(Through the Bible) Revelation 10-12 — Chuck Smith

Revelation 10 and Christ’s Claim to the Earth

Revelation chapter 10. We have been going through the trumpet judgments, the catastrophes that they have brought upon the earth. Now for a moment we leave the trumpet judgments after the sounding of the sixth, and before we read of the events at the sounding of the seventh, John gives us now a little insight into a yet future event, and that is the coming of Jesus Christ to the earth to claim that which he purchased.

Jesus paid the price of redemption. He redeemed the world so that it would be God's once again. It was originally God's by creation. God gave it to man, man gave it to Satan, so that Satan is called by Jesus the prince of this world by Paul the god of this world.

Satan offered the world to Jesus if he would only bow down and worship him. But Jesus came to redeem the world, but the price was his life, the shedding of his blood. So we are redeemed not with corruptible things such as silver and gold, but with the precious blood of Jesus Christ.

But yet he has not taken possession of his purchased possession. In Romans chapter 8, Paul tells us that all of creation is groaning and travailing together until now, waiting for the manifestation of the sons of God to wit, the redemption of our bodies.

Redemption is not yet complete. But in the meantime, Paul told the Ephesians that God has sealed us with the Holy Spirit, which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession.

In Hebrews, the writer said that God has put all things in subjection unto him, but we do not yet see all things in subjection. The world is still in rebellion against him. It hasn't been brought yet into his power.

Under his reign. Now God has put all things under him, but we don't yet see them there. But we do see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor.

So we and all creation groan together, waiting, travailing for that glorious day when the Lord will come and claim that which he purchased, that which belongs to him. Yes, we rejoice in the Holy Spirit now and the power of the Spirit in our life, which sustains and keeps us until that day that he comes.

But we're really waiting anxiously for the full redemption and for the Lord to reign. And that's been our prayer, thy kingdom come, thy will be done in this earth, even as it is in heaven. Now, chapter 10 gives us a little insight into that coming of the Lord to establish now the fact that the earth is his and to begin his reign.

The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof, all they that dwell therein. God said unto him, ask of me and I will give thee the heathen for thine inheritance and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession.

Psalm 2. So here he comes to possess that which he purchased. I saw another mighty angel, the word angel is messenger, coming down from heaven. His description would be that of Jesus Christ clothed with a cloud.

Behold, he cometh with the clouds and every eye shall see him and they also which pierced him shall mourn. So he's coming with clouds, he's clothed with a cloud and a rainbow about his head, the rainbow, the covenant of God, which is about the throne of God, is now about the head.

And his face was as it were the sun, as we read in the first chapter of Revelation, John's description of Jesus, and his feet as pillars of fire, also in chapter one. And he had in his hand a little book that was now open.

Remember this scroll that was in heaven or book with seven seals? No man was worthy to take the scroll or loose the seals, we found that it was the title deed to the earth. Now having opened the seven seals, the book is now open, he comes with the open book in his hand, the book of authority, the right and the title to the earth, which he has purchased by his blood.

The little book that is open, he set his right foot upon the sea, his left foot upon the earth, and he cried with a loud voice as when a lion roars. And when he had cried, seven thunders uttered their voices.

The Triumphant Roar and the Seven Thunders

Now this glorious shout of the Lord, the shout of triumph, the shout of victory, I can hardly wait, comes with a shout of victory. And this is recorded actually in many of the Old Testament prophecies, this coming with the shout.

Jeremiah chapter 25, and there in verse 30, the Lord shall roar from on high, utter his voice from his holy habitation. He shall mightily roar upon his habitation. He shall give a shout as those who tread grapes against all of the inhabitants of the earth.

And in Hosea chapter 11 and verse 10, Hosea also makes reference to it. They shall walk after the Lord. He shall roar like a lion. And when he shall roar, then the children shall tremble from the West.

And in the book of Joel chapter 3, verse 16, we are told the Lord also shall roar out of Zion and utter his voice from Jerusalem and the heavens and the earth shall shake. But the Lord will be the hope of his people and the strength of the children of Israel.

And Amos also makes mention of it. And he cried with a loud voice as when a lion roars. And when he cried, the seven thunders uttered their voices. Now John said, when the seven thunders had uttered their voices, I was about to write, that is what the voices said.

And I heard a voice from heaven saying to me, seal up those things which the seven thunders uttered and don't write them. So we don't know what the seven thunders uttered. We'll have to wait for that.

So God has left some of the things unspoken of the future. And just what are uttered by the seven thunders is something that we just don't know. And any attempt to declare what has been uttered or even to speculate is wrong.

Whether or not they would be judgments or blessings or whatever, we can't even speculate on this. We just don't know. Where the Bible is silent, it's best that we remain silent, not try to guess or to, the Lord said to John, just seal it up.

Don't write those things. So we'll find out one of these days. And the angel, which I saw stand upon the sea and upon the earth lifted up his hand to heaven. And he swore by him that lives forever and ever who created heaven and the things that therein are in the earth and the things that therein are and the sea and the things which are therein that there should be no longer a delay.

Time no more is literally a delay no more. We have been waiting. The church has been waiting for the Lord to come and establish his kingdom. The Bible encouraged us to patience in our waiting. Have patience, brethren, James said.

Establish yourselves for the Lord is waiting for the perfect or complete fruit of harvest. James said, I mean, Peter said that this delay of the Lord would cause some people to scoff. And in the last days, scoffers will come saying, ah, where's the promise of his coming?

Since our fathers have fallen asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning. But Peter said, God is not slack concerning his promises as some men count slackness. But a day is as a thousand years to the Lord and a thousand years is as a day.

And know ye that this delay is really, it's for redemption purposes that more people might come in and be a part of the body of Christ. So the Lord, to us, it would seem has delayed his coming, but he's got a purpose in it.

But even as the Lord waited patiently during the days of Noah for a hundred years before he sent the flood, so the Lord waits patiently now. But the day of the Lord, Peter said, shall come. You can be sure of it.

And, uh, so at this point there is the declaration there is to be no longer a delay. Now there are some who object to the angel being identified as Christ because of this verse, the fact that he swore by him that lives forever and ever who created the heaven and the things and so forth and the lesser swears by the greater and Christ being the creator.

Uh, why would he then swear by him that creates, well, we are told in Hebrews that God, because he wanted to establish his promises because he could swear by no greater swore by himself saying in blessing, I will bless thee.

Now, uh, a man many times to establish the credibility of his word will take an oath. I swear by my mother's honor. I swear on a Bible, you know, and man will take an oath in order to establish the credibility of his word.

And, and he swears by something higher than himself. You don't say, I swear by my pet dog. Your dog may be a liar. So you swear by something higher than yourself. Now, when God wishes to establish an oath or establish a promise with an oath, he can't swear by any higher.

So he swears by himself. We're told in Hebrews. So I find no difficulty in the swearing by him that, because again, being the Lord, he can swear by no higher. So he swears by himself that this is it. There shall be a delay, no longer that the time has come for the establishing of the kingdom.

And there will be no more delay. This does not mean that, uh, time no more, as far as watches clocks, days, months, almanacs, and so forth. Um, it means that there is to be no more delay before the kingdom is established in the days of the voice of the seventh angel.

When he shall begin to sound the mystery of God will be complete as he has declared to his servants, the prophets. Now, as we go back to God's declarations to the servants, the prophets, we find that God has promised the glorious kingdom that shall come God's kingdom upon the earth and the wonders and the glories of that kingdom.

The Restoration of Creation and the Glory of God in Nature

As the lion and the lamb will lie down together, a little child shall lead them. The lion will eat straw like the ox. And, uh, there are just so many things. The lame will leap for joy. The blind will behold the glory and the dumb will sing forth praises unto God.

Just the glorious restoration of the earth. You see, you do not see the world that God created, nor do you see the world that God intended. The heavens declare the glory of God. The earth shows forth his handiwork day into day.

They uttered their speech night into night. Their voice goes forth. There's not a speech nor a language where their voice isn't heard. God intended that man would come to the knowledge of him through nature.

Rational man looking at nature is brought to the awareness and the consciousness of God. Irrational man worships nature rather than the creator of nature. But a rational man in looking at creation is brought to the consciousness of God.

But living in a highly urbanized area, the fields are covered with buildings or with black asphalt or freeways, the flowers, the trees destroyed, replaced by the works of man's hands. The skies become polluted and clouded with the smoke of man's industry, the pollutants that are placed in the air so that we don't see the crystal blue skies too often, only after a rain or strong wind.

So God's message to man becomes muddled. We don't really understand God as he would have us to understand him through nature anymore. Man loses the consciousness of God as he becomes all absorbed in the works of man and the works of man's hands.

And we lose that awareness and consciousness and awe of the creator. That's why it's so helpful to take a vacation, so helpful to go to the beach or go to the mountains, go skiing. It's good for you. If nothing else, it allows you to see nature in a purer form.

And as you see it, God can speak to you of his existence. I have no argument with a man who says, I find God in nature. I do too. He's revealed himself in nature. But we must realize that even the nature itself is not what God intended it to be.

It's not as God created it. God did not intend that our water supplies become so polluted. God did not intend that the atmosphere becomes so polluted. That's all of the result of man and man's works. So we don't get a clear picture of God from nature any longer, but it'll be restored.

You'll see the world as God intended it to be. Man is falling. Man is governed basically by greed. And thus he is not as interested in his neighbor. He isn't so concerned in the welfare of others. He's concerned with his own welfare.

And thus we do not see man as God intended man to be and man to live. We see the greed of man as he seeks to hoard for himself and take from others. And we see those then that are deprived because of the greed of others.

Those that, you know, have money and spend it lavishly upon themselves. Buy dresses for $23 ,000 or some ridiculous stupid thing. Wear diamonds that cost $100 ,000. It's just ridiculous when people are in such need.

So you don't see man living as God intended man to live. The sharing of the resources. But we will when his kingdom comes. We'll see then what God intended the earth to be and we'll see how God intended man to live.

In the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, then the mystery of God will be complete as he has declared to his servants the prophets. And the voice which I heard from heaven speak unto me again.

The Little Book and the Rebuilding of the Temple

And he said, go and take the little book that is open in the hand of the angel which stands upon the sea and upon the earth. And I went unto the angel and I said unto him, give me the little book. And he said unto me, take it, eat it up and it'll make thy belly bitter, but it will be in thy mouth sweet as honey.

And I took the little book out of the angel's hand and ate it up and it was in my mouth sweet as honey. And as soon as I had eaten it, my belly was bitter. The idea is devour the book, devour the contents.

And we sometimes use that term. Well, he really devoured that book, you know, in reading it glorious, what's going to be glorious when the kingdom comes. Glorious when Christ lays claim to that which he purchased, but the bitterness is the awful convulsions that the earth will have to go through before the kingdom comes.

So when you read the things that took place when the seals were broken, the judgments that came upon the earth, that's a bitter pill. But the sweetness, of course, is the hope of that kingdom when it is established, the fact that he has taken his power and now reigns.

And then he said unto me, that is to John, you must prophesy again before many people and nations and tongues and kings. So there was given to me a reed like unto a rod, that is a measuring stick about the length of a rod.

And the angel stood saying, rise and measure the temple of God and the altar and those that worship therein. Now, this tells us many things. First of all, that the temple is to be rebuilt because this is a yet future event.

In fact, this is the event that takes place during the midst of the tribulation period, for we have not yet come to the seventh trumpet, nor have we yet come to the seven vials of God's wrath that are to be poured out.

So during the tribulation period, the temple will be existing in Jerusalem. So the temple is to be rebuilt and the worship is to be reestablished in the temple in Jerusalem. At the present time, there is a small but very dedicated group of Jewish people who are fanatically involved, almost religiously so, in the desire to rebuild their temple.

There are two or three organizations in Jerusalem that have dedicated themselves to the purpose of the rebuilding of the temple. Some of them are extremely radical to the point that they feel that they have to, by force, drive the Moslems off the temple mount and claim it for the rebuilding of their temple.

There are others who have taken a much more moderate view and feel that the temple mount should be divided so as not to create a holy war. They should partition the temple mount with a wall just to the north side of the Dome of the Rock, allowing them to rebuild their temple on that northern half of the temple mount area.

There are scholarly men such as Dr. Asher Kaufman, who has made a study over many years of the temple mount, and in his studies of all of the ancient records that he can get hold of, of all of the pictures of that area, all of the accounts, he has become convinced that Solomon's temple stood to the north of the Dome of the Rock mosque.

At 322 feet north of the Dome of the Rock mosque, where this little flat rock outcropping called the Dome of the Spirits or the Dome of the Tablets exists, that that is where the Holy of Holies was in Solomon's temple.

The fact that looking from it directly east, you look over the east gate to the Mount of Olives, helps to confirm the position of Solomon's temple. And thus he and other Jews take a more moderate stance, believing that they can rebuild the temple over the site of Solomon's temple and not disturb the Dome of the Rock, and thus not disturb the Moslems.

I believe that Dr. Asher Kaufman's group will prevail. For here, as John is told to rise and measure the temple of God, the altar, and those that worship, the court which is without the temple, or the outer court, leave out.

That is, don't measure it. Measure it not, for it is given unto the Gentiles, and the holy city shall they tread underfoot for forty-two months. So this outer court, the area where the Dome of the Rock stands, is not to be measured because it's been given to the Gentiles.

So there is in Ezekiel another prophecy of the temple that is to be built. Ezekiel also is told to measure it. Ezekiel records the measurements, but Ezekiel said he measured a wall around it, and the wall was to separate the holy place from the profane.

So I am convinced that the temple will be rebuilt, but I'm convinced that the solution will lie in a wall north of the Dome of the Rock, partitioning off the temple mount, giving the Jews ten to fifteen acres there in the north side of the temple mount for their new temple, and it definitely will be rebuilt.

I expect that to take place probably not in the time that I am here. I believe that the whole arrangements will be made by the Antichrist once the church has been taken out, for he shall make a covenant with the people, but in the midst of the seven years he'll break that covenant, and he will come to the temple and stand in the Holy of Holies and declare that he is God and demand to be worshiped as God.

So I don't expect to see the temple built. I think that will take place after I have departed with the rest of the church and when the Antichrist then takes over. So it's interesting to see this powerful movement growing in Jerusalem.

There is one of the yeshivas, a school for the training of rabbis in the old city, that are training these young men how to butcher the animals for the sacrifices according to the Levitical law. They are actually training them now for sacrifices and the offering of sacrifices.

So it's something that they are very committed to, and they'd like to do it now. In fact, there was a group last year who were headed up there with the explosives. They were going to blow up the Dome of the Rock Mosque.

They were caught by the Israeli police and arrested and are still facing trial. But in God's time it shall be, but I don't believe it will happen until we're gone. And they didn't know that I was still here when they made that preemptive attack last year.

The Two Witnesses and God’s Final Witness to Israel

They can do anything they want after I'm gone because it's going to be theirs. Now the Lord said to John, I will give power unto my two witnesses and they shall prophesy for 1 ,260 days clothed in sackcloth.

These are the two olive trees and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth. If any man will hurt them, fire proceeds out of their mouth and devours their enemies. If any man will hurt them, he must in this matter be killed.

God is going to send two witnesses to witness to the Jewish people. The time of the Gentiles at this point will have been complete. Now God is going to deal with Israel for one more seven year period.

77s were determined upon the nation of Israel. 69 were fulfilled from the time of the commandment to restore and rebuild Jerusalem to the coming of the Messiah, the Prince. It took place 483 years after Artaxerxes gave the commandment to restore and rebuild Jerusalem, Jesus came.

Now there is one seven year period left for Israel in which God will be dealing with Israel. And in the beginning of this seven year period, God is going to send two witnesses. One of them will be Elijah.

In the last book of the Old Testament, the book of Malachi, in the last chapter and in the last few verses, as God is ready now to close the door on Israel and going to open the door to the Gentiles and is going to send the Holy Spirit out among the Gentiles to draw out a body for Christ.

So God's final word to Israel, of course, came through Jesus Christ. But here in the Old Testament, behold, I send you Elijah, the prophet before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord. And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.

So the promise of the coming of Elijah again. And so he will be no doubt one of the two witnesses. The fact that they call down fire from heaven against their enemies. You remember when Elijah was here and the king sent out a captain with 50 men to arrest him.

And he was setting up on the hillside and the captain came up and said, thou man of God, come down. I've come here to arrest you. And he said, if I'm a man of God, then let fire come from heaven and consume you and your 50 men.

And fire came and consumed the captain and the 50 men. So the king sent another captain with 50 men to arrest him. And he said, thou man of God, come on down. I'm here to arrest you. And he said, if I'm a man of God, let fire come down from heaven and consume you and your 50 and fire came down and consumed them.

The king sent out another captain with 50 and he said, sir, I'm a married man. I have a wife and children and they love me. Have mercy on me. I'm only following orders. I wish you would come with me, please.

The king would like to see you. And Elijah went with it. But the ability of these two witnesses to call down fire from heaven, to consume their enemies. Elijah's up to his old tricks. They are the two olive trees, the book of Zachariah, the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth.

Zachariah saw this vision. You see, Zachariah was a priest and one of the jobs of the priest were to fill the little cups of oil in this lampstand that stood in the holy place of the temple. There was this menorah, this seven armed lampstand that Moses had constructed.

And they would fill the little cups with oil each day, a special type of oil that was prepared for this lampstand, the formula that God had given to them. And this would burn and was the light in the holy place of the temple and it would burn continually.

The fire was never to go out. And so it was the duty of the priest to keep these things constantly filled with oil. And any job that is done over and over and over gets monotonous, washing clothes or dishes or whatever, you know.

Now, Zachariah being a priest and no doubt many times going in and going through the, and of course it was a ritual that you had to go through. You just can't do things simply. You can't just pour more oil in, you know.

You got to do things in a ritual way. You have to bathe before you go in and you have to, you know, do the whole routine. And Zachariah probably was just getting tired of the whole routine. And so he had this vision and the vision was he saw these two olive trees.

And there were pipes that were coming out of the olive trees and the pipes were going to the cups. So the olive oil was coming directly out of the trees through these pipes into the cups, you know. It saved having to go in every day and do the routine.

And the word of the Lord came to Zerubbabel and said, this is, or it said to Zachariah, this is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel. It is not by might nor by power but by my spirit, saith the Lord, the oil being a symbol of the spirit.

And therein is where the strength will lie, the power will lie in the spirit. And that continual supply of the spirit that is ours. So these are the two olive trees, these candlesticks standing before the God of the earth.

They have power to shut up heaven that it rain not in the days of their prophecy. So for three and a half years it won't rain upon the earth anywhere. Imagine the drought that that is going to create.

They have powers. Now remember Elijah when he was here before prayed and it rained not for the space of three and a half years. Great drought in Israel during the time of Elijah, the reign of Ahab. Now again, shutting up the earth, they have power over the waters to turn them to blood and to smite the earth with all of the plagues as often as they will.

We know for certainty the identity of one of the witnesses to be Elijah, the identity of the other witness is not so certain. There are different Bible teachers who take different views. There are some who are certain it's going to be Moses representing the law and Elijah representing the prophets.

The fact that Moses appeared with Elijah on the Mount of Transfiguration seems like they are buddies and they're working together. The fact that they turned the water to blood, one of the plagues that were brought upon Egypt by Moses and it then refers to the fact they have the power to strike the earth with the plagues as often as they wish points to Moses.

Others believe it was it will be Enoch who did not die but was translated directly into heaven for it is appointed unto man once to die and in the Old Testament two men missed their appointments, Enoch and Elijah.

And so they come in order that they might make their appointment with death because we are told here that after they have prophesied for three and a half years then the beast, the Antichrist, has power to put them to death.

So they finally make their appointment a little late but yet they make that appointment with death. So there is good arguments, there are good arguments for either Enoch or Moses. I really don't know.

It doesn't really matter. Now when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascends out of the abyss or the bottomless pit will make war against them and will overcome them and kill them.

He cannot until they have finished their testimony. They have a allotted time, 1260 days, and they're allotted time to witness and once they have finished that then he has power but he hasn't power until they have finished their testimony.

In a sense I believe that God has control of our lives when we commit them to him and he has a special task for us to fulfill and that he will preserve us until that task is finished. There are a lot of times when a person has a very narrow brush with death.

When you're in an accident and you really should have been wiped out. There's no, there's no, you look at the whole thing you say that no there's no way you could have come through that but yet you have.

Person says, hey God's not through with you yet man. And I believe that that is true. I believe that there is a divine protection upon us as we serve the Lord that's going to sustain us until God is through with us.

But I think that as soon as we have finished our testimony then the Lord's going to take us to be with him. Why would he leave us here any longer? So when they had finished their testimony, God has a task for each of us.

Paul said, I have not yet apprehended that for which I was apprehended of Jesus Christ. Recognizing that when the Lord apprehended him, the Lord had a special ministry in mind. In fact, the Lord even showed Paul the things that he was to accomplish and suffer for his glory.

And several times they tried to kill Paul. Once they stoned him and really thought he was dead. They drug him out of town and for all anybody knows he was dead. Paul himself didn't even know. There was a man in Christ about 14 years ago, whether in the body or out of the body, I don't know.

Whether or not had an out of the body experience, hey I really don't know. But I do know I was caught up to heaven. Spent a little time up there in the third heaven. Heard things that were so glorious I couldn't really try to describe them.

It would be a crime to do so. Because the abundance of the revelations that were given to me, there's also given me this Lord in the flesh, the minister of Satan above me, lest I be exalted above measure because of the abundance of revelations.

So they thought that they had done him in. His friends thought that he was dead. They were standing around all morning and Paul suddenly shook himself, stood up, said let's go back into town and preach some more.

You gotta be kidding man, they just stoned you. But God wasn't finished with him yet. And so God preserved him. God preserves us until we have finished our testimony. When they've finished their testimony, the beast that comes out of the bottomless pit, we'll get that when we get to the 17th chapter, makes war against them, overcomes them, kills them.

And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, Jerusalem, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified. So he identifies it as Jerusalem. And they of the people and the families and tongues and nations shall see their dead bodies for three and a half days and will not allow their dead bodies to be put in graves.

How can the whole world see them? You say simple, satellite TV. Right. How could the whole world have seen them 25 years ago? Couldn't. You see, this particular prophecy could not be fulfilled until the present day, until just a few years ago, when they put up the satellite by which now they can transmit directly from Jerusalem, live broadcast to the United States.

And you can sit in your living room and watch events live that are happening in Jerusalem. So CBS, NBC, ABC will send their reporters. I'm sure they'll still be around for the most part. And they'll go over to cover this remarkable event.

These two men who have brought such consternation, these men who had such miraculous powers, these men who had created such a problem really to the earth and stopping the rain and calling down fire and things of this nature.

And they'll go over to with their crews to do a special story. Interestingly enough, CBS is going over with us to Israel this year to do a special story. Who knows what they'll make of it? You know, you really feel like, you know, you're just, you say one thing, but when you hear it said again, when it's been edited, you say, what amazing what they can do to you.

I'm always leery, but the camera crews will be over there. They'll be filming these guys and the whole world will see their bodies lying there in the streets. You see, the people will have been so incensed against them because of the plagues and all that they brought that they won't even allow them a decent burial.

They're just going to let their bodies lie there in the streets and they'll come by and spit on them and kick them and just do disgraceful things. And they that dwell upon the earth will rejoice over them.

They'll make merry. They'll send gifts to one another because these two prophets tormented them that dwelt upon the earth. This will be the great worldwide celebration, partying and all, you know, these two guys that created the problems and now they're dead.

And the Antichrist becomes a tremendous hero in the eyes of the people of the earth. But after three and a half days, the spirit of life from God enters into them and they stand on their feet and a great fear falls upon those which saw them.

And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, come on up and they ascended up into heaven in a cloud and their enemies beheld them. Imagine the camera crews and their amazement when suddenly these guys stand up and ascend down up into heaven.

In the same hour, there's a tremendous earthquake. You remember when Jesus was crucified, there was an earthquake. A tenth part of the city of Jerusalem will fall. There will be slain 7 ,000 men. We don't know how many women and children in this earthquake.