December 27, 2007

• Revelation 10 through 12 by Pastor Don

  Praying you had a blessed Christmas. Yesterday was our (Jim and myself’s) 20th wedding anniversary. Time sure has flown by since our marriage. I truly am blessed.

  A few Sunday’s ago, Pastor Don touched briefly on Revelation 10-12. In Revelation 10, there was an angel holding a little scroll. This angel planted his right foot on the sea, his left foot on land – giving a shout like a roar of the lion. Revelation 10:4 Now when the seven thunders uttered their voices, I was about to write; but I heard a voice from heaven saying to me, “Seal up the things which the seven thunders uttered, and do not write them.”

  We don’t know what was in this scroll, and won’t until the seventh angel sounds its trumpet.

  Revelation 10:7  but in the days of the sounding of the seventh angel, when he is about to sound, the mystery of God would be finished, as He declared to His servants the prophets.

  We do know that God will do what He says He will do, and He tells us in advance through the prophets.

  John eats the scroll – it tasted sweet in the mouth, but turned sour in his stomach.

  Revelation 10:11  And he said to me, “You must prophesy again about many peoples, nations, tongues, and kings.”

  Revelation 11:1-2 Then I was given a reed like a measuring rod. And the angel stood, saying, “Rise and measure the temple of God, the altar, and those who worship there. But leave out the court which is outside the temple, and do not measure it, for it has been given to the Gentiles. And they will tread the holy city underfoot for forty-two months.

  42 months is 3 1/2 years, 1260 days.

  We see this time period in Daniel 9:25-27 “ Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the command to restore and build Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince, there shall be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; the street shall be built again, and the wall even in troublesome times. And after the sixty-two weeks Messiah shall be cut off, but not for Himself; and the people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary.  The end of it shall be with a flood, and till the end of the war desolations are determined. (27) Then he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week;  but in the middle of the week he shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abominations shall be one who makes desolate, even until the consummation, which is determined, is poured out on the desolate.”

  There will be tribulation for seven years, according to Daniel 27. The one week represents seven years. It will be a period of great tribulation. Israel will sign an agreement with the antichrist for world peace, and for peace in Israel – it will be a seven year covenant (one week), but half way through the covenant, 3 1/2 years the antichrist will break that covenant.

  Right now Bush and Rice are seeking to have a legacy of world peace, peace in Israel at any cost, even it it means Israel giving up land – but the problem is that whoever divides Israel will be severely dealt with by God.

  After the antichrist signs that peace agreement, and he permits temple worship, after 3 1/2 years the antichrist will declare himself “god.” He will make war on Christians and Jews, and will also turn on the Muslims.

  Revelation 11:3-4 And I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy one thousand two hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth. These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands standing before the God of the earth.

  Israel has been compared to olive trees, and the church is mentioned in Revelation as lampstands. It is not true that Israel will be replaced as many today are stating. God made a promise to Israel, and He keeps His word. If God would break His word to Israel, how could we trust that He would keep His word to us?

  Romans 11:19-27 You will say then, “Branches were broken off that I might be grafted in.” 20 Well said. Because of unbelief they were broken off, and you stand by faith. Do not be haughty, but fear. For if God did not spare the natural branches, He may not spare you either. Therefore consider the goodness and severity of God: on those who fell, severity; but toward you, goodness, if you continue in His goodness. Otherwise you also will be cut off. And they also, if they do not continue in unbelief, will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. For if you were cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and were grafted contrary to nature into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these, who are natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree?  For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: “ The Deliverer will come out of Zion, and He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob;  for this is My covenant with them, when I take away their sins.”

  Paul warned the Christians to not be proud, to think that God would throw off Israel because they rejected Jesus, if God can graft Gentiles into the olive tree (Israel), he can also re-graft Israel into the tree. The promises were given to the root of the tree, and God can’t break His promises.

  Revelation 11:5-6 And if anyone wants to harm them, fire proceeds from their mouth and devours their enemies. And if anyone wants to harm them, he must be killed in this manner. These have power to shut heaven, so that no rain falls in the days of their prophecy; and they have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to strike the earth with all plagues, as often as they desire.

  Who will the two witnesses be – it is thought that they will be Elijah and Moses. These two have had experience leading Israel and God will not choose a novice to do this work – he trains us for what He wants us to do.

  For example, before David went against Goliath he killed a lion and a bear – this built up his courage so that a giant was not a big (sorry couldn’t resist that pun) thing to him.

  God develops skills in us in the natural before we face the supernatural.

  We won’t get a spiritual husband until we treat the natural one right. God won’t bless us with supernatural financial riches for a building project without first having us budget in the natural.

  We won’t get spiritual children until we raise our natural children the right way. We have to get it together in our realm of influence before He gives us greater influence in the spiritual realm. God is not going to let His ambassadors hurt His Kingdom.

  Anything hidden in the dark will be brought into the light. If we fall, it doesn’t destroy the gift God has given us, we need to repent and get back up. We then discussed some pastors who, through sins, hurt their ministries. While their ministries recovered, after they repented and changed their ways, the ministries did not become as powerful as they once were, yet God still is using these ministers to save souls.

  King David, after he sinned, did not throw away his kingly crown. He repented, got his life back together and went on to be a better King.

  If you fall, get up. Keep getting up until you get it right. If we fall and don’t get back up, we will never gain the victory. God is not looking for perfect people. He is looking for teachable people to mold into something He wants to manifest. If we think we are perfect, we will end up broken, for our belief in our perfection is a sin of pride.

  Revelation 11:7  When they finish their testimony, the beast that ascends out of the bottomless pit will make war against them, overcome them, and kill them.

  The witnesses will be dead.

  Revelation 11:8 And their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.

  What is the great city? Jerusalem. Jerusalem will have become so debauched that it will be compared to Sodom and Egypt. There will be Muslims that worship false gods, and many idols in Jerusalem.

  Revelation 11:9-10 Then those from the peoples, tribes, tongues, and nations will see their dead bodies three-and-a-half days, and not allow their dead bodies to be put into graves. And those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them, make merry, and send gifts to one another, because these two prophets tormented those who dwell on the earth.

  There will be a holiday declared with the death of God’s witnesses. People do not like to hear the truth, so when truth is silenced, there will be rejoicing on the earth, a huge party. But it will not last long.

  Revelation 11:11-12  Now after the three-and-a-half days the breath of life from God entered them, and they stood on their feet, and great fear fell on those who saw them. 12 And they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, “Come up here.” And they ascended to heaven in a cloud, and their enemies saw them.

  God will raise the dead right in front of the enemies, right in front of everyone. (Heather’s note: our media can cover world wide events, so the enemies will see this happen.)

  Revelation 11:13-14  In the same hour there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell. In the earthquake seven thousand people were killed, and the rest were afraid and gave glory to the God of heaven. The second woe is past. Behold, the third woe is coming quickly.

  Things will get worse and worse. 1/10 of Jerusalem will fall in the great earthquake. 7,000 will be killed and the rest will become afraid and give glory to God.

  Then the seventh trumpet will sound and God’s Kingdom will be proclaimed. The kingdoms of the world will become the Kingdoms of the Lord and His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever. There will be worshipping in heaven.

  Revelation 11:19  Then the temple of God was opened in heaven, and the ark of His covenant was seen in His temple. And there were lightnings, noises, thunderings, an earthquake, and great hail.

  Revelation 12:1-2  Now a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a garland of twelve stars  then being with child, she cried out in labor and in pain to give birth.
  

  We know that this sign is the sign for the virgin Mary and her child, Jesus. What was this sign that they saw, the Jews called it the Mazzaroth. Today it has been called astrology, but many of the astrological signs still have some of the same names that God taught the people. For example Virgo is the Virgin. It is a woman on a throne with a baby.

  Pastor Don told us that how we look at the stars is taking stars from more than one galaxy and forming them together to make a shape – like the cross.

  The Big Dipper, Ursa Major, also the Great Bear. How did the Mazzaroth get there? Man looked at the stars and gave them names – divinely inspired names. The stars were to teach Biblical principles, not to be used as astrology is used today to try and predict things about people.

  Pastor Don talked about an experiment on TV that failed to show astrology works. They had 12 people on stage – and each person represented one of the 12 astrological signs. Three professional astrologers were kept backstage. One at a time the astrologers were to come out, talk with the people and then assign them to the astrological sign that they were born under. The first one came out and got them all wrong. The second astrologer came out and also did not give them the right signs. The third astrologer did not even try.

  So with the Mazzaroth, the virgin, throne and child is Virgo.

  Adam taught Seth, and from generation to generation the information was passed down – Noah passed it down to his sons.

  The Bible tells us Psalm 19:1 The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows His handiwork.

  Aquarius, the water bearer - Is Christ and John 7:38 says ”He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.”

  Jesus is the living water.

  Orion – in his right hand is a scythe, not a weapon of war. When Christ comes to earth he will make war against evil, and will gather in the harvest, burning the tares.

  Isaiah told people to not go to astrologers.

  Leo is the Lion of Judah.

  Jupiter is the largest, most powerful planet in our solar system. The King of Kings.

  So Revelation 12:1-2  Now a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a garland of twelve stars

  A woman clothed with the sun and the moon under her feet, and on her head 12 stars. When you see that sign then you know that something has happened on the earth. It is a sign that the Lord comes.

  Many of the signs predicted in the Bible have occurred over Israel. At one point there was a blood red moon over Israel, that profoundly impacted the nation.

  Pastor Don then talked about the right of Divine Possession. Adam and Eve in the fullness of creation were given the earth to rule, they were given divine possession. They were the bosses on the earth. When satan came as a serpent, he undermined what God gave Adam and Eve. We are owned by what we obey, and satan convinced them to disobey God and eat the fruit. They chose to obey the suggestion of satan and violate God’s law. Satan then gained ownership of everything.

  When we give our obedience to things of the earth we become slaves to them. If we can’t get through the day without alcohol, drugs, cigarettes then these things own you and they own everything you own. If we spend 1000′s of dollars to possess alcohol, then alcohol has taken your money. Anything you obey becomes ruler over you.

  God put Adam and Eve in the garden to obey Him, they chose to not do this.

  Abraham became someone who began the process of obedience to God and began the road to freedom. Abraham went to the land that God told him to go to. God promised him the land, Genesis 13:14-15 And the LORD said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him: “Lift your eyes now and look from the place where you are–northward, southward, eastward, and westward; for all the land which you see, I give to you and your descendants’ forever.”

  Forever, God also promised Abraham many descendants, Genesis 13:16 And I will make your descendants as the dust of the earth; so that if a man could number the dust of the earth then your descendants also could be numbered.

  At this point, Abraham not have a son, and was old, yet God would give him a son and many descendants. Abram owned all of it, by faith.

  The Messiah taught people to go back and get by faith what God had already given them. He often asked people, “Do you believe Me?” For it is by faith that we have righteousness in Christ.

  Abraham was called the Father of Faith because he believed God. Everyone who is of faith is a son of Abraham and inherits what God promised.

  God told Abraham, Genesis 22:16-18 “By Myself I have sworn, says the LORD, because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son— blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies. In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.”

  God tells Abraham that everything Abraham blesses, God will bless. Everything he curses, God will curse. God will give him houses he doesn’t build and authority by faith to take the land. This passes to Isaac, to Jacob, then to Jacob’s 12 children.

  God informs the 12 that they will sojourn in Egypt. When Joseph dies he tells his brothers, Genesis 50:24-25 And Joseph said to his brethren, “I am dying; but God will surely visit you, and bring you out of this land to the land of which He swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.”  Then Joseph took an oath from the children of Israel, saying, “God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones from here.”

  Romans 4:16-22  Therefore it is of faith that it might be according to grace, so that the promise might be sure to all the seed, not only to those who are of the law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all (as it is written, “I have made you a father of many nations”) in the presence of Him whom he believed—God, who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did; who, contrary to hope, in hope believed, so that he became the father of many nations, according to what was spoken, “So shall your descendants be.” And not being weak in faith, he did not consider his own body, already dead (since he was about a hundred years old), and the deadness of Sarah’s womb. He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform. And therefore “it was accounted to him for righteousness.”

  We are to take back what is ours. The devil is a liar. He has no authority to take what God gave us. We need to believe what God said, not listen to satan. Galatians 3:13-14 Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”), that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.

  We have been redeemed from the curse. We need to believe God and by faith take back what the devil stole. We have divine possession, we have the right to take back what God gave us.

  We have authority to pass to each generation. We are under the covenant that God has given us. The United States was founded by God. Christopher Columbus was a Messianic Jew, and Columbus went in search to find new land and preach the gospel. God’s presence is in the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. Right now there is a movement to take the foundations that God has built from us, to deny the Christian foundations of our country. We cannot let them take this away from us. We want God to bless America, and even now they want to take the words “God bless America” off of our currency.

  God blessed England when they focused on world evangelism. When they stopped spreading the Gospel, their empire began to fail.

  On September 11, when all the destruction of the World Trade Center occurred, the only building that was untouched was the Church that George Washington worshiped at.

  When God says He will do something, He will do it. God want’s satan’s contract to be reversed by us. When we do what God says, God will reverse satan’s pull.

  The USA right now is in open rebelion to God, our leaders are not obeying God, and at some point God will remove His hand of protection from our country. Money, greed and power have replaced worship of God.

  When Christ comes, will He find the church asleep? Will He find the Church with extra oil? Or will the Church be like the foolish virgins who ran out of oil?

  We are to be Christians before being  politicians. We are to obey God, to take care of Israel. Everything else doesn’t count to Christ. We need to recognize that Jesus Christ is our advocate – no one else. When God sits on the throne, only the Perfect One (Jesus) knows the system. He only knows the legalese, and we must call on Him.

  Ezekiel and Jeremiah, prophets of God, spoke woe to the shepherd that leads the people falsely. The people go on believing that everything is OK, but the reality is that God is judging and Jesus is judging.  Woe to the nation that fails to protect the elderly, the aged, the 1/2 million babies killed, that fails to protect the innocent, the weak, the poor, the working class.

  God will make judgement and it will be accurate, ethical and moral.

  People in this day have been talked into mortgages that they cannot pay by greedy bankers offering shady subprime mortgages. Millions are losing their houses. Inheritance taxes are off the charts, many elderly are unable to support themselves. Our dollar is losing its value. When the banks of America were once respected, now other countries are not trusting our banks.

  Our country has been sold out by greedy people, we have been exploited.

  We need to take back what satan is trying to steal. To get back in covenant with God. If we violate God’s covenant, God is not obligated to hold His end of the covenant.

  Bush is trying to bring peace to the Middle East, and is urging Israel to divide the land. Whenever people try to divide Israel, their lands are cursed. People will be saying “Peace, peace.” But there is no peace. What God says is His, is His.

  Pastor Don concluded by stating emphatically, “I’m violating the devils contract.” Let’s stick with God’s covenant.

  Praying your day is blessed.

  Heather

  • 5:35 pm
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