Participants:
Series Code: RST
Program Code: RST000012S
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00:14 Well, welcome back for our final session today.
00:19 I expected you to say, "Aww." 00:24 ~ Aww. - Good, good. Thank you. 00:29 Alright, let's go back to our study notes, page 168. 00:35 And I'm going to review what we studied at the very end of 00:38 our last session together. 00:43 Verse 1 reads as follows, "The fifth angel sounded his trumpet. 00:49 And I saw a star that had fallen from heaven, 00:52 from the sky, to the earth. 00:54 The star was given the key to the shaft of the abyss." 01:01 Now there's several things that we noticed here. 01:04 One is the "divine passage," right? 01:07 God is allowing this to happen. 01:10 In other words, God is in control. 01:12 Also we noticed that even though the King James Version says 01:17 that he saw a star fall from heaven, 01:19 really the tense of the verb is that the star 01:22 had fallen from heaven. 01:24 And who is that star that had fallen from heaven? 01:27 It is Lucifer who is mentioned in Isaiah chapter 14. 01:34 Then we went to the comments on verse 2. 01:38 It says, "And he opened the bottomless pit..." 01:41 With the key, that is. 01:54 So when the pit is opened with the key, 01:59 there is a deep darkness, isn't there, 02:01 according to this. 02:03 And we noticed also that the star is a "he," right? 02:09 It's not an "it." It's a "he." 02:12 And most of the trumpets, it says that a third was affected. 02:18 Here, there's no mention of a third. 02:20 So this must be an overwhelming and total darkness 02:24 wherever it falls. 02:26 Now let's go to verse 3. 02:28 "Then out of the smoke locusts came upon the earth. 02:33 And to them was given power..." 02:36 Notice once again, "was given power." 02:38 Who is really in control here? 02:40 Who is allowing these things to happen? 02:43 It's God who is allowing them to happen. 02:51 So now we have not only locusts, but we have what? 02:54 Scorpions; the locusts are really scorpions. 02:57 Now when the shaft of the abyss opens, 03:00 all hell breaks loose. 03:03 As we have previously seen when we studied the fourth trumpet, 03:07 the sun, which is the greater light, 03:10 the moon, which is the lesser light, 03:12 representing Christ and the Scriptures, 03:15 and the stars, which represent God's people, 03:19 were partially eclipsed. 03:21 There was partial darkness during the fourth trumpet. 03:25 But it appears that in the fifth trumpet, the darkness 03:28 is much deeper than the darkness that was there 03:33 during the period of the fourth trumpet. 03:36 Now let's read Exodus 10:15 03:40 where we find a very interesting detail. 03:43 When you read Exodus 10:15, which speaks about the plague 03:47 of locusts that fell upon Egypt, the impression that you get 03:52 is that the cloud that comes from the abyss 03:54 and darkens everything is really the cloud of locusts. 03:59 So notice what we find in Exodus 10:15. 04:03 "For they," that is the locusts in Egypt... 04:12 So what is it that caused the darkness 04:15 under the fifth trumpet? 04:18 It is the host of locusts that come up, 04:20 that are related also to scorpions. 04:23 And it says, this is in Egypt... 04:28 This is, of course, literal. 04:40 So what is it that caused the darkness in the fifth trumpet? 04:43 The locusts are so pervasive, there are so many of them, 04:48 that they totally cover the sun and the moon. 04:50 There's no light on the earth. 04:54 France... 04:55 Now here comes the application from the spirit of prophecy. 04:58 France had the bright light of the Reformation, 05:02 and rejected that light. 05:04 And the result was what? 05:06 Great darkness. 05:07 Notice, Testimonies, v1, page 232. 05:11 "I saw that the greater the light which the people reject, 05:16 the greater will be..." What? 05:18 "...the power of deception and darkness 05:22 which will come upon them. 05:24 The rejection of truth leaves men captives..." 05:31 And the subject of whom? 05:33 "...the subjects of Satan's deception." 05:37 Did France reject the light? 05:39 It was the one nation that strongly 05:42 opposed the Reformation. 05:43 You know, slaughtering so many of the Huguenots 05:47 during the St. Bartholomew Massacre. 05:50 And so she reaped what she sowed. 05:52 The words of Jesus that we find in Matthew 6:22-23 05:58 are a fit description of how the rejection of the light 06:01 of the Reformation led to the pitch darkness 06:05 of the French Revolution. 06:06 Are you understanding that the darkness intensified 06:09 between the fourth and the fifth trumpet? 06:11 At least there's some light during the fourth trumpet. 06:14 During the fifth trumpet, everything on earth is what? 06:17 Darkened. 06:19 Matthew 6:22-23 06:34 That means, if you don't want to accept the message; 06:37 if your eye is bad. 06:51 So that describes what happens when people reject the light. 06:54 The darkness becomes ever more intense. 06:59 Now the next section, I believe, is very interesting. 07:03 In Scripture, God's points of the compass 07:08 are the north and the east. 07:11 You read Scripture, the north and the east. 07:15 Here's some examples. 07:16 When Jesus came the first time, He came by way of what? 07:21 The rising sun, or the east. 07:23 Luke 1:78-79 07:26 When Jesus went to heaven... 07:28 That is, up. 07:29 Because up is north, according to Scripture. 07:32 ...it was by way of the Mount of Olives. 07:34 On which side of Jerusalem? 07:36 On the east side of Jerusalem. 07:39 The sealing angel comes from where? 07:42 From the east. 07:44 When Jesus comes again with His armies, it will be from where? 07:48 From the east. 07:50 The east is God's point of the compass. 07:54 Why? 07:55 Because of the position of the sun. 07:59 Where does light begin? 08:01 Light begins in the east. 08:03 And God is a God of light. 08:05 Are you following me? 08:06 That's why God is compared with the sun. 08:10 Furthermore, According to Isaiah 14:13-14, 08:15 as well as Psalm 48:1-2, God's throne is where? 08:21 In the sides of the north. 08:23 In other words, up in heaven. 08:27 Why? 08:29 Because the sun reaches its brightest intensity 08:33 when it is directly overhead. 08:37 For that reason, in Ezekiel 1 when God comes to judge 08:40 Jerusalem, His chariot comes from the north, 08:44 according to Ezekiel 1:4, and arrives by way of the east. 08:50 On the other hand, the west is the place 08:53 where darkness begins. 08:55 And the south, or the underworld, is the place where 08:59 darkness reaches its deepest intensity 09:02 because it's directly underground. 09:05 Midnight. 09:07 The ancients considered the south the realm of 09:11 the underworld where demons thrive, 09:14 because it was the place of deepest darkness. 09:18 For this reason, darkness in the fifth trumpet comes from where? 09:22 It comes from the abyss, which is the underworld. 09:27 Now let's go to Amos 8:11-12 09:30 and notice something very interesting, 09:31 very, very interesting. 09:35 Amos; that's one of the little minor prophets 09:38 that is not always easy to find. 09:44 Amos. 09:48 Where are you, Amos? 09:54 You know, just to give you a little help, 09:57 it's right before Obadiah. 10:03 Okay, Amos 8:11-12. 10:08 Notice where people go seeking the Word of God. 10:11 Do they go west and south? 10:13 No no, no, no. They don't go west and south. 10:15 Verse 11 says... 10:38 Because, of course, the door of probation has what? 10:41 The door of probation has closed. 10:46 So Amos 8:11-12 tells us that after the close of probation 10:50 people will run to the north and the east 10:53 seeking the word of God, 10:54 because the word of God is light. 10:57 Right? 10:59 "Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path." 11:05 The ancients would never think of going 11:08 to the west and the south because these directions 11:11 are the realm of darkness. 11:13 Darkness begins in the west where the sun sets, 11:15 and it reaches its deepest intensity 11:18 when it's directly south. 11:19 That's why Ellen White describes the period of papal dominion 11:22 as the midnight of the world. 11:25 Because the sun is directly south in the underworld. 11:29 Now you might wonder what the directions of the compass 11:33 have to do with the fifth trumpet. 11:35 You say, "Why do you introduce this about 11:37 the points of the compass? 11:38 What's the point?" 11:40 Well, now we're going to the point. 11:43 Well, Egypt was literally south of Israel. 11:48 And therefore, it was the king of what? 11:52 The king of the south. 11:53 By the way, if you want a reference for that, 11:56 you can go to Daniel 11:8-9 where Egypt is identified as 12:02 the king of the south because Egypt is south of Israel. 12:06 And the king of the north was Babylon. 12:08 Because Babylon is actually north and east, 12:11 but in order to arrive in Israel they couldn't 12:14 cross the Arabian desert. 12:16 They had to go across the fertile crescent 12:19 and come down by way of Lebanon to Jerusalem. 12:23 So they would come from the north, 12:24 the Babylonians would come from the north. 12:27 So Egypt was literally south of Israel. 12:30 Which means that Egypt was the king of what? 12:34 It was the king of the south. 12:36 As we will notice later in this study, 12:41 it is not accidental that Revelation 11:8 12:46 refers to the demons that rose from the abyss 12:50 in the French Revolution with the name, what? 12:53 Egypt. 12:56 Are you following me or not? 12:58 Darkness became notorious in Egypt at the 13:02 time of the tenth plague, didn't it? 13:05 This is persuasive evidence that there is a connection 13:08 between the fifth trumpet and the French Revolution 13:12 described in Revelation 11:7-10. 13:17 Now it's also significant that Daniel 11 verse 40 13:22 describes the king of the south rising and attacking 13:26 the king of the north at the beginning of 13:29 the time of the end. 13:31 Let's go there to Daniel 11 very quickly. 13:34 We don't have time to really deal with 13:36 Daniel 11 in its fullness. 13:38 We will deal with that probably tomorrow 13:43 when we talk about Revelation chapter 10. 13:47 But in Daniel 11:31-39, 13:56 it's speaking about the period of papal dominion. 13:59 It's speaking about the 1260 years. 14:02 But then verse 40 tells us that something happens 14:05 at the time of the end. 14:07 When is the time of the end? 14:08 When does the time of the end begin? 14:11 1798. And what event happened in 1798? 14:17 That's when the papacy received it's what? 14:19 Deadly wound. 14:21 Who gave the papacy the deadly wound? 14:23 France, the king of the south. Right? 14:27 Are you following me? 14:29 Now notice... 14:36 Did France attack the papacy? 14:39 Yes. 14:40 Did it take away the civil power that the papacy had used? 14:43 Yes. That's what this is referring to. 14:50 Is that the end? 14:52 No, you read the following verses and the king of the north 14:56 recuperates from the attack. 14:59 And basically he overwhelms the world. 15:04 As I have noted in my notes on Daniel 11, 15:07 this attack of the king of the south 15:09 against the king of the north... 15:11 By the way, this is the counterfeit king of the north. 15:13 Okay? 15:14 God is the real king of the north. 15:16 Because His throne is in the sides of the north. 15:19 This is the man of sin who sits in the temple of God on earth 15:23 making people think that he is the king of the north. 15:27 So as I have noted in my notes on Daniel 11, 15:30 this attack of the king of the south against 15:32 the king of the north is a depiction 15:34 of the French Revolution. 15:37 Thus, the fifth trumpet, Revelation 11:7-10, 15:43 and Daniel 11:40 are all describing the same 15:48 historical event: the French Revolution. 15:53 Are you understanding this point? 15:55 Now, let me just read to you about what locusts do. 16:00 Locusts have no mercy. 16:04 They finish off everything that is before them. 16:09 I found this vivid description in Kitto's Encyclopedia, 16:13 volume 2, page 263. 16:16 "Locusts seem to devour not so much from a ravenous appetite 16:22 as from a rage for destroying." 16:28 You know, they're not going to say, "Well, you know, 16:31 let's eat all the leaves because we're hungry." 16:35 No, it's a rage for destroying. 16:38 "Destruction, therefore, and not food is the chief impulse 16:43 of their devastations, and in this consists their utility; 16:49 they are, in fact, omnivorous." 16:52 What does, omnivorous, mean? 16:54 They will eat anything and everything. 16:57 "The most poisonous plants are indifferent to them; 17:01 they will prey even upon the crowfoot, 17:04 whose causticity burns even the hides of beasts. 17:08 They simply consume everything without predilection: 17:13 vegetable matter, linens, woolens, silk, leather. 17:17 And Pliny does not exaggerate when he says, 17:20 'fores quoque tectorum,' 17:23 which means, 'even the doors of houses,' 17:26 for they have been known to consume the very 17:28 varnish of furniture. 17:32 They reduce everything indiscriminately to shreds, 17:37 which become manure." 17:40 Does that give you a picture of the French Revolution? 17:44 Why they're compared with locusts? 17:48 Notice that Exodus describes the devastating destruction 17:53 caused by the locusts in Egypt. 17:55 You know, this corroborates what we just read 17:58 from this encyclopedia. 18:02 "For they covered the face of the whole earth, 18:05 so that the land was..." What? 18:08 "...darkened; and they ate every herb of the land 18:12 and all the fruit of the trees which the hail had left. 18:16 So there remained nothing green on the trees or on the plants 18:21 of the field throughout all the land of Egypt." 18:26 A fit description of what happened in the 18:29 French Revolution when Satan and his angels were released 18:34 to do their work. 18:36 Now Revelation 9:12 tells us that this cloud of locusts 18:41 had a king who led them. 18:44 And what was the name of the king? 18:46 In Hebrew, Abaddon; and in Greek, Apollyon. 18:52 Now normal locusts, according to those who have studied locusts, 18:56 have no king over them. 18:59 In fact, the Bible tells us that. 19:02 Notice Proverbs 30:27. 19:06 Proverbs 30:27 19:09 That shows that these locusts are not literal locusts. 19:12 These are weird locusts. 19:15 Notice Proverbs 30:27. 19:22 Proverbs 30:27 says... 19:32 So they're very organized, right? 19:35 But not because they have a king. 19:37 So locusts have no king over them. 19:40 So these must be what? 19:42 Unusual and supernatural locusts? 19:47 Now we're going to skip the next two pages. 19:51 You can read this at your leisure. 19:54 Let's just read the paragraph at the top of page 172. 19:58 Some interpreters have seen in this plague of locusts 20:02 a depiction of the devastations caused by Mohammad 20:06 and the Muslims in Arabia. 20:10 However, in his commentary on the book of Revelation, 20:14 Seiss, Joseph Seiss who wrote an entire commentary 20:17 on Revelation, he's not an Adventist but this is very good, 20:21 provides a multiplicity of reasons why this 20:24 interpretation cannot be accurate. 20:27 So you need to read those two pages to see why 20:30 this particular trumpet does not apply to Muhammad 20:33 and the Muslims in Arabia. 20:36 So let's go to page 174, because time does fly by. 20:43 The Old Testament uses locusts to describe God's judgments 20:48 against people who are in rebellion against Him. 20:52 Was France in rebellion against God? 20:56 Yeah. So God sent locusts as a punishment 21:01 for their rebellion against Him. 21:05 These locusts make a raging noise like fire. 21:08 Have you ever heard locusts doing their work? 21:11 It sounds like the vegetation is burning. 21:13 Hissing. 21:16 That's why you have the metaphor of fire here as well. 21:20 These locusts make a raging noise like fire. 21:23 Because they come from the abyss where the fire is. 21:26 They look like what? 21:28 Like horses ready for battle. 21:30 So these locusts, they're going to come on to France, 21:34 and what are they going to do? 21:36 They're going to totally devastate it, 21:38 spiritually speaking. 21:40 And they devour like what? 21:42 Like lions. 21:44 Have mercy! 21:46 Who is represented by a scorpion in the Bible? 21:49 Satan and his angels. 21:51 We're going to notice that in a few moments. 21:53 Who is represented as a lion? 21:56 Not only Satan, but also his angels. 21:58 We're going to notice that. 22:00 So, these locusts make a raging noise like fire, 22:05 and they look like horses ready for battle, 22:08 and they devour like lions. 22:11 This bizarre symbolism describes the almost absolute destructive 22:16 power of whom? 22:18 Of Satan and his angels in France 22:21 during the French Revolution. 22:24 These locusts are clearly what? 22:27 Symbolic. 22:29 Because they are a hybrid combination of locusts 22:32 and scorpions, and they don't attack vegetation. 22:35 They attack people, not plants. 22:38 So obviously these locusts... 22:41 We're not to look for a certain place where suddenly 22:43 from the deep come all of these locusts up. 22:47 No. These are supernatural locusts. 22:50 They have no king. 22:51 Furthermore, they're a hybrid combination. 22:54 They're not only locusts, they have the characteristics 22:57 of scorpions and lions. 23:00 So it continues saying here, 23:03 and they attack people, not plants. 23:06 According to Jesus, the scorpion represents whom? 23:11 Satan. And his angels, I might say. 23:15 Let's go to Luke 10:18-19. 23:20 Luke 10:18-19 23:25 See, we allow the Bible to interpret itself, right? 23:29 Because the Holy Spirit placed in the Bible 23:31 everything we need to understand the Bible. 23:34 Luke 10:18-19 23:39 This is when the seventy return to Jesus 23:42 and they had the power to cast out demons. 23:45 They say, "Even the demons obey us." 23:48 And now notice, it says in verse 17... 24:04 And by the way, Ellen White comments that this 24:08 looks at the whole sweep of Satan's fall from heaven. 24:11 Not only originally, but also at the cross, 24:14 till the very end of time when he's destroyed. 24:17 Verse 19, "Behold, I give you..." 24:31 Who's the enemy? 24:33 Satan and his angels. 24:35 Notice, "scorpions," not, "scorpion." 24:44 So, the most dangerous part of a scorpion is what? 24:49 It's tail. 24:51 And what does the tail represent? 24:53 The tail represents lies. 24:57 You say, "What?" 25:00 Well let's go, first of all, to Revelation 12. 25:04 Isn't it nice to interpret the Bible by using the Bible? 25:09 It makes studying very simple and very easy. 25:13 Revelation 12 and let's read verse 9. 25:18 12 and verse 9. 25:23 Actually, not verse 9. 25:25 We'll read verse 9 in a moment. 25:26 Let's read verse 3. 25:39 And what is it that drew a third of the stars of heaven? 25:49 What do the stars represent here? 25:52 Verse 9... 26:07 So what was it that Satan used to take all of the angels 26:10 with him, or a third of the angels, the ones that he took? 26:14 His tail. 26:16 Now what does the tail represent? 26:18 Well, let's let the Bible interpret itself. 26:21 Go with me to Isaiah chapter 9. 26:23 Isaiah 9:15 26:32 It says here... 26:43 Now listen to this carefully. 26:51 So what is the tail that drew a third of the angels of heaven? 26:55 His lies. 26:57 Now in order to understand this more fully, 27:00 we need to go also to the book of Ezekiel. 27:03 Go with me to Ezekiel 28. 27:09 Did Jesus say that the devil is a liar from the beginning? 27:13 John chapter 8, He says, "There's no truth in him. 27:16 He's a liar from the beginning." 27:18 So how did Satan draw a third of the angels? 27:20 With his tail, which means with his what? 27:23 With his lies. That's right. 27:26 So notice Ezekiel 28. 27:29 This is a description of this majestic being, 27:33 Lucifer, the covering cherub. 27:35 And we are going to read verses 17 and 18. 28:04 That word, "trading," is very interesting. 28:07 The root of the word has to do with a commercial transaction. 28:13 So what did Lucifer do? 28:16 He traded. 28:18 He sold. 28:20 What did he sell? 28:21 He sold lies. 28:24 Have you ever heard the expression, 28:27 "I don't buy that." 28:32 "You can't sell me that one." 28:36 So what is Satan selling? Lies. 28:39 By the way, the same root of this word is used 28:43 in the book of Leviticus 19:16. 28:47 Leviticus 19:16 28:50 The same root word is used there. 28:53 It says there in Leviticus 19:16, 28:55 God is warning the Israelites... 29:00 "...talebearer..." 29:02 That's the same root word. 29:04 So what was Satan selling to the angels in heaven? 29:08 His lies. 29:09 His tail draws a third of the angels with his lies. 29:19 Notice also Ezekiel 22. 29:23 Ezekiel 22 and we'll read verse 9 29:29 where the same root word is used. 29:31 Chapter 22 verse 9. 29:34 It says, "In you," speaking about Tyre... 29:43 The word, "slander," there is the same root word. 29:46 So what did the devil do? 29:48 He was a talebearer. He was a slanderer. 29:51 He was a liar from the beginning. 29:54 He lied to the angels. 29:55 And that's what lead him to what? 29:58 To take all of the third of the angels, 30:00 which is nearer to half according to 30:02 the spirit of prophecy, from heaven and stole them 30:05 from the Lord. 30:08 So in brief, the middle of page 174, 30:12 This army has all the biblical characteristics 30:16 that apply to Satan and his angels. 30:19 Scorpions, serpents, lions, locusts, sulfur, 30:24 bottomless pit; all of those in Revelation 30:28 are related to Satan and his angels. 30:32 Now let's go to... 30:34 So must there be a special manifestation 30:36 of satanic power during the fifth trumpet? 30:39 Absolutely. 30:40 Now let's notice the comments on Revelation 9:4. 30:44 They were commanded not to harm the grass of the earth 30:49 or any green thing. 30:51 Now is this kind of weird? 30:53 What do locusts eat? 30:57 They eat vegetation, folks. 30:59 That's their main course. 31:01 And then they have the varnish off doors for dessert. 31:07 So anyway, you know, it says, 31:10 "...don't harm the grass of the earth, or any green thing, 31:13 or any tree, but..." 31:15 Ahh! 31:17 "...but only those men who do not have the seal of God 31:21 on their foreheads." 31:22 So what does the green things, the green grass 31:26 and the tree, represent here? 31:27 It represents those who have the what? 31:30 Those who have the seal. 31:31 Are you with me or not? 31:33 In this case, the tree represents the righteous. 31:36 By the way, are God's people compared to trees? 31:40 Let's read a couple of statements. 31:41 Psalm 1:1-3 31:44 Many of you probably have this memorized. 31:47 Psalm 1:1-3 31:50 It speaks about a tree, 31:51 comparing the righteous to a tree. 31:54 It says there in Psalm 1:1... 32:10 That's a righteous person, right? 32:27 Are you following me? 32:29 Let's notice also Psalm 92:12, being that we're in Psalms. 32:37 Psalm 92:12 32:41 It says there in Psalm 92:12, once again 32:45 comparing a righteous person with a tree, the following... 32:50 Psalm 92:12 says... 33:04 So these locusts, they are not given permission 33:08 to touch those who are faithful. 33:11 They are given permission only to afflict whom? 33:14 Those who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads. 33:21 Now the question is, how can the fifth seal 33:24 be speaking about the seal on the forehead, 33:28 the fifth trumpet be speaking about the seal on the forehead 33:31 if the sealing doesn't take place until the sixth trumpet? 33:35 Because we're going to see the sealing on the forehead 33:37 takes place under the sixth trumpet. 33:39 So there appears to be a discrepancy. 33:42 The question was asked here about that. 33:45 Well, the fact is that the Bible and the spirit of prophecy 33:49 tell us that when a person accepts Jesus Christ as Savior, 33:53 they receive a seal. 33:56 It's the gospel seal. 33:58 It's not the end time seal that will seal the 144,000 34:03 living saints that will go through the time of trouble. 34:06 That is a final seal of protection. 34:09 But there's another seal that people receive 34:11 when they accept Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. 34:16 Let's read some verses. 34:18 Ephesians chapter 1. 34:21 Ephesians chapter 1, and we'll read verses 13 and 14. 34:26 We'll let the Bible speak first. 34:28 Ephesians 1:13-14 34:33 Here, the apostle Paul wrote... 34:50 So were the Ephesians sealed when they received Jesus Christ? 34:55 Absolutely. 34:57 Notice, being that we're in the writings of Paul, 34:59 chapter 4 and verse 30. 35:01 Ephesians 4:30 35:12 Notice also 2 Corinthians 1:22. 35:17 2 Corinthians 1:22 35:23 Once again, there's a gospel seal. 35:26 It says there in verse 22... 35:28 Let's read verse 21 for the context. 35:45 So do believers receive a seal when they accept Jesus Christ 35:49 as Savior and Lord? 35:50 Absolutely. 35:52 That's the seal that is being described here. 35:54 Those who are true believers in Jesus. 35:57 Now, Ellen White also measures in. 36:00 Ellen White, in, Selected Messages, v2, page 263, 36:06 referred to a Sister Hastings who died in 1850. 36:11 It wasn't her husband, it was her. 36:12 She died in 1850. 36:14 And Ellen White comforted him, or her, rather, 36:21 by saying in 1850 that Brother Hastings was sealed. 36:30 So, sealed how? 36:38 Is she alive now? 36:40 So is she going to receive the seal of Revelation 7? 36:44 No. 36:46 But Ellen White said she was sealed. 36:49 And that at the resurrection she would resurrect 36:54 and be among the saved. 36:56 So even Ellen White states that there is a gospel seal 37:01 and there is an end time seal. 37:04 Now she also wrote the following in, 37:06 v6, Manuscript Releases, page 28. 37:09 "Those who thus unite with the church by baptism are..." What? 37:16 "...are sealed as men and women who have been born again 37:20 of water and of the Spirit. 37:22 They have entered upon a new life." 37:26 So we need not to confuse the gospel seal 37:31 with the final eschatological or end time seal. 37:36 Now let's go to Revelation 9:5. 37:54 Now here's an interesting detail. 37:56 Scorpions rarely kill human beings when they sting them. 38:01 But they do cause excruciating pain 38:06 by their poison. 38:08 Swelling, suffering, even to the point of people wanting to die. 38:17 Applying the year/day principle, the five months 38:20 would be equivalent to 150 years. 38:24 Notably, the Age of Reason... 38:27 Have you ever heard of the Age of Reason? 38:29 Or the Enlightenment? 38:31 ...began in the early 17th century with the work 38:35 of an individual called Rene Descartes. 38:40 What country was Rene Descartes from? 38:44 France. That's right. 38:47 A contemporary of his, Blaise Pascal, 38:51 wrote the following about Rene Descartes, the rationalist. 38:57 "I cannot forgive Descartes; in all his philosophy 39:01 he did his best to dispense with God." 39:07 Is that atheism? 39:11 "But he could not avoid making Him set the world in motion 39:14 with a flip of His thumb. 39:16 After that, he had no more use for God." 39:21 Or for miracles, or for anything supernatural. 39:25 Descartes' most famous book was called, 39:28 A Discourse on Method, published in 1637; 39:33 some 150 years before the beginning 39:35 of the French Revolution. 39:37 The Age of Reason jettisoned the need for faith 39:42 and the miraculous in religion. 39:45 It supplanted faith in God with faith in human wisdom. 39:50 During this period, the sciences would come to believe that 39:54 all could be resolved through human ingenuity 39:58 without the need of an ever interfering God. 40:01 Notably, these philosophies would not kill people, 40:05 but they would make them what? 40:07 Existentially miserable. 40:10 The Age of Reason inspired the French Revolution. 40:15 Now let's go to the next verse which is connected 40:18 with the concept of verse 5. 40:33 Is that what happens with the person who doesn't 40:36 believe in God? 40:37 Someone who has no hope for the future, 40:39 no reason to live? 40:40 Absolutely. 40:42 Notice this statement from Ellen White that I read before. 40:44 I think I read it this morning. 40:47 "Atheism can shed no ray of light into..." Where? 40:53 "...into the grave. 40:55 It cannot restrain crime or quicken the moral energies. 41:00 It has no power to elevate the character or purify the soul. 41:05 On the contrary, it always tends to degenerate the human race." 41:10 Is that what happened in France? 41:12 Yes. 41:14 "It leads away from purity and peace. 41:19 An instance of this is given in the history 41:21 of the French Revolution." 41:23 Now she's going to apply this to the French Revolution. 41:26 That period when the existence of God was denied 41:29 and His commandments were abolished was the most 41:32 revolting that is recorded on the pages of human history." 41:38 The main characteristic of contemporary society 41:41 is meaninglessness. 41:44 Do you know that suicide is greatly increased 41:47 in recent years? 41:48 Why? 41:50 Because life has no meaning for people. 41:53 This is why people are hungering and thirsting for what? 41:56 For spirituality. 41:58 But they're looking for it in the wrong places. 42:02 That's right. 42:03 They're looking for a reason to live. 42:07 The rise of philosophies such as deism, ethical relativism, 42:11 nihilism, rationalism, existentialism, evolutionism, 42:15 and atheistic communism has led people to be pessimistic 42:20 about the meaning of life. 42:22 After all, if there is no supernatural divine beginning, 42:26 what hope is there for a supernatural divine end? 42:31 If there is no creator God, there is no future. 42:34 And if there is no future, then life has no ultimate meaning. 42:39 This is the reason why the psalmist says that the fool 42:43 has said in his heart, "There is no God." 42:46 Are you catching the picture? 42:48 People wanting to die. 42:51 The scorpions sting. 42:54 They cause excruciating pain and suffering. 42:57 Spiritually speaking. 42:59 Now notice this statement from Ellen White. 43:04 I think this TDG is, Today With God, page 339. 43:10 "There are many ways in which human beings 43:12 can crucify the Son of God afresh, 43:14 and put Him to open shame. 43:16 The worship of worldly business so confuses the mind 43:21 that Satan stealthily approaches and insidiously gains entrance. 43:27 He has many theories by which to lead astray 43:30 those who will be led. 43:31 The erroneous views of God that the world is entertaining 43:35 are skepticism in disguise, preparing the way for..." What? 43:40 "...for atheism. 43:41 By hasty words and selfish deeds, 43:44 men often grieve the heart of Christ. 43:47 Thus Satan works untiringly to lead them to disloyalty. 43:52 As he gains control of minds, he makes upon them lasting 43:57 impressions, and the realities of eternity fade away." 44:04 The book of Ecclesiastes is a good illustration of 44:08 the spirit that inspired the French Revolution. 44:11 Have you ever read Ecclesiastes? 44:13 Do you know that's one of the last books that the Jews 44:16 included in the canon of Scripture? 44:19 There were three books that were included 44:21 last by the Jews in the Old Testament. 44:24 One was Psalm of Solomon. 44:27 It was too.. 44:30 Um, how would I say it? 44:33 Too graphic. 44:36 In referring to sensual love. 44:39 The second book which took a long time to include was Esther. 44:44 Because the name of God is not mentioned. 44:47 And the third book is Ecclesiastes. 44:49 Because this appears to be an extremely pessimistic book. 44:55 "Vanities, vanities; 44:57 all is vanity." 45:00 You know, you read the book; it's depressing. 45:05 The question is, why is this book included in Scripture? 45:09 Because Solomon is describing his life 45:11 when he went astray from God. 45:14 The important thing is not the pessimism of the book, 45:17 but how he ends the book. 45:19 "The end of the matter is this: 45:21 fear God and keep His commandments, 45:24 for this is the whole duty of man. 45:26 For God will bring every work into judgment." 45:30 And then he counseled the youth. 45:33 He says, "Remember thou thy Creator 45:36 in the days of their youth." 45:38 Before the evil days come and you look back and you say, 45:42 "I have no joy in them." 45:46 He's describing his life separated from God. 45:50 And do you know that Solomon, Ellen White even said that he 45:55 toyed with the idea of atheism, of becoming an atheist? 46:00 Notice what we find at the top of page 177. 46:04 Ecclesiastes 2:17-18 46:07 And I'm reading from the New International Version 46:10 which I think is more vivid. 46:13 Solomon says, "So I hated..." What? 46:16 Did he want to die? 46:18 Yes. Was he suffering? 46:20 You better... 46:22 In fact, Ellen White said that he became effeminate. 46:26 What does, "effeminate," mean? 46:29 He became woman-like. 46:32 Now that's not a bad thing, unless you're a man. 46:41 It's good for women to be effeminate. 46:44 It's not good for men. 46:46 So he says, "So I hated life because the work that is done 46:50 under the sun was grievous to me. 46:53 All of it is..." What? 46:56 "...meaninglessness, and chasing after the wind." 47:01 Have you ever tried to grab the wind? 47:05 And then in verse 18 he says, "I hated all the things 47:08 I had toiled for under the sun, because I must leave them 47:12 to the one who comes after me." 47:16 That is the life of the atheist. 47:19 The life of the person who has gone astray from God. 47:22 That is the spirit of the French Revolution. 47:26 Ellen White wrote in, Prophets and Kings, page 58, 47:29 about Solomon. 47:31 "His faith in the living God was supplanted by atheistic doubts. 47:37 Unbelief marred his..." What? 47:40 "...his happiness, weakened his principles, 47:45 and degraded his life." 47:48 Does that sound like what happened to the people 47:50 who participated in the French Revolution? 47:53 Absolutely. 47:55 A good illustration of this is Ernest Hemingway, 47:59 who spent a good share of his life in Cuba. 48:03 A miserable man. 48:06 Drunk a good share of the time. 48:09 Nobel prize winner for literature in the year 1954 48:16 because of the book that he wrote, The Old Man in the Sea. 48:20 It's a depressing story. 48:21 Man, you read that, it's depressing. 48:24 You know, this fisherman has gone out. 48:26 You know, he's old, he's over the hill. 48:29 And he's gone out fishing. 48:30 And he can't catch anything anymore. 48:33 And so his friends are making fun of him. 48:35 And so one day he goes out and he catches this huge marlin. 48:41 And, "Wow!" he says. 48:42 "Now I'm going to take it back to the shore 48:44 and I'm going to show that life still has meaning." 48:48 And so when he's on his way back, the sharks attack. 48:51 Because he's put this huge fish such as nobody has 48:54 ever seen before next to his boat, and the sharks attack. 48:59 To make a long story short, by the time that 49:03 gets to the shore, all he has to show is a skeleton. 49:09 That is a symbolic depiction of his life. 49:14 Do you know how Ernest Hemingway died? 49:17 In 1961 he took out a revolver and shot himself in the head. 49:25 By the way, do you know that Ernest Hemingway 49:28 was a great student of the book of Ecclesiastes? 49:33 He wrote a work which has not been published; 49:35 the title of the work is, The Sun Also Rises, 49:39 which is a phrase that appears in the book of Ecclesiastes. 49:44 He was fascinated by Ecclesiastes because 49:47 he could see in it a reflection of his own life. 49:52 And at the end, life had no meaning. 49:55 So he committed suicide. 49:57 Are you with me? 49:58 That's the spirit of the French Revolution. 50:00 That's what the world is reaping today. 50:04 Now let's read the statements here in the middle of page 177. 50:09 Have you ever heard of Hume, the philosopher? 50:14 "It is said that Hume the skeptic was, in early life, 50:19 a conscientious believer in the Word of God. 50:23 Being connected with a debating society, 50:26 he was appointed to present the arguments 50:28 in favor of infidelity." 50:31 Be very careful about defending what you don't believe in. 50:36 He studied with earnestness and perseverance, 50:40 and his keen and active mind became imbued 50:44 with the sophistry of skepticism. 50:48 Erelong, he came to believe its delusive teachings, 50:52 and his whole afterlife bore the dark impress of infidelity." 50:58 Voltaire, one of the key figures in the French Revolution, 51:01 we're told, "When Voltaire was five years old, 51:04 he committed to memory an infidel poem..." 51:08 "Infidel," means faithless. 51:12 "...and the pernicious influence was never effaced from his mind. 51:18 He became one of Satan's most successful agents 51:22 to lead men away from God. 51:24 Thousands will rise in the judgment and charge 51:27 the ruin of their souls upon the infidel Voltaire." 51:35 Rationalism even came to the point of denying 51:39 the story of creation. 51:41 You can read the next statement that begins at the 51:44 bottom of page 177 and ends at the top of page 178, 51:49 because we need to finish this particular chapter. 51:53 Let's notice the comments on Revelation 9:7. 51:58 "The shape of the locusts was like horses prepared for battle. 52:02 On their heads were crowns of something like gold, 52:07 and their faces were like the faces of men." 52:11 Where is the backdrop to this in the Bible? 52:13 The backdrop of this imagery is in Joel 2:4-10 52:18 where God compares an invading army with a plague of locusts. 52:24 This is an interesting thing, 52:26 that the Italian word for, "locust," is, "cavalletta." 52:31 What does "cavalletta" mean in Italian? 52:34 Little horse. 52:36 Interesting. 52:37 The locust is related to the horse. 52:39 In fact, in some ways it looks a little bit like a horse. 52:43 And the German peasants call the locust, "hupferde," 52:46 which means, "hay horses." 52:50 At this point, Satan and his angels are already 52:52 gathering their forces for what? 52:55 For the final battle against God, the Bible, 53:00 and His people. 53:03 "Their hair was like women's hair, 53:06 and their teeth were like lion's teeth. 53:09 They have breastplates like breastplates of iron, 53:13 and the sound of their wings," they're flying, 53:16 "was like the thundering of..." What? 53:18 "...of many horses and chariots rushing into battle." 53:22 Were they ready to go to France and do their work? 53:26 Yes. 53:27 "They had tails and stings like scorpions, 53:31 and in their tails they had..." What? 53:33 "...power to torment people for five months." 53:36 So let me ask you, are their lies a torment to people? 53:41 The doctrines of the French Revolution. 53:43 Absolutely. 53:44 Now what does a lion represent? 53:46 It says here that they had lion's teeth? 53:49 What does the lion represent in the Bible? 53:51 Well it can represent Christ. 53:52 It can represent Babylon. 53:54 It can represent Judah, the son of Jacob. 53:57 But it can also represent whom? 54:00 Satan who goes forth as a roaring lion 54:02 seeking whom he may devour. 54:04 But his angels also are compared with lions. 54:08 Notice this statement from, Early Writings, page 191. 54:12 This is after Jesus gained the victory over Satan 54:16 and ascended to heaven. 54:17 "Satan related to his angels that Jesus had given 54:20 His disciples power to rebuke them and cast them out, 54:24 and to heal those whom they should afflict. 54:28 Then Satan's angels went forth like..." What? 54:33 "...like roaring lions seeking to destroy 54:37 the followers of Jesus." 54:41 In Scripture, as I mentioned, the tail represents lies. 54:46 It is significant that during the 1260 years 54:49 Satan deceived people by the lie of what? 54:53 False religion. 54:55 But during the Age of Reason, Satan deceived and hurt people 54:59 by the lies of what? 55:01 Secularism. 55:03 Or atheism. 55:06 And here comes the interesting part. 55:09 You know, let me ask you, who are going to be the greatest 55:12 enemies of God's people, the liberals or the conservatives? 55:19 Well it all depends whether you support 55:21 Joe Biden or Donald Trump. 55:27 No, actually, who are the liberals in Christ's day? 55:30 The liberals were the Sadducees. 55:33 Who were the staunch conservatives? 55:36 The Pharisees. 55:38 They hated each other. 55:39 And they had different doctrines. 55:42 But when it came to destroying public enemy number one, 55:46 they joined forces. 55:48 So let's not get politically involved and say, 55:50 "Oh, we need to side with the conservatives." 55:53 Or, "We need to side with the liberals." 55:55 You know, because the Bible tells us that the 55:58 king of the south and the king of the north will join forces 56:02 to persecute God's people. 56:05 The final comment, Revelation 9:11. 56:09 The king who rules over the locusts 56:12 is the angel of the abyss. 56:14 Who is identified in the Bible with the abyss? 56:18 Satan, in Revelation 20. Right? 56:23 He's put in the abyss. 56:24 Or the bottomless pit, as it's mistranslated. 56:27 So the king who rules over the locusts, over this army 56:31 that is going to unleash on France in the fifth trumpet, 56:34 his name is in Hebrew, Abaddon; and in Greek, the equivalent 56:41 Greek word is, Apollyon. 56:43 The names, Abaddon and Apollyon means what? 56:49 The destroyer. 56:50 Is that exactly what happened in the French Revolution? 56:53 Oh yes, absolutely. 56:56 The New Testament describes Satan as the 56:58 ruler or prince of demons. 57:02 Isn't that true? 57:03 So who is the leader of this host? 57:06 Satan. 57:07 And Jesus referred to him as the what? 57:11 As the destroyer in John 10:10. 57:17 Which is the verse with which we will end 57:19 our study this afternoon. 57:21 John 10:10, Jesus said the following... 57:47 Tomorrow we will study the interlude of Revelation 11. 57:52 And then maybe tomorrow we'll study Revelation 10, 57:56 which is also part of the interlude. |
Revised 2020-09-12