Rev 11:1-2 Measuring the Temple
of God 10/30/2005 ßŕ
- Hear What the Spirit Saith Unto the Churches (Rev
10:11, 11:1-2, 2:7,11,17,29, 3:6,13,22)
#1. The Temple (1Cor 3:16-17, 2Cor
6:16, Eph 2:20-22, Gal 4:25-26, Heb 12:22, 1Pet 2:5, Rev 3:12)
- The Holy City and the Temple Are
in the Making (Rev 21:22, Psalm 46:4,48:1, Isa 60:14, Psalm 48:2, Mat
5:35, Zech 8:3, Isa 1:26, 48:2, Neh 11:1, Jer 3:17, Rev 11:8)
- The Third Stage in the Process of Completion (Rev
11:1-2, Mat 13:24-30,36-43)
#2. Measuring the Temple (Rev
11:1-2, Psalm 2:9, Rev 2:26-27)
- The Sinister Number Forty Two (Dan 9:26-27, Rev
11:2-3, 13:5, 2King 2:23-24, Dan 7:25)
#3. Three and One Half
(Dan 7:23-27)
- Before the Darkest Darkness of Night (Rev 20:7-9)
Please open your Bibles to the Revelation of Jesus Christ, Rev
11:1 (2X), and today we will cover just the first two verses of this
chapter. The Apostle John is called in the vision to do something. He must go
to Jerusalem
and he must measure the temple, but he must not measure the court outside the
temple. Therefore the title of this sermon is, “Measuring the Temple of God” (2X). We have come to a
chapter which is located exactly in the middle of this prophecy of Revelation,
and it is a chapter that is the most important chapter of his prophecy. If we
misunderstand this chapter it will lead us in the wrong direction with regard
to practically all that follows. Here in this chapter the Lord gave us a
picture of the church. It is a general description of the church as she exists
in the present dispensation, and also a general description of the future line
of the development of the church, as well as an outline of the great battle the
church is called upon to fight throughout the NT era, especially toward the
end. We have here in this chapter an indication of HOW the church will
receive special grace and strength, and HOW she shall be finally
delivered just before the end. And thus, we have in this chapter a general
description of what will be presented in detail in the rest of this prophecy of
Revelation. And thus, we must give heed to the seven-times-warning that the
Lord gave us in Rev 2 and 3, “He who has an ear, let him hear what the
Spirit saith unto the churches”. Seven times Christ gave us this warning:
- Hear What
the Spirit Saith Unto the Churches (Rev 10:11, 11:1-2,
2:7,11,17,29, 3:6,13,22)
It means that it will not be immediately obvious, but we must study this
prophecy a little more, and with the help of The Holy Spirit’s guidance we can
hear what God says to the churches concerning the nature of the church, and the
nature of Christ’s coming, and the nature of the battle that is laid before us.
In the words of the previous chapter, we must eat this little Book, we must
study it, and we must thoroughly appropriate the contents of this little Book,
so that they may determine our entire life. When John had eaten the little
Book, the Lord Jesus said to him, “Thou must prophesy again before many
peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings”. Who are these kings? We are
these kings. Christ “has made us priests and kings unto God and His Father” is
what we read in Rev 1. Now read in Rev 11:1-2
Re 11:1 ¶ And
there was given me a reed like unto a rod: and the angel stood, saying, Rise,
and measure the temple
of God, and the altar,
and them that worship therein.
Re 11:2 But
the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is
given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and
two months.
And although John is called to measure the temple only, The Lord
indicates three distinct areas in these two verses: First of all there
is the temple building, with its holy and most holy place, and the people who
congregate there for worship. Secondly there is the outer court, which
is the open space surrounding the temple building, which is called the “Court
of the Gentiles”, for it is open to everyone who wants to come close to the temple of God. Thirdly there is the holy
city, which shall together with the outer court be surrendered to the Gentiles,
“to be trodden under foot forty and two months”. Therefore three
distinct areas are spoken of: the temple, the court outside the temple, and the
holy city. John is commissioned to measure only the temple and the altar and
those that worship therein, not the court or the holy city. And he is told that
only the temple will remain undefiled. The very important question that is now
before us is this: HOW must
we understand this part of the Revelation of Jesus Christ? Must we take it all
in the literal sense? Remember that at the time John received this
prophecy Jerusalem
was already destroyed for at least 20 or 25 years, and the temple was totally
destroyed. Must we understand that Jerusalem
as the capital city of a Jewish state would be rebuilt, and that a Jewish
temple would be rebuilt? Must we understand that Jerusalem is this holy
city, and that the outer court is the court of the temple, and that in the
temple the OT sanctuary and the Holy of Holies will be restored, and that the
people who worship there are Jews? Must we understand that the
Antichrist shall come, and that he shall capture the holy city, and that he
shall lay siege to the temple, and that he shall take possession of the outer
court, and that he shall defile this part of the possession of the holy people?
This is how many churches have interpreted the beginning of this chapter
according to the Premillennial view of the Last Days. They have based
their interpretation on the premise that in chapter 4:1 when Christ says to
John “Come up hither”, that the entire church has been raptured up to be
with Christ before the FTP begins, and now the Jewish Christians are the ones
who will fight against the Antichrist and his armies. It is as if God considers
the church age to be over and He starts history all over with a Jewish age
and with a salvation program that includes animal sacrifices, and thus it is
entirely different from the salvation program for the Gentiles. And in this
Jewish age the Jews are going to evangelize the world and be very successful at
it for 1000 years. Unfortunately these people have not carefully
compared Scripture with Scripture. Allow me to list the objections the Bible
gives against such a Premillennial view. First of all, John remained on
earth, and if he represents the church then the church remains on earth with
him. Secondly, we must remember that the Revelation of Jesus Christ was
given to the church for her comfort. The Lord told the church that she must
expect tribulation such as never has been before. And knowing her need of
comfort He gave her this prophecy, so that she might stand in time of trouble. But
if this Revelation merely pertains to the Jews, as a nation, and if the church
is already in heaven, then the church has nothing to do with the rest of this Revelation.
In the third place I find in the entire NT no mention made of the temple
and of Jerusalem
in the literal sense of the word. On the contrary, I find in the NT abundant
warnings to assure the people of the NT that the temple in Jerusalem has served its purpose, and that we
must not turn again to animal sacrifices and ceremonies. And nowhere do I find
in the NT an indication that we must expect once more a literal holy city on
earth and a literal temple therein. Let us now consider this temple, here in
Rev 11:1.
#1. The Temple (1Cor 3:16-17, 2Cor
6:16, Eph 2:20-22, Gal 4:25-26, Heb 12:22, 1Pet 2:5, Rev 3:12)
Please turn in your Bibles to the 1st Epistle to the
Corinthians, 1Cor 3:16 (2X). If God in Rev 11:1 speaks of a literal
temple, I must conclude that He wrote the rest of the NT in an absolutely
misleading way. Perhaps you remember that the Lord Jesus spoke of the
destruction of Jerusalem and of the temple, but
He never spoke of the restoration of either Jerusalem or the temple. Moreover, the
writings of the Apostle Paul repeatedly speak of the NT church as the temple of God. Allow me to list a few V:
1Co 3:16 Know ye not that ye are the temple of God,
and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?
1Co 3:17
If any man defile the temple of
God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.
2Co 6:16
And what agreement hath the temple
of God with idols? For ye
are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and
walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
Eph 2:20-22
And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus
Christ himself being the chief corner stone; In whom all the building
fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord: In whom ye also
are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.
Please turn in your Bibles to the Epistle to the Galatians, Gal
4:25 (2X). You find Galatians right after 1st and 2nd
Corinthians. In Gal 4:25 God speaks about the literal Jerusalem, but God does not call it the “holy
city”. Quite the contrary. God says in Gal 4:25-26,
Ga 4:25-26 For
this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage
with her children. But Jerusalem which is above
is free, which is the mother of us all.
At the time God dictated this letter to the Apostle Paul Jerusalem was
still standing, inhabited by Jews who rigidly adhered to their OT theology,
and who refused to believe on Jesus Christ as Messiah. And God revealed to us
in this passage that Jerusalem
which is now still standing, is still in bondage with her children, and is on
the way to Hell. And thus the literal city of Jerusalem is never in the NT called
the holy city, or else God would be lying here in Gal 4:25. On the other hand,
the spiritual holy city is named “Jerusalem
that is above”. Likewise God speaks about the Spiritual Jerusalem in Heb
12,
Heb 12:22
But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God,
the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, Moreover, God says in 1Pet
2:5,
1Pe 2:5
Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy
priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus
Christ.
Moreover in the Revelation of Jesus Christ 3:12 Christ says
to the people of the church at Thyatira,
Rev 3:12
Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he
shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the
name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down
out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name.
Needless to say, neither a literal pillar, nor a literal temple,
nor a literal city are in view in this verse. And so, returning to Rev 11:1,
and with all these NT passages as a cloud of witnesses, we dare not assume that
the temple in Rev 11:1 represents a literal temple without special instruction
from God. The entire NT speaks of a literal Jerusalem and a literal temple that were
destroyed because they have served their purpose. They were serving as types
and figures of the NT body of believers. Also here in Rev 11:1-2 we must take
this temple and this holy city in the symbolical sense, since the entire NT
speaks about the temple and the holy city in this way. Moreover, the OT must
be explained in the light of the NT, and not the other way around.
Therefore the mysterious temple and the mysterious city described in Ezek 40-48
is not a literal temple that still has to be built in Jerusalem,
but it must be taken symbolically as the temple
of God and the city of God in the NH&NE. In
order to understand now the words of Rev 11:1-2 we must remember that
throughout the history of the world:
·
The
Holy City and the Temple Are in the Making (Rev 21:22, Psalm 46:4,48:1,
Isa 60:14, Psalm 48:2, Mat 5:35, Zech 8:3, Isa 1:26, 48:2, Neh 11:1, Jer 3:17,
Rev 11:8)
What is a city? A city is a group of dwelling-places, sometimes
surrounded by a wall to keep out the enemy. It is simply a dwelling-place for
people in social communion. Likewise the city of God is a dwelling-place of God Most High.
And what still is in the making is not a literal city, but the city of God. This city is the
church of Christ; no, not the denomination by
that name, but the body of believers in which God lives and abides in Christ
Jesus our Lord. Let us now consider three stages in the process of
completion of this spiritual temple, or of this holy city of our God. The First Stage we must have
before us is the stage of perfection, when that city shall have been completed
in all its perfection. We read in Rev 21:22 “And I saw no temple
therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it”. What
does that mean? The answer is this: In the state of perfection the city and
the temple are One. As long as there is a temple in a city, it shows that
God does not yet dwell in the entire city, but only in that house which is
called the temple. But when the holy city shall have been completed there shall
be no special dwelling-place of God in the city, because God shall dwell in the
entire city, that is, in the heart of every citizen of that city. And then the
temple and the city shall have become identical. That is the ideal, and all
history must serve to bring that city of God
to completion. Secondly, HOW
does that city exists here upon earth? How does it manifest itself? Now we must
make a distinction between the OT and the NT time, the old dispensation and the
new dispensation. In the old dispensation that city existed typically in the
literal Jerusalem.
But Jerusalem
was only a type, or a picture, of the eternal holy city. For that
reason it is called “the city of God”
in Psalm 46:4, Psalm 48:1, and in Isa 60:14. It is called “the city of the
great King” in Psalm 48:2, and in Mat 5:35. It is called “the city of
truth” in Zech 8:3. It is called “the city of righteousness” and “the
faithful city” in Isa 1:26. It is called “the holy city” in Neh
11:1, and in Isa 48:2. It is called “the throne of the Lord” in Jer
3:17. It is very clear that these wonderful appellations are not given to that
city because of any inherent truth, and holiness, and faithfulness of that
city, for Jerusalem
was a wicked city. Almost immediately after the death of king David the city
gravitated toward idolatry and other gross sins. We must harmonize these
wonderful appellations with those passages in the OT prophets where we read
time and again that they denounced that city in the name of the Lord, because
of its unrighteousness and unholiness, its shedding of blood
and its adultery, its idolatry and abominations.
Spiritually Rev 11 informs us that this city is also called “Sodom and Egypt”,
and also “where our Lord was crucified”. But it was also called “the
holy city”, “the faithful city”, “the righteous city”, “the throne of the Lord”,
and “the city of God” for no other reason than
that it was a type of the heavenly Jerusalem,
and that the Lord dwelt there. OT Jerusalem was a very imperfect type of the
heavenly Jerusalem.
It was more a type of the spiritual city of God in the NT dispensation. For in Jerusalem there was a
temple. God did not dwell in the entire city, but only in a small compartment
in the temple. And thus we realize that we must distinguish the OT
temple from the OT city of Jerusalem.
We must not imagine that the Lord dwelt in all that was called the temple.
There was the court of the Gentiles, which was called so for the reason that it
was open to all, Jew and Gentile, and people did not stay in that court for the
purpose of worshipping. It was here that the buying and selling of animals took
place. In the midst of this court of the Gentiles stood the temple building,
wherein was also the court of the women, the court of Israel, and the court of
the priests. And then, even smaller, was the Holy Place where the altar of incense,
the table of showbread and the lampstand was located. And then again smaller
was the Holy of Holies, separated from the Holy place by a heavy curtain, the
veil, wherein the Ark of the Covenant was located, and it was only there, in
the Ark of the Covenant, that the Lord dwelt in a special way. But now, today,
all this outward show has disappeared. And therefore we want to consider
- The Third
Stage in the Process of Completion (Rev 11:1-2, Mat
13:24-30,36-43)
The temple and the holy city still exist, but no more as a city
and as a temple built of wood and of stone. There is no more such a city. There
is no more such a temple. There is no more such an altar built with hands.
Instead the temple and the holy city are the church of the living God. And the
Lord Jesus Christ is our altar of atonement and reconciliation in that
city of our God. But although the outward form of wood and of stone is no more,
the distinction between Jerusalem
and the outer court and the temple sanctuary still exists and
holds good. It is on this basis of truth that we must explain the words of Rev
11:1-2. Jerusalem
in its broadest sense is the representation of the entire NT church, in the
entire world. And just as all the inhabitants of Jerusalem
were nominally inhabitants of the city of God in
the OT, so also all the so called Christians belong nominally to the church of God in the NT time But within this great
city of the Christian world we must distinguish between three different classes
of people. In the First Place,
in this nominally Christian world there is the false church, which is the
church that has openly cast off her Christian garment. It means that the false
church has openly renounced the great truths of sin and guilt, of atonement and
redemption, of the divinity of Christ, and of the vicarious atonement and
sacrifice of our Lord. This false church still calls itself a Christian church
but it denies Christ as the Savior of His people, and it denies that Christ is
even able to save whom He will. It is to be compared with Jerusalem
sacrificing to Moloch, filled with abomination, the city of God serving the Devil. In the Second Place, there is also in the NT church the
outer court. It represents the show-church, which is that part of Jerusalem which outwardly
pretends to belong to the true church, subscribes to its confessions, pretends
to believe in the great truths of atonement and redemption, but is inwardly
hypocritical. They can be compared to the tares among the wheat of Mat 13. They
go with God’s people to His temple for worship, but they never enter the
spiritual sanctuary of the fellowship of God. They remain in the outer court.
But they are in the church, as our Lord so plainly has indicated in His parable
of the Wheat and the Tares. In the
Third Place, there are the real spiritual people of God who have been
truly saved, the invisible church, the body of Christ, the Bride of Christ, the
real temple and sanctuary proper, where
God dwells, and where the people worship at the altar of Christ in spirit and
in truth. These people are represented by the temple which John must measure. And
thus we need to see three distinctions in the OT city: The city of Jerusalem, the outer
court, and finally the temple. Likewise there are also three distinctions
in the spiritual Jerusalem
of our day: The Christian world or the false church, the show-church, and the
true church consisting of the people of the Lord. It is to these three groups
that the text of Rev 11:1-2 refers, and it does so very plainly. No one
studying the NT passages of the holy city and the temple would arrive at
another conclusion. Now let us look at
#2. Measuring the Temple (Rev 11:1-2,
Psalm 2:9, Rev 2:26-27)
What is the meaning of what John was commissioned to do? We read in Rev
11:1-2,
Re 11:1 ¶ And
there was given me a reed like unto a rod: and the angel stood, saying, Rise,
and measure the temple
of God, and the altar,
and them that worship therein.
Re 11:2 But
the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is
given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and
two months.
We read that a reed is given to John and the reed looked like a rod. What
is the difference? A reed is just a measuring stick. Evidently the purpose is
not so much that John shall obtain the size of this temple, which is spiritual
in nature, but God wants us to know that this reed looked like a rod. Please
turn in your Bibles to Rev 2:26 (2X). The rod, in Scripture is a
symbol of royal dominion and power. The rod is equivalent to a royal scepter,
but in addition the rod symbolizes physical power to execute authority. For
example we read in Psalm 2:9, “Thou shalt break them with a rod of
iron”. And Christ says to the church at Thyatira, in Rev 2:26-27 (2X),
“And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I
give power over the nations: And he shall rule them with a rod of iron;
as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers: even as I received
of my Father”. And thus we conclude that in the process of this measuring
John must exercise dominion and authority; he must touch with the rod
and thereby use the symbol of dominion. And thus by this measuring John must
answer the question: How large is the real spiritual dominion of the
Lord Jesus Christ in the holy city as it appears in the present dispensation? And
then we find that this act of measuring results at the same time in separation.
John must not measure Jerusalem;
he must not measure the outer court; but he must measure that part of the
temple where the altar is, and the true worshippers must be touched as
belonging to the dominion of Christ. All the rest cannot be claimed. While the
temple is thus separated from Jerusalem
and even from the outer court, the court and the city are identified. For we
read: the outer court together with the city shall be given to the Gentiles to
be trampled under foot. What is the meaning of all this? The answer : We are
taught here in symbolic language not only what the essential condition is of
the church in the NT dispensation, but also what shall be its outward
manifestation towards the end, at the 2nd coming of our Lord
Jesus Christ. By commissioning John to measure with his rod of dominion, the
Lord reminds us that we must not expect that all Christianity belongs to Christ
in the real sense of the word, and that not even all the outward Christians,
the show-Christians, belong to His dominion. It means that many of whom we
believe that they belong to the spiritual body of Christ will not enter in. And
there is still more indicated
here. Although both the false Christians and the hypocrites are always
separated from God’s people, are always enemies of Christ, always defile with
their presence the holy city and trample it under foot, yet the time shall come
when they shall do so openly.
All those who still profess to be Christians, but are not, whether they be
hypocrites of whom we thought they were faithful, or whether they were openly
deniers of the Christ of the Bible, they shall reveal themselves as enemies of
the true church and of Christ. This is indicated here by the words of Rev
11:2. The hypocrites shall identify themselves with the open unbelievers;
and all together shall form the enemy of the church, which shall trample
the holy city under foot forty two months.
- The
Sinister Number Forty Two (Dan 9:26-27, Rev 11:2-3, 13:5, 2King
2:23-24, Dan 7:25)
Forty two months is 3˝ years. Last week we have seen that the last 3˝
years of the prophecy of Daniel 9:26-27 spans the entire NT time period.
The entire length of time from the cross till Judgment Day is symbolized by 3˝
years. This NT period of time is represented in the Prophecy of Revelation as
42 months, or as 1260 days, or as time and times and half a time, which is
simply the number 3˝. For example in Rev 11:3 we read, “And I will
give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two
hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth”. These “thousand
two hundred and threescore days”, or 1260 days, are the equivalent of 3˝
years, and are symbolic of the entire NT period of time. But why does God
separate the same 3˝ years, symbolically representing the same NT period of
time, by writing one verse with the symbol 42 months and the next verse with
the symbol 1260 days? God did that to indicate the different flavor of those
two symbols. The 1260 days represent just the NT period of time, without any
special difference between the beginning and the ending of that time period.
The 42 months on the other hand bear a sinister connotation. The 42
months do represent the entire NT period of time, but with wickedness
increasing in intensity toward the end, especially during the FTP. This
is indicated by the triumphal trampling by Satan and all his hosts in Rev
11:2 with the words, “and the holy city shall they tread under foot
forty and two months”. This is also indicated in Rev 13:5.
Take a look at Rev 13:5 (2X) for a moment. This is speaking of the Beast
that comes up out of the sea. Rev 13:5, “And there was given unto him
a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to
continue forty and two months”. Clearly the emphasis in this verse
is on Satan in the FTP. Please turn in your Bibles to the prophecy of 2King
2:23 (2X). The sinister connotation of the number 42 is also felt in this
story of Elisha, who was on the way from Jericho
to Bethel. The
prophet Elisha was the successor of the prophet Elijah after Elijah was caught
up to heaven in a whirlwind. It was very early in the ministry of Elisha that
we read here in 2King 2:23,
2King 2:23
And he went up from thence unto Bethel: and as he was going up by the
way, there came forth little children out of the city, and mocked him, and said
unto him, Go up, thou bald head; go up, thou bald head.
2King 2:24
And he turned back, and looked on them, and cursed them in the name of
the LORD. And there came forth two she bears out of the wood, and tare forty
and two children of them.
What a gruesome story. We cannot say that these children did not
know who Elisha was. The supernatural rapture of Elijah was conveyed to the
prophets at Jericho, for there was a school of
the prophets there and at Bethel.
And from Jericho the rumor quickly spread to
their brethren at Bethel.
We may conclude that this remarkable translation of Elijah was received with
skepticism and ridicule by the inhabitants of Bethel. Even the prophets at Jericho had a hard time believing it. Thus in
saying, “Go up thou baldhead”, the children were in all probability
scoffing at the tidings of Elijah’s translation; they were scoffs put into
their mouths by their elders. Elisha turned back and looked on them, and saw
their sin. And he cursed them in the name of the Lord, not because he was
personally insulted, but to vindicate his insulted Master. If Elisha would have
sinned in cursing these children God would have prevented him. But this was a
fair warning from God of the awful judgment about to come upon Israel.
And so we see that the number 42 bears sinister connotations. In the
prophecy of Revelation the number 42 stresses a time of trouble, but especially
in the FTP. During the entire NT era the church shall conceal in its bosom the
false church and the show-church. All through this dispensation, as John
already tells us in his epistles, the Antichrist shall be there in principle.
But toward the end he shall openly reveal himself and intentionally trample
under foot the holy city, as he has done secretly all the time. And so it is
also in Dan chapter 7:25 where we read that the time of the fourth beast shall
be time, times and half a time, or three and a half time. Please turn in
your Bibles to the Prophecy of Daniel, Dan 7:23 (2X). What can we say
about this 3˝ time?
#3. Three and One Half
(Dan 7:23-27)
We must remember that seven symbolizes the period of completion of
God’s plan with regard to His Kingdom, covering the entire period from the
beginning of the world to the final restoration of all things. And then we must
also remember that 3˝ is half of seven, and it symbolizes the time between the
first coming of Christ and His second coming. Then as far as the 42 months
is concerned we notice that it is employed every time when the power of the
Antichrist is in view. The time he has is indicated by the number 42. Seven
is the number of the completion of the Kingdom of God.
Six is the number of the beast. Then 6 X 7, which is 42, indicates that
the power of evil shall attempt to destroy the Kingdom of God.
But at the same time it indicates that he shall fail. He shall come to the six
times seven, but he shall not reach the seven times seven. He shall not succeed
in destroying the Kingdom
of God and in establishing
his own kingdom. We read in Dan 7:23-27,
Da 7:23 Thus
he said, The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall
be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread
it down, and break it in pieces.
Da 7:24 And
the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise:
and another shall rise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first, and
he shall subdue three kings.
Da 7:25-26 And
he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the
saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be
given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time. But the judgment shall sit, and they
shall take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy it unto the end.
Da 7:27 And
the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole
heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the most High, whose
kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and
obey him.
- Before the
Darkest Darkness of Night (Rev 20:7-9)
Christ shall come and snatch us away from the clutches of Satan. Please
turn in your Bibles to Rev chapter 20, Rev 20:7 (2X). Rev chapter 11
is at the same time the great lesson from this portion of the prophecy of
Revelation. The text tells us that there are in the bosom of Christianity the
false church, the show-church, and the true church. Therefore we must never expect
that all Christianity is true Israel.
In the end many shall fall away openly and shall identify themselves with the
false church. But at the same time the true children of God must not be afraid,
neither be amazed. If we should find that in the end many shall fall away from
the church, from the holy city, and even from the temple proper, and add
themselves to Antichrist, we must not fear. For all these things must come to
pass. Christ rules, and therefore the power of Antichrist can only come
to number 42. He cannot reach seven times seven. And as we shall see in Rev
20:7-9, before the darkest darkness of night Christ shall take His
church to heaven, and the temple
of God shall be perfected
in eternal glory. We read in Rev 20:7,
Re 20:7 And
when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison,
Re 20:8 And
shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the
earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is
as the sand of the sea.
Re 20:9 And
they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints
about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and
devoured them.
AMEN.
Let us turn to the Lord in prayer.