read the
31:32
New Testament and so they miss out on the Book of Revelation.
31:38
And in Revelation chapter one, verse 17, this is when John saw
31:43
Jesus and here's what he said when I saw him, I John says,
31:49
here's what I when I saw him, I fell at my feet as though dead.
31:53
Then he placed his right hand on me and said, do not be afraid.
31:57
I am the 1st and the last. Then he gives a message to a
32:05
church in Turkey and he said these are the words of him who
32:09
is the 1st and the last, who died and who came to life again.
32:13
So that's Jesus because he died on the cross and came to life
32:16
again. Then in Revelation chapter 22,
32:19
in verse 13, he says I am the Alpha and the Omega, the 1st and
32:25
the last, the beginning and the end.
32:28
I'm just going to read a few more sentences.
32:31
Blessed are those who wash their robes that they may have the
32:34
right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into
32:39
the city. This is talking about repentance
32:42
and that you have the right to eternity and you can go through
32:46
the gates into the New Jerusalem.
32:48
This is what it says. Outside are the dogs and that
32:51
doesn't mean literal dogs. That means it was a word used
32:54
for male prostitutes at the time, those who practice magic
32:59
arts, the sexually immoral. So this is one thing that is
33:04
rampant in our culture today, sexually immoral.
33:07
And it's, I believe it's the spirit of Babylon, because if
33:11
you look up all of the spirit side of Babylon and what they
33:15
worshipped, you will come up with an androgynous beings that
33:20
were worshipped and they had to do with sex and fertility and
33:25
and war. So they, it's just it, it seems
33:30
very spiritual to me. So anyway, it's, it's something
33:34
that, and again, it says, you know, get out of Babylon.
33:39
But OK, so outside are the dogs, those who press practice magic
33:43
arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters, and
33:47
everyone who loves and practices falsehood.
33:52
I, Jesus, have sent my Angel to give you this testimony for the
33:57
churches. I am the root and the offspring
34:00
of David and the bright morning star.
34:03
So I'm going to stop there. But the Book of Revelation is
34:06
really worth reading if you haven't done that already.
34:08
But this is, you know, important for the Jewish people.
34:11
He says I am the 1st and the last and that's Jesus is saying
34:14
this. So my own hand held laid the
34:19
foundations of the earth, and my right hand spread out the
34:21
heavens. When I summon them, they all
34:24
stand up together. Come together, all of you, and
34:27
listen. Which of the idols has foretold
34:30
these things? The Lord's chosen ally will
34:33
carry out His purposes against Babylon.
34:37
This is referring to Cyrus. His arm will be against the
34:40
Babylonians, so it says. The study Bible says.
34:44
Whom did God choose as his ally? Cyrus, King of Persia, the
34:50
Hebrew word for ally is a strong one, meaning loved one or good
34:55
friend. This is Isaiah's most explicit
34:58
prophecy so far regarding Cyrus's mission to bring down
35:04
Babylon. OK, back to Isaiah.
35:07
I even I have spoken, yes, I have called him.
35:11
I will bring him and he will succeed in his mission.
35:15
Come near me and listen to this from the first announcement.
35:20
I have not spoken in secret. At the time it happens.
35:25
I am there. And now the sovereign Lord has
35:29
sent me endowed with his Spirit. So I think this is Isaiah
35:33
talking. And now the Sovereign Lord has
35:35
sent me endowed with his spirit. So Isaiah has the the spirit of
35:38
prophecy, obviously. So he has the Holy Spirit.
35:43
And I think the other thing about God's saying he hasn't
35:46
done this in secret, we need to know, be aware of the the
35:51
prophetic books because the future is told through them.
35:55
We need to study them and pray to God for knowledge and wisdom
36:00
that we can take away from that. So pay attention.
36:02
It's not secret. It's not a surprise.
36:05
The end is told is foretold in Scripture.
36:08
That's why it's so good to study it.
36:10
And I'm kind of glad that we are on a prophetic book right now
36:16
because of what's happening in the world, just to kind of keep
36:20
tabs on what's going on and see where we are in this world.
36:23
And especially with all these other people saying these things
36:26
about the soonness of what's to come.
36:31
So this is what the Lord says. You, your Redeemer, the Holy One
36:36
of Israel, I am the Lord your God, who teaches you what is
36:40
best for you, who directs you in the ways you should go.
36:45
So he teaches us what is best for us.
36:48
And if we go to Second Timothy chapter 3 verse 16, it says all
36:53
scripture is God breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking,
37:01
correcting, and training in righteousness.
37:06
And why do we need to be righteous?
37:08
God says be holy because I am holy.
37:12
And Jesus says if you love me, obey my commands.
37:17
And so that's why. So we need to be in Scripture
37:21
who directs you in the way you should go.
37:25
This is our GPS and the way we should go.
37:28
God can give us guidance, He can give us protection, and he can
37:32
give us salvation when we read Scripture.
37:35
GPS guidance, protection, salvation.
37:40
Your peace would have been no, OK, now this is something else
37:44
like this is kind of like if then kind of thing.
37:47
So I think it's important he's talking to the people of Judah.
37:50
But he said if only you had paid attention to my commands, your
37:55
peace would have been like a river, your well-being like the
37:59
waves of the sea. Your descendants would have been
38:04
like the sand, your children like it's numberless grains.
38:10
Their name would never be blotted out nor destroyed from
38:14
before me. So blotted out to me reminds me
38:19
of the book of life. And this is another one of those
38:23
verses that I hadn't found before, but it just makes me
38:28
think like can 1 be blotted out by the blotted out of the book
38:33
of life? And I believe we can, if we turn
38:38
away from God, we can. And it's a big debate that has
38:44
gone through lots of different people.
38:46
But if you no longer have the fear of the Lord, you're not
38:51
really going to care about this. And I think this once saved,
38:53
always saves. Saved gives too many people the
38:58
comfort of remaining in their sin rather than addressing it
39:04
with the Lord and and overcoming it.
39:08
Because by the power of the Holy Spirit we can overcome the
39:13
things that are troublesome, the things that go against God, the
39:16
things that rebel against God. Yes, we will mess up
39:20
occasionally, but continually. I don't know about that because
39:24
it says that God will give us, he'll only tempt us with
39:29
something that is within common to all mankind.
39:32
And when he, when he allows temptation, then he gives us a
39:38
way out. So it doesn't say just do it and
39:43
ask for forgiveness. It says He gives you a way out.
39:46
So if we are not taking the way out, we are basically submitting
39:54
to evil. So we need to think about that.
39:58
It says leave Babylon, flee from Babylon, flee from the
40:03
Babylonians. This, you know, obviously had a
40:07
meaning back in the time that Isaiah was speaking it.
40:11
But I also see this about in Revelation in Jeremiah chapters
40:16
49 and 5051 and where there's a lot of talk.
40:21
And actually I think in Zechariah too, where it says
40:25
like get out of Babylon, basically leave Babylon and
40:31
Babylon in the Book of Revelation is going to be
40:35
destroyed. Mystery Babylon is destroyed.
40:39
So announce this with shouts of joy and proclaim it.
40:42
Send it to out to the ends of the earth.
40:45
The Lord has redeemed his servant Jacob.
40:49
Well, this made me think about the 144,000.
40:53
They did not thirst when he led them through the desert.
40:57
He made water flow for them from the rock.
41:00
He split the rock and the water gushed out.
41:03
That's the exodus. And again, is there a second
41:07
exodus, the 144,000 those who have prepared themselves the,
41:12
the, the five wise virgins of the 10 total virgins who were
41:17
prepared. Is there an actual exodus before
41:21
the wrath of God? I do believe that I believe we
41:24
will see tribulation, but I believe that we are removed.
41:28
Believers are removed before God's wrath because the wrath is
41:32
for the ungodly, those who have not repented.
41:36
And it says in the Bible, if we keep on sinning, then what our
41:43
expectation should be is the wrath of God.
41:47
So it, it does really require us to do something about the way we
41:52
live. And we can't just do it on our
41:54
own power. We need God's help to do it.
41:58
We need the Holy Spirit. And we should submit to God and
42:03
ask for the Holy Spirit, ask for God's help.
42:05
He wants to help us. All we have to do is have a
42:08
choice. We have to make a decision.
42:10
And and it says like, if you want to follow me, you have to
42:13
pick up your cross. It's not that the decision is
42:16
going to be easy, but it's going to be worthwhile because God is
42:20
true to his promises. And then the last line says
42:24
there is no peace, says the Lord for the wicked.
42:29
So talking about the letting, leading them through waters and
42:34
splitting the rock, the study Bible says has a summary.
42:39
He made water flow from for flow for them from the rock, see
42:45
Exodus chapter 17 verse 6 and Numbers chapter 20 verse 11.
42:50
When the Israelites wandered through the Sinai desert twice,
42:55
God miraculously provided water from a rock.
43:00
This text may allude to the Arabian desert that separated
43:04
Babylon from Judah, drawing a parallel between the Exodus and
43:09
the return from exile. I think it's also a something
43:15
for the future for us as well. So because it talks about Jesus
43:18
and his Kingdom and everything. So why the sun?
43:23
The sudden change in tone. This verse is a short warning.
43:27
This is the very last one. There is no peace, says the
43:30
Lord, for the wicked. This is a is this verse is a
43:33
short warning that when God redeemed his people from
43:37
Babylon, not everyone would be delivered.
43:40
See, I think this is going to be apply applicable to the end
43:43
times as well because it says there's 144,000 that are
43:48
delivered 12,000 from each tribe.
43:51
But the tribe of Dan is missing and the tribe of Ephraim is also
43:55
missing. So that's interesting too.
43:58
The same warning also appears in Isaiah 57 verse 21, and a
44:03
similar warning is found at the very end of the book of Isaiah
44:08
chapter 66, verse 24. Not only would the wicked not be
44:13
allowed to return to their homeland, but everyone needed to
44:16
know that God expected repentance as a prelude to His
44:22
blessing. Staying in Babylon would not
44:26
produce peace. Trusting God enough to leave
44:30
Babylon and return to Jerusalem and Judah Wood.
44:35
So this is like metaphorical as well like spiritual Babylon.
44:40
If you look at the characteristics of the spirit of
44:44
Babylon, Jezebel is, you know, the Baal Bell, Marduk, Inanna,
44:52
Ishtar, all of those entities, they are all like
44:57
representative, representative of.
45:02
There's a lot of sex in it, fertility and war.
45:06
And that's kind of the spirit that seems to be behind all of
45:12
this stuff. And when God pronounces
45:14
judgement on Babylon, it often says on the land.
45:18
So the land is not movable, it stays there.
45:22
So not only is it maybe a spiritual thing, it does talk
45:26
about Babylon infecting the whole earth.
45:28
So I might I'm going to read a little bit about Babylon too,
45:34
because I do think it's it's both a literal and a spiritual
45:38
thing. So in Zechariah chapter 2 verse
45:41
7, it says come Zion escape you who live in daughter Babylon.
45:47
So again, that could be a physical place, but it could
45:50
also be a spiritual 1 you who live in unrepentant sin.
45:56
OK, then it says in Revelation a second Angel followed and said
46:04
fallen. Fallen is Babylon the Great,
46:08
which made the nation's drink the madding wine of her
46:14
adulteries. Or idolatry, like worshipping a
46:18
different spirit other than the one of God.
46:20
I think that's very much like what we hear is going on and the
46:27
US kind of like Hollywood is probably a good, you know, in a
46:31
generalization where there are many people in the creative
46:36
world, acting, music arts, where there, you know, there's even
46:45
songs that are written about like selling your soul to the
46:47
devil and stuff like that. And that seems really hard to
46:51
believe. But then there are these people
46:53
who there are troubled people who have been in Hollywood that
46:58
proclaim this stuff to be true. It's hard to believe if you're
47:02
not one who is there. But if you've experienced it and
47:06
these people who claim this stuff said that there's, you
47:09
know, there's truth in that. And and there is something that
47:14
is overcome and, and you know, the Bible does tell us you can't
47:17
love are the the love of money is the root of all evil.
47:24
Money is just a tool for us on earth and and all things good
47:28
come from God. God, you know, did bless many
47:31
people with wealth. But what do we do with it when
47:36
if we have it, what are we using it for?
47:38
That's what God wants people to do.
47:40
So money itself is not, but because of what it can bring,
47:45
people tend to forget God and just think about the money and
47:49
then get selfish with it rather than using it for the good of
47:53
others. And and it's just we got to pay
47:56
attention to how how are we using resources that God gives
48:00
us and what are we doing with them?
48:02
And would God be happy with what we're doing with the resources
48:05
that we have. So going back to more
48:08
information about Babylon from the Book of Revelation.
48:12
Now this is the end time. So this is not during the times
48:16
of of this is like that mystery Babylon.
48:21
So this is something like I said, I think it's spiritual and
48:25
it may affect the land or it may just like consume the whole
48:28
earth because it does talk about she spread through the whole
48:32
earth and everyone got drunk on it.
48:34
Like everyone, you know, drank of her what the spirit was
48:40
giving out rather than what the water that God was giving.
48:44
They were drunk on the wine of Babylon.
48:46
So just listen to these things like this is at the end times
48:51
the the great city split into three parts and the cities of
48:55
the nations collapsed. God remembered Babylon the Great
49:00
and gave her the cup filled with the wine of the fury of his
49:05
wrath. So God will destroy Babylon the
49:08
Great, which I think is a spiritual thing.
49:11
The name written on her forehead was a mystery Babylon the great
49:16
mother or source of prostitutes and of abominations of the
49:22
earth. So to me, that's like the spirit
49:26
is what what influences again, prostitutes.
49:32
That's like, you know, it's a sexual thing and abominations of
49:36
the earth. You can search the Bible for
49:38
abomination and it's you know, that's what something that God
49:43
hates. So it's the Spirit that goes out
49:46
into all these people and people accept it because they want to
49:50
reject what God has, the truth that God has.
49:53
And then they are drunken by what she, the Spirit offers and
50:02
they are deceived and there is a destruction that comes from
50:06
people who don't wake up or get out of Babylon.
50:10
So here's another verse, Revelation 18, verse 2.
50:14
With a mighty voice he shouted, fallen.
50:16
Fallen is Babylon the Great. She has become a dwelling for
50:22
demons and a haunt for every impure spirit, a haunt for every
50:30
unclean bird, a haunt for every unclean and detestable animal.
50:36
So everything evil seems to be like the located in Babylon.
50:41
So it could just be all evil, like an evil spiritual
50:46
connection that causes rebellion among people with God.
50:52
Revelation 1810 says, terrified at her torment.
50:57
They will stand far off and cry. Woe, woe to you great city, you
51:03
mighty city of Babylon. In one hour your doom has come.
51:09
So there is this. The wrath of God is going to hit
51:12
whatever the city of Babylon is at the this is the end times.
51:17
This is not like what has already happened.
51:20
This is something metaphorically.
51:22
So whatever the city is that the metaphor of Babylon.
51:26
I don't, I don't know, but it's something and it's, it's pretty
51:30
big, Revelation 1821 says. Then a mighty Angel picked up a
51:36
boulder the size of a large millstone in the stone and threw
51:39
it into the sea and said with such violence, the great city of
51:45
Babylon will be thrown down, never to be found again.
51:51
This is before the the coming. And then there's people
51:54
rejoicing that are saying, you know, fallen, fallen is Babylon.
51:58
They're happy about it, people in heaven.
52:00
So this is like the final like clearing out of evil that's done
52:05
by God in his wrath to get rid of evil before his Kingdom
52:14
comes. And, and then I talked about the
52:18
144,000 and a few verses before that there is a redeemed his
52:23
serve his servant Jacob. Well, there's like 144,000.
52:27
Whether these are this is a literal number or a symbolic
52:31
number, I don't know 'cause 12 * 12 is 144.
52:35
So, you know, maybe it has something with like a pattern to
52:39
it, but it still the Bible just says 144,000 and it says 12,000
52:46
from each tribe. But if you look closely, the
52:48
tribe of Dan is missing and the tribe of Ephraim and both of
52:53
those were kind of known for their turning away from God and
52:58
their idolatry. So I don't know, but it says
53:04
then I heard the number of those who were sealed 144,000 from all
53:09
the tribes of Israel. Then I looked and there before
53:12
me was the lamb, which is Jesus, standing on the mountain on
53:17
Mount Zion, and with him 144,000 who had his name and his
53:25
Father's name written on their foreheads.
53:27
So are these people from the Jewish population who are going
53:32
to acknowledge the Messiah and therefore they are saved, They
53:37
are sealed possibility. So we can only hope that
53:43
people's eyes will be open because right now there is a
53:45
blinding. But God says if you seek me, you
53:47
will find me. So we have to seek.
53:51
God will call us, He'll put people in front of us, but then
53:54
it's us up to us to respond to that.
53:57
And they sang a new song in in chapter 14, verse 3.
54:00
And they sang a new song before the throne, God's throne, and
54:04
before the four living creatures and the elders.
54:07
No one could learn the song except the 144,000 who had been
54:13
redeemed from earth. So is that the small number?
54:18
Is that a literal number of the people of Judah in the very end,
54:24
not just Judah, all the tribes in the very end who are saved
54:29
from Jerusalem? I don't know if it's symbolic or
54:33
if it's literal, but whatever it is, it certainly means that we
54:38
need to take our relationship with God very seriously and pay
54:44
attention to what's going on in the world and make God our
54:50
priority. And if we have God as our
54:52
priority and then we try to help other people understand this,
54:57
then that's our that's, that's all we need to do.
55:01
We don't need to worry about anything else because God is our
55:03
protection. We just have faith in him and
55:05
trust him and we may go through testing, but just stay strong
55:11
with God and we will be rewarded for doing that.
55:16
So it's kind of God. God will give us what we need.
55:22
He gave Elijah food from Ravens. He fed mana to the people that
55:28
were wandering in the desert for 40 years.
55:30
None of their stuff wore out for 40 years, shoes, clothes, all
55:34
that stuff. Like God will, he can do
55:37
supernatural, miraculous things. And if we don't think so, we're
55:41
putting limitations on God and not understanding who he truly
55:44
is. So if we believe truly, then we
55:48
don't have anything to worry about because we're talking
55:51
about the God of the universe. We're talking about the one and
55:54
only God. And he often in in battles, he
56:00
would make the people, the armies with the least amount of
56:03
people, his own chosen people win a battle.
56:07
But it was by the power, one of the one time during a battle,
56:11
one of the soldiers had somebody fearful and he prayed to God
56:14
that God would open his eyes. And then God saw the massive
56:17
amounts of the heavenly armies that were there.
56:21
God often sent his angels ahead to defeat the enemy and to make
56:26
everybody die in, you know, so they didn't even have a battle.
56:30
So there are supernatural, miraculous things that God can
56:33
do in any situation. And because the Bible tells us
56:37
all that, that lets us know that we can put our trust in God.
56:41
We don't have to be fearful of anything coming against us.
56:45
The only one we should fear is God.
56:50
We need to be right with God and not a fear that is.
56:55
I mean, the fear should lead us to repentance, lead us to a
57:00
relationship with God. Don't you want to be buddies or
57:04
friends with the one who's going to pronounce judgement on
57:07
everything? Wouldn't it be wise to be a
57:11
friend of the, the one who finally rules the earth and not
57:17
to take advantage of the situation?
57:19
Because God doesn't like selfishness.
57:21
And that is not of God. But if I mean just, we need to
57:26
really think about it from a logical sense, I mean, and
57:28
really get to know who, who he is and what he approves of and
57:35
what he doesn't approve of. And we have to live our lives
57:37
that way so that he knows that we know who he is and that we
57:43
are responding to who he is and that we do love him.
57:47
That's that's our obedience shows God that we love him.
57:50
So think about that and stay in the word every day.
57:55
And I hope you come back for the next chapter, chapter 49.