 Okay, welcome back everybody to lecture number three today on our course 308 Revelation and Daniel. I hope all of you are still there and you're taking it in. I hope it's not too heavy. All right. So we were reading through Revelation 18 and looking at this other thing called Babylon the Great. And it's quite obvious as you read through all this great city Babylon which is different from mystery Babylon chapter 17. So it's quite clear as you read through Revelation 18 that this great city Babylon is talking about a global economic system because people are buying and selling. And Brother Mano I think you need to meet your mic. So it's talking about a global economic system. People are buying and selling. So we read till verse 18. And what I want to point out very sadly is, and this is in the end of verse 13, very sadly this economic system was not only selling goods like wealth and money and material things. It says they were selling bodies and souls of men. So what we would refer to in our modern language we call it human trafficking. So this global economic system is not only selling money, they are selling bodies and souls of men. I just wanted to point that out. Let's finish reading chapter 18 please. We will pick up from verse 19, read the rest of it and it'll just become more obvious you know what this is. Verse 19 on, preverses each please. They threw dust on their heads and cried out weeping and wailing and saying alas alas the great city in which all who had ships on the sea became rich by her world. For in one hour she has made this a living. Rejoice over her own heaven and new holy apostles and prophets for God has avenged you and her. Then a mighty angel took up a stone like a great mill stone and drew it into the sea, saying thus with violence the great city of Babylon shall be thrown down and shall not be found anymore. Thank you. Verse 22 to 24 somebody, someone? The thought of the harpists, musicians, flutists and trumpeters. Not sure what happened. All right the sound of harpists musicians flutists and trumpeters shall not be heard in you anymore. No craftsman of any craft shall be found in you anymore. And the sound of a mill stone shall not be heard in you anymore. The light of a lamp shall not shine in you anymore. And the voice of the bridegroom and the bride shall not be heard in you anymore. For your merchants were the great men of the earth. For by your sorcery all the nations were deceived. And in her was found the blood of prophets and saints and of all who are slain on the earth. So it's quite obvious here you know Revelation 18 when you look at all the details you see that this is referring to a world economic system people buying and selling that here at this point right so right remember where we are we are like at the very end of seven years of tribulation the seven bowls of the final judgment seven balls have been poured out the sixth ball has signaled the beginning of the build up towards the battle of Armageddon nations are getting together you know getting to move into battle all that's happening and at that time God pours his judgment on Babylon one is this world religious system that has deceived the nations multitudes of people and secondly this global economic system which everybody was vested in they were you know buying and selling and doing all these things and the the rich people of the earth the great people of the earth it says in verse 23 the great people of the earth were all you know vested in it and everything collapses in a moment in within an hour and sadly we saw here that verse 24 the blood of prophets and saints where so that means this economic system also attacked prophets and saints so you saw the mystery Babylon the blood of the martyrs attacking God's people great city Babylon attacking God's people that means wealth was used money was used to go against the people of God religious system was used to go against the people of God wealth was used to go against the people of God and God is avenging both in causing these things to collapse so this brings us to this final final act which is the battle of Armageddon revelation chapter 19 so in heaven there is what we read in revelation 19 the marriage supper of the lamb so you know God is celebrating with all the saints who have come there there's this great marriage supper of the lamb and then the Lord Jesus steps out to move in so on the earth armies are being mobilized to go against Israel and in heaven there's this marriage supper of the lamb that's done and the Lord Jesus comes to the earth so let's read revelation 19 we will see this final act before the curtain is drawn on that seven years of revelation revelation 19 let's read through it we will go from verses one to ten somebody has a question i'm not sure oh yes this pastor sorry sorry for drawing back i was just reading along the lines you know and i notice if we look at history of the Babylon Babylon itself where the Israelites were in captivity for 70 years there seems to be some similarities with um that's Babylon then and this Babylon i don't know if it's still referring to that same Babylon or this is another economic setting or system that would be um present during this time i just wanted to give more clarity again on this right so like we said you know the Babylon refers to three things one is there is the the place Babylon which a lot of things have happened you know the tower of babel was built there the people of israel were there for captive uh all those things the physical place things that have happened but the thing that significantly differentiates mystery Babylon and the great city Babylon is its global influence the the physical geography geographical location Babylon didn't have a global influence right things happen they're localized but mystery Babylon is something that sits over all peoples nations so it's a big difference between the geographic Babylon and mystery Babylon same thing with this great city Babylon its global influence merchants from all the earth but we just read they were they were trading with in this so today nobody does any business with Babylon at all Iraq is among the poorest nations in the earth i mean i'm talking about in in in looking at it from that perspective but this Babylon is very different like you know uh so it's very different this Babylon everybody's trading the great men of the other involved in it they're doing so it sets you know it's it's very clear that we could say it's not talking about the geographic Babylon which today in modern day would be the nation of Iraq where the city of Babylon is but let's talk about a global economic system because everybody all over the world are participating in it thank you very much sir yeah sounds good let's go into chapter 19 let's read please verses one to ten three verses each after this i've heard what sounded like the roar of a great multitude in heaven shouting hallelujah salvation and glory and power belong to our god for true and just are his judgments he has condemned the great prostitute who corrupted the earth by her adulteries he has avenged on her the blood of his servants and again they shouted hallelujah the smoke from her from her goes up forever and ever and the 24 elders and the four go ahead go ahead celebrate 24 elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshipped god was seated on the throne saying amen hallelujah and from the throne came a voice saying praise our god and all your servants you who hear him small and great then i heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude like the roar of many waters and like the sound of mighty thieves of thunder rying out hallelujah for the lord our god the almighty reigns thank you but that is the glad and rejoice and give him glory for the marriage supper of the lamb has come and his wife has made herself ready and where it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen clean and bright for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints then he said to me right bless the those who are called to the marriage supper of the lamb and he said to me these are the true saints of god and i fell at his feet to worship him but he said to me see that you do not do that and your fellow servant and of your brethren who have the testimony of Jesus worship god for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy so chapter 19 begins with you know a celebration about the judgment on Babylon god has avenged his people and so both mystery Babylon great city of Babylon so which we just saw revelation 17 18 then it's okay let's get ready for the final thing which is the marriage supper of the lamb and her wife has made herself ready and this is basically when you're talking about the his wife verse he talks about the saints who've been clothed in righteousness they are there and there is this great feast so the marriage supper is just is a picture of a great celebration of Jesus of the lord the lamb with all of his redeemed people it's like this this high point is great celebration the marriage of the lamb taking place in heaven now west end you know this elder who's speaking to john john falls down to worship him and he says you know i'm just a fellow servant one of your brethren so this is where we get some idea on who one of the elders are it's somebody who served the lord and possibly a jewish man your brethren he says west end sorry west end and worship Jesus and then he says the testimony of jesus is the spirit of prophecy so testimony of jesus meaning what jesus is speaking what jesus is saying that is the spirit or what inspires prophecy right so what is all true prophecy true prophecy is us saying what jesus is saying the testimony the testimony of jesus is the spirit of prophecy so that's one way of understanding this means what jesus is saying is what gives birth to prophecy when you say what jesus is saying that's prophecy and remember the holy spirit speaks to us what jesus is saying so what jesus says is spoken to us by the holy spirit and then we speak that that's prophecy right so prophecy is us speaking what jesus is saying as we hear from the holy spirit the testimony of jesus is the spirit of prophecy so how the marriage supper of the lamb is over the next final thing the lord moves onto the earth verse 11 onwards please from chapter 19 those 11 to 21 verses each and I saw heaven opened and behold a white horse and he that sat upon him was called faithful and true and with justice do he judge and fight and his eyes were as a flame of fire and on his head were many diadems and he had a name written which no man know it but him and he was clothed clothed with the garment sprinkled with blood and his name is called the word of god thank you and the armies of being heaven are waiting for life white and pure for following him on white forces from his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations and he would ring them with a rod of iron he would tread the wine press of the fury of the wrath of god the only on his robe and on his tile he has a name written king of kings and all of us okay what's 17 on then i saw an angel standing in the sun and he cried with a loud voice saying to all the birds that fly in the midst of heaven come and gather together for the supper of the great god that you may eat the flesh of kings the flesh of captains the flesh of mighty the flesh of forces and of those who sit on them and the flesh of all people free and slave both small and great and i saw the beast the kings of the earth and their armies gathered together to make war against him who sat on the throne and against his army what's 20 and 21 please then the beast was captured and with his with him a faith prophet who worked signs in his presence by which he deceived those who received the mark of the beast and those who worshipped his image these two were cast alive into the lake of fire meaning with brimstone and the rest were killed with the sword which proceeded from the mouth of him who sit on the house and all the birds were filled with the flesh so what do we see here the final act and we're going to we'll just we'll read a few other scriptures here we see the lord coming out of heaven and john is describing you know someone who's so powerful someone majestic now whether jesus comes literally riding on a white horse or whether he just comes you know we don't know i mean whether it doesn't matter um the reason is jesus riding on a white horse is symbolic of you know somebody the conqueror the army general coming forth but we we know what the angel said in act chapter one they said this same jesus you know will come in so like manna as you have seen him go so when he went he we don't see him going riding on a horse so you know there can be this question well he didn't go on a horse they said he'll come the way he went you know so is he literally going to come on a horse or not so okay let's not worry about it revelation 19 could be just expressing to us that he's coming in such great power and glory and as a king as a warrior the first time he came he came as a humble little child now he's coming as a mighty warrior conquering king that could be the picture of revelation 19 but then it tells us about you know what's going to happen that with the word of his mouth he's going to destroy the kings of the earth but the word of his mouth it's going to be so much you know just the judgment there at that moment it's going to be so great and the the beast and the false prophet will deceive the nations will be caught or will be captured and they will be and those who worshiped with him worshiped him they'll be cast into the lake of fire let's just cross a reference a few passages to just give us more light on this we will read the book of jude which is just the which the little book just before revelation so we just go before revelation jude and could somebody please read to us verses 14 and 15 jude 14 and 15 in of the servant from Adam prophesied about them see the Lord is coming with thousands upon thousands of his holy ones to judge everyone and to convict all of them all the ungodly acts they have committed in their ungodliness and of all the defiled land words ungodly sinners have spoken against him so jude is telling us inoc prophesied now we don't have uh written recorded inoc's prophecy i mean the sense that we don't have it here in the scripture so jude must have obtained it from um some other writings or maybe by revelation but he said inoc prophesied the Lord comes with 10 thousands of the saints inoc prophesied this is what's going to happen the Lord is coming with thousands of the saints to execute judgment right now when we read the book of Zechariah so let's go to Zechariah you know Zechariah chapter 14 uh describes to us what exactly will happen here at the battle of Armageddon let's read please we will just read verses one to four and then i will mention i'll point out some of the other verses in this chapter but can we read verses oh sorry one two four one two four Zechariah 14 one two four somebody read it go ahead behold the day of the Lord is coming and your boy will be divided in your midst for i will get for i will gather all the nations to battle against Jerusalem the city shall be taken the worst houses riffles and the woman ravished how will the city shall go into captivity but the remnant of the people shall not be caught off from the city and the Lord will go forth and fight against those nations as he fights in the day of battle and in the and in that day his feet will stand on the mountain of olives which faces Jerusalem on the east and the mountain of olives shall be split in two from east to west making making a making a very large valley half of the mountain shall move towards the toward the north and half half of it toward the south hmm so very interesting that Zechariah prophesied about this battle of Armageddon how things will end he's saying the day of the Lord is coming and he said nations are going to come against Jerusalem but the Lord will fight and then he makes this very very significant statement verse four in that day his feet the Lord's feet will stand on the mount of olives very significant Zechariah how do you know how do you know that the Lord is going to stand on this mountain but he's prophesying and several hundred years later the Lord Jesus ascends from the mount of olives and as he's ascending the angels are saying Jesus will come in the same way and so you connect the two he ascended from mount of olives he is going to descend there and Zechariah prophesied Zechariah 14 for his feet will stand on the mount of olives he's going to come he's going to land there and and there's going to be such a great shaking the amount of olives is going to be divided then i'm going to just highlight a few things from chapter 14 just please uh please follow with me verse five second half thus the Lord my God will come and all the saints with you think about it Jude prophesied and not Jude Enoch prophesied which we read in Jude one Jude that the Lord will come with all his saints Zechariah prophesied the Lord will come with all his saints revelation 19 the Lord will come with all the armies of heaven so we're seeing how this is being repeated and i'll just point a few verses here verse eight he talks about a river which will flow from Jerusalem uh this parallels what Ezekiel wrote about the millennial temple Ezekiel chapters 40 44 to 48 he talks about a river flowing out of Jerusalem as that'll happen here is repeated here in Zechariah 14 8 verse 9 Zechariah 14 9 the Lord will be king over all the earth and the Lord will rule so God is going to rule the Lord is going to rule from Jerusalem it's going to rule from there verse 12 what will happen when the Lord strikes the nations it says verse 12 the Lord will strike all the people who fought against Jerusalem their flesh will dissolve while they stand on their feet their eyes shall dissolve in their sockets and their tongues shall dissolve in their mouths so some you know this is just just the word of the Lord and something strange is going to happen people like you know he's talking about this how people are going to be destroyed after that he says verse 16 onwards we're still in Zechariah 14 okay so now this you're getting into the millennium after the Lord sets up his kingdom which we will read in Revelation 20 but just as a preview here Zechariah said it shall come to pass that everyone who is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall go up from year to year to worship the king the Lord of horse and to keep the feast of the tabernacles and it shall be that which over the families would be I do not come to Jerusalem to worship the king the Lord of horse on them on them there will be no rain and then he continues how nations are going to come to worship the Lord in Jerusalem okay this is Zechariah 14 16 on so there's this great battle of Armageddon where the Lord Jesus will come the armies of the heavens will come but just the word of his mouth he will destroy all the nations that are gathered against Jerusalem he's going to descend on the Mount of Olives and you know the Mount of Olives is going to be split and all of that and he is going to set up his throne in Jerusalem and this is where what Daniel had described you know there is that that 45 days gap that we read in Daniel chapter 12 which would probably be the time of just cleaning up everything physically and a new temple the millennial temple being established a river flowing out of Jerusalem possibly because now the Mount of Olives is being split and you know God will cause the fountain to cause this river to flow and all of that being happening at that time and the Lord setting up his kingdom to rule from Jerusalem everyone who's received the mark of the beast will be taken out that's back in Revelation 19 verse 20 and there's going to be the ushering in of the millennia so this is chapters 20 21 and 22 so let's get into Revelation chapter 20 right so you flip back from Zechariah 14 back into Revelation chapter 20 you all with me so far okay all right so let's read let's see how far we go and then you know we will probably finish it up next week let's say Revelation 20 verses 1 through 6 please and a great change and he sees the dragon that the ancient serpent who is devil and saved him and bound him for a thousand years and threw him into the pit and shed it and served over him so that he might not receive the nations any longer until the thousand years were ended after that he must be released for a little while verse 4 to 6 somebody and there's how drones in this atom them and judgment was committed to them then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God who had not worshiped the beast or his image I had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hand and they lived in range with Christ for a thousand years but the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished this is the first resurrection blessed and holy is he who has heart in the first resurrection over such the second death has no power but they shall be pleased of God and of Christ and shall reign with him a thousand years okay so what do we see here as the Lord sets up his millennial kingdom certain things happen the first thing is this the serpent of old satan and his demons are bound for 1000 years he's put it shut up in the bottomless pit and satan and his demons are removed out of the earth for 1000 years so that's how he begins that millennial rule and then we see that those who had died in faith during the tribulation are raised up so that's the first resurrection our first in the sense first resurrection after the tribulation period that's the first resurrection there's going to be another one that's coming when every other person every other person is going to be raised up from the earth but this is the first resurrection right after the tribulation now remember we spoke about the 144,000 Jews during the tribulation revelation 14 we said it may be that they may have been resurrected given the glorified bodies at that time in revelation 14 because it says that they became the first fruits so possible they were raised up the special but after the tribulation those who died during the tribulation for the witness to Jesus are raised up in this first resurrection now this makes us think a little bit if this first resurrection is very which he mentions in revelation 25 is very specific to and for those who died for their witness to Jesus during the tribulation what about all the other saints who were not there during the tribulation who died before the tribulation what about them oh they were raised up just before the tribulation in the rapture of the church that again it's kind of a reverse logic meaning if this first resurrection after the tribulation is specific to those who died during the tribulation then you work backwards then it's logical to say that everybody else who didn't die during the tribulation should have been resurrected sometime prior which is therefore it leads us back to it had to be a pre-tribulation resurrection that means all the saints all the saints receive their glorified bodies in the rapture of the church just prior to the beginning of the tribulation those who died in faith during the tribulation are part of this first resurrection after the tribulation it's possible the 144,000 Jews may have as a special case experience resurrection prior to this first resurrection there became the first fruits what will this so it says in verse 6 they we're all going to reign with him a thousand years so Jesus sets up this thousand year reign and we're reigning with him now we know we read in Daniel chapter 7 where Daniel said the saints are given the kingdom and they will reign first Corinthians chapter 6 Paul says don't you know that the saints will reign on the earth and they'll reign over angels they rule over angels yeah that's happening here 1000 years we're going to reign on the earth what will life be like during the millennium we have few insights we have few insights we can cross reference a little bit of Zachariah 14 which we just read we can cross reference Isaiah chapter 11 also Isaiah chapter 65 where it describes what life will be during the millennium it says as 11 as a 65 that the very nature of things will change because as he describes and says the lion will lie down with a lamb the child will play you know with a snack people will learn war no more they will beat their swords into plowshares the nations will say let us go up and worship God in Jerusalem and people will take hold of a Jew and say teach us about the ways of the Lord and people life will go on people will you know will do things you know Isaiah in his language says they will plant vineyards and they will build houses because that was the understanding that he had but it means that life will go on people will be doing business they will be cultivating they will be doing everything during the thousand year reign and we will be administering the kingdom and nations will be told to come and worship Jesus so you know people ask other questions like will there be people being born during the millennium Isaiah 65 says yeah people will be born people will die so there will be the people with glorified bodies on the earth and there will be people the natural people who've come through the millennium who are continuing to live on the earth these are people who did not receive the mark of the beast but they neither did they believe in Jesus they they were just on the earth and they continued doing what they did but now they have the opportunity to believe in Jesus so there will be the procreation and the increase of the natural man as well the people and we will be teaching them the big difference is there will be no demonic influence on the earth during that one thousand year reign and at the end of the thousand years we come to verse seven revelation 20 maybe we'll just read till verse 10 and let's see how far we can get revelation 20 verse 7 through 10 please somebody could read it now when the thousand years now when the thousand years have expired seven will be released from his prison and we'll go out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth gorg and mego together them together to battle whose number is as the sand of the sea they went up on the bridge of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city and fire came down from god out of the heaven and devoured them the devil who deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and the brimstone were the beast and the false prophet are and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever yeah so at the end of the thousand years satan is going to be released for a little while like it says in revelation 20 verse 3 it'll be released for a little while now we don't know what a little while is but i'm you know i'm assuming it's a very short period of time we don't know exactly what that little while is i've listened 20 verse 3 it'll be released for a little while and he his immediate work is to deceive nations and it's very interesting that he's going to have to deceive on the four corners of the earth that's verse 8 meaning is this you're going to try to deceive he and his demons are going to try to deceive people all over the earth so now let's try to imagine this the lord jesus is sitting in Jerusalem his he's ruling on the earth and he's been ruling physically on the earth for 1000 years and we have been administering this kingdom and yet satan is going to try to deceive and he succeeds so you can think about this if you go back in time who when satan was an archangel he was the first person to be self deceived when he said i will take the place of the most high but he was able to transmit that deception who one third of the angels who are in the very presence of god so how strong is the deceptive force of satan you know you look back in time he was able to deceive one third of the angels and take them with him here in revelation 20 the lord jesus is ruling in Jerusalem satan his demons are released for a brief period of time and they're able to deceive people on the earth now gog and may gog are specifically pointed out you actually read about them even in is equal to chapter 38 as people the the the the tribes associated with them rosh mishak kubel which most most most bible scholars say are now part of russia so he's able to deceive for whatever reason you know by name these these this region is pointed out that these descendants specifically who are now in modern russia are you know are also there they they deceived and they make satan tries to get them to make one final attempt against the beloved city city of Jerusalem but fire comes down from god and he stops this whole thing but don't use verse 8 says that the number of people he's able to gather together is like the sand of the sea meaning a large number that means satan is able to deceive so many people in such a short time get them to come against jesus christ and the beloved city but god intervenes i think one of the things i just want to highlight here is how strong the deception of the enemy is that he's able to deceive people deceive nations even though jesus has been ruling and is physically ruling in jesus is able to deceive nations see sometimes we pray we say lord you reveal yourself you appear to us and we will believe but sometimes the deception of the devil can be so great and which we're seeing here in revelation 20 the lord jesus is ruling in jesus and yet people can be deceived that means we've got to focus on the truth got to focus on god if we have to and we have to guard ourselves against demonic deception because deception is satan's you only use the word most powerful weapon that's what he does here he deceives the people he deceives the nations revelation 20 verse 8 so think about this we will pause here so we will continue next week next week Thursday will be our final set of lectures i'm sure we've finished the remaining portion of revelation and if there are any other questions we can take up i'm assuming we should be able to be able to finish the rest in one or two hours next week and we will wrap this up okay any questions before we close off for today also some explanation about this first resurrection stated in chapter 20 and verse 6 and resurrection of the saints who died before tribulation some explanation on these two will be helpful yes so what we are saying is revelation 20 says that which revelation 20 verse 6 says this is the first resurrection after the tribulation where those who died believing in Jesus during the tribulation will be raised it's called the first resurrection context is first resurrection after the tribulation so we ask the question what about all the others who believed in Jesus who lived way before saints old testament saints new testament saints the church saints in the church who believed in Jesus before the tribulation what about all of them then will they be resurrected because they have to be ruling on the earth with Jesus so we have to work backwards uh the rapture the which paul describes for us first testimony is four first quarantines 15 but the lord descends and they are raised to be caught up to be with him forever in the air we caught up to be with him in the air that resurrection takes care of all the saints before old testament saints new testament saints receive their glorified bodies that's before the tribulation then at the end of the tribulation those who died during like he says in 20 verse 6 those who died dreams will be part of this first resurrection post tribulation now becoming the millennium there will be people who die who believe in the lord and die physically with the natural bodies everyone will then be raised at the end of the millennium that's another resurrection coming right some will go to eternal life some the rest of them will go to hell separated from god so is that clear here it is uh uh specifically says resurrection of the people who died during the tribulation their first resurrection refers to the people who died during tribulation that means it is a resurrection after the first resurrection of the tribulation so one resurrection has already happened before the tribulation during the rapture yes so so when it says this is the first resurrection we understand it in context it's the first resurrection after the tribulation that's that's the context okay sounds good any other questions so let's close in prayer we'll catch up again next week Thursday I will share this with you and I will also maybe before we close off I will share with you you know some options for those who are interested in ministering well doing ministry with us anywhere in the world uh last year we we talked about we spoke about the church planting accelerator program which we had opened up only for people in India but we will uh and then next week I'll just share some thoughts on you know how if you want to work with us from anywhere in the world we will try to put that together and you can think about it and then you can contact us right for but that's specifically for those who finished three years of study with us right so if you've done three years then we'd like to open up that opportunity and and then take that forward okay I'll share that with you next week let's close in prayer and we will dismiss please somebody could pray with us can go ahead Kim thank you so much for this wonderful time that we had just learning and seeing everything that you have foretold and things that are going to come to pass God and Lord thank you for using your people your apostles and those that are willing God to just bring in revelations and bring in insights from you Lord thank you God that you would help us to to do what you have access to do and that we would be we would obey you and be an example to others God thank you Lord for this time in Jesus name we pray amen amen thank you everyone enjoy your afternoon or the rest of the day I will catch up again next week see you God bless by now thank you pastor thank you thank you everyone thank you everyone God bless by now thank you thank you Kennedy