Exciting: Book of Revelation Explained (Part 2)
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Join us for the new episode of Apologia Radio in which we talk about the end times and the meaning of the Book of Revelation.
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- 00:00
- Non -rockabodas must stop. I don't want to rock the boat. I want to sink it
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- Are you gonna bark all day little doggie, or are you gonna bite? Delusional is okay in your worldview.
- 00:16
- I'm an animal. You don't chastise chickens for being delusional You don't chastise pigs for being delusional. So you calling me delusional using your worldview is perfectly okay.
- 00:23
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- 00:36
- The careful men come later and write the biographies of the faithful men lauding them for their courage
- 00:44
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- 00:49
- Right don't go in the world make homies right disciples. I got a bit of a jiggle
- 00:54
- Nick That's a joke pastor when we have the real message of truth, we cannot let somebody say they're speaking truth when they're not
- 01:24
- What's up guys welcome back to another episode of Apologia radio
- 01:32
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- I think it's part of the Mac. Yeah, everything All right. We're just trying to get it sounding a little smoother for everybody guys.
- 01:44
- We're right back with apology a radio I'm Jeff the Coleman a ninja. That's Luke the bear and this is
- 01:49
- Isaac. Hey, man, Agus. Yeah But I guess we are Doing another episode right now in the book of Revelation Explained you can get more at Apologia studios
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- 03:06
- We're back today with another episode This is our second episode. So if you're watching right now
- 03:11
- I think you're gonna really really blessed by this even if you missed the first one If you did miss the first one go check it out.
- 03:16
- Later. It was last week's episode Apology a radio on the book of Revelation explained
- 03:22
- Last week we spent time really sort of laying down a foundation To make a meaningful approach to the book of Revelation Right a lot of times people they don't they don't have that perspective
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- They start in the book of Revelation and they say what do you think it means? Like and to get very creative Rather than starting from the foundation that gave us the book of Revelation Which is the
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- Old Testament scriptures over 400 verses in the book of Revelation over half those verses are direct quotations or Allusions to Old Testament themes symbols.
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- Yep. Have you ever actually had anybody ask you it like that? I've probably yeah, that's probably where that came.
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- That's probably how I used to I had it locked away I probably exactly it was me actually What's it mean
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- So last week we spent time really going over Old Testament foundations Talking about the
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- New Testament the Great Tribulation The promise of judgment upon that first century generation.
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- I pointed out that if you guys want to get more We spent one whole year at Apologia Church Going through the
- 04:32
- Great Tribulation passage the Olivet Discourse Matthew 24 If you want a verse -by -verse line -by -line exegesis and exposition of The Olivet Discourse, there's plenty for you to work through hours and hours and hours of content there
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- So we wanted to at least lay the foundation two parts first was last week lay a foundation second week
- 04:53
- I mentioned that The texts for me are unavoidable beautiful powerful
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- Consistent about the kingdom of the Messiah This salvific kingdom bringing peace and justice to the ends of the earth
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- God establishing righteousness and salvation in history the victory of the
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- Messiah over all the nations all the nations coming to God that is
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- Glorious and beautiful and it's consistent in the Old and New Testaments 1st Corinthians 15 the timeline of history
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- Jesus is reigning. He's reigning now He's on the throne the expected throne the messianic throne and he must reign
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- Until he's placed all of his enemies under his feet as a footstool for his feet And then the last enemy will be death
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- So every enemy is going under the feet of Jesus before he returns to defeat death. Finally, that's
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- Paul's the Apostle Paul's timeline of history 1st Corinthians chapter 15
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- So we laid that down, but I said that what's probably more convincing to me is
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- What Isaac's gonna talk about today is the themes? the fulfillment of themes the beautiful portrait of This redemptive work in history that God paints from Genesis to the book of Revelation So I'm gonna try to do a little talking today.
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- I'm probably not gonna be able to hold back some of these things But I love listening to Isaac talk about this and so Isaac, what do you think is important?
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- We first start talking about this. What do you think is important for us to lay down at the start? So like what's important to you?
- 06:33
- Yeah, I would say one We get an idea of God's intentions from the beginning
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- I Mentioned last week that eschatology. Yes, of course is is a study of end things but I think it's more talking about ultimate things and So when you think about eschatology you you you're thinking about what
- 06:57
- God is doing to kind of paint this picture of His Revelation has revealed the glory that his glory be magnified
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- One of the things when we talk about like a post -millennial view an idea that that God has established
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- Kingdom the kingdom of Christ and that the gospel will have success and Accomplish all that God Determined it to accomplish
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- Of course, the foundation is a high view of God's sovereignty. This is something God is doing This is something God has intended to do and this is how
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- God is gonna reveal himself. This is how God is to be glorified so when we look at the intentions of God we go back to the very beginning because You see this all throughout
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- Scripture where if we want to define life and lifestyle we go to the creation Okay, we see that In the
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- Old Testament we see it Jesus does it a couple of times where he refers back to to define life and lifestyle
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- He says, okay Adam and Eve creation account Paul does in 1st Corinthians So if we want to understand
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- God's intentions in this world, we also go back to the beginning There's a quote and I let you read it to last week.
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- I think it's great Yeah, let me read this because I think this kind of will pave the way
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- We state the intention and then now we're gonna kind of take some some gradual steps to kind of show how
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- Scripture is Yes, teaching this very thing. So let me pull up the quotation here.
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- It says The picture that we're gonna look at in Revelation 21, okay fulfills the mission given in Genesis 1 and 2 and the progress of this mission can be traced throughout the entire
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- Bible in Genesis 1 and 2 Eden is the dwelling place of God and God commissions
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- Adam and Eve to expand the boundaries of that dwelling place to fill the earth Genesis 1 28
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- While God's original call seemed to be thwarted by sin in Genesis 3 God continues to establish his dwelling place among the patriarchs until the construction of the tabernacle and the temple after the destruction of Solomon's temple the prophets anticipate the coming of a new and Expanding temple and these prophecies begin to be fulfilled in Jesus and the church.
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- The church is the dwelling place of God It must expand Be until one day it fills the entire heaven and earth
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- The entire cosmos becomes the dwelling place of God Mission does not begin with the
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- Great Commission of Matthew 28 The mission is God's heartbeat from Genesis 1 until the new heaven and earth
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- Become the dwelling place of the Lord God Almighty and we see that in Revelation 21 and 22 this ultimate picture of the whole earth filled with God's presence fulfills
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- God's original intention from the sanctuary of Eden and That's where of course we start.
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- So when we think about the beginning Let's start there
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- Genesis 1 1 in the beginning God Created okay heavens and earth right away
- 10:04
- You get heaven and earth in the beginning God created heaven and earth It was without form
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- Darkness without form that same term is used in Jeremiah to describe Disorder so you have disorder you could say you have chaos as some commentators have said and now there's light spoken into darkness
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- So light comes into darkness and then you have the creation account where now order is put into disorder when you have the separation of light and The night in the evening and the day or as far as light and darkness evening in the day and order is brought into Disorder then you have the creation of God and his pinnacle where he creates man and woman in his image the idea of image
- 10:52
- And and you can read this I think the ESV study Bible notes this as well But when you look at like the ancient
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- Near Eastern understanding of a king he was the representative Representative of the deity and so the idea of of course the image of God in man.
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- It's far -reaching. It's expansive It tells us of our character our nature our capacities our ability to relate to God to worship him
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- But it speaks I think in this context to us being Representatives of God we're vice regents because right after we're made in his image
- 11:25
- There's a mandate and that's to have dominion and to subdue to be fruitful and multiply
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- So keep in mind these these terms I'm using not that I'm coming up with but just that's in the text Okay dominion subdue.
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- We have creation. We have light coming into darkness we have Fruitful and multiply.
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- Okay, and so Man bears now the image of God and he's a representative of God and he's to reflect
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- God to the rest of creation This idea to have dominion and to subdue is that this dominion be spread over all the earth as they're fruitful and they then multiply
- 12:01
- They're placed in a garden and within this garden. It's interesting because in passing it says that God places every single tree
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- That's beautiful to the eyes One I think it shows us that God wants us to experience pleasure, of course within his boundaries
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- But it's interesting that he mentions trees. Okay, so I Think the next thing you have to do is you have to look at this garden and it's important to establish that this garden
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- It's a temple. It's a garden temple. Okay, and There's a few...
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- Because God's there. Because God's presence is there. God's presence is there. There's a few things I think we could look at to establish this.
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- In Genesis 3 8 after Adam and Eve sinned We hear that or we read that God is walking in the garden right in the cool of the day
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- Well that same language is used speaking of God later on in the
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- Old Testament when it refers to the tabernacle and When it refers to the temple so Leviticus 26 12
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- God promises that he's gonna walk amongst them Deuteronomy 23 14 God says that they be holy because he walks in the midst of the camp and then in 2nd
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- Samuel 7 6 God tells David When he plants plans to build a temple, he says
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- I have been walking about in the tent for my dwelling Okay So that same language is used when
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- God speaks of him being in the midst of Israel Being his presence that Shekinah glory in a special way within the temple in the tabernacle, but also too
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- Adam is Told as he's placed into this garden to tend it to keep it and some translations say cultivate it
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- So you think at this point now Adam ultimately is to establish a godly culture. He's to tend he's to keep he's to work it
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- Okay, so tend Keep to work it Numbers 18 5 6 uses these same verbs that's given to Adam there to speak of the priests and The same verbs are used to the priest to keep and work the tabernacle
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- Ezekiel 28 13 Talking about Adam. He's speaking to the king of Tyre, but then he of course relates him to another
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- Adam and He talks about how he was in the garden and every precious stone was for his covering the stones he lifts off there are the same stones that the priests wore in their
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- Temple work and the tabernacle work So what you're getting here from the beginning is that ultimately the garden is a temple because God's presence is there okay,
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- Adam's to tend it and to keep it and to guard it and establish a godly culture and as he's fruitful and he
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- Multiplies the idea is that God's presence in this special way. This intimacy is going to be spread throughout all the earth
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- Um There's another Direction I want to go into with this, but do you guys have any anything to add to that?
- 14:58
- No, no Keep going cuz I know you're laying down foundations and as everybody is watching this right now take notes because we're gonna try to time
- 15:04
- Tie this story together. We will end up in an hour Yeah With with the whole thing of like the trees and water and life and light and all these things taking you to the statements of Jesus and then getting into the book of Revelation talking about the major Theme of the book of Revelation and how this actually connects to that entire
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- Overarching theme of God's mission and intention exactly that we see fulfilled in Revelation 21 22.
- 15:31
- Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, so If we think about the temple We know Hebrews 9 23 to 24 tells us that the temple was a copy of true things of heavenly things so ultimately what you have in the garden and God's intentions is that there would be
- 15:48
- Union between heaven and earth So heaven on earth that's the intention as God's presence spreads as they're fruitful and they multiply and they establish godly culture as God's vice regents and his representatives
- 16:04
- This garden of Eden Eden is not the garden itself. But the garden is placed in the land of Eden Eden meaning pleasure and from Eden there's a river and in Genesis chapter 2
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- It tells us that there's a river that starts in Eden and it flows into the garden and then it splits off Tigris Euphrates the
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- Pishon right and it goes into these lands and it speaks about this outer world Outside of the garden and it names the lands and it tells of course that the gold there is good and it speaks of these precious stones so you have a river that brings life into the garden and Through the garden then spreads to the outer world.
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- Okay At that point, don't forget that don't forget that don't really get that point
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- It is because if we speak to the garden as a temple The picture you have there and this isn't this isn't anything new.
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- I'm not coming up with this stuff off the top of my head Others have said this well respected scholars.
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- Okay on every side on it on every side on millennial post millennial It's just it's not often stated.
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- And so maybe some of you for the first time you're hearing this it's glorious It's glorious when you hear for the first time
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- So if we think of of course the garden as a temple and you get that idea as far as from Eden river flowing water
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- Life bringing into the garden into the outer world The temple also operates that way.
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- There's also the sections we talk about the holiest place so you think of the holiest place as Eden and then of course you think of the the holy place as Then the garden and then the outer courts as the outer world and there are places in the
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- Old Testament where it does relate that kind of same Symbolism to the temple where you do have
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- God his people and then the outer courts which would speak to the rest of the earth of the rest of the nations so From there, of course, can we describe for someone that may be new to the faith when you describe the holiest place?
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- Sometimes called the holy of holies, right? It's technically the holiest place. Yes. This was a place that was
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- Off limits right to everybody Yes, because it symbolized God's presence and there was during the time of after the fall now you have the presence of God Separated from the people of God and you even have a veil
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- Between the people of God and the presence of God and it's really really important to recognize
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- The shape I think is really important. Yeah, we talked about the holiest place. It was essentially a cube, right?
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- Right, and you have a place that's representative of the presence of God this temple context
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- And you've got a veil between the people of God and the presence of God and the only person that could go in there
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- Was the high priest on the Day of Atonement or the Day of Atonement Yom Kippur and this is where he would go in after First offering a sacrifice for himself.
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- He would then go through the veil He would pass before the veil and the people of God are like what like?
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- Oh gosh, what's gonna happen now? Like is God gonna accept the sacrifice? he would then deliver the blood of the sacrifice to the mercy seat and to what was inside the holiest place and Of course as James was saying this past weekend pastor
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- James as he spoke on this There's there's tradition around like how they were worried whether he would survive
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- And so you had like a rope tied isn't there a bell So they would know if he stopped moving
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- But he was never allowed to sit down Okay, cuz the work was never done and he's sprinkling the blood of the sacrifice and Yom Kippur into the place of the
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- Holy of Holies and Again, if whether that tradition is true or not, they've got a rope around the guy in case he dies.
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- They could drag his body out There's something wrong during the time of Israel's history where they recognize the curse the fall the sin
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- Separates them from God the veil that's between them and God a high priest has to go in and offer sacrifice for them
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- They're doing a dress rehearsal. This is a portrait of what's to come They know there's a constant reminder of sins but what's really important here in terms of the overarching themes here is
- 20:14
- Think about the symbolism God puts in front of them to say rehearse this. I want you to make a temple I want you to put this thing right here
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- Holy of Holies the holiest place and the priest has to go in on this day and you've got to have a veil there and You've got to sprinkle blood
- 20:29
- Those weren't the thing they were copies of the real thing Like they were just basically to set the stage of rehearsal so that when the big day came and then
- 20:40
- Jesus who is the perfect Lamb of God dies on that cross and He is our high priest when he dies everything goes dark and then all of a sudden this temple veil rips in half and What's that Jesus is now passing through and he's destroying that Separation between the people of God and the presence of God, right and he offers himself once for all no more
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- Sacrifices necessary and it says of course in Scripture that Jesus is seated. The high priest never sat down Jesus sat down when he offered himself
- 21:15
- He was seated so that veils gone to understand all this is just this is types Shadows Jesus is what it was all pointing toward right but very important for our conversation today
- 21:26
- Don't forget the holiest place was essentially this cube and that Represented the president the presence of God right and the people were outside Yes of that right and we know from Indiana Jones.
- 21:39
- Sorry that what happens if you open the ark of the covenant That's true rise. Don't know. It's gonna melt your face. Keep your eyes shut
- 21:45
- I mean, I feel like that's what it's like in Arizona right now The melting like literally like I walked outside of the day and my eyeballs hurt because this
- 21:55
- August is the worst August is the worst once it gets to August you just ask yourself. What am I living here?
- 22:01
- Hey, I will say I bet you if you looked like a website thing that shows like Statistics and data that all the sites that are looking for like homes and other states
- 22:10
- Coming from Arizona. They probably like it like you probably see like June is like me and then
- 22:15
- July It's like this and August is like it's like right spike and people that are like just dreaming about living somewhere else, right?
- 22:21
- Everybody in vacation in Colorado is from Arizona So, yeah, so I am
- 22:28
- Exactly, we're gonna kind of cover that a little bit more too as far as when we get to Christ and what he's gonna accomplish But as you mentioned
- 22:34
- Hebrews 9 tells us that the temple is a copy of true things. It's a copy of heavenly things So you have this garden temple, which ultimately represents heaven on earth
- 22:43
- I don't think in the temple you have fully what God had intended because even now when I think about us in our state
- 22:51
- I think we've even moved beyond Adam Augustin, of course used to when he talked about the nature of man
- 22:58
- He said prior to the fall Adam was able to sin after the fall He was not able not to sin in Christ were able not to sin
- 23:06
- But of course in our glorification will not be able to sin So even
- 23:13
- Adam though when you think about that progression as far as being able not to sin That's I think was the intention.
- 23:20
- So I don't know how long Adam was in the garden But ultimately there's this sign that's given to him of eternal life
- 23:26
- I think if he then passes the test of whether or not he's going to depend upon God or seek independence Or whether or not he's gonna sin or trust
- 23:34
- God and he's given the tree of life, right? So the tree of life is in the garden
- 23:40
- The reason we cannot enter into that holiest place is because of sin so Adam and Eve they sin
- 23:46
- They and so God cast them He cast them out out of his presence out of his presence out of that garden temple and guess what in in Genesis Genesis chapter 3 it tells us that The entrance of the temple is facing the east which is very significant because in Ezekiel in a couple of places
- 24:05
- We learned that the also the temple the physical temple the entrance also faced the east.
- 24:12
- So A few things a few words right garden Eden tree of life river flowed out of Eden watered the garden
- 24:20
- It went into the garden that flowed of course throughout the surrounding lands So then now we kind of move ahead.
- 24:27
- Okay, and there's so much that we've skipped But we just for the sake of time would it be smart would it be wise here to jump to Ezekiel's vision?
- 24:34
- Covenant temple because you've laid down the foundation for water coming out right healing the world, right?
- 24:41
- And the presence of God being expanded. Yes, but I think it's important to know what we all understand here Everybody understands right that Jesus when he said destroy this temple and in three days,
- 24:50
- I'll raise it again They were like it's taken us all those years to build this thing. What are you talking about? He was referring to the temple of his body body
- 24:56
- So Jesus actually refers to himself as the true temple right now
- 25:01
- We got to get that down because so many Evangelicals today Believe actually support and this is the thing that gets me it rocks me when
- 25:09
- I see it So many evangelicals today will will actually support and send money to help rebuild the third temple
- 25:15
- Yeah, or they're looking towards the rebuilding of the third temple, right? We have I mean, honestly if if Jewish people today
- 25:24
- Rebuild the temple and start doing animal sacrifices you should tear your clothes and throw ashes in the air
- 25:30
- That because because building the temple is saying that Jesus isn't Temple and doing animal sacrifices is saying that they reject to sacrifice
- 25:39
- So it would be a highly offensive thing to God to rebuild a temple With Jesus as the temple and to reinstitute animal sacrifices.
- 25:47
- It would be a horrific Abomination against God right do such a yes, especially with what
- 25:53
- God has said Why would you put a veil up again when Jesus ripped it down? It's horrifying but Jesus calls himself the temple and we have to recognize that and but listen
- 26:05
- There's this there's this Vision of the of the New Covenant temple in Ezekiel Yes that if you if you understand now the themes and concepts of garden and temple and water and life and light and how
- 26:18
- God laid those down as Look what this looks like then he builds upon what you've seen that Visualization now into this very glorious spiritual reality.
- 26:28
- So what's that? I want to do I that's highly important I do want to take a step back because in sin, of course in this fall
- 26:35
- We've spoken of there's now a separation and they're cast out When Adam and Eve sin, of course
- 26:41
- God he says, where are you? They're afraid they're naked. They try to cover their shame and their guilt by you know, their own fashioning
- 26:50
- There's curses pronounced there's a curse upon the serpent which is highly significant You mentioned it in the last episode that the seed of the woman is gonna ultimately crush the head of the serpent, right?
- 26:59
- You're gonna bruise his heel He'll crush your head and then there's a curse pronounced upon the ground and that thorns and pretty much is gonna fight back
- 27:05
- So ultimately when Adam was told hey as a priest of this garden temple, you're to tend and keep it and to subdue it
- 27:12
- Ultimately, he's not subduing and having dominion over the creation But now he's been placing himself under the subjection of the creature.
- 27:19
- And so he fails this mandate. He's cast it out But of course now he's clothed adequately
- 27:25
- Those leaves that they fashioned together are now removed and there is an animal skin that's given to them which points to ultimately a substitution
- 27:32
- Yeah, that in a sense rather than you die This animal has to die and it's pointing to the greater substitution, which is
- 27:37
- Christ. So you have that image, right? So now we move to Ezekiel 47 and there
- 27:43
- Ezekiel is given a vision Sorry, I told Zach, okay, we've been sitting here for a while. I told Zach just pastor
- 27:48
- Zach just say what's up? How's that? Hey, how's it going? I told him to bring me my food. I'm just gonna I mean, I'm sorry As I get older if I am like him now if I don't get protein and food
- 27:58
- I started to get really you can just Listen and eat. Okay, you eating your pasta Gluten -free pasta
- 28:07
- All right, so Ezekiel 47 there's a vision given to Ezekiel He says he brought me back to the door of the temple
- 28:15
- I'm gonna move through this quick about but I'm gonna highlight of course certain words that we want to emphasize as we move through this
- 28:22
- He brought me back to the door of the temple and behold water Was issuing from below the threshold toward the east
- 28:28
- Okay, which was the entrance of the temple which was also the entrance of the garden as far as facing the water was flowing down from the threshold of the temple
- 28:38
- The water was trickling out the south side verse 3 going eastward and He then is told to have a measuring line in his hand because God wants him to measure
- 28:51
- Every thousand cubits. Okay, so he led him through the water and he was ankle -deep at first and then of course
- 28:58
- He measures another thousand cubits and he takes him to the water and now it's knee -deep
- 29:03
- He continues the same process it's waist -deep and then again, but the river
- 29:09
- He couldn't pass through it for the water had risen And it was deep enough to swim in Okay, so just think about the progression because we talked about last week as far as seed to large tree
- 29:20
- So just think about progression here as far as it starts out shallow But it gets deep even the point where you have to swim you're referring to Jesus when he describes the kingdom
- 29:28
- He calls it. It's like he says it's like a mustard seed, right? That becomes a large tree exactly
- 29:33
- So the kingdom of God according to Jesus isn't dropped on history like Doug says like the 82nd Airborne It doesn't fall all at once and boom, right?
- 29:41
- He says it's mustard seed to large tree It's like leaven in a lump of dough and and of course
- 29:47
- Daniel's vision chapter 2 or the dream Daniel chapter 2 it's it's a it's a little stone stone becomes a mountain cut out of the mountain without hands and then
- 29:55
- Ezekiel's Vision here is is this water that starts very low out of the temple.
- 30:01
- Yeah, which is significant Okay, so it's out of the temple and from them and it's flowing into the world, yeah, and he says
- 30:09
- Son of man, have you seen this and then he led him back to the bank of the river and he saw the bank of the river very many trees
- 30:16
- Okay, very many trees on one side and the other and he said to me this water flows toward the eastern region and region and goes down to Arabah and enters the sea when the water flows into the sea the water will become fresh the water becomes fresh and Wherever the river goes every living creature that swarms will live.
- 30:36
- So this is water that brings life Where there's death and there will be very many fish
- 30:42
- Very many fish we think about kinds of fish very many fish For this water goes there that the waters of sea may become fresh
- 30:52
- So everything will live where the water goes everything lives where the water goes so think about rivers of living water
- 31:00
- Okay, and then he says Fishermen will stand besides the sea
- 31:06
- So yeah fish Please keep it all together in your mind right water life fish fishermen keep it all together in your mind
- 31:17
- They you know, of course they're there for and there's a place for the spreading of nets its fish will be of very many
- 31:25
- Kinds, so we think about diversity, especially for a Jewish context. That's that's highly significant as far as very many kinds and of course on The banks and this is now going into verse 12 on the banks on both sides of the river there will go grow all kinds of trees for food
- 31:44
- Their leaves will not wither nor their fruit fail But they will bear fresh fruit every month because the water for them flows from the sanctuary
- 31:55
- Their fruit will be for food and guess what their leaves for healing okay, all right, so I Would say that there are those who would say amen to all that I agree
- 32:09
- I see where you're going with this and I agree. So we're gonna look at Revelation 21 and based on what
- 32:16
- I said, okay, we're gonna look at Revelation 21 and we'll see where John is pulling from and Then what we're gonna do is we're gonna say that that is currently a current reality now and we're gonna talk about what the implications are of that because that's the distinction as far as us and maybe others as far as the implications of this that this reality that That Ezekiel this vision he saw is taking place now and we look at Revelation 21 and 22
- 32:43
- Many of course today would probably place that somewhere off in the future. We're saying no, it's a present reality because We're gonna show you.
- 32:50
- Okay, so Do you want to at this point though go into that fish and Jesus I will and or do you want to wait till 21 gets a little bit to go into 20 in Revelation a bit here
- 33:03
- And sort of get I'll look at I'll look at Revelation 21 because I have some just to highlight so we can kind of see
- 33:09
- Okay, shit would it be wise say no if you don't know so to explain the the harlot versus the old
- 33:15
- Jerusalem versus the new Jerusalem before we get into that To give sort of a context of meaning or do you want to just jump into it?
- 33:22
- let me jump into it and You jump in if at any point you think there needs to be something clarified or qualified but in Revelation 21, okay which many would put for some far -off time or Near future, but for many it would be in the future
- 33:40
- This is what we read beginning in verse when he says then I saw a new heaven and A new earth for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away.
- 33:48
- Okay, we'll describe that we'll explain that but ultimately What I'm saying is that this heaven and earth
- 33:55
- That we see is a present reality Keep in mind too that we understand that there isn't already not yet that there is a consummation that comes where everything will fully be as God intended but yet the blessings of that reality are realized even today
- 34:11
- Okay, so we do hold to an already not yet as far as the tension that even as Paul says we're seated with Christ But yet we're not we're already there, but yet we're not so the same thing applies here as I read through this and so The first heaven and the first earth had passed away, but guess what the sea was no more
- 34:33
- The first heaven first earth passed away. See was no more and he saw a holy city, New Jerusalem Coming down out of heaven from God prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
- 34:44
- Who is the bride of Christ? It's the church. It's the church. We're gonna talk about New Jerusalem and how this points also to The church and what
- 34:53
- God's intentions were as far as this New Jerusalem He heard a loud voice and guess what
- 34:59
- God says He says behold the dwelling place of God who's with men He will dwell with them and they'll be his people and God himself will be with them as their
- 35:07
- God Of course, the former things have passed away It says in verse 4 and he who is seated on the throne says behold my favorite verse.
- 35:15
- I'm making all things new I'm making all things new. So we have heaven earth and now we have in a sense creation.
- 35:22
- I'm making all Things new and he tells them to write it down and he says come I'll show you the bride
- 35:27
- Okay, and then in verse 22 as we move through it and I'm skipping some portions as far as where he's gonna measure this
- 35:35
- This new city and as you mentioned the measurement lines up with the temple measurement in the
- 35:41
- Old Testament. It's a cube it lines up and Yes, if we take this as literal
- 35:50
- Right, right. It's literally the measurements of the New Jerusalem in heaven Do you really think that we're gonna be living in a cube that extends outside of Earth's atmosphere for all eternity and even the measurements even the measurements can it contain the the stars that the number of the stars and the number of people the
- 36:08
- Sand in the sea exactly It's clearly symbolic vision and it all has very significant powerful meaning
- 36:16
- But if if we take the measurement here, we'd be living in a box for all eternity
- 36:22
- All eternity that's hanging outside of Earth's atmosphere. And so He of course he says
- 36:27
- I'm gonna show you the bride He showed me a holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven So think about of course ultimately our prayer
- 36:34
- Lord that your will be done on earth as it is in heaven in the garden Ultimately, the intention is that heavens on earth.
- 36:40
- So now we see new heavens new earth this city Jerusalem coming down from heaven okay, and He saw that there was no temple in the city because its temple is the
- 36:53
- Lord God Almighty and the Lamb and Of course God gives it light The lamp is the
- 37:00
- Lamb by its light will the nation's walk Okay, and there will be no night there
- 37:07
- They will bring into the glory the honor of the nations. So we're here. We're seeing a global picture
- 37:12
- We're seeing an earth wide picture nations coming to it nations coming to it as of course
- 37:17
- The Old Testament prophesied concerning the kingdom of the Messiah Then the angels and this is kind of even moving more now and I think
- 37:25
- I'm getting into chapter 22 Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life brightest crystal flowing from the throne of God and of the
- 37:35
- Lamb and through the middle of the street of the city and on either Side of the river the tree of life with his twelve kinds of fruit
- 37:43
- Yielding its fruit each month the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations That is
- 37:48
- Ezekiel 47. All that I'm describing is Ezekiel 47 Ezekiel saying this is a vision
- 37:54
- I'm given and God is telling me something something that's gonna happen He's using the temple at a temple as a symbol as far as a vision of what
- 38:02
- God is doing in the world So think about it's a new covenant. It's a new covenant temple. Think about these earthly pictures
- 38:10
- To represent a spiritual reality. Okay a spiritual reality and They'll see his face.
- 38:17
- His name will be on their foreheads There won't be any more night. They'll need no light It says
- 38:23
- God will be their light and they will reign forever and ever with him and then later on in in chapter 22
- 38:28
- It says the bride and the in the spirits they come and they're crying out. There's an invitation Has an invitation to the world come drink as you mentioned to that the nation's don't need to be healed if this is often to the
- 38:41
- Future state eternal state. There's no nations required But the leaves of course are for the healing of the nations as Ezekiel says, so this is where now we can talk about This being a present reality.
- 38:54
- Okay when we talk about Jesus Christ in his first Advent He brought a new creation.
- 39:03
- Mm -hmm. If we look at the prologue, we all believe that we all believe that But what is it? What are the implications of it as far as new creation because when we hear the language of heaven and earth
- 39:14
- We place it off into eternity as far as well The earth and heavens have not changed as far as reshaped or remade, but it's not the language here.
- 39:24
- So Christ comes and he brings a new creation So in the prologue of John we read in the beginning was a word in the words with God in the word was
- 39:31
- God He was in the beginning with God and there wasn't anything that made that was made that wasn't made by him So John takes us very back to the beginning and the prologue of John if you look at it
- 39:41
- It's a parallel pretty much of the creation account and it says in Christ was light he was light and he brings light into darkness and so what we read as far as in the beginning
- 39:52
- God created the heavens and the earth and Light being brought into darkness and of course order being brought into to chaos
- 39:59
- That's what Jesus Christ comes to do in his first Advent. He comes to bring a new creation That lines up with what we read in Revelation 21 where it says behold,
- 40:07
- I'm making all things new He saw a new heaven and a new earth. And of course, he saw a new city
- 40:14
- Jerusalem who is the bride who is the bride? Okay also It's clear.
- 40:20
- We all quote this many times. Yeah, anyone is in Christ. He's a new creation if anyone's in Christ He's a new creation.
- 40:26
- The old is gone. Okay, so think about when we think about heaven and earth, especially Revelation 21
- 40:31
- Just think about that. It takes you back to the creation. And so all throughout the New Testament. We're seeing Christ brings a new creation so on the last day
- 40:44
- On the last day of the feast. This is John 7 Okay so now we're gonna get to tie into some of these things that I think are highly significant on the last day of the feast
- 40:52
- The great day Jesus stood up and cried out if anyone thirsts Let him come to me and drink whoever believes in me as the scripture has said out of his heart.
- 41:02
- Guess what? It's gonna flow Rivers of living water say that one more time
- 41:07
- He says out of his heart will flow rivers of living water for those who believe in him
- 41:12
- We know that's a present reality. Everybody understands. That's a present reality And he says now this is said about the
- 41:18
- Spirit Whom those who believed in him were to receive for as yet the Spirit had not been given because Jesus was not yet glorified
- 41:25
- So that tells us that that takes place When the Spirit enters into our hearts when the Spirit enters into us and we now have union with Christ so the reason that that is that's significant is because What we saw in Ezekiel 47
- 41:47
- Was that there was rivers of living water flowing from the temple you mentioned of course that Christ is the temple
- 41:52
- But ultimately because we're now the body of Christ. What does Paul tell us? He says you are the temple of the
- 41:58
- Living God and Peter says we're like stones built up together We form this house.
- 42:03
- And of course to yes, we're in New Jerusalem We're gonna get to that as well as far as that city language that speaks of us
- 42:10
- In in Matthew 4 19, what does Jesus tell the disciples as he sees them casting out nets?
- 42:15
- He says follow me and I'll make you fishers of men. Yep. I believe that he has in reference
- 42:22
- Of course, he's seeing him fish, but he has in reference Ezekiel 47. And there's nets. Absolutely. And there's nets.
- 42:28
- They're throwing out their nets. They're throwing out their nets. That's all from Ezekiel's vision. All from Ezekiel's vision, but understand Ezekiel's vision. Is there progression?
- 42:34
- There's progression there Is that a present reality as far as the fishers and the all kinds of fish that Ezekiel saw?
- 42:40
- yes, but understand that that water made everything fresh and There was progression to the point where it just covered everything and you could not move through it unless you swimmed
- 42:51
- Of course 1st Corinthians 619 Know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit.
- 42:57
- We're now the temple. Okay 2nd Corinthians 619 What agreement has the temple of God with idols for we are the temple of the
- 43:07
- Living God and then he quotes the Old Testament I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them and I will be their
- 43:14
- God and they shall be my people Where did we hear about the presence of God? Where did we hear about God walking in the midst of them in the cool of the day in the garden?
- 43:24
- It's all going back to that 1st Peter 2 5 it says you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house to be a holy
- 43:34
- Priesthood Peter also tells us that we are a priesthood a nation of priests a
- 43:41
- Royal priesthood So we think about Adam in the beginning also being a priest within that garden temple
- 43:49
- Of course now we are the temple. We're also priests of the Living God John 1 4 through 5, of course, we already quoted as far as the fact that Christ is the new creation
- 44:03
- Matthew 5 14 says that we're the light of the world and then
- 44:09
- You you quoted as far as whoever's in Christ he's a new creation But listen to this.
- 44:15
- Okay, because this is interesting. We mentioned in Revelation 22 that there is a plea Okay that John after Giving us a an earthly picture to to relay to us a spiritual reality
- 44:28
- He's speaking to the church during the first century and he's saying this is what's come or in a sense
- 44:33
- This is what's coming once the old is done away with and the new comes and we'll probably talk about that but right after we read
- 44:40
- Revelation 21 and 22 and he establishes this reality of New heavens new earth making all things new
- 44:49
- Tree of life leaves for the healing of the nations. Now. There's an invitation that goes out in Revelation 22.
- 44:55
- We pointed out Well, guess what Paul says here. Sorry Therefore he says if anyone is in Christ, he's a new creation
- 45:02
- Okay, the oldest passed away behold the new has come all this is from God who through Christ Reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation.
- 45:11
- That is in Christ. God was reconciling the world Global aspect to himself not counting their trespasses against them and entrusting to us a message of reconciliation
- 45:21
- Therefore we as ambassadors of Christ God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ be reconciled to God It's almost in a sense
- 45:30
- Parallel to what John does in Revelation 22 as far as speaking about new creation and then yet the plea for all to come
- 45:37
- We're now ambassadors as new creation individuals to now
- 45:43
- Call the world to to be reconciled to God Galatians 6 5 for neither circumcision counts for anything not uncircumcision, but a new creation a new creation
- 45:57
- Okay now That's a present reality. Okay, that's a present reality and a lot of people may agree with that as far as I see it
- 46:07
- But what's the difference between an optimistic view of this reality compared to others and I'll start off with this and you can kind Of move into what you're saying and maybe fill in some gaps as far as things that I'm missing but Think about when we talked about the the fall the sin and the promise and the curse that's pronounced upon the enemy that in essence
- 46:32
- You're gonna bruise the the heel of the seat of the woman and that seat is gonna crush your head in Romans chapter 16
- 46:45
- Romans chapter 16 Paul tells us and I don't have the the passage, but he says that Christ Through you the church is crushing the head of the enemy.
- 46:55
- Yes, he's crushing the head of the enemy So ultimately the intention that God haven't had in the beginning to establish his presence on this earth
- 47:04
- In a special way this union that he would have with his creation through these vice regents as they were faithful to him as they
- 47:15
- Established godly culture as his representatives and vice regents as they were fruitful and multiply They would then spread this garden temple all over the earth.
- 47:24
- God would dwell amongst them He would be their God there would they would be his people and they would have dominion and subdue it
- 47:31
- Adam forfeited that Mandate, but Christ comes and he becomes the last
- 47:36
- Adam. He is now a new creation He now Reestablishes the mandate because all authority in heaven and earth have been given to him and he says therefore go and you disciple the nations
- 47:48
- You believe in me You'll receive the Holy Spirit and because you have the Holy Spirit out of you will flow rivers of living water
- 47:56
- Ezekiel tells us that that water starts out small But it gradually increases right and that water is flowing out of us
- 48:02
- Ezekiel saw it flowing out of the temple But guess what? We are the temple of God and then Revelation 21
- 48:08
- When it looks at the the vision of the temple and it says that out of the the throne flowed the water
- 48:14
- It's exactly like Eden God being Eden us being the garden and of course now to the outer nations the river of life still flows through us
- 48:22
- But these these things that were earthly now are used as earthly pictures to establish a spiritual reality
- 48:30
- But I think the difference of course is that there's going to be earthly implications There's an earthly feel to this eschatology as far as what
- 48:37
- God is doing on earth and what his intentions are Um One more thing.
- 48:45
- I found this so interesting But when we talk about being fruitful and multiplying, of course all of us,
- 48:51
- I think it's important for us to have offspring if we're able and We need to disciple them.
- 48:59
- We need to raise them up in the admonition of the Lord Because the ultimate goal is that our children embrace
- 49:07
- Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior Okay But even for those who are not able to have children even those who are single the fruitful and multiplying is
- 49:18
- The multiplying of the people of God and that only comes by new creation that doesn't come by circumcision or uncircumcision, but new creation and In Acts, okay in multiple places in Acts in multiple places
- 49:33
- You have that same language. This is just one reference Acts 12 24 says but the Word of God Grew and multiplied and there's translations that actually use the
- 49:43
- Word of God The gospel is fruitful and multiplied in Acts fruitful and multiplied And it goes back to God's intentions from the beginning that he wanted us to bear fruit and to multiply
- 49:55
- Go okay, so All that taken into consideration. I'm gonna just do the burst on the question of covenants
- 50:04
- An old Jerusalem and a new Jerusalem I said last week that I think a good title over the book of Revelation as a quick reference
- 50:13
- Would be the divorce of Israel or the tale of two cities The divorce of Israel or the tale of two cities because that really
- 50:20
- I think is a big part of what's happening It's covenantal revelation is covenantal
- 50:25
- It's a covenantal document If you don't understand the Old Testament Do not try to interpret the book of Revelation Because he's quoting from the book of the
- 50:33
- Old Testament through and through and alluding the passages using Old Testament imagery and Symbolism you even have references to things like the four horsemen of the
- 50:42
- Apocalypse Would have been well known to the Jews who understood in Ezekiel that God promised four severe judgments upon Jerusalem When she fell into sin, it's
- 50:52
- Ezekiel 16 16, I believe the four severe judgments upon Jerusalem four horsemen of the
- 50:57
- Apocalypse would have been a very meaningful Indictment upon Jerusalem that present
- 51:03
- Jerusalem also when you hear things like a new Jerusalem Coming as a bride for her husband's we need to stop for a moment and go.
- 51:13
- Wait a second We've got a harlot a whore that was just put away and destroyed and now you've got a new
- 51:20
- Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God The new Jerusalem is called the bride The wife of the lamb.
- 51:27
- Yep. Well every Christian understands. Well, that's the church So wait a second. You've got I guess two wives wives here.
- 51:35
- One's a harlot One's the the wife of the lamb and it's described as a new
- 51:41
- Jerusalem. Here's the question Is there anywhere in the New Testament that X club? Explicates that same theme and the answer is yes, absolutely
- 51:50
- I'll give you this reference by the way when you hear the terminology new heavens new earth It's important to recognize we already know this we agree on this
- 51:59
- I believe that the Old Testament lays down hard fixed symbols literal things like creation temple all those things you can touch taste smell all that stuff, but then it becomes a a
- 52:11
- Pointer to a deeper spiritual reality and you may be like, give me an example of that Sure, the temple of the
- 52:18
- Old Testament Jesus says I'm the temple. So what you've been rehearsing and what you've known this to be
- 52:24
- I'm that temple so a real temple and Jesus says I'm what it real I'm what it really meant
- 52:30
- Let me quote a verse here real quick Isaiah 65 17 through 18 that I was just actually
- 52:36
- I was just gonna do 16 Go for it. So let's Know this is this is important. I say no actually hold on.
- 52:43
- I Misheard you okay 50 in terms of new heavens new earth. This is important Yes new heavens new earth when when revelation the most highly symbolic book in the entire
- 52:52
- Bible that has seven -headed ten horned beasts and whores drinking blood riding beasts and and you know weird manhoppers
- 53:01
- Locusts with man faces you have to say what is actually happening here I want to say understand the
- 53:07
- Old Testament When it says new heavens new earth note We just had a whore put away and it's weird though Because the harlot is wearing the priest colors and she's drinking the blood of the
- 53:18
- Saints and the martyrs of Jesus Which is what Jesus says in Matthew 23 to Jerusalem. You kill the prophets you stone those who are sent to you
- 53:25
- I send to you prophets and and you're gonna persecute them from town to town city city synagogue.
- 53:31
- I forget how he words it He says upon you will be all the blood of the righteous from Abel all the way down the line
- 53:37
- He says Jerusalem, but all but notice also the imagery of the harlot in Revelation 17 the whore riding the beast
- 53:44
- It says that she is in the wilderness Think about it as a Jew is the wilderness a good or bad place to be
- 53:50
- They know what wilderness means they wandered in it for so long it meant Unfaithfulness, and then it says she's also got written on her head
- 53:58
- Babylon the mother of harlots and there's like oh What's Babylon mean to a Jew that was exile for our sins?
- 54:04
- So this weird harlot is in the wilderness with Babylon written in her forehead and in the weird the
- 54:10
- Jews were supposed to have Something else written on their forehead Deuteronomy 6 for hero Israel the
- 54:15
- Lord our God the Lord is one you should love the Lord your God with all your heart soul and mind and he says and you shall write it on your your doorpost and you should put it as a sign on your head and your hand not literally had to do with who you were owned by and Everything was done in the
- 54:31
- Lord, but she's got a different name written on her head Jews were supposed to have God's name on their
- 54:36
- Head she's got Babylon which is essentially spiritual apostasy rebellion, and it's weird though because she's wearing the priest colors
- 54:43
- What's this harlot in the wilderness with Babylon in her head doing with the priest colors on and why is she killing the
- 54:49
- Saints and? The martyrs of Jesus which is precisely what they were doing in the first century with the people of God And then it says she's riding a seven -headed ten -horned beast
- 54:58
- Okay, well, it's getting hot in here a seven -headed ten -horned beast well
- 55:03
- Rome was the Septimontium the city of seven hills It's on their coins You can read you can see it city a city of seven hills and it had ten imperial provinces
- 55:11
- And you might be saying well, how is unfaithful Israel covenant -breaking Israel? Jerusalem of the first century how are they riding
- 55:19
- Rome well shall I crucify your king? We have no king, but Caesar.
- 55:25
- That's what they said at the trial of Jesus But then it says don't worry the the beast is gonna turn on the harlot make her desolate and burn her with fire
- 55:33
- And then the harlot is named Did you know that all this question about who's the whore who's the harlot of Revelation?
- 55:41
- It tells you it actually names her in Revelation 17 After it describes that the beast is gonna turn on the harlot and destroyer which by the way
- 55:49
- Rome did within a few short years of the writing of Revelation It says in verse 18 and the woman that you saw is the great city that has dominion over the kings of the earth
- 55:59
- Do a word study and look in Revelation every time the words the great city is used Jerusalem Jerusalem, so you've got the tale of Revelation 17 the harlot
- 56:10
- Jerusalem in 17 being destroyed and then you've got a new Jerusalem coming down on a heaven from God the
- 56:17
- Lamb's wife and if you want to See a really really detailed explanation of God calling Israel a whore read
- 56:24
- Ezekiel 16 He calls her a whore He says you're different than other whores because they get paid for what they do and you don't receive any payment
- 56:30
- So God's already used this imagery against Israel before about her being a harlot.
- 56:35
- He's already done it But in Revelation this covenantal context with the Old Covenant New Covenant context
- 56:41
- Now you have the harlot finally being given the penalty due to an adulterer according to God's law, which was what?
- 56:50
- death Israel or sorry covenant breaking Jews Jerusalem of the first century is finally given the death penalty
- 56:58
- Which was owed to her for being a harlot and and for her unfaithfulness to God or sexual immorality
- 57:04
- Which is described there and then you have this beautiful now bride of Christ new Jerusalem being brought down out of heaven from God But I want to say that I know this is tripping people up And new heavens and new earth.
- 57:15
- Well How did God describe him coming into relationship by covenant with Israel in Isaiah 51 16 watch?
- 57:25
- he says and I Have put my words in your mouth and covered you in the shadow of my hand
- 57:31
- Establishing the heavens and laying the foundation of the earth and saying to Zion you are my people hmm, so he referred to him coming into covenant with Zion his people as Establishing the heavens and the earth.
- 57:44
- Yes Isaiah 65 17 through 18 says for behold
- 57:49
- I create new heavens and a new earth and The former things will not be remembered or come to mind but be glad rejoice forever in what
- 57:58
- I create for behold I create Jerusalem for rejoicing So here in Isaiah 65 just as you're saying new heavens and new earth is pretty much synonymous with Jerusalem or the temple 65 destroyed me
- 58:14
- Isaiah 65. That was the one that that was the that was the chapter that put me over the edge And the post -millennialism big because if we don't have time to do the whole chapter today
- 58:23
- But because the the theme yeah of 65 is he's he's telling the covenant breakers
- 58:29
- He's divorcing Israel right and when when it says my people have a new name, right? Yep. Yeah, he says to the covenant breakers
- 58:35
- He says he says you're gonna be hungry. My people will eat you're gonna be thirsty. My people will drink
- 58:40
- He says I'll call my people by a new name behold. I'm creating a new heavens new right? That's clearly new
- 58:46
- That's that's Revelation 21. And then at the end of Revelation 22, we read it that his name is on their foreheads
- 58:52
- That's clearly new covenants. Yeah, but I need to I need to address this and lay this down because I think it's important We're the
- 58:57
- Apostles teaching this and preaching this to the Christians. Do they understand this or is this something we just get post Revelation and sort of figure it out.
- 59:03
- The answer is it was part of their preaching clearly Galatians. Listen to this. It's powerful
- 59:09
- Galatians chapter 4 that famous book We love to go to people with to show them that there is only salvation through faith in Christ Justification is through faith apart from any work of law.
- 59:18
- Listen to what he says In explaining his current context, I'll say one word on this think about the timing
- 59:26
- This is pre 70 AD. So there is the Jerusalem that still existed with a temple still standing and the sacrifices
- 59:33
- Just keep that in mind. Here's what Paul says. He says tell me in verse 21 of chapter 4
- 59:38
- He says tell me you who desire to be under the law Do you not listen to the law for it is written that Abraham had two sons?
- 59:45
- one by a slave woman one by a free woman But the son of the slave was born according to the flesh while the son of the free woman was born through the promise
- 59:51
- Now these may be interpreted Allegorically these women are two covenants
- 59:59
- One is from Mount Sinai bearing children for slavery. She is Hagar. Now Hagar is
- 01:00:05
- Mount Sinai and Arabia She corresponds timing to the present Jerusalem For she is in slavery with her children but the
- 01:00:15
- Jerusalem above is Free and she is our mother for it is written rejoice
- 01:00:21
- O baron who does not bear break forth and cry aloud you who are not in labor for the children of the desolate one will
- 01:00:27
- Be more than those of one who has a husband now you brothers like Isaac are children of promise
- 01:00:32
- But just as at that time he who was born according to the flesh
- 01:00:38
- Persecuted him who is born according to the Spirit. So also it is now But what does the scripture say
- 01:00:45
- Cast out the slave woman and her son for the son of the slave woman shall not inherit with the same with the son of The free woman so brothers.
- 01:00:54
- We are not children of the slave but of the free one when it is that's a threat That's a threat to the present Jerusalem. He says there's two covenants.
- 01:01:00
- There's two children. We're talking about here There's the present Jerusalem and notice the direction there is the
- 01:01:06
- Jerusalem that is above that's our mother Yeah, but the present Jerusalem he says is in slavery and what's the
- 01:01:12
- Bible say? She's gonna be cast out because she has no inheritance with the true
- 01:01:17
- Jerusalem so two covenants drew some from above the Jerusalem from above and lo and behold in Revelation when the harlot is put away and given the death penalty and Rome turns on her and destroys her when that great city is put
- 01:01:30
- Away, then behold a new Jerusalem comes down out of where?
- 01:01:36
- Heaven from God and it hits the earth So the Apostles were clearly even teaching the direction
- 01:01:44
- Jerusalem that is above me versus the present Jerusalem, but what's interesting here is that when that Jerusalem hits the earth
- 01:01:52
- After the old harlot is put away when was the old harlot put away 70 AD there you go That's the completion of her death penalty
- 01:01:58
- That's the completion of that age of that of the end of the age because it was still a it was still around, right? But it was a defunct system
- 01:02:04
- Hebrews. Yeah have to go to Hebrews. Okay Hebrews over so we're gonna go quickly. Okay, we'll go quickly
- 01:02:11
- Hebrews chapter 9 Talking about of course Christ as as the ultimate priest
- 01:02:18
- He says listen to this these preparations having thus been made The priests go regularly regularly regularly into the first section performing their ritual duties
- 01:02:29
- But into the second only the high priest goes and he but once a year and not without taking blood
- 01:02:37
- Which he offers for himself and for the unintentional sins of the people By this listen to this by this the
- 01:02:45
- Holy Spirit indicates that the way into the holy Places is not yet opened as long as the first section is still
- 01:02:52
- Standing and they says which is symbolic for the present age. He's saying that first section is this present age
- 01:02:59
- We haven't we haven't gone in the holiest place yet Until that first section is done away with which is this age once it is
- 01:03:07
- We're there and then he talks about you don't you haven't come to Zion in chapter 12 Yeah, you've come to and you'll you'll read it.
- 01:03:14
- Well, I don't have to read the whole thing But basically there's a threat here a warning about the soon coming destruction.
- 01:03:20
- This is pre pre 70 AD Yeah, Bruce is cuz what's what's the what's the what's the the call of the
- 01:03:26
- Apostle or whoever wrote Hebrews? What is he telling those Hebrews? He said don't go back. Don't go back destroy.
- 01:03:31
- Exactly so Hebrew chapter 12 warns about God's gonna shake not only heaven but also earth and what's he referring to that?
- 01:03:38
- There's even an explanation of what it means Isaiah 65 it's referring to things which have been made so that that which cannot be shaken
- 01:03:45
- Yeah, which is talking about the spiritual realities of the New Covenant and this whole order will remain forever
- 01:03:50
- So God there's a warning here. Don't go back to the temple, right? Don't go back to the sacrifices that priesthood is defunct
- 01:03:57
- Jesus is a better priest prophet and king and God's about to destroy this right and then you have the book of Revelation the tale of two cities the
- 01:04:05
- Old Covenant harlot wife is Put away to make way for the
- 01:04:12
- New Jerusalem to hit the earth And I just want to just point out some things about that New Jerusalem There's no way we can unpack the entire book of Revelation here
- 01:04:20
- But in that New Jerusalem, it says that water comes out From the temple to the world and an invitation comes out of the city come and drink
- 01:04:32
- Well question if this is the eternal state who's outside there needing to drink because if you read this literally it says that outside of The city gates are the dogs the immoral the cowardly really we're gonna have unbelievers
- 01:04:44
- Sinners hanging outside of the gates of heaven this cube for all eternity that's extending outside the atmosphere, right?
- 01:04:51
- or is there something deeper going on like the New Jerusalem is the Bride of Christ the people of God the
- 01:04:57
- Spirit and the gospel to the world right and the nations come and bring their glory into it.
- 01:05:03
- Mm -hmm go get the nation's right go win the nation's teach them to obey and the water of Life that comes from the people of God brings healing to the entire world which leads to this
- 01:05:15
- Every time people get freaked out They go with if Because I would say there's rebel.
- 01:05:22
- There's there's aspects to Revelation that are still future to us, of course But people get freaked out they go. Oh my gosh
- 01:05:27
- I thought the whole book was ahead of us if it's not what are we to expect? I want to say we had an entire
- 01:05:33
- Revelation before this book. There are some early churches They never had a copy of this book, right?
- 01:05:38
- Did they have it they had no understanding of what God's plan was for the future apart from the book of Revelation Absolutely, not the book of Revelation is glorious and powerful
- 01:05:47
- But let me tell you that's it doesn't tell you the whole story and if somebody says well, what's the point then?
- 01:05:53
- I like to say Listen to how amazing this is Revelation this section of Revelation teaches that the
- 01:06:00
- New Jerusalem the Bride of Christ offers the world the healing water of God the life of God and it brings healing to the entire world and it's gonna bring life
- 01:06:09
- And healing to the entire world and you ask me what's the point, right? Yeah, like that like now the presence of God is no longer separated from his people
- 01:06:20
- But now God dwells with his people walks among with no separation now the whole city is
- 01:06:26
- God's presence He said he's he has all authority in heaven and earth the whole city is God's presence and we dwell with God Yeah, and we get to participate and bring in the water of life to the world and you ask me
- 01:06:38
- What's the point of Revelation now? I want to say this ought to alter your perspective
- 01:06:45
- Because if it's consistent if it's biblical if it's true Then I should be doing something in you right now that I hope that it's doing and that's changing your perspective
- 01:06:53
- Whereas maybe it was a perspective once before of mere escape like to hell with the world
- 01:07:00
- You know, it's going to hell in a handbasket. Why bother polishing brass on a sinking ship?
- 01:07:06
- Maybe the perspective gets altered now and you go, huh? Wow the meek inherit the earth and He's gonna have
- 01:07:12
- Dominion and he's gonna bring justice and Jesus told me to go win the nation's I've got the spirit and the gospel to bring that life to the world
- 01:07:21
- This is gonna heal the nations and bring salvation. I you know, I got some work to do
- 01:07:26
- Yeah, you know, maybe I need to think about homeschooling my kids Yeah Maybe I need to think about like not giving them to the state to indoctrinate because I need to leave a legacy for the gospel
- 01:07:36
- Maybe I need to actually start looking into Maybe I'll adopt some kids over here and disciple them
- 01:07:42
- Maybe I'll actually go out and try to do something about the injustices all around me Maybe I'll invest my life and actually fighting against evil and darkness with the light of the gospel
- 01:07:50
- Yep, that verse of course the God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet Romans 16 20 if we want
- 01:07:57
- Genesis 3 15 will be fulfilled which it is. God is sovereign He's gonna fulfill it whether or not you're on board with this or not
- 01:08:04
- He's gonna do it, but he's gonna do it through his people he uses us to to of course as Paul says crush the head of the
- 01:08:12
- Satan first John tells us that the reason Christ came is to do away with the works of the devil But that question as far as what do
- 01:08:20
- I then do if Revelation is all behind me? I would say this and I mentioned it earlier and but I said in the book of Acts but Colossians 1 6 says the gospel which has come to you as Indeed at the whole world it is bearing fruit and increasing
- 01:08:37
- I would say just be fruitful and multiply and that comes by the spread of the gospel that comes by new creations
- 01:08:43
- Popping up here and there as the gospel impacts them in regeneration Waters of life flowing from you bringing life to other people.
- 01:08:51
- So one thing I'm gonna mention here quickly little tie the room together This is what
- 01:08:58
- I was looking for so forgive me I couldn't find it and I heard I heard Doug mentioned this before and It has to do with the imagery.
- 01:09:06
- And so I was hoping you're gonna go here. We didn't so quickly if you look at back to Ezekiel 37 47 or doesn't excuse me.
- 01:09:18
- That's what I meant. We're talking about the water coming out and he mentions Fishermen will stand beside the sea from and Getty To and a glime.
- 01:09:27
- Oh, I think I remember you told me something like this So it says it will be a place for the spreading of nets
- 01:09:34
- So in the Hebrew you got the N is Ian at the beginning means like of whatever So the two, you know guys know like Jamaat Gamatri.
- 01:09:41
- I can never say the word right, but where were the yeah the numbers and letters are So the name is a number right?
- 01:09:47
- Okay, so I'm not gonna I'm probably gonna butcher this but I can go back and find it but Those two words together those the numbers combined, right?
- 01:09:58
- So if you go then to to John 21 this is after Christ's resurrection
- 01:10:06
- What are the disciples doing they're fishing and Jesus says hey cast on the other side and then
- 01:10:14
- Peter realizes him jumps in all right So then they haul in this ridiculous amount of fish.
- 01:10:20
- Yeah, they sit down on the shore You wonder how many fish it mentions in John 153
- 01:10:29
- The same number of those two city those two Springs combined Wow, it's ridiculous
- 01:10:34
- So here they are, but it brings it all the other because here's the disciples. That's it. They're working. They're fishing So anyways,
- 01:10:41
- I look when I heard that I was a man. I remember you told me that yeah, I remember powerful stuff Yeah, well,
- 01:10:46
- I know lots more can be done here guys. Lots more can be explained I'm sure you have lots of questions. We respect and love brothers and sisters who have a different perspective but we just ask you to just study this go into the text go to Galatians like I just showed for go to Revelation and look at the context look at it.
- 01:11:04
- Look at the details that Isaac spent so much time Thank you brother for unpacking all that in terms of themes
- 01:11:11
- Overarching themes symbols from the Old Testament how it's brought out in the New Testament People like I think you're allegory allegorizing it
- 01:11:20
- Well, I'm gonna say if it's meant to be an allegory then you take it as it like for example when Paul in Galatians 4 says this is allegorical
- 01:11:29
- Well, then you better listen to him because if it was supposed to be read that way and understood that way from from Paul's perspective
- 01:11:35
- In that discussion, then you have to you can't turn it into wooden literal Neither can you turn the harlot into a wooden literal thing or we've got some weird prostitute running around Doing some weird things
- 01:11:47
- Maybe there's some out there like that. But um, you get the point. We have to read the Bible biblically it's not a different listen, this is not a conflict and I'll say final word on this between Reading the
- 01:11:58
- Bible literally or whether you read it Allegorically at times or figuratively you have to read it biblically because all of us recognize that Jesus is not literally a door
- 01:12:07
- That God is not literally a blast furnace like a consuming fire and God does not have feathers
- 01:12:13
- But he covers you in the shadow of his wings So you have to read it biblically when it's speaking symbolically you understand it that way when it's speaking allegorically you read it that way when it's speaking in poetry you understand poetry when it's speaking a hyperbole you understand hyperbole and We have to understand that The Bible has a consistent overarching theme and story and it's not our right to go into say like the book of Revelation Take it apart from tape rip it out of the whole
- 01:12:41
- Revelation and plop it down in front of us and start reading our newspaper going. All right Where do I find any of this stuff happening today?
- 01:12:47
- That's improper. You got to read it biblically You got to read it according to authors intention. That's it guys.
- 01:12:54
- Thank you guys so much for watching again Apologyistudios .com is where you guys go to get more. Thank you to Isaac.