 Okay, welcome back everyone to our second lecture of BC213 on the end times. We are just giving an introduction to the course and why it is important to study the end times and how we are going to, what is our approach going to be in studying the end times. Any questions so far from anybody? Any thoughts, any questions? Everybody's okay? All right. Okay, thank you. All right, so let's move forward and feel free to ask your questions anytime. So in our approach to studying the end times, the third thing that we want to mention is that we are open yet uncompromising, meaning we are aware that there are various positions in interpreting Bible prophecy and I will explain some of these terms. We are aware that people may interpret Bible prophecy in different ways and the reason that there are so many different interpretations is one having to do with the timing of things because the Bible doesn't give us a said date and time like it doesn't say in the year 2050 this will happen and in the year 2075 this will happen. It doesn't give us dates, right? So therefore when it comes to timing, there are, you know, we can't be hard and fast about it and therefore there are people who position things differently. So when it comes to timing, there is difference and we are aware of that and we are open to listening to what other people have to say and thinking through on it and hopefully before I have thought through on it and I will share with you reasons for why we position certain things the way we do and of course we are always open to listening to how others think through on it and secondly, like we said, when it comes to figurative language in Bible prophecy again, there can be variation and interpretation of figurative language but the rule that we always follow is interpret scripture with scripture. Don't try to interpret scripture by going out of scripture, right? Interpret scripture within scripture. Like if we are going to look at certain things outside, it's okay. To look at things outside of scripture, you know, and compare it with scripture but then you try to interpret figurative language, interpret it with the rest of scripture. You know, stay within that. So like I gave you an example where, you know, in Revelation 12, it was talking about the sun, the moon, the 12 stars and the woman. Instead of, you know, in that same chapter, all of that is interpreted for us but if we don't stay with that and then we go outside of it and start looking at, you know, space and stars and astronomy then we can get into all kinds of weird interpretations, right? So that's another reason why there are differences in interpretations. One is having to do with timing. Second is having to interpret these, the figurative language or things that are given to us not in certain terms but more in figures. Therefore, there are differences. Now, very broadly speaking, when it comes to timing, we have these four, you know, generally speaking, broad categories of positions in interpreting Bible's prophecy and we will explain each one. There is dispensational pre-millennialism. There is historical pre-millennialism and there is post-millennialism and there is a-millennialism. So these four broad positions and we will put it in a little picture so you will understand it. And in or among these pre-millennialists, you have the pre-tribulation, the mid-tribulation and post-tribulation. Now, some of the meanings you can get it from the word itself, right? Pre-millennial. So pre means before. Millennial is the thousand years. So when we say pre-millennial, that means you're saying before the millennium. And this has to do with primarily when people believe Christ will return. So when somebody says they are pre-millennialists, that means they are saying they believe Christ will return pre, that is before millennium, meaning the millennium. So when somebody says I'm a pre-millennialist, they are saying Jesus will return before the millennium. If somebody says post-millennialism, that means they are saying Christ will return post, that is after millennium is the thousand years. So post-millennial means Christ will return after the thousand years. Now, within the pre-millennialists, there is the dispensational and there is the historical. And this has to do with where you position the pre-millennial return of Christ, before the tribulation or after the tribulation. So both are saying Christ will return before the millennium. So both are pre-millennialists. But where will Christ return before the tribulation or after the tribulation? So dispensational pre-millennialism says these people will position the return of Christ. Of course, pre-millennialists before the millennium, but they will position it before the tribulation. So they are pre-tribulation. Historical pre-millennialism means, it's called historical because this was what was believed by the early church. When I say early church, I'm not talking about the first sanctuary church, but I'm talking about the church fathers, meaning the second, third centuries. So that's what's called historical pre-millennialism. And they positioned it post-trib. That means Christ will return before the millennium, but after the tribulation. So they are called historical pre-millennials. Post-millennialism means Christ will return after the millennium. That means a thousand years will go and then Christ will return. And then a-millennials, they don't believe in the millennium being a literal millennium. They just believe that it's happening in a spiritual sense. So that is explained here in the notes, which I've shared with you. Dispensational pre-millennialism, historical pre-millennialism, post-millennialism and a-millennialism. And if you want to look at it in a chart, like a chart, and we will be referencing this chart, we will use it. But look at it here. So this is the millennium, meaning the thousand year reign of Christ. A thousand years. The Bible talks about a thousand years, Jesus ruling and reigning for a thousand years. That's given to us in Revelation chapter 20 and verse 4 through 6. So Jesus will rule and reign for a thousand years, the Bible says. But now, so that's called the millennium. But now, the... So pre-millennialism means before the millennium. So let's say we are in the church age. We are right here now. Some are here, close to the end of the church age. Now the dispensational pre-millennialism believe that Jesus will come here. He will come before the seven years of tribulation. So the Bible talks about seven years of tribulation. We will show it from Scripture. They believe that Christ will come here. Historical pre-millennialism, they believe Christ will come before the millennium, but at the end of the seven years tribulation. So they are basically what people refer to as post-tribulation. There are some people who believe in a mid-tribulation rapture or Christ coming or take for the church a mid-tribulation. That's primarily because of Revelation 14 where it talks about the 144,000 Jewish believers who were found taken up into heaven and they are referred to as the first fruits. So there's an explanation for it why they believe that. So there are those who believe in the mid-tribulation. The post-millennialism, they believe Christ will return once for all at the end of the millennium. And during the thousand years it says reign through the church on the earth. A millennium, they don't believe in all this. They believe that Christ is currently ruling and reigning through the church and we are in the millennium, so on. So they are millennialists. So these are various positions people take and have taken and depending on different books that you might read, you will find people taking these kinds of positions and they will try to explain why they take that position, so on. Now the position that we take as a church and that I would be taking in this course is a dispensational pre-millennialism which is a pre-tribulation rapture of the church. So that's the position we will take. But like I said, we are open, we are aware that there are other positions and we will try to maybe explain why do these people say a mid-tribulation, why do these people say end of tribulation, etc. We will mention those things along. And if you're interested, you can always research that, that the position we will be taking in this course and you're free to disagree or whatever. I'm not saying if you don't agree with this, you will fail the course. That's not what I'm saying. We will be giving you reasons from Scripture as to disposition, the pre-tribulation rapture of the church and what is referred to as the dispensational pre-millennialism. Now if you want to hold on to another position, you're perfectly fine. As long as you're convinced and you see reason for it, that's fine. But we will be giving reasons here for this and explaining this why we take this position. And we'll come back to this figure from time to time as we talk about the very sequence of events that are going to take place. So like I said, we're going to give room for variations. That means, yeah, we're fine. We understand there are people who might see things differently and we're not going to fight about it. We will listen and we will also have an explanation to the reason we take or for the position that we take and we will explain it the best we can. Number four, the fourth approach that we will talk about in studying the end times as we try to look at a complete view of Scripture. So especially when you're reading the book of Revelation, if you understand that, hey, other people have spoken about things. Daniel throughout his book, Daniel has said so much about the end times. Then Zechariah has spoken and Joel has spoken and so many others in the Old Testament have spoken. And so if you want to understand the book of Revelation, it's good to know what has been written in other places in Scripture. And the Apostle Paul wrote first Thessalonians and second Thessalonians and Corinthians. The Lord Jesus spoke about it in Matthew 24. And so when you take all these and put them all together, then we get a beautiful understanding of Scripture. So in our study of the end times, we don't want to take one chapter in isolation or a few verses in isolation. No, everything has to be interpreted with the light of the rest of Scripture. What else does Scripture say? So along, put it all together and then interpret. Number five, like I was saying, the Old Testament is explained in the New Testament. So there are many Old Testament prophecies. And as we progress through the New Testament, we begin to better understand what was spoken of even in the Old Testament. And number six, we will use Biblical typology. And I think I've been explaining this all along, that when we are trying to interpret figurative language and prophecy, we will use the Scriptures itself to interpret them. And I mentioned the example of what was mentioned in Revelation 17 verse 1 and verse 15. Number seven, when they're interpreting Scripture, we will recognize there are different time frames. That means when a prophet is speaking or when a prophet is writing, when there's a prophetic release of Scripture, time frame can change within a given prophecy. Time can change. So classic examples would be Isaiah chapter 9 verse 6 and 7, where Isaiah says unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government will be upon his shoulder. And to his rule and reign there will be no end, to the increase of his government there will be no end. So it is given to us as one verse, or Isaiah 9, 6 and 7. I'm just turning there my Bible so I make sure I can quote it properly. Yeah, of the increase of his government peace there will be no end. So he says Isaiah 9, 6, unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given. So that took place in Bethlehem 2000 years ago. In that same verse he says, and the government will be upon his shoulder. That is yet to be fulfilled. That is out in the future. It will happen in Revelation 20 verse 4. It will happen when Christ comes and he sits in rules from Jerusalem. So within one verse, Isaiah 9, 6, in that one verse is a gap of more than 2000 years. Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given. That took place in Bethlehem already fulfilled. The government will be upon his shoulder. That is still in the future. Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. Upon the throne of David and over his kingdom. That means he's going to sit on the throne of David. Ruling from Jerusalem. That is in the future. So in one single prophetic utterance, there is a time frame of more than 2000 years. So he's changing. He's jumping across time in one sentence. This is happening. This is going to happen. This is going to happen. It's in one sentence, but in one sentence he's jumping time more than 2000 years. So the jump could be forward or the jump could be backward. For example, in Isaiah 65, 17 to 25, the jump is backward because he starts off by saying there are new heavens and the new earth. And then he jumps backward 1000 years and he's talking about the millennium, life in the millennium. He says, you know, a man and a child will live for 100 years and they will die only after 100 years. They will build houses and they will plant vineyards. Oh, that is not happening in new heavens and the new earth. That's happening in the millennium. The lion will lie down with the lamp and people will beat their swords into plowshares. That's the millennium. So in Isaiah 65, 17 to 25, he starts off by talking about the new heavens and the new earth, which is described for us in Revelation 21 and 22. But then he jumps back 1000 years and starts talking about life in the millennium. Okay, so you have to recognize time frame. Okay, what's he talking about? And how can I understand time frame? Well, I have to interpret it in the light of rest of scripture, right? That, oh yeah, the scripture is saying that the government, Jesus will sit upon the throne of David, but that's going to happen in the future, right? And or things, you know, if we talk about the new heavens and new earth, yeah, it's going to happen in the future. Peter wrote about it, 2 Peter 3, the book of Revelation talks about it. And so therefore I need to understand Isaiah's prophecy, along with what Peter wrote and along with what John wrote in Revelation. So then I understand that he's actually jumping back in time 1000 years, describing life in the millennium. And then in a select, so we understand that. Are you all with me so far? Okay, let me just finish a few more points and then we will take time for questions. Number eight, our third guideline in interpreting scripture is to recognize dual, near and far fulfillment. That means, again, a prophetic scripture. Sometimes there is the near and the immediate fulfillment and then there is the future fulfillment. So example, Ezekiel, right? When Ezekiel is prophesying, this is around the time when Israel was in captivity in Babylon. We know that they were in captivity for 70 years and during Isaiah foretold that Jeremiah announced it and Ezekiel and Daniel lived through that. And of course Jeremiah lived through parts of it. Now Ezekiel is prophesying about the re-gathering of Israel. So there is a near fulfillment, which means it happened then. That means at the end of the 70 years, the Jewish people were permitted to go back to their own land. So there was a near fulfillment, but there is also an end time fulfillment. So Israel was re-gathered together as a nation. In 1948, they became an official nation in their own land. So there is both a near and a distant, far fulfillment of the re-gathering of the nation. The reason this is significant is because then in Ezekiel 38, he starts prophesying about Russia. He talks about how Russia, the people from the land of Gog and Magog, we will explain this. They look at a nation that has settled in their own land. They're living peacefully and they say, I will go and attack them. Which is a future fulfillment, you know, Ezekiel 38. Talking about how this kingdom from the north referring to Russia, because if you look at Moscow, Moscow is directly north of Jerusalem in the map. And Ezekiel prophesied, Ezekiel 38, he mentions the tribes which are actually part of Russia. And so he says, this people will look at this and people who have been brought back to their own land or living peacefully in their own land that was fulfilled in the sense that Israel was re-gathered as a nation. They became a nation in 1948. And then you have, you're looking into the future on how the king from the north will attack Russia, will attack Israel. So there is a near fulfillment, which means in Ezekiel's time, the Jews were permitted to go back to their own nation. But there's a far fulfillment, meaning after more than 2000 years, they were re-gathered, all the dispersed, I mean the nation that was dispersed that didn't exist was re-gathered as a nation. And they became a nation in 1948. And we have to look at their journey from the north. So understand there's a near and a far fulfillment in certain cases. We also are open to unexpected ways. That means, you know, right, we may not even realize, but God will set it up and cause the Word of God to be fulfilled. So how exactly it's going to happen, we will be open to it. For example, Revelation 13 says that the antique, the beast, there is the beast. There is the false prophet. There is a second beast. There is the dragon. The dragon represents Satan. The beast represents the Antichrist. And there's a false prophet who, let me see, is a leader who has become a religious leader. Now they are working together. In Revelation 13, they establish a financial system where nobody can buy your cell except they have the mark of the beast. And the mark of the beast is either on their forehead or on their hand. And the mark is 666. You cannot buy your cell unless you have this mark. So we don't know exactly how this is going to be fulfilled. You know, we have many possibilities. You know, when credit cards are being issued many, you know, some years ago, people thought, oh, credit card, look, you know, everybody's having a credit card. You cannot buy your cell unless you have the credit card. And so that's the mark of the beast. Then we said, no, no, no, you know, then now you can have chip implants in your body. And maybe the chip implants will carry the mark of the beast, you know, they'll put it in your forehead or on your hand. And only then you can buy and sell. Then slowly it changed to, well, nowadays they can just look at your eye retina, you know, just facial recognition and look at your eye. They can identify you and that is then connected to your bank accounts and you buy and sell through those kind of mechanisms. So we don't know how it's going to exactly be fulfilled. But the Bible says that people are going to be engaging in a global financial system. They cannot buy your cell unless they have this mark. And there are many options today on how that could actually be fulfilled many, many ways, you know, and so we just be open. We don't have to pick one way, you know, something, there are so many ways in which that can pro-Revelation 13 can actually be fulfilled today. But there are so many options just remain open. However, it's going to happen. It's okay. And number 10, we acknowledge that our understanding of certain end-time prophecies is not 100% certain, you know. It's not 100%, but we can do our best study of a best understanding and then say that this is most likely. For example, I'll just give you an example, you know, Daniel prophesied. And this is beautiful to see, you know, Daniel chapter 8, chapter 9 when you study Daniel, he prophesied. He talked about the coming world empires. So he talked about, of course, he talked about the Babylonian Empire. He talked about the Medes. He talked about the Persians. And then he spoke about the Greek Empire. So that was out in the future, you know, so Daniel was living at that time, you know, he lived during the Babylonian. He spoke ahead of time. He spoke about the next world empire. He prophesied about the Medes. He prophesied about the Persians. He also prophesied about the Greek Empire. Now, he never lived to see that, but we can read it and we can say it was fulfilled just the way Daniel prophesied. One of the things that happened was Daniel said the Greek Empire, the leader of that Greek Empire would be very young, very strong, very powerful. You can read this in Daniel 8 and you will look at it. We will look at it next year, but I'm just giving you a summary. And this young ruler will be very strong, very powerful. He will expand his kingdom, but suddenly he'll be cut off in his youth. He'll die here. And then his kingdom will be divided into four, four portions. There will be four horns or four leaders who will take care of, take over four portions of his kingdom. And from one of those four portions will come the Antichrist. So who was Daniel speaking of? He was speaking of Alexander the Great. He was the Greek leader who grew his empire very fast, very strong, but he died when he was very young. And when Alexander the Great died, his Greek Empire was taken over by four of his generals. So that big Greek Empire was broken down into four portions and four of his emperors took over four. So part of it was Syria, Greek, Greece, so modern country, Greece, Turkey, Egypt, Turkey. Four of his things was broken down. And then he says, from one of these four will come the Antichrist. So when you look at that empire today, of course, it's very broad, very broadly speaking. I'm not saying very precise. You can say, okay, it was broken in these four areas, Greece, Syria, Turkey, Egypt. And then he points and says, from one of these four comes the Antichrist. So most likely from one of these four areas will come a leader who's going to be strong. And so we're not saying very definite, but based on what we read in Daniel's prophecies, based on what actually has taken place in history. Now remember, you know, when the Greek Empire was broke, when Alexander the Great, his empire was broken into four portions. They were roughly covered rough parts of Europe and then across the Mediterranean. So we're generally saying it could be from one of these areas where the Antichrist will come. And so we look, okay, this is what's happening. Daniel prophesied about it. But we don't want to be very rigid because, you know, the Greek Empire covered a large portion. There are many countries that are part of the former empire. So we have some idea based on what Daniel spoke about, but we're not 100% sure. So we don't want to be very hard and fast on that. So please, this is an example where, okay, we are open. We understand what Daniel prophesied. We understand how it has been fulfilled and we know where to look for. But we don't want to point our finger at some person and say he is or he could become the Antichrist. We don't want to do that. Okay, let me just make two points here and then I'll take questions. So in all of our study of the end times, we don't want some things that we don't subscribe to. For example, two things would be one is there is there is one position or there are two positions in this whole study of the end times, which we just don't agree with because we see that it's not correct. One is pre-terrorism. This belief is that everything was already fulfilled in the first century. Okay, now that's kind of weird. But there is some teaching along those lines that everything was already fulfilled within the first 100 years. Now it is absurd. How can, you know, 1,000 years be fulfilled within the first 100 years and all of those things. But that's one position of obviously it's not it's absurd. So we don't subscribe to it. Then there is another position which is prevalent today. It is often referred to as dominion theology. You may have heard about it or maybe it's not, you know, people don't speak about it too much. But what this theology says is that the church must take over all the nations, control all the nations and usher in the coming of Christ. So it puts the responsibility on the church to govern the nations. Well, actually we don't we don't subscribe to it because it is actually Christ who's going to come and defeat the antichrist. And Christ is going to give the kingdoms of the earth to the church to rule and govern. It's not the other way, right? It's very clear, Revelation 19, it's Christ who comes riding on the white horse who overthrows the antichrist. And Daniel chapter seven is very clear. It is he Christ who gives the nations to his saints to govern. Whereas dominion theology puts it the other way. They say we have to take over the world and then Christ will come and rule. No, the scriptures tell us differently. So that's why we don't subscribe to these two things. But you know, I just want you to be aware that there are these kinds of interpretations of end time scriptures. But for us, we just say, look, that's completely wrong. That's not what the Bible says. Okay. So let me pause here. I think it must be a lot of information for you today. Are you all with me? You're okay or following any questions? First in that chart, which we saw a little earlier talking about the Millennials segmentation. Is there also a war of Gorgon may go towards the end because I'm not sure you saw that in that chart. Yeah. So we have not. So in the chart, we haven't put all the details that would happen. So there are two times Gorgon may go are referenced and which we can position in the chart. One is towards the end of the triple seven year tribulation. Another is towards the end of the millennium to the end of the seven year tribulation. And it is is equal to 38 where the Gorgon may go from the North. See a nation that is living at peace. And they say they're going to go into attack. Basically Russia coming into attack Israel. And then is equal chapters 38 and 39. It says rush is rebel push Russia back. They defeated. They'll be pushed back. Then they will regroup and they will come again. But this time they will be assisted by other Arab nations. And he mentions many of the Arab nations who will assist and they will all come against Israel. So that's as equal chapters 38 and 39. One time we have Gorgon may go but that is positioned at the end of the tribulation towards the end of the seven year tribulation before the coming of Christ to establish his kingdom on the earth. The second time Gorgon may go is mentioned is at the end of the millennium. That is Satan is bound for 1000 years during the millennium. He's away from the planet. And at the end of the 1000 years he's released for a brief period of time. And this is Revelation chapter 20. And at that time he goes and he deceives the nations once again. And it is stated there that he is able to get Gorgon and may Gorgon to join him. So this is again talking about a people whom Satan has deceived and he will go against the place. He'll go against Christ himself who is ruling from Jerusalem. So that's the second time it's mentioned. But in a different context. It is mentioned in the context when Satan is released at the end of the 1000 years. Given a brief chance to deceive the nations. So we see Gorgon may go mentioned twice. Now we haven't shown it in the chart because it's a finer detail. But hopefully that answers your question. Yes, thank you. Any other questions on what we've covered so far? It's a lot of information, but just feel free. I see Zafina's comment here. There's a lot of information here. Any other questions? Okay. So what we are, I think we will pause here for today. Next week we will start off by just establishing that the Bible is a prophetic book. Meaning we will look at some prophecies that were already fulfilled. Just to say that look, the Bible has a very good track record where prophecies that were given were fulfilled. So when we read prophecies about the future, we can have complete confidence that these things will be fulfilled. Because you look back, there's so many prophecies in the Bible that were fulfilled. Just came to pass. When it seemed impossible, came to pass. Therefore when we look at prophecy into the future, it may seem impossible, but everything God has spoken will be fulfilled. The only thing is for us to try to understand what has been given, what has been said. Then we can look at what is happening in the world and connect it back to Scripture and say, oh yeah, this is what the Bible has already spoken. Then these are the things that will happen. So we will establish that. Then we'll get into, after that we'll get into a sequence of events. Starting from where we are today, the church age, what is the sequence of events. And as we go along, we'll explain. We'll get into the details. We'll explain what is going to happen. Okay. Let's close in prayer. I don't want to overload you. Take some time to just go back over the notes and just review it. Feel free to ask questions. Any doubts, just feel free. Let's try to understand this subject very well. Once you study this and then next year when we look at everything worse by worse, you'll find out that it's all there. You can understand it and the meaning is all there. It's not very difficult to understand Bible prophecy. Could somebody please close in prayer and we will dismiss after that. Father we pray and we would be able to grasp everything that you have written in your Scriptures. And we will be able to understand it here. It's fullness. We pray O God that it would benefit our personal life and also our congregation that you have given us. We pray O God that we would prepare ourselves for your coming and understand your word better Lord Jesus. Thank you for this class and thank you for Pastor sharing this word in depth for us to understand God. He praise your holy name in Jesus name we pray. Amen. Thank you everyone. Have a good break and we can prepare for your next class. I'll see you again next week. Thank you. Bye now. Thank you everyone. God bless you. See you again. Bye now. Thank you.