Participants: Ivor Myers (Host), James Rafferty (Host), Jason Bradley, Yvonne Lewis
Series Code: SISS
Program Code: SISS000048A
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00:29 We made it...
00:31 I've said that a couple of times and I really mean it this time. 00:33 We are half way through the book of Revelation. 00:36 I think this is program number 48 or something like that 00:39 but I'm so thankful that we are just taking our time 00:43 and moving through this at a steady pace, 00:44 rehashing... re-summarizing... going back over, 00:48 asking questions... answering questions... 00:51 I think that's really important for us... for our Viewers... 00:53 Revelation 12 is a landmark, 00:56 it is... it is in a sense... it is the zenith... 00:58 it is the center... 01:00 it is the height of the book of Revelation, 01:02 it's an incredible chapter, I would say, 01:04 and I think we talked about this a little bit earlier, 01:07 that without Revelation 12... Revelation 13 and on... 01:09 it is almost meaningless... 01:11 it brings insight and explanation 01:13 to everything that's been happening on Planet Earth 01:15 for the last six thousand years and it is the vital testimony 01:19 that has to be given in the case against God, if you will, 01:23 now, Revelation chapter 12 is going to begin with 01:26 the introduction in our fourth prophetic cycle, 01:29 and that's what we're going to be looking at 01:31 so, we want to start with a word of prayer 01:33 and then we want to actually review, 01:35 "What are these prophetic cycles 01:36 that we've been talking about?" 01:37 Because that's been a few programs back... 01:39 and, "How does this qualify as the fourth prophetic cycle 01:42 and how does it qualify 01:44 as the fourth and last prophetic cycle?" 01:45 So, what is a prophetic cycle? How does this qualify as one? 01:48 And how does this qualify as the last one? 01:50 That's what we look at... Yvonne: That's good. 01:51 James: Jason, take us away... 01:52 Jason: All right, "Dear Heavenly Father, 01:54 as we study your word, 01:55 we ask that you would expand our minds 01:57 and prepare us to receive these powerful truths 01:59 that you have for us today, 02:01 send your Holy Spirit to lead us into all truth 02:03 and our Viewers as well and Listeners, 02:06 in Jesus' name we pray, amen. " All: "Amen. " 02:08 James: All right, so we've been looking 02:11 at the book of Revelation as organized... 02:13 and there are different ways 02:15 that you can approach the book of Revelation 02:17 but we've decided that the book of Revelation 02:19 is written with these four prophetic cycles, 02:21 they have a beginning point and an ending point. 02:24 And the beginning point is in the Apostolic Age 02:26 with special reference to Jesus, 02:29 and the ending point is the new heavens and the new earth 02:31 and so, there are four times in the book of Revelation 02:34 when we start in the Apostolic Age with Christ 02:36 and we end it in the new heavens and the new earth. 02:38 The first one is the beginning 02:40 Jesus comes to John in the Isle of Patmos, 02:43 there He is, right there in Patmos 02:44 this is the Apostolic Age, 02:46 this is the time when John was alive 02:47 and there comes Jesus and He introduces Himself 02:50 to John in an Island in this glorified form 02:53 and reveals that He's among the candlesticks... 02:55 it's a reminder of the incarnation of Christ, 02:58 and then... when you get through the churches, 03:01 you find these promises that are given to each church 03:03 that relate to the new heaven and the new earth, 03:05 you get to the end of the churches, 03:07 that prophetic cycle is over 03:08 then you start a second prophetic cycle 03:10 the second prophetic cycle begins in Revelation chapter 4, 03:13 4 and 5... introduce us again to the Apostolic Age. 03:17 How do we know that? 03:18 Well, first of all, in chapter 5 03:20 the slain lamb is introduced in heaven, 03:23 He's introduced, in chapter 4, 03:25 the seven spirits are before the throne of God, 03:28 that's the Holy Spirit... 03:29 but in chapter 5... they're sent out into all the earth. 03:32 So, you have in this prophetic cycle... the Apostolic Age... 03:35 the lamb... who has just been slain, 03:37 it's presented in symbolic language, of course, 03:40 it's not happening in A.D. 90... 03:41 and the Holy Spirit has been poured out into the earth, 03:44 so that's the Apostolic Age, 03:45 that's the beginning of the first prophetic cycle, 03:47 you move through the horses, the white horse, the red horse, 03:50 the black horse, the pale horse, and you go all the way through 03:53 the fifth seal, sixth seal, seventh seal, 03:55 then you have the sealing of the 144,000... 03:58 and you have this great multitude that no man can number 04:00 that stand around the throne, they say, 04:01 "Praise God, we're saved... " 04:02 they don't hunger anymore, they don't thirst anymore, 04:04 they're led behind rivers of living water 04:07 boom! that's the new heaven and the new earth, 04:09 end of the second prophetic cycle. 04:11 Yvonne: Okay, wait, wait, wait, you kind of lost me, 04:13 so the first one is the Apostolic Age 04:15 and the second one is the Apostolic Age? 04:17 James: Yes, each prophetic cycle 04:19 begins with the Apostolic Age, 04:20 each prophetic cycle ends in the new heaven and the new earth. 04:22 Yvonne: Okay. 04:23 James: So when you start the churches, 04:25 you're starting in John's time 04:26 and you're going all the way to the new heaven 04:27 and the new earth. Yvonne: Right... 04:29 James: When you start the seals, ah, next prophetic cycle, 04:30 start all over again... boom! back to Apostolic Age, 04:33 and then we go all the way through again in history, 04:36 a new heaven and a new earth. Yvonne: Ah... hmmm... 04:38 James: Now we get to the trumpets... boom! 04:39 where are we going? Back to the Apostolic Age... 04:43 and that's really helpful when we get to the trumpets 04:45 because when the trumpets are given to the angels, 04:48 there's a pause and we see another angel 04:49 and he goes to an altar and he take incense from the altar 04:52 and he mingles it with the prayers of the saints 04:55 in the golden altar in heaven 04:57 and then he takes fire from the altar 04:59 and casts it into the earth, we're like, 05:01 "That could mean almost anything" 05:02 there's a censer thrown down to the earth, 05:04 that could mean the close of probation, 05:05 we could be anywhere, well, no... 05:07 because our first prophetic cycle 05:08 begins with the Apostolic Age 05:10 and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, 05:11 the second prophetic cycle begins with the Apostolic Age 05:15 and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, 05:16 and by-the-way... seven churches... 05:18 outpouring of the Holy Spirit, 05:19 hear what the Spirit says to the churches... 05:20 hear what the Holy Spirit says to the churches, 05:22 so the third prophetic cycle, 05:23 begins in the same place, 05:24 so do we have something that lines up historically 05:28 with the symbolism of the angel representing Christ 05:32 taking incense from the altar representing His merits 05:35 from the cross into heaven 05:37 to the Sanctuary in heaven and the Holy Place 05:40 to mingle it with the prayers of God's people 05:42 and then fire being cast down out of heaven into the earth, 05:46 yes, we have the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. 05:50 Jesus went to heaven... 05:51 He took His sacrifice with Him in heaven... 05:54 He mingles that sacrifice... His merits... 05:56 with the prayers of the disciples 05:57 who were praying for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit 05:59 on the day of Pentecost 06:00 and when this Spirit is poured out, 06:02 what does it look like? Fire... Yvonne: Hmmm... 06:05 James: Cloven tongues of fire on their heads, 06:07 so we have... again... the Apostolic Age, 06:10 in Revelation 7 trumpets, that's where it begins, 06:12 the first trumpet... the destruction of Jerusalem, 06:14 the second trumpet... pagan Rome... 06:16 then you have the rise of this Papal Power, 06:18 that is given time... 06:20 and judgment is coming against them but it's given time 06:23 before it actually feels the final judgment 06:25 and then we go all the way... last program... 06:26 all the way down to the seventh trumpet or the third woe 06:30 second coming of Jesus, reward to the Saints, 06:33 destroy them that destroy the earth, 06:34 new heaven and the new earth 06:36 those are the three prophetic cycles we've gone through so far 06:38 and they're prophetic cycles, 06:40 because they begin in the Apostolic Age... 06:43 that's the evidence in each one of them in the Scripture 06:45 and they end in the new heaven and the new earth. 06:47 So, now we get to Revelation 12, 06:49 and what we're suggesting is 06:51 Revelation 12 begins another prophetic cycle, 06:54 that's number one... 06:56 number two... the prophetic cycle, of course, 06:58 has to be identified... 07:00 how do we know it's beginning another prophetic cycle, 07:02 okay, and number three, 07:04 where does the prophetic cycle end? 07:06 Does it end in the same place the others have? 07:10 And if so, where does the... 07:11 the one we're beginning in Revelation 12, 07:13 where do we find it taking us to the new heaven 07:14 and the new earth? Yvonne: Hmmm... 07:16 James: Okay, so, first of all we want to read 07:18 Revelation chapter 12 verses 1... 07:21 I think we should read all the way through to verse 5. 07:23 What do you think? 07:24 Ivor: Yeah. James: Yeah, one through five 07:26 and we're going to look for the prophetic cycle. 07:28 Ivor: And I want to just... I want to juice that down 07:33 and actually point to something that is very, very powerful 07:35 in Revelation 12, verses 1 through 6, 07:38 when we read it, we're actually going to see 07:40 that Revelation 12:1 through 6 is like the entire Old Testament 07:46 juiced down into six verses... as well as 07:50 the entire history of the Apostolic Church 07:54 down to the Dark Ages to the end of time, 07:58 juiced in these verses, it's amazing, 08:01 but those cycles that are... that James is talking about, 08:07 we can see it... we can see that same cycle 08:10 in the pattern of the Sanctuary 08:11 and you'll remember that we talked about 08:14 how the priest, right, when he went in on the... 08:16 during the daily services, 08:19 he would go in among the Seven-branched Candlestick, 08:21 the Altar of Incense and the Table of Shewbread, 08:24 it was a simultaneous ministry 08:26 and so, this is what he was doing on a daily basis 08:30 and when he attended to one, he was to attend to the other, 08:34 so we know these three cycles of churches, seals and trumpets 08:38 are all occurring in the context of the daily ministration, 08:42 right, but in connection with that daily ministration 08:46 was something called the yearly ministration, 08:48 that was, when the High Priest moved into the Most Holy Place, 08:52 on the Day of Atonement 08:54 and on the Day of Atonement, 08:56 he moves into the Most Holy Place, 08:58 the Sanctuary, in a sense, he enters into this veil, 09:02 okay, inside the Most Holy Place 09:06 the veil is opened and he enters in, 09:08 the next time the veil is significantly opened, 09:13 is when he comes out to bless the people, 09:15 when he comes out to bless the people, 09:17 the Day of Atonement is basically ended 09:20 and those who had not made themselves right with God, 09:23 were cut off after the High Priest 09:26 moved out of the Sanctuary, 09:28 so, we're going to see that Revelation 1 through 11, 09:31 is all... day... mostly... 80 percent 09:35 because remember the sevens of each... six... seven... 09:39 bring into Most Holy Place View 09:43 but most of these churches, seals, are occurring 09:46 in the context of the Daily... okay... 09:49 when we get to Revelation chapter 12, 09:52 there's suddenly a shift... we're transitioning 09:55 because remember 1119, the temple was opened... 09:58 James: In heaven... 10:00 Ivor: The temple was opened in heaven and now, 10:01 the understanding of God's people 10:04 is... "Wait a minute... this is Most Holy Place stuff, 10:07 the third woe... Jesus is coming again... 10:10 and there's a judgment going on 10:12 and those who are unprepared for the judgment, 10:14 guess what happens in Revelation chapter 15, 10:17 the temple is opened one more time, 10:20 it's the third time the temple is opened 10:23 in the book of Revelation 10:25 but this time, when the temple is opened, 10:27 you have the seven last plagues that are coming out, 10:31 those seven last plagues are what we would call 10:34 the last set of sevens, there are seven churches, 10:37 seven trumpets, seven seals, 10:40 and then the seven last plagues, now notice this, 10:44 the seven last... because you would think, 10:45 well, why don't we just parallel the seven last plagues 10:48 to the time periods of the seven churches 10:49 but no, you're dealing with different times 10:52 one is Holy Place the other is the Most Holy Place 10:55 so we know that these seven plagues 11:00 don't start the same time as the seven churches or... 11:04 they're starting after 11:06 something is done in the Most Holy Place, 11:07 which means they're going to be a much shorter duration 11:11 than the other sets of sevens, 11:14 so that again just gives us... we step back and we say, 11:17 "Okay, this is what we're looking at" 11:18 we're looking at the whole book of Revelation 11:20 is based upon this theme of the Sanctuary diagram. 11:23 Yvonne: Hmmm... hmmm... 11:25 Ivor: So that's just kind of... 11:26 bringing around what we were first discussing 11:28 in our first program, 11:30 so we know we're not losing sight 11:31 of where we are... what we're looking at... 11:33 Yvonne: Right... right... 11:35 James: And it's really interesting isn't it 11:36 that this four... of these different parts of the Sanctuary 11:39 in the Holy and Most Holy Place there's the Candlestick... 11:42 there's the Altar of Incense and there's the Table of Shewbread 11:45 and then there's the Most Holy Place 11:46 that's four articles... four places... 11:48 and then there's this four prophetic cycles, 11:50 in the first prophetic cycle... Jesus is among the candlesticks 11:53 which is in the... Holy Place... Most... in the Holy Place... 11:56 and the second prophetic cycle, 11:58 there's is this book... or this roll... the scroll... 12:00 that's the center that's being unsealed 12:02 and that would represent the Word of God 12:04 which is the Table of Shewbread 12:05 and in the third prophetic cycle the angel has the censer 12:09 and he's offering his righteousness before 12:12 the golden altar which is before the throne 12:15 and that's the Altar of Incense, so all of the articles 12:18 in the Holy Place are implied 12:22 in the three prophetic cycles so far, 12:24 the first one with the churches, the second one with the roll, 12:27 and the third one with the Altar and incense, 12:30 and then when you enter the fourth prophetic cycle 12:32 which we're entering right now, 12:33 you enter it by going into the Most Holy Place. 12:35 Ivor: Right, that's right... 12:37 James: The Ark was opened in the Most Holy Place 12:38 so now we're going into the Most Holy Place 12:39 and here is where we're seeing a picture of this 12:43 phenomenal of the whole great controversy, 12:46 from beginning to end, 12:47 God is just kind of distilling it down bringing us to... 12:50 like Ivor said in verses 1 through 6 of Revelation 12, 12:54 God distills the whole history of this church and Christ 12:58 and the transition from 13:00 Jerusalem church to the Christian church... 13:03 all down into the six verses, so let's read them, 13:06 let's read them and get into it. 13:08 Yvonne: Okay. 13:09 Jason: Sure, "And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; 13:12 a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, 13:15 and upon her head a crown of twelve stars; 13:18 And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, 13:22 and pained to be delivered. 13:24 And there appeared another wonder in heaven; 13:27 and behold a great red dragon 13:29 having seven heads and ten horns, 13:31 and seven crowns upon his heads. 13:33 And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, 13:36 and did cast them to the earth: 13:39 and the dragon stood before the woman 13:41 which was ready to be delivered, 13:42 for to devour her child as soon as it was born. 13:46 And she brought forth a man child, 13:48 who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: 13:51 and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne. 13:54 And the woman fled into the wilderness, 13:57 where she hath a place prepared of God, 14:00 that they should feed her there 14:04 a thousand two hundred and threescore days. " 14:07 James: Whew... there's a lot here... 14:08 there is a lot here. 14:09 Ivor: Do you see the whole Bible? 14:12 James: Yes, it's there, yeah... 14:14 Ivor: In 1 through 6, how's that going to happen? 14:17 I can just juice the Bible down in six verses... 14:20 the whole history... 14:21 James: I like the way he says that, 14:22 "Juice it down, juice it down... " 14:24 because I could say, "distill it down... " 14:26 but "juice it down... " is just that... 14:27 there's a lot of minerals and nutrients in the juice. 14:29 Yvonne: Exactly... 14:31 James: You've taken everything out to distill it 14:32 but you put everything in... here's the deal... 14:34 and I want you to notice the parallels 14:36 and Ivor's brought it up, 14:37 in Revelation chapter 12, there's a woman, 14:39 in the book of Genesis, there's a woman, 14:42 in Revelation chapter 12, there's a serpent, 14:44 in the book of Genesis, there's a serpent, 14:46 in Revelation chapter 12, there's deception, 14:49 in Genesis, there's deception, 14:51 in Revelation chapter 12, 14:52 the woman is clothed with light, 14:56 you know, a lot of artists, 14:58 when they depict Adam and Eve 15:00 in the Garden of Eden before they sinned, 15:02 they picture them naked, and, of course, 15:04 no one paints naked Adam and Eve, 15:07 so they're always covered by an animal or by a branch 15:09 or something like that, but when you look, you're like, 15:12 if it weren't for the branches and animals, they'd be naked, 15:14 but that's not Biblical... that is not Biblical... 15:17 the Bible tells us very clearly that God, Himself, 15:21 is clothed in light, He's clothed in light 15:25 and He made us in His image, 15:26 see, the reason why Adam and Eve, weren't ashamed... 15:29 when they were naked is because they were clothed with light 15:31 and the reason why they were ashamed 15:33 and realized they were naked 15:35 is because they lost the robe of light, 15:37 they lost it... it was gone... it was like... 15:38 "Oh, we'd better cover ourselves" 15:40 before that time, they were covered with light 15:43 so, you have this woman clothed with the sun 15:47 light... you see the... 15:49 God is borrowing out of the book of Genesis, 15:52 all of the symbols, all of the language, 15:54 He's... the woman has been restored, 15:56 she's again... and you know where she's standing, 15:59 she's not standing in the suppositions of the serpent, 16:01 "Well, you know, 16:02 did God say, well, God's trying to... " 16:05 she's standing on the moon, 16:06 which is a symbol of the Word of God 16:08 and she's clothed with the light, standing... 16:11 so, what God is doing is, 16:13 God is basically giving us a big picture... 16:14 just in verse 1, He's giving us a big picture 16:16 and He's saying, "Guess what? 16:17 Everything is going back to the beginning of Creation, 16:21 I'm restoring... what you're about to read 16:23 is the process by which restoration has taken place... " 16:26 Yvonne: Hmmm... 16:28 James: If you had only one chapter 16:29 in the book of Revelation, 16:30 if you had only one chapter in the Bible, 16:32 Revelation 12 would be the chapter 16:33 because it brings us the whole story, 16:35 Revelation 12 bring us stuff 16:37 you won't find anywhere else in the Bible, 16:39 like, for example, where this all started, 16:41 we're not going to get that far ahead 16:43 but here's the first thing we want to prove, 16:45 remember... Ivor started the program by saying, 16:46 "this is the fourth prophetic cycle," 16:48 so what we need to do is, 16:49 we need to prove that we're starting... 16:51 this is starting in the Apostolic Age, 16:52 tell me, how do we know 16:53 that this is starting in the Apostolic Age, 16:55 any clues to how do we know 16:56 that this is staring in Christ's day? 16:58 How do we know that this isn't something that took place 17:02 in 1844 or something that took place in 1969 17:06 or something that took place in back in Babylon somewhere? 17:10 Who is this woman, who is this child? 17:12 What happens to the child? 17:15 Yvonne: The child is... 17:18 the woman always represents the church, 17:20 right, and the Son here, Son... would represent Jesus. 17:28 James: Right... so obviously 17:31 this is the birth of Christ. 17:33 Yvonne: But here's my question. James: Yes. 17:34 Yvonne: The church did not give birth to Christ, 17:38 Christ actually gave birth to the church, did He not? 17:41 I mean, not gave birth... 17:43 James: But when Christ was born, He was born of the Jewish church 17:45 that's where He came from. 17:47 Yvonne: Oh, from the Jewish church. 17:48 Ivor: Listen to this, verse 2, 17:50 it says, "And she being with child cried, 17:52 travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered. " 17:54 So, here's the question, does it talk about... juicing? 17:57 Like, when... this is the... 17:59 this is the church... and the Old Testament church... 18:02 Yvonne: Okay. James: The Old Testament Church. 18:04 Ivor: This is the Old Testament Church, okay, 18:06 but when did the Old Testament Church 18:08 get pregnant with Christ, go back to Genesis 3:15, 18:12 in Genesis 3:15, God says, "I'm going to give you a seed 18:15 and that seed is going bruise the head of the serpent, 18:18 the serpent is going to bruise his heel. " 18:20 James: And He's talking to the woman. 18:21 Ivor: He's talking to the woman. James: Yeah. 18:23 Ivor: Right, so, the whole Old Testament 18:25 is the woman travailing in birth 18:27 waiting for the Messiah to come, 18:30 this is... verses 1 and 2... 18:32 is literally... James: The whole Old Testament. 18:34 Ivor: I'm going to throw this bottle of water, 18:37 I'm just want to... what! this is the whole... 18:40 the whole thing, right, this is the... Israel... 18:42 God's people... the 12 stars... 18:44 God's people... Yvonne: Okay, it's Israel... 18:46 Ivor: This is Old Testament Israel. 18:48 Yvonne: That would make more sense to me. 18:49 Ivor: But these verses bring us right up to the cross, 18:52 where you'll see, in... when we get to verse... 18:56 is it verse 6? Where He's born, yeah... 18:59 James: Oh, where He's born... so, He's born... 19:00 yeah that's in verse 6, yeah. 19:02 Ivor: Where He's born, travailing to be born, 19:04 and... so this is the Old Testament church 19:06 waiting for the coming of the Messiah, right. 19:08 James: Verse 2... verse 2... 19:09 Ivor: And, you'll see what happens when the Son is born 19:12 and then it takes on a whole new dimension, but... 19:14 verses 1 and 2... Old Testament church... 19:17 waiting for... travailing in pain... 19:19 that's the whole Old Testament, they're waiting... 19:23 travailing in pain... they're in labor... 19:25 waiting for this Messiah, who would it be? 19:28 James: Love it... love it. 19:30 Ivor: Yeah, so this is literally taking us back to... 19:33 it's not just symbolically pointing us back to Genesis... 19:36 this is... and guess what? The dragon is like... 19:40 from Genesis 3, the dragon is like, 19:43 "All right, I'm standing before this woman... wait... 19:45 I don't know when the child's coming... 19:47 but I'm standing here and I'm waiting... 19:49 because whoever it is... I'm taking Him out" 19:51 and he thought it was Cain... James: Yeah. 19:53 Ivor: Right, thought... "Is this the child?" 19:56 well... deceives him... wins him over to his side, 19:58 then it's Abel... "Oh, another one... 20:00 James: "I got Cain, now I'll get Abel... " 20:02 Ivor: She's got another one! all right... I will kill... " 20:04 And she just keeps bringing, you see... so, 20:05 Satan is looking... waiting... 20:08 who's the child... who's the child? 20:09 when they come... the Magi had come looking for Jesus, 20:13 it's like, "Okay, this is Him, this is Him... " 20:16 Yvonne: Hmmm... hmmm... hmmm... 20:18 James: And here's another confirmation here 20:20 in these verses of how Satan's working, so, 20:21 we talked about Satan, 20:23 we talked about all these Nations and... 20:25 and we've implied that Satan's come, 20:27 he's the fallen angel... he's this... he's that... 20:28 and yet we've identified nations 20:30 well, here, it becomes very clear 20:32 because it says here as you look in verse 4, 20:35 it's talking about the dragon in the context, 20:39 a great... "another great wonder" 20:41 in verse 3... "the dragon" and it says, 20:42 "And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, 20:44 and did cast them to the earth: 20:46 and the dragon stood before the woman 20:48 that was ready to be delivered, 20:50 to devour her child as soon as it was born. " 20:53 So, how did he do that? Was this some red dragon 20:56 standing in the manger there, no, so how did he do it? 20:59 He's working through Herod, so this... this interpretation, 21:03 this application of Christ can be verified now 21:05 in the history of the Bible itself, 21:07 you go back to the Bible and you find that 21:09 when the Magi came looking for the Messiah in Jerusalem, 21:12 they're just like... "Okay, we'd better get there early 21:15 because everyone's going to be... 21:17 the front row is going to be full, 21:18 the back row... the second row... 21:19 we're going to have to sit up in the balcony somewhere 21:21 because everyone's going to be like, 21:22 'The Messiah is coming and we're all here'" 21:23 and he's like, "It's real quiet around here, 21:26 what's... what's going on...?" 21:27 They find nobody... in fact, what they find is 21:30 they find people who are irritated by them even asking 21:33 the question about it... 21:34 the religious leaders are indifferent, 21:35 Herod is so upset about that because he's like, 21:37 "Here is going to be someone 21:39 that's going to threaten my kingdom, 21:40 I need to find out who He is and where He's going to be born. " 21:41 Yvonne: Right... 21:43 James: So he pretends... his political face is on 21:44 but behind the scenes he's steaming... 21:46 and he sends them on their way to Bethlehem 21:49 and he tells them, 21:50 "As soon as you find the child, let me know... " 21:52 and then he doesn't hear from them, why? 21:53 The angel warns... 21:55 and so, finally he realizes, "I've been duped... " 21:57 and he sends soldiers in there to kill Christ... 21:59 he kills all the children under three years' of age. 22:02 because he's trying to kill Christ, 22:03 that's how the dragon does it, 22:04 so that's our second indication right here, 22:06 first is Genesis 3, "the promised Messiah is coming 22:09 you're going to have... the woman's going to give birth" 22:11 and then we have Satan trying to destroy the child 22:13 as soon as it was born and then what happens? 22:16 Look at here... at verse 5... 22:18 "And she brought forth... " go ahead... 22:21 Ivor: Just a minute... because I'm thinking back to Moses, 22:22 and exactly what happened to Jesus at the age of 2 22:26 is what they tried to do with Moses, 22:28 yeah, you see here this parallel of the dragon... 22:32 has been doing this, 22:33 just uncertain... unsure... okay, well, 22:35 "Could Moses be the one? We don't know... go... " 22:38 James: And he was a mighty deliverer... 22:40 Ivor: Absolutely, he was a deliverer, right? 22:42 But you see this pattern 22:43 both in the Old Testament and the New Testament, 22:45 it... the Bible is... these verses are literally showing 22:49 the warfare between the woman and the dragon and the seed. 22:53 James: What about Job? Ivor: What about Job? 22:55 James: Perfect man... he's the one... 22:57 he's the... God says, 22:58 "Hey, you can't have the earth yet... look at Job" 22:59 So Satan's like, "I got to take his kids out" 23:01 he takes them all out. 23:03 Ivor: Yeah, yeah... it's amazing... 23:05 the principle reveals that this conflict 23:08 has been going on but it culminates when Christ is born. 23:12 James: And here's the deal... what we need to understand 23:16 as we get into Revelation chapter 12 23:18 is that the picture we're laying out here, the Biblical picture 23:21 is what the whole universe is interested in seeing, 23:23 character is being revealed, 23:25 God's character and Satan's character is being revealed, 23:28 God is giving... He's loving... He's forgiving... 23:30 and He gives Himself, 23:31 and Satan is seeking to kill, destroy and steal, 23:34 to kill, destroy and steal, and the whole unfallen universe 23:37 is looking down and seeing this great controversy 23:39 unfold before their faces, so when it's finally settled... 23:42 when Jesus finally dies, they're like, 23:44 "Yeah, salvation to our God and to His throne, yeah... " 23:47 and then they're like, 23:48 "but woe to the inhabitants of the earth... 23:51 that's going to be tough, 23:52 they've got to deal with this for a little while longer 23:55 until they figure this out, I'm so glad we figured it out 23:58 but they've still got to figure it out. " 24:01 Yvonne: Yes. 24:02 James: Okay, in verse 5... 24:03 "And she brought forth a man child... " 24:05 okay, so there we have the birth of Christ... 24:07 "who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron... " 24:09 that's how we know... 24:11 only Christ is the one that's going to rule all nations 24:13 okay, and it says, 24:15 "He's caught up to God and to His throne" 24:17 so there we have the resurrection of Jesus, 24:19 there we have Christ going into the heavenly Sanctuary again 24:23 there we have His confirmation again of our prophetic cycle 24:27 you see that? Yvonne: Hmmm... 24:28 James: What in the world...? We've come all the way through, 24:31 through three prophetic cycles... 24:32 all the way to the new heaven and new earth 24:33 and now we're going all the way back again 24:35 to the birth of Christ, so, this confirms again, 24:37 "Oh, there's another prophetic cycle" and by the way... 24:39 never happens again in the book of Revelation... 24:42 that's why this is the final one 24:43 there is never a time again in the book of Revelation 24:46 where in the storyline... 24:47 we go back all the way back the Apostolic Age, 24:49 from now on... it's all going forward... 24:51 we rehearse history in Revelation 13, 24:55 for example, and right here... 24:56 but then Revelation 13 takes us right into the eschatological 24:59 final crisis... 14 reveals a little bit 25:02 and boom! three angels' messages... 25:04 judgment... 15... judgment... 25:06 16... judgment... 17... judgment... 25:07 18... judgment... 19... judgment... 25:09 20... judgment... and the reason why 25:11 God has to give us Revelation 12, 13 and 14 25:15 is because... judgment is coming... 25:16 and He's got a... He's all out right now... 25:19 He's reviewing everything, 25:20 He's finally... in Revelation 12 He's finally speaking up 25:23 He's finally giving a testimony and then in Revelation 14, 25:27 He's giving the message that's so powerful 25:28 it lightens the earth with His glory 25:30 because He's got to close this up. 25:32 Ivor: Imagine Revelation 12 as... God is our teacher, 25:36 He's been taking us through 25:38 chapter 1, chapter 2, chapter... "Are you getting this sure...?" 25:41 4, 5... at 12 He says, "Okay, now... 25:44 before we get into the meat, meat, meat, meat, meat... 25:49 I want to review with you and make sure you got... 25:53 make sure you understand the history we've just covered 25:55 okay, in all these 11 verses so, Revelation 12... 25:58 is Revelation 11... 1 through 11 juiced... 26:02 Revelation 12 is Revelation 1 through 11 recycled 26:08 or just condensed down into one chapter. 26:13 Everything we're reading here, we're going to be like, 26:15 "Okay, yeah... okay, yeah, because 26:17 I remember that... I remember... hmmm... hmmm... 26:19 yes, yes, yes, got it, got it, got it, 26:20 okay, you got it... all right... 26:22 now, we move into Revelation 13, 26:24 this is where I'm going to reveal to you 26:26 so that you know without a shadow of a doubt 26:29 your interpretation of 13, 14, 15, 16... 26:32 all the way onward is correct 26:34 because you got the first half of the book right 26:37 and 12 is me just making sure you got it right... 26:40 before we move on. " 26:41 Yvonne: Hmmm... 26:43 James: Yeah, and what you see here really is... is that 26:44 Revelation chapter 12 is this transition 26:47 where we move... in the first half of the book... 26:49 the first three prophetic cycles, 26:50 have been primarily... past history to us... 26:53 living in the end of time 26:55 most of those prophetic cycles have dealt with pre-1844... 26:59 even in the 6th trumpet... you remember that 2nd woe? 27:02 It was the voice coming from 27:04 the four horns of the golden altar 27:07 but Revelation chapter 12 and onward... 27:08 is flipping it the other way, 27:10 Revelation 12 and onward is primarily going to be 27:12 end-time prophecy... 27:14 post-1844... and, of course, we see that in the transition 27:16 in verse 19, we're in the Most Holy Place, 27:19 so we review the history... 27:20 but most of the stuff that's taking place here, 27:22 is just before us... 27:24 Ivor: Right. Yvonne: All right... 27:25 James: All right, what about questions, 27:27 what about questions as we end this session? 27:28 Jason: Oh, that should be submitted to: sss@3abn. org 27:31 so you guys can answer them. 27:33 James: Yes, and I know you're going to help us with that 27:35 because I know you answered one just recently... 27:36 you answered a question... I don't know if you remember that, 27:39 Jason: You will have to refresh my memory. 27:41 James: Well, it was more like a technical question, 27:45 like... but we're going to move you in that direction 27:48 that's a heads up and a warning. Jason: Yes... 27:50 James: All right, so we're going to close this up, 27:52 we've run out of time for this session 27:53 but we'll pick it up right here in Revelation 12, 27:54 we might spend three or four meetings on Revelation 12 27:56 because there's a lot here in one session... 27:58 there's a lot of info. 27:59 Yvonne: Yeah, good... good. |
Revised 2017-01-03