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Series Code: MAT
Program Code: MAT000012S
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00:20 Let us pray. Father in heaven, as we begin this study we ask 00:27 that you will open our ears to hear and that you will open our 00:31 eyes to see. We want to do your will. We want to know where we 00:36 are in the course of history because we need to prepare for 00:40 that glorious event, the coming of Jesus and the passage 00:45 through the time of trouble. So we ask that you will be with us, 00:48 that your Holy Spirit will guide our thoughts. 00:50 In Jesus name we pray, Amen. 00:54 In previous studies we noticed that Matthew 24 has a dual 01:01 fulfillment. The first fulfillment was in the events 01:05 that led up to the destruction of Jerusalem in the year 70 A.D. 01:10 The second application or the second fulfillment is when the 01:17 events at the end of the world lead up to the second coming 01:22 of Jesus Christ. However, a question surfaces now as we 01:28 begin. Does Matthew 24 address the period between the 01:33 destruction of Jerusalem and the events that lead up to the 01:37 second coming of Christ? Or does Matthew 24 bypass the long 01:44 period of Christian history between the destruction of 01:48 Jerusalem and end time events? As we have seen in a previous 01:54 presentation, there is only one great tribulation divided into 02:00 two parts with a pause in between those two parts. 02:05 The first part is from 538 to 1798 A.D. It's the period of 02:12 papal dominion. The second period is after the pause period 02:19 ends when the deadly wound of the papacy heals and the 02:22 papacy behaves in the end time events as it did in the past. 02:27 So the question is does Matthew 24 address both of these periods 02:33 In a certain sense we notice already that Matthew 24 does. 02:38 However, Matthew 24 appears to bypass generally speaking the 02:45 period of church history between the destruction of Jerusalem and 02:50 end time events. It seems to focus primarily on the events 02:55 that will take place after the pause period ends. However, in 03:01 this lesson we are going to notice that as we examine the 03:05 parallel passage to Matthew 24 in Luke 21 and verses 20 and 21, 03:12 this period of church history is very clearly addressed. 03:18 This becomes clear when we compare Luke 21 and verses 20 03:24 and 21 with Daniel 7:25, Revelation chapter 12 verses six 03:31 and 12, Revelation 13 verse five and Revelation chapter 11 and 03:38 verses two through six. So we're going to take a look at all of 03:42 these passages to see how they relate to one another. And we're 03:46 going to see that Luke does have a strong focus on the period of 03:53 1260 years when the papacy predominated primarily in Europe 04:00 So Matthew 24 as we examine this chapter after the sign of the 04:07 abomination of desolation has four sequential signs. The first 04:14 is the destruction of earthly Jerusalem. That's found in 04:19 verses 15-20 of Matthew chapter 24. Then we have a second period 04:28 which is sequential to the first and that is a period of severe 04:32 tribulation. That's found in Matthew chapter 24 and verses 04:37 21-28. Then the third sequential point that we find in Matthew 04:45 24 after the abomination of desolation are signs in the sun, 04:49 the moon and the stars and that's found in Matthew 24 and 04:54 verse 29. Finally the fourth point that we have sequential to 05:00 the previous three is the shaking of the powers in the 05:04 heavens and the appearance of the sign of the Son of Man and 05:08 the second coming. We find that in Matthew 24 and verses 30 and 05:13 31. So once again, you have four sequential events after the 05:19 abomination of desolation. You have the destruction of earthly 05:23 Jerusalem, a period of severe tribulation, signs in the sun, 05:28 moon and stars and finally the shaking of the powers of the 05:33 heavens and the appearance of the sign of the Son of Man and 05:36 then the second coming of Jesus Christ. However, when we look at 05:41 Luke chapter 21 we find that perhaps there are only three 05:47 sequential signs rather than four. And Luke 21 is the parallel 05:53 passage. Let's notice those three sequential signs that are 05:58 referred to Luke chapter 21 beginning with verse 20: The 06:04 first is the destruction of earthly Jerusalem. We find that 06:08 also in Matthew 24. That's found in Luke chapter 21 and verses 06:13 20-24. The second sequential point in Luke chapter 21 is the 06:21 signs in the sun, moon and stars and that's found in verse 25. 06:26 And then the third sign that we find in Luke chapter 21, the 06:32 third event, sequential event, is the shaking of the powers of 06:37 heaven and the coming of the Son of Man which is found in verses 06:42 25 and 26. So missing in Luke 21 it appears is the sign of the 06:50 great tribulation. However, we must ask, is the tribulation 06:56 sign really missing in Luke Chapter 21? As we shall see, the 07:02 answer is no. Luke simply describes the tribulation sign 07:08 differently than does Matthew chapter 24. We're going to find 07:13 that Luke describes this tribulation period as the 07:18 trampling of the holy city by the gentiles until the times of 07:24 gentiles are fulfilled. Now we need to notice first of all that 07:30 one thing is very, very clear in the first half of Luke 21 and 07:34 verse 24. And that is that the first half of this verse is 07:40 describing the siege of Jerusalem by the Roman legions 07:44 that led to the destruction of the literal city of Jerusalem, 07:55 Jerusalem to all nations. So Luke 21 verse 24, the first part 08:01 of the verse deals with the destruction of literal Jerusalem 08:05 However, the second half of Luke chapter 21 deals with a 08:13 different Jerusalem. Actually Luke 21 and verse 24, the last 08:19 half of the verse is transitional. It describes a 08:24 trampling of spiritual and symbolic Jerusalem. It describes 08:30 spiritual and symbolic Gentiles. And it describes a symbolic 08:38 period. So in other words, we're dealing with a different 08:41 Jerusalem, a spiritual Jerusalem spiritual Gentiles and a 08:45 symbolic time period. Let's read Luke 21 and verse 24: 08:51 It says like this:... 09:03 Now you notice that the first half of Luke 21 and verse 24 09:08 says, and they will fall, this is the literal Jerusalem, by the 09:13 edge of the sword and be led captive into all nations. 09:19 That is by the Romans. So now we find that the second half of the 09:24 verse, and Jerusalem will be trampled by gentiles until the 09:28 times of the Gentiles are fulfilled. And actually I like 09:32 the New Living Translation of the last part of the verse where 09:36 it says, Until the period of the Gentiles comes to an end. So 09:41 what do we have here, what elements do we have here in the 09:45 last half of Luke 21 and verse 24? We have Jerusalem will be 09:52 trampled by the Gentiles until, this means that there's an ending 09:58 point to the time of the Gentiles, until the times of the 10:03 Gentiles come to an end. So the times of the Gentiles have a 10:08 beginning point and they have an ending point although Luke does 10:13 not mention the beginning of the ending point. We have to go 10:16 elsewhere to find the beginning and ending point. In other words 10:21 Luke 21 and verse 24 speaks of two cities of Jerusalem, one 10:29 literal and one is symbolic. It speaks about two trampling's of 10:33 the city of Jerusalem, one literal and one symbolic. And it 10:38 refers to two groups of gentiles one literal and the other 10:43 symbolic. Louis Were, an Australian evangelist that lived 10:48 primarily and his work was done in the 40s and early 50s had a 10:54 very interesting quotation that I want to share with you now. 10:58 This is in his book The King of the North at Jerusalem. 11:02 This is a very important principle of prophetic 11:05 interpretation... 11:28 So up to the time of the stoning of Stephen you're dealing with 11:32 literal Jerusalem and you're dealing with literal Gentiles. 11:36 Then later on after the establishment of the Christian 11:41 Church you have the spiritual antitypes. Babylon is no longer 11:46 literal, Jerusalem is no longer literal. Jerusalem refers to the 11:51 Christian church and the gentiles refer to the papacy 11:54 that persecutes God's people as we will see in the course of our 11:59 study. Now when the second part of Luke 21 verse 24 describes 12:05 the trampling of Jerusalem by the gentiles this is not referring 12:10 to the literal city of brick and mortar. Jesus uses the word 12:16 Jerusalem to refer to the people of the city. In other words, the 12:22 trampling of the city in the second part of Luke 21 verse 24 12:25 is dealing not with the trampling of a literal city of 12:31 brick and mortar; it's talking about the people of the city 12:35 that are trampled upon. I'm going to go first of all to a 12:38 text in the Old Testament. This speaks about the first 12:41 destruction of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar. And you're going 12:44 notice that Nebuchadnezzar took all Jerusalem captive. It says 12:48 there in 2 Kings chapter 24 and verses 14 and 15: 12:53 Also he carried into captivity all Jerusalem... So did 12:57 Nebuchadnezzar the walls of Jerusalem, the temple of 13:00 Jerusalem and the city itself into captivity. No. Not the 13:04 brick and mortar. It's the people. So once again:... 13:20 So carrying Jerusalem into captivity means the people are 13:24 carried into captivity. Jesus also considered the word 13:31 Jerusalem to refer to the inhabitants of the city. Notice 13:35 Luke chapter 19 verses 41-44: Here Jesus is coming down the 13:40 eastern slope toward the golden gate of Jerusalem on the east 13:45 side and we find these words: 14:00 He's not talking about the literal city of brick and mortar 14:03 He's talking about the people and their reaction to him. 14:06 It continues:... 14:34 Obviously the physical city of Jerusalem would not know the 14:37 time of God's visitation because it's a city it has no conscience. 14:42 However, when Jesus said You did not know the hour of your 14:45 visitation he's talking about the people of Jerusalem. In 14:49 Matthew 23 verses 37-39 once again we find Jesus referring to 14:54 Jerusalem as the people. So in the second half of Luke 21 verse 14:59 24 where it speaks about trampling Jerusalem it's not 15:02 talking about trampling the literal city of bricks and 15:04 mortar, it's talking about trampling upon the people of the 15:11 city. It says in Matthew 23 verses 37-39: O Jerusalem, 15:16 Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets... Obviously the brick 15:19 and mortar could not kill anyone O Jerusalem, Jerusalem the one 15:23 who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her 15:26 How often I wanted to gather your children... See here's the 15:30 people... Your children together as a hen gathers her chicks 15:34 under her wings, but you were not willing! See! Your house is 15:39 left to you desolate; for I say to you,... he is still speaking 15:44 of the city... You shall see me no more till you say Blessed is 15:48 He who comes in the name of the Lord!... So Luke 21 verse 24, 15:54 the last half of the verse, is not speaking about the trampling 15:58 of the literal city of Jerusalem by the literal Romans. It's 16:03 talking about a spiritual Jerusalem, the people that are 16:06 being trampled upon by a power that is referred to as the 16:11 Gentiles. So now I want you to notice a very interesting verse 16:16 that we find in Revelation 11 verse two which is parallel to 16:21 Luke 21 and verse 24. And I want you to notice the relationship 16:28 between Luke 21:24 and Revelation chapter 11 and verse 16:34 two as well as verse three. It says there in Revelation 11 16:39 verse two and three:... 16:57 You remember that we find in Luke 21 and verse 24 four 17:03 elements: Jerusalem, trampling, Gentiles, until the times of the 17:07 Gentiles come to an end. You notice that Revelation 11 verse 17:13 two has the same elements. It speaks of the Holy City, being 17:18 trampled underfoot by the Gentiles and then it gives us 17:22 the period. It doesn't say until the tiles of the Gentiles come 17:25 to an end; it says for 42 months So the 42 months as the time of 17:31 the Gentiles of Luke chapter 21 and verse 24. So I want you to 17:38 notice the parallel between Luke 21:24 the last half of the verse 17:43 and Revelation 11 and verse two. You clearly have a parallel 17:47 there. The same four parts: The Holy City Jerusalem, trampling 17:51 of the Holy City Jerusalem, the Gentiles are doing the trampling 17:55 and the times of the Gentiles are the 42 months and when the 18:00 42 months come to an end the times of the Gentiles are 18:04 finished. But then I want you to notice verse three. Immediately 18:08 after verse two where it speaks about the trampling of Jerusalem 18:12 Revelation 11 verse two we have another period that is mentioned 18:16 which is the same period expressed in different terms. 18:20 It says there in verse three of Revelation chapter 11: 18:36 So you'll notice that the 42 months of verse two and the 1260 18:42 days of verse three are parallel In other words, they refer to 18:48 the same period. Now we need to understand a very important 18:51 principle in Bible prophecy and that is that time periods 18:56 in prophecy 18:57 are symbolic. In other words, you apply the year/day principle 19:03 One literal day is equivalent to one literal year which means 19:09 that the 42 months are not a literal 42 months. They actually 19:13 are 42 months times 30 days each month which is 1260. So in other 19:21 words, we're dealing with a 1260 year period. That's the times of 19:27 the Gentiles. That is what Revelation 11 verses two and 19:33 three is referring to. So it says there, verse three again, 19:38 And I will give power to my two witnesses and they will prophesy 19:42 1260 days, that is years, clothed in sackcloth. Now this 19:50 is a very important point that I want to share in the next couple 19:53 of minutes. John wrote Revelation 11 verse two at the 20:00 end of the first century. In other words, he wrote this 20:03 around the year 95 A.D. Twenty- five years earlier the literal 20:10 city of Jerusalem had been destroyed by the Roman legions. 20:14 In other words, the literal city of Jerusalem and the literal 20:18 temple have already been destroyed when John wrote 20:22 Revelation 11 verses two and three. In other words, literal 20:27 Jerusalem had been in ruins for 25 years and its inhabitants had 20:32 already been taken into exile to the many nations. Thus 20:37 Revelation 11 verse two cannot refer to the literal destruction 20:42 of literal Jerusalem in the year A.D. 70 because John in 20:47 Revelation 11 verses two and three is speaking about a future 20:51 desolation and trampling of Jerusalem. The literal Jerusalem 20:54 had already been trampled and destroyed 25 years earlier. 20:59 Now the question is, Who are the Gentiles and what is Jerusalem 21:04 or the Holy City in Revelation chapter 11 and verse two? 21:08 In the previous presentation we saw that Jerusalem during the 21:15 Christian dispensation refers to God's faithful church and the 21:21 Gentiles represent the enemies of God's faithful church. 21:25 In other words, you're not dealing with literal Jews and 21:30 you're not dealing with literal Gentiles. The literal Israel or 21:36 Jerusalem represents the church, whereas the literal Gentiles 21:43 represent the enemies of Christ's church. You can look at 21:47 several Bible verses where this is proven: In Romans chapter 21:52 nine verses six through eight. I'll just mention these because 21:55 we've studied them before. Romans two verses 28 and 29, 21:59 Galatians 3:26-29 we'll find that if you are Christ's you are 22:04 Abraham's seed what would be Israel if we are Christ's. John 22:10 4:23,24; John 8:21-58 all show that those who are considered 22:19 Israel or Jerusalem are the faithful people of God, the 22:23 faithful church of God. The Gentiles are those who are 22:28 enemies of God's faithful people Now here's another important 22:33 point. In Revelation 11 and verse one after the angel told 22:38 John to measure the temple and those who worship in it but not 22:43 to measure the court because the court was given to the Gentiles 22:47 until the times of the Gentiles were fulfilled, this is very 22:52 interesting because immediately after the times of the Gentiles 22:56 you have the measuring of the temple. It can't be the literal 23:00 Jewish temple because it was destroyed. So this must refer to 23:05 the heavenly sanctuary, it must refer to the heavenly temple. 23:10 When John wrote the book of Revelation Rome had already 23:14 destroyed literal Jerusalem and the literal temple and Israel 23:20 had already been scattered among all of the nations. This means 23:24 that the temple in Revelation 11 verse one is not the literal 23:29 Jerusalem temple. It must be the temple of the Christian 23:33 dispensation, the temple in heaven and the worshippers in 23:37 that temple must not be the people who are literally 23:41 worshipping in heaven but by faith they are entering the 23:45 heavenly temple where Jesus is interceding for his people. 23:50 In other words, we are to under- stand the temple is the heavenly 23:54 sanctuary and the church spiritually is the earthly 24:00 reflection of that temple. Now let's notice something else that 24:05 is very, very interesting. Now before I go into this next point 24:08 I want to make sure that the previous point is very, very 24:10 clear. That is, you have the times of the Gentiles and then 24:16 you have the measuring of the temple. So then you have the 42 24:21 months or 1260 years and then after that you have the 24:26 measuring of the temple. Now I want us to note something else. 24:31 According to Revelation 11 and verse two the trampling of the 24:36 city occurred for a period of 42 months. We already noticed that. 24:41 And this period as we noticed is also described as 1260 days. 24:48 Now this links the 42 months of verse two with the 1260 days of 24:55 verse three. In other words, they're the same period, 42 24:58 months, 1260 days. But now we need to notice something even 25:03 further. Even further it links Revelation 11:2,3 where you have 25:09 the 42 months and the 1260 days, with the 1260 days of Revelation 25:16 12 verse six and the 42 months of Revelation 13 verse five. 25:21 So I want you to notice that Revelation 11 and verse two and 25:25 verse three refer to the 42 months, or 1260 days, but also 25:31 Revelation 12 verse six refers to 1260 days and Revelation 13 25:36 verse five refers to 42 months. In other words, Revelation 12 25:41 and 13 amplify Revelation 11 verses two and three. So 25:47 summarizing the 42 months of Revelation 11 verse two, the 25:50 1260 days are in Revelation 11 verse three. The 1260 days are 25:56 also in Revelation 12 verse six and the 42 months are also in 26:01 Revelation chapter 13 and verse five. So we have to study Luke 26:05 21 verse 24 the last part of the verse with Revelation chapter 11 26:09 verses two and three with Revelation 12 verse six and 26:14 Revelation 13 and verse five. You have to link all of those 26:18 together. Now in order to understand Revelation 11 verses 26:22 two and three we must not only go back to Revelation 12 and 26:27 and also verse 13 actually go forward to Revelation 12 and 26:32 Revelation 13 but we also must go to the Old Testament roots of 26:38 this particular prophecy. And the roots of the prophecy of 26:42 Revelation 11:2,3 as well as Revelation 12 and Revelation 13 26:47 are found in Daniel seven verse 21 and 25 and Daniel eight 26:54 verses 11-13. In these verses as we will notice we're going to 27:01 find a power, a little horn power that tramples under foot 27:06 the temple of God and its true worshippers. This trampling of 27:12 the temple and the worshippers in Daniel seven and eight, does 27:16 not refer to the destruction of Jerusalem and the captivity of 27:20 the literal Jews at the hand of the Roman empire but rather to a 27:26 rebellious little horn that introduced an idolatrous 27:30 "Christian" worship that caused desolation after the breakup of 27:35 the empire. Let's read Daniel chapter seven and verse 25 27:41 where we find that this little horn blasphemed God, persecuted 27:46 his people, thought he could change the law of God and he 27:53 ruled for three and a half prophetic years. Let's read 27:58 Daniel seven verse 25. 28:21 So you notice here a little horn speaks pompous words against the 28:26 Most High, persecutes the saints of the Most High, blasphemes the 28:32 Lord, thinks that it can change times and God's law and you have 28:38 a time period. The saints are given into the hand of this 28:42 little horn for time, times and the dividing of time. Now in 28:47 order to understand Daniel 7:25 we have to look at the entire 28:52 chapter, the sequence of power in the entire chapter. If you 28:57 notice Daniel chapter seven speaks of a lion. 29:00 That represents the kingdom of Babylon. Then you have a bear, 29:05 the Medes and Persians. Then you have a leopard, Greece. Then you 29:10 have a dragon beast, the Roman empire. Then the dragon beast 29:15 sprouts 10 horns. That was the division of the Roman empire in 29:20 the year 476. The Barbarians invaded the empire and they 29:25 they divided the empire into 10 kingdoms. And then after the 29:30 empire's divided, it's completely divided by 476, then 29:35 the little horn comes up among the 10 and the little horn then 29:42 does what we read in Daniel seven and verse 25. And then 29:47 notably after this you have the beginning of the judgment in the 29:52 heavenly temple. Very similar to Revelation chapter 11 verses 1-3 29:56 You have first of all the trampling of the Holy City for 30:02 42 months and then you have the measuring of the temple in 30:06 Daniel chapter seven and verse, actually the end of the chapter. 30:10 You have the little horn ruling for 1260 years, time, times and 30:16 dividing of time, and then you have a judgment scene, the 30:19 judgment begins. So let's continue again here. The lion 30:24 of Babylon, the bear Medes and Persians, the leopard Greece, 30:28 the dragon Rome, the 10 horns is the division of the Roman 30:31 empire which was completed in the year 476. Then you have the 30:35 rise of the little horn and then little horn then rules for time, 30:39 times and the dividing of time. And after this you have the 30:43 judgment scene. By the way, that judgment scene is mentioned 30:48 again in seven, eight and nine, verses 13 and 14, verses 21 and 30:53 22 and verses 25-27. So you have the same sequence; the little 30:59 horn, the work of the little horn, time, times and dividing 31:02 of time and then you have after that the judgment. In Revelation 31:07 chapter 11 you have the same idea. You have the times of the 31:10 Gentiles and then you have the measuring of the temple. Now 31:15 there is very important detail in Daniel seven and verse 25 is 31:18 that the little horn thought that it could change God's law. 31:22 You know, in the gospel of Matthew calls this the 31:27 abomination of desolation interestingly enough. Now what 31:32 was the greatest abomination that was being committed among 31:35 God's people before the first destruction of Jerusalem? 31:39 If you read Ezekiel chapter eight verses 14-16 you have 31:45 there the greatest abomination that was being practiced in the 31:48 city and that was that the leaders were worshipping the sun 31:53 They had their backs to the temple of God and they were 31:57 worshipping the sun. In other words, that little horn during 32:02 the 1260 years, during the time, times, dividing of time or 42 32:07 months, whichever way you want to express it in some way 32:11 thought that it would change God's holy law. In every book of 32:16 history we know how this was fulfilled. The papacy claims to 32:20 have changed the Sabbath to Sunday as a day of worship, the 32:24 day of the sun. Now Daniel eight further amplifies the nefarious 32:31 work of this little horn power by specifically saying that the 32:36 little horn trampled on the sanctuary and trampled the host. 32:42 That's Daniel eight and verse 13 which is language very similar 32:46 to Revelation 11 verses two and three. Now Daniel eight 32:51 describes the little horn in two stages. The first stage is pagan 32:57 Rome. It conquers horizontally. Then this little horn morphs and 33:04 attacks heaven vertically. In other words, it becomes a 33:08 religious little horn. The first one is a political horn that is 33:11 conquering geographically. The second, same little horn, morphs 33:15 and now it melds with the Lord in heaven, it tries to take away 33:21 the ministry from the Prince of the host, it persecutes the 33:25 saints of the Most High and it tramples on the sanctuary. 33:29 The first stage is in Daniel eight verse nine. It says: 33:34 And out of one of them came a little horn... this is the same 33:37 power of Daniel seven... which grew exceedingly great toward 33:41 the south, toward the east and toward the Glorious Land. 33:46 He is extending geographically and suddenly this little horn 33:51 morphs into a power that attacks heaven and the saints that 33:56 worship by faith in the heavenly sanctuary. It says there in 34:00 Daniel chapter eight and verse 10: 34:02 And it grew...the little horn... up to the host of heaven; and it 34:06 cast down some of the host and some of the stars to the ground, 34:10 and trampled on them...See here's the other trampling of 34:13 Revelation 11 verses two and three... He even exalted himself 34:17 as high as the Prince of the host; and by him... that is by 34:21 the little horn... the daily sacrifices... the word sacrifices 34:24 doesn't belong there, it's the daily... was taken away and the 34:28 place of His sanctuary was cast down. Because of transgression, 34:32 an army was given over to the horn to oppose the daily; and he 34:36 cast truth down to the ground. He did all this and prospered... 34:39 Verse 13: Then I heard a holy one speaking; and another holy 34:43 one said to that certain one who was speaking. How long will the 34:48 vision be concerning the daily and the transgression of 34:51 desolation,... interesting the transgression of desolation... 34:54 the giving of both the sanctuary and the host to be trampled 35:00 underfoot? 35:02 You see the little horn is doing the same thing that it referred 35:04 in Luke 21 and verse 24, the last half and Revelation 11 35:11 verses two and three. So you have the connect Revelation 11, 35:15 Luke 21 verse 24 as well as Daniel seven, which gives us 35:20 time, times and the dividing of time and Daniel eight where you 35:24 find the little horn trampling the host, which are God's people 35:28 and trampling the sanctuary. You know it's no coincidence in 35:32 Daniel chapter eight that after the period that the little horn 35:36 tramples on the host and on the sanctuary then they had the 35:40 cleansing of the sanctuary which is the judgment. Interesting. 35:45 In each of these scenes, in Revelation 11 verses two and 35:49 three, after the times of the Gentiles you have the measuring 35:53 of the heavenly temple. In Daniel chapter seven after the 35:56 little horn performs its work for time, times, and dividing of 36:00 time you have the judgment scene In Daniel chapter eight after 36:05 the little horn tramples on the sanctuary and tramples on the 36:08 host, then you have the cleansing of the sanctuary, the 36:11 judgment. Very interesting. Now we must also link Daniel seven 36:17 and eight with Revelation 11 and 13. So let's do that. 36:23 In Revelation chapter 13, we'll deal with that first, Revelation 36:27 chapter 13, you have the same sequence of powers that we 36:31 noticed in Daniel chapter seven. We don't have time to go 36:35 through the chapter in detail, but I want to mention just a 36:39 few things that the beast does in Revelation chapter 13. 36:45 By the way, if you notice verses one and two, it says that the 36:48 dragon, the dragon represents Satan working through the Roman 36:52 empire because the dragon tried to slay the Child when he was 36:55 born, Satan did that through Herod, a ruler of the Roman 36:59 empire. So anyway the dragon in verses one and two of Revelation 37:04 13 gives his seat, his power and his authority to the beast and 37:09 then the beast performs its work for 42 months. I want you to 37:15 notice the sequence of powers in Revelation chapter 13 verses 37:19 one and two and then we'll read verses five and seven. It says 37:23 there in Revelation 13:1,2 that you have a lion, you have a bear 37:27 you have a leopard, you have a dragon beast. That dragon beast 37:32 according to Revelation chapter 12 has 10 horns and then the 37:36 dragon beast that has 10 horns which represent the 10 divisions 37:39 of the Roman empire. Then you have the beast that comes from 37:45 the sea that rules for 42 months Let's read verses five through 37:50 seven so that you can see the connection between the little 37:53 horn of Daniel eight and Daniel seven, Revelation chapter 11. 37:56 All of these passages are connected. It says in Revelation 37:59 13 verses five through seven, speaking about this beast from 38:03 the sea:... 38:04 And he was a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies, 38:07 and he was given authority to continue for 42 months... See 38:11 there it is again; the beast, 42 months, the little horn, time, 38:15 times and dividing of time and we also found 1260 days in 38:19 Revelation chapter 11 and verse three. For it says:...he was 38:22 given a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies and he 38:25 was given authority to continue for 42 months. Then he opened 38:28 his mouth in blasphemy against God... The same things the 38:32 little horn did in Daniel seven. He blasphemed his name, His 38:35 tabernacle... There you have the trampling of the tabernacle... 38:37 and those who dwell in heaven. It was granted him to make war 38:41 with the saints... Same as Daniel seven and eight... And to 38:44 overcome them. And authority was given him over every tribe, 38:48 tongue and nation. 38:50 So you have the same sequence in Daniel seven as you have in 38:55 Revelation chapter 13. In Daniel seven it refers to time, times 39:00 and dividing of time whereas in Revelation chapter 13 it refers 39:04 to this period as 42 months. Now we must also connect Daniel 39:10 seven with Revelation chapter 12 See we've connected Daniel seven 39:14 and eight with Revelation 11 and 13. Now we need to make 39:18 connection between Daniel seven and Revelation 12 and then of 39:22 course all of the other passages that we've been discussing. 39:24 As we have seen Revelation 11 and verse three has a 39:30 relationship with Revelation 12 verse six because both 39:34 Revelation 11 verse three and Revelation 12 verse six mention 39:39 1260 days. Even further the terminology of Revelation 12 39:45 verse six shares common language with Revelation 12 and verse 14. 39:50 And Revelation 12 verse 14 in turn has a connection with 39:56 Daniel chapter seven and verse 25; that is the time, times and 40:00 dividing of time. Now this might all be confusing so let me just 40:04 go through these different passages. Revelation 11 verse 2 40:09 and verse three, and then Revelation 12 verse six, 40:12 Revelation 12 verses 13 and 14, and Daniel seven verse 25 and 40:17 we'll put it all together. First is Revelation 11 verse two 40:21 actually verse three. And I will give to my two witnesses and 40:27 they will prophesy 1260 days clothed in sackcloth. Now that's 40:35 connected to Revelation chapter 12 and verse six because it says 40:39 Then the woman fled into the wilderness where she has a place 40:42 prepared by God that he should feed her there 1260 days. See 40:49 Revelation 11 and verse three is connected to Revelation 12 and 40:52 verse six. So notice the elements of verse six: We have a 40:57 woman who flees to the wilderness, has a place prepared 40:59 God feed her, 1260 days. Now let's go to Revelation 12 verses 41:05 13 and 14. Now when the dragon saw that he had been cast to the 41:09 earth he persecuted the woman who gave birth to the male child 41:12 but the woman... Same as in verse six... The woman was given 41:17 the wings of a great eagle that she might fly into the 41:20 wilderness... We saw that in verse six... for her place... We 41:23 saw that in verse six... where she is nourished... God fed her 41:26 according to verse six... But now the time period is changed.. 41:29 for a time and times and half a time from the presence of the 41:34 serpent. So 1260 days in verse six is the same as time, times 41:40 and dividing of time in Revelation verses 13 and 14. 41:43 And of course this connects with Daniel seven verse 25. We read 41:49 again: He shall speak pompous words against this most high, 41:53 shall persecute the saints of the most high, shall intend to 41:55 change times and law. Then the saints shall be given into his 42:00 hand for a time, and times and half a time. 42:04 So what can we conclude? We can safely reach the conclusion that 42:10 the 3.5 times, the time, times and dividing of time, the 1260 42:15 days and the 42 months and the times of the Gentiles are all 42:21 parallel expressions. A careful study of these prophecies 42:27 indicates clearly that their fulfillment took place during a 42:32 1260 period after the Roman empire disintegrated so it can't 42:38 refer to the destruction of literal Jerusalem. This means 42:43 folks that Jerusalem spoken of in Luke 21 and verse 24 is not 42:50 literal Jerusalem but rather spiritual Jerusalem because 42:54 literal Jerusalem had already been destroyed in the year 70. 43:00 Albert Barnes the great Presbyterian Bible commentator 43:05 from many, many years ago wrote a very interesting comment on 43:11 the 42 months that we find in Revelation 11 and also in Luke 43:18 21 and verse 24. I read: 43:43 Now that's important. Albert Barnes was not a Seventh-day 43:46 Adventist, but he captures what this was talking about when it 43:51 refers to the host being trampled upon for 42 months. 43:54 Once again the 42 months refers to the whole period ascendency 43:59 and prevalency of the papacy or the whole time of the 44:02 continuance of that corrupt domination in which Christendom 44:07 saying not just Jerusalem it's Christendom to be trodden 44:10 down and corrupted by it... So the Gentiles would be the papacy 44:15 the persecutors of God's church. he continues: Thus regarded, 44:19 this would properly express the time of the ascendency of the 44:24 papal power, and the end of the 42 months or 1260 years would 44:30 denote the time when the influence of that power would 44:34 cease... In other words the times of the Gentiles comes to 44:37 an end when the papacy received 44:40 its mortal wound at the end of the 1260 44:43 years in the year 1798. So the period of papal dominion was 44:49 from 538 to 1798. This is the times of the Gentiles, this is 44:55 time, times and dividing of time this is 1260 days this is the 42 45:01 months. So let's summarize these time periods as they are found 45:05 in scripture. The times of the Gentiles in Luke 21 and verse 24 45:10 the last half of the verse, 42 months Revelation 11 verse 2, 45:15 1260 days Revelation 11 verse 3. Again 1260 days Revelation 12 45:22 verse six, 42 months Revelation 13 verse five, time, times and 45:28 the dividing of time Revelation chapter 12 and verse 14, 3.5 45:34 times or time, times and dividing of time Daniel chapter 45:39 seven and verse 25. I hope you're understanding what we're 45:43 covering folks. This is extremely significant. 45:46 Basically what it means is Jerusalem in the second half of 45:50 Luke 21 and verse 24 is referring not to literal 45:57 Jerusalem. Jerusalem represents the Christian church whereas the 46:03 Gentiles represent the Roman Catholic papacy. And the times 46:09 of the Gentiles, the period is from 538 to 1798 the period of 46:14 the papal dominion. So we have reached the conclusion that the 46:20 two halves of Luke 21 verse 24 describe two distinct trampling's 46:28 of two distinct Jerusalem's by two distinct groups of Gentiles. 46:35 The first half of Luke 21:24 describes literal Jerusalem 46:42 trampled by the literal Romans in the year 70 A.D. The second 46:47 half of Luke 21:24 describes the trampling of spiritual Jerusalem 46:53 the church by spiritual Rome, that is the papacy, from 538 to 46:59 1798. Thus Revelation 11:2,3 expands on the second 47:06 half of Luke 21:24. Let us take now a few moments to focus on 47:15 the sign of the destruction of Jerusalem, of literal Jerusalem, 47:19 as we find it in Daniel chapter nine and verses 26 and 27. 47:26 Daniel 9:26, 27. This is predicting the destruction of 47:31 literal Jerusalem and this prophecy actually begins in the 47:37 year 457 B.C., the prophecy of the 70 weeks, takes us all the 47:41 way till the year 34 A.D. I'm going to read now the section 47:47 that deals with the last week of the 70 weeks. This is the time 47:52 when Jesus was on earth, when he was anointed the Messiah when he 47:56 was baptized up to the time of his death and then to the time 48:00 when Stephen was stoned which is the year 34 A.D. So let's read 48:06 Daniel 9:26, 27. 48:08 After the 62 weeks Messiah shall be cut off... That is some time 48:15 after the 62 and the seven weeks if you look at the previous 48:19 verse after 69 weeks when the last week is beginning it says 48:24 that the Messiah would be cut off, but not for himself; Jesus 48:30 didn't die for himself... And the prince of the people who is 48:33 to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. This is 48:38 speaking about the destruction of the literal city of Jerusalem 48:41 Now the question is, who are the people of the prince who is to 48:45 come that are going to destroy the city and the sanctuary? You 48:50 know many think that the people of the prince are the Roman 48:52 legions that come and destroy the city. There are three ways of 48:56 looking at this. If you read the parable that is given in the 49:00 Gospel of Matthew chapter 22 verses 1-14 it says that God 49:05 destroyed the city of Jerusalem. He used his armies which are the 49:11 Roman legions. But also there is evidence that the Jews 49:16 themselves destroyed their own city by rejecting the Messiah. 49:19 And we read that in Luke chapter 19 verses 41-44. They did not 49:23 know the hour of their visitation. That's why Jesus 49:26 spoke about the destruction of the city and the temple. So 49:31 those, the people of the prince, are the Jews and the prince is 49:34 Jesus and they destroyed their own city by rejecting the 49:38 Messiah. So once again: After 62 weeks the Messiah shall be cut 49:41 off, but not for himself; and the people of the prince who is 49:45 to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end of it 49:50 shall be with a flood, and till the end of the war desolations 49:55 are determined. That's a key word, remember? Desolation, 49:58 abomination of desolation. Verse 27. Then he shall confirm a 50:03 covenant with many for one week;... This is the Messiah who 50:08 is doing this... but in the middle of the week,... that's 50:11 the year 31 A.D... He shall bring an end to sacrifice and 50:16 offering... And now notice what would be the result of bringing 50:19 an end to sacrifice and offering it says... And on the wing of 50:23 abominations... See there you have the key word of Matthew 50:26 24 and verse 15. And you look at the parallel passage in Luke 21 50:34 verses 20 and 21, speaks about Jerusalem being surrounded by 50:38 armies. So it says... Then he shall confirm a covenant with 50:40 many for one week; but in the middle of the week He shall 50:43 bring an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of 50:47 abominations shall be one who makes desolate... Abomination 50:52 and desolate. This is the prophecy that Jesus spoke about 50:56 in Matthew 24:15... even until the consummation, which is 51:02 determined, is poured out on the desolate. 51:06 So Daniel had already prophesied the abomination of desolation. 51:11 Because of the rejection of the Messiah who was anointed at the 51:16 beginning of the last week who was cut off in the middle of the 51:19 last week because the Jewish nation rejected him as the 51:25 Messiah we are told twice in this passage that Jerusalem was 51:29 going to be destroyed. You would see the abomination of 51:34 desolation that Jesus spoke about in Matthew 24:15. However, 51:42 there is going to be a final abomination of desolation as 51:47 we've already studied. Let's go in our Bibles 51:50 to Revelation chapter 17, 51:53 Revelation chapter 17 and we'll read beginning at verse 51:58 one. Revelation chapter 17 and verse one. And we're going to 52:03 focus especially on verses 4-6 and 15-16. But I also want to read 52:09 chapter 17 and verses 1-3. Then one of the seven angels who had 52:14 the seven bowls came and talked with me saying to me, Come I 52:18 show you the judgment of the great harlot who sits on many 52:22 waters, with whom the kings of the earth committed fornication, 52:25 and the inhabitants of the earth were made drunk with the wine of 52:29 her fornication. So he carried me away in the Spirit into the 52:34 wilderness. And I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast which 52:39 was full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and 10 horns. 52:43 And then notice the characteristics of this woman. 52:46 It's a harlot woman by the way. We are told clearly in verse one, I 52:50 will show you the judgment of the great harlot. A woman 52:53 represents a church, a pure woman a pure church, a harlot 52:57 woman represents an apostate church, a church that has lost 53:00 its way. Verse four: 53:03 The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet and adorned with 53:07 gold and precious stones and pearls having in her hand a 53:12 golden cup full of... now watch this, key word... full of 53:16 abominations... we already studied this in a previous 53:19 message, the wine of her abominations includes especially 53:24 the change in God's holy law from worshipping on Sabbath to 53:30 worshipping on Sunday, substituting human legislation 53:34 in place of Divine legislation. So it says here... And in her 53:39 hand a golden cup full of abominations and the filthiness 53:44 of her fornication. And on her forehead a name was written: 53:48 MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND OF THE 53:52 ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH... 53:54 If she's a mother she must have daughters that were born of her 53:57 after some time. Verse six:... 54:11 So this harlot is going to have a second period of dominion. 54:14 Just like we noticed in Matthew chapter 24 that we have two 54:19 tribulation periods because you have the papacy ruling in the 54:22 past and the papacy also ruling in the future after a period of 54:27 pause in between. We are now in that pause period in between. 54:31 It's like I've mentioned before you put a DVD in the DVD player 54:36 to watch a movie, you press play the movie advances say for 54:40 about a half an hour. Then you have something else to do, you 54:43 push pause, you leave, you come back later, you push play and it 54:48 picks up where you left off. But there's a pause period between. 54:52 We are now in the pause period between the past tribulation by 54:56 the papacy and the future tribulation by the same power. 55:00 It's one tribulation with a pause in between. Now let's go 55:07 to verses 15 and 16 of Revelation chapter 17. We've 55:10 already noticed that this harlot is full of abominations and she 55:15 has daughters that do her bidding. But now I want you to 55:18 notice the word desolations. It says in verse 15, it speaks 55:23 about what the woman is sitting on, many waters. What do the 55:27 many waters represent? It says: Then he said to me, The waters 55:31 which you saw, where the harlot sits, are peoples, multitudes, 55:35 nations, and tongues... The act of sitting means that this 55:40 harlot rules over the nations... Now what is going to happen to 55:44 this harlot and also to her daughters which we will study 55:48 in another presentation? What is going to happen? It says in 55:51 verse 16, the very next verse: And the 10 horns... This would 55:56 the 10 kings or kingdoms... And the 10 horns which you saw on 56:00 the beast, these will hate the harlot, make her... Here's a key 56:06 word... desolate and naked, eat her flesh and burn her with fire 56:13 So we'll notice here that Matthew chapter 24 focuses 56:20 primarily on the destruction of Jerusalem and the end time 56:25 events that lead to the final destruction of the world. 56:29 However, Luke gives us a glimpse not only into the 56:34 destruction of Jerusalem and also events that will lead to 56:39 the destruction of the world but it also provides us a clear 56:44 presentation on the period between the destruction of 56:48 Jerusalem and what will occur in the end time. And so this is 56:53 the reason why as I mentioned in our initial presentation of 56:57 this series that we need to look at the testimony of all three 57:01 gospels. It's not enough just to study Matthew chapter 24. We 57:05 have to study Matthew 24, Mark 13 and Luke chapter 21. Because 57:11 each provides details that the other doesn't and of course as 57:15 we noticed we also need to compare Revelation chapter 11, 57:19 we need to go to Revelation chapter 12, we need to go to 57:23 Revelation chapter 13, we need to go back to Daniel chapter 57:27 seven and Daniel chapter eight. All of these passages are 57:31 describing the same period, the period of papal dominion from 57:37 538 to 1798 when primarily in Europe the papacy ruled with an 57:45 iron hand. And as I've mentioned Revelation chapter 13 verse 57:49 three tell us that the deadly wound of this system is going to 57:54 be healed by the way it's rapidly healing and when it does 57:58 heal we will have the second stage of the tribulation of 58:02 which we will speak about a little bit later in this series. 58:06 ♪ ♪ |
Revised 2021-07-27