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Series Code: RST
Program Code: RST000004S
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00:14 - All right. Here we are for our last session
00:16 today. Time has flown, hasn't it? We are going 00:22 to study in this session the second trumpet of the 00:27 book of Revelation, and I'm hoping to cover the 00:30 second trumpet in one session. There are several 00:33 pages that I'm going to skip, and you need 00:39 to read these pages this evening. That's 00:42 why we're letting you out early. [laughter] 00:45 So that as good students, you'll read these pages. 00:48 There's probably about 13 or 14 pages that 00:50 deal with a lot of history. And so, 00:53 we're not gonna cover those in class 'cause 00:55 it's written; I'll just give you the gist 00:58 of what those pages cover. So, let's go to Revelation 01:02 chapter 8 verses 8 and 9. We're on page 37 of 01:06 our manual. Page 37, the second trumpet. 01:12 Let's read Revelation 8:8-9. 01:18 "Then the second angel sounded: And something 01:21 like a great mountain burning with fire was 01:26 thrown into the sea." So, is this an asteroid 01:30 or something? [laughter] Well, let's let the Bible 01:33 interpret itself. "And something like a great 01:35 mountain burning was fire was thrown into 01:38 the sea, and a third of the sea became blood. 01:44 And a third of the living creatures"-other versions 01:46 say, "the fish"-"in the sea died, and a third of the ships 01:51 were destroyed." So, that is a description of the 01:56 second trumpet. Now, in order to understand 01:59 the second trumpet, we need to understand a 02:02 very important biblical principle. We find that 02:05 principle in Galatians 6 and verse 7. Very 02:10 well-known verse; it says, "Be not deceived. God is not 02:14 mocked; for whatever a man sows, that will he 02:20 also," what? "...that will he also reap." 02:24 Now, this principle not only applies to individuals. 02:27 This principle also applies to nations, or empires. 02:33 Notice this statement from Ellen White. 02:36 This is from the book Great Controversy 02:38 in the chapter on the French Revolution. 02:42 Ellen White wrote, "Unhappy France reaped in blood 02:47 the harvest that she had," what? "...that she 02:51 had sown. Terrible were the results of her submission 02:56 to the controlling power of Rome." So, the law 03:00 of sowing and reaping applies not only to 03:03 individuals... Well, an individual's soul that 03:05 individual will reap, but also to nations 03:08 who sow and also reap what they sowed. Now, 03:14 let's notice some biblical examples of this. God 03:17 used Assyria-we're at the foot of page 37. 03:20 God used Assyria as His instrument to punish His 03:24 apostate people, Israel. And then, He punished 03:28 Assyria for treading down His people. So, Assyria 03:33 persecuted God's people. And so after Assyria 03:37 persecuted God's people, then Assyria suffered 03:40 what she had caused God's people to suffer. 03:44 Let's notice these verses that we find in Isaiah 10:5-6 03:50 and verse 12. "Woe to Assyria, the rod of my 03:54 anger and the staff in whose hand is my 03:57 indignation. I will send him against an ungodly 04:01 nation"-speaking about Israel-"and against the 04:03 people of my wrath. I will give him charge to 04:06 seize the spoil, to take the prey, and to tread 04:11 them down like the mire of the streets." It's speaking 04:14 about what Assyria is gonna do to Israel. But 04:18 now, notice verse 12. [text on-screen] 04:34 So, are you seeing the principle? Assyria 04:37 sowed persecution, and what did it reap? It 04:40 reaped the result of what it had sown. 04:42 The same is true of Nebuchadnezzar's 04:45 Babylon. Notice Jeremiah 27:6-7. Jeremiah 27:6-7. 04:53 "And now, I have given all these lands," including 04:56 Israel, "into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, the 04:59 king of Babylon, My servant; and the beasts of the field 05:03 I have also given to him. So all nations shall serve 05:07 him and his son and his son's son, until the time 05:12 of his land comes; and then, many nations and great kings 05:16 shall make him serve them." Are you catching the 05:20 picture? So, all nations serve Nebuchadnezzar; 05:23 God says, "At the end, these nations are gonna 05:26 come and make Nebuchadnezzar serve them." Nebuchadnezzar 05:30 was God's servant to punish apostate Israel. 05:33 And then, God punished Nebuchadnezzar for treading 05:37 down His people. Jeremiah chapters 50 and 51 describe 05:42 how God punished Babylon for oppressing His people. 05:46 These are very important verses that we're gonna 05:50 notice now. Jeremiah 50 and 51 describe what 05:56 happened to Babylon as a result of Babylon oppressing 05:59 God's people. It says there in verse 11... 06:05 Actually, it's verse 14: [text on-screen] 06:46 So, there's the oppression of God's people. [reads verse 18] 07:12 So, there's the principle again. Babylon oppressed 07:14 God's people; therefore, God rose nations that 07:20 came and destroyed Babylon. Jeremiah 51 also describes 07:25 this same phenomenon. It says, beginning in 07:29 verse 24... [text on-screen] 07:41 So, Babylon will oppress Zion, so now God is going 07:46 to do the same with Chaldea. Verse 34. 08:37 So, this is the principle. Whatsoever a nation 08:41 or an empire sows, that also will that nation what? 08:46 Reap. Is that true of the first trumpet, as well? 08:50 What did the Jewish nation sow? Well, 08:52 the Jewish nation had Jesus slain, and persecuted 08:56 the followers of God's people. So what happened? 09:00 God used the Romans to punish those who were 09:03 oppressing Christ and His people. Now, let's 09:08 ask the question: who destroyed Jerusalem 09:10 the first time? In the year 586, by the way, 09:15 it was. Was it God? Was it Nebuchadnezzar? Or 09:20 did Israel destroy itself? Well, the answer is yes. 09:27 [laughter] Let's notice what the Bible says. 09:30 Daniel chapter 9 and verse 14 says that God 09:32 destroyed Jerusalem. It says there... [text on-screen] 09:47 So who brought all this disaster on Israel? Why 09:50 were they taken captive for 70 years? It says, 09:53 "The Lord has brought it upon us." So, God did 09:57 it. But the Bible also says that Nebuchadnezzar 10:00 did it. Notice 2 Chronicles 36:17-19. It says that 10:07 Nebuchadnezzar did it. Let's read. [on-screen text] 10:48 So, who is it that destroyed Jerusalem the first time? 10:52 Nebuchadnezzar and the armies of the Chaldeans! 10:56 But we just read that it was God. Now, is it 10:59 possible that Israel itself destroyed itself? 11:03 [chuckles] Well, let's notice Daniel 9:11, 11:06 and then verses 14 and 15. [text on-screen] 11:33 So who brought the destruction upon the 11:35 city? Israel! Verse 14. [text on-screen] 12:05 So, who destroyed Jerusalem the first time? Was it God? 12:12 Yes. Was it Nebuchadnezzar? Yes. Was it Israel itself? 12:18 Yes! Because of the sinfulness of Israel, 12:21 they brought upon themselves the Babylonians whom God 12:25 used to punish them for their apostasy. Now, what 12:30 about the second destruction of Jerusalem in the year 12:33 70-between the year 66 and the year 70? 12:37 Well, we're going to the section now on page 12:40 40, the second destruction of Jerusalem. Daniel 9:26, 12:46 which we studied in the Sabbath school lesson 12:49 just this last Sabbath, states that the people 12:53 of the Prince destroyed Jerusalem the second time 12:57 in the year A.D. 70. So, who destroyed the 13:00 city of Jerusalem? The people of the Prince. 13:05 Now, who is the Prince of Daniel 9? The Prince in 13:08 Daniel 9 is Christ! All throughout the 13:11 book of Daniel, when the word 'prince' is used, 13:13 it applies to Christ; never applies to a human 13:16 being. He is the great prince who stands watch 13:20 over the children of your people. He is the 13:22 Prince of Princes in Daniel chapter 8. 13:26 So, the "Prince" in Daniel 9 is Christ! Now, if the 13:29 Prince in Daniel 9:26 is Jesus, then who must 13:34 the people of the Prince be? Who are the people 13:38 of the Prince? The Jewish nation! Right? 13:42 The Jewish nation. Now, the critical question, 13:46 then, is this: did the Jews destroy their own 13:49 city and sanctuary? Because it says the people 13:52 of the Prince destroyed the city. So in other words, 13:56 the Jews destroyed their own city. You say, "No, 13:59 that didn't happen, did it?" Well, let's pursue this. 14:01 At first sight, the idea seems absurd and 14:05 preposterous! After all, the Jews did not destroy 14:08 their own city and sanctuary, did they? Did not Titus 14:11 and the Romans destroy the city and the temple? 14:15 Well, yes. But let's pursue this in the light 14:18 of the first destruction of Jerusalem by the 14:20 Babylonians. The parable of the wedding in Matthew 14:24 22:1-14 explains clearly who destroyed Jerusalem 14:30 the second time. Similarly, the parable of the vineyard 14:34 workers in Matthew 21:33-46 also tells us who brought 14:40 destruction upon the city. You see, in the 14:43 parable of Matthew 22 as we noticed in our 14:45 last session, God the Father sent servants 14:48 to Israel to invite them to the marriage of His 14:52 Son-that is, to the marriage of Jesus. 14:55 The first stage of the parable represents 14:57 the Old Testament period. Then, God sends prophets 15:01 after the Old Testament period after Jesus dies 15:07 on the cross. And what do they do with the 15:10 second group of messengers that are sent? We're 15:13 told in verse 4 and 5, and verse 6, that they 15:18 rejected the second invitation on the part of Peter and 15:23 Paul and many others, and therefore what happened 15:26 with the king? We read this in our last session. 15:29 The king got angry, and he sent his armies... 15:33 Who would the armies be? The Romans-Titus 15:38 and the Romans-to destroy what? To destroy the 15:41 city and the temple. So, notice it says in verse 7: 15:45 "But when the king," that's God the Father, 15:47 "heard thereof, he was wroth; and he sent forth 15:51 his armies," that is Titus and the Roman 15:53 armies, "and destroyed those murderers and 15:56 burned up their city." So, who is it that destroyed 16:01 Jerusalem the second time? Was it God? Yes. 16:09 Was it Titus and the Roman armies? Yes, 16:13 but who ultimately was to blame? The people 16:16 themselves were to blame. Notice Ellen White's comment 16:19 here in Great Controversy page 35 and 36. "The Jews 16:25 had forged their own," what? "...their own 16:29 fetters. They had filled for themselves the 16:34 cup of vengeance. In the utter destruction 16:37 that befell them as a nation and in all the 16:41 woes that followed them in their dispersion, they 16:44 were but reaping the harvest which their 16:47 own hands had sown. Says the prophet, 'O 16:51 Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself, for thou hast 16:57 fallen by thine iniquity.' Their sufferings are 17:01 often represented as a punishment visited upon 17:04 them by the direct decree of God. It is thus that the 17:07 Great Deceiver seeks to conceal his own work. 17:12 By stubborn rejection of divine love and mercy, 17:15 the Jews had caused the protection of God to be 17:19 withdrawn from them, and Satan was permitted 17:22 to rule them according to his will." Are you 17:27 understanding the principle here? "Whatsoever a nation 17:30 sows, that will a nation also," what? "...also reap." 17:36 Now, you say, "What does this have to do with the 17:40 second trumpet?" Now we're gonna get into the 17:42 nitty-gritty of how this principle applies to the 17:45 second trumpet. We have a burning mountain in the 17:50 second trumpet, and this burning mountain is 17:53 cast into the sea. Now, what do mountains represent 17:57 in Scripture? In Scripture, mountains represent kingdoms. 18:05 Remember in Daniel chapter 2, the stone hits the 18:08 feet of the image, and then you have a great mountain 18:11 that grows that covers the whole earth? That's 18:14 the eternal kingdom, according to the interpretation 18:15 of this particular vision that Daniel received. 18:21 Well, actually, Nebuchadnezzar received it, but Daniel 18:24 also received it and then interpreted it to 18:26 the king! So, the fall of a kingdom... The 18:31 falling of a mountain must represent the 18:33 falling of a kingdom. By the way, in Isaiah 18:36 14:13, God's kingdom in heaven is represented 18:40 by a mountain, as well. You remember Lucifer- 18:43 he said, "I will ascend to the Mount of God"? And 18:46 he said, "I'll overthrow God, and I'll become the 18:49 ruler"? So, once again the mountain represents 18:52 God's kingdom. In Psalm 48 and verse 1, it speaks 18:56 about God's throne being in Zion-on Mount Zion. 19:01 So, Mount Zion is the sea of God's kingdom. 19:06 And by the way, in Revelation chapter 17, 19:08 you have a dragon beast that has seven heads, 19:12 which are also identified as seven mountains. And 19:16 what do those seven mountains or heads 19:17 represent? They represent seven successive kingdoms 19:21 beginning with Babylon and ending, finally, with 19:24 the papacy, using the United States to accomplish her 19:28 purposes. So, a mountain represents a what? A 19:33 mountain represents a kingdom. Now, where 19:37 does this language come from: "a burning mountain 19:40 that is cast into the sea"? We have to go 19:44 back to the Old Testament to understand it. So, 19:47 let's go back to Jeremiah chapter 50, which is 19:50 speaking about the punishment that God was going to meet 19:53 out upon literal Babylon, because Babylon had 19:57 persecuted His people and led them into captivity. 20:01 Jeremiah 50, and we'll read verse 3, verse 9, 20:05 verse 10, verses 41 and 42. Actually, it would 20:09 be nice to read the entire chapter, 50 and 51, because 20:13 it's describing the punishment upon Babylon. By the 20:16 way, this destruction comes from the north, 20:19 and it is like the waves of the sea drowning this 20:23 kingdom. Let's read these verses. [text on-screen] 21:49 Now, let's go to Jeremiah 51 and verse 25. Remember, 21:54 Jeremiah 50 and 51 are describing the destruction 21:59 of Babylon for Babylon oppressing and persecuting 22:02 God's people. Now, what is Babylon compared to 22:05 in Jeremiah 51 and verse 25? This is the key verse 22:10 to understand the second trumpet. Here, the prophet 22:14 Jeremiah compares the kingdom of Babylon to 22:18 a destroying what? To a destroying mountain. 22:23 Eventually, this destroying mountain became what 22:25 kind of a mountain? A burning mountain. And 22:29 this burning mountain was cast where? Was cast into 22:33 the sea. Any relationship with the second trumpet? 22:37 Absolutely. You have a burning mountain, cast 22:41 into the sea. Now, here is the key verse: Jeremiah 22:45 51:25. "And I will repay Babylon and all the 22:50 inhabitants of Chaldea." Why is God gonna do this? 22:55 Why is Chaldea or Babylon gonna be punished by 22:58 the Lord? Well, "For all the evil they have done," 23:02 where? In Zion. "In your sight," says the Lord. 23:06 "Behold, I am against you." How does He refer 23:09 to Babylon? "O destroying," what? [text on-screen] 23:27 Is this the source for the terminology on 23:29 the second trumpet? Absolutely. So, does the 23:33 second trumpet have any relationship with 23:37 Babylon? Yes or no? It has a relationship to 23:41 Babylon-but you say, "Wait a minute. If the 23:44 second trumpet is after the destruction of Jerusalem, 23:46 how can we be talking about Babylon?" Well, 23:49 let's continue to pursue this. Let's interpret 23:52 what "the sea" means. We've noticed that the 23:54 burning mountain that is cast into the sea represents 23:57 what? It represents Babylon!-what's going 24:02 to happen to Babylon. But what does the sea 24:04 that the burning mountain is cast into represent? 24:09 Well, let's read several verses. Jeremiah 51:42. 24:24 So is the burning mountain cast into the sea? Absolutely. 24:28 Now the question is, what does the sea 24:31 represent? Well, let's go to Isaiah 27 and 24:34 verses 12-14. We're allowing the Bible to 24:37 interpret itself. Isaiah 27:12. "Woe to the multitude 24:44 of many," what? "...many people..." And what are 24:48 the people compared to? "...who make a noise like 24:51 the roar of the seas, and to the rushing of 24:56 nations that make a rushing like the rushing 25:00 of many waters." So, what do the mighty 25:04 waters represent? They represent the rushing of 25:08 nations. What does the roar of the seas represent? 25:12 The multitude of many people. So what was gonna 25:15 happen to Babylon? She would be burnt up as a 25:20 kingdom; she will be cast into the sea, which means 25:23 that the nations would come against her and 25:25 they would drown Babylon. Let's continue: verse 13. 25:29 "The nations will rush like the rushing of many 25:33 waters; but God will rebuke them." That means He'll 25:37 dry them up, by the way. "And they will flee far 25:40 away, and be chased like the chaff of the mountains 25:42 before the wind, like a rolling thing before the 25:45 whirlwind. Then behold at eventide, trouble. 25:50 And before the morning, he is no more. This is 25:53 the portion..." Now, here comes the reason why 25:55 the mountain is a burning mountain and is cast into 25:58 the seas, which represents multitudes of nations that 26:02 come against her: "This is the portion of," whom? "...of those 26:06 who plunder us, and the lot of those who rob us." 26:12 Are you seeing the principle that we started the lesson 26:14 with? Why was Babylon punished? Babylon was 26:19 punished because of what Babylon did with God's 26:21 people. Why is end-time Babylon- I'll get ahead 26:24 of myself. Why is end-time Babylon gonna be punished? 26:27 Is it only because the end-time Babylon was 26:30 idolatrous and they believed the wrong things? 26:34 No! What is the main reason? The harlot is 26:36 filled with the blood of the saints and the 26:40 martyrs of Jesus! Babylon has persecuted God's people; 26:43 therefore, the punishment is gonna fall upon Babylon. 26:47 Let's read a few other verses that describe 26:49 the meaning of the waters. Isaiah 60 and verse 5. 26:55 "Then you shall see and become radiant, and 26:58 your heart shall swell with joy," and now notice the 27:02 synonymous parallelism, "because the abundance 27:05 of the sea shall be turned to you." What does "the 27:08 abundance of the sea be turned to you"- what does 27:11 that mean? The second part of the verse explains. 27:14 "The wealth of the Gentiles"... Better translation is, "The 27:18 nations that go? shall come to you." So, the 27:21 Gentiles are the nations represented by the 27:25 abundance of the sea. The book of Revelation 27:28 itself tells us in Revelation 17:15. "Then he said to me, 27:33 'The waters which you saw, where the harlot sits, are 27:37 peoples, multitudes, nations, and tongues." 27:40 What was gonna happen then with Babylon? The 27:43 burning mountain that was cast into the sea-it means 27:46 that this nation was gonna fall like a burning mountain, 27:52 like a kingdom falling into the sea, and the 27:54 sea was going to what? The sea was going to 27:57 drown this nation. Notice there are gonna be multitudes 28:02 of nations that would come against it. Notice Jeremiah 28:06 51:60-64. [text on-screen] 28:34 So in other words, God, You've spoken that You're 28:36 gonna totally annihilate Babylon. Now, notice the 28:39 symbolism that is used to represent this. Verse 28:42 63, "Now it shall be, when you shall have finished 28:48 reading this book," which is talking about Jeremiah 28:51 50 and 51, the destruction of Babylon, "that you shall 28:57 tie a stone to it," this oracle against Babylon, 29:03 and what was he commanded to do? "And throw it out into," 29:08 where? Into the Euphrates. What did that mean? 29:12 [text on-screen] 29:27 So are you catching the picture? Babylon is the 29:30 great mountain. Babylon oppressed God's people. 29:35 Therefore, Babylon is like a burning mountain 29:38 that God is gonna cast into the seas; the seas 29:41 represent multitudes of nations that will 29:43 come against her and plunder her. That's the 29:48 picture that we have here. Now, what is the time frame 29:53 of the burning mountain? This is an important point. 29:56 Since the days of Daniel... We're at page 44. Since 30:01 the days of Daniel, how many kingdoms have 30:04 arisen? Four major kingdoms. What are they? Babylon, 30:11 Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome. What was the power 30:16 that ruled in the days when John wrote the 30:18 book of Revelation? It was the Roman Empire, 30:22 the fourth of the beasts. Now, had literal Babylon 30:26 already fallen at this point? Had the prophecy of 30:30 Jeremiah been fulfilled? "Like a burning mountain, 30:33 God cast it into the sea;" the nations came and totally 30:37 got rid of Babylon... Had that already taken place? 30:39 Absolutely! So now notice, we're studying the time 30:42 frame. Literal Babylon had already fallen when John 30:46 saw his vision of the trumpets. Therefore, 30:49 the mountain of the second trumpet cannot refer to 30:52 the fall of what? Of literal Old Testament 30:56 Babylon. The language is used, but it can't refer 31:01 to the original, literal Babylon. Are you 31:04 understanding the point? The critical question is 31:07 this: which kingdom destroyed Jerusalem. 31:12 What trumpet is that, the kingdoms that destroyed 31:14 Jerusalem? The Romans... So, is God gonna punish 31:18 them for punishing God's people. [Yes.] Absolutely! 31:22 So, which kingdom destroyed Jerusalem, desolated God's 31:26 people, and then, in turn, suffered the punishment 31:29 of God? The only answer is what? The Roman Empire. 31:36 In Revelation 17, we see a dragon beast that 31:40 has seven heads. However, the heads are actually 31:43 seven what? Seven mountains! Each of these heads are 31:48 mountains, [representing] a kingdom that ruled, 31:50 beginning with Babylon. The burning mountain 31:53 that was cast into the sea at the sounding 31:56 of the seventh trumpet was the fourth of those 31:59 mountains, or heads, of Revelation 17-namely, 32:03 the Roman Empire. Now, here's a big question. 32:07 Someone might wonder whether it is legitimate 32:10 to take biblical terminology that describes literal 32:14 Babylon and apply it symbolically to the 32:17 Roman Empire. The answer is yes, for several reasons. 32:23 Reason #1: we need to take a look at the Apocrypha. 32:28 Do you know that at the time, when John wrote 32:31 the book of Revelation, people believed that 32:34 Rome was a new Babylon? They linked ancient Babylon 32:41 with Rome. Notice this work in the intertestamental 32:46 period, the Sibylline Oracles, lines 158 to 161... Very 32:51 similar to what we just read. "Then shall come a 32:55 great star from heaven into the divine sea, and 32:59 shall burn up the deep sea and Babylon itself." 33:04 But where is this Babylon that the Sibylline Oracles 33:07 are talking about? And the land of what? "Of 33:11 Italy on whose account many faithful saints 33:15 of the Hebrews have perished, and the true 33:18 people." Are you catching the picture? So what 33:21 is the new Babylon, according to the Sibylline Oracles? 33:25 It's in Italy-it's Rome. Notice, also, from the 33:30 Apocrypha work, 2 Baruch 67:7-8. And by the way, 33:36 I'm not saying that these books are inspired, 33:39 but they are of great historical interest, aren't 33:42 they? So, notice what 2 Baruch chapter 67 33:47 verses 6 and 7 says, "But the king of Babylon 33:50 will arise, who has now destroyed Zion, and he 33:55 will boast over the people, and he will speak great 33:59 things in his heart in the presence of the Most 34:02 High. But he also shall fall at last." Now, when 34:08 the anonymous author wrote the book of 2 Baruch, 34:13 literal Babylon had already fallen. But 2 Baruch is talking 34:18 about, "The king of Babylon will arise," that destroyed 34:20 Zion. So it must not refer to literal Babylon; 34:24 it has to refer to another Babylon! Now, here comes 34:28 another interesting evidence. 1 Peter 5:13, 34:32 a very enigmatic verse. It's at the conclusion 34:37 of the book that Peter wrote, the First Epistle 34:40 of Peter. He's referring to somebody who lives 34:45 in Babylon. "She who is in Babylon," here, Peter 34:50 is writing, "elect together with you, greets you, and 34:55 so does Mark my son." So whom Peter is writing 35:00 to, he's saying, "She who is in Babylon sends 35:05 her greetings, and also Mark sends his greetings, 35:10 as well." Now, let's pursue that particular 35:14 verse. Many scholars believe that Babylon in 35:18 this text is a cryptic reference to Rome, 35:22 to the Roman Empire, and I believe that there 35:25 is persuasive contextual evidence that this is so. 35:29 God appointed Peter as His messenger to whom? 35:34 To the Jews, and Paul to the Gentiles, by the 35:37 way. Peter wrote his first epistle toward the 35:40 close of his life, or towards the end of 35:43 his life, and we know that at the end of his 35:47 life, he was in Rome because he was martyred 35:50 by Nero. Are you with me or not? Now, it hardly 35:55 makes sense for Peter to write from Rome and 35:59 send greetings to other people who lived in 36:03 Babylon. It would be like me saying, if I 36:08 live in Fresno, "Greetings from the members in 36:10 Patagonia." [laughs] That wouldn't make much 36:15 sense, would it? The people that you're 36:18 sending greetings from are actually people that 36:22 live where you live. Are you following me 36:24 or not? So, it hardly makes sense for Peter 36:28 to write from Rome and send greetings to other 36:30 people who lived in Babylon. The words, "She who is 36:35 in Babylon greets you, and so does Mark, my son," 36:38 makes no sense unless the greeters were in the 36:41 same place as Peter! Why would Peter, who 36:45 was in Rome, send greetings from people living in literal 36:48 Babylon, 2,754 miles away? There is no evidence that 36:55 Peter ever was in literal Babylon. Mark was certainly 37:00 in the same place as Peter! Thus, the word 'Babylon' 37:04 must be a cryptic reference to Rome. We must remember 37:08 that the book of Revelation refers to Rome as Babylon! 37:14 Doesn't the book of Revelation refer to Rome as Babylon? 37:17 Absolutely. Both pagan and papal Rome. Now, 37:20 let's pursue this a little bit further. Nero died 37:24 in the year 68, and Nero martyred Peter. So, 37:28 Peter must have died sometime before what 37:31 year? Before the year 68, unless Nero 37:35 martyred him after Nero had died...which is not 37:37 likely. Most scholars date the First Epistle 37:40 of Peter sometime between A.D. 64 and 68. Ellen 37:46 White confirms that late in life, Peter ministered 37:50 in Rome and that Nero martyred him. Let's read 37:54 this statement. It's from the book Acts of the Apostles, 37:59 page 537. "In the providence of God, Peter was permitted 38:05 to close his ministry," where? "...in Rome, where his 38:10 imprisonment was ordered by the emperor, Nero, 38:14 about the time of Paul's final arrest. Thus, the 38:18 two veteran apostles who for many years 38:21 had been widely separated in their labors were to bear 38:25 their last witness for Christ in the world's 38:29 metropolis and upon its soil to shed their blood 38:33 as the seed of a vast harvest of saints and 38:36 martyrs." So, where was Peter at the end of his 38:38 life? He was in Rome, and he sends greetings 38:45 from where? Babylon! So what is "Babylon"? 38:52 Babylon is Rome, the pagan Roman Empire. 38:55 Is this making sense? Now, unfortunately, 38:59 we don't have time to cover everything in these 39:01 study notes. So, your homework for this afternoon after 39:09 the class, because we end the class at 4 o'clock... 39:12 Say, when we have a Q&A then till 4:15, and then let's 39:16 say it takes you 15 or 20 minutes to get home, 39:18 you still have basically from 5 in the afternoon till 39:22 your bedtime to read these pages. It's only pages 39:29 46-61. Let me just share with you the gist of what 39:35 we find in these pages. First of all- and it's 39:40 fascinating. It's fascinating to read this. What these 39:44 pages prove is that there is a link between ancient 39:52 Babylon and the religion of ancient Babylon that 39:57 was transferred to Pergamum in Asia Minor. Are you catching 40:03 the picture? In other words, the religion of 40:08 Babylon was transferred from Babylon to Asia Minor- 40:13 to Pergamum, specifically. There's historical evidence 40:18 that then, the religion that was transferred 40:21 from Babylon to Pergamum was then transferred to 40:26 Rome-particularly, the worship of the sun god, 40:31 Mithra. So, there's a link; the link between 40:36 ancient Babylon and pagan Rome is Pergamum. 40:41 Literal Pergamum. But here comes something very 40:44 interesting: there is also a link between 40:48 pagan Rome and papal Rome, via Pergamum, 40:53 as well. You say, how is that? Third church 40:57 of Revelation...Pergamum. What period is that? 41:02 The church of Pergamum is the period of Constantine. 41:06 Is that the period of transition between 41:08 pagan Rome and papal Rome? Yes! From 303, or 313- 41:15 depending on which event you wanna choose-till 41:18 the year 538. Now, the transition is being made 41:22 between pagan Rome and papal Rome! The culture 41:25 and the practices and the religion of pagan 41:31 Rome is being transferred via the church of Pergamum 41:34 to papal Rome! Are you with me? So, is there 41:39 an unbroken chain between ancient Babylon, Pergamum 41:44 (Asia Minor), pagan Rome, and then via the church 41:49 of Pergamum to papal Rome? Absolutely. 41:53 So, that's the reason why pagan Rome is 41:55 called Babylon! That's the reason why papal 41:59 Rome is also called what? Babylon! Does Ellen White 42:04 in Great Controversy constantly refer to the 42:06 papacy as Rome? [No...] Does she refer to the papacy as 42:11 Babylon? Absolutely! So, there's an unbroken 42:14 link, and here you have the fascinating story 42:17 in 13 or 14 pages, documented from historians 42:21 on how the ancient religion of Babylon was transferred 42:26 to Asia Minor, Pergamum more specifically; Pergamum 42:30 transferred its religion, the god of Mithra, to 42:34 pagan Rome; pagan Rome via the church of Pergamum 42:39 to papal Rome. Now, we want to go to page 62. 42:46 Page 62, because we still have some symbols that 42:50 we need to interpret here in the second trumpet. 42:53 So, let's go back to Revelation 8:8-9 42:56 and read, once again, the description that is 42:58 given of the second trumpet. "Then, the 43:01 second angel sounded, and something like a 43:04 great burning mountain, with fire, was thrown into," 43:09 what? "...into the sea." What 43:12 does the great burning mountain represent? 43:15 What was the great burning mountain in 43:17 the Old Testament? Literal Babylon. What is the 43:21 great burning mountain in the second trumpet? 43:24 It can't be literal Babylon, because this is after 43:27 Christ ascended to heaven! It's after the destruction 43:29 of Jerusalem. So, it has to be a different 43:32 kind of Babylon. So, this great burning 43:35 mountain-not that the burning of a mountain 43:37 means that it's being destroyed-it's cast 43:39 or thrown into the sea. What does the sea 43:42 represent? It represents the barbarian invasions. 43:46 Nations, many from the north of the empire, 43:49 that came and carved up the empire; totally put 43:54 the Roman Empire into disarray-ruined the 43:57 commercial lines of Rome and destroyed everything 44:03 that they could find in their way. But then 44:07 we have also, it says, "And a third of the sea 44:10 became blood." Another [version] says, "Great bloodshed as 44:14 a result of the fall of this kingdom, and 44:16 a third of the living creatures"-better 44:19 translation is, "the fish in the sea"-"died." So, 44:24 the question is, what do the fish represent? 44:27 Well, the sea represents the nations-the multitude 44:30 of nations. The fish live in the sea; they 44:34 live in those nations. What do the fish represent? 44:37 Well, they represent the people that lived 44:39 in those empires. You say, "Well, where do we 44:43 find that in the Bible?" Notice Habakkuk 1 verses 44:46 14 and 15. Habakkuk 1:14-15. "Why do you make men like 44:54 fish of the sea?" So what do fish represent? 45:00 Men! "Like creeping things that have no ruler over 45:04 them, they take up all of them with a hook. 45:10 They catch them in their net and gather them in 45:13 their dragnet." What are they gathering up in their 45:15 dragnet? [Fish.] No, not fish; men. [laughs] 45:20 Yes, fish, that represent men. Notice Ecclesiastes 45:23 9:12. "For man also does not know his time, like 45:30 fish taken in a cruel net, like birds caught 45:34 in a snare, so the sons of man are snared in 45:37 an evil time when it falls suddenly upon them." 45:41 Also, Ezekiel 29:3-4. What principle are we 45:45 applying here? In the second trumpet, are you 45:50 supposed to find a literal mountain, a 45:52 literal asteroid that's falling into the sea somewhere? 45:56 And that the sea is swallowing up the mountain? 46:00 And a third of the literal fish are dying? No! We're 46:04 dealing with symbols. We apply the same principles 46:08 to the trumpets that we apply to all of the other 46:11 places in Scripture. Does that make sense? 46:13 Now, notice Ezekiel 29:3-4. [text on-screen] 46:29 See, Pharaoh lived in the rivers. [continues reading] 46:59 Which means that the fish are gonna die, too, 47:01 if they're sticking to his scales. Now, another 47:04 interesting text is one that we know very well: 47:07 Matthew 4:19 when Jesus called His disciples to 47:11 be what? Fishers of men. It says in Matthew [4:18], 47:17 "And Jesus walking by the Sea of Galilee saw 47:20 two brothers. Simon called Peter and Andrew his brother, 47:25 casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen." 47:31 By the way, when you look up this- when you 47:34 put "fishermen", when you're typing it out, it underlines 47:38 in red. You're not supposed to use 'fishermen'; you're supposed 47:40 to use 'anglers', because 'fishermen' uses the 47:45 word 'men' in a politically-correct world. 47:50 But anyway, I'm gonna use 'fishermen' because 47:52 I'm using the New King James Version. So, it 47:55 says, "And Jesus walking by the Sea of Galilee 47:57 saw two brothers. Simon called Peter and Andrew 47:59 his brother casting a net into the sea, for 48:02 they were fishermen. Then He said to them, 48:04 'Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.'" 48:09 So, in this verse, what does the sea represent? 48:14 The sea represents the world. What do the fish represent? 48:19 The fish represent the individuals that live in 48:23 the world. Who do the fishermen represent? 48:27 The fishermen represent believers, right? What does 48:32 the boat represent? The church! And how 48:36 do you get the fish into the church? By casting 48:39 the net. That's preaching the gospel! And then, 48:43 in the parable of the fish in Matthew chapter 48:47 13, it says that after the fish are in the boat, 48:50 then you take the boat to the shore and you 48:53 separate the good fish from the bad fish. 48:55 In other words, the good members from the bad 48:58 members in the church. So, what do the fish 49:02 represent? They represent human beings. What happened 49:07 with the Roman Empire when the barbarians 49:10 invaded? A large portion of the people who lived 49:15 in the empire, what happened? They were slain, and the 49:18 waters were turned into what? Blood! Because 49:22 of the invasion of these barbarian tribes. Now, 49:28 what about the ships? Ships are mentioned here. 49:32 So, are we supposed to look at a certain place 49:33 where a third of the ships were destroyed? 49:37 No! We need to understand what the word 'ships' 49:40 symbolically means. Now, the key texts are found 49:44 in Ezekiel and Revelation. Ezekiel 27:9, 25, and 29 49:50 tells us that the ships represent trading and 49:54 commercial prosperity. By the way, the stock 50:00 market is going deeply south. When I took my 50:06 break, it was 1,400 points down. So, you know... 50:15 The ships here represent, basically, the economy 50:18 of Rome. Was Rome a very prosperous nation? Did 50:23 it have a very strong economy? Of course it 50:26 did. But what happened when the barbarians 50:28 invaded? The nation was thrown up into disarray. 50:33 It was a disaster. Notice Ezekiel 27:9. [text on-screen] 51:17 So what do the ships represent? They represent 51:20 commercial prosperity. But what happened 51:23 when the barbarians invaded the Roman Empire? 51:25 Everything fell apart! Everything was in disarray. 51:30 Revelation 18 speaks about the fall of end-time 51:32 Babylon in the following words, verses 17-19. [text on-screen] 51:52 Interesting they have the mention of "smoke 51:54 of her burning," Babylon in the light of Jeremiah 51. 51:57 [continues reading text] 52:22 Are you catching the picture? So, what is 52:25 represented by the second trumpet? Well, let's go 52:29 to the bottom of page 63 as we near the end 52:33 of this study. At the sounding of the second 52:36 trumpet, instead of temporal prosperity, the barbarians 52:41 invaded the Roman Empire, destroyed the routes of 52:45 commerce, and decimated the prosperity of Rome. 52:51 The judgment of the second trumpet brought the collapse 52:54 of the entire social and economic system of the 52:58 Roman Empire. The barbarians invaded the empire between 53:03 378 and 476 A.D. In 378 A.D., the Visigoths wiped 53:10 out an entire Roman army, including the Roman emperor, 53:14 Valens. In 410, the same tribes, the Visigoths 53:19 ravaged Rome-the first time that anyone had 53:23 done so in a period of 800 years. In 455 A.D., 53:28 the Vandals-well named, by the way-ransacked 53:32 Rome for a second time. They vandalized the 53:36 city for two weeks, systematically and 53:38 persistently looting everything of value they could lay 53:43 their hands on. So, the entire economic system 53:45 is belly up! They carried off to Carthage the solid 53:50 gold seven-branch lampstand, the very one that, in 53:54 70 A.D., Titus had carried off to Rome from the 53:58 temple in Jerusalem. Genseric, the leader of the 54:01 Vandals was a human predator. They're not 54:05 called Vandals for any old reason. They were 54:09 truly- they lived up to the name. They 54:12 were vandals. They vandalized the Roman 54:14 Empire. Now, here's the key point. The 54:19 Roman Empire persecuted the Jews. And who else 54:24 did they persecute? They persecuted the 54:27 Christians, such as Ignatius and Polycarp, as well 54:33 as heretical Christians such as the Aryans. 54:38 Therefore, when the second trumpet blew, 54:40 what did God do? God came in judgment against 54:45 Rome. Are you catching the principle? Whatsoever 54:49 Rome sowed by persecuting God's people, Rome now 54:53 will what? Rome will reap. Remember that 54:57 we studied the reason why the trumpets blow? 55:00 They are partial judgments of God upon nations or 55:05 systems that have oppressed and persecuted God's 55:09 people. The barbarians destroyed the routes 55:12 of commerce, decimated the cities, and sacked 55:15 Rome so that Rome became practically a ghost town. 55:21 And incidentally, if you study about the 55:23 second church, the church of Smyrna, it's very 55:27 interesting. You have in the church of Smyrna 55:30 an abundance of death language. This is the 55:34 persecuted church by the Roman emperors. 55:37 Let's just notice there, very quickly-towards 55:40 the end of our study- Revelation chapter 2. 55:43 Revelation chapter 2. What it says about the 55:47 church of Smyrna. It says there in verse 8, 55:53 "And to the angel of the church in Smyrna write, 55:55 'These things says the First and the Last, who 55:57 was dead and came to life"... [text on-screen] 56:18 This is very interesting. The persecution lasted 56:23 from 303 to 313 (I won't get into that now). 56:27 [continues reading text] 56:42 By the way, do you know what the name Smyrna 56:44 means? The name Smyrna means "bittersweet myrrh". 56:49 And do you know what myrrh was used for 56:50 in the Roman Empire? It was used to embalm 56:53 the dead. So, is the second church a church 56:58 that suffered tribulation and persecution and prison 57:04 and much death? Yes! But what does Jesus 57:06 say to them? "Don't fear suffering the first death. 57:12 Not a problem! You, if you're faithful, will not 57:16 suffer second death." So basically, the second 57:19 trumpet is because the Roman Empire persecuted 57:24 the Christians, killed them right and left, 57:27 so now God uses the barbarians to come against 57:32 the Roman Empire for what the Roman Empire did to 57:36 God's people. Is this clear? [Yes!] Now, we need 57:41 to study about the third trumpet! But our time 57:44 is up. [laughter] So don't miss the next 57:46 exciting episode tomorrow morning where we will 57:50 study the third trumpet, the period when apostasy 57:54 entered the Christian church. |
Revised 2020-07-29