Understanding the Book of Revelation, Part 4

Well, brethren, let's start with a pop quiz. Are you ready for this? This is a real pop, huh? Now, you should be expecting these pop quizzes, since we're still going through the book of Revelation. I believe this is part number four now. So we're going to begin with a pop quiz, only this time I want you to turn in your answers. Just kidding. We won't do that to you. In fact, you don't even have to write your answers down, but you can think in your mind, do I know this answer or not?

And if you can't come up with the answer, you probably don't know it, then. All right, or at least you can't remember it. You may know it, but you just can't bring it out. It's been a while since we talked about this. These are questions that we covered in the last sermon. So that's what I've been doing if you haven't figured that out. It's the last sermon. I just go through the last sermon and ask some questions to kind of review and to introduce the rest of the sermon.

So the first question is, when was there silence in heaven for about half an hour? When was there silence in heaven? Remember, people have speculated about this, why there was silence. I think I may have told you that one person speculated that it was because there were no women in heaven. There was silence for half an hour, but... Only kidding! When was there silence in heaven for about half an hour? When Christ opened the seventh seal. Everyone was dumbfounded by the gravity of the situation. This is the seventh seal that's being opened, and those in heaven were in awe of what was about to take place when this seventh seal was to be opened.

Second question, the seventh seal consists of how many trumpet blasts? How many trumpet blasts in the seventh seal? Well, there are seven. Seven trumpet blasts coming from the seventh seal. Question number three, what happens when the first trumpet of the seventh seal sounds? What happens when the first trumpet of the seventh seal sounds? The answer is, hail and fire mingled with blood were thrown to the earth.

That's the description that the book of Revelation gives. Hail and fire mingled with blood were thrown to the earth. Now, that's likely very symbolic. What exactly does that mean? One-third of the trees are burned up, and all green grass is burned up. That is the result. So it will affect the earth greatly when the first trumpet of the seventh seal sounds, when one-third of the trees and all the green grass is burned up. Question number four, what happens when the second trumpet of the seventh seal sounds? The second trumpet of the seventh seal. This is when the sea will be struck and one-third of the sea will become blood, one-third of the living creatures in the sea will die, and one-third of the ships will be destroyed.

So cataclysmic events to take place here on earth. One-third of the sea will become blood, one-third of the living creatures will die, and one-third of the ships on the oceans and the seas will be destroyed. Question number five, what happens when the third trumpet of the seventh seal sounds?

The third trumpet will sound, and then one-third of the rivers and springs of water will become like wormwood, which means they will become poisoned or bitter. Many will die from drinking the poisoned water. One-third of the rivers and springs of water will become bitter, and many will die from drinking the poisoned waters. Some of the basic things of life will be taken away, and it will be very, very difficult here on earth. Question number six, what happens when the fourth trumpet of the seventh seal sounds? The fourth trumpet of the seventh seal.

That's when one-third of the sun, one-third of the moon, and one-third of the stars are struck, so that one-third of them were darkened, one-third of the day didn't shine, one-third of the night did not shine for the length of that time. That's when the fourth trumpet sounds. Question number seven, what happens when the fifth trumpet of the seventh seal sounds? Excuse me, what happens when the fifth trumpet of the seventh seal sounds?

This is when John saw a star or an angel falling from heaven to earth, and to this angel, this star actually, to this angel was given the key to the bottomless pit. So the key to the bottomless pit, the pit was opened, and much smoke ascended, and the sun and air were darkened. Locusts came out of the pit, and they were given power for five months to torment those who did not have the seal of God on their foreheads.

And this will primarily be a war machine that will wreak havoc upon the earth. Question number eight, what happens when the sixth trumpet of the seventh seal sounds? The sixth trumpet of the seventh seal. Four angels who were bound at the River Euphrates were released at this time to kill one-third of mankind. One-third of mankind, so we have, what, eight or nine billion people today on earth? Of those who will be living, it says, one-third will be killed by fire, smoke, and brimstone when this fifth trumpet sounds.

One-third of mankind will be killed by fire, smoke, and brimstone. Question number nine, which trumpet plague corresponds with what we call the first woe, or what the Bible titles the first woe? Remember, he said woe, woe, woe to the inhabitants of the earth? That was announcing the last three woes. The first woe corresponds with the fifth seal. Question number ten, which trumpet plague corresponds with the second woe? That will be the sixth seal. Question number eleven, what was John told to seal up and not write down?

What was John told to seal up and not write down? The things that the seven thunders uttered. And I may have said last time that a self-professed prophet has said that the seven thunders are, and has written it in a book, and it has not come to pass, because he's already behind on his prophecies. The seven thunders were not described in the book of Revelation. They were sealed up, and they were not written down.

Question number twelve, what was John supposed to do with the measuring rod that he was given? He was given a measuring rod. What was he supposed to do with it? He was to measure the temple of God, the altar, and those who worship there. Judgment has begun upon the house of God, the Scripture tells us. Now is our day of salvation, those whom God is calling now and choosing to be His, those He grants His Holy Spirit to, and those who worship Him.

And that's what John told me, when he grants His Holy Spirit, they are coming under the measuring rod at this time, and there will be testing that will continually happen to God's people. And there has been plenty of testing in the past, and there will continue to be testing right up until Christ returns. Question number thirteen, how long are the two witnesses to witness how long are they to witness?

1260 days, I'll also take three and a half years as a correct answer. I suppose 42 months would work as well. 1260 days, how long are the two witnesses to witness in Jerusalem? And the last question, number fourteen, how will the two witnesses finally be killed, and how long will their dead bodies lie in the street of Jerusalem until they are resurrected by God? Okay, they're going to, first of all, the beast is going to kill them. It says initially the beast will not have the power or the authority to kill them. God will not allow it, in other words. God will protect them supernaturally. But then eventually, at the end of the three and a half years, then God is going to allow the beast power to kill the two witnesses, and their bodies will lie in the street for three and a half days.

Alright, so that's the pop quiz. Anybody get 100%? It's hard to get 100%. It's hard to remember all the details and everything that happened. That's one reason why we're going through this book, is to help you get it into your head and into your mind, and also to encourage you to read the book of Revelation on a fairly regular basis, so you can get some of this submitted into your mind.

When it all starts coming to pass, it would be certainly helpful if certain scriptures would come to mind and say, oh, that sounds like something I've read before. So today, we're going to continue to address the book of Revelation. This is Understanding the Book of Revelation, Part 4, and today we'll begin in Revelation, Chapter 12. Revelation Chapter 12, a fascinating chapter. This is an inset chapter. In other words, it's not continuing chronologically. In fact, it's going to go back into history a long ways, and it's going to actually cover a lot of ground because it's going to go back into history and then forward into the future.

So, verse 1 of Chapter 12, now a great sign appeared in heaven. A woman clothed with the sun with the moon under her feet and on her head a garland of twelve stars. Now, what is this talking about? A woman clothed with the sun with the moon under her feet and on her head a garland of twelve stars. Now, this woman actually symbolizes the people of God chosen to be the people of God. Now, this woman actually symbolizes the people of God chosen actually to be the light of the world. The imagery here recalls the ancestral history of ancient Israel.

The patriarch Joseph described a dream that God had given him, which corresponds with what Revelation 12, verse 1 is talking about. So, let's go back to Genesis, Chapter 37, and let's see the correlation here. In Genesis, Chapter 37, we'll see some obvious parallels. Genesis, Chapter 37, of course you remember Jacob had 12 sons, and one of the sons was unique, and frankly, the other 11 brothers ended this particular son, named Joseph.

So, in Genesis, Chapter 37, verse 9, then he dreamed still another dream. Joseph dreamed another dream, and he told it to his brothers and said, look, I have dreamed another dream. I'm sure they weren't real happy to hear about his dreams. And this time, the sun, the moon, and the 11 stars bowed down to me. Now, there were 12 children, right? And he was one of them, and that left 11. It's interesting that 11 stars were bowing down to him, clearly symbolizing his other brothers, you know, his brothers, 11 brothers.

He had 11 brothers. They are the 11 stars that were bowing down to him. So, the sun represents Jacob, the father, and the moon represents his mother.

Verse 10, so he told it to his father and his brothers, and his father rebuked him and said to him, what is this dream that you have dreamed? At first, he thought it was just another dream, you know, just a vain dream. But notice what it says, shall your mother and I and your brothers indeed come to bow down to the earth before you? So, he understood the symbolism right away, and his brothers envied him, but his father kept the matter in mind. In other words, the father wondered, well, could this be of God? You know, could this be a dream that God gave Joseph? Because Jacob understood some of the promises of God and the things that would take place. He wasn't sure how they were going to take place, but he questioned this dream and whether or not there could be some basis to it.

So, here we see basically the family of Jacob representing God's family, in a sense, because symbolically Jacob, in this case, would symbolize the father, and his wife, Rebecca was his wife, right? No, wait, that wasn't Rachel? Rachel, that's right. Rachel was his wife, and she would, in a sense, in this case, represent the moon or the church of God, and the brothers, the children of God, the children of Israel. So, it's essentially talking about the family of God. So, let's go back to Revelation, and let's tie it in together here. Revelation 12.

Revelation 12. That's right. Rebecca was Isaac's wife. Rachel was Jacob's wife.

Okay, verse 2. Then, being with child, this woman that was clothed with the sun, had the moon under her feet, on her head a garden of twelve stars, she was with child, and she cried out in labor and in pain to give birth. And another sign appeared in heaven, Behold, a great fiery red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven diadems on his heads. His tail drew a third of the stars of heaven, and threw them to the earth. Now, what do we remember about Lucifer and a third of the angels that followed him? This is a clear reference to Satan the devil. Lucifer became Satan. His tail drew a third of the stars of heaven, and threw them to the earth. They were basically thrown to the earth. They were cast down. They tried to exalt themselves above God, and he cast them through the earth. Of course, Lucifer had been given dominion over the earth, and he rebelled against God, and the third of the angels became demons. This is the dragon. The dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, seven diadems, this is representing Satan or the power of Satan. We'll see in chapter 13 that it is also a beast power that Satan gives his authority and power to.

So it's a system, a beast power system that's been around for a long time, frankly. But it will come again in greater power just prior to Christ's return. So verse 4, So clearly this is talking about Jesus Christ. The child is capitalized. The translators understood that this is talking about Jesus Christ. Verse 5 makes it very clear that it's talking about Christ. The child is Jesus Christ. She bore a male child who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron. And later on in the book of Revelation, we'll see that it talks about Christ ruling with a rod of iron.

So she bore a child who was to rule. See, I think that's... what is that? Revelation... I didn't write it down on my notes, but I'm looking for it here.

Oh, here it is.

Well, anyway, we'll get to it later. I think it's in the book. Verse 6... I don't see it here. It should be right here, though. What is in it here? I guess it's not listed here. Anyway, let's continue on. The child was caught up to God and his throne. So this is talking about Jesus Christ, who is now at the right hand of God. It says, the woman fled into the wilderness where she has a place prepared by God, that they should feed her there 1,260 days. Now, again, this woman is representative of the family of God or the Church of God. Woman oftentimes represents a church. So we have to just realize it's the family of God, the children of God, God the Father, Jesus Christ.

It's talking about all of this in this particular chapter. So the woman fled into the wilderness where she has a place prepared by God, that they should feed her there 1,260 days.

Let's read on a little bit. Well, now let's not read any further there. All right, this talks about 1,260 days, which is again three and a half years, right? Or it could be 1,260 years as well, a day for a year. This is one of those places where it could have a dual meaning, where it is clearly talking about three and a half years, where the woman, the church, is going to be taken to a place of safety. And we will read more about that in Chapter 12. But some have felt that it could also be referring to 1,260 years.

You may remember Mr. Armstrong felt that it was referring to 1,260 years, where the church would basically be protected from Satan, but very small, not dead, but not very active either. In fact, if you want to read more about it, if you have the booklet, Who or What is the Prophetic Beast? This goes back a few years. In the Worldwide Church of God, Mr. Armstrong covers a lot of this in this particular book that he wrote, and goes into the symbolism in quite a bit of detail.

You may remember a chart that is in this book, too. Some of you may have this chart, or may remember it at least, where it has a chart showing prophecies of the reign of Gentile kingdoms, where it goes through Daniel 2, Daniel 7, Daniel 8, Revelation 13, Revelation 17, and then it explains the different horns and the different heads and the different prophecies in Daniel 2, Daniel 7.

He felt that the 1260 years referred to the time period of 554 AD to 1814, where there were 1260 years there until the deadly wound was healed in 1814, and the Holy Roman Empire had another resurrection, you might say. Well, actually, the Holy Roman Empire was dissolved in 1814. The deadly wound had been healed, and then 1260 years later, in 1814, it was dissolved.

So closed a government that dated from Augustus Caesar. This is a quotation from this particular chart. So anyway, I'm not going to go through all of this. We could be here months covering everything. But it is a fascinating chart, and whether or not it's completely accurate, that remains to be seen. Some of this is speculation, because he goes into the different restorations and how they fulfill the 10 horns, the 10 successive resurrections of the Holy Roman Empire.

Fascinating chart. If you want to look at it later, I'll be glad to show it to you. Let's go back to Revelation 12. Verse 7, In war broke out in heaven, Michael and his angels fought with the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought. Now, we know that there was a war in heaven with Satan the devil back when God cast him out and cast him to the earth, anciently when he rebelled. But this is talking about another rebellion in heaven. War is going to break out in heaven. Michael and his angels will fight against Satan the devil.

The dragon and his angels will fight. But they will not prevail, as it says in verse 8, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer. So the great dragon was cast out that serpent of old called the devil and Satan, who deceived the whole world. He was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. Now, again, this is a dual prophecy because it's talking about a former fulfillment that happened, you know, long, long time ago, before Adam and Eve a long time ago, when Satan first rebelled or when Lucifer first rebelled.

But it's also talking about a war that will take place in the future. Verse 10, Then I heard a loud voice, saying in heaven, Now salvation and strength in the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ, have come. For the accuser of our brethren who accused them before our God day and night has been cast down. Now, Satan is fulfilling that role now. He is an accuser of the brethren. Satan accuses us of sinning, and no doubt sometimes he's right on, because we are still sinners.

But what Satan doesn't really grasp is the role of Jesus Christ. Christ is the Savior of mankind, and Jesus Christ allowed his blood to be shed, that our sins would be forgiven. So Satan accuses us that Christ is our intercessor. Christ is that intermediary that goes before the Father, that pleads our case and grants us repentance. If we have a repentant heart, now obviously we have to have a repentant heart for God to grant us repentance. Our heart has to be soft, pliable, malleable, teachable, and have a desire to obey God.

Even when we sin, we need to have a desire to obey God. We desire it. Sometimes we are weak and we fall short. And that's when Satan will accuse us. He will tempt us, for one thing. He is the great tempter. So he tempts us to sin, then he accuses us when we do. But thankfully, as it says in verse 11, "...and they overcame him, they overcame Satan, the accuser of the brethren, by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony." Because, again, repentant people do obey God for the most part.

That's our goal, to obey God and to serve Him. And that is our overall thrust. So we overcome by the blood of the Lamb and also by the word of the testimony of Jesus Christ and of the Father, by keeping that law. And they did not love their lives to the death. They were even willing to die to lay their lives down, if necessary. Verse 12, "...therefore rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell in them, woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea, for the devil has come down to you having great wrath, because he knows that he has a short time." So in the near future, and how near, God knows.

I mean, it's coming soon, but how soon? Of course, God's been around a very long time for eternity. For us, it seems like perhaps a longer time, but certainly to God is a very short time, and it may be a very short time even to us.

But Satan, when he's cast out of heaven, at this time, he will be very angry. He will know he has a short time, and he will come after God's people. Verse 13, now when the dragon saw that he had been cast to the earth, he persecuted the woman who gave birth to the male child. So it's referring back to what we already read. The woman, or the Church of God, the family of God, he's going to go against anyone who stands for God or represents God.

And certainly the Church of God. Verse 14, but the woman was given two wings of a great eagle that she might fly into the wilderness to her place, where she is nourished for a time and times and half a time from the presence of the serpent. So again, for three and a half years, there will be a time of great tribulation. And Satan is going to pour his wrath out upon the Church of God that is not protected in this place of safety.

There will be a place of safety here, but there will be a remnant that are not going to be protected in this place of safety. And Satan is going to obviously persecute them. Let's continue reading here. By the way, at Pinecrest, at Camp, some of you may have heard of this. I know Cyrus probably has, but we have a giant teeter-totter there on the ropes, of course. It's a big telephone pole. And we put a whole dorm on it at one time. And their job is to get it balanced. And I like to use the scenario of this as a giant eagle.

And you need to get on the eagle and get it balanced so the wings are off the ground. And then it can fly away to a place of safety for time, times, and half a time. So I've got to throw a little bit of Bible in there once in a while. Not a whole lot. That's one area that I've used. Their job is to get it balanced as quickly as possible.

So we time them. And it's amazing how some of them just can't get it down. They fall off. It's actually one of the most dangerous activities at camp. Not in our group, but there was a group where someone broke his arm falling off. What they do is they forget about the balancing part.

Someone falls off, and then the whole thing goes. So I have to have spotters. I have to have people really closely watching everyone. Because when you have 15 or 16 people, or a dozen people on there at one time, they can get kind of exciting. Okay, back to the Scriptures. Verse 15. So the serpent spewed water out of his mouth like a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away by the flood. But the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed up the flood, which the dragon had spewed out of his mouth.

So the dragon is going after the Church of God. The Church is being taken to a place of safety, a place that's been prepared for her. Obviously, Satan is not giving up easily, so he's going after the faithful who are going to be kept in this place of safety. But God is going to protect them, and he's not going to be able to get his hands on them.

Verse 17. And the dragon was enraged with the woman, was enraged with the Church of God, the people of God. And he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. So it's interesting that there will be some who will be protected in a place of safety, and there will be others who are still a part of the Church of God. The rest of her offspring, it refers to them as the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.

Now, we can speculate as to who's going to be in the place of safety and who isn't going to be. I think probably the most important thing is that we humble ourselves. And as the Scripture says, watch and pray always that you will be accounted worthy to escape the things that are coming upon the earth, that are going to come to pass. But there will be a sifting here where some will go into a place of safety and some will not go into the place of safety, and they will be persecuted by a very enraged Satan the Devil.

That brings us to chapter 13, which is also a very fascinating chapter. Chapter 12 obviously is very fascinating because it talks about the Church of God. It talks about Satan the Devil and being cast out of heaven and going after the Church, persecuting the Church. Some of the Church being protected and some of the Church not being protected. Now, chapter 13. Again, this is another inset chapter. Up until now, it had been going along fairly in a chronological way, but chapters 12 and 13 are inset chapters.

Then I stood on the sand of the sea, and I saw a beast rising up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and on his horns ten crowns, on his heads a blasphemous name. So this is a beast that's going to come out of the sea. Now again, it sounds a lot like the dragon in verse 3 of chapter 12. A great fiery red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, seven diadems on his heads.

It says, seven heads, ten horns. On the horns were ten crowns, on the heads a blasphemous name. It adds more detail. Now the beast which I saw was like a leopard. His feet were like the feet of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion. The dragon gave him his authority, his throne, and great authority. Again, the dragon obviously is Satan the devil. The devil is going to give this beast power, great authority, a throne, and great power. I saw one of his heads as it had been mortally wounded, and his deadly wound was healed. All the world marveled and followed the beast. This is talking about the very last days, the end times. This beast that's going to arise. Now it's been around in the past as well, to some degree. But there's going to be a major revival of this beast power in the future.

And again, Mr. Armstrong goes into more of that in the booklet that I referred to, Who or What is the Prophetic Beast? Now, the book of Revelation has the booklet unveiled, but it doesn't go into some of the detail that this other book does.

It doesn't go into this detail from Chapter 13. Mr. Armstrong covers this more. It goes into Daniel 2 and Daniel 7 in greater detail. I saw one of his heads as it had been mortally wounded. The deadly wound was healed. All the world marveled and followed the beast. So this is a world-ruling government that's going to arise in the future. The whole world is going to follow the beast. So they worshiped the dragon who gave authority to the beast. And they worshiped the beast, saying, Who is like the beast? Who is able to make war with him? Now, this brings up something very, very important that we're all going to be tested on whether or not we have the faith and the courage to do the right thing in the future. Especially if we're not already protected in a place of safety, and perhaps it will be those who do have faith, who do have courage, who will initially be protected in a place of safety.

And perhaps those who need to grow in faith, who need to grow in courage, they may be the ones that are not going to be protected. So they worshiped the dragon who gave authority to the beast, and they said, Who is like the beast? Who is able to make war with him?

Well, there's an obvious answer. God is able to make war, and God will always be victorious. But that's not the sense that you read about here. It's a fear that is coming out. People are going to be afraid to defy the beast's power. People are going to be afraid to oppose the beast's power. This world-ruling government is going to have absolute power, and people are going to bow down and basically do whatever this beast's power wants it to do, because they know otherwise they're going to lose their lives.

So how precious is your life to you?

Now is the best time to answer these types of questions while there's still peace and safety, while things are still good. Now is when we need to ask ourselves, Do we have faith to trust God when times get hard? And when will we follow God all the way along? Because, frankly, when the Great Tribulation hits, it's going to be a bit too late. I mean, now is the time to have our character set. Now is the time to establish good habits of prayer and Bible study, of fasting, and of drawing close to God so that when these difficult times do come upon us, if we happen to be alive, and even if we don't, now is our day of salvation. So we're still going to be tested as to whether or not we have character and whether or not we'll do the right thing, and if we have faith in God. Many people have come and gone when there hasn't been a Great Tribulation. I mean, if we look back at the history of the Church of God, we'll see a lot of people that have come and gone. They're not faithfully keeping the Sabbath any longer. They're not faithfully keeping God's annual Holy Days. They have, for one reason or another, stopped being faithful. The Bible says, don't forsake the assembling of yourselves together. And that's something that we should do. We should stay together as God's Church and God's people. I'm not saying that there aren't still some of God's people that may not be attending a church right now. There may be reasons why they're not able to, or maybe they're making excuses, but maybe perhaps one day in the future they will repent of that and begin again. They may still have God's Holy Spirit. But the point I'm making is that many people have come and gone in the Church of God during good times.

But now is the time to prepare ourselves and to draw close to God and be faithful to Him in little things that we might be strong and faithful in the big things if we are going to be tested in those larger things, such as what is revealed here in the book of Revelation. Verse 5, And He was given a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies, and He was given authority to continue for forty-two months. So again, we have forty-two months. This is a recurring theme, isn't it? Forty-two months, three and a half years, twelve hundred and sixty days. This beast power will be given authority for the three and a half year period. Then He opened His mouth in blasphemy against God to blaspheme His name, His tabernacle, and those who dwell in heaven. So He's pretty much blaspheming anything and everything. Anything that has to do with God. God, His name, His tabernacle, those who dwell in heaven. I guess all the angels, the twenty-four elders, anything that's close to God. Verse 7, He was granted to Him to make war with the saints and to overcome them. Now, clearly, this must be talking about the saints that aren't taken into the wilderness, into the place of safety. For how long? Forty-two months. Three and a half years. So Satan is going after the remnant, those who are not protected. And according to this, He will make war with the saints.

It was granted to Him to make war with the saints and to overcome them. So, again, many will die that are not taken into a place of safety. They will become martyrs. They will still keep the commandments of God. They will have the testimony of God. And they will be willing to die.

They will be willing to die, but that will be their ultimate test, as laying their lives down.

Satan will overcome them, and authority was given him over every tribe, tongue, and nation. Again, this is a world-ruling government. All who dwell on the earth will worship him, whose names have not been written in the book of life. So there will be a group of people who will not worship the beast. Now, some are going to be protected and taken into a place of safety. Obviously, they're not going to worship the beast, but there will be a group that is not taken into a place of safety. And they still will refuse to worship the beast, because their names have been written in the book of life. You know, God knows his own. And those who have their names written in the book of... Their name can be blotted out of the book of life if they do begin to turn against God and worship this beast.

But those who have their names written in the book of life, who are faithful, certainly will not worship the beast. But everyone else is going to worship the beast.

It refers to the book of life as the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. Now, that's an important concept that we need to understand. Jesus Christ was slain from the very foundation of the world. It's talking about the foundation of this material world, this universe. Physical universe, matter. Christ was slain from the very foundation of the world. God had in mind what he was going to do a long time ago. He knows the end from the beginning. And God had a master plan, and his son was going to die for the sins of mankind. That was from the very foundations of the world. Christ was slain from the foundation of the world. It was certainly an integral part of God's plan that Jesus Christ would die for mankind. The Lamb would be slain. And of course, the Lamb was with God in the very beginning. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And the Word became flesh, and the Word dwelt among us. And the Word was perfect, never sinned. But the Word was crucified. And of course, that was Jesus Christ who was crucified.

Verse 9, if anyone has an ear, let him hear. If you have an ear today, listen and know what I'm talking about. If you have two ears, listen with both of them. If you have an ear, let him hear. Unfortunately, not everyone really listens. Not everyone hears. It means if you have an ear to really listen and to apply it and to live by it. Verse 10, He who leads into captivity shall go into captivity. He who kills with the sword must be killed with the sword.

He says, Here is the patience and the faith of the saints. We do reap what we sow, brethren. And that law will continue to obviously be in effect. We reap what we sow. He who kills with the sword must be killed with the sword. If we have that kind of an approach, an attitude, then we're going down, as some people would say.

Anybody who leads others into captivity is going to go themselves into captivity. Anyone who has that kind of a mindset. The patience and the faith of the saints is to stay faithful to God and remain faithful to Him, no matter what's happening around us.

Verse 11, Then I saw another beast coming out of the earth, and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spoke like a dragon. So at first, this beast that comes out of the earth, you know, he has, looks like a lamb. Two horns like a lamb, but he spoke like a dragon, and that's his true nature.

He exercises all the authority of the first beast in his presence, and causes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast. So he has an alliance with the first beast. He is united with the first beast, the second beast. The first beast was the one whose deadly wound was healed. Now, this is talking about the Roman Empire. You know, once it looked like it was dead, but it has been resurrected many times since.

Verse 13, He performs great signs so that he even makes fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men. So this is talking about someone who can perform miracles.

Someone who has this power to perform great signs, to even make fire come down from heaven. Verse 14, And he deceives those who dwell on the earth. So this is a deceiver. This is a false prophet. The second beast is a false prophet, which basically represents a church, a false church. Just as the beast represents a false system. The leader of the beast's power represents the entire system.

So we're actually going to be evidently two men, a false prophet who represents the church. There will be a leader, a man who will have charisma, no doubt. People will be enthralled at the leadership of this particular person who is at the head. Of this economic and military, this world-ruling government. And again, there will be a uniting of church and state at this time. Church and state. These are the two beasts.

The second beast represents the church. The first beast represents the state. So the second beast deceives those, verse 14, he deceives those who dwell on the earth by those signs which he was granted to do in the sight of the beast, telling those who dwell on the earth to make an image to the beast who was wounded by the sword and lived. Now, if you are a student of history and if you've studied the Roman Catholic Church and the leadership, the emperors of Rome, you'll know that there was a working together between the emperor and the church. There were times when there were conflicts, yes, but there were other times when they were working together. Now, this is what's going to happen in the future. There's going to be a uniting for a while, but it's not going to last in the future either. It's going to last for a little while. Verse 15, he was granted power to give breath to the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak and cause as many as would not worship the image of the beast to be killed. So we got the beast, we got the image of the beast, we got the mark of the beast, so we haven't gotten there yet, to the mark of the beast, have we? Oh, yes, we... Verse 16, he causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads, and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast or the number of his name. So we got the beast, we got the image of the beast, we have the mark of the beast, we have the number of the beast. Verse 18, here is wisdom, let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man, his number is 666. Have any of you ever heard that number before? Who hasn't heard 666? I mean, movies have been written about 666. Horror movies, awful foul movies, I'm sure most of them. They have their interpretation of 666, and a lot of jokes, I'm sure, have been told and whatnot. But it is interesting to speculate, and a lot of people do speculate. Barclay speculates in his commentary, the Revelation of John. This is volume two. Now, I went through chapter 13. I want to go and read some of this to you from his perspective. Now, I'm not saying that I agree, in fact, I don't agree with all of what he says. Some of it doesn't jive with what the Church has traditionally believed. It is quite interesting, though.

And it gives some history that I think you'll find interesting. So let me read some of this to you.

This beast that we're talking about in chapter 13, Barclay says, This beast has seven heads and ten horns. These stand for the rulers and the emperors of Rome. Since Augustus, the first Roman emperor, there had been seven emperors. Now, he's talking about from the beginning to the time when John saw the Revelation. Seven emperors, Tiberius, AD 14-37, Caligula, AD 37-41, Claudius, AD 41-54, Nero, AD 55-68, Vespasian, AD 69-79, Titus, AD 79-81, and Domitian, AD 81-96. So John would have been writing this and would have had the vision during the time of the emperor Domitian. These seven emperors are the seven heads of the beast. This is what he says. But in addition, it is said that the beast had ten horns. The explanation of this second figure lies in this. After the death of Nero, there was a short period of almost complete chaos. In eighteen months, three different men briefly occupied the imperial power, Galba, Otho, and Vitellius. They are not included in John's list of the seven heads, but are included in the list of the ten horns. John says that on the heads of the beast there were blasphemous names. These are the titles which the emperors took to themselves. Every emperor was called Divus or Sebastos, which means divine. Frequently, the very name God or Son of God was given to the emperors, and Nero, on his coins, called himself the Savior of the World. For any man to call himself divine was a blasphemous insult to God. Further, the later emperors took as their title the Latin word dominus, or its Greek equivalent curios, both of which mean Lord and in the Old Testament are the special title of God, and in the New Testament the special title of Jesus Christ. The second beast, which figures in this chapter, the beast from the land, is the whole provincial organization of magistrates and priesthoods designed to enforce Caesar worship. Which confronted the Christians with the choice either of saying, Caesar is Lord, or of dying. So then our picture falls into place. These two savage beasts, the might of Rome and the organization of Caesar worship, launched their combined attacks on the Christians. Now, we would take a little different tack on that. We would believe that the first savage beast does represent Rome or Babylon. The second beast would be that of a great false church. But there is some connection here. He talks about the priesthoods, the magistrates, and so forth.

Now, let's continue to read a little bit more here. There is another recurring theme in this chapter, chapter 13. Among the seven heads there is one which has been mortally wounded and restored to life. That head above all is to be worshipped. It is the supreme evil, the supreme enemy of Christ. We have seen that the seven heads stand for the seven Roman emperors. Now, if this is true, I mean, again, this could be a dual fulfillment, where there may be some validity to what Barclay is saying here. There could be a latter fulfillment of this, too, which would have a different interpretation, but would still be tied into the Roman Empire and Babylon in that system. So we have seen that the seven heads stand for the seven Roman emperors. A head wounded and restored to life will therefore stand for an emperor who died and came to life again. Here is symbolized the Nero Redivivus, or Nero Resurrected. This is a legend about Nero being resurrected. I mean, the scripture doesn't talk anything about Nero being resurrected, but it's interesting that it's tied in here. Nero resurrected a legend which the Christian fused with the idea of Antichrist. In the Siveline Oracles, we read of the expectation in the last terrible days of the coming of a king from Babylon, whom all men hate, a king fearful and shameless and of abominable parentage, a matricide, that's talking about a killing of a mother, a matricide. A matricide shall come from the east. This is the Siveline Oracles, which I really didn't study into exactly what the Siveline Oracles are.

You can do that if you'd like. A king from Babylon, whom all men hate, a king fearful and shameless, okay, a matricide shall come from the east and bring ruin on the world. And it quotes the particular part of the Siveline Oracles where this is prophesied.

One who dared the pollution of a mother's murder will come from the east, and exile from Rome with a myriad of swords shall come from beyond the Euphrates. So these are prophecies from the Siveline Oracles. It is only when we realize that Nero was that we see how his return might well seem the coming of Antichrist. No man ever started life with a worse heritage than Nero. His father was Seneus Domitius Ahenobarbus, who was notorious for wickedness.

He had killed a freed man for no other crime than refusing to drink more wine. He had deliberately run over a child in his chariot on the Appian Way. In a bra in the forum, he had gouged out the eyes of a Roman knight, and he finally died of dropsy brought on by his debauchery. His mother was Agrippina, one of the most terrible women in history. When Ahenobarbus knew that he and Agrippina were to have a child, he cynically said that nothing but a monstrous abomination would come from himself and her.

When Nero was three, Agrippina was banished by the emperor Caligula. Nero was handed over to the care of his aunt Lapita, who entrusted his education to two wretched slaves, one a barber, the other a dancer. Sounds like a soap opera, for sure. Under the emperor Claudius, Agrippina was recalled from exile. She had now only one ambition, somehow to make her son emperor. She was warned by force-intellers that if Nero ever became emperor, the result for her would be disaster. Her answer was, let him kill me, so long as he reigns.

Agrippina set to work with all the passion and the intrigue of her stormy nature. Claudius already had two children, Octavia and Britannicus, but Agrippina badgered him into adopting Nero as his son when Nero was eleven years of age and persuaded him to marry her, although he was her uncle.

Agrippina then summoned the famous philosopher Seneca and the great soldier, Aphranius Burris, to be Nero's tutors. Steadily, Britannicus, the heir to the throne, was pushed into the background and Nero was given the limelight. For five years the marriage lasted and then Agrippina arranged for Claudius' poisoning by a dish of poisoned mushrooms. When Claudius lay in a coma, she hastened his end by brushing his throat with a poisoned feather. No sooner had Claudius died than Nero was led forth as emperor, the army having been bribed to support him.

A curious situation ensued. For the next five years, Rome was never better governed. Nero was busy playing, at painting, sculpture, music, theatricals. He was the complete dilettante, and the wise Seneca and the upright Burris, his tutors, remember, governed the empire, so it went well for five years. Then Nero stopped being the cultured dilettante and embarked on a career of vicious crime. This is an emperor.

At night, with other gilded youths, he would roam the streets, attacking all whom he could find. Worse was to come, he murdered Britannicus as a possible rival. No young man or woman was safe from his lust. He was a blatant homosexual. He publicly married a youth named Sporis in a state wedding, and he took Sporis with him on a bridal tour of Greece. He was, in quotes, married to a freed man, also to a freed man called Dora Forus.

He took Papaea Sabina, the wife of Otheau, his closest friend as his paramour, and kicked her to death when she was with child. He had a passion for wild extravagance and extracted money for all and sundry. The imperial court was a welter of murder, immorality, and crime. This is the Roman system.

This is Babylon. That's part of the reason why I'm reading it to you, just to show you how decadent and deviant and awful and evil it was, back in ancient history and throughout history, really. One of Nero's passions was building. In AD 64 came the great fire of Rome, which burned for a week. There is not the slightest doubt that Nero began it, or that he hindered every attempt to extinguish it, so that he might have the glory of rebuilding the city. The people well knew who was responsible for the fire, but Nero diverted the blame onto the Christians, and the most deliberately sadistic of all persecutions broke out.

He had the Christians sewn up in the skins of wild animals and set his savage hunting dogs upon them. He had them enclosed in sacks with stones and flung into the tiber. Now, we believe we live in a much more cultured age, and in some ways we do.

But how long ago was it when Hitler was alive and well, and doing what he did to six million Jews? It's amazing what human beings can do, especially with a mob mentality and with a madman directing the way.

He also had the Christians coated with pitch and set alight as living torches to light the gardens of his palace. The insanity of evil grew wilder and wilder. Seneca was forced to commit suicide. How can you be forced to commit suicide? I mean, if you're forced, it's not really suicide, is it? Well, he killed himself, I guess. But anyway. Burris was murdered by a poison draft which Nero sent him as a cure for a sore throat. So he had something to drink and was murdered by a poisoned drink. Anyone who incurred Nero's slightest displeasure was killed. Agrippina made some attempt to control him, and finally he turned against her. Remember the prophecy, or the fortune teller that told her it would be bad news? He made repeated attempts to murder her by causing the roof. She knew this was coming, so she was probably smart enough to avoid being killed for a while. He made repeated attempts to murder her by causing the roof of her house to collapse by sending her to sea in a boat designed to break up. Finally he sent his freedman, Anesotus, to stab her to death. When Agrippina saw the dagger, she bared her body. Strike my womb, she said, because it bore Nero. It could not last. First Julius Vindex rebelled in Gaul, then Galba in Spain. Finally the senate took his courage in his hands and declared Nero a public enemy. In the end he died by suicide in the wretched villa of a freedman called Phaon. This is the head of the beast, wounded and restored the Antichrist whom John expected was the resurrected Nero.

So, I mean, he goes on and on with stuff similar to this. Anyway, it gives you a little bit of a background as to some of the emperors of Rome and the Romish system, the Babylonish system. We need to wrap things up here. Okay, we're done with Chapter 13, so this is a great place to stop right here. We'll start next time in Chapter 14. Be ready for another pop quiz next time around, covering what we talked about today. So, the main thing is that we keep our minds and our hearts focused on what's really important in the earth and know that now is the time when God is judging his people. Judgment has begun at the house of God. So, let's consider that as we go through the week.