Latest / Faith by annm2705 / 827. Bible Study: Ezekiel 5 (God's Judgement Pattern similar to the book of Revelation)

Transcript

827. Bible Study: Ezekiel 5 (God's Judgement Pattern similar to the book of Revelation) · Faith by annm2705

0:00
Continuing on chapter 5, God's Razor of Judgment.
0:07
Now Son of Man, take a sharp sword and use it as a barber's
0:12
razor to shave your head and your beard.
0:14
Then take a set of scales and divide up the hair.
0:19
When the days of your siege come to an end, burn 1/3 of the hair
0:25
inside the city, take a third and strike it with the sword all
0:32
around the city, and scatter 1/3 to the wind, for I will pursue
0:38
them with a drawn sword. But take a few hairs and tuck
0:43
them away in the folds of your garment.
0:46
Again, take a few of these and throw them in to the fire and
0:51
burn them up. A fire will spread from there to
0:55
all Israel. So this was, oh gosh, part of
1:02
the enactment. And he has a third are burned.
1:09
So 1/3 go into the fire, 1/3 into this with the sword, which
1:16
is war, and a third are scattered.
1:20
And then there's also a small number that are actually tucked
1:26
in. Let's see.
1:29
But take a few. Here's the ones I guess who are
1:32
with the sword. That kind of makes sense.
1:35
And because the remnant, and there is a remnant that's talked
1:40
about. And again, this is this is a
1:43
place right now where this probably occurred in in
1:49
Jerusalem, as God told Ezekiel. But there's also a pattern
1:57
that's set here and it seems to kind of line up with what is
2:03
spoken of as to our future and what will happen.
2:08
And we will see that in the Book of Revelation that chapters 7
2:15
and 14 actually talk about the the people that are spared.
2:23
So I think I'm just jumping ahead here, but I'm going to
2:27
probably read more. I'll go through all of chapter 5
2:30
and then I'll get into all the research that I did for this
2:34
chapter. So and then we'll come back to
2:37
chapter 5. So verse 5, this is what the
2:41
sovereign Lord says. This is Jerusalem, which I have
2:44
set in the center of the nations with countries all around her.
2:50
Pay attention to that too, because it says when you see
2:52
Jerusalem surrounded by a lot of armies around her, that's it.
2:57
And I think Matthew 24 Yet in her wickedness, she has rebelled
3:01
against My laws and decrees more than the nations and countries
3:04
around her. She has rejected My laws and has
3:08
not followed my decrees. Therefore, this is what the
3:11
Sovereign Lord says. You have been unruly, more
3:15
unruly than the nations around you, and have not followed my
3:18
decrees or kept my laws. You have not even conformed to
3:23
the standards of the nations around you.
3:26
Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says.
3:29
I myself am against you, Jerusalem, and I will inflict
3:33
punishment on you in the sight of the nations because of all
3:38
your detestable idols. I will do to you what what I
3:43
have never done before and will never do again.
3:50
So when I read that, I wondered that is this really talking
3:56
about the very end times? Because if God said he's going
3:59
to do something that He's never done before and he will never do
4:04
again, but then we see that there is prophecy that says some
4:09
of these things are going to come in the future.
4:12
Then it leads me to think that what Ezekiel was prophesying
4:19
about was a partial fulfillment of the prophecy, but not the
4:24
full prophecy. And when we get into chapters 6
4:27
and seven, it does make me question that a little bit more.
4:32
Not question, but I guess wonder if this was a partially
4:37
fulfilled prophecy, but not fully.
4:41
And I'll point those out when we get to those sections.
4:46
Therefore, in your midst, parents will eat their children,
4:51
and children will eat their parents.
4:54
So I researched that too, and I'll talk about it.
4:56
I will inflict punishment on you and will scatter all your
5:01
survivors to the winds. Therefore, surely as I live,
5:06
declares the Lord, and He gives another reason here.
5:10
Because you have defiled my sanctuary with all your vile
5:15
images and detestable practices. I myself will shave you.
5:21
I will not look on you with pity or spare you.
5:25
So when we read this is the reason why it does make me think
5:28
about Solomon, because Solomon actually built those temples for
5:32
these other gods, and he was an anointed one and he was king of
5:38
Israel. And so it says, because you have
5:41
defiled my sanctuary with all your vile images and detestable
5:45
practices. Well, Salomon initiated that
5:48
stuff towards the end of his reign, so just something to
5:54
consider. Verse 12 says a third of your
5:59
people will die of the plague. Plague is pestilence, and it can
6:03
be other things too. Or perish by famine inside you.
6:08
A third will fall by sword outside your walls, and a third
6:14
I will scatter to the winds and pursue with a drawn sword.
6:18
So he has plagues, famine. Let's see, let's see.
6:26
A third will be plagues, including famine and A and a
6:32
third will fall by the sword. They will be killed, you know,
6:35
weapons, wars, those kinds of things outside the walls.
6:39
And a third will be scattered to the winds and pursued with a
6:44
drawn sword. Verse 13.
6:47
Then my anger will cease and my wrath against them will subside
6:51
and I will be avenged. So I again, I think you know,
6:57
God is not fully avenged yet, and I think that's going to come
7:03
in the future times, so it says. And when I have spent my wrath
7:08
on them, they will know that I, the Lord, have spoken in my
7:14
zeal. I will make you a rune and a
7:18
reproach among nations around you in the sight of all who pass
7:22
by. You will be a reproach and a
7:26
taunt, a warning and an object of horror to the nations around
7:30
you. When I inflict punishment on you
7:32
in anger and in wrath, and with stinging rebuke, I, the Lord,
7:39
have spoken. When I shoot at you with my
7:42
deadly and destructive arrows of famine, I will shoot to destroy
7:47
you. I will bring more and more
7:51
famine upon you, and cut off your supply of food.
7:56
I will send famine and wild beasts against you, and they
8:00
will leave you childless. Plague and bloodshed will sweep
8:04
through you, and I will bring the sword against you.
8:08
I, the Lord, have spoken. That's the end of chapter 5.
8:12
I mean, these are not very encouraging words that Ezekiel
8:16
is saying to the people of Israel, but God has told him to
8:22
do this, to say these things. So I'm going to read the study,
8:27
Bibles, questions and answers and then talk about the other
8:29
things that I looked up. So why did God tell Ezekiel to
8:34
shave his head with with a sword?
8:36
The sword, a symbol of warfare and death, was often used to put
8:39
to poetically depict God's judgement when His laws were
8:42
violated. For Ezekiel to shave his head, a
8:48
sign of shame in that culture with a sword, left no doubt that
8:52
he was predicting A shameful death for the people of
8:54
Jerusalem. Why was Ezekiel to save a few
8:58
strands of hair? The hair in verse 2 represented
9:02
people, some killed in the destruction of Jerusalem, others
9:07
killed as they tried to flee. The hair scattered to the wind,
9:11
virtually impossible to reclaim, represented those taken into
9:15
captivity to foreign lands. They were shattered and left
9:19
with little hope. Yet when Ezekiel tucked a few
9:24
strands of hair into his clothing, he was picturing God's
9:27
plan to keep a few people safe throughout the time of judgment.
9:32
God would bring back a remnant so they could serve Him again,
9:38
and we'll talk about that in Revelations Chapter 7 and 14
9:42
because that is also another future one, the 144,000 from
9:48
Israel that God has as a remnant, that He preserves as a
9:52
remnant in the very end times. What were the detestable idols
9:59
and practices spoken up here? The idols were small wooden or
10:02
stone images of Pagan deities like Bale, Astarte and various
10:08
fertility gods. Now we need to be careful
10:11
because if you look up the pictures of these ancient gods
10:15
like Bale, Astarte, and fertility gods, you will see
10:19
some current. You will notice, if you pay
10:21
attention, you will notice this happening in modern day.
10:25
They're, they haven't gone away. They're still here today.
10:28
And that brings concern to me because as a world, these fake
10:35
deities or probably fallen angels are, are still around
10:40
today and God is not done with it.
10:43
There is going to come upon them and those who worship them.
10:49
There's going to be the wrath of God.
10:51
And I think this is a strong warning and something that if we
10:56
could open people's eyes to this, to spare them from the
11:01
wrath of God. So the study Bible continues to
11:05
say that, you know, these idols, they were carried, worn or put
11:08
in various places in people's homes, altars or temples were
11:12
often built to pray and sacrifice to these idols.
11:16
These detestable practices often included ritual prostitution and
11:22
child sacrifice. So I, I think this is actually
11:29
more of a spiritual thing. It's the spirits from the
11:32
heavenly realms that it says that we don't fight against
11:35
flesh and blood, but against the spiritual forces in the heavenly
11:38
realms and the principalities of darkness.
11:40
I think that's really what is influencing people to do these
11:45
things. And they are like eternal
11:48
beings. They've been around from ancient
11:51
times and they're still here today.
11:53
They take on different forms because it's a spiritual
11:56
influence, but they haven't gone away yet.
12:01
So how was Judah worse than Pagan nations around her?
12:04
Apparently, Judah's behavior fell short even of Pagan
12:07
standards. But her sin was even worse for
12:10
two other reasons. First, God has chosen Israel to
12:14
be a special people with whom he shared covenant love.
12:19
Israel was privileged in the sight of the Lord and had
12:22
intimate knowledge of God. When Israel proclaimed her
12:26
covenant relationship with God and invoked His protection,
12:30
other nations feared and respected Israel.
12:34
When Israel turned away from God, she lost her
12:37
distinctiveness and strength, becoming vulnerable to the
12:41
attack of the other nations. Second, when Israel sinned
12:45
against God, she provoked other nations to greater sin and
12:49
profanity against God's name. So instead of winning all
12:53
nations to God, the people of Israel became a stumbling block
12:57
to them. God's judgement was necessary to
13:00
halt such sin. Why include such horrific
13:05
details? Ezekiel's portrait of the
13:07
consequences of covenantal infidelity is lurid in its
13:12
detail. The picture of cannibalism is
13:15
found elsewhere in the prophets Jeremiah 19 verse 9, and is
13:20
portrayed in a threatening way in Leviticus 26 verse 29 and
13:25
Deuteronomy 2853 through 57. At the heart of the matter is
13:31
the absolutely hopeless position the people of God would find
13:35
themselves in as a result of their idolatry.
13:41
How would plague, famine, and sword cause them to acknowledge
13:45
God? The phrase they will know that
13:48
I, the Lord have spoken or a similar phrase occurs dozens of
13:52
times in Ezekiel. If the people would not respond
13:55
to God's invitation to repent, they would be taught by God's
14:00
actions. God reveals himself by acts of
14:04
judgement as well as salvation. I think that's something that we
14:08
can pay attention to also because God doesn't change.
14:12
So if the people, if we don't respond to God's invitation to
14:15
repent, we'll eventually be taught by God.
14:19
This is about the children of God.
14:21
I do think that there might be some people who, I mean there
14:26
definitely will be people who will not be in God's Kingdom and
14:29
they just reject God entirely and perhaps they prosper here on
14:35
earth there. There was an example that Jesus
14:36
gave of that with the man who was who could, who was in Hades,
14:42
I think, and he saw Abraham and Lazarus, the beggar and he was
14:48
in this place where he just wanted a drop of water on his
14:51
tongue because it was torment. And God said there's no way that
14:56
you can go from here to there. There's a great chasm that you
15:00
can't cross once you know, once you die, you are your placement
15:08
is, is set. And and so it's not good to be
15:14
unrepentant. God is very merciful.
15:16
He's slow to anger and he lets us have a certain number of
15:22
opportunities that only God knows.
15:24
And I think that kind of that fear of God kind of came to me
15:27
where I thought when I realized this and I read the Bible, I
15:31
realized like, I don't want to test God.
15:34
I don't want to see how many more opportunities I have to
15:37
continue to be rebellious when I know what God wants and it's not
15:43
worth it. Like I don't want to eliminate
15:45
myself from God's Kingdom because it would be my own doing
15:48
that would happen. I mean, people can't get mad at
15:50
God because he gives us opportunity after opportunity.
15:54
Like in my own life, I was never, you know, like I always
15:57
believed in God and I always felt good towards God.
16:01
Like I loved God, but I wasn't obedient and I didn't trust him
16:07
either. Those were those were my
16:08
struggles. I didn't trust him and I didn't
16:11
obey him, but that was something that I learned I probably
16:16
through reading the Bible, that I can trust Him and that
16:20
obedience to Him is actually just showing him that I love
16:23
him. And that's what Jesus said, You
16:25
know, if you love me, obey my commands.
16:28
That's the way that we show God that we love Him by being
16:31
obedient to Him. So did God punish out of anger?
16:36
Yes. But God's wrath was a righteous
16:38
1 and appropriate response to the people's lack of
16:42
faithfulness. When they abandoned God to trust
16:45
their own schemes or the gods of other nations, God became angry
16:49
with them. God's love for his people and
16:52
His desire that they trust Him remained the basis for His
16:57
wrath. It's very interesting that said
16:59
that his desire that they trust him when I just mentioned that
17:03
about how I was, that was the basis of his wrath.
17:05
So probably if I didn't turn around, I was going to be
17:09
facing, and I actually did face some severe consequences.
17:13
To me, I didn't experience death, but everything else, I
17:19
mean, as much as you could get to everything else around you
17:22
dying, not working out. Well, that did happen to me.
17:26
So in a sense I did, but not the ultimate way.
17:31
So I think that was God, you know, making it pretty well
17:35
known to me and that I needed to get right with God.
17:39
So I think that. Oh yeah, what I looked up.
17:43
So I was really curious after reading this chapter.
17:45
Like in the BC era, that's when this all happened.
17:49
Did Israel resort to cannibalism and says yes.
17:54
Ancient Israel during the BCA era and later experienced
17:59
instances of desperate cannibalism due to severe
18:03
famine, most notably described in the Hebrew Bible Second Kings
18:09
chapter 6, verses 28 through 29 during a siege of Samaria around
18:16
the 9th century BC, and famously by Josephus during the Roman
18:24
siege in Jerusalem in 70 CE. Though Josephus wrote in the 1st
18:32
century CE reflecting an earlier BC context of the siege
18:39
desperation, so says the historian.
18:41
Josephus vividly, vividly recounts the horrors of the
18:45
Roman siege, including instances where people driven by
18:50
starvation ate human flesh, even a mother eating her own son, a
18:55
dire consequence of prolonged siege warfare that affected the
19:00
region. So that was very disturbing.
19:05
And again, that I don't, I don't know if it says anything about
19:08
that in the future, but maybe that was a partial fulfillment
19:11
of prophecy because that did happen a couple different times.
19:15
And again, if it happened a couple different times in the
19:18
9th century and also 70-CE, then that would mean that this wasn't
19:26
the thing that God was going to do to go against them and would
19:32
never do it again because it's repeated.
19:34
So this is like a partial fulfillment of the prophecy that
19:39
was given to Ezekiel. So second Kings chapter 6 verses
19:43
28 through 29 describes a horrific event during a severe
19:48
famine in Samaria, which is the northern tribes of Israel, the
19:52
10 tribes where two women made a pact to eat their children.
19:56
One woman cooked and ate her son, but then hid her own son
20:00
when it was her turn, leading to her crying out to the king,
20:04
revealing the depths of desperation and judgement Israel
20:08
faced. The king was horrified, tearing
20:10
his clothes. As this cannibalism demonstrated
20:13
the extreme consequence of disobedience to God as
20:18
prophesied in Deuteronomy. So this was yeah.
20:27
So I actually read that verses Second Kings 628 verse 28 and
20:36
29. Then he asked her, what's the
20:39
matter? She answered, this woman said to
20:41
me, give up your son so we may eat him today.
20:45
Tomorrow we will eat my son. So we cooked my son and ate him.
20:50
The next day. I said to her, give up your son
20:53
so we may eat him. But she had hidden him.
20:57
So this was this was like, yeah, terrible stuff.
21:02
It's actually in the Bible, so who?
21:06
I wondered who was the king of Israel in the 9th century BCE.
21:10
This is interesting too because it was a really evil one.
21:13
In the 9th century BC, Israel had several kings, most notably
21:17
from the influential Amride dynasty, including Omri, his son
21:23
Ahab, and Ahab's son Ahaziah. Ahaziah I guess, who brought
21:31
stability and built Samaria as the capital before later rulers
21:35
like Jehu took power. These kings ruled the northern
21:38
Kingdom of Israel during a period of significant historical
21:42
development and biblical narrative.
21:44
Now these are Ahab was not good in the Bible you can read about
21:52
him. He was married to Jezebel.
21:54
A lot of people know the name Jezebel.
21:56
And she was like, I don't know, very against God.
22:02
She's even talked about in the Book of Revelation that God
22:05
would have, she could have been saved if she would repent.
22:07
And she never repented. And so she was, she was kind of
22:12
like this strong, bold woman who told her husband what to do.
22:16
And her husband was Ahab and he was king of Israel.
22:19
And if you want to look more about them and their
22:21
relationship, you can find it in the Bible.
22:23
But not favorably written about at all and very, very evil.
22:29
And God actually made Jehu come to power and his purpose was to
22:35
actually kill off Ahab's descendants, I believe.
22:40
And that was what he was. He kind of served as the wrath
22:43
of God because God just was not going to have it anymore.
22:46
So let's see the other thing or was a the seals.
22:53
OK, so there was I guess as I'm reading this and paying
23:01
attention to the the pattern that is created in scripture, it
23:10
brought me to Revelation chapter 6 which has the seals and what
23:15
happens during the seals? The first seal there is like a
23:19
conqueror. So in this vision that John has,
23:23
he talks about in Revelation chapter 6 verse 2, I looked in
23:28
there before me was a White Horse.
23:30
It's rider held a bow and he was given a crown and he rode out as
23:34
a conqueror bent on conquest. There's so many different
23:39
interpretations of the seals. And I just think that for most
23:43
of us, the important thing is to remember what the Bible says.
23:47
And then when we see these things, then just just, Nope,
23:52
just pay attention because there are lots of interpretations of
23:55
it. And when it finally happens, we
23:59
should recognize that if we know what they are.
24:00
So the number one's the White Horse and it's a conqueror.
24:05
So it's kind of like somebody dressed or not somebody dressed,
24:10
but the the horse is white. So seems like it's, you know,
24:15
the horses in other prophecy are actually spirits that go out
24:19
from God. It that's talked about like in
24:23
the Myrtle trees the and then them the spirits churning the
24:27
water. So these are spiritual
24:29
influences, the way I believe the horses, and you can look
24:34
into that further through the Bible.
24:37
The second one was a fiery red 1 and it's writer was given power
24:41
to take peace from the earth and to make people kill each other.
24:45
To him was given a large sword. So again, we're looking at
24:49
somebody conquering, which was what happened way back in
24:52
Ezekiel's time. There's a war, which is another
24:56
seal is like the seal. Again, I think these are
24:59
patterns that God uses and they are bringing about judgement.
25:03
And then interesting, the third seal is about famine.
25:08
So when the lamb opened the lamb, as Jesus opened the third
25:11
seal, I heard the third living creature say come.
25:15
I looked and there before me was a Black Horse.
25:18
It's writer was holding a pair of scales in his hand.
25:22
Then I heard what the what sounded like a voice among the
25:26
four living creatures saying 2 lbs of wheat for a day's wages
25:32
and 6 lbs of barley for a day's wages and do not damage the oil
25:39
and the wine. That's an interesting part of
25:42
the Scripture and you know, people are starting to apply it
25:46
to what's happening today. I have no idea if there's any
25:50
relation to that, but it's like just keep your eyes on what
25:53
Scripture says and maybe it does, maybe it doesn't.
25:57
We are certainly in a time of war that somewhat seems to have
26:02
started and when Russia and Ukraine started up in 2022 and
26:08
then Israel had October 7th of 2023 and it has just been
26:14
continuing. I saw a clip the other day where
26:18
Trump said something about he wasn't going to be he wasn't
26:21
going to bring about war. Now look at what has happened as
26:24
a result of everything that's going on in the world.
26:27
So it, it didn't seem like that was his intention and he is
26:32
trying to establish peace, but it's, you know, war is coming
26:38
with that. And, and what Jesus said was
26:40
that there's going to be wars and rumors of wars and that
26:43
that'll continue all the way up till the end.
26:46
So I don't know if we're going to have a reprieve of peace, but
26:49
if we do, it's going to be very shortly lived.
26:52
Because Scripture also says that when they say peace or peace and
26:57
safety or peace and security, then comes sudden destruction.
27:01
So we can't be comfortable in the sense that think, oh, it's
27:07
going to go back to normal because I don't believe that it
27:11
is. Well, I guess maybe it could.
27:13
Maybe the time of peace would be, well, just the Bible says
27:18
when they say peace and safety, then comes sudden destruction.
27:23
So I don't know how long. If there is a peace that gets
27:26
established and we do live in peace again, I don't know how
27:29
long it will be, but what the Bible does say is that suddenly
27:34
something will come. So we just need to stay prepared
27:39
and recognize some of the signs. Jesus gave us these signs to pay
27:43
attention to, and that's kind of why I'm talking about it.
27:45
And we see patterns through Ezekiel as well.
27:49
So then the 4th, the 4th seal that was opened, it said.
27:53
I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say come.
27:56
I looked in there before me was a pale horse.
27:58
It's rider was named Death and Hades was following close behind
28:02
him. They were given power over a
28:06
fourth of the earth to kill by sword, famine, plague, and by
28:13
the wild beasts of the earth. So that's at the 4th seal and
28:20
that has not happened as far as I'm aware of.
28:26
It says 1/4 of the Earth. That's kind of a lot of people
28:30
to be killed by sword famine and plague.
28:33
With the war threats that are going on, though, you know, if,
28:38
if and especially with nuclear capacities, that is something
28:43
that we need to at least be aware of that that could happen.
28:48
Not that we want it to happen, but what that should do for all
28:53
of us is that we should have a sense of urgency about getting
28:57
right with God. Because if it does come on
29:00
suddenly and unexpectedly and there is this prophecy, about
29:05
1/4 of the earth will be killed by sword, famine and plague and
29:10
the wild beasts of the earth. This in Revelation is not
29:13
talking about just Israel, it's talking about the earth.
29:17
So I think we need to be spiritually prepared and be
29:25
right with God so that if and when, if it comes in our
29:30
lifetime or when it comes if it's way into the future, that
29:34
we don't have anything to worry about.
29:36
Because if we are right with God, if we have repented and we
29:41
believe in Jesus and we have the Holy Spirit, we're fine.
29:45
As you may have paid attention to, even when God was putting
29:50
was telling Ezekiel to enact these things about the people of
29:54
Israel, there was that remnant that he spared.
29:59
And God's children are not appointed to wrath.
30:03
So if we are right with God, God has the supernatural capacity to
30:09
protect us. Now that that's just something
30:15
that, you know, we have to trust in God for that.
30:17
And even if just like Daniel, Daniel's friends, Shadrach,
30:23
Meshach and Abednego said when they were going to be thrown
30:26
into the furnace by King Nebuchadnezzar, they said even
30:30
if he doesn't save us from this, that they would, you know, they
30:35
would still honor him. I can't really remember what
30:37
they actually said now that I that came to mind though.
30:40
But they were not fearful of it. They just went into it.
30:43
And actually, I think it might have been Jesus, what they call
30:47
a theophany, where he appears and is seen in the Bible before
30:52
his, you know, birth through Mary.
30:56
But there were, because it said there were.
30:59
The king Nebuchadnezzar looked into the furnace and he saw that
31:02
there were four men walking. And he said to everyone, he
31:05
said, wait, didn't we just put three people in there?
31:08
That was Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego.
31:10
And they said, yes, he goes, well, I see four there and one
31:14
looks like the son of the Son of God or the son, something like
31:18
that, to that effect, like an Angel or the son of God.
31:21
So that's why I think it might have been Jesus.
31:24
But anyway, what the ultimate thing that happened was they
31:28
came out of that furnace and that furnace when the soldiers
31:31
were throwing them into, they had people dying because the
31:34
heat was so hot. But these people, these three
31:38
people came out, they had none of their clothes, singed, they
31:43
nothing, they didn't even smell like fire.
31:46
And they came out of it. And that was like a huge miracle
31:51
back in that time. It would be in our time too.
31:54
But Nebuchadnezzar then made these laws about the gods that
31:58
Daniel worshipped. So he just said, you know, if
32:02
anyone comes against them, you know, they can't.
32:05
Like he realized the strength of God.
32:07
God and Nebuchadnezzar had an interesting relationship.
32:11
And I'm not, I don't know if Nebuchadnezzar got saved or not
32:14
through his relationship with God.
32:17
God certainly used him. And he also told Nebuchadnezzar
32:21
that, you know, he had a lot of pride and he needed to get over
32:26
that. And God warned him about that.
32:28
And he just was too much pride of himself.
32:33
And so God gave him the mind of like an insane person and he
32:37
went out and ate with animals and all the stuff for a period
32:40
of time until he was ready to acknowledge that God was God and
32:49
he wasn't. And so I don't know at that
32:51
point if Nebuchadnezzar, when he was able to say that God was
32:55
God, the supreme being, I don't know if he actually was saved at
32:59
that point, like if that was the God that he believed in or if he
33:01
still believed in other gods. We won't know the answer to
33:05
that, but just an interesting thought.
33:08
But God, really, it just shows God's mercy and how he works
33:12
with someone. I can't imagine that God would
33:14
go through all of that. Maybe he would just so that he
33:18
would proclaim God to be the true God and that to be
33:23
sovereign. He brings people through.
33:27
He humbles people. God does do this.
33:29
He humbles people in order to get them to turn to him.
33:32
So perhaps Nebuchadnezzar turned to God.
33:35
I didn't, you know, I don't know.
33:39
Anyway, let's see what else is there.
33:42
We oh, oh, OK, maybe I'll go a little bit further on the seals
33:46
because we don't have like that seal is definitely as far as I
33:50
know, not opened because a fourth of the earth has not been
33:55
killed by sword flamin and plague and the wild beast, at
33:58
least as far as I know. But then there's like the 5th
34:01
seal and it says I saw under the altar the souls of those who had
34:04
been slain because of the word of God and the testimony that
34:08
had made they had maintained, we do know that people are being
34:13
beheaded in 2025. They were and probably still are
34:21
in some areas because of their faith and their testimony about
34:27
Jesus. And so this does talk about this
34:31
in a future time and, and some of these things, I wonder
34:34
actually if the seals are just, you know, they open, but then
34:37
they may be like layered upon layer upon layer and they just
34:42
like there's just more and more that starts happening.
34:46
I don't know. But after the 5th seal or during
34:51
the 5th seal, verse 10 says they call that in a loud voice.
34:54
How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the
34:57
inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood.
35:00
Then each of them was given a white robe, and they were told
35:02
to wait a little longer, until a full number of their servants,
35:06
their brothers and sisters, were killed just as they had been.
35:09
I watched as he opened the 6th seal.
35:12
There was a great earthquake. The sun turned black like
35:16
sackcloth made of goat hair, The whole moon turned blood red, and
35:19
the stars in the sky fell to the earth as figs drop from a fig
35:24
tree when shaken by a strong wind.
35:25
The heavens receded like a scroll being rolled up, and
35:29
every mountain island was removed from his place.
35:31
Then the kings, the earth, the Princess of the generals, the
35:34
rich, the mighty, and everyone else, both slave and free,
35:37
hidden caves. And among the rocks of the
35:39
mountains they called to the mountains.
35:41
And the rocks fall US and hide us from the face of him who sits
35:46
on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb.
35:51
For the great day of their wrath has come, and who can withstand
35:54
it? So if those seals have opened,
35:59
the 6th seal is when Jesus returns according to this,
36:06
that's when the wrath of God will be.
36:07
So pay attention. Get to know Revelation chapter 6
36:11
because pay attention to the signs.
36:13
It seems like some of those things are happening.
36:16
You know when we talked about Ezekiel tucking away some of the
36:21
hairs that he cut off and sparing some, that was God's
36:24
symbol about having a remnant. There is a remnant of Israel and
36:31
that's in Revelation Chapter 7 that talks about it.
36:35
It says after this I saw this is John's vision that he saw.
36:40
After this I saw 4 angels standing at the four corners of
36:43
the earth holding back the four winds of the earth to prevent
36:46
any wind from blowing on the land or on the sea or on any
36:49
tree. Then I saw another Angel coming
36:52
up from the east having the seal of the living God.
36:56
He called out a loud voice to the four angels who had been
37:00
given power to harm the land and the sea.
37:05
Do not harm the land or the sea or the trees until we put a seal
37:11
on the foreheads of the servants of our God.
37:15
See, this is where there's protection.
37:17
This is the remnant. So God does something
37:21
supernaturally that quote seals. Maybe it's the Holy Spirit
37:24
coming to these people because that is that is the seal that we
37:29
receive from God, the Holy Spirit.
37:31
Then I heard the number of those who were sealed, 144,000 from
37:36
all the tribes of Israel. So it mentions all the tribes
37:41
that were. There were 12,000 from 12
37:44
tribes, the tribes of Judah, Gad, Asher, Naftali, Manasseh,
37:49
Simeon, Levi, Issachar, Zebulon, Joseph and Benjamin.
37:56
The interesting thing is that the tribe of Dan is not
37:58
mentioned. So I'd be that I don't
38:03
understand. But then also in chapter 14 of
38:06
Revelation, the 144,000 are talked about again, and this
38:12
says, then I looked and there before me was the Lamb, which is
38:16
Jesus standing on Mount Zion, and with Him 144,000 who had His
38:21
name and His Father's name written on their foreheads.
38:25
They were sealed right, and I heard the sound from heaven like
38:29
the roar of rushing waters and like a loud peal of Thunder.
38:33
The sound I heard was like that of harpist playing their harps.
38:37
And they sang a new song before the throne and before the four
38:42
living creatures and the elders. No one could learn the song
38:46
except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth.
38:52
These are those who did not defile themselves with women,
38:56
for they remained virgins. They follow the Lamb wherever he
39:00
goes. They were purchased from among
39:02
mankind and offered as first fruits to God and the Lamb.
39:07
No lie was found in their mouths.
39:09
They are blameless. So we don't know who those are
39:13
going to be, but it's showing again that God is preserving the
39:20
the people and he has done this in Zechariah chapter 13 verse 8,
39:26
he talks about 1/3 also. He says in the whole land
39:31
declares the Lord 2/3 will be struck down and perish, yet 1/3
39:37
will be left in it. So that's a little bit
39:41
different. That's the 1/3 is the the
39:45
remnant in that situation and that's what I looked at in the
39:52
seals. It talks about, you know, a 1/4
39:55
of the people on the earth would perish.
39:58
That's the thing that the number that was kind of quantified in
40:02
the seals of Chapter 6 of Revelation.
40:05
When we get to the trumpets, it starts talking about 1/3. 1/3 is
40:12
repeated over and over and over again it during the trumpets.
40:16
Most of it has to do with the land, but then there is a part
40:20
on the people also and I think I had that called up.
40:26
Yes. OK so in Revelation Chapter 9 it
40:35
it talks about and the four angels who had been kept ready
40:39
for this very hour and day and month and year were released to
40:45
kill 1/3 of mankind. Now that happens in Revelation
40:50
Chapter 9 verse 15 and it says 1/3 of mankind was killed by
40:59
three plagues of fire, smoke and sulfur that came out of their
41:05
mouths. So this is talking about that
41:12
was the 6th Angel who had the trumpet and released the four
41:18
angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates.
41:22
So that is that is something that happens during the
41:25
trumpets. That's during, I believe the
41:28
trumpets are the wrath of God. I don't believe that's
41:33
tribulation. I believe it's the wrath of God.
41:35
And we will, we will see. And I think that's, let's see in
41:44
Revelation 4. No, that's not about 1/3.
41:47
So those were things that related in, you know,
41:51
Revelation, I think 18 it talks about, I think I'm jumping ahead
42:02
here, Revelation, no, Revelation 9, it's Revelation 9, verse 18
42:08
about the third of mankind. And there were three plagues and
42:13
that was fire, smoke and sulfur. That's different than what
42:16
Ezekiel had because he had plague, famine and sword.
42:22
But can you see the pattern? There's these patterns that that
42:27
God established. Actually, I guess the plague is
42:30
famine is considered part of the plague.
42:31
I need to restate that. So there were in Ezekiel, it was
42:37
the plague and famine, the same thing together, and then the
42:41
sword, our war, and then the other third would be scattered
42:46
to the winds and pursued with a sword.
42:48
So they are different. That's why I think Ezekiel was
42:52
talking about something that was fulfilled, but also setting
42:55
forth a pattern for the future. And there's some things that
43:00
Ezekiel talks about that do seem like they are not from his time,
43:07
but they are for the future. And we'll probably get more into
43:10
that, chapters 6:00 and 7:00. So this is the end of Chapter 5,
43:16
and we'll continue next with Chapter 6.