Transcription

Chris
So for anybody listening that’s my age or older, they know this. Here’s Johnny.

Jeff
That’s right.

Chris
All we got to do is change it to Jesus. That’s right. Because we’re talking about the second coming. So here’s Jesus.

Jeff
Yep. He’s coming back. So he’s Chris and I’m Jeff and we’re the Bible guys. I think it’s going to be way better when Jesus shows up than when Johnny Carson shows up.

Chris
By the way, by the way, I feel obligated to tell our listeners who said who? Who said that? Here’s what was his name.

Jeff
Yeah. Uh, Art? No no no no no, uh, I can’t remember. Ed McMahon. Ed McMahon. I want to say Art Linkletter. And as soon as I start to say that that’s not the right name. Ed McMahon.

Chris
That’s right. Uh, so today we’re going to start out with you’ll. This is hilarious. So the segment is called Who Said It? And it’s saying that you will read five lines from the Bible. So they’re all from the Bible.

Jeff
All from the Bible. But I have to say who and you.

Chris
Have to say who. You have to guess who said it. But get this for some reason, I don’t know why, but she chose all five King James Version quotes.

Jeff
Oh, good. Good. Okay. That’ll help.

Chris
It’ll help. Yeah. Because you memorize a lot.

Jeff
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Chris
King James version. That’s so funny. Okay, so this first one should be pretty easy. Um, let me die with the Philistines.

Jeff
Uh, Samson.

Chris
Yes, that’s in judges chapter 16. Yeah. Uh, this next one is super easy. I think you’ll get it. Oh, that’s a lot of pressure.

Jeff
Yeah, I know, don’t don’t say that.

Chris
A lot of pressure, but but it’s very clear. Who said this okay. Ready? What is truth?

Jeff
Uh, that’s Pilate.

Chris
Yes, Pontius Pilate, that’s in John 18. Now, this one is not so easy. Okay. Uh, so this one again, Old English version. Nobody talks this way anymore. But here comes. Why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart? Thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God.

Jeff
It’s Peter talking to Ananias and Sapphira.

Chris
Yes.

Jeff
Yeah.

Chris
Good job. Acts chapter five. Uh huh. Okay. And then this one is. Here we go. Wherefore I take you to record this day that I am pure from the blood of all men. It. That’s hard. I would. I would not have guessed this. I would have gotten all three of those. I would not have gotten this to record. Let me say it again.

Jeff
I am pure of the blood of.

Chris
I sort of read it weird because it’s it’s a weird version. Uh, wherefore I take you to record this day that I am pure from the blood of all men who.

Jeff
Dude. Um, I don’t know. Uh.

Chris
David, that’s a great guess. I don’t know, uh, Paul. Apparently the apostle Paul.

Jeff
Oh, man, I almost said Paul. I’m not joking.

Chris
Well, he’s a good guy. He’s he’s he’s most of the New Testament, but, um, acts chapter 20. Wow. Apparently. Okay, so, um, toward the end of his life, I guess, um, I don’t know what he meant by that. You’d have.

Jeff
To have to look it.

Chris
Up. I’ll have to look it up. And then finally, here’s the last one. I think you’ll get it. Uh, it’s small, but I think it’s pretty distinguished. Speak for thy servant. Heareth.

Jeff
Samuel. Yes. There you go. Yeah.

Chris
In first Samuel chapter three, he was in the temple. Yeah. And he was responding to God.

Jeff
And I should have gone with my gut on the poor thing, and it would have been five for five. Yeah. Oh, well, that’s all right. You know what? We’re all human. Yes. That’s right. And if I can, if I can help prove that on occasion. That’s good.

Chris
If I can help prove that on occasion.

Jeff
Man. Funny. Those are hard. They really. There is so much pressure.

Chris
Yeah. Yeah, right.

Jeff
A lot of pressure. So we kind of have this thing going. What made Chris mad? Yes. And then usually it’s let’s ask Jeff the Bible, the, the the obscure Bible verse questions like that. Right. Who said this.

Chris
Or ask Chris about movies. Yeah, yeah.

Jeff
Chris’s movies. Guy.

Chris
Yeah, yeah yeah. So Jeff knows the Bible. Chris knows the movies.

Jeff
I don’t think that’s the point she’s trying to make. Yeah.

Chris
I think what she’s doing is, is she, uh, she knows that you have a greater knowledge of you. Just do you just have more knowledge of especially obscure scriptures? Right. Uh, and, uh, and I, I, I have a wealth of knowledge of things that don’t matter.

Jeff
What? They matter. You know what? So storytelling is such an important part of speaking and preaching and making connections. Jesus would say, hey, let me tell you about the kingdom of heaven. And then he’ll tell you about a farmer. Yeah. Let me tell you about the kingdom of heaven. And he talks about sheep. Let me tell you about the kingdom of heaven. He talks about some guy who gets robbed. Right? Who’s my neighbor? Right. And, uh, so storytelling is so important with regard to connecting heavenly things to the earthly mind, right? And so the skill set that you have is brilliant and.

Chris
Well, thank you. But and every time we plan a service on a Sunday morning or a holiday service, that’s exactly what we do. Yeah, we create artistic elements to tell a story. Yeah, yeah. So yeah, all all of.

Jeff
It’s perfectly designed to do what you do.

Chris
Perfectly designed.

Jeff
Yeah. So we are in, uh, revelation. Well, we’re in prophecy. The end times kind of stuff. So we’re bouncing around the New Testament and, uh, with different references to the end times. But here we’re going to hang out a little bit today in the book of revelation. I think it’s all the book of revelation. It is. Yeah, it is. And we’re kind of now talking about some of the characters in the events that happen.

Chris
Yeah. Well, because this is a Monday and people may just be tuning in. Yeah. Uh, the last five days, the last five podcasts we covered, uh, you know, a lot of revelation and this is the book that we’re not necessarily going through chapter by chapter. Uh, but what we’re doing is, is we’re, uh, doing a broad overview and broad strokes and saying, here’s the main players, here’s the main events. And, uh, and we don’t claim to be, you know, theologians or professors. Right? Right. Uh, we’re the Bible guys who like to talk about the Bible. Right. And hopefully this is a way that people can understand the book of revelation and be interested and then have it apply.

Jeff
Yeah, yeah. So, um, we’re going to jump right into it. We’ve got a lot to cover. Yep. And just kind of a warning for, for this week. This is the week when everything goes sideways and gets really crazy. Right? Right. So last week we kind of established it’s.

Chris
The last three and a half years of the tribulation.

Jeff
So we’re kind of establishing. But hey we read the back of the book. Hang in till Friday. Uh, Jesus wins. That’s right. That’s how it works out. But, um, so let’s just start in revelation chapter 14 and it says, then I saw the lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with him were 144,000 who had his name and his father’s name written on their foreheads. And I heard a sound from heaven, like the roar of mighty ocean waves, or the rolling. Of loud thunder. It was like the sound of many harpists playing together. This great choir sang a wonderful new song, uh, in front of the throne of God. And before the four living beings and the 24 elders. No one could learn this song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth. They’ve kept themselves as pure as virgins, following the lamb wherever he goes. They had been purchased from among the people on the earth as a special offering to God and to the lamb. They have told no lies. They’re without blame. Jump in first and say this the description of who they are. Uh, you know, there’s no human that has never sinned with regard to a lie, right? Right. Um, so so these this is the the generality of of who they are. Um, um, this isn’t that they’re perfect and sinless. The same thing with the idea of pure kept themselves pure as virgins. Uh, in the Old Testament, prophets would often accuse God’s people of committing adultery spiritually by worshiping other gods. And so we know that through up to this point, chapter 14, the whole world has been tempted, and the world, other than those that are following God, have turned to worship the beast, right? Jeff
And so they’ve worshiped other gods. And so it doesn’t have to be that they’re virgins, but rather pure as virgins, is what he’s saying. Meaning, I believe what it’s saying is that they didn’t cheat on God with the beast. Yeah.

Chris
And didn’t Jesus use virgins as a as an illustration as well? Yes. So yeah, it’s it’s a, it’s the same thing.

Jeff
So I think the big question is who are these. And so the 144,000 right. There are some people.

Chris
We’ll make a really big deal about it.

Jeff
Jehovah’s witnesses who say that they’re Jehovah’s Witnesses, right. But it’s just not. That’s not how the Bible spells it out.

Chris
8 billion people on the planet, and they want to be a part of the elite.

Jeff
The 144,000.

Chris
Yeah. The less.

Jeff
Well, the problem is there’s millions of Jews. So that’s what’s weird about it. But yeah. So anyways, let’s go. Uh, revelation chapter seven spells out who these 144,000 are. Yep. So he says, then I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds. So they did not blow on the earth or the sea or even in any tree. And I saw another angel coming up from the east, carrying the seal of the living God. And he shouted to those four angels who had been given power to harm land and sea. Wait! Don’t harm the land or the sea or the trees, until we’ve placed the seal of God on the foreheads of his servants. And I heard how many were marked with the seal of God. 144,000 were sealed from all the tribes of Israel. Then it names the 12 tribes of Israel. Asher 12,000, Naphtali 12,000. Manasseh 12,000, Simeon 12,000. Levi 12,000. Issachar 12,000. Zebulon 12,000. Joseph 12,000. Benjamin 12,000. After this, I saw a vast crowd too great to count from every nation and tribe and people and language standing in front of the throne. And before the lamb they were clothed in white robes and held palm branches in their hands, and they were shouting with a great roar. Salvation comes to our God from our God who sits on the throne and from the lamb. And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living beings, and they fell before the throne with their faces to the ground and worshiped God. And they sang, Amen, blessing and glory, and wisdom and thanksgiving, and honor and power and strength belong to our God forever and ever. Amen. Then one of the 24 elders asked me, who are these who are clothed with white? Where do they come from? And I said, sir, you’re the one who knows. Then he said to them, said to me, these are the ones who died in the great Tribulation. They’ve washed their robes in the blood of the lamb and made them white. That is why they stand in front of God’s throne and serve him day and night in his temple. And he who sits on the throne will give them shelter. They will never again be hungry or thirsty. They’ll never be scorched by the heat of the sun. For the lamb on the throne will be their shepherd, and he will lead them to springs of life giving water. And God will wipe every tear from their eyes. So it says that these 144,000 ultimately represent a multitude that can’t be counted. So these 144,000 from the 12 tribes are out leading this uncountable right number of people. And they are the they are the martyrs that that die, who reject the beast or the Antichrist and are martyred because of it.

Chris
Yeah. And so, so again, the tribulation lasts seven years, right? So if you’re a person who believes like we sort of, you know, we lean toward, uh, the rapture being pre-tribulation. So, uh, even though that there’s theories of, you know, mid-tribulation or post tribulation, uh, so, uh, I believe that I think that evidence points to that. So I think that, uh, you know, those of us who already know Christ, uh, won’t have to be, uh, worried about being in the 144,000, right? Uh, and according to what I understand, I think that it’s the people who, uh, have converted, who decide to repent, who turn, who’ve changed their mind all of a sudden. That’s right. And all of a sudden, now they they are, uh, they are now rejecting the beast, and everything is made clear to them.

Jeff
And they the, um, there’s a lot of ways that you can look at that. Remember when we talked last week about how important numbers are? Yes. Right. They’re very symbolic. A lot of times, especially in the book of revelation. So the number 12 is is a number of completeness. And so 12,000 times 12 equals infinity. Right. Well 144,000. And so um or infinity I guess. Yeah. But what it’s saying is it’s the complete number of the followers of God. I really believe that’s what’s talking about. It doesn’t have to be just the 144,000. And that’s why that passage references this. After he sees 144,000, he sees this massive multitude from all around the world before the throne of God. And it’s I believe it’s the completeness of the followers, but they seem to be the majority of them from Israel. Yeah, they’re Jewish people who finally turn to the Messiah after the tribulation has begun. That seems to be it. I don’t know, I don’t know for sure. But, you know, there’s a lot of different opinions. Well.

Chris
You know, I made a joke about infinity, but, uh, but remember when Peter asked Jesus how many times you should forgive? And he said, should I forgive up to seven times? And do you remember what Jesus said?

Jeff
He said 770 times seven.

Chris
Right? Right. Now he wasn’t literally saying stop at 491 times, right, right, right, right, the 490 month time. Then you can say, I don’t forgive you. That’s right. It was infinity, right? He was saying, no, it’s not seven times, it’s 70 times seven, right? He’s he’s referring to the fact that it’s unlimited. Right. Because you’re not going to forgive somebody.

Jeff
For seven is the number of gods. So. Forgive like God forgives.

Chris
Yeah. That’s right.

Jeff
Yeah. That’s right.

Chris
So so numbers are a significant. Yeah. And there’s it’s no mistake that that things you know when it says there’s 12, there’s 12 jewels on the crown. Right, right. It represents the 12 tribes of Israel. Right, right. It’s it’s the promise that God made from the beginning with, with humanity, starting with Abraham through Jacob, uh, through the 12 tribes. And so it’s it’s yeah, it makes sense to me that God would use symbolic numbers for those who are, you know, the martyrs counted among them. Sure, sure.

Jeff
So then, um, it pivots a little bit. And so one thing that we’re not going to do is we’re not going chapter by chapter through the book of revelation and covering, um, all of the different seals that get broken, the, the trumpets, the seven bowls. So there’s seven seals where, uh, finally Jesus is able to come and open the seal. And then after that, uh, it starts to unpack these seven. Destructive plagues that begin to happen. When the seventh one happens, it rolls into the seven trumpets, and the seven trumpets blast, and it unveils seven more horrific things that happen on the planet. And then when you get to the seventh trumpet, then the seven bowls begin to be poured out, or the seven vials begin to pour out. And basically what happens is the plagues are ramping up in horror. Yeah, literally every horror a pop apocalyptic type movie Hollywood has ever been able to put out right, are summed up in these things.

Chris
Yeah. So just to be clear, this all happens in the second half of the tribulation probably. Which yeah. Yeah. Which yeah probably. That’s right. Probably. That’s what that’s what’s most commonly understood.

Jeff
Sure. The first three and a half years are understood to be years of peace and prosperity. Right. And then God really unleashes it.

Chris
So that means if that’s true, right. That means that 21 horrible things on the planet happen in a three and a half year time frame. Yeah, right. And it’s bad enough if 21 things happen in seven years, right? Right. But even but if it’s but if it’s truly three and a half years, we’re talking every couple of months, uh, something horrible happens. So the seven seals are seven, like final conflicts? Yeah. The seven trumpets are final destructions, and the seven bowls represent God’s final wrath. And and let’s do you want to just. I mean, there’s not much to say about them other than maybe list them. Yeah. Yeah. You know, because what are you going to do, talk about?

Jeff
Well, there may be things if you’ve heard anybody talk about all this stuff. Um, there are things maybe you’ve heard before, like, for instance, in the Seven Seals, uh, the first, uh, four of the seven seals are the Four horsemen of the apocalypse. Yeah. Right. So you’ve got the Antichrist rolling out, then there’s war. There’s famine. Uh, a quarter of the people die as martyrs on the planet, right? And then there’s horrible earthquakes, and the sun turns to blood, and people have to run and hide, and they’re living in caves. This is just the first seven, right? Right. And there’s seven seals. And then, uh, when when you get to the seventh seal, it’s really announcing more is to come. And so understand that this isn’t God just unleashing his wrath for the sake of unleashing his wrath. God’s desire is to get their attention. And yet, after each of these, the the Bible says multiple times the people refused to turn to God. Right? So instead of realizing, hey, uh, it turns out everything God said was going to happen is happening. And he’s true. Some people do turn to Christ, but the huge majority of the planet does not. They? They they double down in their anger and hatred towards God. So then the seventh seven trumpets, the final destruction comes up and a third of the world’s trees are burned because there’s hail and fire mixed with blood falling from heaven. A third of the trees on the planet burn. Uh, hey, we just had a massive forest fire there’s going up in Canada, and when the wind turns, it makes the sky weird. And people’s breathing is bad. Uh, all, you know, as millions of Americans were struggling, they had to cancel baseball games because of the bad air quality. Right? Imagine if a third of the trees on the planet are burning and then, um, something like a huge mountain falls into the ocean, destroys a third of the ocean water. Um, there’s there’s a star falls from heaven, right? Destroys a third of all the fresh water on the planet. The sun. Um, uh. Uh, is struck in some way. I don’t understand what this is struck in some way. And then we lose a third of the light from the moon and a third of all the stars. Uh, and then these demonic locusts are released from the pit.

Chris
Yeah, that’s my favorite.

Jeff
And they can’t kill people. They just torment people for five months, it says. And the torture is so bad on the planet, people wish they could die and can’t from it. It’s horrible. And these, these these sounds, sounds great. These demonic locusts are pretty scary. They got they got teeth like lions and bodies like horses. And they’re wearing crowns. They got face kind of like a man. It’s crazy, crazy stuff. And then, um, these four angels are released from the from the Euphrates River, and, uh, then they go and and and execute plagues on people, and I’m telling you. And then the seven bulls begin, and we just go on and on and on. It’s really shocking that the devastation that’s happening on the planet. And yet some people turn to God, the huge majority. Double down and dig their feet in and fight against him instead. Yeah, yeah.

Chris
So, uh, you know, those things happen, and, uh, people repent. People are martyrs. And, uh, the world definitely goes through a struggle. But then we get to, uh, when that comes to an end, Jesus returns. That’s right. And so the visible return of Christ. Right. And when he comes in the clouds, uh, it is going to announce a lot of different things, uh, both, you know, in terms of battle and in terms of a wedding and a honeymoon and all sorts of things happen at that point.

Jeff
So it’s just racing towards the return of Christ. And if you go back and remember, you know, Matthew 24, Jesus is coming on the clouds with great power and glory and mighty trumpet blast. First Thessalonians said, Jesus is going to return. The Lord himself will come down from heaven with the commanding shout, uh, Second Thessalonians, Jesus will kill the beast with the breath of his mouth and destroy him with splendor of his coming. The whole picture is victory. It’s victory. So let’s just read it, because this is one of the coolest descriptions of Jesus. Remember when we read in revelation one describes, okay, now he’s up in his game right here in this one. This is I’m just going to read it. We don’t even have to really comment much on this, he says in revelation 19. After all of these things, and after the world digs in against Jesus, they all gather together to fight against him. Then I saw heaven opened and a white horse was standing there. Its rider was named Faithful and true, for he judges fairly and wages a righteous war. His eyes were like flames of fire, and on his head were many crowns. A name was written on him that no one understood except himself. And he wore a robe dipped in blood. And his title was the Word of God. The armies of heaven, dressed in the finest of pure white linen, followed him on white horses. From his mouth came a sharp sword to strike down the nations. And he will rule them with an iron rod, and he will release the fierce wrath of God the Almighty. Like juice flowing from a wine press on his robe. At his thigh was written this title King of all kings, and Lord of all lords. And then I saw an angel standing in the sun. Shouting to the vultures flying high in the sky. Come, gather together for the great banquet God has prepared. Come and eat the flesh of kings and generals and strong warriors, and of horses and their riders, and of all humanity, both free and slave, small and great. And then I saw the beast and the kings of the world, and their armies gathered together to fight against the one sitting on the horse and his army. And the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet, who did mighty miracles on behalf of the beast, miracles that deceived all who had accepted the mark of the beast and who worshiped his statue. Both the beast and his false prophet were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulfur. Their entire army was killed by the sharp sword that came from the mouth of the one riding on the white horse, and the vultures all gorged themselves on the dead bodies.

Chris
Of course they did.

Jeff
Jesus wipes it out, and then he captures the beast and the Antichrist, and he casts them into eternal judgment from that point on. And that’s the beginning of the end, right? Yeah.

Chris
And they could not have, uh, deceived a more awesome, uh, Jesus coming, you know, forth. So, Jesus, you know, while on the earth, uh, dealing with humanity in love, you know, firmness and love. He was, you know, he said, blessed are the poor. Blessed are the meek. Yeah, right. Uh, turn the other cheek, love one another. Uh, demonstrate this. And then, uh, and that is, you know, uh, who he is. Yeah. And this is also who he is, right.

Jeff
So, so the the world gathers together to fight. They’re getting ready to fight. I think they’re getting ready to fight each other. But then they see Jesus coming back and they turn to fight against him. So remember when we said, what are they going to tell everybody when the rapture happens? All the Christians are going to say, I think they’re going to say, oh, aliens took them. Sure. Then what’s going to happen when all the armies of the world turn around and see Jesus on a white horse coming through in the sky? I think the people who’ve just hardened their hearts and rejected God are going to think that what they’re doing is they’re fighting against an alien invasion, or they’re fighting against some kind of invasion on Earth. Right? I don’t even know that they understand that they’re fighting Jesus at that point. Maybe. But their hearts are their hearts are so hard and people have so firmly dug in to say, I don’t believe in Jesus and I don’t believe these things. So what? For whatever reason, the armies of the earth turned to fight against Jesus on the white horse. Instead of surrendering to the King of Kings and Lord of.

Chris
Lords, I heard, I think that the Bible says somewhere that they plan on sending a guy up in an iron suit to come close the wormhole with a nuclear bomb.

Jeff
No. No different. That’s not in the Bible.

Chris
That’s the Avengers. Oh my bad. Yeah.

Jeff
So here’s the thing, though. When you hear these things again, God does not tell these things to scare us. Unless. Unless you’re not prepared, but instead understand you have a choice, right, to get prepared. So he says in Hebrews chapter nine, and just as each person is destined to die once, and after that comes judgment, so also Christ died once for all time as a sacrifice to take away the sins of many people. And he will come again not to deal with our sins, but to bring salvation to all who eagerly are waiting for him. So either he’s coming to bring judgment for those who are going to fight against him, or he’s there to bring salvation for those who are eagerly waiting for him.

Chris
Yeah, well, I’ll tell you what. That’s, uh, that’s the beginning of a lot of different things when Jesus comes down and we’re going to be tackling all of that starting tomorrow. So what an unbelievable, uh, moment. Right? For all of humanity.

Jeff
Tomorrow is about the judgment seat of Christ. But it’s not something to be afraid of. It’s something to look forward to. Yeah.

Chris
All right, well, we’ll see you then on The Bible Guys.