[0:00] John can vouch for you, right John? To make orange you take red and white right?
[0:11] Red, white and blue It's a stretch, okay I get it, right I'm grateful, very grateful to be in this country and God's working of this country in the beginnings, we're grateful for that the freedoms that we have still but I'm more grateful that for over 2,000 years we've been set free from a much greater bondage from a much more oppressive tyrant than a mere human king and so we celebrate our independence though our independence comes with responsibility you understand take out your Bibles and turn with me to Revelation chapter 6 we looked last time
[1:14] I think I probably need some notes at the four horsemen beginning of the opening of the seals now we come to the fifth and sixth opening of the seals and it's not what we might have expected as we see the first four seals open we have one, two, three, four horsemen that bring various kinds of destruction and plague and those very things we saw are parallel with what Jesus described in Matthew 24 and also you find it in Mark 13 and Luke 21 when Jesus talked about the things of the end he described those very same four events or actions as not the end at all but the beginning of birth pangs and now we come to the the next two seals which are very different the fifth and the sixth seal the sixth fifth seal is not even a plague it's all sudden we take our eyes off of what's happening on earth and all of a sudden we're back in heaven and we see souls under the altar so that's not a plague at all it's just different and then we go back to earth and it sounds like in the sixth seal everything's over it's the end catastrophe so it's kind of what's going on we're just getting so we haven't even opened the scroll yet so what is going on here so let's read the text and then we'll pray and then we'll dig in so if you're able please stand as I read from
[3:08] Revelation chapter 6 I'm going to go ahead and read the whole chapter so we have the context Revelation 6 verse 1 now I watched when the lamb opened one of the seven seals and I heard one of the four living creatures with a voice like thunder come and I looked and behold a white horse and its rider had a bow and a crown was given to him and he came out conquering and to conquer when he opened the second seal I heard the second living creature say come and out came another horse bright red its rider was permitted to take peace from the earth so that people should slay one another and he was given a great sword when he opened the third seal I heard the third living creature say come and I looked and behold a black horse and its rider had a pair of scales in his hand and I heard what seemed to be a voice in the midst of the four living creatures saying a quart of wheat for a denarius and three quarts of barley for a denarius and do not harm the oil and wine when he opened the fourth seal
[4:29] I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say come and I looked and behold a pale horse and its rider's name was death and Hades or the grave followed him and they were given authority over a fourth of the earth to kill with sword and with famine with pestilence and by wild beasts of the earth when he opened the fifth seal I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the witness they had borne they cried out with a loud voice oh sovereign Lord holy and true how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth then they were each given a white robe and told to rest a little longer until the number of their fellow servants and their brothers should be complete who were to be killed as they themselves had been when he opened the sixth seal
[5:45] I looked and behold there was a great earthquake and the sun became black as sackcloth and the moon the full moon became like blood and the stars of the sky fell to the earth as the fig tree sheds its winter fruit when shaken by a gale the sky vanished like a scroll that is being rolled up and every mountain and island was removed from its place then the kings of the earth and the great ones and the generals and the rich and the powerful and everyone slave and free hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains calling to the mountains and rocks fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne and from the wrath of the lamb for the great day of their wrath has come and who can stand so reads the word let us pray father grant us insight into your word today we pray as we look at these quite mysterious and dramatic events help us father not to get lost in the details but to but to grasp the big picture the real impression that you want us to take away from this help us to see again that the lamb the son of
[7:26] God is in control that every event that happens from now on is in his control and father help us even as we look at the events going on around us for this last year and continuing the cry for justice father help us be able to look to you for justice to recognize lord that you alone are the dispenser of true true justice this we pray in christ's name amen please be seated so i came across this just yesterday i don't know if you've heard we're still battling with the covid-19 and the next things here already virologists have identified a new nile virus type c it appears to target those who were born between 1930 and 1970 so if you're under 50 you're okay apparently the symptoms they cause you to send the same message twice or to send a blank message or to send a message to the wrong person or to send it back to the person who sent it to you to forget to attach the attachment to hit send before you finished to hit delete instead of send to send when you should delete it see it's called the senile virus and if you cannot admit to doing the above then you've obviously caught the mutated strain the denial virus
[9:28] I know but see it relates because in heaven we all get our memory back we remember because here are the souls under the altar who remember and cry out for justice what's justice they cry out for God how long before you judge and avenge make right the blood our blood that was slain by the earth dwellers justice what is it there's a lot of talk about justice social justice today a lot of clamoring about justice what is justice I hear definitions of it that I think aren't quite what justice is so I looked it up what's justice well it's basically fairness it's the administration of law in an equal impartial reasonable manner it is moral righteousness what is right and at the end of the day it is rendering what is due what is so I told this story before when I was a bus driver when I was having fun you know you pick up kids it's kind of like pastoring you pick them up from a home you take them to a place of learning and then you take them from a place of learning and take them back home so I'm kind of stretching what pastoring does but that's what I did and so one of the things you do besides drive is you maintain discipline on the bus and you can have as many as 50 to 70 you know kids between ages of 6 and 18 and things happen on the bus especially the younger bus little
[11:44] Timmy was complaining to me one day Mr. Bill Mr. Bill Freddie's bugging me man and so he said it's not fair it's not fair I said okay Timmy do you want what's fair think about that do you do you really want what's fair because if I give you what's fair then you get what you deserve too do you want what's fair or do you just want Freddie to be punished I think I'll take you know never mind Mr.
[12:13] Bill fairness what's justice he was crying for fairness well do you really want fairness then I have to look at you too so what's fairness society today is clamoring for social justice against discrimination and that's well and good but the definitions that I hear are twisted and partiality because they're really about me not about everyone and they are meshed with feelings of entitlement because people want justice for others we want mercy for us I mean that happens in the school bus it happens on the playground it happens in the house when there's siblings fighting over a toy you know punish him not me because he started it and did he so what's justice biblical justice justice protects personal liberty but also promotes individual responsibility because it's not just protect my liberty but what is it that
[13:31] I must do as well that's also just and the only true dispenser of justice is the holy god the one that hear these souls under the altar say sovereign god holy and true only he can judge and make justice men get it wrong even if we try our best we can get it wrong we don't know all the motives we don't know everything that happened we only know what we have seen and heard we depend on witnesses to tell us what they have seen and heard are they telling me what they really saw and heard or they tell me what they now think they saw and heard we know how it gets all like that so here in revelation 6 we see the lamb opening the seals it is the lamb not the one who sits on the throne the one who sits on the throne had the scroll and then an angel cried out who is worthy to open the scroll no one was found in heaven or earth or under the earth who the scroll in the hand of the one seated on the throne until presented before them is the lion of
[14:50] Judah the lamb who was slain he is worthy to open the scroll and his unique attribute which gives him the authority to open the scroll is that he was slain that he redeemed people from every race and kind and language and tongue redeemed them from their sin and set them free there's liberty that qualified him uniquely to open the scroll because the scroll was about the destiny of the world the future of the world what was happening next so we saw in chapter six as the lamb opens these seals he is allotting justice he is determining!
[15:45] justice as he opens each seal however he broke there's a scroll with seven seals and as he breaks each one something happens we're not yet in the scroll yet he's just breaking the seals so all of this is preparatory for the opening of the scroll to see what's in the scroll so all the events all the way till the beginning of chapter seven is just preparatory prelude preview so to speak and what we saw in the first four seals as I already mentioned is a pattern that has been going on throughout church history nothing new there has always been so the first seal was the white horseman who has a bow he's given a crown and he conquers we've seen that all throughout history conquerors come Jesus said in Matthew 24 kingdom kingdom against kingdom nations against nations wars will come this is not the end following the white horseman is the red horseman one who is given a sword he is given to take peace from the earth which is defined by they will slay one another is not bringing war wars already come as a result of war the red horseman is going to bring violence people just killing one another that follows war uproar and civil disobedience you know rebellion happens following that is the black horse the third seal who holds scales a measurement of how much does it cost for what do we have a grain of wheat where am
[17:34] I a quart of wheat thank you I knew it was more than grain that would be pretty bad a quart of wheat for a denarius a denarius was one full day's work so whatever you earn for a full day work that's what it would cost to buy just a quart of wheat that's enough to feed one person a day so it would cost you your whole day's salary just to pay for yourself to eat one day well you can get a better bargain on barley you can get three quarts of barley for a denarius so at least you could feed yourself your wife and one of your kids so in other words because of war because of bloodshed now comes prices for famine that's something like between eight and ten times or sixteen times the amount of the regular price so it's just inflated because of its scarcity but notice it's not all flesh so they're not to harm right the wine and the oil and then comes the fourth seal that follows with the pale green horse says pale rider pale horseman but the word probably means green color of death he's even called death he's the only one given a name and he's given authority he and the
[19:01] Hades is not hell Hades is the word for the grave they are given authority to kill one quarter of the earth which in today's remember we mentioned that we the conservative estimate of the world population is seven billion so one quarter of that would be!
[19:22] 1.75 or 2.75 I don't know you math people can correct me but anyway billions and compared to today's epidemic that has killed three million which is serious and significant and way too many what percent of that is three million of seven billion it's not even half a percent so as big as it is it's not even comparable to what this is periods in history when there is not just war and then violence but also famine and notice what he says in verse eight that there's these four plagues that kill it's the sword famine pestilence and wild beasts things just go chaotic!
[20:13] And a quarter of the earth population is killed that's huge and yet it's restrained this is not the end we can read in history of tremendous times of warfare and lots of lives lost we can read of tragedies we can read of famines right we can read that in history huge amounts of population killed off but that's history it's not the end Jesus says it's not the end they're just warning it's kind of preview of what the real end will be even worse than that as bad as that is so that's the first four now we come and we learn from that that God uses instruments in his wrath he uses those countries that come and conquer other countries we can see that throughout the Bible that that nations and kingdoms have a time set on them by
[21:19] God we saw that Abraham inherits the promised land but his offspring will not inherit that land for another 400 years why because it still belonged to the people that lived in it they had 400 years left then their time was up and that's when Israel came in and conquered the land because it was God's!
[21:40] timing we see the same happening to Egypt and to Babylon and to Persia and to Greece and to Rome right every kingdom gets conquered by another kingdom because their time has run out God uses instruments in his wrath God now we see in the second half of chapter six some insights into God's wrath Here things change a bit we have plagues and all of a sudden we're back in heaven with the souls in the altar what's going on with that there's going to be a question and an answer how long answer why is it taking so long for justice to come there's an answer there's a reason God is delaying the and then we're given a preview of the very end of all when everything ends and there's a very profound lesson insight to learn from that that when the lamb comes in the end none none none can stand no one will stand so let's look at these last two the fifth seal verses nine to eleven gives us really in one sense the rationale for
[23:09] God's delay of justice why why how long right we and what we learn is that justice for those who die for Christ whether it's literally by sword or their lives are given in sacrifice though they're not martyred they still die in the Lord justice for Christ martyrs awaits the final martyr the justice the avenging of their death of their unjust death waits for the final martyr God has a plan for how many will die for him and until the final martyr is killed justice is waiting for that so what do we see so we see a vision first we see a vindication that they call for verse 10 then we see a validation of these souls in verse 11 so we expect a plague but what we see is a vision of a scene in heaven with an altar verse 9 he opened the fifth seal
[24:21] I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain an altar first time we hear of an altar in heaven so we've seen heaven as a throne room right because we've seen that there's a throne there's 24 thrones around the throne there's all these creatures worshiping the four creatures!
[24:41] 24 elders and all the myriads of angels are worshiping God so it's a worship center it's also a throne room because here we see he gets the scroll from the throne and now he begins to peel the seals and judgment starts to happen so it's a throne room it's a worship place it's also a temple because we saw in chapter one right the son of!
[25:04] ! is standing among the temple that was part of the worship furniture that gave light to the one entering the temple now God no longer has a physical temple he has churches that are his lamp stand and they are represented in heaven by these seven lamp stands and so he's walking among the lamp stands that's like a priest does that walks among the lamp stands now we have an altar too okay that's another picture from the temple there were two altars in the temple there was one outside in the courtyard where they would sacrifice the animals and the blood would fall and then the blood would be poured out at the base of the!
[25:58] maybe it's referring to these martyrs who have been slain and their blood is under beneath the altar where physically the blood used to gather with the slain animals maybe that's a picture but we also have another altar in the temple and by the way remember that physical altar of sacrifice would not be in heaven because the sacrifices are all done right Jesus got rid of the temple because he fulfilled that he won death for all and then remember the picture is he gives us access to God because he's gone into the temple he himself was the veil his body was broken and so the veil is broken he gives us access to the father so there's no need for all of that preliminary anymore no veil in fact now with Jesus we come directly into the presence of God so but there was remember you go into the holy place where before the veil and you have the table of show bread with the twelve loaves and you have the lampstand on the other side and right in front of the veil you have the table of incense which was always burning which is representative of prayer we've already seen that in
[27:15] Revelation chapter! So here so what is this altar that he sees well I don't think that's that important because out of the altar are the souls who have been sacrificed out of the altar is also the incense the prayers of the saints and here comes a prayer by the way these people who are these people these souls by the way don't ask the question he saw souls how do you see a vision he knew they were souls oh they're invisible well don't worry about it who are they they're martyrs they were killed for God's word they were people that stood for God's word they did not twist it they did not make oh it means to me they said this is what God says that's the word they stood for the word and they died for that they also died for their witness the witness that they held my text has the witness which they had born literally it's the witness which they were holding they had a witness that they held on to they were clinging to they would not give it up their witness so what is a witness well witness tells what they have seen and what they heard right we are witnesses for
[28:44] Jesus we witness to what we have seen and heard well what have we seen well I wasn't there when he died so I can't witness that he but I have heard I can witness to what I have seen and heard and experienced in my own life I do not tell people I can only tell them what I've witnessed what I've witnessed is what God has done what he has shown me what he has told me and then I can witness to what I've experienced because I have actually experienced change how do I know God really answered my prayer for forgiveness because I one I have a peace that passes understanding two I've seen a change in my heart and my desires and my values that's really how I I know because I used to hate the commandments right even though I knew they were right I hated them they were a burden I didn't want to do them rather do other things I didn't want to go to church parents made me go to church so
[29:49] I used to cut play in the creek I always got caught but then at some point and I did I walked the aisle prayed the prayer did all that stuff literally hundreds of times and it did not change me so I feel I feel I'm unchangeable and at some point my heart changed and that's what I can witness to before I could not see now I could see I was blind but now I see deal with that right it's like the Pharisees have come to the man who was healed of blindness and they hated Jesus so they're trying to and the man just says man I can't tell you I don't know what he looks like I test what they know about
[31:01] Jesus what they personally know about Jesus that's witnessing witnessing is not going knocking on somebody's door and going through a questionnaire that's one way of doing it that's fine did that for years didn't really see much witnessing is really building a relationship with people and being able to share with them the difference in your life showing!
[31:20] them the difference in your life it really! takes time to build into people it's not an event it's a life you shall be my witnesses in your lives in your work in your home in your community in your neighborhood so then they cry out so then he sees this but then he hears verse 10 what happens they cry out they cry out with a loud voice oh sovereign lord holy and true what an interesting title they don't just say oh lord they say sovereign all powerful over all so that's what sovereign means ruling everywhere is what sovereign means and he's not just an all he's a holy ruler and a true not false not impartial or not partial he's holy and true so he's the only one that can judge so the question is how long until you judge and avenge our blood isn't there a new series out called the avengers is that what they do do they make things right
[32:37] I don't know I'm watching nobody's going to admit to seeing it okay I don't know that's what I assume they do they make things right right they make things right sort of okay by their own definition of justice right okay so everyone it's part of being made in the image of God everyone has a sense of justice right that's why our little children when something unfair happens and they fight they talk about it's not fair why because they know there's something right and wrong we are born with a sense of justice because we're in the image of God everyone has that right we get that all gets twisted later but we we have that so here these folks have a sense of justice and they say how long till you judge and avenge you how long till you make it right how long till you vindicate us why is there a delay when will we be proven right see because they died under circumstances that made them look bad they died in an unjust way before long before this was written some 30 years before this was written you had
[34:01] Nero right persecuting both Jews and Christians blaming the Christians for the fire and burning them on stakes and throwing them to wild beasts right you had all that kind of stuff going on unjust wicked they didn't do they didn't do anything wrong but they're killed because there were a convenient thing for Nero at the time so when does that get right that's what they're asking and I don't think they're seeking revenge they're simply asking really what's at stake is God's characters at stake they say sovereign holy and true Lord when will you show your true and holy sovereignty because I know you're sovereign I know you're holy I know you're true but it doesn't look like it on earth because there's a lot of corruption there's a lot of injustice going on there's a lot of discrimination going on there's a lot of evil and wickedness going on when that's what they're asking like
[35:19] Abel their blood is crying out right Abel's blood was crying out from the grave Cain got away with it didn't he no somebody said hey where's your brother God always comes with a question doesn't he it's like Jesus you ask him a question he asks you a question where's your brother comes to Adam and Eve who are trying to hide from him right where are you did you yeah it's questions so here's an evil act that happens and God got free where's the justice when does the justice come so here's the question here's the answer verse 11 the answer comes in two ways one by a sign of comfort they're given a white robe so some people think the white robe is maybe a sign of their souls right so now they're getting their new bodies well that's possible but it doesn't really make sense with the whole storyline because we get our bodies at the resurrection the final resurrection so probably not that white robes in the book of revelation almost always means righteous acts righteous works a sign of their righteousness they're given
[36:46] I think a white robe as a sign of assurance of comfort they have passed the test they are pure they are righteous they belong there but then they're told something a clarification how long well here's the honest answer rest a little longer I know you've already been resting some of them have probably been resting for a long long time by the way I always wonder does time pass in heaven I don't know so I just that was probably just distracting because that would take me like okay I gotta think about that I don't know rest a little longer they've already been resting me you gotta rest some longer in other words there's gonna be a delay there's gonna be a delay to God's justice it's not coming right away rest a little longer until when until all the martyrs have been fulfilled!
[37:52] things right now why is evil prospering in our world why do evil things happen right we've asked that question we went through with the psalm last summer and we were asking those kind of questions how long why is evil God has a reason one one of the reasons is he still has a plan to be fulfilled and there are crucial people that will be killed for his name and every one of those must be fulfilled there's another reason we see in 2 Peter 3 9 where Peter is talking about the end of times and he says the Lord is not slow to fulfill!
[38:28] his promise he is coming back he will make things right time God goes by Kairos time it's a whole different kind of calendar system like I said does time pass in heaven I don't know but is patient toward you why is God so slow he's patient toward you not wishing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance so he has a just reason he also has a merciful reason there's more people to save that's why he's so how does God care about justice here's this justice question and I think this is the big picture of what this fifth seal is all about the question is justice how long till things are made right that's the question and that's interesting so here's one of the seals that's going to deal with that it's not a plague it's a question that's in all of our minds
[39:30] When? What is it that God's looking for? Oh Jesus told a parable to answer that very question it's in Luke chapter 18 Jesus told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart okay that's what he's teaching now he's going to give a parable he said in a certain city was a judge who neither feared God nor respected man so in other words he's not holy and righteous and there was a widow in the city who kept coming to him and saying give me justice against my adversary for a while he refused but afterward he said to himself though I neither fear God nor respect men in other words I do whatever I want yet because this widow keeps bothering me
[40:33] I will give her justice so that she will shut up so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming that's the parable Jesus applies the parable the Lord said hear what the unrighteous judge says he will give justice why because she keeps coming she keeps coming she keeps bothering me she is wearing me out she's beating me down I just want to get rid of her so fine I'll give her justice so Jesus says hear what he's saying and then he turns the corner what about God will God give justice watch what he says and will not God give justice to his elect who do what who cry to him day and night will he delay long over them how long will he delay
[41:36] I tell you he will give justice to them what speedily quickly nevertheless will the son of when the son of man comes will he find faith on the earth faith where did that come from we're talking about praying I want you to notice how Jesus is talking about justice from God he relates it to prayer right who gets justice the one who prays unceasingly the one who prays night and day he says I'm teaching you a parable so that you will always pray and not lose heart why do I lose heart because I don't get justice why do I lose heart because God hasn't answered my prayer well how am I praying and then what strikes me is the last thing Jesus says will he find faith he's been talking about prayer all of!
[42:44] what does faith have to do with praying what does faith have to do with justice well if you really believe God is going to give you justice what are you going to do I'm going to go and I'm going to go and I'm going to go and I'm going to go I'm going to go I'm going to!
[43:01] Him which is exactly what He wants the impression is that you can speed up justice by persistent prayer because that's the mark of faith remember the woman that was hounding Jesus and she had a demon possessed daughter right and Jesus ignored her right and then He said something about the dogs right she's hounding him she's a dog and so He's just kind of rebuffing her right it doesn't sound like Jesus and then she just keeps coming and she keeps coming and she keeps coming and He says something about the dogs and she's like oh yeah yeah I'm a little dog I'm glad to be under your table I'll just take the crumbs and then remember what Jesus said that's faith hey
[44:04] Peter guys did you see this that's not just faith that's great faith why she kept coming she kept coming He ignored her she kept!
[44:16] He said something derogatory she kept coming that's faith you want justice you want an answer from God do you do that do you hound him not about works it's not about works it's not okay I came three times that was enough right Paul went three times that's all I have to do right that was something Paul used to determine something that doesn't mean Jesus picture of prayer is always this keep coming keep coming keep coming so that's here's the picture justice for God's martyrs awaits the final martyr there is a delay to justice we recognize that but also recognize that some of that justice can come sooner if we truly believe and show it by our prayer so here comes the second excuse me the sixth seal verse 12 so we go from things on earth to now things in heaven and now we're coming back to earth and it seems like it's all over now we got earthquakes and sun moon stars skies vanishing mountains being removed kings and all the powerful people hiding from the wrath of
[45:51] God sounds like the very end doesn't it and I think it is I think it's a preview of the very end it's a wide view glimpse it doesn't go into all the details we're going to get to those later but it's kind of a wide view picture here's a preview of coming disasters here you go get a wide view picture one overall impression from this one overall impression from this the day of the lamb's wrath leaves none able to stand that's the overall picture when the wrath of the lamb comes no one can stand that's what it said so he sees a vision he sees six signs see them in verse 12 to 14 six signs they come in a pattern there's five so we have earthquake one sun moon stars sky okay five things all mentioned individually that happen and then we have a two pair or a pair every mountain and island so those two but they're counted as a pair they're called every mountain every island so they're a pair so we have five plus two so we have six parts of creation so the question is is this literal or is this figurative does the sun really become black a sackcloth does the full moon become like blood well there are such a thing called blood moons!
[47:22] so is that what's happening what about this one verse 13 the stars of the sky fell to the earth now if you're an astrophysicist you'll say no that does not happen stars you know how far stars are how far is the near star near star I don't know it's like long long ways right is it going to come all the way and fall to earth some of those stars are much more bigger than the earth is that what he means the stars actually fall to the earth because he gives an analogy just like figs they fall if I can find verse 13 they fall to the earth as the fig tree sheds its winter fruit when it shakes by a gale so it's a picture of the stars just dropping just dropping but the text says to the earth if you're a literalist I got a problem with that I used to be a literalist I'm still a literalist but not with prophecy so then what else happens so the stars fall the sky vanishes like a scroll being rolled up what's that is that just like clouds and moving and maybe but then he says in the universe 14 every mountain and island not sun every mountain and island was removed from its place what's that mean so pike's peak has it moved over to larkspur what does that mean is it gone what does it mean an island man not the islands right the islands are a getaway right there's goes
[49:13] Hawaii so now it's over in Japan no I don't know what does that mean so we have so is it literal or figurative if it's literal why do they reappear here we have mountains just fly away in verse 14 and then in verse 16 people are calling for the mountains to fall on them so if the mountains are gone how come they're calling on the mountains to fall on them that's the question what's that mean if it's literal why do these things reappear so we'll have the sun the sun will once again be affected in the trumpet judgments twice the mountains in the very last plague in chapter 16 verse 20 the mountains which we're told here are removed from their place we're told almost the exact same thing in chapter 16 verse 20 the universe when the seventh bowl the very last plague is poured out it happens again the islands flee away and the mountains can't be found so it's not just they're removed from their place and go somewhere else they can't be found so what does that mean because by the time you get to chapter 16 verse 20 that is the end that's the last bowl that's the last plague with that
[50:28] God's wrath is completed so that's the end well that's what chapter 6 sounds like too so what I'm thinking it's a preview of the end here's something else let me give you this to think about look at chapter 12 verse 1 with me for a minute what is this language about sun moon stars we see it all over scripture sun moon stars Joseph told about his dream remember Joseph's dream it got him in trouble when he told it to his brothers because they kind of took offense right he talked about I saw a dream I saw I saw the sun and the moon and eleven stars they all bowed down to me I don't know why they didn't take that well I'm the star and you're the lesser stars you bowed down to me brother yeah we'll show you what bowing down looks like so listen look what it says in chapter 12 verse 1 a great sign appeared in heaven a woman clothed with the sun with the moon under her feet sun moon and on her head was a crown of 12 stars gee 12
[51:49] I wonder what that means who could this woman be sun moon stars well if I go back to Joseph it means Jacob and Rebecca and my 11 brother the 12 tribes of Israel this woman is Israel because she gives birth to the Messiah right you read on in chapter 12 here sun moon stars what does it mean is it literal or is it figurative I think I think it looks more like it's figurative now so we have six signs in verses 12 to 14 look at verse 15 we have six groups is that a coincidence six groups verse 15 we got kings great ones generals rich powerful and another pair that's grouped every everyone in other words slave and free they're grouped in a pair five and two that makes six six classes of people are the signs the six signs symbolic of the six groups interesting stars can obviously refer to people 12 stars stars can refer to angels mountains what about mountains that flee away what about the mountains that are removed from their place mountains chapter 17 of revelation describes the beast of seven heads and then he then he tells okay here's what it means the seven heads those are seven mountains what oh mountains there's seven mountains and the seven mountains are also seven kings oh so is that what it means are the mountains just a symbol of kings and the sun moon stars symbols of kings and rulers and rich men and generals and wealthy and powerful people that are crumbling the mountains and the islands flee away in other words your world is ending the rulers of this world will fall could be interesting huh the same kinds of people by the way the same list of six groups six classes of people are reappeared in chapters 18 and 19 where they're defeated by the lamb chapter 19 verse 18
[54:30] Jesus comes back right riding on a white horse he has a sword in his mouth and he says in verse 18 of chapter 19 to eat the flesh of kings the flesh of captains the flesh of mighty men the flesh of hello horses and their riders the flesh of all men both free and slave both great and small same list of people find their end at the end so what is happening chapter six sounds like a preview to me so how do they respond well there's six signs six groups but there's a single reaction they all have the same reaction no matter who they are rich or poor free or slave powerful or regular they all have the same response verse 16 they all hide themselves in the end of verse 15 they all hide themselves in caves and among the rocks of the mountains they call upon the mountains and the rocks fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on excuse me seated on the throne and from the wrath of the lamb they all do the same thing they all hide in terror and they pray but who do they pray to the rocks and the mountains did the rocks and the mountains listen are they just so terrified they're out of their minds or are those rocks and mountains people of earth rulers of earth that they're calling to to save them again to conceal them again they're they don't look to
[56:15] God here's what strikes me they don't look to God here's the end and they know it's the end they know who is bringing it they know it's the one sitting on the throne and it is the lamb how do they know that they know it everyone knows it every atheist every agnostic they know they won't admit it they've justified it away they've explained it away they've suppressed the truth and they've turned it into some other thing they've convinced themselves that it's totally not true but they know it everyone knows it everyone knows there's one sitting on the throne everyone knows there's a lamb well they may not call him a lamb but they know there's one that changed the world when he came they all know it's undeniable and everyone's fate is determined on how they view that one person so here they all know and what's remarkable to me is what do they do when they know it's coming and they know who's bringing it what do they do why don't they repent atheists in foxholes right when their lives you hear of some that they'll pray they don't believe but they'll pray because there's one last hope these people they don't they pray they pray to the earth but they don't pray that makes no sense to me except that they're so stubborn and so proud and so convinced and so selfish and so warped that they will never never bow to him even though he brings my end
[58:11] I will not submit to him I mean do they have a chance of course what if they did what if they did repent would he hear them of course they recognize it is the wrath of God and the lamb and they themselves say none can stand who can stand and yet they appeal to the earth to save them well he's just proved oh mountains fallen well wait a minute too late because he took the mountains away didn't he it's an absurd prayer and yet in our stubbornness in our rebellion that's what we do when I'm a kid and I'm told to share what do I do not with
[59:13] Timmy that's just our nature isn't it this is the point none can stand in the end all receive justice there is nowhere to hide what will you do if you're in that point if you do not stand with the lamb you do not stand so let me show you one more thing how do these cosmic signs relate to judgment they're symbols and like much of for us in Revelation to try to understand the visions we really are reliant on the Old Testament we really need to rely on the prophecies because these symbols come up again all these things we're seeing in Revelation almost all have been said before in other contexts in the Old Testament so let me just show you one example there's many of this but let me show you one example
[60:15] Isaiah 13 speaks in the same kind of language it is God's word to Babylon the kingdom at the time Babylon had taken captured Jerusalem and brought all its inhabitants to Babylon but now Babylon's come to their end and they're going to be judged so here's God's word to this ruling empire at the time the oracle concerning Babylon which Isaiah the son of Amoz saw on a bare hill raise a signal cry aloud to them wave the hand for them to enter the gates of the nobles I myself the Lord says I myself have commanded my consecrated ones I have summoned my mighty!
[61:01] men to execute my anger God's using instruments to execute his my proud exalting ones the sound of a tumult chaos is on the mountains of a great multitude the sound of an uproar of kingdoms of nations gathering together the Lord of hosts is mustering a host for battle he is what he's going to do is he's going to pull the Persian army together to invade Babylon and take over okay?
[61:32] They're his weapon they come from a distant land from the end of the heavens the Lord and the weapons of his indignation he's using a human army to be his indignation to destroy the whole land wail for the day of the Lord is near as destruction from the almighty will come in other words when a kingdom falls it's from God therefore all hands will be feeble and every heart will melt they will be dismayed pangs and agony will seize them they will be in anguish anguish like a woman in labor here's the strong Babylonian emperor all sudden just crumbling melting before the new power behold the day of the Lord comes cruel with wrath and fierce anger to make the land a desolation and to destroy its sinners from it here we go how does he explain this here's what God is going to do he's going to bring an invading army he's going to execute his wrath on this evil empire for the stars of the heavens and their consolations will not give their light the sun will be dark at its rising the moon sun moon stars the moon will not shed its light
[62:53] I will punish the world for its evil and the wicked for its iniquity I will put an end to the pomp of the arrogant and lay low the pompous pride of the ruthless here's God's word to Babylon basically he's saying to them the end is near your sky is falling your lights are going out that's what he said by symbol sun moon start no more light no more light for you no light for you!
[63:21] no! light for you! It's going out you're going down it's ominous language to say my judgment is final it is coming I will use it's not going to be some kind of plague from heaven it's going to be a plague of I'm bringing in an invading army to destroy you and then when they go bad I'm going to bring another invading army called Greece they're going to come in and destroy them where are we in that line I wonder how are we doing as a nation on this fourth day of July are we the same nation as July 1st 1776 yeah where are we how is God looking at us he's looking he has a time frame there is a time that's running out just like it did for
[64:29] Babylon for Persia for Greece for Rome for multiple small nations in between those what about us God uses the same language as that in Ezekiel 32 against the nation of Egypt your sun moon stars will go dark Joel chapter 2 he uses the same language warning against Israel sun moon stars and by the way Peter quotes Joel 2 that very reference in Acts chapter 2 saying that that was fulfilled!
[65:10] on the day of Pentecost interesting interesting Peter has a different view than some people of how eschatology is fulfilled he saw the sun moon stars as being done that day when they spoke in other tongues Jesus used that same language in Matthew 24 Mark 13 Luke 21 sun moon stars predicting the end of the nation of Israel or the kingdom of Israel when the temple would fall because Israel has not gone back up have they back in the land some of them but no temple no sacrifice what are they how do they get atonement huh I mean there's some serious issues maybe
[66:12] Jesus was right so here's the preview of the end God will bring justice to the world rulers and the people of the world for their evil their iniquity their proud rebellion everyone not just the rich and the powerful but even the slave and the free so we have three questions to end with one how long is justice how long for justice excuse me well it's until the final martyr why does God bring justice well it's the wages!
[66:44] of sin is death justice gives you what you are due! what do we deserve? well what do I really deserve?
[66:59] Final question this is the most important question of all who escapes the wrath of God? Because the last question is who can stand? Nobody can stand so does anyone escape?
[67:13] Everyone deserves the wrath of God does anyone escape? anyone? No? I'm going to escape how about anybody else joining me?
[67:29] I'm going to escape the only reason I'm going to escape is not because I don't deserve the wrath it's because I've I've committed my life to one who took the wrath for me that's who escapes the wrath the one who paid the price of my deserved wrath who took the wrath for me that's who escapes and what gets me there well there's this little thing called repentance which means I have to humble my pride which means I have to admit I can't fix myself I can't fix my problems nobody on earth can fix my problems not really but him because that same lamb that died on a cross now is in heaven sitting on a throne dispensing justice as he determines
[68:44] I'll take that eight days of the week I'm not good at math so I'm sorry okay that's enough let's pray father we thank you for your word there's so many details here father I pray that we it's interesting to look at the details it's interesting because we want to be good students we want to look at this rightly we want to really grasp what's going on and yet we realize there's so many different ways to look at this so we're praying for you to help guide us to be careful at the same time father we don't want to get lost in the details so that we don't get the point and so thank you that the point is one that you are just and you will bring justice we wait for you and two no one can stand before you no one can escape your wrath except for those who know your son so father
[69:58] I pray for anyone listening today anyone hearing this that you would pierce their heart if they have not yet turned to you that you would pierce their heart to draw them to you to open their eyes to come with that gentleness that you always do come with to draw them and woo them to you this I pray in Christ's name amen amen amen Thank you.