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Feast of Trumpets
Fred R. Coulter—September 30, 2008
Greetings, brethren! Welcome to the Feast of Trumpets, 2008.
And we keep going down in time and things continue to happen and unfold. And
yet, the greatest fulfillment of prophecies are ahead of us. And the Feast of
Trumpets figures into this very, very greatly. Now when we come to Leviticus 23,
if you’ll turn there, we find that the Feast of Trumpets is the first day of the
seventh month, and it also is the base for calculating the calculated Hebrew
calendar.
So let’s read it here in Leviticus 23:23. What we are going
to see is this: In the Old Testament there is very little mentioned of the Feast
of Trumpets—the first day of the seventh month. And what we will see as we go
through all of these Holy Days: Trumpets, Atonement, Tabernacles and the Last
Great Day, that the understanding of these days God has reserved to be
understood only through the book of Revelation. And the reason is, is that these
days apply mainly to the end-time; and that’s why it’s so important that we keep
these days.
Leviticus 23:23—here’s the command given from God to Moses.
And as you will see in this, there is no definition or understanding of
anything. It’s a very simple command. "And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
‘Speak to the children of Israel saying, "In the seventh month, in the first
day of the month, you shall have a Sabbath, a memorial of blowing of ram’s
horns, a holy convocation…. [Now they also blew the silver trumpets. But they
had all of these ram’s horns that they would blow. And the ram’s horns were used
as time of warning and war. Other than that it doesn’t tell us anything,
except]: …You shall do no servile work therein but you shall offer an
offering made by fire to the LORD"’" (vs 23-25).
Now, let’s come to Numbers 29, and again, we are going to see
the same thing. This does not tell us very much. Numbers 29:1 (pg. 282 of the
new Bible—I’ll keep giving the pg. numbers until we all understand where the new
order of the Bible, how it falls and everything—and once you get used to it,
you’ll find that it’s very easy to negotiate your way around and navigate from
it. I’ve almost forgotten about the King James order myself, because I’ve
been using this for quite a while—and hope that you’re enjoying your new
Bibles.) Numbers 29:1: "And in the seventh month, on the first day of the month,
you shall have a holy convocation. You shall do no servile work. It is a day of
blowing the trumpets to you. And you shall prepare a burnt offering for a sweet
savor to the LORD: one young bull, one ram and seven lambs of the first year
without blemish. And their grain offering shall be flour mixed with oil,
three tenth parts for a bull, two tenth parts for a ram, And one tenth part for
one lamb for the seven lambs… [doesn’t tell us about anything.] …And one kid of
the goats for a sin offering to make an atonement for you; Besides the
burnt offering of the month, and its grain offering, and the daily burnt
offering, and its grain offering, and their drink offerings, according to their
ordinance, for a sweet savor, an offering made by fire to the LORD" (vs 1-6).
Now we know that when we come before God, just like it was
here, they were to offer offerings—especially on the Holy Days. So the
Holy Day offerings become an expression of our love and trust and faith in God.
And we have the promises given to us in Malachi, the third chapter, that
God will provide for us "sufficiency in all things" and we also have that
through the grace of God, 2-Cor. 9, that God will provide everything that we
need. So giving tithes and offerings are also an expression of our faith and
trust in God.
And so at this time we’ll go ahead and pause and we’ll take
up the offering for the Feast of Trumpets, 2008.
(pause)
Now, let’s continue on for the Feast of Trumpets and let’s
see the meaning of it for us today; and we’re going to coordinate that with all
the things that we did leading up to Pentecost and the events after Pentecost so
that we get a full picture. But it’s not until we come to the prophet Isaiah,
until there is any inkling of anything concerning the meaning of the day of the
Feast of Trumpets. Let’s see this right here. Let’s look at a couple of Old
Testament Scriptures.
Let’s come to Psalm 81—and here is a Scripture that is
greatly misunderstood by people, because it is not properly translated. So they
get all mixed up concerning new moon and full moon and all that sort of thing.
And this has been a source—the wrong translation—of many of the calendar
problems of people coming along and devising their own calendar. Now, what we
need to do instead of getting all self-righteous about the calendar, we just
need to understand this and accept the simple fact: Did God know that we would
be scattered around the world in the end-time? Yes, and that actually
started with the Jews when they went into captivity into Babylon—and they were
dispersed into all the other countries, weren’t they? This is why we have the
calculated Hebrew calendar and we can double-prove by history the accuracy of
that calendar; and it is absolutely correct! Now there were some great,
astronomical events that took place leading up to the sundial going back ten
degrees during the days of Hezekiah. And those affected everything concerning
the earth. Now we have an article on that, so if you want to have that you can
write for it—just ask for Heavenly Signs and the Hebrew Calendar.
And God gave the calculated Hebrew calendar so that His
people everywhere in the world would be worshipping God and assembling for the
appointed feasts of God at the appointed time, and all around the world we’d all
be keeping the days on the same day. Every other calendar scheme that men have
come up with, for whatever reason, is null and void. God provided the calculated
Hebrew calendar so we would all know when we should keep the Holy Days of God.
Now let’s come here to Psalm 81:1: "Sing aloud unto God our
strength; shout for joy to the God of Jacob. Take up a melody, and bring the
drum here, the pleasant lyre with the harp. Blow the trumpet in the new moon…
[Now, some people are so fallacious to think that the new moon is a full moon.
Well, that’s like saying night is day and day is night. It’s utterly
preposterously foolish. The new moon has never ever, ever, ever, ever, ever,
ever, in God’s scheme of things, been the full moon.] …also at the full moon, on
our solemn feast day…" (vs 1-3).
Now the truth is, for the Holy Days in the spring and in the
fall, you must have the new moon and the full moon coordinated so that you have
a full moon on the fifteenth of the first month, and a full moon on the
fifteenth of the seventh month. The first one beginning the Feast of Unleavened
Bread and the second one beginning the Feast of Tabernacles. Now other than
that, we don’t have any meaning of the Feast of Trumpets.
Let’s come to the book of Ezra, the third chapter, and we
will see a mention of the feast of the seventh month—and that’s pg. 868 in the
new Bible. Ezra 3:1: "And when the seventh month had come, and the children of
Israel were in the cities, the people gathered themselves as one man to
Jerusalem. And Jeshua the son of Jozadak stood up, and his brethren the priests,
and Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and his brethren. And they built the altar
of the God of Israel in order to offer burnt offerings on it, as it is
written in the law of Moses the man of God" (vs 1-2). And after that they
started work on the temple. And it says down here in v 4: "And they kept the
Feast of Tabernacles, as it is written, and offered the daily burnt
offerings by number, according to the custom, as the duty of every day
required."
Now, we also find another reference to it in the book of
Nehemiah. Now the first instance that we read, even though it was in the book of
Ezra, that was before the time that Ezra came to Jerusalem—because he came
sometime later. Well, when he got there we find that he taught the people. So
let’s pick it up here, Nehemiah 8:1[transcriber’s correction] "And
all the people gathered themselves as one man into the street before the Water
Gate. And they spoke to Ezra the scribe to bring the Book of the Law of Moses,
which the LORD had commanded to Israel." Now remember, Ezra set his heart. He
was a priest, he was a scribe, he was the great-grandson of Hilkiah, the
priest—who was the priest during the days of Josiah. So he had the book of the
law, and he had all the other writings , because it was Ezra who set up the
great synagogue to do the canonization of the Old Testament. So they asked him
to come.
"And Ezra the priest brought the law before the congregation,
both of men and women, and all that could hear with understanding, upon the
first day of the seventh month" (v 2). Doesn’t say anything. What does it mean?
Well, they found out that they were to keep the Day of Atonement and the Feast
of Tabernacles.
So we have really nothing that tells us the meaning of this
other than it is a day of blowing of trumpets all day long. So, let’s jump ahead
and let’s come to the book of Revelation, and then we will go back—because, you
see, the book of Revelation, and the reason that the book of Revelation is one
of the seven divisions of the Bible is because it requires almost all the rest
of the Bible to comprehend the events that are going on here. And as we have
been learning, these events are things that are worldwide. These
are events that put into place—according to the Holy Days and the framework
which that provides—the understanding of how these events unfold at the end. And
also, when we grasp the understanding of these things, it helps us realize the
seasons and the times—but we don’t get carried away with setting a specific
date. And every man who has, has failed because, as we will see, Jesus said, "No
man knows the day, the hour or the time." We’re to know the times and the
seasons—the times in relating to how things unfold in prophecy as related to the
Holy Days. But we don’t know the day.
Now, as we saw with the things concerning the beginning of
the return of Christ, which if you look at it this way: in the last three and a
half years there are four of every one of the Holy Days: four Passovers, four
Unleavened Bread, four Pentecost, four Trumpets and so forth. And it’s in that
framework of the three and a half years that everything fits. Because Dan. 9
says that the one who becomes the Beast, the ‘prince of the people’—he will make
a covenant with the world for seven years, ‘one week.’ And ‘in the midst of the
week’ he will cause the sacrifices and oblations to cease. He cuts off the
sacrifices at the temple that is to be built in Jerusalem, and it will be
built. And we find that the second seal from Revelation, the sixth
chapter, tells us when the Tribulation begins. And we’ve seen how
that approximately two years—a little over two years—into the three and a half
year tribulation, then "the sign of the Son of man appears in heaven"; and then
the sealing of the 144,000 and the great innumerable multitude.
So if we look at this way: You have two time-lines for the
last year and a half—actually a little less than a year and a half. You have
from Pentecost—144,000 and great innumerable multitude sealed—to the next
Pentecost, which is one year being the last Pentecost there—the resurrection.
Then you also have from Trumpets to Trumpets, which is another year that extends
four months further than from Pentecost to Pentecost. You have Trumpets to
Trumpets—and if you don’t have the chart with Revelation and Daniel, you get the
chart and you can see that all laid out.
So what we have here—after whatever time it takes, probably
from Pentecost until just right at Trumpets—the 144,000 are sealed; the great,
innumerable multitude are sealed. Then they are protected by God from that time
forward.
Now, we have beginning with Revelation 8, we have the
introduction of the Trumpet plagues. And the reason that these trumpets are
blown is to show God’s direct intervention in the world. Now, everything up to
that point—until the opening of the heavens like rolling back of a scroll to
reveal the Son of man and the sealing of the 144,000—but everything up to that
point has been men against men. Now, at this point beginning with the next to
the last Feast of Trumpets (Rev. 8), we have something entirely different. And
brethren, we need to grasp the fact that we need to understand, which is this:
The return of Jesus Christ and all of the events associated with it,
beginning with the opening of the sixth seal, the rolling back of the heavens as
a scroll, is going to be awesome, mind-boggling, and it is going to be so
utterly destructive that our minds cannot grasp it.
So let’s look and see what Revelation 8 & 9 tell us what is
going to happen with these trumpet plagues. And we know the last one, the third
woe—which we’ve already covered—has got to be the first resurrection. Now, here
a new event happens—after the sign of the Son of man appears in heaven. The
angels of God begin fighting on the earth against men and the demons of Satan.
So now the whole thing shifts. This is why, in the Old Testament the blowing of
the ram’s horn was to signify that there was war. Now, this signifies war from
heaven against rebellious men who will not yield to God. And this has to be such
a great and gargantuan event that right just before the last Feast of Trumpets
occurs, with Christ and the saints putting their feet on the earth, that it has
got to mobilize the whole world.
So here is the fighting between them as described in
Revelation 8:1: "Now when He opened the seventh seal… [and out of the seventh
seal comes the seven trumpet plagues; and out of the seventh trumpet comes the
seven last plagues.] …there was silence in heaven for about a half
hour. Then I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were
given to them. And another angel…" (vs 1-3). This is going to announce it—what
an announcement! I want you to stop and think how much the world is being
prepared psychologically for these events to take place.
You watch the National Geographic channel, the History
channel and what do many of these programs show? They try and show meteors
coming from heaven, and the destructive powers that could come on earth. Now
picture how men are going to be after seeing the sign of the Son of man begin
out there in outer-space, looking like an asteroid coming toward the earth. And
now everybody is jockeying for power: the Beast power, the kings of the east and
so forth—and we’ll put this all together. Who is going to control? And that’s
what we will see. So God announces His direct intervention in the world, and
fighting against rebellious mankind and the demons.
Verse 3: "And another angel who had a golden censer, came and
stood at the altar; and much incense was given to him, so that he might offer
it with the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar that was
before the throne…. [Now all the saints at that point includes those who are in
a place of safety and all of those who have just been converted—the 144,000 and
the great, innumerable multitude. And they are praying, ‘Oh God, spare us. Watch
out for us.’ So God does.] …And the smoke of the incense went up before God from
the hand of the angel, ascending with the prayers of the saints. And the
angel took the censer, and filled it with fire from the altar, and cast it
into the earth…" (vs 3-5). [What an announcement! Want to fight! Let’s really
have a fight. You want to destroy! Let’s really have some destruction. You won’t
believe Me. ‘You won’t repent,’ God says. ‘Well, I’m going to treat you all as
Egypt.’ And so, here come all the plagues on a mammoth scale now, that had been
previously been demonstrated in the land of Egypt.
"…and there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings, and an
earthquake…. [As you go through the book of Rev. you’re going to see there are
many earthquakes; because God said He’s going ‘shake the heavens, shake the
earth, shake the sea, shake the dry ground.’ That’s going to be a lot, a lot, a
lot of earthquakes.] …Then the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared
themselves to sound their trumpets…. [Now, I believe everyone on earth is
going to hear these trumpets. It’s going to be a SHRILL BLAST! Just like the
ram’s horn.] …And the first angel sounded his trumpet; and there was hail
and fire mingled with blood, and it was cast upon the earth… [When we’re talking
in the book of Rev. the earth, the whole world, we’re talking about everything,
everyone—because remember, the book of Revelation is introduced by what?
‘Behold He comes with the clouds and every eye shall see Him.’
So this effects the whole world.] …and a third of the trees were burnt up,
and all green grass was burnt up" (vs 5-7). Hmmmm, not too many fire departments
going to be around to put those out.
"Then the second angel sounded his trumpet; and
there was cast into the sea as it were a great mountain burning with
fire… [Startling events are going to take place.] …and a third of the sea became
blood… [Just look at a globe, look at all the water that is there—and a third of
all of it becomes blood.] …And a third of the living creatures that were
in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed. And the third angel
sounded his trumpet; and there fell out of heaven a great star,
burning like a lamp; and it fell on a third of the rivers, and on the
[foundations] fountains of waters" (vs 8-10). Now, what are the ‘foundations of
waters’? Wherever that is.
"Now the name of the star is Wormwood; and a third of the
waters became wormwood; and many men died from drinking the waters
because they were made bitter. Then the fourth angel sounded his trumpet;
and a third of the sun was smitten, and a third of the moon, and a third of the
stars; so that a third of them were darkened… [That’s why no man knows the day
or hour. How can you figure it?] …and a third part of the day did not shine, and
likewise a third part of the night" (vs 11-12). Now these four come
relatively quickly. Just like the first four seals of Rev. 6—they come one, two,
three, four, and then a space of time. Now we have here: one, two, three, four,
and then a space of time again.
So let’s look at some prophecies in the Old Testament, which
I just imagine when they read them, they wondered: How will this be? Well, the
truth is, you can’t understand it until you have the book of Revelation—and that
wasn’t given until way after the ministry of Jesus Christ and the apostles.
Let’s pick it up here and let’s come back here to the book of
Zephaniah. I’ll give you the pg. number on it as soon as I get there. The book
of Zephaniah (pg. 688) tells us quite a bit about the Day of the Lord and what
it’s like and so forth. It makes you wonder, what did these prophets think when
they received these prophecies; and how were they to understand them? Well, they
didn’t understand them, but they wrote what God gave them to write. As we know,
these Holy Days in the fall—Trumpets, Atonement, Tabernacles and Last Great
Day—have their fulfillment at the end of the age of mankind.
Zephaniah 1:1: "The Word of the LORD which came to Zephaniah
the son of Cushi, the son of Gedaliah, the son of Amariah, the son of Hizkiah,
in the days of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah." Now that’s when they were
pretty well having peace. During his reign God gave them rest, God held off the
coming invasion of the Babylonians and the captivity until Hezekiah died. Now
they could have had many more years, as you know. But Hezekiah wanted to go out
a fight a battle which God told him don’t go fight. But he went out and fought
and he died; so they only had approximately 12 years of peace . They probably
could have had another 20 if Josiah hadn’t gotten carried away with his vanity.
Verse 2: "‘I will utterly consume all things from the face of
the earth,’ says the LORD…. [Now, as we will see, the fulfillment of that could
not happen until the seven last plagues.] …‘I will consume man and beast; I will
consume the birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea, and the stumbling
blocks, with the wicked; and I will cut off man from off the face of the earth,’
says the LORD…. [So these are going to be awesome and tremendous events.] …‘I
will also stretch out My hand upon Judah and upon all the people of Jerusalem.
And I will cut off the remnant of Baal from this place, the name of the
idolatrous priests, with the priests… [just like they do today: the priests back
then were mixing in all the pagan things. ‘Oh, we do this unto the Lord because
this is good.’] …And those worshiping the host of heaven upon the housetops, and
those worshiping, swearing to the LORD, also swearing by Milcom… And those who
have turned away from the LORD, and who have not sought the LORD, nor asked of
Him.’ Be silent before the face of the Lord GOD, for the day of the LORD is
at hand… [We see a little bit of the captivity of Jerusalem woven in there with
this.] …for the LORD has appointed a sacrifice; He has consecrated His guests" (vs
2-7).
Now there are two consecrations who are His guests:
Those who have been called to the first
resurrection—and they will see the seven last plagues poured out while
they’re on the Sea of Glass.
All the armies of the world who are consecrated for
destruction.
Verse 8: "‘And it shall be in the day of the LORD’S
sacrifice, I will punish the rulers, and the king’s children, and all who are
clothed in strange garments.’" Etc.
Let’s come over here now to v 14: "The great day of the LORD
is near… [And we can say that today—it is near! We also know that our
salvation is nearer than when we first believed. ] …it is near and comes
swiftly, the sound of the day of the LORD. The mighty man shall cry bitterly
there. That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day
of ruin and devastation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and
thick darkness, A day of the ram’s horn… [a little bit of Feast of Trumpets in
there] …and alarm against the fortified cities, and against the high towers.
‘And I will bring distress on men, so that they shall walk as the blind because
they have sinned against the LORD…. [Now we will see this a little later when we
come to Rev. 9.] …And their blood shall be poured out as dust, and their flesh
as dung.’ Neither their silver nor their gold will be able to deliver them in
the day of the LORD’S wrath; but the whole earth shall be devoured by the fire
of His jealousy, for He shall make even a full end, yea, a terrible end of all
who dwell upon the earth" (vs 14-18).
Boy, given in the days of Josiah, Zephaniah probably thought,
‘Woooo, my, what is this?’ And he didn’t live to see any of it. These things
were prophesied for those of us who live at the end of the age. And the biggest
fault and mistake people are making within the Church of God now, at the end of
the age, is this: All too many are getting all carried away with worshipping and
following men who have set themselves up as prophets or two witnesses or
apostles or the sole representative of God on earth. Their day of judgment is at
hand. God is going to deal with them. And God is going to deal with all the
brethren who are silly enough to follow them. So we might as well all get right
with God, because God is the one Who’s going to do all of these things. No man
is going to lead you to a place of safety. No man is going to give you the
protection that God can give. All of this comes from God—we need to understand
that. And all the brethren belong to God. They are His property; they are His
sheep! So if you want to blither down the highway, following some man
proclaiming great authority, you go right ahead, if that is your choice. Why
don’t you rather choose Christ and His way and follow Him and God the Father.
Now, let’s read on, Zephaniah 2:1: "Gather yourselves
together; yea, gather together, O nation not desired—Before the decree is
brought forth, and the day passes like the chaff; before the fierce anger of the
LORD comes upon you, before the day of the LORD’S anger comes upon you.
Seek the LORD, all you meek of the earth… [there’s still time—you seek
God] …who have executed His judgment; seek righteousness; seek meekness. It may
be that you shall be hidden in the day of the LORD’S anger…" (vs 1-3). No man is
going to protect you—only God! But notice the qualification.
That’s quite the opposite of men who make great proclamations concerning
themselves.
Now let’s continue on and look at some other prophecies here.
Let’s come to Daniel. Now, Daniel, in the new Bible, is not in the prophets. And
the reason it’s not in the prophets is because it was written outside the land
of Israel, and therefore, it’s in the writings. Nevertheless, he is a prophet.
So let’s turn there now, pg. 865, Daniel 12. And actually, it is the book just
before the book of Ezra. So you have also a chronology of things here. You have
Daniel who wrote in Babylon. You have Ezra who came out of Babylon and canonized
the Old Testament. You have the book of Nehemiah because Nehemiah came and he
was there before Ezra came, and also after Ezra came. And then you have the book
of Chronicles, which is 1st and 2nd Chronicles written by
Ezra to finalize the Old Testament. So it all makes sense when you put it
together.
Daniel 12:1[transcriber’s correction]: "‘And at
that time… [This is the time of the end] …Michael shall stand up, the great
prince who stands for the children of your people. And there shall be a time of
trouble, such as never was since there was a nation… [Now, we have one of the
first inklings that these things are going to take place at an end of time.]
…even until that time. And at that time your people shall be delivered—every one
who shall be found written in the book [of life]."
Now, never a time like this; so we’ll look at some New
Testament Scriptures which then adds to it. This is why when we read and study
the Bible and put it together, we put it "line upon line, here a little there a
little, precept upon precept"—Scripture, we build it together and see what God
is telling us, and let the Scriptures interpret the Scriptures so we have some
understanding. That’s how we do it.
Now, let’s continue on. Let’s come back to the book of
Joel—and this tells us a lot concerning the Day of the Lord. We’re going to see
as we come to Joel, the second chapter, that when we come back to Rev. 9 it is
talking about the army that God raises up to do the fighting: evil men against
evil men. Evil men and the demons on one hand and evil men and the demons on the
other hand, coming together in this great army. And they’re all coming to
Jerusalem. And the reason that they’re all coming to Jerusalem is because God is
going to bring them there. And the thing that’s going to attract them is that
great sea of glass that’s in the heavens above. They’re going to have to come to
Jerusalem to try and stop this invasion from outer-space.
Joel 1:15 (pg 668)—we’ll just read this one verse because
then we’ll go to chapter 2: "Alas for the day! For the day of the LORD is
at hand… [And it comes as a secret rapture. NO!] …and it shall come as a
destruction from the Almighty." And that’s what the whole book of
Revelation is all about. This earth, brethren, is going to be absolutely
devastated beyond recognition, because when Christ and the saints set their feet
on the earth, they are going to start all new. They’re not going to use the
things of men that they have used in the past.
Joel 2:1: Blow the ram’s horn in Zion, and sound an alarm in
My holy mountain!" Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, for the day of
the LORD comes, for it is near at hand—… [That is the message for this
Feast of Trumpets—it is near at hand. So we need to ask ourselves a
question: How is my spiritual house? How is my relationship with God? That’s the
primary question.] …A day of darkness and of gloominess… [Just like we read
there in Rev. 8] …a day of clouds and of thick darkness. As the morning is
spread across the mountains, so comes a great people and a
mighty people; there has never been the like… [And we’ll see that refers to
Rev. 9] …nor shall there ever be again, even to the years of many generations" (vs
1-2). Now, when Joel gave this, I wonder what he thought. He knew these were the
words of God, but he didn’t understand them.
"A fire devours before them, and behind them a flame burns.
The land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate
wilderness—and nothing shall escape them…. [And we’ll see how Revelation brings
the interpretation and fulfillment of this.] …Their appearance is as the
appearance of horses; and as war horses, so they run. They shall leap with the
noise of chariots on the tops of mountains, with the noise of a flame of fire
that devours the stubble, like a mighty people set in battle array. In their
presence the people shall greatly tremble; all faces shall grow pale.
They shall run like mighty men. They shall climb the wall like men of war, and
they shall march each one in his path, and they shall not break their ranks. And
each one shall not crowd another; they go every one in his own path. And
when they fall upon the sword, they shall not be wounded" (vs 3-8). Because they
are undoubtedly possessed of demons.
"They shall run to and fro in the city; they shall run upon
the wall; they shall climb up upon the houses; they shall enter in at the
windows like a thief. The earth shall quake before them; the heavens shall
tremble. The sun and the moon shall grow dark, and the stars shall withdraw
their shining…. [Describing the events in Revelation. Tremendous events!
Worldwide events!] …And the LORD shall utter His voice before His army… [How
does He utter His voice? Trumpets! One, two, three, four, BOOM! And then
we will see the fifth and sixth trumpet.] …for His camp is exceedingly
great; for powerful is He who executes His Word, for the day of the LORD
is great and very terrible; and who can endure it?" (vs
9-11).
Then it talks about repentance. This is where the 144,000 and
the great, innumerable multitude come in. "‘Therefore even now,’ says the LORD,
‘turn to Me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with
mourning. Yes, rend your heart and not your garments, and return to the LORD
your God: for He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great
kindness, and He repents of the evil’" (vs 12-13). God always honors
repentance, and never forget that! If your life has been that you have
strayed from God, that you have left the Truth and are coming back, that you
have grown lukewarm, God will forgive and He’s merciful and gracious
and now is the time to return to God.
(go to the next track)
Now let’s continue on in the book of Joel 3:1—again, I want
you to see and understand how these Scriptures apply to the end-time, and can
only be understood with the knowledge of the book of Revelation giving us a
sequence and a basic timeframe through the Holy Days. This is why the world can
never understand prophecies; because they don’t keep the Sabbath and they don’t
keep the Holy Days. They do not understand the meaning of them.
Joel 3:1: ""For, behold, in those days and in that time—when
I will bring back the exiles of Judah and Jerusalem—… [Which is going to follow
right after the return of Christ.] …I will also gather all nations… [Now, we are
going to see that is interpreted in the book of Revelation—all nations!]
…and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat. And I will fight with
them there for My people and for My inheritance Israel… [Now those are two
factors: #1) the resurrected sons of God—which is the spiritual inheritance and
the spiritual people now glorified through the resurrection; and #2) the
children of Israel and the children of Judah.] …whom they have scattered among
the nations, and divided My land" (vs 1-2).
Now, let’s come over here to v 9—let’s again see how this
applies to the whole world. And we’ll look at some other Scriptures which help
us understand this even more. Verse 9: "Proclaim this among the nations… [Now,
it says ‘all nations’—so this means all the nations.] ‘Prepare for
war!’…. [That’s why the Feast of Trumpets is a war feast.] …Wake
up the mighty men, let all the men of war draw near; let them come up. Beat your
plowshares into swords, and your pruning hooks into spears. Let the weak say, ‘I
am strong.’… [Sounds like ole Osama Bin Laden doesn’t it?] …Gather
yourselves and come, all you nations, and gather yourselves together all around;
cause Your mighty ones to come down there, O LORD…. [Yes, and the angels are the
mighty ones of Rev. 16 with the last plagues, as well as the angels that blow
the trumpet.] …Let the nations be awakened and come up to the valley of
Jehoshaphat; for there I will sit to judge all the nations all around" (vs
9-12).
"Put in the sickle… [So the Feast of Trumpets is a harvest
feast only to the extent that it is the harvest and the destruction of the
wicked. Whereas Pentecost is a harvest feast to celebrate the
resurrection.] …"Put in the sickle for the harvest is ripe. Come, come down; for
the press is full; the vats overflow—for their wickedness is great. Multitudes,
multitudes in the valley of decision… [How about an army of 200-million?] …for
the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision! The sun and the
moon shall be darkened, and the stars shall withdraw their shining…. [We read
that already in Revelation, didn’t we? Yes!] …The LORD shall also roar
out of Zion and utter His voice from Jerusalem. And the heavens and the earth
shall shake. But the LORD will be the hope of His people and the
strength of the children of Israel" (vs 13-16). So that’s something!
Now let’s look in the book of Isaiah 13 (pg. 513), and let’s
see how Isaiah describes this. And here is one of the first times that it talk
about in the Bible as far as the chronology of writing the Old Testament. Here
is one of the first times that it talks about shaking the heavens and the earth.
And it’s talking about Babylon. And what do we find in the book of Revelation?
We have Babylon the Great. So we have the first Babylon and we have the
second Babylon. That’s why Rev. 18 says: "Babylon, Babylon the Great is fallen,
is fallen."
Isaiah 13:1: "The burden of Babylon, which Isaiah the son of
Amoz saw… [Now, you go back to Isa. 6, where Isaiah saw the throne of God, and
he was specially selected and was given these prophecies in a special revelation
that came from God. So here’s what he saw and here’s what is quoted]: …‘Lift up
a banner upon the high mountain, exalt the voice to them, wave the hand, so that
they may go into the gates of the nobles. I have commanded My holy ones, I have
also called My mighty ones for My anger, even those who rejoice in My
triumph.’… [Now, that includes the angels; the resurrected saints; the 144,000,
the great, innumerable multitude. Now then, v 4 talks about the great armies
that are coming]: …The noise of a multitude in the mountains, as of a great
people; a tumultuous noise of the kingdoms of nations gathered together; the
LORD of hosts gathers an army for the battle…. [And we read that in Joel 2]
…They come from a far country, from the end of heaven, the LORD and the weapons
of His indignation, to destroy the whole earth" (vs 1-5).
"Howl! For the day of the LORD is at hand; it shall
come as a destruction from the Almighty. Therefore, all hands shall be faint,
and every man’s heart shall melt; And they shall be afraid. Pangs and sorrows
shall take hold of them. They shall be in pain like a woman who travails. They
shall be amazed at one another, their faces are like blazing fire…. [And
we’ll see that in Rev. 9] …Behold, the day of the LORD comes, cruel both with
wrath and fierce anger, to make the earth a desolation; and He shall destroy the
sinners out of it… [Now, notice again, notice again]: …For the stars of the
heavens and their constellations shall not give light; the sun shall be darkened
in its going forth, and the moon shall not reflect its light. ‘And I will
punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their
iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low
the haughtiness of the tyrants. I will make man more scarce than gold; even man
more than the fine gold of Ophir. Therefore [God says], I will shake the
heavens, and the earth shall move out of its place, in the wrath of the LORD of
hosts, and in the day of His fierce anger’" (vs 6-13).
Those are some startling words. And when we put this together
with Revelation—which we’ll do here in just a minute, again—we will see that the
unfolding of these events are absolutely (how shall I say) humongous in their
proportion and awesome in their destructiveness. And I know as I read this, and
as I prepared for the sermon, and we look ahead and see that these days are
going to come, I ask myself the question:
How, how do we prepare for this?
What is that we do?
How do we respond to God?
And we can’t have anyone saying…I don’t care how gentle and
tender that you are, and some of these things may effect you in kind of shocking
and disturbing way. But you better buck up and you better brace up, because if
you think it’s bad now, you ain’t seen nothing yet. And it’s coming. We need to
be prepared number 1: Spiritually!
That we stay
close to God;
yielded to God;
keeping His
commandments
loving God;
loving each
other.
So when these desperate days come—and they’re coming—we’re
not going to be caught unawares. And we will have our safety and our hope in
God.
Now, let’s come to the book of Revelation, and let’s see how
these things unfold. Let’s pick it up where we left off in Revelation 9—No!
Let’s stop in the book of Matthew, chapter 24—then Mark 13. You might say these
Scriptures here that Jesus gave in Matthew and Mark and different other places,
are the bridge between Isaiah and the book of Revelation.
Matthew 24—where the disciples began to have a little more
understanding than the prophets of old. Remember Jesus said, ‘Many prophets and
righteous men have desired to see the things that you see, and have not seen
them.’ Now, let’s carry that forward 2000 years from the time of Jesus and say
again, ‘many saints down through the ages have desired to see the things that
you see and have not seen them. And to understand the things that you understand
and did not understand them.’ And that doesn’t make us any great thing of
ourselves because God promised that in the end the wise would understand. And
the only reason that we have any wisdom is because we love God and obey Him. And
the only reason we have understanding is because God gives it through His Word,
and through His Spirit. And that’s why we’re going to see, as He said, many
false prophets. And they’re running amok even within the Church.
Matthew 24:3: "And as He was sitting on the Mount of Olives,
His disciples came to Him alone, saying, ‘Tell us, when shall these things be?…
[that is the destruction of Jerusalem] …And what shall be the sign of
Your coming… [because there is a sign that’s going to appear in heaven] …and of
the completion of the age?’…. [The end of the age of man’s rule under Satan the
devil.] …Then Jesus answered and said to them, ‘Be on guard, so that no
one deceives you…. [Stop and think for just a minute. Is the world deceived?
Yes! How many brethren have also been deceived, who are supposed to be
brethren? More than we would care to even imagine. So you need to
understand how precious your relationship with God is.] (let’s go on): …For many
shall come in My name, saying, "I am the Christ"; and they shall deceive many.
And you shall hear of wars and rumors of wars" (vs 3-5).
And we hear it today. And when you understand Mat. 24, what
we are talking about are the events that happen in the end-time when you can
know there is war and rumors of war—you hear it every day. Before there was
television and mass communication like we have it today, you might not hear
about a war for years after it started. Or even rumors of war. People lived way
off, kind of isolated, they wouldn’t know anything that’s going on. They may
have had some of the Word of God. They may have been the saints of God living
out there all alone, like the Waldensians did in the Alps, etc., but they had no
understanding of these things. Now it comes every day. Now we read it every day.
I’m going to read to you about this world—especially v 7. How many nations in
Africa are fighting each other, killing each other, slaughtering each other?
Can’t even have enough sense to even have a decent election.
Verse 7: "For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom
against kingdom; and there shall be famines and pestilences and earthquakes in
different places. Now all these things are the beginning of
sorrows" (vs 7-8). Now, when does the beginning of sorrows begin? Did it begin
with 9/11 for the United States? I don’t know, but that was a signal event. It
could very well have been the beginning of sorrows for us. Now, it doesn’t tell
us how long, or how broad, or how deep the beginning of sorrows is going to be,
until we come to the earth-shaking events that are pictured in the book of
Revelation. So there again, we need to buck up and be spiritually prepared.
Now, here’s something that is going to happen. It’s happened
in the past in certain countries in the world. It’s happening now. "Then shall
they deliver you up to affliction, and shall kill you; and you shall be hated by
all nations for My name’s sake…. [That has to be an end-time event, because
that’s talking about ALL nations.] …And then shall many be led into sin… [And
that’s exactly what is happening!] …and shall betray one another, and shall hate
one another…" (vs 9-10). Boy, doesn’t that sound like our country today, and the
world today? Yes, indeed! Yet, at the same time, there’s sort of a
strange twist to it all. While they hate each other and can’t stand each other,
they’re irrevocably drawn into a one-world system where they have to temporarily
get along with each other—only so that they can advantage themselves. It’s not
that they love and care for each other. And the reason they’re coming together
in a one-world government is because God prophesied that it would be. It says
there in Rev. 17 that ‘He put it in their hearts to do His will.’ And men have
always wanted a one-world government. They think that they can solve the world’s
problems if they have a one-world government. Well, a one-world government is a
solution, but not under men—under Christ and the saints!
Let’s go on, v 11: "And many false prophets shall arise, and
shall deceive many; And because lawlessness shall be multiplied… [What I’m
reading to you are the headlines of the news that you watch daily. Correct?
Yes!] …the love of many shall grow cold. But the one who endures to the
end, that one shall be saved…. [That’s taking about us in the end-times. We have
enduring to do.] …And this gospel of the kingdom shall be proclaimed in all the
world for a witness to all nations…" (vs 11-14). That has yet to be done on the
scale that it is going to be done. Now, it’s being down through the Word of
God—and we’ve covered that. How many Bibles are going to be printed here and
distributed to the world? Over 8-billion in the next ten years! Now, how
the Gospel is going to be preached worldwide? We’ll let God use whomever and
whenever and as many as He desires to do that. But whoever’s going to do
it, they better preach the truth and they better rely on God the Father and
Jesus Christ.
Then He says, "‘Therefore, when you see the abomination of
desolation, which was spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy
place (the one who reads, let him understand)…" (v 15) [then the Tribulation
beings. We’ve covered that, but I want to cover this]: (v 21): "For then
shall there be great tribulation… [Now, I want you notice how this ties
in with the book of Daniel, that we covered already.] …such as has not been from
the beginning of the world until this time, nor ever shall be
again…. [Now that is a tremendous statement.] …And if those days were
not limited, there would no flesh be saved; but for the elect’s sake those days
shall be limited’" (vs 21-22).
Now, let’s come to Mark 13—let’s again see how Jesus, in
agreeing with all the prophets, gave us a little more of a stage that is set, so
we can look and see. We can look and see many things that are even the book of
Daniel. ‘Many shall go to and fro and knowledge shall increase.’ Knowledge is
increasing so fast now—so fast! Exponentially, in such a way of multiplying that
it is going to bring us, in a few short years, everything that was done before
the Flood. So you think on that!
Mark 13:19 (pg 1,012): "For in those days shall be
great tribulation, such as has not been the like from the beginning
of the creation that God created until this time, nor ever shall be
again; And unless the Lord had limited the days, no flesh would be
saved; but for the sake of the elect…" (vs 19-20). All those who
have the Spirit of God. How important then, is our relationship with God? That
we have been called to serve under Christ, to save this world. Now, let that
sink in! God hasn’t called us to be nice, little religious people. He hasn’t
called us so that we can just be successful in the world.
He’s called us unto eternal life;
and He’s called us unto eternal work;
and He’s called us to rule and reign with Christ!
So this is one of the keys that we need to keep our minds
focused. If we keep that in the forefront of our minds, and in our hearts, and
in our prayers, we’ll go through anything. And Christ will see us through it!
And we don’t have to worry, and we don’t have to be afraid. "…but for the
sake of the elect, whom He has chosen, He has limited the days." Now
that’s saying an awful lot, isn’t it? Yes, indeed!
All right now, let’s come to the book of Revelation. We left
off with finishing Rev. 8:12; now then, it gets worse, and God gives warning.
Revelation 8:13 (pg. 1,233): John wrote: "And I looked; and I heard an angel
flying in the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, ‘Woe, woe, woe to those
who are dwelling on the earth, because of the voices of the remaining trumpets
of the three angels who are about to sound their trumpets.’"
Now this intensifies. You go back and you look at the seals.
Those are pretty devastating. And then you see the heavens roll back. Then we
come to chapter 8 and we see the things that took place. Again, more intense.
All of these things come in more intensity, and in more power. And there’s a
reason why. God is going to leave a testimony and a witness, and I am absolutely
convinced that God is going have…you know, we have camera recording this with my
speaking right now, don’t you think that God is going to have all of that
recorded to show mankind over and over again, the results and the fruits of
going the way of man and Satan the devil? Of course!
Just as an aside: I hope that Noah gives all the saints a
seminar on what happened before the Flood, and tell us, how did you build that
Ark? That’ll be interesting, won’t it? Yes!
So let’s pick it up here—Revelation 9—let’s see what happens,
and when we read chapter 9, this is the fifth trumpet plague. And the Feast of
Trumpets pictures the beginning of the last year, and to the end of the last
year. A time of war and devastation that this world has never ever seen or
experienced. The angels of God against Satan and men and his demons. Let’s read
it.
Revelation 9:1 "And the fifth angel sounded his
trumpet; and I saw a star that had fallen from heaven to the earth, and
there was given to him the key to the bottomless abyss…. [So this is an angel
coming down—and he has the key to the abyss. Because in the abyss—and 2-Peter 2
& 1-Peter 3 talks about those spirits who are in prison. So they’re all going to
be let out. And here’s what it looks like when they come out]: …And he opened
the bottomless abyss; and there went up smoke from the pit, like the
smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by the smoke
from the pit" (vs 1-2). Men are going to think: ‘Man! Look at the power we have
now. Look at this. They’re going to come and really stir them up!’
"Then locusts came onto the earth from the smoke; and power
was given to them, as the scorpions of the earth have power. And it was said to
them that they should not damage the grass of the earth, or any green thing, or
any tree… [Now let’s stop and think about this for a minute here. Because we
read in chapter 8 that it says here, v 7: ‘And the first angel sounded his
trumpet; and there was hail and fire mingled with blood, and it was cast
upon the earth; and a third of the trees were burnt up, and all green grass was
burnt up.’ So we come down here and it says]: …should not damage the grass of
the earth…" (vs 3-4). What happens when grass is burned? As soon as there’s
water, it grows. So this shows a period of time, doesn’t it? Yes!
"…or any green thing, or any tree, but only… [now notice:
here is a division—the protection of the 144,000 and the great, innumerable
multitude.] …but only the men who did not have the seal of God in their
foreheads…. [And Rev. 7 said an angel came and sealed them in
their forehead. So here is protection. Wherever they are, they’re protected from
this.] …And it was given to them that they should not kill them… [This is going
to be a weapon which is going to debilitate—not going to kill them.] …but that
they should be tormented five months… [Now that’s something! So
this gives the Beast Power a space of five months, think that he’s really going
to be able to pull the whole thing together and rule the world.] …and their
torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it stings a man"
(v 5). Now, I can’t tell you what that’s like, but it probably pretty wicked and
hurtful and painful.
Here’s how bad it will be: "And in those days men will seek
death but will not find it; and they will desire to die, but death will flee
from them…. [So they’re going to be desperate. They won’t believe God. They
won’t repent. So, here’s what happens. Here’s what they look like]: …And the
appearance of the locusts was like horses prepared for war… [We had a
pre-type of that back in Joel 1—right? Yes!] …and on their heads were
crowns like those of gold; and their faces were like the
faces of men; And they had hair like women’s hair; and their teeth were like
those of lions…. [Awesome, whatever kind of weapons that these men are going
to be using—this is how it’s pictured, this is how they look.] …And they had
breastplates like iron breastplates; and the sound of their wings was
like the sound of chariots drawn by many horses running to war;
And they had tails like scorpions, and stingers; and they were given
power to injure men with their tails for five months" (vs
6-10). Boy, that’s something!
So here’s a period of time. If the first trumpet is blown
beginning on the Feast of Trumpets, and the last trumpet is blown the next Feast
of Trumpets—one year later—are blown to announce the descending of Christ and
the saints to the earth, you’ve got—if it’s a leap year—13 months. If it’s not a
leap year, you have 12 months. So seven months is consumed with this fifth
trumpet, which is the first plague.
Now notice who’s in charge of them: "And they have over them
a king, the angel of the abyss; his name in Hebrew is Abaddon, but the
name he has in Greek is Apollyon…. [That’s Satan the devil.] …The first
woe is past… [It’s the end of five months, it’s over.] …Behold, after these
things two more woes are still to come. And the sixth angel sounded his
trumpet; and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar that is
before God… [See, God and the angels are directly involved in this. This is
big-time, awesome stuff! Worldwide things and events that are transpiring!] …And
it said to the sixth angel, who had the trumpet, "Loose the four angels who are
bound in the great river Euphrates.’ Then the four angels, who had been
prepared… [Now, God has this timed Himself] …for the hour and day and month and
year, were loosed, so that they might kill a third of men" (vs 11-15).
Now, we don’t know what the population is going to grow to
you until the time when Jesus returns. But we do know this: sometime in the next
two or three years, the population of the world will be 7-billion! Now, will it
grow to be ten? We don’t know, it doesn’t tell us. We don’t know how many there
will be. But when you add up all that are killed…and where it says that all of
these things are going to come upon the world, and all nations are going to be
involved, then it’s going to be: will God spare a tenth? Like He does with
Israel. Or for the rest of the world will it be less than a tenth? We don’t
know.
Hold your place here and come back to Jeremiah 25—let’s read
some Scriptures here again which show the whole nature of the tremendous things
that are coming on the earth, which again verifies that they are worldwide
events. And again, when you read some of these Scriptures in the Old Testament,
and we know we can couple them together with the book of Revelation, you ask the
question: How did the prophets think of these things when God gave it to them?
So God says here in Jeremiah 25—we’ll summarize all the verses up to it—that God
gave a cup to Jeremiah and said, ‘you go to all nations and make them drink and
they WILL drink!’
Jeremiah 25:29 (pg. 577): "‘For, lo, I begin to bring evil on
the city which is called by My name; and shall you go unpunished? You shall not
go unpunished. For I will call for a sword on all the inhabitants of the earth,’
says the LORD of hosts. And prophesy against them all these words, and say to
them, ‘The LORD shall roar from on high, and utter His voice from His holy
habitation…. [As we saw on the Sea of Glass.] …He shall mightily roar over His
dwelling place. He shall give a shout, like those who tread out grapes,
against all the people of the earth. A noise shall come to the ends of
the earth; for the LORD has a controversy with the nations… [And as we saw, ALL
the nations] …He will plead with all flesh. He will give those who are
wicked to the sword,’ says the LORD" (vs 29-31)--which we have just read—Rev. 8
& 9
Verse 32: "Thus says the LORD of hosts, ‘Behold, evil shall
go forth from nation to nation, and a great whirlwind shall be stirred up from
the farthest corners of the earth. And the slain of the LORD shall be at that
day from one end of the earth even to the other end of the earth;
they shall not be mourned, nor gathered, nor buried. They shall be as
dung on the ground’" (vs 32-33). That describes exactly what we’re seeing back
here in the book of Revelation.
Come back here to Revelation 9, and let’s finish this off.
Let’s see what this is going to do now—now this new army that comes with the
sixth seal."…Kill a third part of the men…"We finished off there in v 15, now
Revelation 9:16: "And the number of the armies of the horsemen was
two hundred thousand thousand… [The largest army ever assembled in the history
of the world—200-million—and those armies are going to be strewed
all the way from the Far East to the Middle East, and they will come like waves,
and come like waves. Here’s what they’re going to do]: (v 17): …And so I saw the
horses in the vision, and those sitting on them, who had fiery breastplates…
[recall what we read earlier in some of the prophecies] …even like jacinth and
brimstone. And the heads of the horses were like heads of lions, and fire
and smoke and brimstone shoot out of their mouths. By these three, a third of
men were killed: by the fire and the smoke and the brimstone that shoot out of
their mouths. For their power is in their mouths; for their tails are
like serpents, and have heads, and with them they inflict wounds" (vs
16-19).
Notice, notice how stubborn man is—and
especially since these are all demons running these armies with the men. "But
the rest of the men who were not killed by these plagues still did not repent of
the works of their hands, that they might not worship demons, and idols of gold
and silver and brass and stone and wood, which do not have the power to see, nor
to hear, nor to walk. And they did not repent of their murders, nor of their
sorceries, nor of their fornications, nor of their thievery" (vs 20-21).
Tremendous!
Now we have Rev. 10—inset chapter—we have the seven thunders.
John was told not to write them, so we don’t know what they are. There’s a man
recently who said, ‘I know what they are.’ He prophesied and said if they don’t
happen at a certain time, ‘I’m a false prophet.’ Well, they didn’t happen when
he said they would happen, and he didn’t say, ‘I’m a false prophet.’ He says,
‘Good news, I have another revelation from God.’ Well, how do you know he has
another revelation from God when the first wasn’t true? Some people like to be
deceived.
Let’s come over here to Revelation 11—we’ll see the seventh
trumpet that sounds, and here’s the resurrection. And we’ll see there are plenty
more things that happen after the resurrection. As a matter of fact, from
Pentecost until Trumpets. So we have from
Pentecost to Pentecost—sealing of the 144,000 and
great, innumerable multitude until the next Pentecost, the resurrection.
Then you have from Trumpets to Trumpets—the beginning
of the trumpet plagues and the seventh trumpet sounds on Pentecost;
saints are resurrected.
Revelation 11:14: "The second woe is past. Behold, the third
woe is coming immediately. Then the seventh angel sounded his trumpet;
and there were great voices in heaven, saying, ‘The kingdoms of this
world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and His Christ, and He shall
reign into the ages of eternity’" (vs 14-15). And then it says v 18: "For the
nations were angry, and Your wrath has come, and the time for the dead to be
judged, and to give reward to Your servants the prophets, and to the saints, and
to all those who fear Your name, the small and the great; and to destroy
those who destroy the earth."
Now let’s come to Revelation 14—and let’s see when this is
going to be. We have two harvests:
the harvest of the righteous, which we already
covered on Pentecost, they’re raised and placed on the Sea of Glass.
Then we have another one: the harvest of the wicked,
as we read in the book of Joel: the ‘valley of decisions’; the ‘valley
of blood.’
Revelation 14:19: "And the angel thrust his sickle into the
earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, [all of the wicked] and cast its
fruit into the great winepress of the wrath of God. And the winepress was
trodden outside the city, and blood spewed out from the winepress as high as the
horses’ bridles, to the distance of a thousand six hundred furlongs" (vs 19-20).
And we have the seven last plagues, which we have already
covered, showing the events after the resurrection. So we will go
ahead and connect it now to the very last Feast of Trumpets. Let’s come to
Revelation 19—and here is the last Feast of Trumpets; and this will be the day
that fulfills Zechariah 14, where in that day the Lord and the saints will stand
on the Mt. of Olives. So here’s the setting: After all of those things have been
done, everything has been finished; the seven last plagues are out.
Revelation 19:1: "And after these things I heard the
loud voice of a great multitude in heaven [that’s all of us], saying,
‘Hallelujah! The salvation and the glory and the honor and the power belong
to the Lord our God. For true and righteous are His judgments; for He
has judged the great whore, who corrupted the earth with her fornication,
and He has avenged the blood of His servants at her hand.’ And they said a
second time, ‘Hallelujah! And her smoke shall ascend upward into the ages of
eternity.’ And the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down
and worshiped God, Who sits on the throne, saying, ‘Amen. Hallelujah!’" (vs
1-4). There’s going to be great celebration!
"And a voice came forth from the throne, saying, ‘Praise our
God, all His servants, and all who fear Him, both small and great.’ And I heard
a voice like that of a great multitude, and like the sound of many
waters, and the sound of mighty thunderings, saying, ‘Hallelujah! For
the Lord God Almighty has reigned [He’s coming!]. Let us be glad and shout
with joy; and let us give glory to Him; for the marriage of the Lamb has come…
[As we have seen, it’s taken place already!] …and His wife has made herself
ready.’" (vs 5-7).
Now, let’s come down here to v 11—here’s what the world’s
going to see after this: "And I saw heaven open; and behold, a white horse
[Christ]; and He Who sat on it is called Faithful and True, and in
righteousness He does judge and make war. And His eyes were like a flame
of fire, and on His head were many crowns; and He had a name
written that no one knows except Him. And He was clothed with a garment
dipped in blood; and His name is The Word of God…. [None other than Jesus
Christ!] …And the armies in heaven were following Him… [That’s all the
resurrected saints.] …on white horses; and they were clothed in fine
linen, white and pure. And out of His mouth goes a sharp sword… [So here we are
coming down from the Sea of Glass to the earth—and Christ is commanding!] …that
with it He might smite the nations; and He shall shepherd them with an iron rod;
and He treads the winepress of the fury and the wrath of the Almighty God. And
on His garment and on His thigh He has a name written: King of kings and
Lord of lords" (vs 11-16).
"Then I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried out
with a loud voice, saying to all the birds that fly in the midst of
heaven, ‘Come and gather yourselves together to the supper of the great God…
[Because as Zech. 14 shows, their flesh is just going to fall right off their
bones and the skeletons collapse in a heap and blood will be everywhere!] …So
that you may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of chief
captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of
horses, and of those who sit on them, and the flesh of all, free and
bond, and small and great’" (vs 17-18).
And here’s the final confrontation—the battle to end the age,
the completion of the age that Jesus talked about: "And I saw the beast and the
kings of the earth and their armies, gathered together to make war with Him Who
sits on the horse, and with His army. And the beast was taken, and with him the
false prophet who worked miracles in his presence, by which he had deceived
those who received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image.
Those two were cast alive into the lake of fire, which burns with brimstone; And
the rest were killed by the sword of Him Who sits on the horse, even the
sword that goes out of His mouth; and all the birds were filled with their
flesh" (vs 19-21).
Thus ends the fulfillment of the Feast of Trumpets; and now
the next thing to do is put away the author of sin. So come back for the Day of
Atonement.
Scriptural References:
Leviticus 23:23-25
Numbers 29:1-6
Psalm 81:1-3
Ezra 3:1-2, 4
Nehemiah 8:1-2
Revelation 8:1-12
Zephaniah 1:1-8, 14-18
Zephaniah 2:1-3
Daniel 12:1
Joel 1:15
Joel 2:1-13
Joel 3:1-2, 9-16
Isaiah 13:1-13
Matthew 24:3-15, 21-22
Mark 13:19-20
Revelation 8:13
Revelation 9:1-15
Jeremiah 25:29-33
Revelation 9:16-21
Revelation 11:14-15, 18
Revelation 14:19-20
Revelation 19:1-7, 11-21
Scriptures referenced, not quoted:
Malachi 3
2 Corinthians 3
Revelation 6; 16; 18
Isaiah 6
2 Peter 2
1 Peter 3
Also referenced:
Article: Heavenly Signs and the Hebrew Calendar
Chart: Revelation & Daniel
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