From Time To Time - Part Fifteen Jan 07, 2024 by: John Herbert | Series: From Time to Time Audio Study Notes PDF https://s3.amazonaws.com/cornerstonejax/sermonfiles/T034_20240107.mp3 Refresh A Recap from the Sermon Ro 9:17 For the Scripture says to the Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I may show My power in you, and that My name may be declared in all the earth.” We shall return to our study 'From Time to Time'. The full text of this message can be found by clicking the PDF button. Sunday January 7th 2024 From Time to Time – Part 15 1). 2 Th 2:1 Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, [at the establishment of His Kingdom NOT the resurrection /rapture] we ask you, 2 not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ [on the earth] had come. 3 Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, [the completed work of the leaven placed in the 3 measures of meal] and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, 4 who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. [at the mid-point in the tribulation] 5 Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things? 6 And now you know what is restraining, [the completion of this dispensation, with the Holy Spirit taking all Christians into the heavens in the antitype of Genesis Chapter 24] that he may be revealed in his own time. During the course of our study, we have seen over and over again that the Lord works within specific times from which there is no deviation. Whether we are dealing with the six thousand years of Man’s Day established in the opening chapter of Genesis, or the four hundred and ninety years given for Israel’s restoration or the two thousand years of this dispensation, all remain unchangeable and established to accomplish God’s purpose. And this must also remain true for the man of sin, who will be revealed ‘in his own time’. a). And as we consider this, we should be careful not to think of ‘his own time’ as a time determined by the man of sin himself, rather this is the specific time that God has irrevocably set in place in which he will be revealed to fulfil God’s purpose for him. Let’s remember what we have seen concerning this from the types – Ro 9:17 For the Scripture says to the Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I may show My power in you, and that My name may be declared in all the earth.” [Cf Ex 9:16] Jer 25:9 behold, I will send and take all the families of the north,’ says the LORD, “and Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, My servant, and will bring them against this land, against its inhabitants, and against these nations all around, and will utterly destroy them, and make them an astonishment, a hissing, and perpetual desolations. Isa 46:10…….Saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, And I will do all My pleasure,’ 11 Calling a bird of prey from the east, The man who executes My counsel, from a far country. Indeed I have spoken it; I will also bring it to pass. I have purposed it; I will also do it. In the types pointing to the man of sin we have seen that God raised up Gentile rulers to accomplish His will with respect to His people Israel, and exactly the same will be true in the Antitype – Isa 10:15 Shall the ax boast itself against him who chops with it? Or shall the saw exalt itself against him who saws with it? As if a rod could wield itself against those who lift it up, Or as if a staff could lift up, as if it were not wood! 16 Therefore the Lord, the Lord of hosts, Will send leanness among his fat ones; And under his glory He will kindle a burning Like the burning of a fire. 17 So the Light of Israel will be for a fire, And his Holy One for a flame; It will burn and devour His thorns and his briers in one day. It is the man of sin who is pictured as ‘a bird of prey from the east’, and we can see from the Scripture that he is summoned by God for one reason only, to execute God’s counsel. The man of sin may well believe that he is acting under his own volition but in reality, he will be like the ax and the saw; a rod of correction in the hand of the Lord, who out of the Lord’s hand he could do nothing – Isa 10:5 “Woe to Assyria, the rod of My anger And the staff in whose hand is My indignation. 6 I will send him against an ungodly nation, And against the people of My wrath I will give him charge, To seize the spoil, to take the prey, And to tread them down like the mire of the streets…………………..24 Therefore thus says the Lord GOD of hosts: “O My people, who dwell in Zion, do not be afraid of the Assyrian. He shall strike you with a rod and lift up his staff against you, in the manner of Egypt. 25 For yet a very little while and the indignation will cease, as will My anger in their destruction.” 26 And the LORD of hosts will stir up a scourge for him like the slaughter of Midian at the rock of Oreb; as His rod was on the sea, so will He lift it up in the manner of Egypt. 27 It shall come to pass in that day That his burden will be taken away from your shoulder, And his yoke from your neck, And the yoke will be destroyed because of the anointing oil. And as we have seen through the foundational type of Nebuchadnezzar, and again through these verses from Isaiah Chapter 10, God’s purpose for the man of sin is inextricable from His purpose for Israel. And it is because of this inextricable connection that the man of sin’s ‘own time’ can only come after the resurrection/rapture of the church, only after the Lord has completed His work among the saved, His household servants of this dispensation, and only when He returns again to the dispensation of the Jews to complete the remaining seven years, Daniel’s seventieth week, the time of Jacob’s trouble. b). And as we will realize once more, all is framed and given clarity through God’s pre-appointed times. The completion of the two thousand years of the dispensation of the church, the completion of the four hundred and ninety years allotted for Israel’s repentance and restoration, bringing to completion the six thousand years of Man’s Day, with a view to the Lord’s Day being manifest in the earth for the one thousand years of the Millennial Kingdom, the Seventh Day. The fulfillment of that set out in the first thirty-four verses of the Book of Genesis. c). Let’s be in no doubt that the Son dial has cast its shadow, the final grains of sand are falling through the hourglass, the clock of ages is about to strike midnight and within a very short period of time the Lord Jesus Christ will be revealed in all His glory, and we will finally know through experience what it means to have life for the Age – 1 Co 13:12 For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known. 2 Co 3:18 But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord. 2). Now, to return to the revealing of the man of sin in his own time, we will remember from our previous study that he will come from the northern division of Alexander the Great’s empire, Alexander’s Babylon centered empire having been divided upon his death among his four generals. And we will remember that as God deals with time with respect to this, Alexander’s divided empire is still in existence when the man of sin is revealed - Da 7:23 “Thus he said: ‘The fourth beast shall be A fourth kingdom on earth, [following directly after the third kingdom] Which shall be different from all other kingdoms, And shall devour the whole earth, Trample it and break it in pieces. 24 The ten horns are ten kings Who shall arise from this kingdom. [Antichrist’s ten nation confederacy] And another [the little horn] shall rise after them; He shall be different from the first ones, And shall subdue three kings. [these three kings are not counted among the ten just seen but represent the generals ruling the other three parts of the divided empire] 25 He shall speak pompous words against the Most High, Shall persecute the saints of the Most High, Then the saints shall be given into his hand For a time and times and half a time. [three and a half years – beginning at the midpoint in the tribulation] By the time this happens Alexander’s generals will be long dead and mostly forgotten, but this is the way that God has chosen to show that the Antichrist will gain complete control of the whole, and undivided Babylonian kingdom that had previously existed before becoming the world ruler. Again, making abundantly clear that it is the same Babylonian kingdom that God raised up through Nebuchadnezzar that is at the heart of His final work among the Jewish people. a). And we had concluded our study last time by going to another type seen through the life of David which not only portrays that which we have just been discussing, but also takes us back to the promise given to the serpent in Genesis Chapter 3. Let’s firstly recall the description of Goliath, the Philistine from Gath - 1 Sa 17:1 Now the Philistines gathered their armies together to battle, and were gathered at Sochoh, which belongs to Judah; they encamped between Sochoh and Azekah, in Ephes Dammim. 2 And Saul and the men of Israel were gathered together, and they encamped in the Valley of Elah, and drew up in battle array against the Philistines. 3 The Philistines stood on a mountain on one side, and Israel stood on a mountain on the other side, with a valley between them. 4 And a champion went out from the camp of the Philistines, named Goliath, from Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span. 5 He had a bronze helmet on his head, and he was armed with a coat of mail, and the weight of the coat was five thousand shekels of bronze. 6 And he had bronze armor on his legs and a bronze javelin between his shoulders. 7 Now the staff of his spear was like a weaver's beam, and his iron spearhead weighed six hundred shekels; and a shield-bearer went before him. And we will remember the reaction of Saul and all Israel to Goliath’s appearance - 1 Sa 17:10 And the Philistine said, “I defy the armies of Israel this day; give me a man, that we may fight together.” 11 When Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly afraid. 12 Now David was the son of that Ephrathite of Bethlehem Judah, whose name was Jesse, and who had eight sons. And the man was old, advanced in years, in the days of Saul. And into the midst of the dismay and great fear came David, the one whose greater Son is the Lord Jesus Christ – Isa 11:1 There shall come forth a Rod from the stem of Jesse, And a Branch shall grow out of his roots. And as we know, there are parts of David’s life where he forms a type of Christ and the encounter with Goliath is one of them - 1 Sa 17:33 And Saul said to David, “You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him; for you are a youth, and he a man of war from his youth.” 34 But David said to Saul, “Your servant used to keep his father's sheep, and when a lion or a bear came and took a lamb out of the flock, 35 I went out after it and struck it, and delivered the lamb from its mouth; and when it arose against me, I caught it by its beard, and struck and killed it. 36 Your servant has killed both lion and bear; and this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, seeing he has defied the armies of the living God.” 37 Moreover David said, “The LORD, who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, He will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.” And Saul said to David, “Go, and the LORD be with you!” David was a keeper of his father’s sheep, and we will be familiar with that which the greater Son of David said about Himself – Jn 10:11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep. 12 But a hireling, he who is not the shepherd, one who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them. 13 The hireling flees because he is a hireling and does not care about the sheep. 14 I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own. And from the account that David gave to Saul we see that David had killed both the lion and the bear in his role as shepherd. And the mention of the lion and the bear should remind us of the first two of the great beasts from Daniel Chapter 7 – Da 7:3 And four great beasts came up from the sea, each different from the other. 4 The first was like a lion, and had eagle's wings…..5 “And suddenly another beast, a second, like a bear. The first of the great beasts, the lion, symbolizes the Babylonian kingdom under Nebuchadnezzar and his descendants, and the bear symbolizes the second form of the Babylonian kingdom under the Medes and Persians. b). And the death of both lion and bear at the hands of David looked prophetically to the deliverance of those pictured through David’s father’s sheep, the Jews, from the Babylonian captivity. c). The end of the seventy years of the Babylonian captivity coincided with the end of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar’s grandson, Belshazzar, the punishment for the king of Babylon and ‘that nation’ as the Medes and Persians killed Belshazzar and took the kingdom from him. And it was during the reign of the Medes and the Persian, through several different kings, that God’s promise to return His people to the land began Ez 1:1 Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and also put it in writing, saying, 2 Thus says Cyrus king of Persia: All the kingdoms of the earth the LORD God of heaven has given me. And He has commanded me to build Him a house at Jerusalem which is in Judah. Ez 6:3 In the first year of King Cyrus, King Cyrus issued a decree concerning the house of God at Jerusalem: “Let the house be rebuilt, the place where they offered sacrifices; and let the foundations of it be firmly laid, its height sixty cubits and its width sixty cubits, 4 with three rows of heavy stones and one row of new timber. Let the expenses be paid from the king's treasury. Neh 2:1 And it came to pass in the month of Nisan, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was before him, that I took the wine and gave it to the king. Now I had never been sad in his presence before. 2 Therefore the king said to me, “Why is your face sad, since you are not sick? This is nothing but sorrow of heart.” So I became dreadfully afraid, 3 and said to the king, “May the king live forever! Why should my face not be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers’ tombs, lies waste, and its gates are burned with fire?” 4 Then the king said to me, “What do you request?” So I prayed to the God of heaven. 5 And I said to the king, “If it pleases the king, and if your servant has found favor in your sight, I ask that you send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers’ tombs, that I may rebuild it.” And it was through king Artaxerxes that the command to build and restore Jerusalem was given that marked the beginning of Daniel’s seventy weeks. The beginning of the time allotted for the complete deliverance of the Jewish people from the fourth and final form of the Babylonian kingdom under the Antichrist. d). In David’s account of his exploits to Saul there is no mention made of him delivering his father’s sheep from a leopard, the third of the great beasts in Daniel Chapter 7, symbolizing the kingdom under the Greeks. And there is a duality of purpose in not specifically referencing the leopard in David’s account to Saul. e). Firstly, the sheep delivered from the mouth of the lion is a specific reference to the end of the Babylonian captivity at the end of the seventy years and the sheep delivered from the mouth of the bear deals with the return of a remnant of the Jews to the land during the time of the Medes and the Persians, a time also, as we have seen, when Daniel’s seventy weeks began to be counted. In this respect then, Israel’s deliverance past and future was already assured before the Greeks under Alexander came on the scene. f). And secondly, we will need to go back to what we have already looked at today concerning the description of Goliath, and before we do so let’s call to mind the description of the third part of the great image from Nebuchadnezzar’s dream from Daniel Chapter 2 – Da 2:32 This image's head was of fine gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze, 33 its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay. The third part of the great image, the belly, and thighs of bronze, represent the same kingdom symbolized by the leopard in Daniel Chapter 7, the Greeks under Alexander and then his four generals. And what did we see from the description of Goliath? He had a bronze helmet on his head, a chain mail coat made of bronze, bronze armor on his legs and a bronze javelin between his shoulders. Here then, in Goliath’s bronze apparel, we find the third form of the Babylonian Kingdom, out of which comes the fourth, that of the man of sin, seen in Goliath himself. g). In the description of Goliath, we can see the seamless transition between the third and fourth forms of the Babylonian kingdom as they will exist within God’s timing as the man of sin is revealed. Let’s keep in mind that the Babylonian kingdom under Nebuchadnezzar was conquered by the Medes and Persians, and their Babylonian kingdom was conquered by the Greeks, but the Greek Babylonian kingdom under Alexander and then his four generals has no Scriptural record of conquest. This being so, this third form of the Babylonian kingdom remained in place, and remains so today, from God’s perspective, awaiting its conquest by the man of sin, the little horn who will come from the North and subdue three kings. h). It is no surprise then that we see Goliath, the Philistine from Gath, a Nephilim forming a type of the man of sin, clothed with the imagery of the third form of the Babylonian kingdom while at the same time making association with the fourth form of the Babylonian kingdom seen in the great image in Daniel Chapter 2, his iron spearhead weighed six hundred shekels. 3). 1 Sa 17:45 Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword, with a spear, and with a javelin. But I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. 46 This day the LORD will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you and take your head from you. And this day I will give the carcasses of the camp of the Philistines to the birds of the air and the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel. 47 Then all this assembly shall know that the LORD does not save with sword and spear; for the battle is the LORD'S, and He will give you into our hands.” 48 So it was, when the Philistine arose and came and drew near to meet David, that David hurried and ran toward the army to meet the Philistine. 49 Then David put his hand in his bag and took out a stone; and he slung it and struck the Philistine in his forehead, so that the stone sank into his forehead, and he fell on his face to the earth. 50 So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone, and struck the Philistine and killed him. But there was no sword in the hand of David. 51 Therefore David ran and stood over the Philistine, took his sword and drew it out of its sheath and killed him, and cut off his head with it. As we continue with the Scriptural account of David’s encounter with Goliath, we can continue to see the connection with Nebuchadnezzar’s dream of the great image in Daniel Chapter 2 and the Lord’s destruction of Gentile world power at the battle we call Armageddon. To begin with we might call to mind the stone that David used to overcome Goliath – 1 Sa 17:40 Then he took his staff in his hand; and he chose for himself five smooth stones from the brook, and put them in a shepherd's bag, in a pouch which he had, and his sling was in his hand. And he drew near to the Philistine. The smooth stones that David took from the brook are stones that had been cut out without hands, giving us a direct parallel with the stone cut out without hands from Daniel Chapter 2. And in Daniel Chapter 2, the stone cut out without hands struck the great image on the feet partly of iron and partly of clay, whereas David’s stone, cut out without hands, struck Goliath in the head. However, the stone cut without hands striking the feet of the image in Daniel Chapter 2 and the stone cut out without hands striking the head of Goliath in 1 Samuel Chapter 17, picture the same thing. a). Let’s remember that the legs of iron and feet partly of iron and partly of clay depict the fourth and final form of the Babylonian kingdom under the Antichrist, and it is the destruction of this final form of the kingdom, which embodies the three previous forms of the kingdom, that demonstrates the eradication of all things ‘Babylon’ in relation to the Jewish people from the face of the earth, both literally, in their deliverance from persecution and captivity and metaphorically, in their deliverance from their harlotry among the nations. b). When this is done then God’s purpose for bringing the fourth form kingdom into existence will have been fulfilled – Hos 13:6 When they had pasture, they were filled; They were filled and their heart was exalted; Therefore they forgot Me. 7 “So I will be to them like a lion; Like a leopard by the road I will lurk; 8 I will meet them like a bear deprived of her cubs; I will tear open their rib cage, And there I will devour them like a lion. The wild beast shall tear them. 9 “O Israel, you are destroyed, But your help is from Me. And the stone cut out without hands striking Goliath on the head and David then removing Goliath’s head with Goliath’s own sword, gives us the connection with the promise to the serpent in Genesis Chapter 3 – Ge 3:14 So the LORD God said to the serpent: “Because you have done this, You are cursed more than all cattle, And more than every beast of the field; On your belly you shall go, And you shall eat dust All the days of your life. 15 And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, And you shall bruise His heel.” It was David who faced Goliath alone, just as it will be the Christ alone who will destroy the Antichrist and his armies in that coming Day – Re 19:11 Now I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And He who sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war. 12 His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns. He had a name written that no one knew except Himself. 13 He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. 14 And the armies in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, followed Him on white horses. 15 Now out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it He should strike the nations. And He Himself will rule them with a rod of iron. He Himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. 16 And He has on His robe and on His thigh a name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS. 17 Then I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the birds that fly in the midst of heaven, “Come and gather together for the great supper of God, 18 that you may eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of captains, the flesh of mighty men, the flesh of horses and of those who sit on them, and the flesh of all people, free and slave, both small and great.” And in ‘the great supper of God’ the words of David to Goliath find their fulfillment - 46 This day the LORD will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you and take your head from you. And this day I will give the carcasses of the camp of the Philistines to the birds of the air and the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel. And as we saw David going out to meet Goliath with his staff in his hand, we will be reminded of the rod of iron from Revelation Chapter 19, and reminded of the scepter of rulership the Christ will hold in that Day, and reminded of the rod that Moses lifted up as the Egyptians pursued Israel into the Red Sea, bringing about the destruction of the Assyrian Pharaoh and his armies as the Sea returned to consume them. c). And it was of course some years after the killing of Goliath, recorded in 1 Samuel Chapter 17, that God replaced Saul with David as king over Israel. But that will have to wait until next time if we remain and the Lord is willing, and we have prayed. From Time To Time - Part Fifteen Jan 07, 2024 Speaker: John Herbert Series: From Time to Time Category: Sunday Morning https://s3.amazonaws.com/cornerstonejax/sermonfiles/T034_20240107.mp3 Download Audio x
Refresh A Recap from the Sermon Ro 9:17 For the Scripture says to the Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I may show My power in you, and that My name may be declared in all the earth.” We shall return to our study 'From Time to Time'. The full text of this message can be found by clicking the PDF button. Sunday January 7th 2024 From Time to Time – Part 15 1). 2 Th 2:1 Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, [at the establishment of His Kingdom NOT the resurrection /rapture] we ask you, 2 not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ [on the earth] had come. 3 Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, [the completed work of the leaven placed in the 3 measures of meal] and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, 4 who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. [at the mid-point in the tribulation] 5 Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things? 6 And now you know what is restraining, [the completion of this dispensation, with the Holy Spirit taking all Christians into the heavens in the antitype of Genesis Chapter 24] that he may be revealed in his own time. During the course of our study, we have seen over and over again that the Lord works within specific times from which there is no deviation. Whether we are dealing with the six thousand years of Man’s Day established in the opening chapter of Genesis, or the four hundred and ninety years given for Israel’s restoration or the two thousand years of this dispensation, all remain unchangeable and established to accomplish God’s purpose. And this must also remain true for the man of sin, who will be revealed ‘in his own time’. a). And as we consider this, we should be careful not to think of ‘his own time’ as a time determined by the man of sin himself, rather this is the specific time that God has irrevocably set in place in which he will be revealed to fulfil God’s purpose for him. Let’s remember what we have seen concerning this from the types – Ro 9:17 For the Scripture says to the Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I may show My power in you, and that My name may be declared in all the earth.” [Cf Ex 9:16] Jer 25:9 behold, I will send and take all the families of the north,’ says the LORD, “and Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, My servant, and will bring them against this land, against its inhabitants, and against these nations all around, and will utterly destroy them, and make them an astonishment, a hissing, and perpetual desolations. Isa 46:10…….Saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, And I will do all My pleasure,’ 11 Calling a bird of prey from the east, The man who executes My counsel, from a far country. Indeed I have spoken it; I will also bring it to pass. I have purposed it; I will also do it. In the types pointing to the man of sin we have seen that God raised up Gentile rulers to accomplish His will with respect to His people Israel, and exactly the same will be true in the Antitype – Isa 10:15 Shall the ax boast itself against him who chops with it? Or shall the saw exalt itself against him who saws with it? As if a rod could wield itself against those who lift it up, Or as if a staff could lift up, as if it were not wood! 16 Therefore the Lord, the Lord of hosts, Will send leanness among his fat ones; And under his glory He will kindle a burning Like the burning of a fire. 17 So the Light of Israel will be for a fire, And his Holy One for a flame; It will burn and devour His thorns and his briers in one day. It is the man of sin who is pictured as ‘a bird of prey from the east’, and we can see from the Scripture that he is summoned by God for one reason only, to execute God’s counsel. The man of sin may well believe that he is acting under his own volition but in reality, he will be like the ax and the saw; a rod of correction in the hand of the Lord, who out of the Lord’s hand he could do nothing – Isa 10:5 “Woe to Assyria, the rod of My anger And the staff in whose hand is My indignation. 6 I will send him against an ungodly nation, And against the people of My wrath I will give him charge, To seize the spoil, to take the prey, And to tread them down like the mire of the streets…………………..24 Therefore thus says the Lord GOD of hosts: “O My people, who dwell in Zion, do not be afraid of the Assyrian. He shall strike you with a rod and lift up his staff against you, in the manner of Egypt. 25 For yet a very little while and the indignation will cease, as will My anger in their destruction.” 26 And the LORD of hosts will stir up a scourge for him like the slaughter of Midian at the rock of Oreb; as His rod was on the sea, so will He lift it up in the manner of Egypt. 27 It shall come to pass in that day That his burden will be taken away from your shoulder, And his yoke from your neck, And the yoke will be destroyed because of the anointing oil. And as we have seen through the foundational type of Nebuchadnezzar, and again through these verses from Isaiah Chapter 10, God’s purpose for the man of sin is inextricable from His purpose for Israel. And it is because of this inextricable connection that the man of sin’s ‘own time’ can only come after the resurrection/rapture of the church, only after the Lord has completed His work among the saved, His household servants of this dispensation, and only when He returns again to the dispensation of the Jews to complete the remaining seven years, Daniel’s seventieth week, the time of Jacob’s trouble. b). And as we will realize once more, all is framed and given clarity through God’s pre-appointed times. The completion of the two thousand years of the dispensation of the church, the completion of the four hundred and ninety years allotted for Israel’s repentance and restoration, bringing to completion the six thousand years of Man’s Day, with a view to the Lord’s Day being manifest in the earth for the one thousand years of the Millennial Kingdom, the Seventh Day. The fulfillment of that set out in the first thirty-four verses of the Book of Genesis. c). Let’s be in no doubt that the Son dial has cast its shadow, the final grains of sand are falling through the hourglass, the clock of ages is about to strike midnight and within a very short period of time the Lord Jesus Christ will be revealed in all His glory, and we will finally know through experience what it means to have life for the Age – 1 Co 13:12 For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known. 2 Co 3:18 But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord. 2). Now, to return to the revealing of the man of sin in his own time, we will remember from our previous study that he will come from the northern division of Alexander the Great’s empire, Alexander’s Babylon centered empire having been divided upon his death among his four generals. And we will remember that as God deals with time with respect to this, Alexander’s divided empire is still in existence when the man of sin is revealed - Da 7:23 “Thus he said: ‘The fourth beast shall be A fourth kingdom on earth, [following directly after the third kingdom] Which shall be different from all other kingdoms, And shall devour the whole earth, Trample it and break it in pieces. 24 The ten horns are ten kings Who shall arise from this kingdom. [Antichrist’s ten nation confederacy] And another [the little horn] shall rise after them; He shall be different from the first ones, And shall subdue three kings. [these three kings are not counted among the ten just seen but represent the generals ruling the other three parts of the divided empire] 25 He shall speak pompous words against the Most High, Shall persecute the saints of the Most High, Then the saints shall be given into his hand For a time and times and half a time. [three and a half years – beginning at the midpoint in the tribulation] By the time this happens Alexander’s generals will be long dead and mostly forgotten, but this is the way that God has chosen to show that the Antichrist will gain complete control of the whole, and undivided Babylonian kingdom that had previously existed before becoming the world ruler. Again, making abundantly clear that it is the same Babylonian kingdom that God raised up through Nebuchadnezzar that is at the heart of His final work among the Jewish people. a). And we had concluded our study last time by going to another type seen through the life of David which not only portrays that which we have just been discussing, but also takes us back to the promise given to the serpent in Genesis Chapter 3. Let’s firstly recall the description of Goliath, the Philistine from Gath - 1 Sa 17:1 Now the Philistines gathered their armies together to battle, and were gathered at Sochoh, which belongs to Judah; they encamped between Sochoh and Azekah, in Ephes Dammim. 2 And Saul and the men of Israel were gathered together, and they encamped in the Valley of Elah, and drew up in battle array against the Philistines. 3 The Philistines stood on a mountain on one side, and Israel stood on a mountain on the other side, with a valley between them. 4 And a champion went out from the camp of the Philistines, named Goliath, from Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span. 5 He had a bronze helmet on his head, and he was armed with a coat of mail, and the weight of the coat was five thousand shekels of bronze. 6 And he had bronze armor on his legs and a bronze javelin between his shoulders. 7 Now the staff of his spear was like a weaver's beam, and his iron spearhead weighed six hundred shekels; and a shield-bearer went before him. And we will remember the reaction of Saul and all Israel to Goliath’s appearance - 1 Sa 17:10 And the Philistine said, “I defy the armies of Israel this day; give me a man, that we may fight together.” 11 When Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly afraid. 12 Now David was the son of that Ephrathite of Bethlehem Judah, whose name was Jesse, and who had eight sons. And the man was old, advanced in years, in the days of Saul. And into the midst of the dismay and great fear came David, the one whose greater Son is the Lord Jesus Christ – Isa 11:1 There shall come forth a Rod from the stem of Jesse, And a Branch shall grow out of his roots. And as we know, there are parts of David’s life where he forms a type of Christ and the encounter with Goliath is one of them - 1 Sa 17:33 And Saul said to David, “You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him; for you are a youth, and he a man of war from his youth.” 34 But David said to Saul, “Your servant used to keep his father's sheep, and when a lion or a bear came and took a lamb out of the flock, 35 I went out after it and struck it, and delivered the lamb from its mouth; and when it arose against me, I caught it by its beard, and struck and killed it. 36 Your servant has killed both lion and bear; and this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, seeing he has defied the armies of the living God.” 37 Moreover David said, “The LORD, who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, He will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.” And Saul said to David, “Go, and the LORD be with you!” David was a keeper of his father’s sheep, and we will be familiar with that which the greater Son of David said about Himself – Jn 10:11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep. 12 But a hireling, he who is not the shepherd, one who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them. 13 The hireling flees because he is a hireling and does not care about the sheep. 14 I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own. And from the account that David gave to Saul we see that David had killed both the lion and the bear in his role as shepherd. And the mention of the lion and the bear should remind us of the first two of the great beasts from Daniel Chapter 7 – Da 7:3 And four great beasts came up from the sea, each different from the other. 4 The first was like a lion, and had eagle's wings…..5 “And suddenly another beast, a second, like a bear. The first of the great beasts, the lion, symbolizes the Babylonian kingdom under Nebuchadnezzar and his descendants, and the bear symbolizes the second form of the Babylonian kingdom under the Medes and Persians. b). And the death of both lion and bear at the hands of David looked prophetically to the deliverance of those pictured through David’s father’s sheep, the Jews, from the Babylonian captivity. c). The end of the seventy years of the Babylonian captivity coincided with the end of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar’s grandson, Belshazzar, the punishment for the king of Babylon and ‘that nation’ as the Medes and Persians killed Belshazzar and took the kingdom from him. And it was during the reign of the Medes and the Persian, through several different kings, that God’s promise to return His people to the land began Ez 1:1 Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and also put it in writing, saying, 2 Thus says Cyrus king of Persia: All the kingdoms of the earth the LORD God of heaven has given me. And He has commanded me to build Him a house at Jerusalem which is in Judah. Ez 6:3 In the first year of King Cyrus, King Cyrus issued a decree concerning the house of God at Jerusalem: “Let the house be rebuilt, the place where they offered sacrifices; and let the foundations of it be firmly laid, its height sixty cubits and its width sixty cubits, 4 with three rows of heavy stones and one row of new timber. Let the expenses be paid from the king's treasury. Neh 2:1 And it came to pass in the month of Nisan, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was before him, that I took the wine and gave it to the king. Now I had never been sad in his presence before. 2 Therefore the king said to me, “Why is your face sad, since you are not sick? This is nothing but sorrow of heart.” So I became dreadfully afraid, 3 and said to the king, “May the king live forever! Why should my face not be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers’ tombs, lies waste, and its gates are burned with fire?” 4 Then the king said to me, “What do you request?” So I prayed to the God of heaven. 5 And I said to the king, “If it pleases the king, and if your servant has found favor in your sight, I ask that you send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers’ tombs, that I may rebuild it.” And it was through king Artaxerxes that the command to build and restore Jerusalem was given that marked the beginning of Daniel’s seventy weeks. The beginning of the time allotted for the complete deliverance of the Jewish people from the fourth and final form of the Babylonian kingdom under the Antichrist. d). In David’s account of his exploits to Saul there is no mention made of him delivering his father’s sheep from a leopard, the third of the great beasts in Daniel Chapter 7, symbolizing the kingdom under the Greeks. And there is a duality of purpose in not specifically referencing the leopard in David’s account to Saul. e). Firstly, the sheep delivered from the mouth of the lion is a specific reference to the end of the Babylonian captivity at the end of the seventy years and the sheep delivered from the mouth of the bear deals with the return of a remnant of the Jews to the land during the time of the Medes and the Persians, a time also, as we have seen, when Daniel’s seventy weeks began to be counted. In this respect then, Israel’s deliverance past and future was already assured before the Greeks under Alexander came on the scene. f). And secondly, we will need to go back to what we have already looked at today concerning the description of Goliath, and before we do so let’s call to mind the description of the third part of the great image from Nebuchadnezzar’s dream from Daniel Chapter 2 – Da 2:32 This image's head was of fine gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze, 33 its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay. The third part of the great image, the belly, and thighs of bronze, represent the same kingdom symbolized by the leopard in Daniel Chapter 7, the Greeks under Alexander and then his four generals. And what did we see from the description of Goliath? He had a bronze helmet on his head, a chain mail coat made of bronze, bronze armor on his legs and a bronze javelin between his shoulders. Here then, in Goliath’s bronze apparel, we find the third form of the Babylonian Kingdom, out of which comes the fourth, that of the man of sin, seen in Goliath himself. g). In the description of Goliath, we can see the seamless transition between the third and fourth forms of the Babylonian kingdom as they will exist within God’s timing as the man of sin is revealed. Let’s keep in mind that the Babylonian kingdom under Nebuchadnezzar was conquered by the Medes and Persians, and their Babylonian kingdom was conquered by the Greeks, but the Greek Babylonian kingdom under Alexander and then his four generals has no Scriptural record of conquest. This being so, this third form of the Babylonian kingdom remained in place, and remains so today, from God’s perspective, awaiting its conquest by the man of sin, the little horn who will come from the North and subdue three kings. h). It is no surprise then that we see Goliath, the Philistine from Gath, a Nephilim forming a type of the man of sin, clothed with the imagery of the third form of the Babylonian kingdom while at the same time making association with the fourth form of the Babylonian kingdom seen in the great image in Daniel Chapter 2, his iron spearhead weighed six hundred shekels. 3). 1 Sa 17:45 Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword, with a spear, and with a javelin. But I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. 46 This day the LORD will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you and take your head from you. And this day I will give the carcasses of the camp of the Philistines to the birds of the air and the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel. 47 Then all this assembly shall know that the LORD does not save with sword and spear; for the battle is the LORD'S, and He will give you into our hands.” 48 So it was, when the Philistine arose and came and drew near to meet David, that David hurried and ran toward the army to meet the Philistine. 49 Then David put his hand in his bag and took out a stone; and he slung it and struck the Philistine in his forehead, so that the stone sank into his forehead, and he fell on his face to the earth. 50 So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone, and struck the Philistine and killed him. But there was no sword in the hand of David. 51 Therefore David ran and stood over the Philistine, took his sword and drew it out of its sheath and killed him, and cut off his head with it. As we continue with the Scriptural account of David’s encounter with Goliath, we can continue to see the connection with Nebuchadnezzar’s dream of the great image in Daniel Chapter 2 and the Lord’s destruction of Gentile world power at the battle we call Armageddon. To begin with we might call to mind the stone that David used to overcome Goliath – 1 Sa 17:40 Then he took his staff in his hand; and he chose for himself five smooth stones from the brook, and put them in a shepherd's bag, in a pouch which he had, and his sling was in his hand. And he drew near to the Philistine. The smooth stones that David took from the brook are stones that had been cut out without hands, giving us a direct parallel with the stone cut out without hands from Daniel Chapter 2. And in Daniel Chapter 2, the stone cut out without hands struck the great image on the feet partly of iron and partly of clay, whereas David’s stone, cut out without hands, struck Goliath in the head. However, the stone cut without hands striking the feet of the image in Daniel Chapter 2 and the stone cut out without hands striking the head of Goliath in 1 Samuel Chapter 17, picture the same thing. a). Let’s remember that the legs of iron and feet partly of iron and partly of clay depict the fourth and final form of the Babylonian kingdom under the Antichrist, and it is the destruction of this final form of the kingdom, which embodies the three previous forms of the kingdom, that demonstrates the eradication of all things ‘Babylon’ in relation to the Jewish people from the face of the earth, both literally, in their deliverance from persecution and captivity and metaphorically, in their deliverance from their harlotry among the nations. b). When this is done then God’s purpose for bringing the fourth form kingdom into existence will have been fulfilled – Hos 13:6 When they had pasture, they were filled; They were filled and their heart was exalted; Therefore they forgot Me. 7 “So I will be to them like a lion; Like a leopard by the road I will lurk; 8 I will meet them like a bear deprived of her cubs; I will tear open their rib cage, And there I will devour them like a lion. The wild beast shall tear them. 9 “O Israel, you are destroyed, But your help is from Me. And the stone cut out without hands striking Goliath on the head and David then removing Goliath’s head with Goliath’s own sword, gives us the connection with the promise to the serpent in Genesis Chapter 3 – Ge 3:14 So the LORD God said to the serpent: “Because you have done this, You are cursed more than all cattle, And more than every beast of the field; On your belly you shall go, And you shall eat dust All the days of your life. 15 And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, And you shall bruise His heel.” It was David who faced Goliath alone, just as it will be the Christ alone who will destroy the Antichrist and his armies in that coming Day – Re 19:11 Now I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And He who sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war. 12 His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns. He had a name written that no one knew except Himself. 13 He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. 14 And the armies in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, followed Him on white horses. 15 Now out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it He should strike the nations. And He Himself will rule them with a rod of iron. He Himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. 16 And He has on His robe and on His thigh a name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS. 17 Then I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the birds that fly in the midst of heaven, “Come and gather together for the great supper of God, 18 that you may eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of captains, the flesh of mighty men, the flesh of horses and of those who sit on them, and the flesh of all people, free and slave, both small and great.” And in ‘the great supper of God’ the words of David to Goliath find their fulfillment - 46 This day the LORD will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you and take your head from you. And this day I will give the carcasses of the camp of the Philistines to the birds of the air and the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel. And as we saw David going out to meet Goliath with his staff in his hand, we will be reminded of the rod of iron from Revelation Chapter 19, and reminded of the scepter of rulership the Christ will hold in that Day, and reminded of the rod that Moses lifted up as the Egyptians pursued Israel into the Red Sea, bringing about the destruction of the Assyrian Pharaoh and his armies as the Sea returned to consume them. c). And it was of course some years after the killing of Goliath, recorded in 1 Samuel Chapter 17, that God replaced Saul with David as king over Israel. But that will have to wait until next time if we remain and the Lord is willing, and we have prayed.