 Okay, the recording is on. Good morning and welcome to BC 213. Of course on the end times, let's take a moment to pray and we'll start. John, could you pray and we'll start. Father, we want to thank you for this morning. Lord, we pray that you would teach us from your word, help us to understand the mysteries of your word, God. We pray that you would open the eyes of our understanding and help us to remember what all you have spoken to us, Lord Jesus, and to teach and also to edify ourselves, Lord God. Help us to grow in your word, grow in your faith, Lord God. We thank you for this time. We pray for the rest of the class. They would be able to join soon, oh God, that your presence covered us in Jesus' name. Amen. Thank you. Okay, so can you hear me okay? Let's go. Thank you. All right, so in this lesson where we are talking about the sequence of the end time events, the chronology of the end time events, we are now in the book of Revelation and we are just following the sequence of events as the Lord gave it to John. And I'll just quickly review a few things we said last week as we look into the book of Revelation. So just a quick review. And the Lord gave this to John. He said, John, I want you to write down things that are, things that you have seen, things that are and things that are going to come. So we said Revelation chapter one is things that John saw. He's had a vision of the Lord. Chapter two and three things that were at that time. So the lots of things that are, I mean things were happening at that time, chapters two and three. And chapter four onwards, things that are to come. So we made that distinction in the order in which God, the Lord Jesus, gave things to John. Then we said chapters four and five are giving us an insight into heaven right after the rapture of the church. The reason we said it is because we are seeing the elders. We are seeing all the redeemed saints standing before the throne and worshiping God. Of course we know that now or any time, any time a believer dies, they go straight to heaven now in the New Testament. And so they are in the presence of God. They are engaged in worship. But this is more significant because we are seeing the elders seated on the thrones. We are seeing them wearing their crowns, which are all indicative that they have received their rewards for things that they have done. For serving the Lord. And Revelation five is also telling us that at that moment, it is the Lord Jesus, the Lamb of God. He's pictured as the Lamb of God there in Revelation five. He is the one and the only one who can take the scroll and open it. Meaning from now on, all the prophecies that were written will begin to be fulfilled. So it's that point in time out in the future. The starting point of, we could say, the seven year tribulation here on earth. So believers are up in heaven. They're before the throne worshiping God, the saints. And then the Lord Jesus comes. He alone is worthy to open the scroll. So we said that opening the scroll is symbolic or it's figurative or representing the beginning of the fulfillment of all prophecies. That is what opening that scroll indicates in Revelation chapter five. So Revelation chapter six onwards. And we're just giving an overview of these chapters as we progress and we will just look at the timeline. We're not reading every verse and explaining every detail, but this is like an overview of the book of Revelation. In our third year, we will read every verse and explain it. So in Revelation six, it begins with, it starts off with the first seal being opened. And when the first seal is opened, you see a rider on a white horse. Now, we said that this rider on a white horse is not the Christ, but he's the Antichrist. The real Jesus, the real Christ comes riding, also comes riding on a white horse. But that's in Revelation 19. And when he comes riding on a white horse, he is going to come to set up his kingdom here or not. This Antichrist, Revelation six, one and two, he comes, he's conquering, he's going about conquering, but then right after that, as the seals are opened, we see different things happening here or not. Every seal represents something happening. So in the book of Revelation, during the seven years, there are three sets of judgments. There are seven seals, seven trumpets and seven bowls. And typically, when a seal is opened or a trumpet is sounded or a bowl is poured out, something happens, typically. Now, there is, I think, two times when there is silence, nothing happens. But generally, when a seal is opened or when a trumpet is sounded or when a bowl is poured, there is some judgment happening here or not. So Revelation chapter six is a record. And I remember this is in the future, so it's not something that has happened, it's going to happen. Revelation six is telling us that, is telling us what will happen when each of the seven seals are opened. And very quickly, I'll just mention that, you know, the first seal, of course, is the Antichrist coming on the scene and him conquering and taking control and gaining influence. Secondly, we see people are killing each other. Revelation chapter six was four. Revelation six was five. There is five and six. There is famine on the earth, lack of food. Revelation chapter six, verses seven and eight. There is death. People are killing each other. People are dying out of hunger. And one fourth, that is 25% of the earth's population is killed. Revelation six, nine, is a lot of people are being killed for their faith in Christ. And so on. And Revelation six, twelve, the sixth seal is, you know, catastrophic things happening in the heavens and on the earth, the sun, the moon, the stars and so on. Revelation seven, so that's Revelation six, the seals, the seal judgments are being poured on the earth. Revelation seven, we saw that God, during this tribulation time, God has reserved 144,000 Jewish people. Now it doesn't mean that all of these 140,000 Jews are in Jerusalem or in Israel. Jewish people are all over the world. They live, of course, their nation is Israel, but there are Jews living all over the world. So these 144,000 Jewish people, Jews, God has specifically assigned them to be His servants during the tribulation. So they are the seal of God, which is, we understand in the New Testament, the seal of God is the Holy Spirit. So they are the seal of God, the name of God on the foreheads. And they are servants of God, which means they are serving God during the tribulation. We said that they will be involved in the preaching of the gospel because in Revelation seven, verses nine to seventeen, the second half of Revelation seven, we are seeing great multitudes of people from every tribe and tongue and peoples. They are standing before the throne and one of the elders, this is in Revelation chapter seven, verse 13, he asks, you know, John, do you know where these people have come from? And John says, so John, in his vision, he's having this conversation. And John says, sir, sir, only you know. And then the this elder was talking to John, Revelation seven, 14 says, these people have come out of the great tribulation. So that means this huge multitude. But people who died during the tribulation, so they were killed, they are martyred. And they are now with the presence of God. So we are seeing the result, 144,000 Jews, servants of God in the tribulation. Obviously, many, many, many people are being saved. They may be saved because of their preaching. People will be saved simply because they realize that all that, you know, we have been preaching, the church has been preaching before the rapture is true. And, you know, they go back to the scriptures and whatever, you know, it's causing people to turn to God. And so that great multitude that John sees in Revelation seven, verse nine onwards. Those people died during the tribulation and they were brought into heaven. And so that's what the elder is saying that these are these are the people have come out of the tribulation. And they come into the presence of God, which means there will be people who are saved during the tribulation and they will go to heaven. And we could say that some of it is because of these preaching of the 144,000 servants, Jewish servants whom God has kept for that time. So then we went into Revelation chapter eight, where we saw that during this time. And remember, all of this is in the early part of the tribulation. We haven't reached the middle yet. Middle is Revelation 11. So during the early part of the tribulation, there is a global prayer movement. People are praying that's Revelation chapter eight versus one to five. We can see there's prayer coming up and there's an angel who throws the the golden sensor. He throws it to the earth, causing prayer to come up from the earth. So we can say that there will be a lot of people who are praying during the tribulation and they did turning to God. Prayers are going up to God. Revelation eight, one, two, five. Then from Revelation eight versus six onwards are the next set of seven judgments, which is the trumpets. So first there were seven seals, something happening on the earth. Then we see these Jews, 144,000 Jews preaching, a lot of people being saved, being martyred, being killed. They're going up into heaven. Revelation eight, there's a lot of prayer coming up into heaven. Revelation eight, seven onwards. The next set of judgments, the trumpets are sounding. And as the trumpet is sounding, each trumpet is signifying something. Something's going to happen. So if we just quickly mention this here. In eight seven, when the first angel blows the trumpet, there's a hail and fire coming down on the earth. The vegetation of the earth is burned up. One third of the trees are burned. Revelation eight versus seven. Second trumpet, it says a great mountain burning with fire was thrown to sea. And usually when you say a great mountain burning with fire, we think of volcanoes. A great mountain burning with fire. Now probably John was seeing that mountain burning with fire. And all of that ash and dust and whatever was thrown into the sea. And it says one third of the sea became blood and destroyed. And it's just living creatures died and ships were destroyed. So it could very well be some big volcanic eruption that destroys a lot of things in the sea. Revelation eight, ten, third angel sounding and things are falling from heaven and destroying water on the earth. And it says wormwood and causing the water to become very bitter. So the water on the earth is being affected. Fourth trumpet is sounding and then like what we saw earlier in Revelation six. Once again the cosmic things, heavenly bodies are being affected. The sun, the moon, the stars and so on. In Revelation chapter nine, there's the fifth trumpet. And we see that we saw that demonic powers were released on the earth. And just troubling men to the point where people just want to die. And for five months that they're being affected. Revelation nine verse six, men will seek death. They will desire to die. So these demonic powers released on the earth are troubling the people to a point where people want to die. But they're just not able to die. So there's a lot of demonic activity released on the earth in this fifth trumpet. Revelation chapter nine verse one to twelve. Just talking to us about demonic activity on the earth, troubling people for five months. Revelation nine, thirteen, the sixth angel being sounding the trumpet. And it's talking about the river Euphrates with the powers being released from there. And again this destruction here being caused on the earth. A third of mankind are being killed. And then we said here in Revelation nine that John is seeing an army. Revelation nine, sixteen, an army of horsemen, two hundred million. And he's seeing them move on these horses. And he's seeing things like, you know, verse 17, fiery red, blue, sulfur yellow, fire, smoke and brimstone. And one third, about thirty percent of human race was killed through the fire, smoke and brimstone. This is Revelation nine, sixteen, seventeen and eighteen. Now remember that John was seeing things. But he had no, you know, he was seeing two things, you know, like thousands of years ahead of time. So he would not have known anything about missiles and the kind of weapons we have today. Weapons of mass destruction. He would not have had any idea of missiles, nuclear weapons and those very destructive weapons. But he is seeing and what he's seeing is he's seeing fire, smoke, brimstone. He's seeing colors, he's seeing red, blue, sulfur yellow. He's seeing all these things. And he's just writing down in his understanding what he's seeing. Obviously, he has no idea about the kinds of weapons that are there today. So when he sees armies moving and he's seeing like horses and he's seeing this an army of two hundred million people moving army. So, you know, and then he relates it to his context, which is soldiers on horses kind of thing. But these could be, you know, any kind of an army. They could be people moving in tanks or any kind of military movement, you know, but he is capturing it in the language that he has. Or in how he understands how he perceives those things, right, 2000 years ago. So we have to keep that in mind as we read, you know, these passages that these are very real today, meaning today we can have such weapons, which if countries use them. He's like he says here in verse 18, 30% of people on the earth were killed. Now, if all the nuclear arms and the two big countries basically US and Russia, if they use just they use, we're not talking about other countries that have weapons. But if just the United States and Russia use the weapons they have, they can destroy the planet many times over. That's how destructive the weapons are that have been built and which are there. So when John is saying one third of mankind was killed, 30% of people destroyed by what he saw. We can say like, it's very possible today, very possible. You know, if even one country that is that has nuclear weapons or these missiles, if they decide to use what they have, they could destroy many, many, many lives. So what I'm saying is what John has written here in Revelation 9, especially in the sixth trumpet being sounded and what he's seeing, we can understand it in our context. And it's so real. 2000 years ago when John was writing, they didn't have such kind of weapons, you know, they used bows and arrows and swords and spears and shields. They couldn't imagine how one third of the people on earth could be destroyed like that. But today, like we said, it's not just one third, the whole world's population could be destroyed many times over if all those weapons, if those weapons were used. So we can see. All right, John wrote it 2000 years ago. Today, it's very possible. It can happen. You know, just like how John said, so when we came to the end of Revelation 9, we said, the sad thing is this. That even though all these things are happening on the earth, people, there are some people, this is Revelation 9, 2021, who do not repent, even though all these things are happening. There are people who will just harden their heart and they will continue in their idolatry, in the worship of demons, in practicing their witchcraft and murderers and immorality. So we are seeing both kinds of things happening during the tribulation. We are seeing people who are dying as martyrs for their faith in Jesus Christ. And we're also seeing people, like it says here in Revelation 9, 2021, we are seeing people who are just refusing to repent. They are continuing on in their wicked ways, refusing to turn to God. So both kinds of things are happening during the tribulation. Okay. Any questions so far? We are at the end of Revelation 9. We just quickly reviewed things. Any questions on this? So we're now picking up in Revelation 10 verse 1. So Revelation 10 verse 1, Revelation 10 is what we call as a parenthetical chapter, meaning it is something that John experiences in history. John experiences in his vision. So John is seeing the vision of all the things that are going to come. And while he's seeing all this, he sees a big, mighty angel, very big, tall angel from earth to heaven. He sees this angel and then the sound he hears is like, he says in verse 4 of Revelation 10, it's like seven thunder. Meaning it's so voluminous, the voice is so powerful. And then this angel comes and tells John. And he says, he tells John, John, I want you to eat this book. He gives him actually a book or a scroll. He gives him this little book. He says, John, I want you to eat this book. And John eats it and it's sweet in his mouth. It's like honey in his mouth, verse 9. And then when it gets into his stomach, it becomes bitter. And then the angel says, John, this is verse 11, Revelation 10 verse 11, you must prophesy again about many people's nations, tongues and kings. So it is Revelation chapter 10 is an experience John is having while he's seeing all these visions of things to come. So we call it a parenthetical chapter because it is not something that's going to happen in the future. It's something John is seeing, experiencing in a vision while he is seeing things in the future. So now did John literally eat the book? Of course not. It's a vision, it's a spiritual, it's a figurative experience. So in the vision, this angel is telling him to eat the book meaning, John, there's a lot more prophetic prophecies you need to make. You're going to make about people and nations that it's still to come. And so it's like God is going to give you more. It may be sweet in the beginning, but actually it's going to be bitter because it's going to prophesy about judgment and things that are the day of God's wrath upon the nations. So that's Revelation chapter 10. It's a parenthetical chapter. So till now we've gone through seven seals of judgment. We've gone through seven trumpets and we now reach the middle of the tribulation. Actually the seventh trumpet is going to be sounded. So we've reached towards the end of the trumpet. The seventh trumpet is sounded in Revelation 1115. So it's crossing over on the other side, but it's almost done. So we've covered seven seals, six trumpets. One trumpet is left, which will come in chapter 11. But chapter 11 is the beginning or it marks the middle of the tribulation. How do we know that? Because in chapter 11, when the angel is speaking to John and he says, you know, measure the temple, then he says in verse two, Revelation 11 verse two, the temple court will be trampled by the Gentiles and the holy city referring to Jerusalem. It's going to be under the Gentiles for 42 months. So Revelation 11 verse two, 42 months. That's why we know it is the middle of the tribulation. 42 months is three and a half years. So that's what we're saying. Revelation 11 marks the middle of the seven year tribulation. And it begins by saying that the holy city, that is Jerusalem, the temple is going to be trampled under foot by the Gentiles, meaning the Gentiles are coming in. They are taking over. So this is when the Antichrist, like if you connected back to Daniel chapter nine verse 27, this is when the Antichrist in the middle of the week, that is in the middle of the seven years, he will break his covenant. That means he came into power by bringing in a covenant of peace or a peace treaty. But then in the middle of it, that is after three and a half years, he will break that. So that is Revelation chapter 11 and he will set himself up as God. He will desecrate the temple and Jerusalem will be trampled under foot by the Gentiles. Gentiles will come in and take over that holy city. So it matches very correctly with what the angel had spoken to Daniel in Daniel nine. So in Revelation chapter 11, we say this is the middle of the tribulation three and a half years, 42 months left. As the angel tells John, John, Jerusalem and the temple is going to be trampled under foot by the Gentiles for the next 42 months. I mean the next three and a half years, the Gentiles are controlling. The other interesting thing we see in Revelation 11, chapter 11, and this is verse three. There are two witnesses. There are two witnesses. So suddenly there is no, you know, without giving us any background, John is seeing two witnesses in Jerusalem. And he says, now this is in Revelation chapter 11. And they are olive trees. They're represented, this is verse four. They're represented by olive trees and lampstands. Now olive trees and lampstands, if we compare them with the Old Testament, you know, in Zechariah chapter four, the olive tree released the holy anointing oil into the lamp, which was burning. You can read about that in Zechariah chapter four. So basically these two witnesses are anointed by God to do what they're doing. So again, we can say the Holy Spirit is operating on the earth during the tribulation. We said from Revelation chapter, let me see here. From Revelation seven, we said that these 144,000 Jews have the seal of God and they're anointed servants of God. So Holy Spirit is upon them. Once again, we're seeing two witnesses. They are represented by the olive tree and lampstand, both carrying oil, indicating the presence of the Holy Spirit. And these two witnesses are glorifying God in the middle of the tribulation. They're doing mighty signs and wonders. Now the Bible in Malachi chapter four, verse five and six, that's the familiar verses. God said, I will send Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the Lord. So we know that one of these witnesses is the prophet Elijah. Jesus also said in Matthew 17, when he was speaking about John the Baptist, he said, Elijah has come and Elijah will come. Elijah has come, meaning John the Baptist came in the spirit and power of Elijah. But Elijah will come, meaning the physical, literal Elijah will come. And he is one of the two witnesses. So we know who one of the two witnesses is. It's Elijah. Who is the other witness? There are different views on that. Some say it could be Enoch. Some say maybe it's Moses. My personal thought is it's going to be Enoch because these are the only two men who didn't die physically but were caught up into heaven. And so therefore they would be sent back to the earth where they will die physically. That's my thought, but we don't know. The Bible doesn't tell clearly who the second witnesses. We know there is one person, God said, I will send Elijah the prophet. So we see these two witnesses. Revelation 11 verse 3 says they will prophesy for 1,260 days. That is three and a half years. So they will be doing the ministry in the second half of the tribulation. They'll be doing mighty miracles and people will see. So through their ministry also people will be saved. People will come to know the Lord. Now Revelation 11 is one of those chapters that is starting in the middle of the tribulation, but it takes us till the end of the tribulation because it's talking about these two witnesses. And it says at the end of that tribulation towards the end, these two witnesses will be killed. So it says here, Revelation 11 verse 7, when they finish their testimony, the beast. So suddenly we have the introduction of a certain character called the beast. We know this is the Antichrist. We will see that happening in chapter 13. But the term beast is suddenly introduced, the beast. And it says the beast who ascends from the bottomless pit. So that means it doesn't mean this man is coming from the bottomless pit. It means that he is empowered by the evil that comes from hell. So he is empowered by the dragon. He's empowered by demonic powers. And he is going to fight against these two witnesses and he's going to kill them. And these two prophets or these two witnesses, their bodies will be in the city of Jerusalem. Revelation 11 verse 8 and 9, their bodies will be in the city of Jerusalem for three and a half days. So the bodies are lying there. And it says that verse 10, people all over the earth will see their dead bodies lying in the streets of Jerusalem. So hit this again. We have to point out that in our world today, this is possible. You can be in any part of the world and through, you know, through live streaming and through the videos and etc. We can see what's happening in some other part of the world in real time. And this was not possible, you know, maybe 30 years ago. 30 years ago, you know, you'd read it in the newspaper or you know, the news will reach a little later. But in today's world, you can actually see what's happening in real time from anywhere in the world. And it says here, verse Revelation 11 and verse 10, that those who dwell on the earth, they will rejoice, they will see these people dying, I mean, dead in the streets of Jerusalem. And then it says that verse 11, verse 11 and 12, that after three and a half days, these two witnesses will rise up. And people who see them, they will, they will be shocked. And it says in verse 12, Revelation 11 verse 12, it says, these people, these two witnesses will be resurrected and they will go up into heaven. So people are going to see this all over the world. So you can imagine people watching this and it's happening before their eyes. These, these two witnesses have been raised and taken up into heaven. And at this time, you know, there will be, it says there's going to be great earthquake verse 13. And it says the rest of the people were afraid and gave glory to the God of heaven. So this event towards the end of the tribulation is going to cause many people to realize and recognize the God of heaven. Now, we are assuming that, you know, many of them would turn to the Lord, would give their lives to God. But this is what is going to happen. And these two witnesses are raised up, resurrected and taken up into heaven. And that's when the seventh trumpet sounds. And the seventh trumpet is just an announcement that God is going to come and he's going to overtake all the kingdoms of the earth. So it's an announcement that this is what is going to happen. And there is great worship happening at the same time in heaven. End of Revelation chapter 11. So remember, Revelation chapter 11 starts in the middle of the tribulation. And it takes us till the time when the two witnesses finished their ministry. So it's giving us a full, let's say an overview of the entirety of their ministry. That means this is what they will do and this is how it will end. And then it's coming back to the middle. We have to continue from the middle. That means we've got to see the rest of the things happening, right? So Revelation 11, 1 to 14 is starting in the middle of the tribulation, going to the end of the tribulation. This is how these two witnesses will die and how they'll be resurrected and how they'll be taken into heaven. And a lot of people will turn to the Lord. Okay, I finished telling you about them. Now let's get back to the middle where we were. Let's finish the seventh trumpet and then move forward. Okay, now that's normal. You know, when we have conversations, when we're telling people a narrative, we may go back in time, tell them something that happened in the past and come back to where we were in the story, which is what will happen in chapter 12. Or we may pick up what we are saying and take a certain thought to completion, then come back and continue with our story of what we were saying. So that's how Revelation chapter 11 must be understood. It starts off in the middle of three and a half years and says, there are two witnesses who are going to be serving for one, two, six, zero days. That means for three and a half years. And it tells us everything they will do and how they will be killed and how they'll be raised and resurrected and go up to heaven. Okay, I finished that. Now let me come back here and continue with what else is going to come. So that's Revelation 11-15. I've come back here. Now I have to continue with the seventh trumpet. Is that clear? Did you understand how things are happening? Yes. It's clear now. So now we have to pick up with the seventh trumpet. The six trumpets are over and we know we are in the middle of the tribulation. Then there's a telling us about the two witnesses and what's going to happen, what all they will do for, they're going to be here for three and a half years. So they come up, they come in the middle of the tribulation and they'll be here for three and a half years. They'll finish the ministry. They'll be killed. The whole world would see them. They will be resurrected. They'll be caught up in heaven. That's about them. Now let's get back here and continue with the seventh trumpet. So verse 15 is the seventh angel sounds. And the seventh trumpet is a declaration that the kingdoms of this world are going to become the kingdoms of the Lord. The Lord is coming. It's going to be over soon. And there's worship in heaven. Now, Revelation 12. Revelation 12, again, is at the middle of the tribulation. Why do we say that? Because, again, in Revelation 12, and if you look at verse 6, again, it's talking about 1,260 days. That is three and a half years. So Revelation 12 is again about what is going to happen from or starting from the middle of the tribulation. But Revelation 12, verses 1 through 6, takes us a little back in time. So Revelation 12 says there's a woman and she's clothed with the sun and the moon and the 12 stars. So what is this woman? But she's clothed with sun, moon and 12 stars. Okay, not very complicated. This is just a picture of figurative representation of the nation of Israel. So why? Because, remember, in Genesis 37, Joseph had a dream. And he saw Jacob, his father, his mother, and his brothers, the sun, the moon, representing his parents, and his brothers represented as stars. So it's a picture taken from the Old Testament, which is already there. It's already there in Genesis 37. And that picture is being used here in Revelation 12. And that picture is very clear. Sun, moon, 12 stars. Hey, that's Israel. Okay. Plus, we're going to see some more indications on who this woman is, who she represents, very clear, and what happens. Okay. So let's just pause here. We will go for our break and we'll come back and we'll start with chapter 12. Okay. So we'll just pause here and we will go for our break and then we will, you know, just do it in a continuous thought. So it's better, easier to understand it like that. So let's just finish our 10 minute break and we will come back. Okay. Thank you. See you in 10 minutes.