Anchor School of Theology: Prophetic Principles

Notes on Daniel

Three Angels Broadcasting Network

Program transcript

Participants: Stephen Bohr

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Series Code: ASTPP

Program Code: ASTPP000004


00:15 Let's bow our heads for prayer.
00:18 Our Father and our God, we convene once again
00:21 to open Your Holy Word which was inspired by the Holy Spirit.
00:26 We ask, Lord, that You will give us holy hands
00:30 as we handle Your Holy Word.
00:32 I ask, Lord, that You will bless us in our study
00:35 that we might rightly divide the word of truth.
00:39 Give us understanding, for as human beings
00:42 our understanding is so limited.
00:45 We thank You, Father, for the privilege of requesting
00:48 this favor of wisdom.
00:50 And we know that You will answer, because we
00:51 ask it in Jesus' name, amen.
00:56 Okay, let's turn in our material to the hand-out that says,
01:01 "Stephen Bohr's Notes on Daniel 2."
01:05 And what I want to do is go to the second page
01:09 where you find the subtitle, "The Meaning of the Dream."
01:14 Now I don't think that I have to explain the dream to you,
01:18 because Daniel 2 is a dream that is constantly studied
01:22 every time we have an evangelistic crusade.
01:26 But let me just review what we find in Daniel 2
01:29 so that we have a reference point for what we're
01:31 going to discuss this afternoon.
01:34 First of all, in Daniel 2 we have a head of gold.
01:36 What does the head of gold represent?
01:39 It represents Babylon. Very well.
01:41 Then we have a breast and arms of silver.
01:43 What do the breast and arms of silver represent?
01:46 They represent Medo-Persia.
01:47 Then we have the belly of bronze.
01:50 That represents Greece.
01:52 Then we have the legs of iron.
01:54 And the legs of iron represent the Roman Empire.
01:58 And then you come to the feet, and the feet have a mixture
02:03 of iron and clay.
02:05 And of course, we know that the feet have ten toes.
02:09 And the ten toes represent the ten divisions
02:12 of what use to be the ancient Roman Empire.
02:15 There's one point, however, that rarely is touched upon
02:20 in Seventh-day Adventist meetings or in
02:22 Seventh-day Adventist theology.
02:24 And that is the meaning of the mixture
02:27 of the iron and the clay.
02:29 We know that the ten toes represent the ten divisions
02:33 of western Europe, of what use to be the Roman Empire.
02:36 But we haven't dedicated much time to take a look
02:40 at the feet, and particularly the mixture
02:44 of the iron and the clay.
02:46 We simply say that the ten toes represent the ten divisions
02:49 of western Europe.
02:51 So let's take a look at what is meant by the feet.
02:56 And so now I'm at the subtitle that say, "The Feet."
02:59 And we're going to follow our material quite closely.
03:03 The iron already existed in the legs, correct?
03:07 So does Rome continue its existence in the feet?
03:12 But is it a different kind of Rome?
03:16 Yes, because it's not pure iron.
03:19 It's not a pure civil power.
03:21 It is a mixture of iron and clay.
03:24 So Rome continues in the feet, but a different kind of Rome,
03:30 a different type of Rome.
03:33 Now, the second point is that the clay is added to the feet.
03:38 Because the iron already existed before.
03:40 Are you with me?
03:41 The iron already existed before.
03:43 So what is added to the iron in the feet is the clay.
03:47 Exactly.
03:49 Point number three, the clay is a particular type of clay.
03:54 It is potter's clay. It is potter's clay.
04:00 Now let me ask you, does iron play a legitimate function?
04:05 Is it a valuable metal?
04:07 It most certainly is.
04:09 Is clay also a very valuable substance, yes or no?
04:18 Yeah, potter's clay is useful to make what?
04:21 Pottery. Yeah, it's very useful.
04:23 So iron is useful, and clay is also useful.
04:28 Where does the problem come in?
04:31 The problem comes in when you mix the two.
04:35 Iron as iron is good, and clay as clay is good.
04:38 The problem is when you mix or amalgamate
04:43 the iron and the clay.
04:44 That's where you have a problem, because both are weakened.
04:48 The iron is weakened, and the clay is weakened even more,
04:52 when you mix or blend the two.
04:56 Now, is everything in Daniel chapter 2 symbolic?
05:00 Let me ask you, is the gold symbolic?
05:03 Yes. Is the silver symbolic?
05:05 Yes. Is the bronze symbolic?
05:08 Yes. Is the iron symbolic?
05:10 Yes. Is the stone symbolic?
05:12 Yes. Is the mountain symbolic?
05:15 Yes.
05:16 But the clay isn't symbolic, right?
05:20 Would we expect the clay also to represent something?
05:24 Would we expect the clay to be symbolic as well?
05:28 Absolutely.
05:29 So the question is, what does the clay represent in the feet?
05:34 We know that Rome continues.
05:36 We know that Rome is divided into ten;
05:38 those are the ten toes.
05:39 But what does the clay specifically represent?
05:43 Well, I want to read a statement that we find from the
05:46 spirit of prophecy, which is actually on two pages
05:51 farther along in your material,
05:53 and then we'll come back to where we are now,
05:56 where it says, "Ellen White."
05:58 Do you see that there?
06:00 A couple of pages farther ahead, "Ellen White."
06:02 You know, for quite a long time I kind of
06:05 struggled with this statement.
06:07 And not because I don't believe in the spirit of prophecy,
06:09 but because I was wondering where
06:11 Ellen White was coming from.
06:12 I believe that what Ellen White says is found in Scripture.
06:16 And it's always my practice to try and find in Scripture
06:19 what is mentioned in the spirit of prophecy.
06:20 And I found this interesting statement from Ellen White,
06:23 and I asked myself, you know, where in the Bible do you
06:26 find this concept?
06:27 So let me read the statement from Ellen White,
06:29 and then we'll go back to what the Bible has to say.
06:32 This is found in volume 4 of the Bible Commentary, page 1168.
06:39 Ellen White states, "We have come to a time when
06:42 God's sacred work is represented by the feet of the image
06:46 in which the iron was mixed with the miry clay.
06:50 God has a people, a chosen people, whose discernment
06:53 must be sanctified, who must not become unholy by laying upon the
06:58 foundation wood, hay, and stubble.
07:00 Every soul who is loyal to the commandments of God
07:03 will see that the distinguishing feature of our faith
07:07 is the seventh-day Sabbath.
07:09 If the government would honor the Sabbath as
07:11 God has commanded..."
07:12 Now when it says that the government would honor
07:14 the Sabbath, it's not saying the government should
07:17 legislate the Sabbath.
07:18 It's that the government should allow people
07:20 to observe the Sabbath freely.
07:22 It should guarantee people's right to worship.
07:24 "If the government would honor the Sabbath
07:26 as God has commanded, it would stand in the strength of God
07:30 and in defense of the faith once delivered to the saints.
07:34 But statesmen..."
07:36 What are statesmen?
07:37 Politicians, right?
07:38 "But statesmen will uphold the spurious sabbath..."
07:41 That's where the problem comes in, when the
07:43 civil power becomes involved.
07:45 "...and will mingle their religious faith with the
07:47 observance of this child of the papacy,
07:50 placing it above the Sabbath which the Lord has sanctified
07:53 and blessed, setting it apart for man to keep holy,
07:56 as a sign between Him and His people
07:59 to a thousand generations."
08:01 Now listen carefully.
08:02 "The mingling of church-craft and state-craft
08:08 is represented by the iron and the clay."
08:13 Hmmm.
08:14 So what does the iron and clay represent?
08:16 The union of church and state.
08:19 That's right.
08:20 She continues saying, "This union is weakening
08:23 all the power of the churches.
08:25 This investing the church with the power of the state
08:30 will bring evil results.
08:32 Men have almost passed the point of God's forbearance.
08:35 They have invested their strength in politics,
08:38 and have united with the papacy.
08:41 But the time will come when God will punish those who have
08:44 made void His law, and their evil work
08:46 will recoil upon themselves."
08:49 So according to Ellen White, what is represented by the clay?
08:52 The clay is representing the church.
08:55 Because we know that the iron represents
08:57 the political Roman Empire.
08:58 So the clay represents the church.
09:01 Now you say, where in the world did Ellen White get this from?
09:04 Is this some unique revelation that Ellen White has
09:07 that is not found in Scripture?
09:09 Absolutely not.
09:11 So it sent me on a journey.
09:14 And where do you suppose I looked to try and discover
09:17 the meaning of potter's clay?
09:19 Ah, sola scriptura.
09:22 I said, let's check and see if there are any other places
09:25 in the Bible that used potter's clay symbolically.
09:31 And I went to Jeremiah 18.
09:33 Go with me to Jer...
09:34 Are you understanding how to use sola scriptura?
09:37 Now we need to connect apples with apples
09:40 and not apples with oranges.
09:42 We are connecting, the connection is potter's clay.
09:45 We're trying to discover what is symbolized
09:47 by the potter's clay.
09:48 Jeremiah 18 verses 1 to 6.
09:51 This is speaking about Israel; God's Old Testament church,
09:54 God's Old Testament people.
09:57 "The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying,
10:02 'Arise, go down to...'" Where?
10:06 "'...go down to the potter's house, and there I will
10:12 cause you to hear My words.'
10:14 Then I went down to the potter's house, and there he was,
10:19 making something at the wheel.
10:22 And the vessel that he made of..." What?
10:26 Ah, we have two of the key words.
10:27 We have potter's and we have what?
10:29 Clay.
10:30 "And the vessel that he made of clay was marred
10:34 in the hand of the potter; so he made it again into
10:38 another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to make."
10:42 Now let me give you a little historical background.
10:44 Jeremiah is writing right before the Babylonian captivity.
10:48 And he knows that Israel is going to
10:50 go captive for 70 years.
10:51 In fact, he prophesied that in Jeremiah 25:11-12
10:55 that Israel would go into captivity.
10:57 But he also stated that after the captivity,
11:00 Israel would come back to their land.
11:02 They would be re-established, they would be rebuilt,
11:04 so to speak.
11:06 So basically what he's saying is the vessel represents Israel.
11:10 In a moment we're going to read it.
11:12 The vessel of potter's clay represents Israel.
11:15 The shattering of the vessel represents
11:18 the Babylonian captivity.
11:20 And the restoring of the vessel, of making the vessel again,
11:24 represents the re-establishment of Israel after the captivity.
11:29 Now notice, clearly verse 6 has this meaning.
11:33 "'O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter?'
11:40 says the Lord.
11:42 'Look, as the clay is in the potter's hand, so are you
11:47 in My hand, O house of Israel.'"
11:50 So what does the potter's clay represent in Jeremiah 18?
11:54 It is a symbol of Israel, God's Old Testament church,
11:59 or God's Old Testament people.
12:01 Are you seeing the point?
12:02 Now let's pursue it from another angle.
12:04 There's three angle's that we need to pursue
12:06 on this point.
12:07 Go with me to Genesis 2 verse 7.
12:09 And you'll say, "What in the world could Genesis 2 verse 7
12:12 have to do with any of this?"
12:14 You're going to see in a moment.
12:16 Genesis 2 verse 7.
12:18 It's speaking about the creation of man.
12:23 And it says there, "And the Lord God formed man of the..." What?
12:27 Of the dust of the ground.
12:29 How many of you have ever tried to form anything from dust?
12:33 You can't form anything from dust.
12:35 The dust falls apart.
12:37 But really, what God did was use wet dust.
12:41 Which we call potter's clay.
12:43 You say, "Where's that in the Bible?"
12:45 Notice just below that, Isaiah 64 and verse 8.
12:49 Isaiah 64 and verse 8 says, "But now, O Lord,
12:52 You are our Father; we are the clay, and You our potter;
12:59 and all we are the work of Your hand."
13:02 So God is the potter and we, our body, is the what?
13:06 Our body is the clay.
13:09 So go back to Genesis 2 verse 7.
13:12 It says, "The Lord God formed man of the
13:14 dust of the ground..."
13:15 And then there was something missing.
13:16 Were all of the body parts there?
13:19 Were all of the organs there?
13:21 All of the systems there?
13:23 Yes, but there was something lacking.
13:24 What was lacking so that the body could function,
13:26 so everything could function harmoniously as one?
13:30 They needed the breath of life.
13:32 And so it says, "...and breathed into his nostrils
13:35 the breath of life; and man became a living being."
13:41 Or a living soul, some versions say.
13:43 I'm reading the New King James.
13:45 It says living being.
13:46 So here you have God creating the body of man
13:51 out of potter's clay, according to Isaiah 64.
13:54 Then God gives the body the spirit.
13:56 And now all of the parts of the body
13:59 begin to function harmoniously.
14:02 Now this is literal language.
14:04 God literally created the body.
14:06 But let me ask you, spiritually what is the body of Christ?
14:11 The body of Christ spiritually is the church, is it not?
14:15 Notice Colossians chapter 1 and verse 18.
14:17 Because we're dealing with symbols in Daniel 2.
14:20 We're not dealing with literal.
14:21 We're dealing with, what does potter's clay represent.
14:25 And so it says in Colossians 1:18,
14:27 "And He," that is Jesus, "is the head of the body, the church,
14:30 who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead,
14:33 that in all things He may have the preeminence."
14:36 So Jesus is the head of the what?
14:39 Of the body. And what is the body?
14:41 The body is the church.
14:43 Now question, did Jesus bring His church together
14:48 as a body before the day of Pentecost?
14:51 Yes He did.
14:53 When the day of Pentecost had fully come,
14:57 all of His followers were what?
14:59 In one accord.
15:01 The body that had different body parts all over the place...
15:04 Because, you know, everybody wanted to be number one
15:07 in the kingdom.
15:08 There was no unity of the body.
15:10 During those ten days the body comes into unity.
15:14 And now they're united.
15:15 But something is missing. What is missing?
15:18 Oh, you have to have the Spirit in the body.
15:21 And so we find in Acts chapter 2 and verses 2 through 4,
15:25 "And suddenly there came a sound from heaven
15:28 as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house
15:31 where they were sitting.
15:33 Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire,
15:36 and one sat upon each of them.
15:38 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to
15:41 speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance."
15:45 Question, did all the body parts now begin to function
15:48 in perfect harmony, each fulfilling their own
15:51 particular function?
15:52 Absolutely.
15:53 By the way, this body illustration is not mine.
15:57 It's the apostle Paul's.
15:59 Notice 1 Corinthians chapter 12 and verses 12 and 13.
16:03 The body is one, it has many members,
16:05 and each member fulfills its function.
16:08 And so it is with the church.
16:11 The church is one body, it has many members,
16:14 and the purpose of all of the members is to
16:16 function in perfect harmony.
16:18 So in other words, as the body of man is made
16:21 of potter's clay literally, the church is composed
16:25 of potter's clay spiritually.
16:28 Because the church is the body of Christ.
16:31 Now, notice 1 Corinthians 12:12-13.
16:35 "For as the body is one and has many members,
16:39 but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body,
16:43 so also is Christ.
16:45 For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body,
16:48 whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free,
16:51 and all have been made to drink into one Spirit."
16:55 And so using Genesis 2 verse 7, we notice that the
16:59 potter's clay, literally speaking, with which
17:01 God forms the body of man, is symbolic of
17:04 spiritual clay with which Jesus Christ forms His church.
17:08 And in fact, in Romans chapter 11 the church
17:11 is compared to fragile clay, interestingly enough.
17:16 Now let's pursue it from a third perspective.
17:18 Ezekiel 37, the famous valley of the dry bones.
17:23 Have you ever heard of the valley of the dry bones?
17:26 You know, you have all these body parts
17:27 strewn all over the valley.
17:29 They are totally lifeless.
17:31 And then Ezekiel is commanded to call what?
17:35 He's commanded to call the spirit.
17:36 But before he calls the spirit, what happens with all of the
17:39 parts of the body?
17:41 All of the parts of the body come together.
17:44 And they all, you know, they all fit one with the other.
17:49 And so the body is completely formed.
17:51 But something is missing even after the body is formed.
17:54 What is missing?
17:56 What is missing is the spirit, or the breath of life.
17:59 And so Ezekiel calls for the spirit, and the spirit enters
18:03 those bodies, and now you have an army.
18:06 Now what is represented by the valley of the dry bones?
18:09 Well we don't have to guess.
18:11 Ezekiel 37:10-11 tells us what it represents.
18:15 All the members of the body represent Israel, God's people.
18:21 See, once again, the body is symbolic of Israel,
18:24 of God's people.
18:26 So it says there in Ezekiel 37:10-11,
18:29 "So I prophesied as He commanded me, and breath
18:32 came into them, and they lived, and stood upon their feet,
18:36 an exceedingly great army.
18:38 Then He said to me..."
18:39 Now comes the meaning.
18:40 "Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel.
18:45 They indeed say, 'Our bones are dry, our hope is lost,
18:48 and we ourselves are cut off.'"
18:51 And so the mixture of iron and potter's clay
18:55 represents the union of God's people, the union of the church,
19:01 with the state.
19:03 Now let me ask you, is the church good as a church?
19:08 Yes.
19:09 Who created the church?
19:11 Jesus did.
19:13 Is the state good as the state?
19:16 Yes, Romans 13 says that God established the state.
19:20 It is God's minister, it even says in Romans chapter 13.
19:25 Church and state are good.
19:26 When does the problem appear?
19:30 When you take what needs to be separate,
19:32 caesar to caesar and God to God, when you take them and you what?
19:37 And you mingle them.
19:39 The result is apostasy.
19:41 Now in Revelation 17 we have the same lesson,
19:44 but with different symbols.
19:46 It's no longer iron and clay.
19:49 A different symbolism is used,
19:51 but it represents the same thing.
19:53 Go with me to Revelation 17 and verses 1 and 2.
19:58 It says there in Revelation 17 and verses 1 and 2,
20:02 "Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls
20:06 came and talked with me, saying to me, 'Come, I will show you
20:11 the judgment of..." What?
20:13 "...of the great harlot who sits on many waters..."
20:16 What does a woman represent in prophecy?
20:18 The church.
20:19 What does a harlot represent in Bible prophecy?
20:22 Represents an apostate church or an adulterous church.
20:27 Now let me ask you, what is it that made
20:28 this church adulterous?
20:33 What made her adulterous?
20:34 Well let's continue reading.
20:36 It says, "...with whom..." What?
20:39 "...the kings of the earth committed fornication,
20:44 and the inhabitants of the earth were made drunk
20:46 with the wine of her fornication."
20:49 What made her a harlot?
20:51 Adulterous relationships with what?
20:54 With the kings of the earth.
20:55 Is that the same lesson as the mixture of iron and clay?
20:58 It most certainly is.
21:00 The mixture of iron and clay represents
21:02 the union of church and state.
21:04 And Revelation 17 explains that this means that the harlot,
21:09 the apostate church, fornicates with the political powers,
21:12 or with the kings of the earth.
21:14 So Revelation 17 is presenting the final stage of the
21:18 union of church and state.
21:19 See, Daniel chapter 2 is presenting the events
21:23 that take place during the middle ages, primarily.
21:25 Revelation 17 takes us to the time when the deadly wound
21:29 is healed, and once again the harlot joins with the
21:32 kings of the earth to oppress God's people by joining
21:35 church and state.
21:37 And so what is represented by the mixture of iron and clay?
21:42 What is represented is the union of church and state.
21:48 Just the way that Ellen White said that it represents.
21:53 So do we have to depend slavishly
21:55 on the spirit of prophecy?
21:57 I'm not saying that in a negative sense.
21:59 No, see Ellen White herself says, "When I say something,
22:02 go to the Bible and check it out and try and find
22:04 the meaning in the Bible.
22:05 And the point is that we can find that meaning
22:08 in Holy Scripture.
22:11 Now you can read the rest of this material.
22:14 I wanted to deal primarily with the issue
22:16 of the feet of the image.
22:17 Did you see how we used the sola scripture principle?
22:21 What did we do?
22:23 We took verses that refer to the same thing,
22:28 the same terminology, and we allowed those verses,
22:32 which the Holy Spirit put in Jeremiah,
22:34 the Holy Spirit put in Ezekiel 37,
22:36 the Holy Spirit put in 1 Corinthians 12,
22:39 and in Acts chapter 2, the Holy Spirit placed
22:42 all those verses in different places strategically
22:45 so that when we read, "iron and clay,"
22:47 in Daniel chapter 2, we know what it means.
22:50 Because if you just read Daniel 2,
22:51 you don't know what it means.
22:54 Right?
22:55 But when you go to other passages from Scripture,
22:58 those passages help us interpret the meaning
23:01 of the mixture of iron and clay in Daniel chapter 2.
23:04 That is the sola scriptura principle.
23:08 Now let's go to the other material that you have,
23:10 which is, "Notes on Isaiah 24:21-23."
23:17 Once again illustrating the sola scriptura principle.
23:26 Now I'm going to follow the material quite closely.
23:29 And you'll be able to follow along.
23:31 It's only four pages long.
23:35 Isaiah 24 to 27 is what has been called,
23:38 the little apocalypse of the Old Testament;
23:41 the little book of Revelation in the Old Testament.
23:43 Because there are so many elements in these chapters
23:46 that are repeated in Revelation.
23:49 Now chapter 24 is describing the second coming of Jesus.
23:55 There's no doubt whatsoever about it when you
23:57 read the description that is being given.
23:59 In fact, let's read here Isaiah 24 and verses 1 to 4.
24:06 "Behold, the Lord makes the earth..." What?
24:11 "...empty and makes it waste, distorts its surface,
24:19 and scatters abroad its inhabitants.
24:23 And it shall be: as with the people, so with the priest;
24:26 as with the servant, so with his master;
24:29 as with the maid, so with her mistress;
24:31 as with the buyer, so with the seller;
24:34 as with the lender, so with the borrower;
24:36 as with the creditor, so with the debtor.
24:39 The land shall be utterly emptied and utterly plundered,
24:44 for the Lord has spoken this word.
24:46 The earth mourns and fades away,
24:48 the world languishes and fades away;
24:51 the haughty people of the earth languish."
24:53 Clearly, if you continue reading the chapter, you'll find
24:56 that this is a description of the cataclysmic
24:59 second coming of Christ.
25:01 I'd like to read a statement by Frederick Moriarty
25:06 in the Jerome Bible Commentary, volume 1, page 277.
25:10 He gives his opinion about what is being spoken of
25:15 in Isaiah chapter 24.
25:17 He says this, "God's Word had once established
25:22 order in the world; Genesis 1.
25:25 The picture," in Isaiah 24, "is that of a return
25:30 to primeval chaos."
25:34 In other words, and he's a Roman Catholic scholar
25:35 interestingly enough, he's saying the picture here
25:37 in Isaiah 24 is the return of the world to the condition
25:40 it was in before Genesis 1, before creation,
25:43 where the earth was without form and void.
25:47 So Isaiah 24 is describing the second coming of Christ.
25:51 Now let's read verses 18 to 20.
25:53 Isaiah 24 verses 18 through 20.
25:57 This sounds very familiar to Revelation chapter 6
26:02 where it speaks about people hiding in the caves
26:05 and crying for the mountains to fall on them.
26:07 Remember? Notice what it says here.
26:08 "And it shall be that he who flees from the noise of the fear
26:12 shall fall into the pit, and he who comes up from
26:16 the midst of the pit shall be caught in the snare."
26:18 In other words, there's no place to escape.
26:20 "For the windows from on high are open
26:23 and the foundations of the earth are shaken.
26:27 The earth is violently broken, the earth is split open,
26:31 the earth is shaken exceedingly.
26:33 The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard,
26:37 and shall totter like a hut.
26:38 Its transgression shall be heavy upon it,
26:41 and it shall fall, and not rise again."
26:45 Quite a description, isn't it.
26:47 It's speaking about a global cataclysmic event;
26:49 the destruction at the second coming of Christ.
26:54 Now let's go to Isaiah 24 and verse 6.
26:58 When this happens...
27:01 And we discussed this a little bit earlier,
27:03 so I'll just review.
27:05 It says, "Therefore the curse has devoured the earth,
27:08 and those who dwell in it are desolate.
27:12 Therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned,
27:17 and few men are left."
27:21 So let me ask, at the second coming who are the
27:23 few men who are left?
27:26 Are there any wicked men going to live on this planet
27:28 during the thousand years?
27:30 No, so who are the few men that are left?
27:33 The ones who are left are God's faithful people;
27:36 the remnant whom Jesus is going to take to heaven
27:40 with Him when He comes.
27:42 I mentioned Genesis chapter 7 verses 22 and 23.
27:45 That's where this terminology comes from.
27:48 Let's read that verse, verse 22 first of all.
27:51 It says, "So He destroyed all living things which were on
27:54 the face of the ground: both man and cattle,
27:58 creeping thing and bird of the air.
28:00 They were destroyed from the earth.
28:02 Only Noah and those who were with him
28:05 in the ark remained alive.
28:08 The English Standard Version, and well as many other
28:11 modern versions, say, "Only Noah was..." What?
28:15 "...was left, and those who were with him in the ark."
28:22 Now it's interesting that it says, "few men are left," right?
28:25 In Isaiah chapter 24?
28:28 Would it be good to look in a concordance for the word, "few?"
28:32 I think it would be a good idea.
28:34 It takes effort.
28:35 But, you know, if it's dealing with the same event,
28:38 the word, "few," might be significant.
28:40 Now, 1 Peter chapter 3 verse 20.
28:43 Who does the word, "few," refer to?
28:45 To the saved or to the lost?
28:47 It says there, speaking about the ark,
28:50 "...in which a..." What?
28:52 "...a few, that is, eight persons, were brought
28:56 safely through the water."
28:58 So who are the few who are left?
29:01 They're parallel to the few people who were in the ark,
29:05 the eight persons.
29:06 Are you following me or not?
29:08 Now, we need to go to verses 21 to 23,
29:12 because this is where we need to apply the
29:13 sola scripture principle in more detail.
29:18 Isaiah 24 verse 21 says something very interesting.
29:22 In this day when the cataclysmic event comes,
29:26 which is the second coming of Christ and everything
29:29 is in upheaval, something is going to happen.
29:33 Notice verse 21.
29:36 "It shall come to pass in that day..."
29:38 Which day?
29:40 Well, the day that's been described, right?
29:43 The second coming.
29:44 "...in that day the Lord will..." What?
29:47 "...punish the powers in the heaven above
29:51 and the kings on the earth below."
29:53 This is the Revised Standard Version.
29:55 See, I like to read many different versions,
29:57 then look at the original language to see which
29:59 is the best translation.
30:01 And let me interject something here.
30:02 There are people who say, "King James only.
30:05 If it was good enough for Christ,
30:06 it's good enough for me."
30:07 Well the King James didn't exist in the days of Christ.
30:10 Of course you know that.
30:12 I am more practical.
30:15 I believe that the King James manuscript trail
30:18 is the best manuscript trail.
30:20 I believe that the Textus Receptus is a good
30:23 manuscript trail.
30:25 And I believe that the King James Version
30:27 is a beautiful translation into Victorian English.
30:31 It is very beautiful.
30:33 But the King James Version has translation mistakes.
30:38 Now listen to what I said.
30:39 I said, "translation mistakes."
30:42 I'm not saying that the manuscripts are bad.
30:45 I'm saying that the King James translators
30:48 sometimes translated in a way that is not accurate with
30:54 the meaning of the words in those manuscripts
30:57 that they depend on.
30:58 You know, I'll give you an example.
31:01 In Scripture the word, "sheol," means, "grave."
31:06 And in the New Testament the equivalent word is, "hades,"
31:09 which is used eleven times in the New Testament.
31:12 The King James almost in every single reference in the
31:15 Old Testament that you have the word, "sheol,"
31:18 it translates, "hell."
31:21 And in the New Testament it translates the word, "hades,"
31:25 "hell" also.
31:27 Now for Adventists, that creates all kinds of problems.
31:29 Because for example, when it speaks about
31:31 the burial of Jesus, Jesus says, "You will not leave My soul
31:35 in hell, nor will You allow Your holy One to see corruption."
31:39 "Wow, so Jesus went to hell.
31:41 'You will not leave Me in hell,' is what Jesus said."
31:44 So Jesus went to hell; that's what many Christians believe.
31:47 But when you read, for example, the New International Version,
31:50 which I don't think that the manuscripts that are used
31:52 are the best manuscripts, but the translation
31:54 is a good translation.
31:56 Because the NIV says, "You will not leave Me in the grave,
32:01 nor will You allow Your holy One to see corruption."
32:04 "You will not leave Me..."
32:05 The soul is, "Me," in other words.
32:07 And hell is not hell, it is the grave according to the NIV.
32:11 What is the best translation?
32:13 The best translation is the NIV translation.
32:17 So I want to make that clear.
32:19 I'm not encouraging you to think that the NIV,
32:24 you know, was revealed directly from heaven,
32:27 that God sent it somehow from heaven,
32:28 and that it's a flawless translation.
32:30 But sometimes the translation is better in some of
32:33 these modern versions.
32:34 Are you understanding what I'm saying?
32:36 Now notice then, that when Jesus comes
32:42 there will be a punishment for the powers in the heavens
32:45 and for the kings on the earth.
32:46 So there's a contrast between heaven and earth.
32:49 Now who are these in the heavens that will be punished?
32:53 Are they the good angels that are going to be punished?
32:55 No, who are these powers in the heavens?
32:58 Well let's read Ephesians 6 verse 12 to see
33:01 who the powers in the heavens are.
33:03 The apostle Paul says, "For we do not wrestle
33:05 against flesh and blood..."
33:07 What does that mean, "flesh and blood?"
33:09 Human beings, right?
33:11 We're not struggling against human beings.
33:13 "For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood,
33:15 but against principalities, against powers,
33:19 against the rulers of the darkness of this age,
33:23 against spiritual hosts of wickedness..." Where?
33:27 "...in the heavenly places."
33:30 So who are the powers on high, the heavenly powers,
33:33 that are going to be punished when Jesus comes?
33:36 They represent the hosts of wickedness;
33:39 Satan and his angels.
33:42 The notes says, in Scripture the heavenly hosts are angels.
33:46 The expression, "flesh and blood," refers to human beings.
33:50 The apostle Paul makes it clear that we are not
33:52 warring against human beings.
33:54 We are warring against heavenly powers.
33:57 Elsewhere the apostle Paul calls Satan, the prince of the
34:01 power of the... What? ...of the air.
34:03 So the hosts of heaven here refers to Satan and his angels.
34:08 They will be punished when Jesus comes.
34:14 So far so good?
34:16 Will the kings of the earth also be punished when Jesus comes?
34:19 Notice Revelation 19 verse 19.
34:22 Revelation 19 verse 19.
34:24 See, you have to look up all these things.
34:25 "Kings of the earth."
34:28 See, look up, "kings of the earth,"
34:29 and see if it's in the same context in another place.
34:33 When it says, "powers in the heavens," look up those
34:36 key words in other verses to see if those other verses
34:40 deal with the same theme.
34:43 That's sola scriptura.
34:45 It takes effort and it takes time,
34:47 but it will be very rewarding.
34:49 So Revelation 19 verse 19, which is also describing
34:53 the second coming of Christ, "And I saw the beast..."
34:56 Who else?
34:58 "...and the kings of the earth, and their armies,
35:01 gathered together to make war against Him who sat
35:04 on the horse and against His army."
35:08 So are the kings of the earth going to be punished
35:10 also at the second coming of Christ?
35:12 Yes.
35:13 The heavenly powers and the kings of the earth,
35:16 according to Revelation 19 and verse 19.
35:20 They're going to be punished when Jesus comes
35:22 at His second coming.
35:23 Is that their final punishment?
35:25 No.
35:26 In fact, notice what their punishment is when Jesus comes.
35:30 That's in Isaiah 24 verse 22, the first part of the verse.
35:34 Here's the punishment, "They will be gathered together,
35:39 As what?
35:41 Prisoners. Oh, there's a key word.
35:45 When Jesus comes the host of the high ones,
35:49 or the heavenly beings, and the kings of the earth
35:52 "will be gathered together, as prisoners are gathered
35:56 in the pit, and will be shut up in the prison."
36:03 So what is this stage of punishment when Jesus comes?
36:07 The kings of the earth and the heavenly powers
36:11 are going to be punished.
36:12 And their punishment is that they're going to be
36:14 thrown into prison.
36:19 Now what does that mean, into prison?
36:21 What is meant by the word, "pit," that is used here?
36:26 Genesis 37:24.
36:28 In fact, it means two things.
36:29 It can mean that you're put some place to be retained
36:33 while you're alive, or it can refer to the grave
36:37 as a place where you're retained while you're dead.
36:40 That's interesting.
36:41 Let's notice, Genesis 37 verse 24.
36:44 Genesis chapter 37 and verse 24.
36:48 Speaking about Joseph it says, "Then they took him
36:52 and cast him into a..." What?
36:54 How do you suppose I found this verse?
36:59 I looked up the word, "pit,"
37:02 in the concordance.
37:04 And the more you do it, the more you get use to it
37:06 and Bible study becomes exciting.
37:09 Because you see how the Holy Spirit put everything
37:11 in there that we need to explain every single text.
37:15 So it says, "And they took him and cast him into a pit.
37:18 And the pit was empty; there was no water in it."
37:20 Actually, it was a cistern where they threw Joseph in.
37:25 They did the same with Jeremiah.
37:26 Notice Jeremiah 38 and verse 6.
37:29 Jeremiah 38 and verse 6.
37:32 It says, "So they took Jeremiah and cast him into the dungeon
37:35 of Malchiah the king's son, which was in the court
37:39 of the prison..."
37:40 You know, that word, "dungeon," is really the same word, "pit,"
37:45 in Hebrew.
37:46 So it says, "They took Jeremiah and cast him into the dungeon,"
37:49 that is the pit, "of Malchiah the king's son,
37:52 which was in the court of the prison,
37:54 and they let Jeremiah down with ropes.
37:56 And in the dungeon there was no water, but mire.
37:59 So Jeremiah sank in the mire."
38:01 So what was this where he was placed?
38:04 It was a cistern that was pretty much dry.
38:08 Let's read the note.
38:10 Both Joseph and Jeremiah were cast into cisterns
38:13 in a living state.
38:15 Correct?
38:16 They were both alive.
38:18 The word, "pit," in Genesis and, "dungeon," in Jeremiah
38:21 translates the identical Hebrew word.
38:25 It is noteworthy that the pit was a place of
38:28 temporary confinement until a final decision could be made
38:33 on what to do with them.
38:36 You read the story of Joseph and the story of Jeremiah;
38:38 they were thrown in there until it could be decided
38:41 exactly what would be done permanently with them.
38:45 Now this word, "pit," can also be used to refer to
38:48 people who go down to the grave and are retained
38:51 dead in the grave.
38:52 Isaiah 38 and verse 18.
38:55 It says, "For sheol..."
38:57 That means, the grave.
38:59 "For sheol cannot thank You, death cannot praise You;
39:06 those who go down to the pit cannot hope for Your truth."
39:11 Do you see the three synonymous words?
39:14 Sheol, death, and what? And pit.
39:18 So can you be retained or can you be imprisoned
39:21 in the prison of death?
39:22 Yes, you can.
39:23 So this word, "pit," that is used in Isaiah 24 verse 22
39:27 is actually referring to a place of confinement.
39:31 A temporary place of confinement where you are either confined,
39:35 you know, in a living state or you're confined after death.
39:42 The pit is not only a place of confinement for the living.
39:45 The word is also used synonymously
39:47 with death and with the grave.
39:50 And we shall see in a moment that Satan and his angels
39:52 will be confined in the abyss in a living state.
39:55 And the kings of the earth will be confined
39:58 while they are dead.
40:00 Are you understanding me?
40:02 Now let's go to Revelation chapter 20 verses 2 and 3.
40:05 Where will the devil be placed immediately after the
40:08 second coming of Christ?
40:10 Where will the devil and his angels be placed?
40:13 Revelation only speaks... Listen.
40:14 Revelation only speaks about the devil.
40:16 You say, "Why does Revelation only say the devil
40:18 and not his angels?"
40:20 Because the ultimate instigator and originator of sin
40:23 is the devil, and that's the scapegoat ceremony.
40:25 You see, the other angels are not scapegoats.
40:28 And I don't like that word, "scapegoat," because it
40:30 gives you the impression that he's suffering for
40:33 something he didn't do.
40:34 We use the word, "scapegoat," in that sense.
40:37 But really, he's not a scapegoat in that sense.
40:40 He's very guilty of originating sin and perpetuating sin.
40:44 And so because Revelation 20, and when we study the
40:47 Sanctuary sequence we're going to notice that,
40:49 is the same thing as the Leviticus 16 Azazel ceremony,
40:53 or the ceremony of the scapegoat,
40:55 only Satan enters into perspective.
40:58 But Isaiah gives us the broader picture.
41:01 Let's notice verses 2 and 3.
41:04 This is after the second coming of Christ.
41:06 "He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old,
41:10 who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years;
41:16 and he cast him into the bottomless pit..."
41:20 You know, that's a Greek word, "abussos."
41:23 It's the identical word that is used in the Greek translation of
41:26 the Old Testament in Isaiah 24 and in Genesis chapter 1.
41:31 Very interesting.
41:32 When the earth was without form and void.
41:36 And so it says, "...he cast him into the bottomless pit,"
41:39 or the abussos, "and shut him up..."
41:42 So is he going to be retained there?
41:44 Oh yeah.
41:45 "...and set a seal on him so that he should deceive
41:49 the nations no more till the thousand years were finished.
41:52 But after these things he must be released for a little while."
41:55 So is he cast into prison?
41:58 Ah, the devil is cast into prison.
41:59 He most certainly is.
42:01 Now, what about the wicked dead?
42:04 Are they going to remain dead during the thousand years?
42:07 Of course, they're going to be retained by the grave.
42:10 Notice chapter 20 and verse 5 of Revelation.
42:14 It says, "But the rest of the dead did not live again
42:19 until the thousand years were finished."
42:22 So are the dead also imprisoned?
42:25 They're in the prison of the grave.
42:27 Are Satan and his angels imprisoned?
42:31 They're imprisoned also in a living state.
42:33 See, the word can be used in both senses,
42:36 according to the verses that we noticed.
42:39 Now let's go back to Isaiah.
42:41 Let's go back to Isaiah 24 verse 22,
42:45 and we'll finish reading the verse.
42:47 Because we only read the first part of the verse.
42:49 It says in verse 22, speaking about the wicked,
42:53 and Satan and his angels, "They will be gathered together
42:56 as prisoners are gathered in the pit,
42:59 and will be shut up in the prison."
43:03 Now is that their final punishment?
43:05 No, notice the last part of the verse.
43:07 "And after many days they will be punished."
43:12 Now wait a minute.
43:13 How many stages of punishment are we talking about here?
43:18 Were they punished when Jesus came?
43:21 Did we read it, yes or no?
43:22 Are they punished when Jesus comes?
43:24 Yes.
43:25 But then it says, "After many days they will be..." What?
43:28 Punished.
43:29 So how many stages to their punishment?
43:31 There's two stages to their punishment.
43:33 And in between there are many days.
43:36 Now let me ask you, how many are those many days?
43:39 A thousand years.
43:42 Are you following me or not?
43:44 A thousand years are the many days.
43:47 And some people say...
43:48 And we'll come to this when we discuss the year/day principle.
43:50 That's one of the principles of prophetic study,
43:53 is that we need to understand that in apocalyptic prophecies,
43:56 a day stands for a year.
43:58 And so people say, "Well, if you Adventists say that a day
44:01 stands for a year, then you would have to say
44:03 that the 1000 years, if you apply the year/day principle,
44:06 is hundreds of thousands of years."
44:09 And my answer is, we don't have to apply the year/day principle
44:13 to the 1000 years because Isaiah does.
44:17 Because Isaiah says, "many days," where as
44:20 Revelation says, "a thousand years."
44:22 Days are years.
44:24 Are you with me?
44:25 The Bible itself provides the year/day principle
44:29 to this particular period of time.
44:31 And you'll have a chart that shows all of the parallels
44:34 between Revelation 20 and Isaiah chapter 24.
44:38 It's an amazing parallel.
44:40 But now let's finish this parallel.
44:42 So far so good?
44:44 Okay, now after the devil and his angels
44:51 are imprisoned and destroyed, and the wicked are destroyed,
44:55 then something happens.
44:58 It says that God makes a new heavens and a new earth.
45:01 Now let me explain something here.
45:03 When it says that God makes a new heavens and a new earth
45:06 in Revelation chapter 21 and verse 1,
45:09 that is the conclusion to chapter 20.
45:12 Because in chapter 20 you have the judgment.
45:15 You know, the dead stand before God, then the dead resurrect.
45:18 And they're shown the records.
45:19 And then after that Satan and his angels, and the wicked,
45:22 are cast into the lake of fire, which is the second death.
45:24 And then verse 1 says, "I saw a new heavens and a new earth."
45:27 So Revelation 21 verse 1 is really the conclusion
45:31 of chapter 20.
45:32 It takes you the full cycle until the moment when God
45:35 makes a new heavens and a new earth
45:36 after the wicked are destroyed.
45:39 Now verse 2 begins a new sequence.
45:42 And we're going to take a look at this when we deal with
45:44 how to take into account the structure of Revelation.
45:47 It's tricky.
45:49 But once you break the code, it's very simple to understand
45:53 the book of Revelation.
45:54 We haven't given enough importance to the study
45:56 of the literary structure; the sequence of events
46:00 and how the book of Revelation is organized,
46:03 how it is structured.
46:04 It's vitally important to know how it's structured.
46:07 Chapter 21 and verse 2 begins a new sequence.
46:11 Verse 2 says, "Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem,
46:18 coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride
46:21 adorned for her husband. "
46:23 Now here's the big question.
46:25 Does the coming down of the New Jerusalem
46:27 happen before the destruction of the wicked
46:29 or after the destruction of the wicked?
46:33 We know it's before.
46:35 But if you follow the sequence here without taking into account
46:39 the literary structure, you get the impression
46:42 that the New Jerusalem descends after God makes
46:45 a new heavens and a new earth.
46:47 Are you following me or not?
46:48 I hope lunch isn't interfering with your thinking processes.
46:54 But if you take verse 2 chronologically after verse 1,
46:58 then you have to believe that the city descends after
47:01 God makes a new heavens and a new earth.
47:03 But we know that's not the case, because chapter 20 has said
47:06 that the city descended and the wicked surrounded the city.
47:10 So the city descends before God makes a
47:13 new heavens and a new earth.
47:14 So what happens?
47:15 Verse 2 begins a new cycle from the time that the city descends,
47:20 and then verse 8 ends the cycle by speaking about the wicked
47:23 being thrown into the lake of fire, which is the second death.
47:27 And so it's vitally important.
47:29 And we're going to dedicate a long time,
47:31 probably one whole day, we're going to deal with the issues
47:33 of how to study the literary structure
47:36 of the book of Revelation.
47:37 Because it's critically important.
47:38 So the New Jerusalem descends.
47:41 And then I want you to notice something very interesting
47:43 that happens here.
47:45 We're at the bottom of the page.
47:48 Actually, we're at the top of the last page.
47:57 See where it says, "The moon will be disgraced
48:00 and the sun ashamed, for the Lord of hosts
48:03 will reign on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem
48:06 before His elders gloriously."
48:08 In other words, He's going to rule over all the
48:10 representatives of the worlds, of the universe.
48:13 Those are His elders; the 24 elders.
48:16 But you notice it says, the moon is going to be
48:18 disgraced and the sun is going to be ashamed
48:21 when God reigns in Jerusalem, on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem.
48:25 Now, here's the question.
48:29 Is there going to be a sun and moon in the new earth?
48:33 Of course there is.
48:35 Are we going to go worship from Sabbath to Sabbath?
48:38 So how can you have the Sabbath without a weekly cycle?
48:42 Are we going to eat from the tree of life every month?
48:45 Yeah, it says the tree produces its fruit every month.
48:48 If you have months, you must have weeks.
48:50 If you have weeks, you have days and you have years.
48:53 See, the problem is people misunderstand what eternity is.
48:56 Eternity is not timelessness.
48:59 Eternity is endless time.
49:03 For Plato and Socrates and the Greek philosophers
49:09 who believed in the immortality of the soul,
49:12 their idea was for the soul to escape the body
49:16 and go into a realm of timelessness.
49:19 Because when there's no time, then you don't remember
49:22 any of the events that took place while you were in time.
49:25 So the idea is to escape from time.
49:28 Because you escape all the memories that you had
49:30 when you were in time.
49:32 So the Greek view is that eternity is timelessness.
49:35 The biblical view is that eternity is endless time.
49:40 There's nothing wrong with time.
49:42 You see, the Greek philosophers didn't have the Bible.
49:44 So they saw matter, they said, "Time deteriorates matter.
49:48 So we've got to escape from time."
49:51 Isn't it true that time does a trick on you?
49:55 Have you looked in the mirror recently?
49:57 It does, it does.
49:59 And so they said the solution is to go to a realm
50:02 where there is no time and no space.
50:07 But they didn't realize that when God makes
50:11 a new heavens and a new earth,
50:13 He's going to give us immortal bodies.
50:15 And then time will not deteriorate matter.
50:20 So is there going to be a sun, is there going to be a moon?
50:23 Yes, but it says here that the moon will be disgraced
50:26 and the sun will be ashamed when God rules on Mount Zion
50:30 and in Jerusalem.
50:32 Let's go to Revelation chapter 21 and verse 23
50:34 to see what this means.
50:37 See, people, we need to read carefully.
50:40 People say, "Well Revelation 21:23
50:42 says there's not going to be any sun or moon there."
50:44 That's not what it says.
50:48 Let's read it carefully.
50:51 It says, "The city had no need..."
50:58 Where?
51:02 Had no need.
51:06 "...of the sun or the moon to shine in it,
51:08 for the glory of God illuminated it.
51:11 The Lamb is its light."
51:13 In other words, the glory of the Lamb is going to be so bright
51:15 that the sun and moon are going to be there,
51:18 but it's as if they were not there.
51:21 And let me give you an illustration.
51:22 Supposing, you know, it's July in Fresno.
51:26 110 degrees, radiant sun, not a cloud in the sky.
51:29 I'm here in downtown Fresno and I have a flashlight on,
51:33 and I'm walking down the street with my flashlight on.
51:38 And people say, "What's the matter with him?
51:40 This guy is insane."
51:42 Can you see the beam of the flashlight?
51:45 No, because the sun is so much brighter.
51:48 And yet the beam of the flashlight is shining.
51:53 That's what's going to happen in the city.
51:56 It doesn't say, all over the earth.
51:58 It says, in the city there is no need of sun or moon.
52:01 And that's what it means in Isaiah where it says
52:04 that the moon will be disgraced and the sun ashamed.
52:07 Jesus is going to say, "Step aside sun and moon.
52:11 Here is the glorious One."
52:17 When will Satan and his angels finally be punished?
52:21 Revelation 20:7-9 says that the city will be on the earth.
52:26 The wicked will surround the city.
52:30 Satan will be released from his prison.
52:32 Will the wicked be released from their prison too?
52:35 Satan and the wicked both released from their prison?
52:38 Absolutely.
52:39 What does it mean that they will be released from their prison?
52:41 It has to do with whether they're dead or alive.
52:44 When they're dead, they're in prison.
52:46 And when they're alive, they're released from their prison.
52:49 So it has to do, we say, with a chain of circumstances, yes.
52:52 And the chain of circumstances is the fact that you're dead.
52:57 The devil will be bound during the thousand years
52:59 because he doesn't have anybody to tempt.
53:02 He's lost all of his armies.
53:04 Can you imagine what it's going to be like
53:06 during the millennium for the devil just to sit here
53:08 a thousand years after being so active and causing
53:10 desolation and destruction?
53:12 You know, his power resides in the fact that
53:13 he's able to use people.
53:16 If he has no people, he's got no power.
53:19 And so God is going to say, "Devil, sit and look at
53:23 what you have done."
53:26 And he'll have a thousand years to look at what he has done.
53:29 That will be worse torture than if he was dead.
53:33 And then after the thousand years, the Bible tells us
53:37 that the devil, his angels, and the wicked will be destroyed.
53:41 And then God will make a new heavens and a new earth.
53:45 At the bottom of the last page, this is the life ever after.
53:52 Revelation 21 verse 1, which I mentioned was out of order.
53:55 It says, "Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth,
53:58 for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away.
54:01 And there was no more sea."
54:05 What will God do when He eradicates sin
54:08 from the universe?
54:10 Revelation 21 verse 4.
54:11 You know what, we misapply this verse sometimes.
54:14 You know, people ask me, "Are there going to be tears
54:16 during the millennium?"
54:18 I believe there will be tears during the millennium
54:22 as we open the records of our friends and our relatives
54:25 who are not there.
54:27 There will be tears.
54:28 This verse does not apply to events during the millennium.
54:32 It applies to the time when evil has been eradicated
54:35 from the universe.
54:37 Let's read it carefully.
54:38 It says, "And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes;
54:43 there shall be no more pain, nor sorrow, nor crying.
54:47 There shall be no more death..."
54:49 Would that be true if the wicked are still being destroyed
54:51 outside the city?
54:52 Could it be said, "There will be no more death?"
54:54 No, because they're in the process of dying.
54:58 Could it be said, "For the former things
54:59 have passed away?"
55:01 No.
55:03 And so this verse is speaking about when God's people
55:06 are with Him in the kingdom, and then God wipes away
55:11 every tear from their eyes.
55:12 There'll be no more tears.
55:14 In fact, Isaiah 25 verse 8 contemplated this.
55:19 This is the little apocalypse, the little book of Revelation.
55:22 Beautiful verse.
55:24 It says, "He will swallow up death forever,
55:29 and the Lord will wipe away tears from all faces."
55:32 Now you know where Revelation 21 verse 4 comes from.
55:35 It comes from the little apocalypse
55:38 in the book of Isaiah.
55:40 And then it says, "The rebuke of His people
55:43 He will take away from the earth;
55:49 for the Lord has spoken."
55:51 In other words, you can take it to the bank,
55:53 because God said it.
55:54 When God says it, you can be sure that it's going to happen.
55:58 And then you have verse 23.
56:01 It says, "Then the moon will be disgraced and the sun ashamed;
56:06 for the Lord of hosts will reign on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem,
56:12 and before His..." What?
56:14 "...before His elders, gloriously."
56:20 Of course, His elders...
56:21 If any of you have watched the six part series that we produced
56:25 here at Secrets Unsealed, the elders are God's representatives
56:30 of all of the worlds that never sinned.
56:34 And of course, who will be the representative of this world?
56:38 Jesus, until...
56:40 Your answer was correct.
56:42 Jesus, until the two Adams meet.
56:46 And then Ellen White tells us that when the two Adams meet
56:50 they will embrace, and Adam will fall at the feet of Jesus.
56:54 He'll feel like he's nothing when he's seen the
56:57 whole history of the human race, what sin has caused.
57:00 And then Jesus will raise Adam up, and He will embrace him,
57:06 and He will say to Adam, "I am now restoring you
57:12 to your first dominion."
57:14 And then Adam will be restored once again to the position
57:17 that he had originally; the possession as the head
57:22 and representative of planet earth.
57:25 And then God's people will live with the Lord forever and ever
57:28 in a world where there will be no sin, no suffering,
57:31 no sorrow, no death.
57:34 Where everything will be perfect as it was God's ideal
57:38 at the very beginning of human history.
57:40 I hope that we're all looking forward to that wonderful day
57:43 when Jesus comes and that will be a reality.


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Revised 2015-01-13