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If you haven’t been with us we have deconstructed these gatherings down to the essentials:
We begin with prayer
Sing the Word of God set to music (as a means to get it into our heads) and then we sit for a moment in silence here at the Church/Studio.
When we come back we pick up where we left off last week in our verse by verse study.
Okay, so we ended chapter nine last week.
The judgments of the first six seals and first six trumpets are now behind us.
The seventh trumpet yet remains—which remember, contains the seven bowls—which are within the seventh seal and the descriptions of it.
Now, in a similar way to which chapter 7 was stuck in between the sixth and seventh seal judgments (which we have covered), this chapter 10 is stuck between the sixth and seventh trumpets and serves to sort of set the stage for that final trumpet – which again contains the unleashing of the seven bowls or vials.
We might suggest that the chapters that are inserted between the seals and trumpets wrapping up are ways that God encourages people to both trust in Him and His ways and to turn from their sin before another wave of misery and woe are unleashed upon them.
We see in these chapters that God comforts His people with the knowledge that He has not forgotten them, and that they will ultimately be victorious.
We might also note that the total effects of the sixth trumpet may not yet be entirely complete as the second woe (of three) is only said to be past after the ministry of the two witnesses in Revelation 11:3-13.
As a result of this this section of the Revelation or apocalypse is sometimes treated like something of an episode, thrown between the second and third woe-trumpets, and having little or no relation to either.
I think this may be an error. In other words, we are still dealing with the blast of the sixth Trumpet as we read the contents of chapter 10 and only when we get to the 14th verse of chapter eleven do we have an indication that the woe of the sixth Trumpet is over.
The theme of this chapter appears to be the declaration of God’s intention and right to take possession of the earth—both land and sea—and to bring to fulfillment the many prophetic themes found in Scripture which point to the establishment of God’s kingdom on earth.
Now, there are a number of views relative to God’s Kingdom here on earth.
Some say we are waiting on it to arrive.
Some say that we are helping to prepare the earth for its arrival.
Some say that it is already here materially and others suggest that is already here but spiritually (I am of this latter ilk.)
Let’s talk about God’s kingdom for a minute.
When the New Testament opens, we find John the Baptist preaching.
His preaching included a number of warnings that the Kingdom of God was at hand, that the axe is laid at the root of the tree and that people better repent in preparation for it.
We know that once John was imprisoned, Jesus also preached, “the gospel of the kingdom of God.”
Jesus called and trained twelve apostles and we read in Mark 10 beginning at verse 5
5 These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not:
6 But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
7 And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand.
These pronouncements were a continuation of all the Old Testament promises and prophesies that spoke to a coming Messiah.
The Jews would have been familiar with them.
It’s important to understand that in the light of this Old Testament context, the phrase ‘kingdom of heaven’ or Kingdom of God does not refer to a kingdom located in heaven (as opposed to the earth) but instead was always speaking to the coming of a kingdom to earth that had a heavenly origin and character.
When this simple apparent biblical fact is forgotten, you get people actually believing that a new heaven and a new material earth are going to be established here (in the future) as His material kingdom when all it means is a new administration and way of being was on the way – or at hand – all the way back in the days of John the Baptist, Jesus and the apostles.
As the religious leaders of the Jews blasphemed the Holy Spirit by refusing the only true Messiah Jesus began using parables to teach new truths concerning this kingdom.
In 106 New Testament passages we can read insights into the Kingdom that Jesus promised and the Old Testament described.
The apostles had an expectation that Jesus had come to restore the Kingdom to Israel and in the first chapter of Acts they ask him, saying:
“Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?”
Jesus never corrected this expectation of the kingdom of God on earth, but indicated that the timing of its arrival was yet future and that in the meantime a special period of time characterized by the permanent indwelling of the Holy Spirit to move the gospel across the land was their more immediate task at hand.
This Kingdom would come into its fullness at the return of Jesus to His own (as promised) and Jesus made it clear that before his apostles could get through the cities of Judea he would return and usher in this Spiritual economy from heaven as promised.
The apostles, as proven by their words to Jesus in Acts one, believed that the Kingdom was coming upon them at ANY SECOND rather than being how the Bible says, “at hand.”
In Luke 19 we read:
“And as they heard these things, he added and spake a parable, because he was nigh to Jerusalem, and because they thought that the kingdom of God should immediately appear.”
Later in Matthew 24 Peter, James, John and Andrew asked Jesus
“When will all these things be, and what will be the sign of thy coming, and the end of the age?” (Tying his return to the coming of the Kingdom) and the rest of chapter 24 and parts of 25 is Jesus describing for them the signs that would accompany the coming of Him in His Kingdom.
So we know that the apostles idea that the Kingdom was coming immediately and that it would perhaps even be a material kingdom were dashed by Jesus and his talk of some delays so that the course of all things could play out.
An important new truth which Jesus began to reveal was the delay before the kingdom of God would come fully on earth.
Once His kingdom was come, however, Jesus told His disciples then and there that “in the “regeneration” they would sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel (Matthew 19:28) so obviously they were anxious for this kingdom to come.
Note that Andrew was martyred relatively soon thereafter – so we know that the reigning Jesus spoke about – which would occur after the regeneration, would be after the apostles were resurrected.
Then again, and immediately prior to his ascension, the disciples asked about the coming of the kingdom. We read:
Acts 1:6 When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?
7 And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power.
8 But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.
Recall two things here – Jesus had also told them that He would return BEFORE they had gotten through all of the cities of Judea AND that the Greek word translated earth here is not Kosmos (meaning the whole world) but is Gahay, meaning the surrounding land.
This book of Revelation is the Father telling His Son the times and Seasons and it is the Son sharing this Revelation with John, the last of his living apostles.
And it is in this last book of the Bible where key events related to God’s kingdom coming to earth is given to . . . to . . . to? That’s right, to the Seven Churches of Asia Minor.
What’s important to understand is that in Revelation we are shown several key things relative to the world and its kingdoms.
Because most people believe that what it is describing is material that it has not happened yet.
But if we can get ourselves to see that the Kingdom is spiritual, that it is NOT of this world (and never has been) and that it was initiated by Christ bringing final judgement upon His brethren the House of Israel, we can begin to see that the new heaven and the new earth and the new Jerusalem could and did fall upon us spiritually nearly 2000 years earlier.
I mean today is Sunday September 24th. Yesterday was Saturday September 23rd and for several months Christians have been saying that the end of the world, accompanied by the Second coming of Christ, was going to roll out.
There were signs – in the heavens. Earthquakes. Tidal waves. Wars and rumors of wars. But again, an unfulfilled prediction – one of thousands that have occurred for nearly 2000 years.
Why are they never correct? Because they are built on a foundation of a totally incorrect set of beliefs.
But if we see that the Book of Revelation, which tells us that from 70 AD the King has had
a rightful rule over all the nations (Revelation 12:5; 19:15.
That He has defeated the kingdoms of man (Psalm 2:1-2; Daniel 2:34-35, Daniel 2:44-45; Revelation 1:5 and 19:15)
That He has ushered in the endless full Kingdom on earth (Revelation 11:15 Revelation 20:4),
That the demise of the kingdom of Satan has occurred (Revelation 20:2 and 10), and that the
permanent dwelling of the King among His subjects is in place (Revelation 21:3 and 22:3)
We can understand the purpose and place of all of this information and then be effectively part of His invisible, eternal, never ending Kingdom here and now, and in the great beyond.
Now get this because it is really important:
Many, many, many people are under the impression that what Revelation is describing cannot possibly refer to the eternal state of things because in its descriptions we read about the continuation of physical birth, sin and even physical death.
Therefore, the thought is that there is a one thousand year period that Revelation is describing here – then comes the end of all of everything.
But I would strongly suggest that all of the biblical language describing the blissful state found in the kingdom of God is speaking to a spiritual state present in the minds and hearts of all who come to understand God through His only begotten Son and are part of His invisible heavenly Kingdom here on earth.
It takes a change in perspective to then comprehend what all the Old Testament passages were actually describing when they spoke of the time when this kingdom would fall upon the hearts and minds of people on earth.
So, I am going to try and share some of the major passages from the Old Testament now as an exercise in opening our ears to their true application.
You will remember that most people read these when studying Revelation and try and get them to have material earthly application to people – especially during the years of the thousand year reign or Millenium.
But remember remember remember, a thousand is representative of all years in scripture and NOT simply one thousand.
Got that? So here are some passages that are often read in conjunction with Revelation.
Isaiah 2:1 The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.
2 And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the LORD’S house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it.
3 And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
4 And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.
Isaiah 9:6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. (Listen!)
7 Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.
Isaiah 11:1 And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots:
2 And the spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD;
3 And shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the LORD: and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears:
4 But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked.
5 And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins.
6 The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them.
7 And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
8 And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice’ den.
9 They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.
10 And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious.
11 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea.
12 And he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth.
13 The envy also of Ephraim shall depart, and the adversaries of Judah shall be cut off: Ephraim shall not envy Judah, and Judah shall not vex Ephraim.
Isaiah 60:1 Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee.
2 For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the LORD shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee.
3 And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.
4 Lift up thine eyes round about, and see: all they gather themselves together, they come to thee: thy sons shall come from far, and thy daughters shall be nursed at thy side.
5 Then thou shalt see, and flow together, and thine heart shall fear, and be enlarged; because the abundance of the sea shall be converted unto thee, the forces of the Gentiles shall come unto thee.
6 The multitude of camels shall cover thee, the dromedaries of Midian and Ephah; all they from Sheba shall come: they shall bring gold and incense; and they shall shew forth the praises of the LORD.
7 All the flocks of Kedar shall be gathered together unto thee, the rams of Nebaioth shall minister unto thee: they shall come up with acceptance on mine altar, and I will glorify the house of my glory.
8 Who are these that fly as a cloud, and as the doves to their windows?
9 Surely the isles shall wait for me, and the ships of Tarshish first, to bring thy sons from far, their silver and their gold with them, unto the name of the LORD thy God, and to the Holy One of Israel, because he hath glorified thee.
10 And the sons of strangers shall build up thy walls, and their kings shall minister unto thee: for in my wrath I smote thee, but in my favour have I had mercy on thee.
11 Therefore thy gates shall be open continually; they shall not be shut day nor night; that men may bring unto thee the forces of the Gentiles, and that their kings may be brought.
12 For the nation and kingdom that will not serve thee shall perish; yea, those nations shall be utterly wasted.
Isaiah 65:17 For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind.
18 But be ye glad and rejoice for ever in that which I create: for, behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy.
19 And I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in my people: and the voice of weeping shall be no more heard in her, nor the voice of crying.
20 There shall be no more thence an infant of days, nor an old man that hath not filled his days: for the child shall die an hundred years old; but the sinner being an hundred years old shall be accursed.
21 And they shall build houses, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them.
22 They shall not build, and another inhabit; they shall not plant, and another eat: for as the days of a tree are the days of my people, and mine elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands.
23 They shall not labour in vain, nor bring forth for trouble; for they are the seed of the blessed of the LORD, and their offspring with them.
24 And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear.
25 The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the bullock: and dust shall be the serpent’s meat. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, saith the LORD.
Jeremiah 23:1 Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! saith the LORD.
2 Therefore thus saith the LORD God of Israel against the pastors that feed my people; Ye have scattered my flock, and driven them away, and have not visited them: behold, I will visit upon you the evil of your doings, saith the LORD.
3 And I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all countries whither I have driven them, and will bring them again to their folds; and they shall be fruitful and increase.
4 And I will set up shepherds over them which shall feed them: and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall they be lacking, saith the LORD.
5 Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth.
6 In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.
7 Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that they shall no more say, The LORD liveth, which brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt;
8 But, The LORD liveth, which brought up and which led the seed of the house of Israel out of the north country, and from all countries whither I had driven them; and they shall dwell in their own land.
Jeremiah 31:31 Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah:
32 Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD:
33 But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.
34 And they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.
35 Thus saith the LORD, which giveth the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, which divideth the sea when the waves thereof roar; The LORD of hosts is his name:
36 If those ordinances depart from before me, saith the LORD, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me for ever.
37 Thus saith the LORD; If heaven above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, I will also cast off all the seed of Israel for all that they have done, saith the LORD.
38 Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that the city shall be built to the LORD from the tower of Hananeel unto the gate of the corner.
39 And the measuring line shall yet go forth over against it upon the hill Gareb, and shall compass about to Goath.
40 And the whole valley of the dead bodies, and of the ashes, and all the fields unto the brook of Kidron, unto the corner of the horse gate toward the east, shall be holy unto the LORD; it shall not be plucked up, nor thrown down any more for ever.
Ezekiel 37:15 The word of the LORD came again unto me, saying,
16 Moreover, thou son of man, take thee one stick, and write upon it, For Judah, and for the children of Israel his companions: then take another stick, and write upon it, For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and for all the house of Israel his companions:
17 And join them one to another into one stick; and they shall become one in thine hand.
18 And when the children of thy people shall speak unto thee, saying, Wilt thou not shew us what thou meanest by these?
19 Say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel his fellows, and will put them with him, even with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they shall be one in mine hand.
20 And the sticks whereon thou writest shall be in thine hand before their eyes.
21 And say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the heathen, whither they be gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land:
22 And I will make them one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king to them all: and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all:
23 Neither shall they defile themselves any more with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions: but I will save them out of all their dwellingplaces, wherein they have sinned, and will cleanse them: so shall they be my people, and I will be their God.
24 And David my servant shall be king over them; and they all shall have one shepherd: they shall also walk in my judgments, and observe my statutes, and do them.
25 And they shall dwell in the land that I have given unto Jacob my servant, wherein your fathers have dwelt; and they shall dwell therein, even they, and their children, and their children’s children for ever: and my servant David shall be their prince for ever.
26 Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them: and I will place them, and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore.
27 My tabernacle also shall be with them: yea, I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
28 And the heathen shall know that I the LORD do sanctify Israel, when my sanctuary shall be in the midst of them for evermore.
Now Ezekiel is a special book because there are entire chapters that speak to this time when the Kingdom of God will abide. Specifically, they are chapters 44:1 – 48:1 (which I am not going to read). But you can.
Turning to Zechariah we read:
Zechariah 8:1 Again the word of the LORD of hosts came to me, saying,
2 Thus saith the LORD of hosts; I was jealous for Zion with great jealousy, and I was jealous for her with great fury.
3 Thus saith the LORD; I am returned unto Zion, and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem: and Jerusalem shall be called a city of truth; and the mountain of the LORD of hosts the holy mountain.
4 Thus saith the LORD of hosts; There shall yet old men and old women dwell in the streets of Jerusalem, and every man with his staff in his hand for very age.
5 And the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in the streets thereof.
6 Thus saith the LORD of hosts; If it be marvellous in the eyes of the remnant of this people in these days, should it also be marvellous in mine eyes? saith the LORD of hosts.
7 Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Behold, I will save my people from the east country, and from the west country;
8 And I will bring them, and they shall dwell in the midst of Jerusalem: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God, in truth and in righteousness.
9 Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Let your hands be strong, ye that hear in these days these words by the mouth of the prophets, which were in the day that the foundation of the house of the LORD of hosts was laid, that the temple might be built.
10 For before these days there was no hire for man, nor any hire for beast; neither was there any peace to him that went out or came in because of the affliction: for I set all men every one against his neighbor.
11 But now I will not be unto the residue of this people as in the former days, saith the LORD of hosts.
12 For the seed shall be prosperous; the vine shall give her fruit, and the ground shall give her increase, and the heavens shall give their dew; and I will cause the remnant of this people to possess all these things.
13 And it shall come to pass, that as ye were a curse among the heathen, O house of Judah, and house of Israel; so will I save you, and ye shall be a blessing: fear not, but let your hands be strong.
14 For thus saith the LORD of hosts; As I thought to punish you, when your fathers provoked me to wrath, saith the LORD of hosts, and I repented not:
15 So again have I thought in these days to do well unto Jerusalem and to the house of Judah: fear ye not.
16 These are the things that ye shall do; Speak ye every man the truth to his neighbour; execute the judgment of truth and peace in your gates:
17 And let none of you imagine evil in your hearts against his neighbour; and love no false oath: for all these are things that I hate, saith the LORD.
Zechariah 14:8 And it shall be in that day, that living waters shall go out from Jerusalem; half of them toward the former sea, and half of them toward the hinder sea: in summer and in winter shall it be.
9 And the LORD shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one LORD, and his name one.
10 All the land shall be turned as a plain from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem: and it shall be lifted up, and inhabited in her place, from Benjamin’s gate unto the place of the first gate, unto the corner gate, and from the tower of Hananeel unto the king’s winepresses.
11 And men shall dwell in it, and there shall be no more utter destruction; but Jerusalem shall be safely inhabited.;
Micah 4:1 But in the last days it shall come to pass, that the mountain of the house of the LORD shall be established in the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills; and people shall flow unto it.
2 And many nations shall come, and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for the law shall go forth of Zion, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
3 And he shall judge among many people, and rebuke strong nations afar off; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.
4 But they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree; and none shall make them afraid: for the mouth of the LORD of hosts hath spoken it.
5 For all people will walk every one in the name of his god, and we will walk in the name of the LORD our God for ever and ever.
6 In that day, saith the LORD, will I assemble her that halteth, and I will gather her that is driven out, and her that I have afflicted;
7 And I will make her that halted a remnant, and her that was cast far off a strong nation: and the LORD shall reign over them in mount Zion from henceforth, even for ever.
8 And thou, O tower of the flock, the strong hold of the daughter of Zion, unto thee shall it come, even the first dominion; the kingdom shall come to the daughter of Jerusalem.
Q and A
Prayer
Revelation 10. Part I
Meat
September 24th 2017
