Bible Study no 2 of Revelation

We are starting today our second study on the Book of Revelation. And last week we started with a review with some of the objectives of this study. And today I want to review briefly a few things we did mention last week. And basically the objectives are, as I described last week, for us to better understand the days in which we live, to discern. To discern, therefore, the current events. As current events unfold around us, we want to understand them. And we want to have, by having that understanding, have a degree of hope and confidence that God is in control.

And hope by looking at the days ahead, that there is hope. Because we live in very, very sober times. We live in days where there are a lot of things that are happening that are very sad. And therefore, we need to be completely trusting in God in what He is doing. The second objective is to have a more balanced understanding of biblical prophecies.

It is quite often a case that people get carried away with certain understandings of biblical prophecies by putting one illustration yah or one imagery yah or one analogy yah completely on its own. But when we have an overall view of how it all fits together, then it prevents us from coming out with little ideas which may appear pretty good, but prevents us from coming out with little ideas that could lead us astray.

So understanding the overall description and putting it into a proper context of the book of Revelation, it helps us, therefore, to have a better understanding of prophecies. A third objective is also, as I went through it, to encourage us to ever more godly and more holy and a better, more mature conduct. You know, we live in difficult times and we see these things happening. They should sober us in a positive way that leads us to a life which is more godly and more mature, more in the way that God would want it.

So that is why it's important to watch and be aware. But these three points highlight not only watching world events, but also watching ourselves, because we're encouraging the practice of a more mature conduct of ourselves, and so we've got to watch ourselves, which in one way of looking at it is actually more important than even just watching everything else around us. If we are watching ourselves and we've been careful in a way that we conduct ourselves, then that is very important.

That is very important. Well, let's move on then. We also talked about Revelation 1 verse 1 last week, and we highlighted obviously that it's a revelation of Jesus Christ. We highlighted what that verse meant, but we focused also on two specific words in Revelation 1 verse 1, and we highlighted the word shortly, and as a reminder we put an important focus that we should read it or understand it.

That is something that will happen quickly in a short period of time. So quite often when we read Revelation 1 verse 1, it gets the impression that well from the time that this was revealed to when these things are going to happen, it's going to be shortly. But the meaning of the word is also related to with speed and quickly, and that ties in, as I explained to you last week, two scriptures like 1st Thessalonians 5 verse 3, that it says when people say peace and safety, then sudden destruction, it was quick destruction with speed comes upon the people as labor pines upon a pregnant woman, and it will just happen.

We'll not be able to get out of it. So that is an important point to look at it from the focus that it's not just shortly from when the book of Revelation was revealed at the time of the apostle John, say about 1900 years ago, because 1900 years ago is not shortly. But what it means is that when these things start happening, it will be quickly. And then the other word was signified, which basically implies that that it is through different signs, through different symbols and metaphors that we are seeing these things happening.

So this is a matter of revision. Then also as a matter of revision, we did spend a little bit of time last week talking about hermeneutics. And in the era of hermeneutics, we said, well, the word that word actually means rules of interpretation. And we highlighted a few, which today I'm just going to summarize a few of them, just saying that we are going to look at the whole scripture. The Bible must be interpreted as a whole, and the Bible is inspired by God.

And it's good for teaching, for correction, for instruction in righteousness. It's good for all these principles. So then we also talked about reading the context.

Quite often we read, well, it says, for instance, the candlesticks. And people can come a round of conclusions about that, or another symbol that is used. But then we got it. Allow the Bible to interpret itself. Also, we talked about that priority must be given to what Christ told us, because it is His word. He is the spokesman. Basically, He is the one that spoke God's word, the Bible. And yes, He spoke at times through the power of the Spirit, that inspired other people to write, whatever. But He is the spiritual author. I know that each book has their own different authors in human authors that actually wrote it. But spiritually speaking, the author is God, but really it actually is through Christ. So the instruction through Christ must be priority. We must also take note of the testimony of the early church. And we also have to understand the context. And the context is not just reading the verse before or the verse after, which yes, that is important, but it's also understand the context of the situation, of the time that people lived in. And in that context of the time, it helps us to understand why maybe Paul said something or whatever it may be. The context of the time is therefore important. Then the other point is God has never changed His purpose. His purpose is to create sons and daughters and to glorify those sons and daughters as His sons in His family, in His kingdom. That plan has never changed. Satan has never destroyed or impeded God's plan. Satan is only acting as God allows him. And God in His greater mind and greater wisdom understands what is the correct way to act at the right time. And you and I have to have faith in God because He knows what He's doing. Then we also talked about exegesis and isogesus. And we explained that exegesis is extractive meaning and isogesus is put our own interpretation into a structure which is the incorrect thing to do. So we talked about rules of exegesis. And in those rules, we then looked at a triangle which are basically called a triangle which are defined as degrees of authority. And in that triangle of degrees of authority, we basically looked at the two bottom layers being the main and most important layers because it's direct information from the Bible, either direct affirmations or direct implications. We gave the example direct affirmation is the Sabbath is the seventh day of the week. That's it. It's a direct affirmation, simple and forward. A direct affirmation is versus the first resurrection. However, we in the church use a term for instance the second resurrection. And that is a direct implication based that after the first resurrection, a thousand years later, then there will be a resurrection. And therefore that that's why we call it a second resurrection. But in a sense, it is a direct implication. We have to be careful on these other upper layers, which are probable or intrusive. That means like human reasoning. And those two are still from the Bible, but we've got to be careful because the degree of authority is diminished as we go further up this ladder. And then we talked very briefly about human reasoning. Now God has given us a brain and there is nothing wrong with having human reasoning. There's nothing wrong for us to reason, to talk, to meditate. Even God says, listen man, reason with me. And obey God's law, obey me, reason with me. So God expects us to think through things. But when we think through apart from God, apart from God's laws, then we are in trouble. And therefore, I drew the analogy that is shown on these arrows marked in red. Then when we reason apart from God's laws with some idea, which may be very clever and very intelligent and very reasonable, humanly speaking.

But if it is apart from God's law, it's not going to fall inside this pyramid. And therefore, it's going to be an incorrect conclusion. But as I said, there's nothing wrong with reasoning, provided it is within God's law, and then will fall within the right conclusions, which are biblical. So we have to be careful with human reasoning, making sure that even though it's from the Bible, it is with God as our guide and directing us. So those things we covered last week. We also briefly started talking about that the truth, understanding the truth, is a miracle from God. And we quoted 1 Corinthians chapter 2 verse 11, chapter 4, who knows the things of man except the spirit of man which is in him. Even so, no one knows the things of God except the things of God. I want to now focus a little bit on this section here in 1 Corinthians chapter 2. So I want to dig a little bit deeper because this is very important for us to understand as well. And in 1 Corinthians chapter 2, and if we start reading a little earlier, so let me just turn my Bible to 1 Corinthians chapter 2. And if we start reading in verse 6, it says, however we speak wisdom amongst those who are mature, yet not the wisdom of this age. So it's basically saying, look, we talk wisdom, we talk wisdom, which is basically, think about it as like human reasoning, for people are mature in a way that is within God's principles, but yet not wisdom of this age, which is like human reasoning apart from God. Nor of the rulers of this age were coming to nothing. So our reasoning, our wisdom, our thinking must be within what God gives us. And that's what he says in verse 7, but we speak the wisdom of God. In other words, the knowledge of God with God's Spirit guiding us in the mystery, because knowing the truths of God is a mystery. The heat and wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory. So there are certain things that they have not changed. They've been there from the beginning, and that's what God wants, but they are not revealed until when Christ came. And Christ came to reveal additional things. He came to magnify the law. He came to fulfill it. Now, understand that fulfill has got two meanings. Yes, you obeyed it. You fulfilled it. You obeyed it. But they also, they are parts of the law that pointed to Christ. And Christ fulfilled those parts of the law that were, in a sense, prophetic. Like for instance, God's early days, they are part of the law. Leviticus 23 talks about God's early days.

The first one of those annual holy days is Passover, even though it was partially fulfilled when these relights left Egypt. The real spiritual fulfillment of the Passover was when Christ died for us. And so, he fulfilled that part of the law that was prophetic. In fact, that was prophetic right early in Genesis chapter 3 when there was Satan who caused or inspired Adam and Eve to do wrong. And right there is the first, let's call it messianic prophecy. And that's right in the law, in the book of Genesis, in the first five books of Moses, the Torah, the Pentateuch. And therefore, Christ fulfilled the law because it fulfilled those prophetic scriptures which were even in the law. But again, a verse continue reading in verse 8, which none of the rulers of this age knew, for had they known, they would have not crucified the Lord Jesus. And what he's saying is the rulers of that age, they did not recognize the prophecy that Christ was the Messiah, was the Son of God. Had they known that, they would have not killed it. And therefore, then it adds up a little bit of value. He says, I has not seen nor year heard nor entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those loving. So we cannot grasp the wonderful good news that God has for us in the new heavens and new earth. We just can't get it because it is a whole spiritual dimension beyond our limited physical comprehension. So we just can't get it.

Albeit, there are certain things that God's given us to understand that that's important for us to hold on for salvation. But there are some wonderful things that God has prepared for us that I don't know of, nobody of us know of, which are wonderful because God has a whole new heaven and new earth prepared plan for us that we just cannot visualize. But God has revealed, says in verse 10, a number of these things, says yeah them to us through His Spirit. So there are a number of things that God has revealed to us. There are other things that God hasn't revealed yet. You read, I think it's the ettronomy 2929, the things that God has given to us we understand, but the secrets of God belong to God and He will show them to us at the right time. So God has revealed to us a number of things through His Spirit. That's in verse 10. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep fears of God. So God's Holy Spirit, which is, let's call it God's power, but it's also the equivalent of saying it's like God's mind, it's God's spiritual DNA, it's God's way of thinking, it's God's love and kindness and all that through God's Holy Spirit. So God's Holy Spirit, that mentality, that feeling, that sentiment of God, He reveals us a number of things. God reveals us a number of things through His Spirit. And then it says here in verse 11, for He says, For what man knows the things of man except to spare a man which is in him? In other words, you and I can only understand the things of humanity because we have a spirit of man.

If we did not have a spirit of man, we'll be like a dumb person that does not understand anything.

Think about Nebuchadnezzar. When the spirit of man was removed from him, he behaved like an animal for a number of years until he humbled himself and then God gave him the spirit of man back. In other words, allowed the spirit of man, which is the spirit of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar, to be back with him and function with his brain. So you and I only understand the things of man because we have the spirit of man in man. Let me put it another way. Let me put it in a very simple way. If you want to go and talk to a lovely pet, maybe you've got a lovely dog, maybe you've got a lovely cat, and you're going to talk to them about algebra or about what you plan to do tomorrow or things like that, you want to understand. You'll not understand because it does not have the spirit of man in man. You see, you just can't get through to that animal, how beautiful and lovely it may be, your preferred, your lovely pet animal, but it cannot understand the things of man. Why? Because it does not have the spirit of man. Likewise, no one knows the things of God except the spirit of God. Therefore, if you and I are trying to convince people about God's things, about God's truth, and if God has not given them around their mind, working with their mind, God's spirit are not saying that they already baptized because God can work with people before they all baptized. They can start understanding God's truth before they're baptized. So, they can have God's spirit with them, working with them, and opening up their minds. That makes a human being, then through that, be able to understand the things of God, just like you can only understand the things of man because you have the spirit of man. So, if God's only spirit is not working with somebody, then you can talk to that person about the things of God, but they want to understand, and this God miraculously is working with their mind and opening up their mind to understand. That is very, very important for us to understand. Therefore, when Christ spoke to the people of that age, the apostles asked him, why do you speak to them in parables? And Christ said, because it has been given you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them has not been given. He says that in Matthew 13. Therefore, I speak to them in parables because see, they do not see, hearing, they do not hear, nor do they understand. So, Christ was deliberately speaking to them in a way that they would not get it. Now, that is rather strange to some people, and unless you understand that only if you have, if God is calling you and opening your mind, will only then you'll understand. And that is basically from Isaiah 6 verse 10, because in Isaiah 6 verse 10, and you read that section, I'm just focusing now on one verse, it says, lest they see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and and convert in other words and repent and be changed and therefore be healed.

Doesn't God want everybody to be to repent? Yes, but God has also a plan. God has a plan, has a timeline, and therefore it is a major key to understand how God plans to achieve his vision for mankind and why this way. We really have to understand God's plans, how he's trying to do, and the book of Revelation helps us to understand a little bit more of that, so that we can see why God is allowing certain things, and that therefore is very, very key.

Now let's read a few other scriptures. For instance, in Daniel 12 verse 10, it says, Many shall be purified. At the time of the end, many shall be purified and made white, but the wicked shall do wickedly, and none of the wicked shall understand, but the wise shall understand. Why? Because God has given them the wisdom through his Spirit. And then we've got Psalm 111 verse 10, which reads, The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. A good understanding of thy all that do his commandments and his praise endures forever.

I have often talked about the virtuous circle, which is a circle of virtue that starts with the fear of God, and through that we repent, we search more of God's word, and for that we grow in faith, and as we do that, we then come to a point where we make a commitment to obey God, we get baptized, we receive God's Holy Spirit, and we keep growing, provided we keep obeying God. The moment we stop obeying God, then we start going down that ladder instead of going up. And so the fear of the Lord is not only the beginning, but it keeps us going. That respect and fear of God is very important. Now, notwithstanding, though, and this is what we will see in the book of Revelation, because there's a great hope, is that God promises to save mankind.

This is not just save an individual person, saving the whole mankind.

The whole mankind then means all nations. Quite often in the States, we often think of the States, and if you're in South Africa, you think of South Africa.

But God loves all peoples, all nations, and as we're coming to the time of the end, is a time of judgment of all nations, because it's a time to save mankind from its disaster.

And if we turn to Revelation 11, in Revelation 11, starting in verse 15, we get the Scripture where it talks in of Christ's Second Coming, because it says, then the seventh angel sounded, that's the lost Trump, and you and I know from 1 Corinthians 15, verse 51, 52, 53, around there, at the lost Trump, that's Christ's coming. Right? So, yeah, we have in verse 15, Revelation 11, verse 15, then the seventh angel sounded, that's the lost Trump, and the voices in heaven saying, the kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever. Once Christ comes to earth from there on words, Christ will rule on earth, and obviously God as well, because he says the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ. So, but the Father is delegated to Christ to rule over mankind, and to save mankind, and to come, and come, and solve our human problems, which today, when you and I just look at our nations, at our political situations, in whatever country you are, it's not just in the States. If you live in Portugal, you live in Angola, you live in Brazil, you live in the United Kingdom, you live in Australia, wherever you live, and we need Christ coming to save us, to save mankind. And that's what he says. He would come, and then we read a little bit ahead in verse 18 of Revelation 11. It says, that is the time when the nations were angry. So, as Christ comes, the nations then get together with, read, and we will read more about the gathering of the nations in Armageddon, to then go to Jerusalem to fight Christ. And it says, that the nations were angry, and God's wrath and the wrath of the land have come. Right? And then it describes three specific things that are going to happen, which I believe they are logically in this order, because they are in this sequence.

And the first thing he says, your wrath has come, and the time of the dead that they should be judged. When Christ comes, just before Christ comes, nobody has resurrected, right? So, as Christ comes, some will be resurrected in the first resurrection, and some will remain sleeping for at least another thousand years, to be resurrected after the thousand years have ended. Therefore, those people that are dead, they will be judged to either be in the first resurrection, or to remain in the grave for at least another thousand years, until the thousand years have ended. So, when Christ comes and the nations are angry, and Christ's wrath has come, that is the time of the first resurrection, because those that are dead and are judged to be in the first resurrection will now resurrect. The others are judged to remain sleeping.

Then, a second major event or activity that will happen subsequent to that resurrection is the time that you should reward your servants, the prophets, and the saints, and those who fear your name, small and great. In other words, it's the time of giving the reward. Now, understand, point number one is a resurrection. Eternal life is a gift. Eternal life is a gift. But point number two, on top of the gift of eternal life, there's a reward. You know of parables that says, because you've done this, you've taken your demeanor and you multiply that by 10, well done, you'll be ruling over 10 cities. You're there to multiply it by five, well done, good and faithful servant, you'll rule over five cities, and so on. So there will be a reward according to the people's works.

The gift of eternal life is a gift, but there is a reward according to works in addition to that gift. And so that is the time to reward. So there will be a time, therefore, that the people will be resurrected, and then obviously after they're resurrected, then they will be given their reward. Or, look, you're going to be over 10 cities, or look, you're going to have this responsibility, or look, look, you're going to be teaching in this area. So everybody that is resurrected will be given their, let's call it, job description, their reward. And you know what? It will be the best job for you, which is specifically made for you, and will ideally fit your character and your capabilities. And then third is that then Christ is going to destroy those people that destroy the earth. Those armies that are gathered to fight against Christ will be destroyed, will be gone.

Now, that does not mean that mankind as a whole has now changed their nature. Though there's still bad attitudes and things like that amongst people that have to be walked through, and that's a job that we'll have during the Millennial. But at Christ's coming, there is these three major activities that will happen because God promises to save mankind. God promises to save mankind. And there are a number of scriptures that describe that. For instance, Isaiah 9, in verse 2 says, the people who walk in darkness have seen the great light. Now, who's walked in darkness? It's the people that ordination that were in the state of not understanding. They've lived through this, and Christ comes, and now He's going to bring peace to mankind, and they see a great light. And those that dwelt in the land of shadow of death, they didn't have hope.

The country was, and their society was falling apart just before Christ's coming. And now upon them a light has shined. Why? Because we're reading verse 6, because a child is born, and to us a son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulder. Yes, and Christ will now have the government on his shoulder at his coming, and he's let a rule, and his name is called Wonderful Counselor. Now, I deliberately put that comma in brackets, because in some translations the comma is not there. And as you know, commas are not in the original language.

Interesting enough, for instance, in Portuguese, all the Portuguese translations have it as Wonderful Counselor. They don't have it as Wonderful Counselor. So, it makes sense when you look at the address, because they are something with an adjective, like he's a counselor, but he's a Wonderful Counselor. Christ, when he's going to rule, he's going to rule as God, but he'll be a mighty God controlling the nations. He will be the ruler of the nations. Also, Father of Eternity. Some translations have it as Father of Eternity. Why? Because Christ is the one that is giving us the way of salvation, and therefore, in a sense, he is the one that is taking the lead that is giving us the opportunity of eternal life because of what is done. So, in that way, Christ is our leader, the one that, in a sense, is like a father to us, even though he's our brother, but he's the one that is opening us for us, the way of eternal life, and he's the person of peace. And then in verse 7 says, of the increase of his government, and peace, on earth, of course, because he's coming to save mankind, there'll be no end upon the throne of David. So, he's going to rule over the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it, to uphold it with justice and righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. And it was from when he comes and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this. So, we know Christ will rule forever. Now, we do know that initially he is for a thousand years, but then there is a second phase of possibly a hundred years. And then after that, there's a third phase, which is the new heavens and new earth, but he will rule forever. But there are like stages of developing or growth of this kingdom that will go on. So, we see a lot of prophecies about that God promises to save mankind. Let's look at another prophecy, which is in chapter 4, verse 1 through 4. It says, it'll come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the Lord's house. Now, remember that the word mountain means kingdom. So, that the kingdom of God, that the mountain of the Lord's house, in other words, the kingdom of God, will be established over all the other kingdoms. And it shall be exalted above all the other small nations. And everybody will flow to where the kingdom of God is governing, is ruling. Many nations shall come and say, come and let's go to where God's kingdom is, the headquarters there, to the house of the God of Jacob. He, the God of Jacob, will teach us his ways, and Christ will be there. And we shall walk in his paths. For out of Zion the Lord shall go, and the word of the Lord, Yahweh, which will be Christ, will be in Jerusalem, it will be the word of the Lord. For out of Zion shall go forth the Lord, the Lord shall go forth, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. He shall judge many peoples. He, the Lord, Christ, the Lord, and rebuke strong nations from afar. Yes, there will still be some rebellion, and that is going to have to be corrected through the millennium, and particularly in the initial years of the millennium. They shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruneux. Nations shall not lift up sword against nations. Neither shall they learn one more anymore. But everyone shall sit under his vine and under his fig tree, and no one shall make them afraid, for the mouth of the Lord of hosts has spoken. So God promises to save all mankind. So as we see in the book of Revelation, we've got to keep this in mind that is the revealing of Christ that the Father gave him to tell us how these things are going to develop.

Another scripture is Isaiah 35.

Now, from verse 1 through 10, let's just read, Yeah, the wilderness and the wasteland shall be glad for them, and the desert shall rejoice and blossom as a rose. Strengthen the weak ends. Why are the hands weak? Because the people who have just been through the great tribulation and the terrible day of the Lord and all that stuff, they will be weak. They will be in great anxiety. They will be basically in an emotional turmoil. And it says, Make firm the feeble knees. Say to those who are fearfully, fearful-hearted. Why? Because they've been through these terrible times. Now, Christ has come and says, Be strong, don't fear. Behold, your God will come with vengeance. With the vengeance of God, you'll come and save you. And then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped, and then the lame shall leap like a deer, and the tongue of the dumb shall sing. And quite often we look at this physically quite correctly. But we must look at it spiritually, because we today are blind. Mankind is blind. They don't see God's truth. And therefore, the eyes of mankind, which are blind, will be opened. Why? Because this miracle of God's Spirit will be around them, and God will open mankind's eyes, and they'll start understanding. So the eyes of the blind will be open of mankind, because God promises to save mankind. And the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. So they will be able to now understand the Bible. They'll be able to now read the Bible and grasp it, understand it, read and hear it, and it says, ah, that's what it says. Then the lame shall leap like a deer.

How are we lame spiritually? We are lame because we've got a bit of truth, we've got a bit of lie, and people are getting confused with everything because they all mixed up. They got a bit of truth and a bit of lie, and therefore they lame. They lump in, and they don't understand, and everything gets confusing. This will be sorted out when Christ comes. And so the tongue of the dumb that cannot speak, that cannot understand, they will sing God's truth.

For water shall burst forth in the wilderness. Water symbolizing God's early Spirit. In the wilderness, that means in the desert where there's no none of God's early Spirit. And it says, in streams in the desert, God's Spirit will be everywhere. Yes, the parts around become a pull, but spiritually speaking is the land, the thirsty land, will now have God's truth. And where the habitation of jackals, of demons, and things like that, all that will be gone. There will be grass with reeds and rushes. There will be prosperity and peace and happiness. And the ransom of the Lord shall return. Those are the ones that have been redeemed by God. They are now Spirit beings. They will return. How? Because if we prove to life, they will resurrect. And come to Zion, who singing, who will ever lost in joy on their heads. They shall obtain joy in landless. And they will be teaching mankind. So mankind will be saved. Brethren, when we look at the book of Revelation, we need to look from all these contexts. It's not just this image, or that image, or what is the beast, or what is this? We have to look at the big picture that Christ is coming to save mankind. And then, when we look at the book of Revelation, so I've been trying to give you different overall concepts about the book of Revelation. And today, I'm just limiting to that in this Bible study. But the other important point is look at the historical situation of the time when the book of Revelation was written. Because there was the time of the Roman Empire, and the Roman Empire was dominant all over, let's call it Europe, from London all the way to Jerusalem. And there was not a single border. People could just go from A to B, from left to right, from London all the way to Jerusalem without crossing a border. There were no restrictions. So it was a time when communication and instruction, the information could flow easily. And you know there was all these Roman roads and things like that. So as this first century came along, there were very significant changes that started happening, particularly in the situation related to God's Church and the Jewish people. So let's just look at that context. In the year 31 of the current year AD, Christ was crucified and he died. Then in the year 64, there was a major fire in Rome, and the Jews and Christians were accused to initiate this fire. The Church of God at that time in those early years had a strong Jewish influence. There were a lot of problems with Judaism. You can read that in Galatians and in Acts, there were false brothers, as Paul describes it in Galatians chapter 2. There were Paul was saying, I'm amazed that you are now moving to another gospel. And then there was the Jerusalem Conference in AD 49, in which there was these Jewish influences saying, well, you need to circumcise the people and you need to keep the ceremonial law to be justified. So there were, we need to understand, there was a strong Jewish influence initially in the Church of God. Then in the year 66, this is two years after the fire in Rome, the Jews, maybe because of the accusations or whatever it was, but the Jews had this whole idea of independence. And there was a revolution under a vault against Rome around Jerusalem. And you've read of things like Masada and where people fled to and things like that. So there was around the time of when the book of Revelation was written. This was a few things that have had happened. Then we know that in the year 70 of the current era, the Romans defeated the Jews and the temple was destroyed.

That was the time when the temple destroyed. That was on the fortieth year from Christ's death, the fortieth year from Christ's death. So the temple was destroyed. Once Jerusalem basically was destroyed and the temple was destroyed, people fled. The Church's headquarters, which was in Jerusalem, now moved to Antioch. That's southern Turkey today. From that time, from that revolution, the Church was greatly persecuted. And then more Gentiles started coming into the Church. And as more Gentiles started coming into the Church, they started bringing in with them Gentile things. And that's why today we have a lot of pagan Gentile things in the so-called Christianity. So that syncretism, that bringing in of Gentile ideas, started focusing into the Church. And therefore we read the letters to the Church, which Christ gave, which gives us a little bit of explanation about some of those things that happened after that, which we will describe when we go through Revelation 2 and Revelation 3.

Then on the year 96 of the current era, about circa, about that year, the book of Revelation was written. So we can see the context. It was a context where the temple had already been destroyed. There was already persecution against the Church. And there was already an infiltration of pagan ideas starting to come into the Church. And now the Apostle John was an old man. He was in the Isle of Batmos, as we'll read later. And then he had this vision that he was taken into the time of the future, into the time of the Day of the Lord, and then was given this vision of the come of the end. Now, the Church does have a booklet about the book of Revelation, which is entitled the Book of Revelation Unveiled at Lost. In this booklet, in this booklet, there is a section which gives us, let's call it, a story flow of different chapters. And I have summarized them here, basically showing that the first chapter of Revelation is an introduction. The chapters two and three are the messages from Christ to the seven churches, or the seven eras. We'll go through that in detail. Then chapters four and five is a kind of a prelude, kind of setting the scene where it shows a situation in God's throne. And then the scroll is shown or brought out, and nobody can open the scroll except the lamb. And so then the lamb starts opening the scroll, and that is described in chapter six. And in chapter six alone, we have six of the seven seals. So, of all 22 chapters of the Book of Revelation, and describes this book which has seven seals, six of those seals are opened up just in one chapter. The other chapters are just a message to the churches and an introduction, just setting the scene. So basically six of the seven seals are covered in one chapter, because the remaining of the Book is really about what's going to happen about the seventh seal of these seven. The six have gone, now it's the seventh seal. And the seventh seal, so from there onwards, is events related to that period, which is the seventh seal, which is composed of seven trumpets, and it's also called the Day of the Lord. That's that last year of the three and a half years. So, the first six seals are the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, the Great Tribulation, and the Heavenly Science. Then the seventh seal is what the Bible calls the Day of the Lord.

That Day of the Lord is divided into seven trumpets, and then it starts talking about things like the Two Witnesses, and then there are insertions, like insert the chapters, talks about the Three Church, chapter 12, talks about the two beasts, a secular and religious beast, gives messages, which will cover that, and then right at the end, when it opens the seventh trumpet, then it opens up into seven lost plagues. Then it's got a little bit more about the false church, the final resurrection of the Holy Roman Empire, and the fall of Babylon. And then we have Christ's return itself, the Millennium and the New Heaven and New Earth. So, putting this in a different pictorial view, and this is not related to time, how long these things are, it's purely just a breakdown. So, it does not mean that the seventh seal takes a long time, because it's very wide, whilst the first six seals are a short time now. It's got nothing to do with a timeline here. It just means that these first four are the four horsemen, which will go through. Then there's the Great Tribulation, then there's the Heavenly Psalms, and then the seventh seal, which is the seven trumpets of the day of the Lord. Then we have the seven trumpets, and on the last trumpet, which is also the third woe, because these last two are woes, then we have the last trumpet, which is the Return of Christ, which is the first resurrection, and then within that event, there are a lot of things that are going to happen, and they are, those are enumerated, as the seven lost plays. And so that gives you a quick chapter reference. On the website, when seeing that I'm recording this sermon, I will then post a copy of these handouts, also, which you then can download, and you can refer to. The last slide that I want to show you today is a slide that I've used before, but it gives a different perspective, and I will go through this in more detail as we go along, but I just want to introduce it to you, is that these red circles are the seven seals. You can see one, two, three, four, five, six, and seven, the seven seals. These first four seals are the four horsemen of the apocalypse. As we live through this, because these four horsemen are riding, as they are riding, there are seven things to watch. I've enumerated four of a political nature, two of a religious nature, and one of a moral Christian values nature. Seven things to watch.

So, as we live through the ages today, we watch Israel, Jerusalem, daily sacrifices, Europe United, 10 Kings, the King of the South, the loss of pride and of the power of the United States and Britain, false religions, and the Catholic Church, God's Church, and declining values and morality. These are things that are just general seven big bullets, but you, as you look at them, you can explode them and amplify them and see there's a lot of meaning behind them, and we will go through these as well in more detail. So, this is just a big picture. One thing, then I have like three milestones or three big markers. One is the appearance of the man of sin, which is the false prophet. Another one is going to be the beginning of the Great Tribulation, which is basically the abomination of desolation, the appearance of the abomination of desolation, which is basically 30 days before the beginning of the Great Tribulation, which is the fifth seal, which are also termed as Satan's wrath. Now, by the way, as I'm talking about these seals, it's easy for us to say, oh well, because now the fifth seal has happened, these first four have stopped. Incorrect. Once a seal is open, it remains open all the way to the end.

False religion continues all the way to Christ's coming. Wars continue all the way to Christ's coming. Hunger continues until Christ's coming. Plagues and death continue with Christ's coming. So, it's just different phases. There's the four horsemen, and they're coming to a climax, but then it will reach a climax that will treat an abomination of desolation and the Great Tribulation, but that will continue with the four horsemen, but now is in parallel with the first, which is a Great Tribulation. And the Great Tribulation is what the Bible terms as God's wrath. Now, even though I have the Great Tribulation, I am marked with a little square, and then it appears, and then it stops, and then we have the sixth seal. Like I said, once the seal is open, it continues. Likewise, the Great Tribulation, once it starts, it continues until Christ's coming, because it runs for three and a half years. But it does say time will be cut short. How will it be cut short? Because God will then say, that's enough, I've got to intervene. And when he starts intervening, he then raises up the heavenly signs, which is, I am now intervening.

Then those people that have repented during the Great Tribulation will then be sealed and protected from the day of God's wrath. Now, what about protection? Understand that there is protection to the church at this moment before the Great Tribulation. Half or a portion of the church will be protected, and another portion, maybe another half, will not be protected. That's related to the parable of the Ten Virgins. Five are wise, and five are foolish. Right. Two in the field, one is protected, the other one is not.

But the Great Tribulation now continues. Time is cut short. God is going to intervene. During the Great Tribulation, there will be people that say, you know, those people are now protected and preach the Gospel to us. They were right. We should have listened to them. And in parallel, the two witnesses will be out there in parallel, telling them, you're right, you should, and you still can repent, because there are some people of those that are now going through the Tribulation underground, and they will help you. And people will repent, they will be changed, and they will be baptized. Those people that are baptized, when God is going to send His seven trumpets, the wrath of the day of the Lord, why should God punish those that have repented? Therefore, they are first sealed so that they are protected, so they do not have those sufferings, that pain, and those sufferings, they protect it. So there are two groups of people that are protected. There are the Isaiah, which is the Church protected for a time, time, and of the time, but there are also others that are the servant sealed and will be protected during this period.

Then at Christ's coming, when Christ comes, then it'll be the resurrection, the first resurrection. People from these that are protected, some of them will be changed to spirit beings, others maybe they are children, they'll continue into the world tomorrow, into the millennium, as pioneers, physical pioneers. Of these, there are Sylvia, probably the majority of them will continue as physical beings, but God could decide that some of them will be changed to spirit beings as well. Those that continue as physical beings now will have to flee when Christ comes, will have to flee the areas to get together. And that's what it's called, the sacred exodus, because they can't leave during the time of absolute disaster on earth. They'll have to wait until Satan is bound, until liberty is declared, the Jubilee is declared, and now Christ is ruling and opening up the way so they can travel peacefully to the Promised Land. And that is the period of the kingdom of God ruling on earth over physical human beings. So you can see that we're going to cover all these things in detail. Today, I just gave you a glimpse, an overview of all these things so that then you will be able to, will be able to pick up these things in detail as we go along and you will be able to understand them a little better.

So this is the conclusion of today's bubble study, brethren, and I hope to continue next week.