 Okay. Good. Good morning, everyone, and welcome back to our second lecture, BC 308. The recording is on. Thank you all for joining the class. Just one correction. I looked up my notes. So I mentioned the names of two tribes that we're missing. So the two tribes that I'm missing are Dan and Ephraim and the tribes of Levi and Manasah replace Dan and Ephraim. So that's just a correction. I didn't remember correctly. So that's the name for the tribes. And the exact reason why Dan and Manasah are left out. Again, we don't know for sure. Like I said, Bible scholars will say maybe because of their sin, their idolatry or what would be not sure. Anyway, but what we also do need to point out is in the millennial temple, it's during the millennium, the thousand year reign of Jesus, when there is a temple and there's a restoration of worship at the temple, Dan and Ephraim are mentioned in Ezekiel 37. So they are there during the millennium. The believers of the tribe of Dan and Ephraim are mentioned. The Jewish people from the tribe of Dan and Ephraim are mentioned there. Let's go to Japhina's questions. Japhina's first question is Revelation 6.9. Okay, Revelation 6.9. I saw under the altar, what the altar signifies here. So what we know is that in heaven, or let me put it like this, when Moses was given instruction to build his tabernacle on earth, build the tabernacle of Moses here on earth, it was actually a copy of what is in heaven. The real tabernacle is in heaven. Moses was told to build a copy of that here on earth. So you can see this in Hebrews chapter. I think there are a couple of chapter 8, I think. Hebrews chapter 8 verses 1 and 2 says, the main point of things we are saying, we have a high priest who seated the right hand of the throne of the majesty in the heavens, a minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord erected and not man. So we're seeing that in heaven there is the true tabernacle. And I'm forgetting the exact question. It says here that when the Lord spoke to Moses and told him to make the tabernacle, God told him to make it according to what I'm showing you, which represents what is actually in heaven. Sorry, I'm just forgetting the exact reference. Let me see if I can find it. When God told him, okay, yeah, I think it's in the same place here in Hebrews 8, verse 5, who served the copy and shadow of the heavenly things as Moses was divinely instructed when he was about to make the tabernacle. For he said, see that you make all things, Hebrews 8, 5, that you make all things according to the pattern shown you on the mountain. Right, so in other words, God revealed to Moses what is actually in heaven and Moses made a copy of it here on earth. So what do we see in that tabernacle? In Moses' tabernacle is the outer court, the inner court, and then there is the most holy place. In the most holy place is the Ark of the Covenant and the mercy seat. In the holy place, there is the candlestick, there is the table of the shoe bread, there's the altar of incense. And then when you come out, there is the, what is that, the wash basin or labor, and then there is also the altar of sacrifice where the burnt offering some made. So here in Revelation 6, 9 says, I saw under the altar. So it's most likely, and again, I don't exactly which altar it is, but going by the fact that heaven is a true, earth is a copy, there is an altar in the outer court. So it's probably that or there's an altar in the holy place, the altar of incense. Maybe it represents that. So I don't know exactly which altar, but somewhere there that the, what John sees is that these, the souls of these people who have been martyred are in the sanctuary and they're somewhere around the altar. So which exact altar, we don't nobody sees them there. The next question from Jeffrey is, Revelation 6 verse 11, a white robe was given to each of them. Is that a literal robe? So we know that this white robe represents the righteousness of God given to the saints. So is it a literal robe or not? When you say literal robe, say, okay, is it like a physical robe made of cotton, white cotton? Then the answer is no. But is it something that covers the saints with right, you know, righteousness covering the souls of these saints? Remember, this is the spiritual world and the spirit and the souls of these martyred saints are in the presence of God in the sanctuary and they're wearing these white robes, which is the righteousness of God. So are they clothes with the righteousness of God? Yes. How exact? It looks like a white robe, but it definitely would not have a physical texture like what we are used to, but it is some sort of a covering and a clothing in a spiritual sense. How exactly, you know, what exactly does that feel? I don't know, but it's all in, remember, this is a spiritual realm. So we are clothed with this white robe, which is the garment of righteousness. It is a real clothing upon us, but what is it made of? Does it feel like a plot or something? I don't know. I don't think it'll feel like a clothing as we think of, but it is something that covers us. It is the righteousness of God. How exactly is it going to be in the spiritual realm? I don't know. So I'll just leave it at that. I'm very sorry. I cannot tell you what material it is, other than saying it's a spiritual clothing, something that God gives to us. Next question. So we're looking at Joel's prophecy, where God says, I will pour out my spirit and all flesh, the Joel's prophecy. Don't we use the scripture for the time we live it? That's correct, starting from the day of Pentecost because Peter quoted it. He says, this is that which is spoken. So it started at the day of Pentecost and it is continuing on today for the church. In that case, how can we use it for the time of tribulation? So the answer to that question is Joel's prophecy. How can we apply it to the tribulation? Joel's prophecy was given originally not to the church, but to the people of Israel. The church only is borrowing it. But originally, Joel chapter 2, Joel 2 verses 28 all the way to 32. Originally, Joel 2, 28 to 32, spoken to the nation of Israel, I will pour out my spirit and all these things will happen. And verse 30, I will show wonders in heavens on the earth and blood and fire pillars of smoke. The sun will be in the darkness, moon into blood before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord. And it'll come to pass who calls the name of the Lord shall be said in Mount Zion and Jerusalem. There will be deliverance as the Lord has said among them. So Joel 2, 28 to 32, one prophecy given originally to the nation of Israel. But it's almost like the church. You know, God began the spiritual fulfillment of that prophecy in the church. That's what Peter stood up on the day of Pentecost and he said, this is that which was spoken by the Prophet Joel. But the church is not seeing the entirety of it, meaning this great and terrible day of the Lord, this, the sun being turned into darkness, the moon into blood, that the church is not seeing, right? The church has been taken out of the way. And the entirety of that is being experienced here in Revelation 6, Revelation 6 partly, and we'll see it repeated again later. Revelation 6, 12, where the sun is being dark and the moon is being turned to blood, fulfilling Joel 2 verse 30. So then you're saying, okay, if that part of it is being fulfilled, then the work of the Holy Spirit is continuing, which we can then say, which is backed up by Zechariah 12, 10, because Zechariah 12, 10 says, God says, I will pour out the spirit of grace and supplication on the house of David. If you look at Zechariah 12 and verse 10. I'll just read it. Zechariah 12, verse 10. And I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the spirit of grace and supplication, then they will look on me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for him as one mourns for his only son and grieve for him as one grieves for a firstborn. So what's happening? In this verse, God is saying, I'm going, there's going to be an outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the Jewish people, on the Jewish people, and it is going to culminate with them seeing the one whom they pierced. Jesus Christ, He's going to come at the end of the seven years. He's going to come back specifically for Israel at Jerusalem. He's going to come and land on Mount Olives. But before that, what will happen? I will pour my spirit on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, meaning the Jews. So this kind of, what to say, tells us that Jobel 228 to 32 is going to be fulfilled literally among the Jewish people for the house of Israel during the seven years, these years. So the Holy Spirit is going to be poured out on them and they're going to, all these things are going to happen. The church is getting a spiritual fulfillment, a foretaste of it. One more example to just back up what I'm saying, if you go to AMS, the book of AMS, and I think it is chapter 9, AMS chapter 9 and verse 11, 11, 12, and 13, AMS 9, 11, 12, 13. So just one more example where a prophecy is given to Israel, which God will fulfill literally, but the church is experiencing the spiritual fulfillment of it. One more example, AMS 9, 11, 13. On that day, I will raise up the tabernacle of David, which has fallen down, repair its damages, I will raise up its ruins and rebuild it as in the days of old, that they may possess the remnant of Edom and all the Gentiles who are called by my name, says the Lord who does this thing. The old days are coming, says the Lord, when the plowman shall overtake the reaper and the tread of grapes, him who so seed the mountain shall drip with sweet wine and all the hills shall flow with it. And I will bring back verse 14, I'll bring back the captors of my people, they shall build the way cities and inhabit them, they shall plant vineyards and drink from them, they shall also make gardens and eat fruit from them, and I will plant them in their land and no longer shall they be pulled up from the land, I have given them, says the Lord, you're gone. So very clearly, this is a prophecy given to Israel, very clearly, and the fulfillment of it God is going to do. He's going to bring them back to their land, they will be planted there, nobody can take them out of it. So that is definitely for the Jewish people. What is interesting is, Amos 9, 11 and 12 is quoted in Acts 15 by Apostle James, and Acts 15 was 15 when he is, when they are making a decision, Acts 15, yeah Acts 15, 16 and 17 sorry, Acts 15 verses 16 and 17 is quoted by the Apostle James when he is explaining to them that God is going to bring the Gentiles into the church. So you say, excuse me James, that was a prophecy given to Israel, how can you say it's talking about the church? Because very clearly, Amos 9, 11 to 15 is for Israel, God is saying I will rebuild the tabernacle of David, so James is quoting it in Acts 15, 16 and 17 saying, hey James, you're misquoting scripture. No, no, no, no, no. How do we understand it? The church experiences the spiritual fulfillment of that prophecy. Just like Joel 2, 28 to 32 was given to Israel, Israel will experience its literal fulfillment. But Peter is saying it's for the church on the day of Pentecost, right? So the church is experiencing spiritual fulfillment of it in part, the full prophecy literally will be fulfilled in Israel. Same thing, Amos 9, 11 to 15, that prophecy was given to Israel, the church is experiencing the spiritual fulfillment of it as quoted in Acts 15, 16 and 17 and the literal fulfillment of it will be experienced by Israel. They will see the tabernacle of David restored in their land. It will happen during the millennium, God will rebuild the place of worship and it will be established. So that's how we can, there's a dual fulfillment of those prophecies and so that's how we can say yeah, the church is experiencing it now but it'll also be experienced by Israel in full measure literally. I see David's question, did the prophecy in Joel 2 also happen during Pentecost already? So like we were saying, Joel's prophecy, Joel 2, we see it in Acts 2, fulfilled in part the spiritual fulfillment of it, experienced by the church. Same thing, Amos prophecy, Amos 9, 11 to 13 or 11 to 14, given to Israel, experienced spiritually in part by the church right now during the church age, because James quotes it in James 15, 16 and 17. Okay. Pastor, I have a follower. So as you said, it's a spiritual fulfillment for the church but in Acts 2, isn't it to the Jewish people that, because they also were like, they're also, it mentions like their hearts were pierced. So was it not for the Jewish people, even that? So remember the book of Acts or the church, the church started with the Jewish people because Jesus came there and he ministered to the Jews first but it was not, it didn't stop there, right? It spread the whole world, all the world. So yeah, Acts 2, it started with the Jewish people but the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, experience, spread to the whole world, spread to all the Gentiles. So Acts 2, 38, 39, Peter saying the promise is to as many as a lot of God will call, to all those who are far off. So same thing, the church began with the Jews but the church extended to the Gentiles and God was going to lead them in that direction. Right? So both the Joel prophecy, Joel's prophecy and Amos prophecy basically started with the church that is the church started with the Jews but then opened up to the whole wide world, yeah, all everybody. Yeah, did it answer your question Divya? Yes, yes Pasha, thank you. Thank you. Jeffina, your question please. Yeah, so just to follow up thing, I understand it's a dual prophecy, like it fulfills spiritually in the church and then literally. But how this question popped up was I was thinking about the near and far prophecy sometimes we say, so sometimes happen in a near fulfillment and sometimes happen in a far fulfillment. So even when we were reading the scripture, I thought maybe the spirit being poured out on all flesh is a near fulfillment, it's already fulfilled and the moon is turning red, but all this could be a far fulfillment. I was thinking in that way so I just want to ask why we should not think it in that way, why it's not a near and far fulfillment and why we are thinking it in a way like it's a spiritual and then it will be a literal data. Yeah, so typically when we say near and far fulfillment that is something happens immediately and then something happens way out in time. Whereas in both these cases the outpouring of the Holy Spirit and in the church, so in the church experiencing the outpouring of the Holy Spirit and the church becoming a being the tabernacle of David in a spiritual sense. Two reasons we say we use spiritual versus natural rather than near versus far because what is happening is continuous. So it starts with the beginning of the church in 83 T and doesn't stop there. It's going on for 2,000 years, continuous all the way into the last seven years. The only thing different is church is taken out of the way attention is changed to Israel. And the second reason we say is because example the church being the tabernacle of David it's a spiritual thing the church tabernacle David was a place of worship where worship went on continuously day and night for 33 years and the church literally is not that meaning we don't have a literal place where we are actually going to you know doing worship 24-7 but spiritually we are a house of continuous worship whereas literally the tabernacle of David will be established in Israel when in the millennium so that will be we could also refer to it as the millennial temple. Once the millennial temple is established worship will be restored, presumed and literally in the millennial temple in Jerusalem worship will be established and the Gentiles will come to seek God in Jerusalem so that is literal whereas now it is the church is the spiritual, the church is the place of house of worship in a spiritual sense so it is not like if we have a building and sacrifices are being spiritually believers are worshiping the Lord everywhere and the Gentiles are coming to seek the Lord through the church they're coming to know the Lord through the church in a spiritual sense so the contrast is spiritual versus literal as opposed to near versus far. So we continue now in chapter seven the second part so so what we said in chapter seven the first part is God has planned that the Jewish people 144,000 Jews specially designated by God are marked with the Holy Spirit in the name of Jesus and they're going to be servants of God, proclaimers they're going to serve God they were basically some people call them revivalists some people call them preachers they're going to be proclaiming Jesus. Now keep in mind that these 144,000 Jews they do all don't need to be living exactly in the city of Jerusalem they could be anywhere in the world. Yeah so basically during the tribulation God allowed 144,000 Jews anointed and marked by God to serve him during the tribulation then they could be anywhere but they are Jewish people they belong to the house of Israel God has specially marked them he will specially preserve them till the appointed time revelation 14 will come there so till revelation 14 they are going to be serving the Lord and nothing will hurt them God will preserve them. The other thing we are seeing during the tribulation is there is going to be a great multitude of people who will be killed, martyred. So this also means that there are going to be lots of people becoming believers who will then be martyred for their faith this is what we read revelation 7 verses 9 to 17 please somebody could read that revelation 7 9 to 17 please after these things I looked and behold a great multitude which no one could number of all nations tribes peoples and tongues standing before the throne and before the lamb clothed with white robes with palm branches in their hands and crying out with a loud voice saying salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne and to the lamb all the angels stood around the throne and the elders and the four living creatures and fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God saying amen blessing and glory and wisdom thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever amen then one of the elders answered saying to me who are these arrayed in white robes and where did they come from and I said to him sir you know so he said to me these are the ones who come out of the great tribulation and washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the lamb blood of the lamb therefore they are before the throne of God and serve him day and night in his temple and he who sits on the throne will dwell among them they shall neither hunger anymore nor thirst anymore the sun shall not strike them nor any heat for the lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to living fountains of waters and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes amen amen so John is saying this again this great multitudes of people they're worshiping God along with the elders and the four living creatures and the elders one of the elders asking him this question who are these you know arrayed in white robes and he says these you know you know and then the elder of answers his own question he says these are the ones who've come out of the great tribulation washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the lamb so remember the tribulation is going on right now right I mean as it's been given to us in revelation it's going on there's still there's one more seal and the trumpets and the bowls all of those things are still yet to happen and in that sequence you're seeing more people standing before the throne in worship and these are the ones who've come out of the great tribulation so these are the spirit and soul of saints who have been martyred or killed during the tribulation and they're standing in worship before the throne of God very similar to what we saw in revelation six nine the souls of those who've been slain for the word of God in the testimony they held they are there before the throne of God around the altar you're missing some more people so the conclusion and and again this is more a deduction rather than an obvious statement the deduction is that these 144,000 Jewish servants who are preaching are going to see or going to cause the salvation of many people we're going to bring many people into the Lord into the kingdom to faith and these people are coming to the Lord are going to be killed or martyred during the tribulation and these are the ones that we're seeing before the throne of God right so that's what the deduction is revelation seven nine two seventeen we go into chapter eight now revelation eight you see the seventh seal which basically leads us into the start of the seven trumpet judgments right so let's read chapter eight we'll read the full chapter it's a small chapter revelation chapter eight versus one to thirty please somebody could read it and we follow the the trumpet judgments here the first four of trumpet judgments revelation eight one to thirteen when i opened the seven still there was silence in heaven for about half an hour ice and i saw the seven angels who stand before god and to them we are giving seven trumpets then another angel having a golden Caesar came and stood at the altar and he was given much incense that he should offer it with the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne and the smoke of incense with the prayers of the saints astounded before god from the angel's hand then the angel took the Caesar filled it with fire from the altar and threw it to the earth and there were no is this thunderings lightning and an earthquake so the seven angels who had the seven trumpet prepared themselves to sound the first angel sounded and hail and the fire followed mingled with blood and they were thrown to to the earth and the third of the trees were burned up and the green grass was burned up then the second angel sounded and something like a great mountain burning with fire was thrown into the sea and the third of the sea became blood and the third of the living creatures in the sea died and the third of the ships were destroyed then the third angel sounded and the great star fell from heaven burning like a torch and it fell on the third of the rivers and on the springs of of water and the name of the star was warmward and the third of the waters became warm warmward warmwood and many men died from the water because it was bitter then the then the fourth angel sounded and the third of the sun was struck a third of the moon and a third of the stars so that the third of them were darkened and the third of the day did not shine and likewise the night and i looked and i had an angel flying through the neediest of heaven saying with a loud voice whoa whoa whoa to the inhabitants of the earth because of the remaining blood of the trumpet of the three angels who are about to sound amen man thank you so revelation eight verses one through six seems to indicate to us that there's going to be a lot of prayer happening on the earth during this time so sometimes we even refer to it like a like a global prayer movement meaning everywhere people are praying why do we say that because suddenly in heaven there's this whole there's an increase of prayer coming before the throne of god uh from the altar and the angel is taking a golden censor which is the which has the prayers of the saints and is is is casting it to the earth almost like saying i'm i'm i'm sending a fire of prayer or to the earth and so it's almost like god is igniting the earth with this prayer over this movement of prayer um now it is understandable because at that time during the tribulation those who do turn to god what are they going to do what can they do they can only pray right so um we can imagine that during the tribulation as we are progressing into the tribulation as people are turning to the lord the only thing they can do is to stand firm in their faith and pray right that's our god we are praying keep us keep us protect us preserve us give us the strength to stand uh because they know what's going to happen they're going to be martyred for their faith they are going to be you know they have at some point they will be tested for their faith and they need all the strength to stand so that's why suddenly we're seeing Romans 8 1 to 6 there's so much of prayer coming up before the throne of god and uh and uh and uh what's it called it the angel is casting a sense uh that is filled with uh the the smoke of the incense from the golden altar sending it to the earth igniting a movement of prayer and then the seven trumpets begin to sound one after the other the first four are listed here in chapter 8 and each one of them is causing destruction on the earth the first trumpet 30 percent or about a third of all green vegetation is destroyed now to some measure we can understand it in the sense uh understand it means uh sometimes when we think of these uh large-scale forest fires suddenly we we know we get news or a fire and it's uh it it burns up acres and acres sometimes huge regions of the land just get burned up but here the scale is so big it says one third of the trees that means like 30 percent one third of the earth is burned up so it's it's it's much bigger than you know like a big forest fire breaking out somewhere in north america or south america or wherever you know suddenly we hear these things in the news or big fire and it's it's burnt up so much of the forest or so much of uh things have been burnt up we hear about those things but um revelation eight seven is uh something on a scale much bigger than what we hear about these days then the next part is the the seed is being affected and uh sea creatures are dying 30 percent destroyed and the destruction is so severe that even transportation is affected it says a third of the ships are destroyed so something that is so uh so significant that it affects the sea the waters killing creatures in the sea and affecting the ships that are on the sea uh are being destroyed again it's it's it's hard for us to imagine how how this would take place but that's what it's saying here in revelation eight versus eight and nine then versus ten and eleven revelation eight ten and eleven the drinking water is affected uh because uh the rivers and the springs are affected so that people can't even have water to drink and again here a third of the waters one third of the waters are affected and you drink that water it's it's bitter and people die from drinking that and the fourth one is that there are things signs in the heavens again we're seeing this similar to what we saw in chapter six there are signs in the heavens stars so cosmic things in the heavens uh the celestial bodies in the cosmos are being affected stars the sun and the moon now just imagine if the sun does not the light from the sun does not come to us for about eight hours in addition to the night so daylight it says a third of the day so if you say 12 hours for the night 12 hours for the day another four hours so that means total of 16 hours of darkness um it is going to cause significant temperature change right that means uh parts of the earth that are normally used to nice warm weather uh suddenly they're going to be affected if one third of the day light does not come through there's gonna it's going to be significant uh effect on on on weather conditions but that's what happens here with a fourth trumpet right so we're seeing a lot of things these things happening and let's pause here and just think about this that you know if somebody wanted to write a book about the end times um would they have sit down sat down and you know go up to a some some place and just try to imagine all these with their own minds you know because humanly i mean humanly speaking you know that hey how can you know how can something like this so so serious happen when one third of the whole earth you know whether it's vegetation or the seas or the waters you know all these things happening um the the the the size of the magnitude of what is being described here is so great that uh even somebody wants to think about you know okay let me write about something about the end of the worlds uh to make it up in their own minds their own imaginations uh it's going to take a while thinking a wild imagination to come up with these things right but when when the when the lord is showing and saying look john this is what is going to happen these are the judgments that are going to be poured out on the earth it's divine judgment on the earth and i'm bringing things to a close uh you write these things um there is that sense that you know god can do these kinds of things uh in order to judge the world and to bring everything to a close so this has to be you know i understand the reason this has to be something god revealed to john not just a figment of his own imagination that he would be writing these things okay so let's pause here for today uh we will pick this up from revelation nine uh and uh take this forward we'll continue this next week all right any questions before we close and dismiss somebody could lead us in prayer please and then we will dismiss father in the mighty name of jesus we thank you for this opportunity to learn at your feet thank you for a lecturer thank you for all the lecture we give you all the glory in the name of jesus father please strengthen our lecturer our pastor and the lord may we be the doers of your wonders who are learning in this school and jesus name we pray amen thank you thank you everyone thank you for being with us today we'll catch up again next week how good rest of the day and a good weekend god bless right now