the Word of God - A Survey of the Bible - Part Sixteen - P Aug 04, 2019 by: John Herbert | Series: The Word of God - A Survey of the Bible Audio Study Notes PDF https://s3.amazonaws.com/cornerstonejax/sermonfiles/T004_20190804.mp3 Refresh A Recap from the Sermon Mt 24:14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come. We will continue to search out the identity of those who will preach this gospel of the Kingdom prior to the end of the Age. The full text of this message can be found by clicking the PDF button. Sunday August 4th 2019 The Word of God A Survey of the Bible – Lesson 16P ‘Let Us Go On’ 1). Nu 13:1 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Send men to spy out the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the children of Israel; from each tribe of their fathers you shall send a man, every one a leader among them.” Jos 2:1 Now Joshua the son of Nun sent out two men from Acacia Grove to spy secretly, saying, “Go, view the land, especially Jericho.” Israel, as we know, has been adopted as God’s firstborn son for the purpose of both ruling over and blessing the Gentile nations. This is something that will be fulfilled during the Millennial Kingdom and is foreshadowed in the types seen in Numbers and Joshua. a). And what we see in these types, in anticipation of Israel exercising the rights of the firstborn, is that ‘spies’ were sent into the occupied land ahead of the entire nation that would follow – at Kadesh Barnea there was failure and following Jericho there was only limited success. b). But, what is set out in these types shows us that in that future day there will be a particular group of Jews who will be sent into the kingdom of the Antichrist, pictured through Jericho and its king, who will have interaction with the inhabitants of that kingdom with salvation and deliverance in view, just as we saw with Rahab at Jericho – Jos 6:17 Now the city shall be doomed by the Lord to destruction, it and all who are in it. Only Rahab the harlot shall live, she and all who are with her in the house, because she hid the messengers that we sent. And last week we had begun the task of putting together the antitype for that seen at Jericho by going to the conversation the Lord had with His disciples on the Mount of Olives recorded in Matthew Chapter 24 – Mt 24:3 Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?” We may recall that within the Lord’s answer to the disciples’ question He specifically dealt with 3 groups of people. Firstly, the Jews, then Christians and then the Gentiles. c). And it is in the Jewish section of His answer that we found this in v14 Mt 24:14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come. The context for this verse places the timing for the proclamation of the ‘gospel of the Kingdom’ immediately prior to the end of the Tribulation, immediately prior to the end of Daniel’s 70th week, immediately prior to the end of the age. And this would place the proclamation of this gospel firmly within the final 3 ½ years of Man’s Day, that which we call the Great Tribulation. d). We had also noted that the gospel of the Kingdom is the good news that was proclaimed during the Lord’s earthly ministry, firstly by John the Baptist and then by the Lord Himself and the 12, and was entirely Jewish in its context e). And we had seen that the gospel of the Kingdom proclaimed at the Lord’s first advent is a different message to that which Paul proclaimed to the Church, which Scripture calls the gospel of the glory of Christ. f). The gospel of the Kingdom has to do with the Kingdom being ‘at hand’, whereas the gospel of the glory of Christ has to do with Christians being an heir to God’s promise to Abraham ‘in Christ’ and the revelation of the unsearchable riches of Christ in a time when the Kingdom is not ‘at hand’ – Eph 3:3 how that by revelation He made known to me the mystery (as I have briefly written already, 4 by which, when you read, you may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ), 5 which in other ages was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to His holy apostles and prophets: 6 that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, of the same body, and partakers of His promise in Christ through the gospel, 7 of which I became a minister according to the gift of the grace of God given to me by the effective working of His power.8 To me, who am less than the least of all the saints, this grace was given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, 9 and to make all see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the ages has been hidden in God who created all things through Jesus Christ; The gospel of the glory of Christ, that has to do with the mystery revealed to Paul, was given to him by the Lord after Paul had been taken into the 3rd heaven for the specific purpose of being taught the message he was then to take to the Gentile nations at the beginning of this dispensation. A message that should continue to be proclaimed to the eternally saved until the dispensation comes to a close. g). Now, although Paul had sat ‘at the feet of Gamaliel’, a great teacher of the Law, and was well trained in the Scriptures, it was still necessary for the Lord to teach him, from those same Scriptures the message he was then to preach. h). So, in order to accomplish this, Paul was removed from Satan’s kingdom into a place of safety from which he then returned after 3 years to preach the gospel of the glory of Christ which he had been taught. i). Paul’s experience in this sets in place a pattern, but this is not the first time this pattern is introduced – Mt 2:13 Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, “Arise, take the young Child and His mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I bring you word; for Herod will seek the young Child to destroy Him.” 14 When he arose, he took the young Child and His mother by night and departed for Egypt, 15 and was there until the death of Herod, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying, “Out of Egypt I called My Son.” Following the birth of Jesus He was removed from Herod’s jurisdiction as Herod – Mt 2:16…………sent forth and put to death all the male children who were in Bethlehem and in all its districts, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had determined from the wise men. The Lord was taken to a place of safety within a Gentile nation, Egypt, from which He later returned to preach the gospel of the Kingdom for 3 ½ years before His crucifixion – so then, the Lord was taken to a place of safety from which He returned to preach the gospel of the Kingdom and Paul was taken to a place of safety to be taught the gospel of the glory of Christ which he then returned to preach. j). These are things we will want to keep in mind as we continue. k). So then, if we begin to put all this together, as we look to that future day we should expect to see a particular group of Jews who will be taken to a place of safety to be taught the gospel of the Kingdom which they will then take to the Gentile nations throughout the kingdom of the Antichrist during the last 3 ½ years of the Great Tribulation with salvation and deliverance in view – exactly that pictured at Jericho and pictured through the pattern seen at the Lord’s birth prior to His ministry and at Paul’s conversion prior to his ministry. 2). Isa 66:7 “Before she was in labor, she gave birth; Before her pain came, She delivered a male child. 8 Who has heard such a thing? Who has seen such things? Shall the earth be made to give birth in one day? Or shall a nation be born at once? For as soon as Zion was in labor, She gave birth to her children. Isaiah prophesied concerning those who will comprise that particular group of Jews, calling them here ‘a male child’. And as we look at these verses let’s be sure to note the timings. a). The ‘she’ in v7 is the nation of Israel and in this verse, we are told that before Israel is in labor, she will give birth to the male child. Then at the end of v8, Zion, identifying the ‘she’ from v7 – Israel, is seen in labor and then giving birth ‘to her children’ – there is the birth of the ‘male child’ and then the birth of ‘her children’. That seen at the end of v8 then in ‘her children’ is Israel at the end of the Tribulation when the nation is ‘born at once’ – the entire nation repentant and restored – born out of the pain of the Tribulation. b). Let’s note again – Israel is to be ‘born at once’ at the end of the Tribulation, but before the ‘birthing’ of the whole nation, a male child is to be born first - Rev 12:1 Now a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a garland of twelve stars. 2 Then being with child, she cried out in labor and in pain to give birth. 3 And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great, fiery red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and seven diadems on his heads. 4 His tail drew a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was ready to give birth, to devour her Child as soon as it was born. 5 She bore a male Child who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron. And her Child was caught up to God and His throne. 6 Then the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, that they should feed her there one thousand two hundred and sixty days. And here in Revelation Chapter 12 is the birth of the ‘male child’ prophesied in Isaiah 66:7. We had looked at v1-5 last time, but let’s review for a moment. c). The ‘woman’ is the nation of Israel, pictured here through the use of metaphors to show her impending role of rulership. The woman being clothed with the sun pictures the primary ruling power, as seen in the great light to rule the day in Genesis Chapter 1. The moon under her feet pictures the Gentile kingdoms over which Israel will rule during the Millennium, with the crown of 12 stars also pointing to regality and government. d). And as we look at these verses let us consider the timings of the events we find there - Prior to the male child being born we see in v4 that the dragon’s tail ‘drew a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth’. Metaphor is used throughout here and so the third of the stars of heaven is not a reference to the stars in the night sky, but the third of the angels who rebelled with the one pictured as the dragon - And we can see this explained to us a little later in the same chapter – Rev 12:7 And war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, 8 but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer. 9 So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. Here we clearly see Satan and his angels removed from the heavens and thrown down to the earth, an event that happens slightly before the mid-point in the Tribulation. It is an event that happens before the birth of the male child and before the woman flees into the wilderness. An event that sees the Antichrist becoming the world wide ruler he set out to be having then been given Satan’s power, throne and great authority – Rev 13:1 Then I stood on the sand of the sea. And I saw a beast rising up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and on his horns ten crowns, and on his heads a blasphemous name. 2 Now the beast which I saw was like a leopard, his feet were like the feet of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion. The dragon gave him his power, his throne, and great authority. And again, if we go back to the timings, we see the birth of the male child, the male child being ‘caught up to God and His throne’ and the woman fleeing into the wilderness, all happening within a very short period of time both before, during and after the mid-point in the Tribulation - Mt 24:15 “Therefore when you see the ‘abomination of desolation,’ spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place” (whoever reads, let him understand), 16 “then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. 17 Let him who is on the housetop not go down to take anything out of his house. 18 And let him who is in the field not go back to get his clothes. 19 But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! 20 And pray that your flight may not be in winter or on the Sabbath. 21 For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be. Matthew 24:15 parallels Revelation 13:2 when the Beast will be given Satan’s power, throne and great authority. Having been given these 3 things, thereby realizing his worldwide dominion, the Beast is then seen entering the Temple in Jerusalem, declaring himself to be God – this is the ‘abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet’. e). And when this happens the Jewish people are told to ‘flee to the mountains’, not stopping to take anything with them. And this flight to the mountains parallels the woman’s flight into the wilderness in Revelation Chapter 12. In both instances we should not understand the mountains and the wilderness in a literal way but figuratively, with the mountains referring to the surrounding Gentile nations and the wilderness referring to that which is not the land of Israel – the surrounding Gentile nations into which Israel is told to flee. And the reason why the Jewish people should not stay in their land when these events transpire is made clear to us in Luke’s Gospel – Lk 21:20 “But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation is near. 21 Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, let those who are in the midst of her depart, and let not those who are in the country enter her. 22 For these are the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled. 23 But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! For there will be great distress in the land and wrath upon this people. 24 And they will fall by the edge of the sword, and be led away captive into all nations. And Jerusalem will be trampled by Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled. And further commentary on these events is given to us as we continue in Revelation Chapter 12 – Rev 12:13 Now when the dragon saw that he had been cast to the earth, he persecuted the woman who gave birth to the male Child. 14 But the woman was given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness to her place, where she is nourished for a time and times and half a time [3 ½ years], from the presence of the serpent. 15 So the serpent spewed water out of his mouth like a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away by the flood. 16 But the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed up the flood which the dragon had spewed out of his mouth. 17 And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with the remnant of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. Now the remnant of the woman’s offspring ‘who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ’ cannot be a reference to the nation of Israel as a whole, who will be in the process of fleeing into the Gentile nations, as they remain in unbelief until the nation is ‘born’ at the end of the Tribulation. So, the remnant who ‘have the testimony of Jesus Christ’ is synonymous with the male child. They are one and the same. f). So, who comprise the remnant, the male child and how can they be said to ‘keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ’ at this mid-point in the Tribulation and how is Israel seen to give birth to them? g). Well, the very first and obvious thing we would need to settle is that those comprising the remnant were not saved before the resurrection/rapture of the church, because if that were the case they would have become part of the one new man in Christ and would have been raptured at the same time as all other Christians. So, that which the remnant will hear, that results in their eternal salvation, can only be heard by them after the resurrection/rapture of the church, after the Tribulation has begun – Rev 11:3 And I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy one thousand two hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth.”………..6 These have power to shut heaven, so that no rain falls in the days of their prophecy; and they have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to strike the earth with all plagues, as often as they desire. We have seen in previous studies that the miraculous signs attributed to the 2 witnesses parallel those performed by Elijah and Moses, giving us the identity of the 2 witnesses. And this would make perfect sense in that Moses and Elijah represent the Law and the prophets, the whole of the OT Scriptures. h). And so, it is the witness of the OT Scriptures proclaimed by the 2 witnesses that progressively brings those who will comprise the male child, the remnant, to eternal salvation during the one thousand two hundred and sixty days [3 ½ years] of the witnesses’ ministry – a time that will take us again to the mid-point in the Tribulation. i). At the end of the 3 ½ years the 2 witnesses are killed, and their bodies left in the streets of Jerusalem for 3 ½ days – one day for each year of their ministry. At the end of the 3 ½ days the 2 witnesses are resurrected – Rev 11:11 Now after the three-and-a-half days the breath of life from God entered them, and they stood on their feet, and great fear fell on those who saw them. 12 And they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, “Come up here.” And they ascended to heaven in a cloud, and their enemies saw them. 13 In the same hour there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell. In the earthquake seven thousand people were killed, and the remnant were afraid and gave glory to the God of heaven. Following the ascension of the 2 witnesses, but not necessarily within the same 60-minute window, we see ‘a great earthquake’ – a phrase that often causes confusion. The Greek word translated ‘earthquake’ is the Greek word ‘seismos’, which simply means a ‘shaking’. There is nothing in the word itself that has anything to do with what we would understand the word earthquake to mean. j). In Revelation Chapter 11 we see this great ‘seismos’ occurring immediately following the resurrection of the 2 witnesses, at the mid-point in the Tribulation, the time when we also saw the Antichrist entering the Temple and declaring himself to be God. So, keeping in mind the context for this ‘seismos’ we can now turn to Luke’s Gospel to find it explained – Lk 21: 24 And they will fall by the edge of the sword, and be led away captive into all nations. And Jerusalem will be trampled by Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.25 “And there will be signs in the sun, in the moon, and in the stars; and on the earth distress of nations, with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring; 26 men's hearts failing them from fear and the expectation of those things which are coming on the earth, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. It is then a great shaking of ‘the powers of the heavens’, including Antichrist’s kingdom, that we are looking at pictured in the great ‘seismos’. k). And if we go back to the effects of the great ‘seismos’ seen in Revelation Chapter 11 - In the same hour there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell. In the earthquake seven thousand people were killed, and the remnant were afraid and gave glory to the God of heaven. We would need to look at the use of the numbers 10, a tenth of the city, and 7, seven thousand people were killed, as numbers having to do with completeness rather than being literal – a tenth of the city gives us the complete destruction of Jerusalem, which we know happens at the mid-point in the Tribulation, and the 7000 killed, the complete death, captivity and flight of the Jewish people that coincides with Jerusalem’s destruction. And this is what we have already seen in Luke Chapter 21: 24 And they will fall by the edge of the sword, and be led away captive into all nations. And Jerusalem will be trampled by Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled. And given these circumstances it will be no wonder that the remnant, the male child will be terrified. But we will note that despite these cataclysmic events and the fear that grips them the remnant, the male child ‘gave glory to the God of heaven’. l). And again, given the circumstances, it will be no wonder that the male child will be ‘caught up to God and His throne’, removed to a place of safety. 3). Rev 6:12 I looked when He opened the sixth seal, and behold, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became like blood. 13 And the stars of heaven fell to the earth, as a fig tree drops its late figs when it is shaken by a mighty wind. 14 Then the sky receded as a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island was moved out of its place. 15 And the kings of the earth, the great men, the rich men, the commanders, the mighty men, every slave and every free man, hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains, 16 and said to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! 17 For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?” 7:1 After these things I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, on the sea, or on any tree. 2 Then I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God. And he cried with a loud voice to the four angels to whom it was granted to harm the earth and the sea, 3 saying, “Do not harm the earth, the sea, or the trees till we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads.” 4 And I heard the number of those who were sealed. One hundred and forty-four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel were sealed: Here is the male child, but this will have to wait until next time – if the Lord is willing. the Word of God - A Survey of the Bible - Part Sixteen - P Aug 04, 2019 Speaker: John Herbert Series: The Word of God - A Survey of the Bible Category: Sunday Morning https://s3.amazonaws.com/cornerstonejax/sermonfiles/T004_20190804.mp3 Download Audio x
Refresh A Recap from the Sermon Mt 24:14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come. We will continue to search out the identity of those who will preach this gospel of the Kingdom prior to the end of the Age. The full text of this message can be found by clicking the PDF button. Sunday August 4th 2019 The Word of God A Survey of the Bible – Lesson 16P ‘Let Us Go On’ 1). Nu 13:1 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Send men to spy out the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the children of Israel; from each tribe of their fathers you shall send a man, every one a leader among them.” Jos 2:1 Now Joshua the son of Nun sent out two men from Acacia Grove to spy secretly, saying, “Go, view the land, especially Jericho.” Israel, as we know, has been adopted as God’s firstborn son for the purpose of both ruling over and blessing the Gentile nations. This is something that will be fulfilled during the Millennial Kingdom and is foreshadowed in the types seen in Numbers and Joshua. a). And what we see in these types, in anticipation of Israel exercising the rights of the firstborn, is that ‘spies’ were sent into the occupied land ahead of the entire nation that would follow – at Kadesh Barnea there was failure and following Jericho there was only limited success. b). But, what is set out in these types shows us that in that future day there will be a particular group of Jews who will be sent into the kingdom of the Antichrist, pictured through Jericho and its king, who will have interaction with the inhabitants of that kingdom with salvation and deliverance in view, just as we saw with Rahab at Jericho – Jos 6:17 Now the city shall be doomed by the Lord to destruction, it and all who are in it. Only Rahab the harlot shall live, she and all who are with her in the house, because she hid the messengers that we sent. And last week we had begun the task of putting together the antitype for that seen at Jericho by going to the conversation the Lord had with His disciples on the Mount of Olives recorded in Matthew Chapter 24 – Mt 24:3 Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?” We may recall that within the Lord’s answer to the disciples’ question He specifically dealt with 3 groups of people. Firstly, the Jews, then Christians and then the Gentiles. c). And it is in the Jewish section of His answer that we found this in v14 Mt 24:14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come. The context for this verse places the timing for the proclamation of the ‘gospel of the Kingdom’ immediately prior to the end of the Tribulation, immediately prior to the end of Daniel’s 70th week, immediately prior to the end of the age. And this would place the proclamation of this gospel firmly within the final 3 ½ years of Man’s Day, that which we call the Great Tribulation. d). We had also noted that the gospel of the Kingdom is the good news that was proclaimed during the Lord’s earthly ministry, firstly by John the Baptist and then by the Lord Himself and the 12, and was entirely Jewish in its context e). And we had seen that the gospel of the Kingdom proclaimed at the Lord’s first advent is a different message to that which Paul proclaimed to the Church, which Scripture calls the gospel of the glory of Christ. f). The gospel of the Kingdom has to do with the Kingdom being ‘at hand’, whereas the gospel of the glory of Christ has to do with Christians being an heir to God’s promise to Abraham ‘in Christ’ and the revelation of the unsearchable riches of Christ in a time when the Kingdom is not ‘at hand’ – Eph 3:3 how that by revelation He made known to me the mystery (as I have briefly written already, 4 by which, when you read, you may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ), 5 which in other ages was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to His holy apostles and prophets: 6 that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, of the same body, and partakers of His promise in Christ through the gospel, 7 of which I became a minister according to the gift of the grace of God given to me by the effective working of His power.8 To me, who am less than the least of all the saints, this grace was given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, 9 and to make all see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the ages has been hidden in God who created all things through Jesus Christ; The gospel of the glory of Christ, that has to do with the mystery revealed to Paul, was given to him by the Lord after Paul had been taken into the 3rd heaven for the specific purpose of being taught the message he was then to take to the Gentile nations at the beginning of this dispensation. A message that should continue to be proclaimed to the eternally saved until the dispensation comes to a close. g). Now, although Paul had sat ‘at the feet of Gamaliel’, a great teacher of the Law, and was well trained in the Scriptures, it was still necessary for the Lord to teach him, from those same Scriptures the message he was then to preach. h). So, in order to accomplish this, Paul was removed from Satan’s kingdom into a place of safety from which he then returned after 3 years to preach the gospel of the glory of Christ which he had been taught. i). Paul’s experience in this sets in place a pattern, but this is not the first time this pattern is introduced – Mt 2:13 Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, “Arise, take the young Child and His mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I bring you word; for Herod will seek the young Child to destroy Him.” 14 When he arose, he took the young Child and His mother by night and departed for Egypt, 15 and was there until the death of Herod, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying, “Out of Egypt I called My Son.” Following the birth of Jesus He was removed from Herod’s jurisdiction as Herod – Mt 2:16…………sent forth and put to death all the male children who were in Bethlehem and in all its districts, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had determined from the wise men. The Lord was taken to a place of safety within a Gentile nation, Egypt, from which He later returned to preach the gospel of the Kingdom for 3 ½ years before His crucifixion – so then, the Lord was taken to a place of safety from which He returned to preach the gospel of the Kingdom and Paul was taken to a place of safety to be taught the gospel of the glory of Christ which he then returned to preach. j). These are things we will want to keep in mind as we continue. k). So then, if we begin to put all this together, as we look to that future day we should expect to see a particular group of Jews who will be taken to a place of safety to be taught the gospel of the Kingdom which they will then take to the Gentile nations throughout the kingdom of the Antichrist during the last 3 ½ years of the Great Tribulation with salvation and deliverance in view – exactly that pictured at Jericho and pictured through the pattern seen at the Lord’s birth prior to His ministry and at Paul’s conversion prior to his ministry. 2). Isa 66:7 “Before she was in labor, she gave birth; Before her pain came, She delivered a male child. 8 Who has heard such a thing? Who has seen such things? Shall the earth be made to give birth in one day? Or shall a nation be born at once? For as soon as Zion was in labor, She gave birth to her children. Isaiah prophesied concerning those who will comprise that particular group of Jews, calling them here ‘a male child’. And as we look at these verses let’s be sure to note the timings. a). The ‘she’ in v7 is the nation of Israel and in this verse, we are told that before Israel is in labor, she will give birth to the male child. Then at the end of v8, Zion, identifying the ‘she’ from v7 – Israel, is seen in labor and then giving birth ‘to her children’ – there is the birth of the ‘male child’ and then the birth of ‘her children’. That seen at the end of v8 then in ‘her children’ is Israel at the end of the Tribulation when the nation is ‘born at once’ – the entire nation repentant and restored – born out of the pain of the Tribulation. b). Let’s note again – Israel is to be ‘born at once’ at the end of the Tribulation, but before the ‘birthing’ of the whole nation, a male child is to be born first - Rev 12:1 Now a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a garland of twelve stars. 2 Then being with child, she cried out in labor and in pain to give birth. 3 And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great, fiery red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and seven diadems on his heads. 4 His tail drew a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was ready to give birth, to devour her Child as soon as it was born. 5 She bore a male Child who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron. And her Child was caught up to God and His throne. 6 Then the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, that they should feed her there one thousand two hundred and sixty days. And here in Revelation Chapter 12 is the birth of the ‘male child’ prophesied in Isaiah 66:7. We had looked at v1-5 last time, but let’s review for a moment. c). The ‘woman’ is the nation of Israel, pictured here through the use of metaphors to show her impending role of rulership. The woman being clothed with the sun pictures the primary ruling power, as seen in the great light to rule the day in Genesis Chapter 1. The moon under her feet pictures the Gentile kingdoms over which Israel will rule during the Millennium, with the crown of 12 stars also pointing to regality and government. d). And as we look at these verses let us consider the timings of the events we find there - Prior to the male child being born we see in v4 that the dragon’s tail ‘drew a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth’. Metaphor is used throughout here and so the third of the stars of heaven is not a reference to the stars in the night sky, but the third of the angels who rebelled with the one pictured as the dragon - And we can see this explained to us a little later in the same chapter – Rev 12:7 And war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, 8 but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer. 9 So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. Here we clearly see Satan and his angels removed from the heavens and thrown down to the earth, an event that happens slightly before the mid-point in the Tribulation. It is an event that happens before the birth of the male child and before the woman flees into the wilderness. An event that sees the Antichrist becoming the world wide ruler he set out to be having then been given Satan’s power, throne and great authority – Rev 13:1 Then I stood on the sand of the sea. And I saw a beast rising up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and on his horns ten crowns, and on his heads a blasphemous name. 2 Now the beast which I saw was like a leopard, his feet were like the feet of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion. The dragon gave him his power, his throne, and great authority. And again, if we go back to the timings, we see the birth of the male child, the male child being ‘caught up to God and His throne’ and the woman fleeing into the wilderness, all happening within a very short period of time both before, during and after the mid-point in the Tribulation - Mt 24:15 “Therefore when you see the ‘abomination of desolation,’ spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place” (whoever reads, let him understand), 16 “then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. 17 Let him who is on the housetop not go down to take anything out of his house. 18 And let him who is in the field not go back to get his clothes. 19 But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! 20 And pray that your flight may not be in winter or on the Sabbath. 21 For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be. Matthew 24:15 parallels Revelation 13:2 when the Beast will be given Satan’s power, throne and great authority. Having been given these 3 things, thereby realizing his worldwide dominion, the Beast is then seen entering the Temple in Jerusalem, declaring himself to be God – this is the ‘abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet’. e). And when this happens the Jewish people are told to ‘flee to the mountains’, not stopping to take anything with them. And this flight to the mountains parallels the woman’s flight into the wilderness in Revelation Chapter 12. In both instances we should not understand the mountains and the wilderness in a literal way but figuratively, with the mountains referring to the surrounding Gentile nations and the wilderness referring to that which is not the land of Israel – the surrounding Gentile nations into which Israel is told to flee. And the reason why the Jewish people should not stay in their land when these events transpire is made clear to us in Luke’s Gospel – Lk 21:20 “But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation is near. 21 Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, let those who are in the midst of her depart, and let not those who are in the country enter her. 22 For these are the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled. 23 But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! For there will be great distress in the land and wrath upon this people. 24 And they will fall by the edge of the sword, and be led away captive into all nations. And Jerusalem will be trampled by Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled. And further commentary on these events is given to us as we continue in Revelation Chapter 12 – Rev 12:13 Now when the dragon saw that he had been cast to the earth, he persecuted the woman who gave birth to the male Child. 14 But the woman was given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness to her place, where she is nourished for a time and times and half a time [3 ½ years], from the presence of the serpent. 15 So the serpent spewed water out of his mouth like a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away by the flood. 16 But the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed up the flood which the dragon had spewed out of his mouth. 17 And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with the remnant of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. Now the remnant of the woman’s offspring ‘who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ’ cannot be a reference to the nation of Israel as a whole, who will be in the process of fleeing into the Gentile nations, as they remain in unbelief until the nation is ‘born’ at the end of the Tribulation. So, the remnant who ‘have the testimony of Jesus Christ’ is synonymous with the male child. They are one and the same. f). So, who comprise the remnant, the male child and how can they be said to ‘keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ’ at this mid-point in the Tribulation and how is Israel seen to give birth to them? g). Well, the very first and obvious thing we would need to settle is that those comprising the remnant were not saved before the resurrection/rapture of the church, because if that were the case they would have become part of the one new man in Christ and would have been raptured at the same time as all other Christians. So, that which the remnant will hear, that results in their eternal salvation, can only be heard by them after the resurrection/rapture of the church, after the Tribulation has begun – Rev 11:3 And I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy one thousand two hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth.”………..6 These have power to shut heaven, so that no rain falls in the days of their prophecy; and they have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to strike the earth with all plagues, as often as they desire. We have seen in previous studies that the miraculous signs attributed to the 2 witnesses parallel those performed by Elijah and Moses, giving us the identity of the 2 witnesses. And this would make perfect sense in that Moses and Elijah represent the Law and the prophets, the whole of the OT Scriptures. h). And so, it is the witness of the OT Scriptures proclaimed by the 2 witnesses that progressively brings those who will comprise the male child, the remnant, to eternal salvation during the one thousand two hundred and sixty days [3 ½ years] of the witnesses’ ministry – a time that will take us again to the mid-point in the Tribulation. i). At the end of the 3 ½ years the 2 witnesses are killed, and their bodies left in the streets of Jerusalem for 3 ½ days – one day for each year of their ministry. At the end of the 3 ½ days the 2 witnesses are resurrected – Rev 11:11 Now after the three-and-a-half days the breath of life from God entered them, and they stood on their feet, and great fear fell on those who saw them. 12 And they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, “Come up here.” And they ascended to heaven in a cloud, and their enemies saw them. 13 In the same hour there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell. In the earthquake seven thousand people were killed, and the remnant were afraid and gave glory to the God of heaven. Following the ascension of the 2 witnesses, but not necessarily within the same 60-minute window, we see ‘a great earthquake’ – a phrase that often causes confusion. The Greek word translated ‘earthquake’ is the Greek word ‘seismos’, which simply means a ‘shaking’. There is nothing in the word itself that has anything to do with what we would understand the word earthquake to mean. j). In Revelation Chapter 11 we see this great ‘seismos’ occurring immediately following the resurrection of the 2 witnesses, at the mid-point in the Tribulation, the time when we also saw the Antichrist entering the Temple and declaring himself to be God. So, keeping in mind the context for this ‘seismos’ we can now turn to Luke’s Gospel to find it explained – Lk 21: 24 And they will fall by the edge of the sword, and be led away captive into all nations. And Jerusalem will be trampled by Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.25 “And there will be signs in the sun, in the moon, and in the stars; and on the earth distress of nations, with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring; 26 men's hearts failing them from fear and the expectation of those things which are coming on the earth, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. It is then a great shaking of ‘the powers of the heavens’, including Antichrist’s kingdom, that we are looking at pictured in the great ‘seismos’. k). And if we go back to the effects of the great ‘seismos’ seen in Revelation Chapter 11 - In the same hour there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell. In the earthquake seven thousand people were killed, and the remnant were afraid and gave glory to the God of heaven. We would need to look at the use of the numbers 10, a tenth of the city, and 7, seven thousand people were killed, as numbers having to do with completeness rather than being literal – a tenth of the city gives us the complete destruction of Jerusalem, which we know happens at the mid-point in the Tribulation, and the 7000 killed, the complete death, captivity and flight of the Jewish people that coincides with Jerusalem’s destruction. And this is what we have already seen in Luke Chapter 21: 24 And they will fall by the edge of the sword, and be led away captive into all nations. And Jerusalem will be trampled by Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled. And given these circumstances it will be no wonder that the remnant, the male child will be terrified. But we will note that despite these cataclysmic events and the fear that grips them the remnant, the male child ‘gave glory to the God of heaven’. l). And again, given the circumstances, it will be no wonder that the male child will be ‘caught up to God and His throne’, removed to a place of safety. 3). Rev 6:12 I looked when He opened the sixth seal, and behold, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became like blood. 13 And the stars of heaven fell to the earth, as a fig tree drops its late figs when it is shaken by a mighty wind. 14 Then the sky receded as a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island was moved out of its place. 15 And the kings of the earth, the great men, the rich men, the commanders, the mighty men, every slave and every free man, hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains, 16 and said to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! 17 For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?” 7:1 After these things I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, on the sea, or on any tree. 2 Then I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God. And he cried with a loud voice to the four angels to whom it was granted to harm the earth and the sea, 3 saying, “Do not harm the earth, the sea, or the trees till we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads.” 4 And I heard the number of those who were sealed. One hundred and forty-four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel were sealed: Here is the male child, but this will have to wait until next time – if the Lord is willing.