 Okay, welcome back everybody to BC 213. It's our second lecture today. On the end times we are just journeying through getting an overview of the book of Revelation, just a sequence of events that are going to unfold. And we, towards the end of the previous lecture, we saw, based on Revelation chapter 21 verse 1 and also second Peter chapter 3, how there are going to be new heavens and a new earth. So we can imagine that after the great white throne judgment where those who have rejected the Lord will be sent into the lake of fire forever, the rest of the people will be taken into heaven, that is God's place. And then the heavens and the earth, the first heavens and the first earth will be completely destroyed, Peter says, with fire, with fervent heat and so on. So God is going to do it. And it's really difficult. I mean, for us to imagine this big universe is going to be just gone and God's going to renovate everything and he's going to create a new heaven and a new earth. Revelation 31 verse 1. And things are going to be very different. Because in the new heaven, there's no need for sun and moon. So in the first heaven, which we are in right now, the earth was dependent on the sun and the sun and the sun primarily. And then of course, there's the moon that has its role. But in this new earth that we're going to have, we don't need the sun. It says that, so after that happens, there's a heavenly city Jerusalem coming down from heaven. So from heaven, that is God's place, all the people who have taken there and the city that God has built for us will be relocated from heaven to earth. So this will be literally heaven placed on earth, literally. The city that God built will be put on the earth. You know, in Hebrews 11, it said, there's just a side note. In Hebrews 11, it said, Abraham was looking for a city whose builder and maker was God. So although Abraham was journeying to Jerusalem, as in the city of Jerusalem, as we know it, the physical city, Hebrews 11 is saying, he was looking for a city or these Old Testament saints were looking for a city whose builder and maker is God. Revelation 21 verse 2, the holy city Jerusalem that was built, that is built by God built in heaven comes onto this new earth. And in this city, you know, so Revelation 21 describes life in this new city. You can read it. It says there's no more tears, no more pain, no more sorrow, no more death. It is as God originally designed the earth in Genesis 1. Perfect, perfect. And Revelation 21 verse 7, it says, God is going to dwell with us and we will be there as his children in the city. And the glory of God, Revelation 21 verse 1, the glory of God itself will be the light of the city. So there's no need for sun and moon and all of that, the very glory of God. It is the presence of heaven now is saturating this earth, this new earth, the glory of God fills the city. And then he tells us, you know, this describes a little about the city as 12 gates. And it's very interesting, Revelation 21 verse 14, that the Lord honors the 12 tribes and the 12 apostles. He honors them in the city. It's very interesting. 12 tribes, Old Testament, 12 apostles, New Testament, Revelation 21 verse 12 and verse 14. So the foundations of the city, the names of the apostles are given are written there. The gates are called by the 12 tribes. So God honors both these in this new city, Revelation 21. And he describes some, you know, some of the city. Now just keep in mind, John is seeing a vision of this great city and he's using language he has in those days to describe what he's saying. So he's saying, you know, it looks like this color, it looks like this and so like crystal and jasper. And so he's just describing all the glory of it, which really is indescribable. He's describing it, trying to describe it with whatever he knows or whatever he knew in those days. So that's Revelation 21 and 22. And the Lord himself is dwelling amongst us. We are there and that takes us into eternity, future. So if you look at the diagram once again, I'll just quickly share that picture with you. So we have gone through this whole picture, right? Starting from the church age, where we are right now, the rapture, seven years of tribulation, everything that happens, whatever is recorded for us there in the Book of Revelation, the Battle of Armageddon, Revelation chapter 19. Then the start of the millennium, 1000 years, end of the 1000 year Satan is lost for a brief time. Then there is the, you know, Revelation 20. Everybody's raised up. Then there's the great white throne judgment, new heavens and the new earth, and we get into the eternity future. So any questions on this so far? Any? Pastor, in chapter 20, verse 13, we read, the sea gave up the dead who were in it, and death, and it is delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works. So is it talking about the people who already died, either in sea or, so what exactly would be the meaning of this verse? Yeah. So basically, he's telling us every person who ever died, regardless of where they died, and regardless of where they are. So, okay, so when you look at it, we look at the whole picture, example, if an unbeliever dies, okay, let's say he died in sea, example, an unbeliever, he died in sea, his body disintegrated in the sea, his spirit and soul actually go to hell, he's gone. So now at the time of Revelation 20, verse 13, he's going to come back and stand before the great white throne judgment. His spirit and soul are in hell, but seemingly, his body is coming from the sea. It's not literally his body just getting disintegrated and gone, but he is coming back to stand before the throne of the Lord, the great white throne. Now, of course, one related question is, what kind of bodies will these people have at that time? Because they've been dead for a long time. The spirit and soul is in hell. Now, every person is coming to stand before the throne, even if they died in sea or died in the mountains or wherever they died, their spirit and soul is coming back. What kind of bodies will they have when they stand before the throne of God? Or will they even have bodies? Or is it going to be just a spiritual body? The Bible doesn't tell us that, so we will have to make a best guess. We would think that based on what's going to happen in the lake of fire, maybe God is, they come out just as spirit and soul beings, spiritual beings, or maybe they come out with a body that is different, not the mortal body, but a body that is going to be an eternal torment, so we don't know for sure. What we do know is this, that those of us who have been saved will receive glorified bodies like the body of Jesus, that we know, that is very clearly stated in the Bible. But what about these people who have gone to hell? We don't know. So to answer your question, when Revelation 2013 says the sea gave up its dead and the death in hell, it's talking, basically talking about that every person who died is coming back to, is coming to stand before the great white throne judgment. We don't know exactly what kind of bodies they will have, but it seems to indicate that even if their bodies were disintegrated in the sea, it doesn't matter, these people are going to stand before the great white throne judgment. Oh yes, Master. Also just trying to connect with another verse, I'm not sure if we can actually connect. Isaiah chapter 14 verse 9 to 11, hell from beneath is excited about you to meet you at your coming. It stirs some of the dead for you and all the cheap ones of the earth. So it is talking about hell waiting for people and in verse 11, we see your pump is brought down to sheol and the sounds of your strength instruments, the maggot is spread under you and worms cover you. Is it talking about the body being tormented or would it be just the soul and the spirit as we mentioned? Yeah, I would say, see because we know the body disintegrates, that it goes, the body dies, decay, sometimes body is burnt and all that. So physical body is here and that is part of what the Lord said. He said, dust you are to dust you will return. So that he's talking about our physical body. So this picture of what we just read in Revelation 14, 11, as well as, you know, in it kind of compares to what the Lord Jesus said about hell. He said, the fire is not quenched and the worm is not burnt. Meaning, he's not talking about the physical body as we know it, but he's talking about a different kind of, I would use the word body, a different kind of body where the spirit and soul are, but it experiences torment. So I don't know what to call that kind of a body. But you know, when a person dies, the spirit and soul are there together, but there is form, there is shape, the person is real. You know, like you can imagine the rich man Lazarus, they have died, both of them are bodies are disintegrated. One is in Abraham's bosom, one is in hell, he's in torment, but the whole picture is like a real person talking, right? It's not like, I mean, so that person, the rich man, he is there, he's talking, he, you know, he can remember and all of that. So it seems like he has a body, but not the mortal, mud body, but something else, right? Spirit and soul together. And that continues to experience torment. And that, as you have 1411 talks about maggots eating upon and Jesus refers to it as the worm is not burnt. It's not destroyed. It's experiencing torment, but unlike the natural body, if you put it in fire, it's going to be burnt, but this one doesn't burn. So it's something different. And I don't know what to call it, but it's different from this physical body, the disintegrates. Yes, thank you. Good. Any other question? I mean, on this overview that we've gone through so far. Oh, I see a question on the chat, Rosalind. What will we be doing during the 1000 years of rain as we'll be having glory's body? What kind of life we'll be living? Okay. Interesting. So what, you know, we, of course, we can only share what we read in the Bible. So the references that I would look up is Daniel chapter seven, Isaiah chapter 65, Luke chapter 19, first Corinthians chapter six, and, you know, revelation chapter three, you know, and I'll just put the content together, but these are the references. So what does the Bible say? Daniel seven, it says that the Lord Jesus receives the kingdom and He gives it to His saints to rule with Him. So what will be, what will we be doing? We'll be ruling with the Lord. Isaiah 65 says that during, in the new heavens, in the new earth, we'll be building houses, planting vineyards. We will enjoy the work of our hands. So we will, Isaiah chapter two, Isaiah chapter 11, we will beat their swords into plowshares, into pruning hooks. We will be worshiping the Lord. We will be teaching people about the way of the Lord. Luke 19, we will be ruling over cities. First Corinthians six, we will be even judging angels, it says, Paul says. So, you know, when we put all of these pieces together, this is, we can kind of come up with some sort of an idea of what we will be doing during the millennium. So essentially life will be going on. We will be doing lots of things. So remember, the tribulation is over seven years, but we transition into the millennium. So there are people who will come in from the tribulation, go into the millennium. The Lord is setting up His kingdom in Jerusalem. We will be having glorified bodies. The glorified body is like the body of an angel. I mean, let me correct myself. It's like the body of the Lord Jesus Christ, where there is, you can touch it, you can touch it, but it's of a different material. It also passes through walls and so on and so forth. So believers will be having that kind of a body, but the life will be normal because you remember when Jesus in his glorified body, he walked with the believers on the road to Emmaus. He talked with them. This was after his resurrection. They thought he was just another man. You know, so Jesus was in his glorified body. Obviously, he was wearing the clothing, the Jewish clothing that they would be wearing, which means he was clothed with just like them. So they didn't even think he was a different, he was a person with a resurrected body. They thought he was one of us. And they were walking with him on the road to Emmaus. When they were walking, they said, come home. So he walked into the house, sat down to have a meal, but he suddenly disappeared. So that's the difference. So there is, and you know, when he appeared to his disciples in John chapter 20, he sat down with them. He ate bread and fish, you know, hey, come and they came in and then he disappeared. When he came into the room or the upper room, but they were, he said, he touched me. See, I'm here. I'm just like, yeah. And they touched him, but then he came to the wall. So there is almost a duality to this body duality, meaning it's very much natural. And yet it is very much spiritual. It's very much natural. When people look at you and you think, yeah, yeah, another human being, but very spiritual because this body is going through walls and it is moving in a very different way. So that's the kind of body we will have because the resurrection of the believers has happened before the beginning of the triple, the millennium, published in 20, we saw that. So they are there, you know, and we will live for 1000 years with Jesus. So this is the information. If you look at study all these passages, this is the information we have about life in the millennium. So at that point, all these things, buildings we've made are not yet destroyed in their full sense. Sure, the Battle of Armageddon is going to be very devastating, but it is in that part of the world. Sure, the judgments during the tribulation has destroyed and affected life globally, but we've come through the tribulation. You're on the other side. And so, you know, life will continue during the 1000 years, but the very nature of things has changed, as I said, is that the lion and the lamb lie down together. Meaning there's a change in the nature of what's happening because Satan and his demons have been taken out of the earth for 1000 years. You can imagine there's no more provocation for man to sin. Of course, man on his own accord could sin, but there's no more temptation and no more evil spirits troubling people for 1000 years. Is that okay, Rosalind? I hope I try to answer your question. Okay. Yes, Buster, thank you. Okay, good, good. Any other questions? So, we're basically done with chapter four and in the PDF notes, I've kind of given you, you know, I've just spoken to you from my just journey as we journey through the book of Revelation. So, I've not like necessarily looked at the notes, but whatever I've shared, some of the outline is there in the PDF notes that I've given you. You can look at it and you can use it if you want to follow along, basically the same things that I've shared in the lecture. So, now I'm going to go to the next portion, which is lesson number five. We will look at the signs of the times, the what are the signs that we should be looking for? Let me just one minute, let me get this ready for you. I will share this PDF. I'm sorry, I forgot to put it out before the class, but I will share it with you. I will open it up now for our lecture and then I will put the PDF out on classwork after the lecture. Just give me a minute. All right. So, now we're going to talk about the signs of the times. Let me share it. This will be our final lesson in this course. That means in terms of prophecies, so we have got an overview of the sequence of events from the time, from the church age, where we are right now, all the way to New Heavens and New Earth. We've kind of made that journey. So, now we come back to the beginning, which is where we are today, and say, okay, if we are here today, what are some of the signs we should be looking at to tell us how close we are to the rapture of the church and the beginning of the tribulation. So, those are the two big things we're looking for now, because the rapture of the church signals the beginning of the seven-year tribulation. Why do we say that? Because we read earlier from 2 Thessalonians 2 that when he who restrains is taken out of the way, then the man of sin, the son of perdition, will be revealed. We read that 2 Thessalonians chapter 2 verse 7. So, that is what we're looking at, how close are we to the rapture of the church and the man of sin, which is the Antichrist coming on the global scene. What signs should we be looking at? So, I just want to put forward some of the important signs. Some of these signs are very generic. I put them purposely, I put them towards the end of this chapter, meaning earthquakes, pestilences, wars and rumors of wars. Those are kind of generic because there have always been happening, there have always been wars, there have always been earthquakes and all of that, but those will increase greatly as we come closer and closer towards the coming of the Lord. So, I put those signs towards the end, but what are some of the other important signs, right? So, we begin in Matthew 24 verse 3, the disciples of Jesus asked him, what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age? And this is a question people have been asking for a long time. What will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age? Now, I'm just reminded of 2 Peter chapter 3, let's just go there because this is a kind of mindset sometimes people have when we talk about the end times. So, let's go to 2 Peter chapter 3 and we look at verse 1 through 4, please. 2 Peter chapter 3 verse 1 to 4. Dear friends, this is now my second letter to you. I have written both of them as reminders to stimulate you to hold some thank you. I want you to recall the words spoken in the past by the Holy prophets and the command given by our Lord and Savior through Lord of Horses. First of all, you must understand that in the last days coffers will come scoffing and following their own evil desires. They will say, where is this coming from? Ever since our time is that everything goes on as it has since the beginning of the creation. So, very interesting. It's like as though Peter was living in our day today, but he wrote this 2,000 years ago. He said, I want you to know something. In the end times, there will be scoffers who come in the last days and they will ask, hey, where is the sign of this coming? Because everything is continuing and it is true. You know that somebody will say, what is this? You're talking about end times. You're talking about the Lord Jesus coming. What is this? Everything is going on. You see how the human race has advanced. We are planning to go and settle on Mars and we are planning exploding other planets. And what are you talking about? The end times. So there will be scoffers. Peter wrote this 2,000 years ago. So there will be scoffers who will say, where is the promise of his coming? And they will question, where is it? You're saying Jesus is coming. Why? Where? Where is the sign? But you and I, because we know the Bible, we can look for these signs. These signs are important to us. What are the signs? The first one is that Israel was formed as a nation. Now, I understand that this happened almost 75 years ago that Israel was formed as a nation. But this is very significant. Why? Because for almost 4,000 years, they're talking about 4,000 years. They were a wandering people. So from the time God called Abraham, till this time, 1948, approximately, they were there in the land. Then they were sent out. They were there in the land. They were sent out, so on. But God had always spoken through his prophets, I will regather Israel. I will bring them back there. I will, you know, there's a valley of dry bones. It is a very prophetic picture of God bringing his people back to the land. I said, I will regather. So the people had been dispersed over these, you know, time and time again over the last 4,000 years. And there was no sign, as we've been going, especially over the last 2,000 years, there's no sign of them being established as a nation until people, you know, people sort of relocating to that, the Jewish people themselves are moving back into that same part of the world. They are moving back. And then they declared themselves as a nation in 1948. So this is a very significant step that, you know, for so many thousand years, they were not there in their own land. And then now there they are formed and recognized as a nation. Now, I mentioned this earlier, I mentioned this when we started the course, that Jesus said, he said, I want you to learn this parable from the fig tree. So what is a parable? Parable is a story from our world that has spiritual meaning. Okay, so today, today we may use some illustrations. And from those illustrations, we try to help people understand spiritual truth. A parable or something like that is an illustration, but it's intentionally spoken of in order to point to one spiritual truth or a spiritual truth. So he says, I want you to understand the spiritual truth from what? From the fig tree. He says, when you look at the fig tree, you see how the, how it is blooming or when it is putting out all of its leaves. Then you know what season it is, you know, summer has come. So he says, when you're looking at all these signs, no, it is near. What is near the coming of the Lord? The coming of the Lord is near, because that's the question he was answering. It's near. And then he said, one generation, this generation, the generation that sees these signs happening will see all of it happening. That means in one generation, one generation is going to see the end, the coming, end leading up all the way to the coming of the Lord. One generation will see it all. So the question is, could we be that generation? Are we that generation? Because we have seen one of them, one of the most significant signs that is Israel being formed as a nation happening. Because if Israel was not formed as a nation, all the other prophecies could not be fulfilled. You know, Daniel chapter 9, 24 to 27, Angel Gabriel told Daniel, Daniel, I'll come to speak to you about your people, your city. And then he talks about the end times. So if the people and the city were not there, those prophecies could never be fulfilled. But today the people are there and they have their own city. That is, we're talking about Israel and Jerusalem. They're there. So that means, okay, you're pretty close to seeing this. Now, if you look at, you know, we know from Scripture, the fig tree is used figuratively of Israel in Scripture. And I've just mentioned here, you know, the God calls Israel as his wine and as his fig tree. And he said, again here in Hosea 910, he found Israel like grapes. And he uses the picture of the fig tree once again for his people, Israel. So we can look at it, you know, okay, one generation. Now, I'm not trying to do so any mathematical calculation, but I'm just saying, okay, what is a generation? Is it about 52 years? No, you can try to calculate it. Or is it 120 years? We don't know. Right? But if we just try to do some calculation, Israel became a nation in 1948. They got Jerusalem, recaptured Jerusalem in 1967. So, you know, if you want to calculate from 1967, you know, where does this, where does this take us? Right? So I am not trying to, none of these are updates we are predicting. But I'm just saying Jesus said one generation will see everything happen. Now, how big is a generation? We don't know whether it's 52 years or 70 years or 120 years. But if we put, if you put a point in time that Israel taking Jerusalem was a very significant sign, and from that sign to say one generation, you know, where will it take us? You know, so it takes us some way here. I'm doing this not to set any specific date or try to predict the year of the Lord's return. I'm not doing that. I'm just trying to use some logic here to think about what Jesus said, one generation will see everything happen. So Israel becoming a nation and the people of Israel having back their city, Jerusalem, that is the, you know, it's almost like, hey, that's very important. So that is the starting point. Within one generation, everything else should come together. How big is that generation? You know, if you say it's 70 years or if you say it's 120 years, something like this. Okay, but I want to repeat again and again. I am not trying to set a specific date. I'm just trying to think. Okay, so don't say, you know, Pastor said the Lord will come in this year. I'm not saying that. I'm just saying one generation, how long will it be? Okay, so that's the first sign that we will look at. Any questions on this first sign? I don't want to confuse you. Is it clear that I'm not predicting the year of the Lord's return? I'm just trying to think about one generation starting with something very important, which is the people of Israel coming back to their own land and them taking back their own city. Okay, that is very important because without that, the rest of the prophecies cannot be fulfilled. 1967, they got back Jerusalem. It's very important. Okay, that generation will see everything fulfilled. How long is the generation? You know, is it 50 years, 70 years, 120 years? I don't know, but the generation that has seen that happen is likely to see everything else fulfilled. That's all I'm saying. Okay, any questions on that? Okay, let's do one more sign and then we'll close them before we close today. So the next sign we have to look at is that all attention turns to Jerusalem, which is again very interesting because there are so many cities in the world. There are so many great cities in the world. The Bible is telling us that Jerusalem will become the epicenter of attention. So Zechariah chapter 12, he says, the Lord says, God who stretches out the heavens and the earth, who forms the spirit of man within Him, I will make Jerusalem a cup of drunkenness to all the surrounding peoples when they lay siege against Judah and Jerusalem. It will happen in that day, I will make Jerusalem a heavy stone for all peoples. All who would heave it away will surely be cut in pieces, though all nations of the earth are gathered against it, very, very important. What does God say? He's talking about a time when nations of the earth are going to gather against one city, one city, Jerusalem. You know, like people are saying, hey, there are so many cities in the world. But God said, Jerusalem will become a heavy stone. Heavy stone means it's a burden, it's a weight for all people and a cup of drunkenness, cup of drunkenness. It's really troubling people all over the world and nations of the earth are going to gather against that one city. So if you think about it, if you look in the news, there is one city that keeps coming in the news over and over and over again, and it is the city of Jerusalem. You don't find Mumbai, Delhi, none of these cities. I mean, saw now and then something happens here and there, but one city, Jerusalem, over and over again. And of course, it's because of conflict between the Arabs and the Jews. Almost every other week, there'll be something happening. They'll be in the news and tensions are there, tensions are mounting, things are happening and Jerusalem continues to be in the news. And this is also a very important sign because like we saw in the book of Revelation, chapter 18, sorry, chapter 16, building up towards the very end, when the sixth bowl, starting from the sixth bowl, Revelation 16, the armies of the nations will start moving towards Jerusalem. So that's a big sign. We are very close. Jerusalem is getting so much attention. Hey, we're getting close to the coming of the Lord. The church is going to be taken out of the way the seven years, and then there's going to be the battle of Armageddon. And this sign is happening before our very eyes, almost every other week. Jerusalem has become a cup of drunkenness and heavy stone for all peoples. And ultimately, it will lead to the nations of the earth coming together against it. So keep your eyes on this, meaning as you keep reading the news, look at it and say, okay, you know what God said, Jerusalem will be epicenter of turmoil that will attract the world's attention. Okay, it's happening. Look, every time you read in the newspaper about problems in Jerusalem, Bible prophecy is being fulfilled. The preparation for the battle of Armageddon is happening. Okay, so that's the second important sign. And just I want to keep that in mind. So we will pick this up next week. We'll look at all the other important signs. I will explain it and we will. So I think we should be able to finish, maybe in, I mean, maybe a couple of more classes, we'll be able to finish what we have left. Okay, and please feel free to ask your questions and I'll probably do a full review before we wrap up. Okay, let's pray and we will close for today. Thank you for your patient listening. I hope these things are clear and you're understanding these things. Could somebody close in prayer, please? We want to thank you for all the lessons you're learning. We thank you, God, that you are teaching us the mysteries that are hidden in your word, God. We pray that we will continue to abide in your word, abide in your promises, and abide in you, oh God. And as we continue this journey, pray, oh God, this word will continue to bless us and people around us, Lord. We thank you for Pastor, we thank you for everyone who could join today. May your grace rest upon us, God. And Jesus may we pray. Amen. Thank you, Ravan. Enjoy the rest of the day and have a good weekend. God bless. Bye.