Looking Forward to the World to Come

Transcript

GRM 1115
12/29/2013
Looking Forward to the World to Come
Daniel 2, 7; Revelation 17-22
Gil Rugh

We come to the end of a year and we've been talking about the birth of Christ, the significance of that birth. And I want to just put things into perspective as we look at God's overview, as He has given us in His Word, of where we are going as we go to the kingdom. When we talked about the birth of Christ, we talked about the fact He was born to be king, He was born to rule and reign. That was part of the announcement of His birth by the angels, and yet that still hasn't occurred. But we are exactly on schedule and just as God has unfolded it.

So I want to talk a little bit about the overall perspective of God as we move toward the kingdom that Christ will establish on the earth. And we have a couple of maps, put up #2 if you would. I put that up to show you Israel, that little land there, the red. You have the pin there and then the red coloring marks off the land of Israel. And of course as you are familiar that little yellow intrusion into the red, that's the West Bank. And we hear a lot in the world, a lot of the problems would be solved if Israel would just give that back to the Arabs. And you realize Israel will never have given back enough. I mean, look at the perspective of that on the Middle East. Look at the Arab and Muslim countries that surround it and that little swatch of land.

Put up #3 if you would. And this is just a bigger perspective. And if it weren't for the red pin, you wouldn't see Israel. It's a little patch of nothing as you might look at a map, but it's the center of the world in God's purposes and plans. And you can't get away from it. So much of what goes on in the world comes back to Israel and so many people in the world think we would solve the world's problems if Israel would just give up something. What they would really like is if Israel would just go away. And that's what the devil would like and that is what so much of his attention is focused on.

So as we talk about some of the countries of the world today, keep in mind that is Israel. China looks big, powerful. So much of what you buy, “made in China.” But that's not the most important country in the world, the United States is not the most important country in the world, none of the other nations. Russia, as big as they are, as powerful as they are, not the most important country in the world. That little pinprick on the map, that's where it all focuses. And in God's work that is the center of the world.

Let's go back to the book of Daniel, Daniel's prophecy in the Old Testament. We're just going to overview what God has said in His overall plan for the ruling of the world and see how it unfolds, climaxing with the rule and reign of Christ. We begin in Daniel 2. I've picked three main portions of Scripture because they cover the same material. We could find pieces in other portions of Scripture, but these give an overview from really the same overview, each one filling in a little more detail.

In Daniel 2 the Babylonian captivity of the southern kingdom has occurred. The northern ten tribes have been carried into captivity roughly 150 years earlier by the nation Assyria. Babylon rules the world at this period of time and the southern kingdom, Judah and Benjamin, have been taken captive, overrun by Babylon. Daniel was among those deported from the land to Babylon. They took some of the key people to train them, most intelligent and so on to be advisers to the king. Daniel has three friends and we know them as Shadrach, Meshech and Abednego. The Bible calls them Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah, but they have been trained to be among the wise men of Babylon.

In Daniel 2 we are told that Nebuchadnezzar has a dream at night and so he calls his wise men. There would be numerous in that contingent. And he wants them to tell him what his dream is and what it means. They say, of course, tell us the dream. We are wise men, we'll tell you what it means. Nebuchadnezzar is a very brilliant ruler and he says, no. If God can reveal to you what my dream means, He can reveal to you the dream. Besides, if I tell you what the dream is, you can make up any kind of lie to tell me, and how will I know if it is true. So you tell me what the dream was and then I'll know your interpretation is trustworthy. Pretty smart. Puts the wise men in a box.

The wise men's response down in “Daniel 2:11, Moreover the thing which the king demands is difficult, and there is no one else who could declare it to the king except gods, whose dwelling place is not with mortal flesh”. Well, then, what good are you to me? Nebuchadnezzar was a brilliant ruler, but he was man short on patience. So his immediate response is to say, all right, you wise men are no good to me. The command goes out, put all the wise men in Babylon to death, that contingent, that group that would have made up those counselors.

Word comes to Daniel who would be among those, and he says to the commander representing Nebuchadnezzar, give me a few, a little bit of time and I can give you the answer. So he goes to his friends, verse 17, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah who have been deported with him to Babylon, and they go to prayer. What remarkable faith. I mean, for Daniel to tell Nebuchadnezzar's commander, you don't have to put anybody to death. I can provide the dream and the interpretation to the king. I mean, that's great faith just to start. Then he goes and prays to God. I mean, he's praying to the God of Israel, having seen the northern ten tribes be carried into captivity by the Assyrians. And now the southern kingdom has been defeated by Babylon and he's in Babylon because he was deported. And he still has faith that God is sovereign and rules over all. And he can give the interpretation.

And God responds to Daniel and his friends' prayers and in “Daniel 2:20-21, Daniel said, ‘Let the name of God be blessed forever and ever, For wisdom and power belongs to Him. And it is He who changes the times and epochs; He removes kings and establishes kings; He gives wisdom to wise men, and knowledge to men of understanding.’” He hides, He reveals, he goes on. Testimony to Daniel's faith in God. The turmoil in Israel, the crushing defeats for Israel, the difficulty of being deported from his own land, none of that has shaken Daniel's firm faith in God. And now he is reminded God is sovereign over the nations of the earth. He arranges . . . Verse 21, He changes the times and epochs, He removes kings and establishes kings. He is fully confident that Nebuchadnezzar reigns because God has put Nebuchadnezzar there.
So he then tells Nebuchadnezzar's commander, representative, take me to Nebuchadnezzar. I can give the answer. “Daniel 2:26, the king said to Daniel whose name was Belteshazzar. {His name had been changed like Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah had been changed to Shadrach, Meshech and Abednego.} ‘Are you able to make known to me the dream which I have seen and its interpretation?’” You know, this is an awesome setting. I mean, Daniel standing before the king of the earth. He is a man short on patience, he's the man who will have Shadrach, Meshech and Abednego, Daniel's three friends, thrown into a fiery furnace because they won't bow down and worship him. This is not a man in whose presence you want to make a mistake.

Daniel's response to the king, “Daniel 2:27, As for the mystery about which the king has inquired, neither wise men, conjurers, magicians, nor diviners are able to declare it to the king.” However there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries. He has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will take place in the latter days. And he even tells Nebuchadnezzar what he was thinking before he had the dream. “Daniel 2:29, As for you, O king, while on your bed your thoughts turned to what would take place in the future; and He who reveals mysteries has made known to you what will take place.” What an awesome God. And He has revealed to Daniel.

You know when Nebuchadnezzar went to bed that night, he was lying there thinking, here I am, king of the earth. I wonder what is going to happen in future years. Nebuchadnezzar is aware empires have come and gone, kings have come and gone. I wonder what will take place in the future. And God brought him a dream. Pagan Nebuchadnezzar gets a dream from God. Daniel tells him the dream in “Daniel 2:31. You, O king, were looking and behold, there was a single great statue; that statue, which was large and of extraordinary splendor, was standing in front of you, and its appearance was awesome.” You'll note here how Nebuchadnezzar, the pagan, is given an image of the kingdoms of the world. They are splendid, they are awesome. Keep that in mind, later Daniel will get the same vision but a different picture.

The head of that statue was made of fine gold. And you're going to go down through, it's an image of a man, splendid and awesome. And as you move down from the head to the feet there will be a deterioration in the metals, in their quality. But we're going to see, there is building strength. “Daniel 2:32-35, The head of that statue was made of fine gold, its breast and its arms of silver, its belly and its thighs of bronze, its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay. You continued looking until a stone was cut out without hands, and it struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay, and crushed them. Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the gold were all crushed all at the same time, and became like chaff from the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away so that not a trace of them was found. But the stone that struck the statue became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.”

There is an overview of the kingdoms of the world from the time that Babylon ruled down until the time when Jesus Christ will rule and reign over all the earth. That is a concise, clear presentation.

Daniel gives the interpretation, you are familiar with it. He begins by saying, “Daniel 2:37, You, O king, are the king of kings, to whom the God of heaven has given the kingdom, the power, the strength and the glory; and wherever the sons of men dwell, or the beasts of the field, or birds of the sky, He has given them into your hand and has caused you to rule over them all. You are the head of gold.” You are represented in the head of gold, the Babylonian Empire which will be an empire for a short period of time—about 70 years and it is gone. It served God's purpose.

And you'll note how Daniel presents it. You are the king of kings. Daniel doesn't belittle his position, but he reminds him, to whom the God of heaven has given the kingdom, the power, the strength and glory. Verse 38, He has given them into your hand and caused you to rule over them. You are the king of kings but you are not the sovereign over all. The God who is sovereign over all, who raises up rulers and puts them down has put you into place. Nebuchadnezzar will have to go through some further trials to really come to understand and believe that. So we have the head of gold.

Then you go to the next empire. “Daniel 2: 39, And after you there will arise another kingdom inferior to you.” {So we're deteriorating, we go from gold to silver and we move from Babylon to the Medo-Persian Empire; and then a third empire,} the middle of verse 39, “then another third kingdom of bronze, which will rule over all the earth.” That will be Greece. We start with Babylon, we know what the next empire is—Medo-Persia. Persia becomes dominant, we often just refer to it as the Persian Empire. That was followed by the Greeks, the Greek Empire.

“Daniel 2:40, Then there will be a fourth kingdom as strong as iron; inasmuch as iron crushes and shatters all things, so, like iron that breaks in pieces, it will crush and break all these in pieces.” Iron doesn't have the value of gold, but it has the strength like nothing else has had. Now you can write these down—Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, Rome. Those four.

Then he goes on. “Daniel 2:41a, And in that you saw the feet and toes, partly of potter's clay and partly of iron, it will be a divided kingdom.” So we go from a kingdom of iron to a form of that kingdom of iron in the toes. I take it the toes will be ten toes, we're talking about an image of a man, it will be ten as we'll see in a little bit. The feet and toes partly of potter's clay, partly of iron, it will be a divided kingdom. “41b-43, but it will have in it the toes of the feet were partly of iron and partly of pottery, so some of the kingdom will be strong and part of it will be brittle. And in that you saw the iron mixed with the common clay,” you see he is elaborating in greater detail on this fourth empire and the final form of this fourth empire. The iron mixed with common clay as it was in the feet and toes. They don't mix with one another, they won't adhere to one another.”

Daniel 2;44, “And in the days of those kings.” Which kings? Well, the final form here, the toes. That will become even more clear as we go along. The days of those kings, the toes here are going to represent kings, the final form of the Roman Empire because the iron continues. But it doesn't have the strength of the original Roman Empire because it is mixed with clay. And so it is a mixture, it has strength but it has brittleness.

When you come to that stage of the kingdom, in the days of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which will never be destroyed, a kingdom that will not be left for another people. In other words there will be no kingdom to succeed that kingdom. It will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms, all other earthly kingdoms will be over, but itself will endure forever. Inasmuch as you saw that a stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, there will be a kingdom established not because of military maneuvers and all of that. It crushed the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, the gold. The great God has made known to the king what will take place in the future.

This is awesome. God has revealed to Nebuchadnezzar in a dream the entire scope of earthly empires, from the empire that Nebuchadnezzar was ruling down until the final empire that is yet future. Now it's true, as we've talked about prophecy in the Old Testament, events connected with the first coming of Christ to be born at Bethlehem and His subsequent death on the cross, and events connected with His Second Coming to earth and ruling and reigning are put right together. Now God doesn't say they happen together, He just tells about both events. Remember, we have referred to Peter several times in the New Testament. Peter wrote and said, this is why the Old Testament prophets couldn't sort it all out. Sometimes Isaiah the prophet wrote about the suffering and death of Christ, sometimes he wrote about the ruling and reigning. In Isaiah 2, he talks about the Messiah will rule and reign over all the earth and there will be death. And he repeats it in Isaiah 9, he repeats it in Isaiah 11. But in Isaiah 53 he is talking about the Messiah being rejected by His people, put to death. Which is it? And sometimes events aren't in order. In his early chapters he is talking about ruling and reigning and then he talks about His death, then he goes back and talks about His reigning. Sometimes you are going back and forth.

So here events are sometimes put together. Between the parts of iron, the lower body and the legs, and the Roman Empire you'll remember will divide into the eastern and western empire, and then the toes of iron and clay, there is a break. This carries up, the Old Testament goes and carries us up to the first coming of Christ and events around the first coming. Then it talks about events connected with the Second Coming. The Old Testament does not reveal anything about the period of time in which we live—the church age beginning in Acts 2 and then down until the seven-year period that will precede the return of Christ to earth. They are not considered in the Old Testament. That doesn't change anything that is said in the Old Testament, it is just something that was not revealed.

So here we have the different earthy empires. We go from Babylon to Medo-Persia, to Greece, to Rome and then to a form of the Roman Empire that will be a bringing together of ten kings or kingdoms who will have the strength of iron but it will be brittle because of the mixture of clay in the picture.

Come over to Daniel 7 and it's later now. Nebuchadnezzar has passed off the scene and Belshazzar is the king of Babylon, and he'll have a short time. In the first year of Belshazzar, king of Babylon, Daniel saw a dream and visions in his mind as he lay on his bed. He wrote the dream down and here is the summary. “Daniel 7:2&3 said, I was looking in my vision by night and behold the four winds of heaven were stirring up the great sea. And four great beasts were coming up from the sea, different from one another.” Daniel sees it from God's perspective, the empires of the world like ravenous beasts. Nebuchadnezzar saw it as a beautiful, awesome, splendid image of a man with different metals. Here these are different wild beasts attacking one another. But you'll note the same—four beasts. How many empires did we have leading up to the empire of the Messiah? Well we have four basic ones, we're going to have the same four basic ones here. The first one was like a lion, verse 4, and the description of the lion. So paralleling with Daniel 2 that would be Babylon. Then verse 5, a second beast, another beast, a second one resembling a bear. It was raised up on side. That's the Media-Persian Empire; it started out as a combination. So it is raised up on one side because the Persians become the dominant force, and sometimes we just refer to it as the Persian Empire. But it was the Medo-Persian Empire with this bear raised up on one side, denoting dominance. And the three ribs were three key kingdoms that the Medo-Persians devoured.

Verse 6, “I kept looking and another animal, a leopard” and that description describing Greece. The wings on the leopard, something of the rapidity of Alexander the Great in moving his armies. And then you'll note, the beast had four heads, this leopard. What happened? Alexander the Great is dead in his early 30s and the Greek Empire is divided among his four key generals. So the details that God chooses to reveal about future events. Then we have verse 7, “a fourth beast dreadful and terrifying and extremely strong and it had large iron teeth.” Remember the fourth beast in Daniel 2, it wasn't called a beast there, it was the image of a man made of iron because of its strength greater than any of the other kingdoms. It was dreadful, terrifying, extremely strong. It devoured, crushed, trampled down, crushed the other empires. It had ten horns. Well, we had the ten toes. Didn't say ten but it was the image of a man so when we talk about the toes plural we're talking about normal toes on a man. Here we have the same picture. It had ten horns.

While I was contemplating the horns, and the horns represent a king or a kingdom, just like a mountain does in Old Testament prophecy. While I was contemplating the horns, these ten horns, behold another horn, a little one came up among them. Three of the first horns were pulled out by the roots before it. This horn possessed the eyes like the eyes of a man and a mouth uttering great boasts. Now we have additional information. We not only have the fourth empire, Rome, and a later form of it, ten kings or kingdoms federated together with the strength of iron and the brittleness of clay, now out of the ten we have another king or kingdom. These are each part of the Roman Empire, further developments of it, because here the horns were on the head of the fourth beast and then this little horn comes out from among the ten and dominates a third of that alliance and becomes the super power.

Where does that bring us to? I kept looking until thrones were set up and the Ancient of Days took His seat. You have in this heavenly scene preparing for the coming of Christ to establish His kingdom. “Daniel 7:13, I kept looking in the night visions and behold with the clouds of heaven One like a Son of Man was coming, and he came up to the Ancient of Days and was presented before Him. And to Him was given dominion, Glory and a kingdom, that all the peoples, nations, and men of every language Might serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion which will not pass away; And His kingdom is one which will not be destroyed.” You see you have the same overview. Nothing is changed in the first one from Daniel 2, but some additional information is filled in to give fuller and clearer understanding.

Daniel is distressed, verse 15, sees all this and what can all this mean? So he approaches one of the angels standing by and says, can you explain this to me. And so he told me, made known to me the interpretation. “Daniel 7:17, these great beasts, which are four in number, are four kings which will arise from the earth.” A king and a kingdom are identified together, so four kings or kingdoms that will arise from the earth. We start with Daniel's day—Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, Rome. So those four major kingdoms here. But the saints of the highest One will receive the kingdom and possess the kingdom forever for all ages to come. Well, that's pretty much a summary. You are going to have four major kingdoms—Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, Rome—then Christ is going to come, wipe all earthly kingdoms out and He will rule over all the earth. What else do you need to know?

“Daniel 7:19, Daniel said, I desire to know the exact meaning of the fourth beast.” This is what enthralls him. What about this fourth beast? Because there is a development of this fourth beast. I mean, he's the most powerful, then you're going to have ten horns, ten kings, and then another little horn. Could you explain that? I want to know about the fourth beast, exceeding dreadful and terrible, teeth of iron, claws of bronze crush, and trample down the remainder. And the meaning of the ten horns which were on his head. And then “the other one which came up, before which the three of them fell, that horn that had eyes and a mouth uttering great boasts which was larger in appearance than its associate. Now I kept looking and that horn was waging war with the saints and overpowering them.” So now Daniel fills in. He had given a summary but now as he asks for interpretation, we get more details on what that dream entailed because he wants it explained to him. And that final little horn that was greater and more powerful than the alliance of the ten, he reigned until the Ancient of Days came and judgment was passed in favor of the saints of the Highest One and the time arrived when the saints took possession of the kingdom. So you see that's where that will carry us.

Now you can tell there is a gap in here because we're not in the kingdom. All these kingdoms that we've been talking about are earthly kingdoms, ruling over the earth. Jesus Christ is not on earth ruling over the earth, the people of God have not taken possession of the kingdom. All kingdoms of the earth have not been crushed under the authority of Christ. Have you turned on the news lately? People say we're in the kingdom. What do you mean? Who gives us the authority to say, Babylon, was that a spiritual kingdom or an earthly kingdom? Well, read history. Medo-Persia, Greece, Rome, but the kingdom of Christ, that's a spiritual kingdom in the hearts of men. I don't believe it, Daniel didn't believe it, the angels of heaven didn't believe it.

Here's the explanation. Verse 23, the fourth beast will be a fourth kingdom on the earth, different from all the other kingdoms in that it is the most powerful and dominant. That's true of Rome. As for the ten horns, out of this kingdom. So that's why we talk about the continuation or the revival of the Roman Empire. Out of this kingdom ten kings will arise. We know the horns represented ten kings or kingdoms, like the toes in Daniel 2. “Another king or kingdom will arise after them. He will be different from the previous ones and will subdue three kings, he will speak out against the Most High, wear down the saints of the Highest One, intend to make alterations in times and laws. They will be given into his hand for a time, two times and a half-time—2½ times,” an expression used two or three times in Daniel. It refers to 3½ years, it will be developed more fully as we read later, particularly in the book of Revelation.

So here now we have real details because this final development of the fourth empire, Rome, is going to center in a man who is going to have his attention on destroying the saints, frustrating God's plan. And, note here, even the saints will be given into this man's power for a time, two times and a half time. Particular focus is the nation Israel, the people that God has chosen for Himself. That's why when we put the map up, that little country that doesn't amount to anything, it's not like the world's oil reserves are in Israel. What does it have? The joke Golda Meier told when she was prime minister in Israel about her problem with Moses. He led them for forty years in the wilderness and ended up in a place that didn't have any oil. What does it have?

These are God's people, He has chosen the nation Israel. He has promised that His plan for them will culminate with them being back in the physical land of Israel and Jerusalem being capital of the world. In order to bring changes to God's plan and frustrate its fulfillment, he has to destroy the Jews. That's why he can't get away from the Jews. Who cares about that little piece of land? You might think, Washington will be the capital of the world, Paris will be the capital of the world, some great place. Israel? I mean, the world views Israel just as a lot of trouble. If they would only go away, if they would only give up more of their land. No end to it.

Here is the answer. We do have a war being waged in the spiritual realm. Satan trying to frustrate the plan of God.

But they are given into his hand for two times and a half time, but the court will sit for judgment, his dominion will be taken away, annihilated, destroyed forever. Then the sovereignty, dominion and greatness of all kingdoms under the whole earth will be given to the people of the saints of the Highest One. His kingdom will be an everlasting kingdom and all dominions will serve and obey Him. All nations will now live under the authority of Christ and His people. Jerusalem will be the capital of the world, the Jews will be the central people of the earth. What details God gives. Right up until we are 3½ years, this final time that will be brought to a conclusion, all the empires, we go from Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, Rome, a ten-nation confederacy, one man coming to rule for 3½ years. Then we get Christ to come to bring an end to it. So now we know something of the timing of that end.

We come to the book of Revelation. You know some people have problems with the book of Revelation, and it is a fascinating book. We are going to Revelation 17. It is perhaps the most unoriginal book in the Bible. We've studied it, we noted there are over 500 references and allusions to the Old Testament. We interpret the book of Revelation the same way we are interpreting the book of Daniel—in a normal way. There are figures of speech but those figures of speech are conveying a literal and understandable truth, fact

So you come to Revelation 17, and just to fill you in, we're not going here. But the book of Revelation puts all the prophecies that have been given about future events and the end times into sequence. The Old Testament prophesied many of these things. Like I said, over 500 references in the book of Revelation, allusions to the Old Testament, no direct quotes. Revelation 6-19 unfolds the details of that seven-year period that will climax with the return of Christ to earth. So now you have things being unfolded in detail, thing that were prophesied in pieces in the Old Testament in different times and different places. Now God unfolds that final seven-year period we call the 70th week of Daniel. It was a key part of the prophecy in Daniel 9 which we did not look at. That final seven-year period divided into two 3½-year segments, and we've already seen in Daniel 7 the last 3½ years will be dominated by that one who is called the little horn, the king who will try to annihilate Israel.

So when we come to Revelation 17 we've come through chapters 6ff, unfolding the details. We are coming now to the end, ready for the return of Christ. So we are getting near that last 3½ -year period. “Revelations 17: 3, And he carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness, and I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast, full of blasphemous names, having seven heads and ten horns.” Now seven heads and ten horns. A head as we are going to see refers to a kingdom, like a mountain refers to a kingdom, or a horn refers to a kingdom in prophecy. Seven heads, how does this connect to Daniel? Well, Daniel started where he was, the revelation to him. In other words Babylon was ruling the world, they were the nation. The Bible is only concerned about the nations that impact Israel. Babylon, and he went from there. John takes us back before Babylon to the two preceding nations that are important to Israel. What preceded Babylon? Assyria. What preceded Assyria? Egypt. Of course Egypt is important in Israel's history. Israel spent 400 years in Egypt. Then Assyria, of course, they conquered the northern ten tribes and carried them away into captivity in 722 B.C. So John goes back to the beginning.

So now he has Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, Rome, the ten nations, the ten kings. That is seven, use your fingers. The beast represented here is going to be the final form, that little horn we saw. He is the culmination of all these others, the final form of world-empire under the authority of the god of this world, Satan, and his attempt to frustrate the plan of God.

You say, what could this mean? Well, we come down to verse 7, the angel said to me the woman on the beast refers to the religious element, the apostate church that will work together in that final seven-year period and ultimately be destroyed the middle of that seven-year period when the antichrist requires that he be worshiped as God. But we won't go into that now. “Rev. 17:7, And the angel said to me, why do you wonder? I shall tell you the mystery of the woman and of the beast that carries her, which has seven heads and ten horns.” The beast has this because he is the culmination of earthly empires, the ones we've looked at. The beast that you saw was and is not, is about to come out of the abyss and go to destruction. Those who dwell on the earth whose name has not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world will wonder when they see the beast, that he was and is not and will come. And we haven't taken the time to go back to Revelation 13, but if you went back there you would find that this one has a wound to death but he is revived. And that evidently will contribute to his being accepted as a divine person, as god in the flesh. We have some of the similar pictures in the seven heads and ten horns back in Revelation 13.

But stay with Revelation 17. Here is the mind which has wisdom. The seven heads and seven mountains on which the woman sits, they are seven kings. So the connection here—seven heads are seven mountains are seven kings. I wrote a thesis on this part of Revelation many years ago. They all refer to the same thing. The seven heads are seven mountains are seven kings. So understand. Well, I wonder what these mountains, I wonder what these heads represent. Well, the seven heads are seven mountains. If you know anything about Old Testament prophecy, a mountain referred to a kingdom. And if you don't, they are seven kings. A king and a kingdom used interchangeably. We are the same today. What will the United States do? Some people would say, I wonder what the President will do because he acts representing the country, so he gets identified, we refer that way to the king or the leader and his nation.

So here there are seven kings. Now let's follow this. Five have fallen. Five kingdoms have fallen. All right John has taken us back to the beginning with Egypt, remember. Egypt, one; Assyria, two; Babylon, three; Persia, four; Greece, five. Five have fallen. Those nations were history as John writes. One is, six—Rome. The other has not yet come and when he comes he must remain a little while. That would be the ten-nation confederacy—the ten toes, the ten horns, the ten kings or kingdoms. That will form the seventh here. And the beast which was and is not is himself also an eighth, that's the little horn we saw in Daniel 7. He is one of the seven. Remember what happened in Daniel 7? He displaced three of the kings or kingdoms, becomes the dominant overpowering figure. And in that sense he is different enough to be considered an eighth empire. Still part of the Roman Empire as the ten-nation confederacy was, the iron continued, there on the head of that fourth beast in Daniel 7. He is one of the seventh, he's an eighth. He goes to destruction.

The ten horns which you saw are ten kings who have not received a kingdom yet. So you see these ten kings or kingdoms or nations or kingdoms will join together to form one kingdom. These ten horns are ten kings who have not yet received a kingdom. They will be federated together. Since you put these ten together they are brittle as well as strong.

I was reading an article on the European Union, they were talking about its power supersedes the United States. And they noted the different ways. But there is a brittleness there because you have the individual nations looking out for themselves, assuming that perhaps the European Union will finally come together, perhaps as this ten-nation confederacy.

The ten horns are ten kings, they haven't yet received a kingdom. So from John's perspective they are future. He didn't know how future. They are still future, we know that for sure, no doubt. Some try to find a fulfillment of the ten kings or kingdoms in the past. Later Roman emperors or something, they receive authority as kings with the beast for one hour. So they are inseparably connected to this little horn, this eighth that comes out of the ten. The seventh empire. These ten have their one purpose. Verse 13, they give their power and authority to the beast. They have come in, in the plan of God and under the determination of Satan; because he is trying to create an alternative to the kingdom over which the Messiah will rule. Remember Satan desires to replace God. I know it makes no sense, but his original fall came with I will be like Him, I will, I will. And so he knows enough to know God's plan, he knows enough to know that the Jews are central to the kingdom that God will establish on the earth. If he can annihilate the Jews, God can't fulfill His promises and establish the promised kingdom. And the Jewish Messiah can't rule over a Jewish-centered earth. Satan wins. Can Satan win? Satan is a brilliant creature. I say with respect that sin dulls your ability to really believe what is clear truth. Satan has read the closing chapters of Revelation, he loses. But sin somehow makes people think they can win against God. There are people who don't believe in Jesus Christ as their Savior, have never bowed before Him, realizing the wretchedness of their sinful condition, that they deserve an eternal hell, even though God has clearly said it. Why would you be so foolish? You can't win. You either bow in submission to God or you are sentenced by that God to an eternal hell. But here it is all laid out.

Verse 14, these, they'll join together with this final world ruler, the little horn, the antichrist. They will wage war against the Lamb, the Lamb will overcome them because He is Lord of lords and King of kings. And those who are with Him are the called and chosen. He said to me, the waters which you saw where the harlot sits are peoples, multitudes, nations and tongues. And the ten horns which you saw and the beast, these will hate the harlot, this apostate religious system. The antichrist has no use for it once he has solidified his power because he will require all to worship him. Revelation 13 has given us insight on that. So he destroys her.

Verse 17, “for God has put it in their hearts to execute His purpose by having a common purpose, by giving their kingdom to the beast until the Word of God will be fulfilled.” So these ten kings, why would they want to give up? Because God has put it in their heart to fulfill their rebellious desires and now they have the one that they can worship and follow—this little horn, the beast, the antichrist.

Where are we? Well, we finish with destruction here of religious and commercial Babylon in Revelation 17-18 and you open up Revelation 19 and there is celebration in heaven. Why? Because now is the time for Christ to descend from heaven, destroy His enemies and establish His kingdom on earth. “Revelation 19:11, And I saw heaven opened; and behold, a white horse, and He who sat upon it is called Faithful and True; and in righteousness He judges and wages war.” “Revelation 19:14, And the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine line, white and clean, were following Him on white horses. And from His mouth comes a sharp sword and He destroys His enemies.”

“Revelation 19:19, And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies assembled to make war against Him who sat upon the horse, and against His army.” They are all destroyed. And then you see “Revelation 20:4, And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given to them. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of the testimony of Jesus and because of the Word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received the mark upon their forehead and upon their hand; and they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.” After a thousand years there is one final act of rebellion, then we move into the eternal phase of the kingdom.

So “Revelation 21:1 opens up, And I saw a new heaven and a new earth”. Down in “Revelation 21:10, And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God.” Jerusalem, and now we are going to move into eternity where God will dwell on the new earth with Jerusalem as the capital. Gloriously described here. This is how it all ends, or could I say all begins because now we have moved out to where billions and trillions and there is no end. We just get a sampling of here.

So what do we have unfolded? When Christ came at His first coming to accomplish and make possible, it will ultimately be realized as his Second Coming. That's why we are not disturbed, not shaken in our faith, not unsettled by the turmoil and confusion of the world. Jesus said, “in the world you have tribulation. Be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” There will be wars and rumors of wars, there will be slaughter and death on a scale never seen or experienced in the history of the world in those seven years leading up to the return of Christ. And billions of people will die on the face of the earth, literally, the book of Revelation unfolds. In fact, Jesus said in Matthew 24 if He didn't intervene and cut this off after seven years, there wouldn't be a survivor on the face of the earth. He said no one would survive if He didn't intervene after seven years. But He intervenes to rescue His people, particularly the nation Israel and bring to fulfillment all that He promised.

Come over to Revelation 22. This terrific book about the future concludes with some exhortation. “Revelation 22:10, And he said to me, Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is near.” That's how God sees it. What is unfolded here is on the near horizon. How near? Today, tomorrow, it's coming and there are some events that will intervene. We are at least seven years away from the kingdom He will establish. We'll talk a little bit more about that in our next study.

“Revelation 22:12-15, Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to render to every man according to what he has done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end. Blessed are those who wash their robes that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter by the gates into the city. Outside are the dogs and the sorcerers and the immoral persons and the murderers, and the idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices lying.” Everyone who has not partaken of the benefits of the provision of salvation in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ will be excluded from the city that has been described as the dwelling place of God and His people in eternity. The only other place in eternity is hell. That was described for us in Revelation 14 and again at the end of Revelation 20 where everyone whose name is not found in the book of life is cast into the lake of fire. And the smoke of their torment will go up into the ages of the ages.

We say, that's terrible, it's awful. More awful than you and I can imagine. That's why a merciful and loving God has provided salvation through the death of His Son. What do you think Christ came to earth for? This is serious. Our condition is hopeless apart from the salvation God provided.

Look at what Jesus says in “Revelation 22:16, I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things for the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, {the One who would fulfill the promises to David in 2 Samuel 7, a descendant of David to rule over the earth forever}, the bright morning star.” Now note, “Revelation 22: 17, And the Spirit and the bride say, come. And let the one who hears say, Come. And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who wishes take the water of life without cost.” How gracious the invitation. There is salvation, there is forgiveness, there is life. Why will you perish? Why would you say no? The closing book of the Bible, God's closing revelation, after unfolding all that will happen and warning of the wrath of God on those who continue to reject His salvation, Jesus calls and says, come. That's the message that continues to go, come, come. You can partake of the water of life, it is free. It's the same thing Isaiah said in Isaiah 55—come. You don't have any money, you don't have to have money. Come. I could never earn that. No, you couldn't. It's free. Come. Same thing Jesus said during His time on earth, “come unto Me all you who labor and are heavy laden. I will give you rest.”

Then a word of warning. “I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book. Anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues which are in this book; if anyone takes away from them, God will take away His part from the tree of life and the Holy City which were written. He who testifies to these things says, Yes, I am coming quickly. Amen, come Lord Jesus.”

How gracious God is. We still have time. There is still time for this invitation to go out. Everyone of us, verse 17 says, “the Spirit and the Bride say come.” The Bride is the church. Come, let the one who hears say come. Everyone who hears and responds to this now tells others to come. Anyone who is thirsty, come. No restrictions, no limitations. You can't bring anything with you, not your good works, not your church activity, not your baptism, not your confirmation. You just have to come as you are. Lord, I have nothing to bring, I have nothing to contribute, I am a defiled hell-deserving sinner. You are an awesome holy God. I come claiming mercy. How simple—mercy. I'm going to claim what I don't deserve but what you have provided for me. That's what happens when we recognize our sinful condition, recognize that God has sent His Son to be the Savior so that those who respond to Him can enjoy the blessings of the eternity that He has promised to those who belong to Him.

Let's pray together. Thank You, Lord, for the riches of Your Word. Thank You, Lord, for the details that You have unfolded about future things. Lord, we are not discouraged, we are not disappointed, we are not frustrated about the confusion and misery, wretchedness of this world. We are saddened to see so many reject Your grace and the gift of life in Christ. Lord,that would not deter us from encouraging them to come to Christ, of telling them the wonderful provision that You have made by Your grace. We would ask to be instruments You use to direct others to the Savior that we love. May we serve day by day in honoring You in anticipation of the glory that will be the fulfillment of all You promised. We pray in Christ's name, amen.