 The recording is on. Welcome back everyone to our second lecture on BC213, the End Times. We've just started talking about the signs of the End Times, what are the signs that we should be looking for or looking at which give us an idea or indicate to us how close we are to the rapture of the church, the coming of the Lord, the end of the church age and the beginning of the tribulation. We're trying to understand or get some understanding of that. So the first two signs we said that are very, very important. One is the fact that Israel has been formed as a nation since 1948. A second one is that Jerusalem has been taken by Israel and has become a point of conflict, a center of conflict for many nations. Many nations are involved in this. The third sign that we're looking at is the temple mount. The fact that the Jews are ready to rebuild the temple. Now, why is this important? Because from our understanding of Scripture, there has to be a literal temple in which the Antichrist will do all that the Bible says he will do. He will set himself up in the temple of God, the Bible says he will stop the sacrifices and he will speak blasphemous things against God. So Bible is very clear, it's a literal temple. Now, some people, you might hear some people say that, oh no, this is the spiritual temple, not a literal temple. But we say no, it is a literal temple because of the way the Scriptures describe in Daniel chapter 7, 8 and 9, what Jesus said in Matthew 24, when you see the abomination of desolation set himself up in the temple of God, what Paul wrote in 2 Thessalonians chapter 2, talking about the Antichrist setting himself up in the temple of God, what John wrote in Revelation 11, that the city is given up to the Gentiles and they will tread and defeat the city and the temple. So based on all these passages, we're saying that there has to be a literal temple, a physical temple, not just a spiritual temple. And the fact that the Jews are well prepared, they've made all the preparations ready to rebuild the temple and resume their own sacrifices, that is again a strong indication that we are very close. If they didn't bother, they're not interested, they won't do anything, then you'll be like, hey, where will this temple come from? How will it happen? But it's not like that, the people are ready to do this. So it's a very strong indication. Now, number four, I will just do a few more and say, is about the 10 leaders that Daniel spoke about. And we will see this next year when we study the book of Daniel, I'll just give you an essence of what that is. In Daniel chapter two, if you want to just follow with me, I'll just give you an idea and then we will look into this in detail next year. In Daniel chapter two, when Nebuchadnezzar has this dream, which Daniel tells him the dream and the interpretation, he sees this great big image. And if you go with me to verse 33, Daniel two verse 33, this image, its legs were of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay. And so this image, it has feet of iron, legs of iron, which we will explain next year, which represents to us the Roman Empire. Its feet, so its feet, which means there are 10 toes, partly of iron and partly of clay. And then you say, okay, what does that mean? If you look at verse 42, or let's say from 41, whereas you saw the feet and toes, toes representing 10 toes, partly of porters clay, partly of iron, this is verse 41, the kingdom shall be divided, yet the strength of iron shall be in it, just as you saw the iron mixed with ceramic clay, verse 42. And as the toes of the feet were partly of iron and partly of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong and partly fragile. As you saw iron mixed with ceramic clay, they will mingle with the seed of men, but they will not adhere to one another, just as iron does not mix with clay, verse 44. And in the days of these kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed, and the kingdom shall not be left to another people. It shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms and it shall stand for ever. So Daniel 2.41 to 44, Daniel is talking about iron mixed with clay, the iron representing people of the previous empire, the Roman empire, mixed with clay, clay representing people of all other, the seed of men, that means all other languages and tribes and all, they're all mixed. So in that region, in the region of the former Roman empire, you will see that iron will be mixed with clay and then there will be these 10 toes, the 10 toes representing 10 kings or 10 leaders. So, and he says, when you're seeing this happen, in the days of these kings or these leaders, God, the God of heaven will set up his own kingdom. So in the former Roman empire, which today we understand, it covers what we refer to as the European Union. So when you look at the European Union, there are so many countries, I think like 20 some member countries, small, small, small countries all across Europe. They're loosely held, they're part of this European Union. And each of these countries, there are a mix of iron and clay, that means there are a mix of the original, the people who belonged to that region. And clay means from all other parts of the world, all mixed, very loosely held. And there are going to be 10 kings or 10 leaders coming up from this area. Now, what will happen is, as we go through Daniel, we will see that these 10 leaders, there will be another little horn coming who will overpower three of these 10 leaders and will come into prominence. So I'll just give you an idea. If you go with me to Daniel chapter seven, let me give you the exact, we will just look at verse 20. And the 10 horns that were on its head, and the other horn which came up, before which three fell, namely, that horn that had eyes and a mouth which spoke pompous words, whose appearance was greater than his fellows. So verse 20, Daniel seven, 20. So in Daniel seven, he sees another beast with 10 horns, which is a parallel to the 10 toes. And then he sees another little horn, which is the Antichrist, who overpowers three of these horns, that means three of those 10 leaders, he overpowers them and they help him come into power. This little horn that speaks pompous words is the Antichrist. And you will also see, also in, let me see here, chapter nine, I think it is. Let me just give you another reference to this. So sorry, Daniel eight, and he's explaining to us in Daniel eight, versus nine and 10. He talks about this little horn, which is referring to the Antichrist. And it is this little horn that that's, you know, that will, Daniel eight, was 12. This little horn will oppose the daily sacrifices. And he will do all of these things. So that little horn is actually referring to the Antichrist. Yeah. Okay. So the point is this, and we will look at this in detail, that there are these 10 toes or these 10 horns, which represent 10 leaders who come from this region, this loosely held region, which we know is the European Union, which was part of the former Roman Empire. So we look, we look carefully at, okay, yeah, there can be 10 leaders who can come up from the European Union. Like the, you know, they could be the presidents of the, now there's many presidents, the presidents of 10 of the most powerful nations from among this loosely held region. Okay. So you're looking, what is 10 most influential people coming out from this region? And then what Daniel also said is there will be a little horn, a little leader who'll come from another place. And then Daniel eight, he explains that will be from one of the regions that belonged to the Greek Empire. So he, Daniel said, you know, I talked about Alexander the Great, after he died, his kingdom was divided into four parts. And from one of those four parts will come this little horn. So then you're also looking. Okay. There's going to come some leader from what was a part of the former Greek Empire. And he will overpower or he will influence three of these 10 leaders. So you're looking at that relationship. And these leaders will put them into power, but bring this little horn into power. That prominent one is Alexander the Great. So that is, so when in Daniel eight, he talks, Daniel talks about the goat and the ram. And so he talks about the ram, which had two horns, which represents a means in the Persians, then the goat, which had one very big horn, the goat represents the Greek Empire, very big horn that represents Alexander the Great, who became very powerful. But he died very young. And then in his place, four of his emperors became, his generals became leaders. Okay. So that part is already fulfilled. What Daniel did say is that from these four regions, a little horn will come, a little leader will come. Right. So now the fourth sign that we're looking at is what Daniel said, that there will be this region of iron mixed with clay. And from there, there will be 10 leaders coming. Oh, today it is possible. Right. That when we look at the European Union, so when the European Union was formed, many Bible prophecy people were very excited, saying it's happening. You know what Daniel said is happening, that this region is becoming a, like iron mixed with clay and we can actually have 10 leaders coming who will kind of work together. But three of them will be influenced by this little horn who is the Antichrist and through them he will come into power. So we are looking at this also happening and say, hey, just like what Daniel said, because Daniel chapter two says, in the days of these kings, the God of heaven will set up his kingdom. That means while these, in the time of these leaders, it's going to happen seven years. And then at the end of the seven years, the Lord Jesus will come and set up his own kingdom. So the fact that there can be these 10 emerging leaders who will help bring up the Antichrist into his place of power becomes very interesting for us in looking at what's happening politically in Europe and parts of Turkey and so on, Egypt, so on. So part of the Greek Empire, of course, Greece, Syria, Turkey, Syria, Egypt, those are the big regions. So you're looking at what is happening around there, how they are interacting with the European Union, what kind of relationship they are having with the leaders in the European Union. And you're looking at that and saying, yeah, because this is how it's going to play out, that these 10 leaders will support, actually three of them will be overpowered by this little horn who is the Antichrist, and he will come into power through their help. So you're looking at what's happening. Pastor, I'm very silly, don't if so please ignore it. So this what we are studying all about this end times. So the Bible is there for everyone. And the people who goes into the situation also, they also know this, right? They have the Bible in there, they can bring it and read. So if so, it's clearly it's telling about the future, right? They also can read and eradicate their defeat. And they can know what's happening before only they can take some steps to just eradicate few things like about the temple or about the fights and all. That's an interesting question. These are my thoughts. My thought is, first of all, I think many of these people won't pay attention to the Bible. Who's going to listen to the read the Bible? That's their attitude. I don't think, especially, you know, thinking about the European leaders, European Union, the leaders there, or when they come on this side, Turkey and Egypt, I don't think they even pay attention. They don't have any respect. They're not paying attention. So they wouldn't care. Even if somebody goes and tells them, hey, look, see, these things are prophesied. They won't, I think they won't pay attention. They are probably just, even if they claim to be religious, it's more of a nominal, formal thing. They may attend a service or a funeral in a church or something. But I don't think these leaders, at least as far as I know, there's no real believing, Bible believing leader that we're seeing there. There are such kind of leaders who only have a minister to tell them, like, this is what it's there in Bible and this is what happened. See, if we come to India only, if we have Prime Minister, there will be so many, so much team, intelligent team that, that give the suggestions. If it is such a big, an empire or a kingdom, when they have a ministers that, that to tell you, this is what's happening in the Bible and this is what. And about this Jerusalem also, about this lab and all these things, when they have a little concern on these things or it's God's divine plan, so it will happen like that, whatever they are, it's happened. It will happen because God, God has inspired and wrote the Bible. So one thing we can say is, whatever God has spoken will happen. But whether, you know, like you're saying, would there be people who will advise these presidents, tell them, hey, this is what the Bible says, maybe it can, maybe there could be people who are advising them, I don't know. I haven't heard of any such thing. I know one person who told me something, but I think he was just making it up. He came and he told me, oh, these people are studying the Bible and prophecy and all this. There's no proof, there's no evidence. So I wouldn't take him seriously. Could there be some people who are informing them and saying, hey, you know, the Bible has said all these things, maybe, I don't know. But will they take it seriously? I don't think so. They'll still do what they want to do. And, you know, for many of these people, it's more about staying in power, being elected, you know, every four years is election. I have to do something to keep myself in power. It's more about that rather than genuinely following God. Okay, we'll just look at one more. So the possibility of these 10 leaders coming in from that particular region, because Daniel was very specific in that region, not just 10 leaders anywhere, but from there, those who are mixed with the iron and clay, iron representing the Roman Empire, from those leaders, 10, you know, from that region, 10 leaders emerging, you know, today, it's something that we can actually see happening before our eyes and we keep looking at it. Last one, the possibility of a global currency system and identification system. You know, just again, this is also so amazing because, and I think I mentioned it before, maybe 30 years ago, just 30 years ago, we would not be thinking about a global identification system or global currency. When we wanted to go to the bank, you physically walk to nearest bank, write some paper, put money and get it out like that, you had to physically do things 30 years ago. Today, you can sit here in Bangalore and you can do anything in anywhere online. I mean, you can, yeah, things have changed so much in just last 30 years and identification. Now, even so many countries, including our country, India has a unique ID for every citizen. Not every may have got the other card yet, but it's there in place. Every person has unique ID and so many countries have implemented that. Some countries implemented many years ago, but other countries have implemented it. So you would, we would not even think, imagine 30 years ago, these things would be there, but suddenly within a few decades, everything is there. And our banking system, everything is so connected. From one bank, you can send money to any bank, almost any bank. It's all connected. Now, it was not like that. Just a few decades ago, it was not like that, so difficult. So in Revelation 13, when John wrote, and John wrote this 2000 years ago, that this Antichrist and false beast, this false prophet would set up a system, but everybody must receive the mark of the beast. And if they don't receive that ID, identification, they cannot buy yourself. He wrote this 2000 years ago, way ahead of time about people receiving some identification, people having to use that to transact by himself. And we look at it literally, these things have come into place in the last few decades. Before that, it was not there. But John wrote about it 2000 years ago. So we are saying, Hey, this is happening in our day, in our time, right before our eyes, buying and selling, using ID to buy and sell. It's happening in our day, our time. So we're saying, wow, it is possible that if this Antichrist comes, and he has so much influence, he can introduce some system that I don't know exactly how it will look, but some system that says you have to have this ID, only then you can buy yourself. It's possible. People is preaching to not to have that. Not to receive the mark of the beast. And then how it will be, it will be like how we got the other card. If you don't have other, you won't be identified. So many things you can't do. Like that, it will happen. Like unknowingly, we'll do that. So, oh, okay. So your question is, will the Antichrist, I mean, will he introduce it in a way that makes it look very normal? I think that's the approach he will take. So if you want more people to participate, you have to introduce it in a way saying, hey, it's good for you. You join. Take this number, put it on you, on your foray at your right hand. I don't know whether it's a microchip or something. I don't know how it will be introduced, but it's good for you because if you have it, you can easily buy and sell. You know, see, like nowadays, I mean, think about the payment from your phone. First when they introduced not, okay, a few people started. Now it's like almost everybody is using it. It's like almost everybody. Because it's like, it's almost like a necessity when you go to shop, okay, Google Pay or whatever. Done. It makes it easy. It's a good thing for you. Makes it convenient. So my guess is that he's going to introduce it in a way that it's a good thing to have. But what we have to be careful of is the end result is to worship the beast. Now, that is the good. You have to worship this man. So how that will be introduced in packages, I don't know. There is a reservation. See, if you change your cash to a Christian, we won't get all the things which are there for a reservation people. So what they say is, if you change your cash or if you change your religion, you won't get all these things which were given by government. If you won't change, you'll get all the things. If you change to Christian, that's how it's happening now in India. You won't get the benefits. Maybe like that. Like it should be, if it is done by Antichrist, it should be done in a very normal way that unknowingly it should happen. But the goal is to get them to worship the beast, the Antichrist. So I don't know how it will be packaged, but it will be put in such a way that it will draw the people. That is where John says, know this, the mark of the beast, it's 666. And the angels will want, do not receive the mark of the beast. So whoever is living at that time, they should watch and be careful and see how it is going to happen. So the main point is, we are living in a day and time when this is possible. It can happen. And technology is only advancing. It's making it easier to happen. And there may be some new things that are developed in the next few years that make it even more easy to implement something like this, where people can receive a mark on their body on the right hand. And maybe something, I don't know how it's going to, what can be implemented. There's actually even implanting chips inside the brain and all those kinds of things. So how quickly things can advance the next two, three years, we don't know. So we are in that place where Revelation 13 can actually be fulfilled. What's your question? I'm getting the answer. Yeah. Faster, like we have first discussed, like when John was writing some things, he wrote it according to the knowledge that he had. So this symbol of the beast, Triple Six, will it be literal or it is according to what he has known at the time he has written or it can be something different also. So John gave a literal number, like he said, know the mark of the beast. It is 666. So he gave that. Now, what exactly and how exactly that will be expressed, we don't know. Is it going to be, I don't understand. Imagine, is it like going to literally be this number, you know, actual 666, everybody put 666 on your head or hand, or is it representing something? John wrote what he saw. He saw 666, he wrote it as 666. But does that actually symbolize something or does it mean something different? We don't know. Yeah, that's why we have to be careful, like especially those living there at that time in Revelation 13, middle of the Tribulation. That's when they need discernment to know that what is the 666, how is it being expressed? The main test is, am I being drawn in to worship the mark of the, to worship the beast? We see, like, how the Antichrist introduces the symbol 366 is like an access to buy something and to sell, right? Yes. So is it possible for those people who are living at that time to take the mark of the beast just to trade and then still not to worship the Antichrist? I don't think so. Because from our reading of Revelation 13, it is connected. Worship the beast. So it's all like one, you can say like one package. So there's no like, okay, I'll take this and not that. Yeah, mark the beast. So it's like one thing. Yeah. Let me see. Any questions from those online? Any questions from those online? I hope all of you are following us. We're just having some discussions here inside the classroom. Any questions from those online so far? Okay. So let's pause here for today. We just have a little bit more to cover next week. We will go through the other signs and then we will do a full review. And I think with that, we will wrap up this course. So we might finish the course quite early. All right. So let's pray together and then we will dismiss. Can somebody pray and dismiss? Father, we thank you for this day, for this time, Lord, as we have studied about all those things, Father, help us to understand more and deeply, Father, so we can learn your word, Jesus. Thank you, Father. In Jesus name I pray. Amen. Amen. Thank you, Rowan. We'll continue this next week. God bless. Bye now.