Participants:
Series Code: TAM
Program Code: TAM000008S
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00:30 Let's bow our heads for prayer.
00:31 Our loving Heavenly Father, we thank You once again for the 00:37 privilege of being here today. 00:40 How wonderful it is to have Your Holy Word in a world 00:43 that is so confused that it doesn't know where to turn. 00:46 Thank You for giving us the certainty that we find 00:50 in Your Holy Word. 00:51 We ask, Father, that as we open the pages of Your Holy book, 00:55 that Your Holy Spirit will be with us here, through the 00:59 ministration of Your angels, that we might be able to 01:02 comprehend the great things that you have in store for us 01:05 from Your Holy Word. 01:07 We thank You Lord for all of those who have come to study 01:12 Your Word, and we as that You will bless those 01:14 who are on their way. 01:16 And we thank You for hearing our prayer, 01:18 for we ask it in Jesus' name, Amen. 01:21 This evening as we begin, I would like to review what we 01:27 studied in our last lecture, because it's foundational 01:29 for what we're going to deal within our topic today. 01:33 If you remember, we found that God married 01:38 Israel at mount Sinai. 01:41 And He wanted Israel to be His only; to obey His laws, 01:47 and to remain absolutely pure and uncontaminated from 01:52 the surrounding nations. 01:53 But we found in our study that very early in Israel's history, 01:58 she apostatized from God. 02:01 And Ezekiel 16, as well as chapter 23, tells us that Israel 02:08 became a harlot, because she embraced the teachings 02:13 and practices of the surrounding nations. 02:16 The Bible calls these practices the abominations of the nations. 02:22 In other words, Israel assimilated the abominations of 02:26 the nations, and in this way she became a harlot. 02:31 She abandoned the husband of her youth. 02:34 As we studied, she also fornicated with the kings 02:39 of the earth, with the kings of different nations, 02:42 forming political alliances. 02:45 And instead of depending on God as her source of strength, 02:49 she started depending on these alliances with other kings. 02:53 We also noticed in our study that Israel covered herself, 02:58 or decked herself, with silver and with gold to attract 03:03 attention to herself. 03:04 And as a result God spoke, in no uncertain terms, 03:10 to His unfaithful wife in Ezekiel 16:32, by saying these 03:17 words: You are an adulterous wife who takes strangers 03:23 instead of her husband. 03:25 You see, she was playing the harlot. 03:28 She was an adulteress wife, if you please, because she had the 03:33 kings of the nations as lovers instead of the Lord her God. 03:40 In Ezekiel 16:30 God speaks even more graphically. 03:46 He says, How degenerate is your heart, says the Lord God, 03:51 seeing you do all these things, the deeds of a brazen harlot? 03:58 That word brazen, in the Hebrew, means to exercise 04:04 autocratic control. 04:06 It means to get one's way, or to be domineering. 04:12 In other words, Israel became a domineering harlot wanting her 04:17 own way, and wanting to exercise control and dominion. 04:24 We noticed in our study last time that Israel had daughters; 04:28 daughter harlots who shared her point of view, 04:32 and also assimilated the pagan practices of the 04:36 surrounding nations. 04:38 And we studied that Israel shed innocent blood. 04:42 The blood of those who opposed her agenda 04:45 were slaughtered and slain by Israel. 04:48 And therefore God told Israel, You are going to drink the cup 04:53 of My wrath to the very dregs, and destruction is going to come 04:58 from the four corners of the earth, and you will fall, 05:02 and you will be destroyed. 05:04 In fact God said, The very kings that you have fornicated with; 05:09 the kings that you have assimilated all of these 05:12 abominable practices from, they are going to rise, 05:17 and they are going to slay you, and they're going 05:20 to leave you naked. 05:22 But we noticed in our study that even in the midst of the 05:25 apostasy, God had a faithful remnant. 05:28 And God placed His seal upon this faithful remnant who sighed 05:35 and cried because of the abominations that were being 05:38 committed among His people. 05:40 And when the destruction of Jerusalem came by Nebuchadnezzar 05:44 we find that this faithful remnant that was sealed on their 05:48 foreheads, according to Ezekiel 9, was spared from the 05:52 destruction when the adulterous wife was destroyed. 05:55 God's faithful people, who sighed and cried because of the 06:00 abominations that God's own people were 06:02 committing, they were spared. 06:05 Now it's not like God had not warned Israel about the dangers 06:11 that she was going to face when she entered the promised land. 06:14 In Leviticus 18:26-30, we find God's warning to Israel. 06:20 Notice what it says there. 06:22 You shall therefore keep My statutes and My judgments, 06:27 and shall not commit any of these abominations; 06:32 either any of your own nation, or any stranger who dwells 06:37 among you: (For all these abominations the men of the land 06:43 have done, who were before you, and thus the land is defiled;) 06:48 lest the land vomit you out also when you defile it, 06:54 as it vomited out the nations that were before you. 06:57 You know, you get the imagery that even the land was nauseated 07:01 by the abominations that were being 07:03 committed by these nations. 07:04 Verse 29. For whoever commits any of these abominations, 07:09 the persons who commit them shall be cut off from 07:12 among their people. 07:13 Therefore, you shall keep My ordinance, so that you do not 07:17 commit any of these abominable customs, which were committed 07:21 before you, and that you do not defile yourselves by them; 07:25 I am the Lord your God. 07:27 Time and again in this passage God warns Israel not to partake 07:31 in the abominations of the nations of Canaan 07:34 where they were going to enter. 07:35 Notice 2 Chronicles 36:14, and this is only a 07:40 sampling of texts. 07:41 All throughout the Pentateuch, or the five books of Moses, 07:44 the first five books of Moses, we find God warning Israel 07:48 about not becoming defiled with the practices and doctrines, 07:51 which are called the abominations of the nations. 07:54 2 Chronicles 36:14, Moreover all the leaders of the priests... 08:00 Notice, it started with the priesthood. 08:02 ...all the leaders of the priests, and the people 08:05 transgressed more and more, according to all 08:09 the abominations of the nations, and defiled the house of the 08:13 Lord which He had consecrated in Jerusalem. 08:17 In other words, time and again God says that Israel, 08:21 in spite of the fact that He had warned them not to become 08:24 defiled with the abominations of the nations, 08:26 they became defiled with the practices, with the teachings 08:31 of these pagan nations. 08:33 Now as we noticed in our study last time, the Christian church 08:38 has repeated the history of ancient Israel. 08:42 The apostle Paul, as we noticed in our last lecture, 08:45 said that he had betrothed the Corinthians, or the church to 08:50 Christ as a virgin. 08:54 In other words, the church in its original state, 08:57 as we find in the book of Acts, was a pure church. 09:01 It was the bride of Jesus Christ. 09:04 But very early in her history, we noticed last night, 09:09 that the apostasy entered the Christian church. 09:13 The man of sin sat in the temple of God, showing himself to be 09:18 God, and, of course, the temple of God is the church. 09:21 Very early in the history of the early church, we're talking 09:26 about even towards the end of the first century, 09:29 the church began assimilating the beliefs, practices, 09:34 and customs of the pagan nations that they came in contact with, 09:39 and thus the church of Jesus Christ, the bride of Jesus, 09:44 whom Paul had betrothed to Jesus Christ, who was supposed to be 09:48 a chaste virgin to Jesus, now became Babylon. 09:54 In other words, the church repeated the history of God's 09:58 Old Testament people. 09:59 Even, as I mentioned, at the latter part of the first century 10:03 she allowed the practices of the pagan nations, 10:06 Rome and other nations, to encroach upon herself, 10:11 and thus she lost her simplicity and her purity. 10:15 And in the book of Revelation 17, we find a description 10:19 of that church that had apostatized from Jesus Christ. 10:23 In fact, you know, it's interesting, I'm going to share 10:26 with you some details that we studied last time, 10:28 but before I share these details, I'd just like to say 10:30 that a few years ago I was speaking in Argentina, 10:33 and I presented the topic that I gave last night; 10:37 a little bit different slant, but I presented it; 10:39 all of the characteristics of the apostate 10:41 church in Revelation 17. 10:43 But at the end of the presentation I never mentioned 10:46 who these characteristics applied to. 10:49 Well, the next morning, you know, I had interviews with the 10:53 students in the morning, and I preached in the evening. 10:55 So the next morning a student came to the office 10:57 and wanted an interview with me. 10:59 I said, Sure, come on in. 11:00 She looked at me in the eye, and she said, Pastor Bohr, 11:04 I want you to know that you offended me last night. 11:07 I said, Really, I'm really sorry I offended you. 11:11 What do you mean, I offended you? 11:13 She says, Well, you spoke badly about my church. 11:16 And I said, Really? 11:19 I don't remember mentioning any church last 11:21 night in my sermon. 11:23 I didn't mention any church. 11:24 I just gave a series of characteristics. 11:27 She says, Well, but you could tell by the characteristics 11:30 what church you were talking about. 11:32 I said, Well, if you could tell by the characteristics what 11:36 church I was talking about, then you should take it 11:38 to heart, because I didn't even need to identify 11:41 the church to you. 11:42 Now let's take a look at those characteristics again. 11:45 The Bible is graphic and clear about the identity 11:48 of the harlot, or Babylon. 11:51 First of all, I want you to notice that in Scripture a woman 11:55 represents the church. 11:57 A pure woman represents the pure church of Jesus Christ. 12:02 A harlot woman represents a fallen church. 12:06 And I want you to notice in Revelation 17:1 that it speaks 12:11 about a harlot, which is an apostate church. 12:16 It says there in Revelation 17:1 12:31 And, by the way, her name is Babylon, according to verse 5. 12:35 Now, you know, I look in Scripture, I looked in the 12:37 Concordance of Scripture, and I discovered 12:39 something very interesting. 12:40 In the Old Testament Babylon is never called a harlot. 12:45 In the Old Testament, almost in every single case that the word 12:50 harlot is used, it is applied to Israel. 12:53 In other words, it's applied to God's people. 12:56 In other words, in Revelation 17, we're talking about the 13:00 Christian church that has become Babylon. 13:03 Now I want you to notice several other interesting details 13:06 about this church. 13:08 First of all, it's called a harlot. 13:10 In other words, it is a church, but it's an apostate church. 13:13 Secondly, this is a church that has worldwide extent, 13:17 global extent. You say, How do we know that? 13:20 Notice Revelation 17:1 again. 13:23 Then one of the seven angels, who had the seven bowls, 13:26 came and talked with me saying to me, Come, I will show you 13:30 he judgment of the great harlot who sits on many waters. 13:34 Now what do the waters that she sits on represent? 13:37 Well, let's go to verse 15, of chapter 17. It says: 13:51 Are those the same groups that the first angel's 13:53 message goes to? Absolutely! 13:56 So what is the purpose of the first angel's message? 13:59 It's to warn people about Babylon, and to call people to 14:03 come out of Babylon, because the message goes to the same 14:06 groups of people that Babylon controls and dominates. 14:10 Are you with me on this point? 14:12 Now I want you to notice something else that identifies 14:14 this church, this apostate church. 14:16 Revelation 17:2 tells us: 14:24 Is that true of Israel also? Absolutely. 14:34 We'll come back to that later. 14:35 Let me ask you, Is this church involved with the political 14:39 powers of the world, with the civil powers of the world? 14:42 Yes, it's not only a church, but it's a church that is involved 14:47 in the state, or is involved with the kings, 14:50 or rulers of the earth. 14:51 In other words, it's a church that's involved 14:54 in political matters. 14:55 I want you to notice that this harlot, this apostate church, 14:59 also has daughters, just like Israel had daughters 15:02 that shared her spirit. 15:04 Notice Revelation 17:5, Revelation 17:5. 15:08 And on her forehead... 15:10 This is of the harlot. 15:22 Now if she is the mother of harlots, must she have daughters 15:27 who are also harlots? Absolutely! 15:30 At some point in her history, she had daughters. 15:34 After she had existed for awhile she had daughters that share 15:37 many of the practices, and teachings that she 15:41 embraced, or that she has. 15:43 In other words, it's a system that has daughters. 15:46 Notice also the colors that this apostate church majors in. 16:03 What are the predominant colors that are used by this religious 16:07 organization? purple and scarlet. 16:10 I want you to notice that she doesn't use blue. 16:12 You'll never find blue in this system. 16:16 And you say, Why don't you find blue? 16:18 Let's go to Numbers 15:38-41, Numbers 15:38-41. 16:27 I'm going to tell you now why this system majors in purple 16:30 and scarlet, but does not use blue. 16:34 It says in Numbers 15:38, Again the Lord spoke to Moses saying, 16:40 Speak to the children of Israel. 16:43 Tell them to make tassels on the corners of their garments 16:47 throughout their generations, and to put a what? a blue thread 16:54 in the tassels of the corners. 16:56 Now why a blue thread? 16:58 Let's continue reading. 16:59 And you shall have the tassel that you may look upon it, 17:06 and remember all the commandments 17:09 of the Lord and do them. 17:10 What is the purpose of the blue? to remember all of the what? 17:13 all of the commandments. 17:15 Would the harlot do that? 17:16 She can't wear blue. 17:18 And so it says, And you shall have the tassel that you may 17:20 look upon it, and remember all the commandments 17:23 of the Lord, and do them. 17:25 And notice: and that you may not follow the harlotry... 17:30 What saves us from harlotry? blue. 17:32 Notice, it says:... and that you may not follow the harlotry 17:36 to which your own heart, and your own eyes are inclined, 17:40 and that you may remember and do all My commandments... 17:44 We're coming back to this a little later in our series. 17:46 ...and be holy, for your God. 17:49 I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land 17:52 of Egypt to be your God. 17:54 I am the Lord your God. 17:57 In other words, He's saying, I am your husband, 18:00 and you are My wife. 18:01 You shall not be a harlot. 18:03 In order to remember not to be a harlot, 18:05 and to keep My commandments, you're going to wear this 18:07 blue thread; blue! 18:10 With this religious system you'll never find the color blue 18:13 used, which is very, very interesting. 18:16 Now you'll notice also that this is a very rich apostate church 18:20 that majors in silver and gold. 18:22 Notice Revelation 17:4, Revelation 17:4. 18:46 I want you to notice also that this church has a 18:49 history stained in blood. 18:51 In other words, it's a church that has persecuted God's 18:54 faithful people, and has shed their blood 18:56 throughout her history. 18:57 Notice Revelation 17:6, Revelation 17:6. 19:04 This is the harlot. 19:15 In other words, she's a murderess. 19:17 She kills those who don't agree with her. 19:21 Now I want you to notice also that Revelation 17 says that 19:25 someday the kings of the earth are going to hate her, 19:28 and they're going to make her naked, just like happened with 19:32 Israel in the Old Testament. 19:33 Notice Revelation 17:16. Revelation 17:16. 19:39 And the ten horns which you saw on the beast, 19:42 these will hate the harlot, make her desolate and what? 19:49 and naked, eat her flesh, and burn her with fire. 19:54 Is there a very clear parallel between God's Old Testament 19:58 Israel and the Christian church? Absolutely. 20:02 Both started out well, but both apostatized and became a harlot. 20:08 And, therefore, God said that He was going to destroy both. 20:13 But the particular issue that I want to deal with today has to 20:18 do with the cup that this harlot has in her hand. 20:21 I've left this till this moment because it's the central focus 20:26 of the rest of our study together. 20:28 Notice Revelation 17:4. 20:33 The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with 20:37 gold and precious stones and pearls, 20:45 What does she have in her hand? a golden cup. 20:49 Now let me ask you, What's in the cup? wine. 20:53 You know, I want to share with you an interesting pilgrimage 20:58 that I had a few years ago. 20:59 You know, I wanted to know what wine represented 21:02 here in Revelation 17, because we're dealing with symbols. 21:04 The woman is not a literal woman, it's a system. 21:07 The waters are symbolic. 21:08 You know, the gold and silver and precious stones are symbolic 21:12 of the riches that this worldwide system has. 21:14 So we're dealing with symbols. 21:15 So I said, The wine has to represent something, 21:17 so I went to a Bible Concordance and I looked up every 21:20 reference to wine. 21:21 And almost without exception I found that the references 21:26 to wine deal with literal wine. 21:28 It didn't help me very much, you know, 21:30 to look up the word wine. 21:32 It would give you the impression that wine simply represents 21:35 Ernest and Julio Gallo. 21:37 Ha Ha, you know, that type of wine. 21:40 But then I went back to Revelation 17. 21:44 I said, There has to be some way to determine what 21:47 the wine represents. 21:49 I look up all these references to wine in a Concordance, 21:51 and it's dealing with literal wine. 21:54 And then I read Revelation 17:4 carefully. 21:57 I said, Oh, now I know what I need to do. 22:00 Notice once again verse 4. 22:03 The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with 22:07 gold and precious stones and pearls, having in her hand a 22:12 golden cup... And we know that the cup contains wine, right? 22:14 Having in her hand a golden cup... 22:17 But the wine is called something. 22:18 What is it called? a golden cup full of abominations. 22:24 In other words, her wine are her what? her abominations. 22:28 Because the cup has wine, but the wine is identified 22:33 as her what? abominations, and the filthiness 22:36 of her fornication. 22:37 Then I said, Well, I need to look up the word abominations. 22:40 And when I looked up the word abominations a whole scenario 22:45 opened up to view, which I'm going to share with 22:47 you in a few moments. 22:48 Now let me ask you, What does the harlot do with this wine, 22:52 according to Revelation 17? 22:53 She's got it in the cup, you know. 22:55 She's got her wine, or her abominations, in the cup. 22:58 What does she do with the wine? 23:00 Does she just drink it herself? 23:02 No, she's not the only one intoxicated. 23:05 She uses it to intoxicate the inhabitants of the earth. 23:09 Notice Revelation 17:2, Revelation 17:2. 23:24 Let me ask you, Are the inhabitants of the earth made 23:27 drunk with her abominations? 23:28 Yes, because the wine are her abominations. 23:32 Is that point clear in your mind? 23:33 It's the abominations, or the wine of Babylon, 23:35 that makes people drunk. 23:37 Let me ask you something, How many of you have ever tried to 23:40 give a Bible study to a drunk? 23:41 It's impossible! I mean because their mind is affected, 23:47 There's no way that they can grasp or understand truth, 23:49 because they're intoxicated. 23:51 And so this religious system has given her wine, 23:55 or her abominations to the nations, and the nations have 23:58 drunk these abominations, they've drunk this wine, 24:02 and as a result truth doesn't appeal to them. 24:05 It doesn't make sense to them. 24:07 In fact, notice Jeremiah 51:7, where there's a similar idea: 24:13 Jeremiah 51:7. 24:30 This is not God's wine. 24:31 This is whose wine? Babylon's wine. 24:39 Do you know what the word deranged there means? 24:42 It means the nations are out of their minds. 24:45 They cannot think straight, is what it's saying. 24:50 In other words, the abominations of this system lead people to be 24:55 mentally unbalanced, intoxicated in a way that they 24:59 cannot grasp truth. 25:00 They simply cannot understand the truth. 25:03 It's like a drunkard. 25:04 Now let me ask you, Why did Babylon fall? 25:08 Well, let's review the first angel's message, 25:12 which comes before the fall of Babylon. 25:14 The first angel's message teaches, and listen carefully, 25:17 the first angel's message teaches that Jesus was 25:20 sacrificed once for all. 25:22 That's the gospel. 25:24 Jesus doesn't have to die over and over again, 25:27 because the book of Hebrews said when He died, when He was 25:30 sacrificed, He was sacrificed what? once for all. 25:34 We discovered also in the everlasting gospel that Jesus 25:38 is our only and sufficient high priest. 25:41 In other words, He is the only one who represents us before 25:44 God, because He's God, and He is man. 25:47 In order for an individual to bridge heaven and earth, 25:50 He would have to be God to link us with God, 25:53 and He would have to be man to link us with man. 25:55 A mere man cannot be an intercessor, cannot represent 26:00 us before God because a man is is only a man. 26:03 In order to have an intercessor, both sides of the 26:06 ladder have to be there: divinity and humanity. 26:10 We also noticed in the first angel's message that we're saved 26:14 by Christ's righteousness alone. 26:16 We studied this in our second lecture of the series. 26:18 And that we are not justified by our works. 26:21 We can never be saved by pilgrimages. 26:23 We can never be saved by doing penance. 26:25 We can never be saved by what we do. 26:28 We're saved by the grace of Jesus Christ. 26:30 We noticed in the first angel's message that we need to reflect 26:33 God's character to the world; God's character of love, 26:36 and mercy, and goodness, and righteousness. 26:40 We noticed in the first angel's message that we need to take 26:43 care of our bodies, and of our minds. 26:45 We noticed in the first angel's message that God wants us 26:48 to keep His Holy Law. 26:49 In fact He says, Fear Me, which is linked with 26:52 keeping God's commandments. 26:53 We noticed in the first angel's message that we are now living 26:57 in the hour of God's judgment. 26:58 We also noticed that the first angel's message calls us 27:02 to worship the Creator, and keep His Holy Sabbath. 27:04 We also noticed that in the first angel's message the dead 27:08 are dead, until they receive their reward 27:10 at the resurrection. 27:12 In other words, the first angel's message teaches 27:14 a series of truths. 27:15 Do you know why Babylon is fallen? 27:17 Because Babylon rejected all of those truths. 27:20 You see, the wine of Babylon is the opposite of the 27:24 of the first angel's message. 27:26 If Babylon had accepted the first angel's message, 27:29 she would have the truth of God. 27:31 She would have had unfermented wine, if you please. 27:34 Because the blood of Jesus was pure. 27:37 It had no fermentation. 27:39 But Babylon gives fermented wine. 27:41 It's corrupted wine. 27:43 It's abominable wine. 27:44 But because Babylon rejected the first angel's message, 27:48 she has intoxicated wine, and she gives it to the nations. 27:52 And that's the reason why she failed. 27:54 Notice Revelation 14:8, Revelation 14:8. 28:07 And then it explains why. 28:18 She failed because she gives the nations what? wine; 28:22 her false teachings, we're going to notice. 28:24 By the way, towards the end of time God is going to give even 28:30 a more pointed warning to the world. 28:32 Notice Revelation 18:2, 3. 28:35 And I don't have time to get into all of the details about 28:38 this, but if you look at the context, where this passage is, 28:41 Revelation 18:2, 3, you're going to find that it's right in the 28:45 middle of the passage that deals with the seven last plagues. 28:48 It's a warning of God to His people to get out of Babylon 28:53 before Babylon receives the plagues. 28:55 So it's dealing with the end time. 28:57 Notice Revelation 18:2, 3. 28:59 A mighty angel descends from heaven, and it says: 29:18 Notice the reason why she fell, and the reason why she's 29:20 filled with demons is: 29:34 You see, Babylon, by drinking the wine that she acquired from 29:40 the nations, she got drunk and then she shares her 29:44 intoxicating wine with the world, so that they get 29:48 drunk along with her. 29:50 Because she rejected the message of the first angel, 29:54 she rejects the Sabbath, she rejects the law of God, 29:57 or she seeks to change the law of God. 29:59 She says it doesn't matter what you eat, or what you drink. 30:01 She delves into the occult. 30:04 She believes that the dead really aren't dead, etc. etc. 30:08 Now let's look more carefully at what this wine is. 30:11 Remember, the wine is equal to her what? 30:15 to her abominations, biblically. 30:18 Now let's notice the meaning of the word abominations. 30:21 The first thing that the Bible calls an abomination is making 30:25 idols and worshipping them. 30:27 Notice Deuteronomy 7:25, 26. 30:32 And remember this system. 30:34 I know that you know what system we're talking about. 30:36 I haven't identified this system yet. 30:38 I'm going to do it at the end. 30:40 But I want you to notice what the abominations 30:43 are; what the wine is. 30:45 Deuteronomy 7:25, 26. God says: 30:53 That is of the nations. 31:09 That is idols. 31:21 Let me ask you, Does God really resent the worship of idols? 31:25 inclining yourself before idols? Absolutely! 31:28 How could He be clearer? 31:30 He utterly detests it. 31:32 He utterly abhors it, and He calls it a cursed thing. 31:35 Notice Deuteronomy 27:14, 15, Deuteronomy 27:14, 15. 31:42 And the Levites shall speak with a loud voice, and say to all the 31:46 men of Israel, Cursed. 31:48 The Levites, by the way, were the religious 31:50 teachers in Israel. 31:51 Cursed is the one who makes a carved or molded image, 31:55 an abomination to the Lord, the work of the hands of the 31:59 craftsman, and sets it up in secret. 32:02 And all the people shall answer and say what? Amen. 32:06 By the way, does the second commandment of God's law 32:10 forbid the worship of idols, and the making of idols? 32:14 The Bible is absolutely, abundantly clear, 32:17 and I want you to remember this, because when we talk about 32:20 the identity of the beast, in our tenth lecture we're going to 32:23 deal with this specific issue. Exodus 20:4-6. 32:31 You shall not make for yourself what? a carved image. 33:05 Does God forbid making idols, and bowing before those idols? 33:10 The fourth commandment explicitly forbids it. 33:14 But do you know there's another abomination that God calls so 33:17 in the Old Testament? 33:19 Notice what we find in Deuteronomy 18:9-12, 33:23 Deuteronomy 18:9-12. 33:25 God is warning Israel about something they should not do 33:28 when they entered the land of Canaan. 33:39 What abominations? 33:41 Let's continue reading. 33:48 We'll come back to that a little bit later. 34:13 Let me ask you, What is the underlying doctrine behind all 34:15 of these practices? 34:17 It's the idea that the dead are not really what? 34:20 are not really dead. 34:22 It's the immortality of the soul that stands behind this. 34:26 And any church that tells you that you can pray for the dead, 34:30 or you can pray to the dead, you need to be very careful 34:33 about that church, because that is forbidden. 34:36 It's called an abomination in the Holy Word of God. 34:38 Notice verse 12. 34:50 Do you know what another abomination is? 34:53 Saying that you don't have to keep God's law 34:56 is an abomination. 34:58 You say, Where does the Bible say such a thing? 35:01 Proverbs 28:9, Proverbs 28:9 says: 35:17 So when you turn your ear away from the law; you say, 35:19 We don't have to keep the law. 35:20 The law was nailed to the cross. 35:22 We're not under law but under grace. 35:23 God doesn't expect obedience from us, as a fruit of our 35:27 justification, or as a fruit of His grace. 35:29 You need to be very careful, because we're told in this verse 35:33 that the prayer of an individual who turns away his ear from 35:37 the law is an abomination in the sight of the Lord. 35:40 Now I want you to notice also Proverbs 15:8, 9 35:44 relating to this same point. 35:47 The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord. 35:51 What is wickedness? 35:53 Wickedness is disobeying God's what? God's law. 35:57 The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord. 36:01 So can you sacrifice and still be abominable to the Lord? 36:04 Sure you can, if you're disobedient, if you're wicked. 36:08 But the prayer of the upright is His delight. 36:12 The way of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord: 36:17 but He loves him who follows what? righteousness. 36:21 But do you know, not only those who turn away their ear from 36:25 hearing the law... Is that an abomination? 36:28 But another thing that's an abomination is thinking that you 36:30 can be saved by your good works: by going on pilgrimages, 36:35 by paying penance, or doing other things, thinking that you 36:40 can earn your salvation, like the Pharisees thought. 36:43 Notice what Jesus had to say in Luke 16:15, Luke 16:15. 36:59 Which is the idea that you can be justified by your works. 37:08 Thinking that you don't have to listen to the law 37:10 is an abomination, and thinking that you can be saved by keeping 37:14 the law is also an abomination. 37:16 So we need to look out for churches who say, Well, you 37:21 know, we don't have to worry about the law as Christians. 37:24 Jesus kept it, you know, we're under grace, 37:26 and we turn away our ear from hearing the law. 37:28 We also have to fear for churches that say that you have 37:31 to fulfill a whole bunch of requirements in order for God 37:34 to accept you, in order for you to be saved. 37:36 In other words, people who say they can be saved by their 37:40 works, that's an abomination. 37:42 People who say they can be saved in their sins, 37:44 that is also an abomination. 37:46 Do you know what else is an abomination? 37:48 fornication or adultery. 37:50 Let me ask you, Does the harlot practice fornication? 37:55 She most certainly does. 37:57 Is that an abomination in the sight of the Lord? 37:59 to fornicate with the kings of the earth? for the church to be 38:02 involved with the political powers of the world? Absolutely. 38:05 Notice Jeremiah 13:26, 27, Jeremiah 13:26, 27. 38:35 Once again the idea of harlotry, the idea of fornication, 38:40 is spoken of as an abomination in the sight of God, 38:44 and the harlot, of course, fornicates with the 38:46 kings of the earth. 38:47 Do you know what else is an abomination 38:50 according to Scripture? thinking that you can 38:52 eat anything and everything. 38:57 God gave certain prescriptions about certain kinds of foods 39:00 that can be eaten, and others that cannot be eaten. 39:03 Notice Deuteronomy 14:3, Deuteronomy 14:3. 39:09 This chapter contains the list of the types of flesh that can 39:13 be eaten or cannot be eaten. 39:15 And notice how the chapter begins. 39:22 Now that word detestable is the identical word that is 39:25 translated repeatedly in the Old Testament, abominable thing. 39:30 And then it gives the list of the clean animals that can be 39:34 eaten, and the unclean animals that could not be eaten. 39:37 So if you find a church that says, You can eat anything and 39:40 everything; it doesn't make any difference whatsoever. 39:43 The Bible calls that an abomination. 39:46 Another thing that the Bible calls an abomination; 39:49 part of the wine of Babylon, is burning your children 39:53 to the god Molech. 39:55 And you say, Well, I don't know of any church that allows for 39:58 the burning of their children. 39:59 Praise the Lord for that! 40:00 But I want you to notice that what is important here is the 40:03 principle behind it. 40:04 Let's read the text, and then I'll tell you what the 40:06 principle behind it is. 40:07 Jeremiah 32:35. And they built the high places... 40:12 Speaking about Israel. 40:33 Do you know what the principle is behind this? 40:35 Do you know why Israel, and the ancient nations, burned 40:40 their children to God? 40:41 Because they believed that God was a wrathful God. 40:45 God is a God who is angry, and in order to appease Him, 40:52 you had to burn your children to the god Moloch. 40:57 So any church that gives the image that God is a vengeful 41:01 God, that God is waiting to throw you into hell if you 41:05 misbehave, in principle is doing the same thing as what Israel 41:11 did in the Old Testament, even if we don't burn our 41:13 children to any God. 41:15 Another thing which the Bible calls abomination 41:18 is the shedding of innocent blood. 41:20 Does the harlot shed innocent blood of those who don't agree 41:25 with her? Absolutely. 41:26 Ezekiel 22:2. Moreover the word of the Lord came to me saying: 41:41 And Proverbs 17:15 says, He who justifies the wicked, 41:46 and he who condemns the just... 41:49 So any church that in its history has condemned the just, 41:53 and justified the wicked, what is this? 41:55 ...both of them are alike what? an abomination to the Lord. 42:01 Another thing that the Bible calls an 42:04 abomination is homosexuality. 42:06 And I know that it's not politically correct 42:09 to deal with this, but the Bible says it. 42:12 Leviticus 18:22 says, You shall not lie with a male, 42:17 as with a woman: it is an abomination. 42:21 Now I'd like to talk about the greatest abomination of all 42:27 that is spoken of in the Old Testament. 42:29 The greatest abomination that the Bible describes, 42:34 the greatest description of the wine, the fermented wine, 42:40 is worshipping the sun. 42:44 Notice Ezekiel 8, Ezekiel 8:16, 17. 42:51 As I mentioned in our last lecture, God shows Ezekiel an 42:56 abomination, and Ezekiel says, Wow, that's pretty bad, Lord. 42:59 And God says, You haven't seen anything yet. 43:01 I want to show you a worse abomination than that one. 43:03 He says, Really? So God shows him an abomination that's worse. 43:06 By the way, one of those abominations is worshipping 43:09 the sun god, and the moon god, or the moon goddess. 43:13 Interesting. We'll come back to that a little bit 43:15 later on in our series. 43:17 So God shows them another abomination. 43:20 He says, Wow, this has got to be the worst! 43:23 God says, No, no, no, there's one that's worse than that. 43:25 And finally you get to the worst abomination of all. 43:28 Notice what it says in Ezekiel 8:16, 17. 43:43 These are the leaders, by the way, the religious leaders. 44:02 Notice that sun worship is called abomination. 44:16 In other words, they flaunt themselves and say, 44:18 God, what are You going to do about it? sun worship. 44:24 Let me ask you, is it just perhaps true that at the end 44:27 of time this harlot church is going to impose something 44:30 having to do with sun worship? 44:34 You say, Well, I don't know any church in the world that 44:37 practices sun worship. 44:38 Well, I know some pagan religions in the world that 44:42 practice sun worship, but, you know, any Christian church that 44:45 openly says you need to worship the sun? 44:47 I don't know any, but, you see, at the end of time what happened 44:52 literally in the Old Testament, has a symbolic meaning 44:56 at the end of time. 44:57 Is it just perhaps true that what's going to happen 44:59 at the end of time is not that people are going to worship 45:02 the sun, but they're going to worship on the day of the sun 45:05 that came into the Christian church, by the way, 45:09 from the sun worshipping Romans. 45:11 It can be proved historically. 45:13 And I'm going to show you a quotation from John Paul II 45:16 where he says that the church Christianized 45:19 the day of the sun; as if you can do something like that. 45:23 You say, Well, Pastor, it's not the same thing to worship the 45:26 sun as it is to worship on the day of the sun, 45:29 or what people call Sunday. 45:31 Let me tell you that it is the same thing in principle. 45:33 You say, How's that? 45:34 Let me ask you, Who created the sun? God did. 45:39 Did He create the sun for worship? No. 45:42 It's a secular object, right? 45:44 It's to give us light. 45:45 So He did not create the sun for worship. 45:48 So what happens if you convert the sun into 45:51 an object of worship? 45:53 What is that called? idolatry. 45:55 Now let me ask you, Who created the first day of the week? 45:58 God did. Did He create it for worship? 46:00 No, it's one of the working days, folks. 46:03 Did He create the first day of week for worship? No. 46:07 So what happens if you convert it into a holy day of worship? 46:10 It is still idolatry. 46:12 It doesn't matter if it's an object or if it's a day. 46:15 Anything that man makes for worship, that God did not make 46:19 for worship, is idolatry. 46:21 Are you understanding what I'm saying? 46:23 Now as we studied last time, God is going to have a 46:28 people who are faithful to Him; that are going to sigh and cry 46:32 because of these abominations; this specific one that we've 46:35 talked about last. 46:37 Notice Ezekiel 9, Ezekiel 9:1. 46:44 And this is immediately after He describes the group of leaders 46:47 that were worshipping the sun in the temple of God. 46:49 By the way, these are the followers of God 46:52 that are doing this. 46:53 It's not the pagans. 46:55 Immediately after that it speaks about a group who are 46:57 going to get a seal on their forehead. 46:59 They are opposite. Notice verse 1. 47:20 I don't have time to prove this, but it's Jesus Christ, 47:23 who is clothed... 47:26 In other words, something to seal with. 47:46 Which city? Jerusalem! 47:50 Is this a sealing of God's people, 47:53 or is it a sealing of the pagans? 47:55 This is happening among God's people. 47:57 They're worshipping the sun, but there's a group that don't, 48:01 and they need to receive a seal. 48:02 Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of the 48:04 city, through the midst of Jerusalem, 48:14 Let me ask you, Was there a group that sighed and cried 48:18 about the abominations, and did not participate 48:21 in those abominations, who refused to worship the sun god? 48:24 Absolutely! And what did they receive? the mark where? 48:29 on their foreheads. 48:30 Is there a mark on the forehead in Revelation? 48:32 Is it just possible that it has something to 48:36 do with sun worship? 48:37 We'll come back to that. Verse 5. 48:58 Are those who have the mark protected? Yes, they are. 49:05 Where the religious leaders were, incidentally. 49:15 And some people say, Pastor Bohr, are you saying that those 49:18 who receive the seal, when Nebuchadnezzar came 49:20 and destroyed the city, they were spared? 49:21 And those individuals who were committing the abmoninations, 49:25 those were destroyed? 49:26 That's exactly what I'm saying, because this is the Old 49:29 Testament scenario. 49:30 And so you're saying, Pastor Bohr, you're saying that those 49:32 who worship the sun, those were destroyed, whereas those 49:36 who kept God's Holy Sabbath were spared? 49:38 Are you saying that Jerusalem was destroyed because they 49:41 didn't keep the Sabbath? 49:44 Let's let the Bible tell us. 49:45 Go with me to Jeremiah 17:27, Jeremiah 17:27. 49:51 It's very, very clear. 49:53 God tells us why He destroyed the city of Jerusalem, 49:56 through Nebuchadnezzar. 49:58 And He already told us in Ezekiel 9 that those who had the 50:01 seal in their foreheads would not be destroyed, because they 50:04 were not practicing the abominations. 50:05 They were not worshipping the sun. 50:07 Notice Jeremiah 17:27. God says: 50:14 That is to sanctify. 50:22 What does God say He's going to do? 50:36 Was Jerusalem destroyed because she was trampling 50:39 upon God's Holy Sabbath? Absolutely! 50:42 This text needs to be studied along with the 50:45 passage in Ezekiel. 50:46 Now I want to read you a statement from one of my 50:49 favorite books on Bible prophecy. 50:51 Probably my favorite book. 50:52 It's called, The Great Controversy. 50:54 See, we've gone through all of the Biblical material. 50:56 Now let me read a comment from somebody who wrote 50:58 about what the wine is. 51:00 Notice what the author says, The Great Controversy, pg. 389. 51:27 Listen to this. 51:51 And then she says this. 51:59 Powerful statement! 52:02 Very much in harmony with Scripture. 52:04 You see, the wine represents the counterfeit, or apostate 52:09 teachings of an apostate Christendom. 52:12 It represents pagan practices that have come into the church. 52:18 It represents doctrines that are contrary to Scripture. 52:22 And, unfortunately, we live in a world today, in a post-modern 52:25 world where truth doesn't matter very much anymore. 52:29 People say, Let's just get along. 52:31 You know, Let's just love one another. 52:34 Let's not debate and talk about truth or doctrine. 52:38 It doesn't make any difference. 52:39 God says that it makes a difference, because He contrasts 52:42 the wine with the truth of the first angel's message. 52:46 In fact, do you know, folks, that the great trial at the end 52:49 of time is going to be whether you accept the truth of God, 52:53 or whether you accept the counterfeit and the miracles 52:56 that are performed by the antichrist. 52:58 Notice 2 Thessalonians 2:9-12, 2 Thessalonians 2:9-12. 53:06 It speaks about the coming of the antichrist. 53:08 We'll deal with this later in this series. 53:10 The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of... 53:18 Notice that the antichrist is going to do marvelous works; 53:21 miracles that we can't deny. 53:27 Why do they perish? 53:29 Why are those who follow the antichrist, who accept miracles 53:34 going to perish? Notice: 53:52 It's not that God is doing it, it's that God is allowing it 53:55 to happen because people choose it that way. 53:58 In the Bible God is spoken of as causing that which He allows. 54:02 And so it says in verse 11, And for this reason God will 54:06 send them strong delusion that they should believe a lie... 54:18 Does truth matter, my dear folks? truth matters, 54:22 doctrine matters, our practices matter. 54:26 Jesus said, Sanctify them through thy truth; 54:30 Thy word is truth. 54:32 This book has objective truth. 54:36 And anyone who teaches contrary to the objective truth of this 54:41 book is to be feared, according to Scripture. 54:44 Because what they're doing is sharing wine; 54:46 the wine of Babylon. 54:49 This is the reason why God calls His people out of Babylon. 54:52 See, God doesn't want people in the world to drink the wine, 54:55 because they're going to get the plagues of Babylon. 54:58 God doesn't want the plagues to fall upon the wicked. 55:01 They're going to fall upon Babylon. 55:02 So before the plagues fall, God says, Get out of there! 55:05 Do you think that's a message of love? Of course it is. 55:09 Notice Revelation 18:1-5. 55:30 Babylon is an apostate Christianity, as we've studied. 55:59 And let me close by saying that this religious system, 56:02 represented by the harlot, has introduced all sorts of 56:05 practices, and doctrines, that are contrary to Scripture. 56:08 Let me just mention some of them: 56:10 Sunday as a day of worship, infant baptism, Lent, 56:15 venerating the saints, lighting candles, burning incense, 56:19 bowing down before idols, using special vestments, 56:24 Easter, doing the sign of the cross, praying for and to the 56:28 dead, auricular confession, the rosary, the sign of the cross, 56:32 celibacy, purgatory, convents, pilgrimages, 56:36 penance, the mass, altars. 56:38 All of these things are things that are not found 56:40 anywhere in Scripture. 56:43 And yet these are things that are spoken of by this system 56:46 as saying, things that we need to do. 56:48 And in many cases, things that we need to do 56:51 in order to be saved. 56:52 I think you know what system I'm talking about. 56:56 And I'll tell you, folks, in succeeding messages 56:59 we're going to talk about the other divisions of Babylon, 57:04 because this church that I'm referring to is only the main 57:08 protagonist of Babylon. 57:10 There are two other powers: the false prophet, 57:13 and the dragon. And we're going to talk about those powers 57:16 in future lectures. 57:17 May God bless us and help us to assimilate the truth of God, 57:20 and not the wine of Babylon. |
Revised 2023-04-20