Iran, Gog And Magog

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>> Really good in Christ. The body might be creaking. Trials might be gathering, but we got Jesus. So in him we got it made. Amen. Praise the Lord. He is really amazing. [sighs] What an awesome God we have. [snorts] Praise God. Uh let's bow our hearts and get into the word.

Father God, we come into your presence with a sense of just enormous gratitude. Father, when we think of uh you, what a wonder you are, Father, your son, the wonderful counselor, Father, we see him. He said, "We see you, Father." And we just love to magnify him and and praise him. We thank you for the beautiful worship songs. Indeed, we are the uh sheep of your pastor, Lord. We just are uh we just praise you, Father, that you are our God and that you've sent your son to redeem us. Father, we pray in your son's name that you'd open up the eyes of our understanding. And we pray this in your son's name. Amen.

You know, uh there is [snorts] something going viral right now because of the war that's just started last week, uh with Iran and Iran lpping missiles and all kinds of things that all kinds of different countries without getting in deep depth into that. We talked about that last Sunday a little bit as far as what's going on, the incursion and all and so forth. Uh what I'd like to do uh this evening is basically I let the people in our live stream on our good fight radio program. I let them know that we would go deeper in the subject that came up that we were dealing with in our good fight radio program. And that is a viral passage that's being used that people say are is being fulfilled right now before our eyes. a lot of the prophecy experts who are are saying this is actually happening today and it's a specific text in Jeremiah that they say is being fulfilled [snorts] and I was asked by Josh before that program came on hey can you deal with this because this is viral right now. Uh Joe Rosenberg uh one of the top you know writers on prophecy is talking about it and uh Jack Hibbs a leading Calvary Chapel pastor in regard to Bible prophecy is saying this looks like it's this passage here in Psalm or in Jeremiah 49 that's being fulfilled and I said yeah let's deal with that and we dealt with it. So I let everybody know this was actually uh not even a good fight radio program. This was a live program we did Monday uh Monday uh afternoon at 4:00. We've been doing more live programs, but I said we'd go deeper. So, welcome you, those of you who showed up from that. I'm going to try to slow down a little bit. I was speaking 100 miles an hour during that uh message, but we're going to look at the passage that they say is being fulfilled before our very eyes. And we're not going to totally discount that because there is what the Bible reveals to be a near and far uh uh prophetic fulfillments at times. Uh we see that definitely with regard to Jesus and uh him being born uh to a virgin and so forth. uh we know that the fulfillment when you look at the near fulfillment in Isaiah chapter 7 and Isaiah chapter 9 of a son that would be given right uh was not totally fulfilled in Isaiah's son okay you look at Isaiah's uh history and so forth uh then we go to the New Testament we see that Emmanuel you know being born of a virgin literally refers to Jesus amen when Daniel talks about the abomination that causes desolation we see that partial fulfillment in Antiochus Epiphanies uh subsuming the temple uh putting a statue of Zeus the top god of the Greeks and he was a Greek ruler ruling out of Syria and having his head put on top of that image and having pigs blood which was defiled blood sprinkled and throughout the temple to defile it and declaring himself to be God. Yet that happened almost 200 years before Christ. And in Matthew chapter 24, Jesus talked about another abomination of desolation that would be set up or stand in the temple. That would be in the future. Obviously, he wasn't referring to what happened. He says, "Let him as was spoken of by the prophet Daniel, let the reader understand." He talked about it being future. So, we have these dual fulfillments. So, we have to be very, very careful not to say this is exactly this and it can't be fulfilled in any other way. Da da da. We have to look at scripture and say what did the scripture say? And when people c sometimes take a certain passage like Jeremiah 49 I praise God that people are inquisitive because we're told in the book of Daniel that in the latter days that people would run to and fro and knowledge would increase. And that idea about going to and fro and knowledge increasing a lot of people believe that means air travel you know jets and knowledge increasing the computer age and so forth. And I don't have a problem with that application because it could be a double entandre. I myself have thought that and actually sure that is a really well good likelihood. But the context is sealing up the words of the book of Daniel until the time of the end. And then guess what? The book of Revelation which gives more detail the book of Daniel gives John's told not to seal up the book. Amen. And we looked at that last Sunday about the final kingdom under the beasts and what that would look like and how Daniel says it's a diverse kingdom. But Revelation actually spells it out and speaks of the components of that kingdom, the lion, the bear, the leopard, what it would look like in chapter 13:2. So we get more insight. So what we have to do is be really careful when we look at passages like Jeremiah 49 is not simply relegate them to the past if there are certain things that have not been yet fulfilled. Uh because when you look at Jeremiah chapter 50 right after it in 51 it says all kinds of things about Babylon that will happen to Babylon. And God's staking his credibility on these things happen to Babylon. But almost every scholar points out that you know most scholars point out these things have not totally been fulfilled yet. And then we see mystery Babylon in Revelation chapter 17 and 18 and the ultimate destruction of Babylon at the Lord's return in Revelation chapter 19. And the hallelujah is praising God because Christ is coming back in his white horse with the armies of heaven to to establish his rule on earth. It mentions for a thousand years. So as we look at these prophecies, we need to recognize and this is this is going to hopefully be an encouraging time for you because I believe this is a time we can actually learn a lot. And those of you who were with us and we had several thousand people over well over 10,000 now I believe that have watched that program uh that came out a couple days back. uh many of them will probably be listening right now. We'll get into things we did not cover. I can guarantee you that unless the electricity goes out and you can't hear my voice, okay, that will encourage everybody to get a better get better insight because we're supposed to according to scripture be understanding the signs of the times and not be asleep and not ignore what's going on. And Satan wants to lull us to sleep where we're not watching. You know, that's his favorite thing to do. Amen. is to is to get us to not look at what Jesus has revealed. But this is a passage in question and I love if someone has a different view of prophecy than me like say Jack Hibbs he's preerttrib and so forth believes the rapture will happen before the coming of the antichrist. I still count people brethren who disagree on where the rapture cloud is for instance although I do believe it's significant when Greg Lori was talking about this uh or the end time events in light of what's going on here. He said, "The next event to happen to the church is the rapture." In other words, you don't really even need to pay attention to this stuff that much because we're going to be out of here pretty soon. And that's my concern is that the church is not ready because Jesus forewarned us. He said, "There'll be false Christ and false prophets who will show great signs and wonders, deceiving, if possible, even the very elect." Then he said, "Behold, I have warned you in advance." In other words, you have been forewarned so you won't be deceived. So, we need to really understand the times. And when you look at Christ's first coming, the prophecy experts had it all wrong and they missed Jesus. Because guess what? There's passages about his coming, but they were regarding a dual fulfillment. He even quotes a passage about his coming when he would declare uh, you know, grace or, you know, freedom to the captives. Then he stops right in the middle of a couple verses when he starts his ministry in Luke 4. Remember that? And that's because that verse referred to his first coming and the continuing verses after that talked about his vengeance. It had to do with his second coming. So we have to parse scripture carefully. And when I look at Psalm or when I look at Jeremiah chapter 49, I see that many prophecy experts think this is being fulfilled today. Uh Joel Rosenberg, Middle East analyst. He's on the news oftentimes, best-selling author, host of the Rosenberg Report. Uh he's asked on air, "Are we watching the prophecies of Jeremiah 49 come to pass?" And asked that question and and some of these guys will hedge a little bit. Some will say it's it's coming to pass. Jack Hibbs, as I mentioned already, uh Bill Salace, he wrote a book called Nuclear Showdown in Iran, revealing the ancient prophecy of El of Elam. and that that's who's mentioned in Jeremiah 49 and that's a popular book and he's probably written more extensively on the passage than perhaps anybody else. So I want to look at Jeremiah 49 and see if this is actually being fulfilled today in the war with Iran as it's being understood. But I also want to use it as a catalyst to say what is this though and what is the bigger picture so we are not deceived in the end and so we know what the scriptures say will take place in the future. So if you could take your Bibles to Jeremiah chapter 49 we look at you know a handful of verses verse 34 and as we go through this I'll give you what they are saying the interpretation of this is and what it means and it seems very compelling. In fact, when I was talking to brother Josh about this, he said when he heard Jack Hibbs go through it, hey, I think he used that word or something like that that it was pretty it made a lot of sense the way he was presenting it, you know. Well, it it it makes a lot of sense in this regard. God deals with nations in a certain way and he deals very specifically at times when he mentions what he will do is to a specific nation. He says what he means and he means what he says and he wants us to take his word for it. But is it really happening today and being fulfilled as we read it in scripture? And first I'll go through their interpretation. And by the way, this isn't about the pre-mid posttrip debate of the rapture. If you're on post-trip, you'd have this view. If you're on pre-trip view, you'd have this view or whatever. This is just seeing if this particular prophecy is being fulfilled today. And I'm going to say something very interesting, I think, or something that make you think at least. Keep in mind the near and far fulfillments of prophecy and the patterns of how God deals with nations that oppose his people. Uh God tells them, "When you mess with my people, you're basically poking me in the eye." And he says that he'll pursue those who attack Israel with a storm, his weather. I did a three-part series called Don't Mess with the Weather Man. Anybody remember those? And I went through all kinds of different things that happened to nations right after or soon after they attacked Israel with crazy weather that just brought havoc. And I had a brother in here saying, "Joe, that was so outrageous." I was like, "There's no way." And he has a lot of people under him at his job and so forth. And he asked one guy, "I want you to take some time off and just test everything he's saying about the weatherman." He goes, "Joe, he went through it because he picked a guy who very analytical." He goes, "Bob, everything he's saying, it's a crazy And I'm I'm just going by what the word of God says. And he goes, "In fact, I saw more to this pattern." That was crazy. [clears throat] So God will protect his people, but you need to know. Well, let's read verse 49:34. The word of the Lord, which came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning Elam in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah. This is the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah, king of Judah, saying, "Thus says the Lord of Hosts, behold, I'm going to break the bow, the bow of Elam, the finest of their might." So, keep in mind, Elilam is associated with modern Iran because of where they're situated. They're now in the southwestern part. Scholars don't really disagree with each other. It's the southwestern part of modern Iran, Elilam where it would be situated. So the point is is they say, "Hey, look, Elilam is Persia, ancient Persia or Iran." That's the argument or associated with Persia. And then he says, "Thus says the Lord of hosts, behold, I am going to what? Break the bow of Elam." That is a weapon. And the Elummites were known for being, guess what? They were incredible with the bow. Okay? They were incredible archers. That's what they were known for. I'll break the bow. The finest of their might. So many understand this. Hey, this is modern or ancient language because you can't say, "I'm going to take out their drones." There was no word for drones, right? And missiles. Although the closest thing to a missile in those days would be a what? and arrow. So they say this refers to what's happening right now and God's using the United States and using Israel to destroy them uh their their weapons. He says, "I'm going to break the the bow of Elam, the finest of their might, and I will break I will bring upon Elam uh the four winds from the four quarters of heaven, and I will scatter them to all these winds, and there will be no nation to which the outcast of Elam will not go." So what's stated here is guess what's happened in Iran since 1979 after the sha was deposed and the ayatollas or I should say the fundamentalist Muslims took over. It was 89 10 years later where the Ayatollah who was just killed uh started reigning. He reigned for 37 years or so. Uh 26 okay 39. So 37 but in 79 that would be 47 that would be almost 50 years ago from this year they say look in 1979 when the sha was deposed Iranians went everywhere all over the earth there's Iranians or Persians here you go to Persian restaurant many of them are professing Christians by the way you know isn't that interesting and they say that happened there was this dispersion that took place if you're paying attention though to the text you will see that there's something a little bit out of order there with this interpretation. Okay. [sighs and gasps] So he goes on to say right after that uh so I will shatter Elam before their enemies and before those who seek their lives and I will bring calamity upon them even fierce anger declares the Lord. and I will send out the sword after them until I have consumed them. And then he says, I will set my throne in Elum and destroy it out of the and destroy out of it kings and princes. So they say, look, he says with Elam or they say this means Persia, he will destroy the kings and princes. Well, what happened? These guys are incredibly hostile, not only to Israel, wanting to wipe Israel off the map off the face of the earth, which by the way, I do believe it's prophetic and God protecting Israel. He told us that they would become a nation again. He also told us that they'd rise to become a world power. He also told us that the nations around them would seek their destruction. And he says he'd protect them. And he says that when he brought them back into the country, they would not be believers yet. How do we know that? Not only because he says he'd bring them back and only after that pour his spirit upon them that you don't see him pouring his spirit upon them until when. Well, if you read Ezekiel chapter 3839:40, it's at the very end at Armageddon. He says, "Now they will know me when he comes back at his second coming." And Israel doesn't know him to this day. But he says he'll protect them even in unbelief. Because in Romans, he says they have become our enemies for the gospel sake. But he says that God's promise is still there for them. and he will turn ungodliness from Jacob. And he's distinguishing Jacob from us, the church in Romans 11. Now, what's interesting about this is he says, "My throne will be in Elilum." So, they say when it says kings and princes, they're saying, "Look what just happened." I mean, Israel recognized that the leaders, the princes, the Ayatollah, some say 45 or so, 40 45 joined together and they first destroyed the building where they were all meeting. Ayatollah gone. Now, there were either members of the Supreme Council that just were meeting just a few days later uh the day before yesterday or at least their underlings counting the ballots as to who was to replace the ayatollah as they're counting the ballots, they were destroyed. This is not something you see typically in history very often where the leaders are taken out like that initially. It's not a normal thing. In fact, one of our the former top generals said, "Wow, the Israel's done this. This is like new for warfare. It's not something you typically see. It's changed the way warfare is even fought and it it destabilized them instantly." So, they'll point to this and say, "Look, he's taking out the kings and the princes, declares the Lord." But notice he says, "Then I will set my throne in Elum." And they say, "Look, God's setting up his throne." own the gospel spreading throughout Iran and it has been actually for some time now many it's kind of interesting prophecy experts and so forth those who look at those come who are coming to Christ many will point out not just right now but prior to this period of time that some will say like uh Joe Richardson did and others who's been there that's the fastest growing the churches underground churches the Christian church is growing in Iran faster than anywhere on earth right now whether that's true or If it's even close to true, praise God. Amen. And by the grace of God, uh we have uh the gospel. We're sharing the gospel. They sold their soul souls. We translated a Farsy 3 years ago. It's being pumped into Iran. Okay? And we're getting feedback from Iranians who are following Christ and blown away, you know. So, we're hoping now that 80, 90 million people can end up seeing that video. Probably won't happen with all of them, but many of them hear the gospel and uh see what's going on there. But let's continue. It says, "Then I set my throne in Elam and destroyed out it was destroyed out of a king uh king." They'll say that's the ayatollah and princes declares the Lord. But it will come about in the last days. They say, "Look, this says the last days." And that's important because if it was just a local judgment to happen immediately after what was going on there uh because there was a present situation where Elum was a threat to Judah that part of Israel at this time. There was a concern there. The term last days wouldn't make a lot of sense if this was all fulfilled immediately. So, I agree with my preerttrib brethren and other brethren that aren't pre-trib that are post-trib to say, "Yeah, this looks like there's something futuristic going on here and not all of this has been specifically fulfilled." We certainly don't see the throne of the Lord in Iran right now. Okay. Uh however, I do believe there's an initial near fulfillment. So, uh in the last days, I will restore the fortunes of Elam declares the Lord. So say, "Hey, look, after the in the aftermath of this, their fortunes will be restored and so forth, and this prophecy is being fulfilled right before our very eyes." I believe the viewpoint doesn't totally match what's going on right now or has happened, and that there's still future fulfillment here. And I believe I can show you in scripture where that's found at so we can understand the timeline better but not discount this prophecy and say you should step back and say whoa this is a trip because this pattern is happening to a degree there. You have to realize that how God deals with nations. And that's why the pattern shouldn't shock us. And you can see some fulfillment, but it's not the ultimate fulfillment yet. And we have to be very, very careful because if you look at it as the Lord's throne is in Iran, when it's not ultimately fulfilled yet, you could be deceived. And there's a there's an elephant, a huge elephant in the room that shows this interpretation not to be true. And I'll get to that big elephant in a moment. You're going to go like, of course, this can't have couldn't have happened fully yet when I get to it. So, [clears throat] let's talk about this. Let's uh cross-examine this viewpoint. Uh first of all, I want to say this. Ilam is not Iran. Ilam was not ancient Persia. Ilam was in the southwestern part of Persia but only in time and was distinct from Persia and eventually would get assimilated into Persia. But you have to understand what took place. Ilam was a great civilization. They were their own ethnicity, people group and so forth. Hostile toward other nations of course and God was pronouncing judgment against them. But they occupied in time what beca was known as and still this day the southern western southwestern part of Iran. This is important to understand because God was pronouncing judgment on certain nations and I think it's important on Egypt. And when you look at the chapters 46-51, it's important to look at the context here uh approximately at 597 BC. When you look at what was happening there in Isaiah chapter um Jeremiah 46-51, which includes this chapter that we're talking about, we see there's a block of oracles that are against the nations in Jeremiah. Felistia, Moab, Ammon, Edom, Damascus. And guess what? When you look at the prophecies against these nations, they were sixth cent century prophecies which had fulfillment back then. What's my point? There was some fulfillment. Some of a couple of the nations I just brought up don't even exist anymore. So, it wasn't just simply future. Are you with me? and Elam is counted amongst them. But this is what's important to understand is Elam was its own people group of course. But then not long after this, what happened? The Babylonian Empire sacked Judah. Jeremiah was a prophet of Judah. Amen. And when the Babylonian Empire sacked Judah, guess who else? They took Elam. They overcame them. And they overcame their king and their princes. What else happened? Well, they ruled them. They broke the bow. They killed the king and the princes. Then guess what happened after that? Who took over after Babylon was ruling Elum? Who was the next empire after Babylon? Persia. Amen. So then Persia took over Elam. And to this day, the Elummites, whatever Elummites survived and continue to live, were absorbed into Persia in the southwestern part of Persia, which is modern day Iran. Are you with me? So, in fact, uh Josh, you can maybe throw that picture up there of modernday Iran and and then you'll see, well, ancient Iran or Persia. And if you look closely, you'll see Iran, Persia, but look at Elam. They were the southwestern portion. And what's important to understand here is when you talked about Elam, it was became it became part of Persia, but they weren't the rulers that took over the rest of Persia. They were taken over. Are you with me? And they were their own. So the whole geopolitical geographic claim that Persia is Elam, Elilam's Persia, it's not even ethnic geographically accurate because there's different ethnicities throughout Persia at that time and Elam is one of them. So it's quite fascinating when you think about this. So but it is interesting. Iran uh roughly it was the um province of Kousan place known as Souza. If you're looking, you want to look that up, you could write K hu z uh s t- an sun kistan and uh you' see that. And by the way, there was a huge nuclear site where they wanted to rebuild the that was one of the places that was destroyed. That's kind of interesting as well. And I talk about you know, well that's breaking the bow. Well, this is an important point is when God is addressing Persia and he's talking about Elam in biblical times, these were two distinct areas, but Elam became part of Babylon. Then Persia took over. It became part of Persia. Are you with me? So this is very very interest. So that's an important thing to understand as well. And also I think it's important that you understand this. When God says Persia, he means Persia. When God says Ilam, he means Ilam. Are you with me? It wasn't that Ilam became a synonym for Persia. I think that's important to understand because God addresses Persia and Elam distinctly in biblical prophecy. I think that's important. And we have to understand that this prophecy is also, as I mentioned, anchored in history. It has some historical fulfillment. But this is one of the major problems I have with this interpretation. The scriptures say that he will break the bow. He will destroy the king and the princes and there'll be a dis despora. The people will just be scattered. Right. And the interpretation that I've been hearing, well, yeah, in 1979 the people were scattered throughout the world. There's a problem. sequence chronology according to the prophecy in Jeremiah chapter 49 what happens there's destruction above the kings and so forth and then what follows that the diaspora they go to different places but here it's backwards the our friends that are saying this is being fulfilled right now they have the diaspora in 1979 right way you know almost 50 years ago 47 years ago and then now oh here's the destruction of the kings it's backwards According to scripture, you have the destruction of the king and the princes, then you have the diaspora. Are you with me? So that interpretation uh doesn't make a whole lot of sense. And then of course the Lord says, I will set my throne in Elam. Has that happened yet? Is the Lord ruling that nation? No. This is not merely metaphorical language for regime change. Okay. Uh if Israel rules there and United States rules there, I don't believe that the United States or Israel in their present condition represent God's throne. Israel's in rebellion to God right now. Oh, there's a remnant. There's a hundred messianic churches there or so of Jews that love Jesus and praise God. So, uh but that's not but don't confuse the leadership of Israel as God's throne right now. Amen. And it's also interesting uh I'll restore the fortresses of Elam looks like this looks more like final fulfillment a restoration that would be happening that uh is more than the underground church because it's not as though the church was dominant in Iran you know where it had to be restored. I don't believe it's referring to church growth in Iran. And by the way, the church growth that's h been happening already prior to what just happened. Hopefully, we'll see more people come to Christ as well. Amen. And please be praying for Iran. Amen. Praying that they wouldn't have wicked, brutal leadership that would suppress the gospel that would kill people. They they estimate maybe 30, 40,000 people were killed by snipers and so forth that were rallying for freedom just a you know, weeks back. Horrific wickedness. And you know, I personally praise God that the Ayatollah isn't ruling right now. That doesn't mean I'm like, you know, everything that happens is, you know, we need to be praying for everybody. Amen. So, let's look at this. And now I want to deal with the elephant in the room. The elephant in the room. Why I don't believe Psalm chapter 49, I'm sorry, Jeremiah chapter 49 is speaking when it speaks of Elam is speaking of Persia. because Elilam was just a small part of Persia, a fraction of the ethnic groups and and and Persia. But here's the elephant in the room. God specifically deals with prophecies regarding Persia in the end of days that do not fit Psalm 49 when you're dealing with the entire nation of Persia, which is modern day Iran. Okay? where well very specifically the scriptures talk about a war that will take place in the future of all the nations gathering together against Israel in the world. It mentions several of the nations that will gather against Israel. And then it says, "And then all the nations of the earth will gather against them in Ezekiel chapter 38 39:40." 38 through chapter 42. And it talks about that being in the future. And when we look at it, it's talking about a war that will take place. And after it's over, there won't be wars anymore in this age. And Israel will come to know the Lord. Has that happened yet? Yes or no? Does Israel know the Lord right now? No, obviously not. And it talks about all the nations. Well, guess who is the first nation that will come against them on the list? Well, who hates Israel more than any other nation on earth? Iran or Persia? The leadership. That's why I don't believe the spirit that's in Iran is going to go away. You have a ton of fundamentalists who are more ticked off than ever against the West and against Israel. And there hopefully will be some change. Amen. The gospel can spread. But also keep in mind we read and you can look at it please uh uh Ezekiel chapter 38. Ezekiel uh chapter uh 38 which is a fascinating prophecy. And when you look at it, it's quite interesting because if you read in verse one of chapter 38, and the word of the Lord came to me, saying, son of man, set your face toward Gog and of the land of Magog and the prince of Rash, Mashk, and Tubal, and prophesy against him and say may believe he's when he says him at this point, he's speaking of a leader that refers to the Antichrist. And verse three says, "And say thus says the Lord God, behold, I am against you, oh Gog, prince of Rash." Talking about a prince of Rash, Mashk, and Tubal. I don't have time to get all that. You can look at the teachings I've done on Ezekiel in the past. I will turn you about and put hooks in your jaws, and I will bring you out and all your army and horses and horsemen, and all them splendidly attired, a great company with buckler and shield, all of them wielding swords. Who's the first on the list of the nations that come against Israel in the end of days? Who's the first one? Verse 5, who is it? >> Persia. >> Persia. And when you put this scripture with Zechariah 14, Zechariah 12, Revelation 16:es 14-6, Revelation 19 when God go comes against all the nations at Christ's second coming, the day of the Lord passages which have a near and future fulfillment. This is at the end of the age. In fact, when you read these chapters, nobody's able to say, "Oh, this was actually fulfilled right here because Israel now knows God." you know, and they buried their, you know, they cleaned up contaminated war war elements for seven years and they they disinfected wait till they were no longer radiated or whatever is going to be like and they buried the dead for seven years. It's not in history and and Israel will have peace after this and their nations won't come against them anymore. That's not happening. They're they're the most terrorized nation than any nation on earth. They have more concern than any nation about their existence. This hasn't been fulfilled. and Persia will come against them, which is modern day Iran, which is trips me out because God said they'll become a nation again. And it speaks it's he identifies a very specific nation which will be the most hostile toward them. And it gets even heavier. Why? Because in the book of Daniel chapter 7, it talks about these different beast nations. The lion which represents Babylon. We're told that in the book of Daniel. the leopard which represents the Grecian Empire and under Antioch's Epiphanies in Daniel chapter 7 the bear right who's a lopsided bear because it's a Meo Persian Empire the Persians were way bigger than the Mes and by the way the Mesia and along with Alam and other people were subsumed with what became the Persian Empire and it's still largely the demographic borders of Persia today which later changed their name to Iran on because the Nazi, the same satanic spirit that possessed Hitler, the prince of Persia as Daniel calls him, that spirit wrestled against uh flesh and blood, but against what? Principalities, powers, the rulers of the darkness of this world. Remember the prince of Persia wrestled with the angel Michael, I'm sorry, Gabriel, until Archangel Michael came and intervened. And after 21 days, he finally got to Daniel to tell him these prophecies about this the coming kingdom. But Daniel speaks, I talked about this Sunday, so we won't go really deep into it. And if you're listening, you're like, "Man, I wish I could hear more about this this covenant and everything else." And uh the abomination of the temple where Jesus said, "Someone will come in that will abominate the temple and desolate it." And Paul said called the man of sin, the son of predition, who will sit in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God, and demand worldwide worship. And Revelation 13 calls them the beast. It'll cause everyone, the small and the great, the rich and the poor, the free and the bond, to take a mark on their right hand or on their forehead. And it says either it'll be either the name of the beast or the number of his name was 666 to buy or sell which is so crazy because that could not happen even a 100 years ago. And it says that there'll be an image made of the beast that will tell people to worship the beast and it'll talk and people trip out. That couldn't have happened 35 years ago. Now with AI and everything else, people are constantly talking to their computers and they're like, "Wow, AI is so intelligent. They're constantly talking to, you know, chatt and grock and so forth. And I'm not saying those things are all bad. You you drive down the road, you ask Siri for directions and pretty faithful, right? But guess what? There's hundreds of AIs, by the way, created by different companies and they can be very helpful. But this ultimate image of the beast will be made in the image of who? The image of the beast, the antichrist. But people are being conditioned right now. It's just a trip that we are living in a time where you're like, what in the world? You know, I don't know how you can miss it. It was just such a blow mind. Now, what's interesting here? Persia, Kush, and Put them, all of them with shield and helmet. And he goes on to mention different nations. And by the way, the nations that he mentions specifically, guess what they are today? Muslim nations. Almost every one of them that's listed. Wow. Who have a spirit of Antichrist, a hatred for Jews. Iran's quite a ways from Israel. Why do they hate the Jews so much? It's an eternal hatred from the spirit of Antichrist. Now, what's interesting when you think about this is we're told in Revelation chapter 13 what the final beast looks like. We talked about this Sunday just a little bit in Daniel. He says that final beast, it's diverse from the other ones. He doesn't give us a clear description. It's like iron and clay when he gives the image, right? the metallic image that will not hold together. But in Revelation chapter 13 verse two verse one he says talks about the dragon will give his power to the beast and verses 1 through four and five it says people will worship the beast but they'll also be worshiping the dragon Satan who gave him power. The whole world is going to be full of devil worshippers. They don't even know it. Who can make war with him and he'll eventually lead demons will come out of the mouth of the beast, the false prophet, and from the dragon and gather the world together against Israel in the end of days. Revelation chapter 16. [clears throat] But we're told what that beast looks like in the end of days. [clears throat] And when you go to Revelation 13:2, it says it looks like what? It has a head of a lion. Who is the lion in Daniel? Babylon. It has the body of a leopard. Who is a leopard? The Grecian Empire ruling through Syria in antics Epiphanies. And it has the feet of a bear. Who is the bear? We can go back to Daniel, look at it. Spells it out for us who these empires are. That was Persia. So it seems to be a conglomeration of Iran, Iraq, Iraq is ancient, Babylon was Iraq, what Iraq is today, and Syria, which really trips me out because most Muslim nations are Sunni. Those three Muslim nations are in a minority compared to most nations. Those three that I just mentioned, the bear, the lion, and the leopard. They're mostly Shiite and they follow the Hadith very carefully and they look forward to a coming Messianic figure who will destroy Israel. And in Muslim mosque around the world, even here in our country, they quote Muhammad saying the the trees will say, "Come behind me. There's a Jew hiding and kill him." And they talk about destroying the people of the cross. And they talk about beheading their enemies, which they do to this day. and everyone who doesn't take the mark of the beast will be beheaded. And well, it talks about the two witnesses that will prophesy for 1260 days. That by the way is three and a half years. I take them very literally. You know why? Because the first 69 sevens that bring us to the cutting off of Messiah. There'll be 69 shaboua or shabouim 69 7year periods. The shaboua is used in the Old Testament in Genesis the last couple chapters talking about the seven years of famine. [snorts] Seven years of plenty. It's a shaboua. Well, there's 16 and there was a seven-year block. Like we use the term decade. There'll [snorts] be 69 of these seven-year blocks from the decree to rebuild Jerusalem. Daniel tells us the angel tells Daniel from the decree to rebuild Jerusalem which happened around 4445 BC. your secular encyclopedia will tell you that you count by lunar or uh uh lunar calendar 360day years and we have biblical support for that as well because when you look at God defining three and a half years in Genesis in Revelation 12 how how many days does they say it is 1260 days that's 3 and a half 360 years put together exactly and if you put 69 * 7 360 times 36069 times and you start at 445 or 445 BC they just it brings you to guess what 32 or 33 AD right when Christ was crucified and then the temple would be destroyed it says after that the Messiah had to have come he had to be cut off it says in Daniel he'll be cut off then the temple would be destroyed and after he was cut off the temple was destroyed and then you go to the book of revelation and you see that in the middle of the seven We're told in the book of Daniel that the people of the prince to come will desolate the temple. Josephus tells us it was the Syrians under the Romans that destroyed the temple. Shot arrows in fire when they were told not to. Don't destroy the temple and that's why they tore each stone down. Oo the people of the prince to come and the Syrians had a interesting role in this, you know, interesting. But then you look at the 1260 days because the other 1260 days or the other Shaboua were literally days of years, 360day years, but then you have 1260s in the middle of the week, the middle of Daniel's 70th week. The Antichrist sets up shop. That's when Paul says he'll sit in the temple of God. The Antichrist showing himself to be God. And guess what? When is his life terminated? Paul makes it clear concerning Christ coming. are being gathered together to him when he returns. It will not happen until what? The fallen away happens first and the man of sin is revealed in the temple. Show himself that it'll be God. He'll take he'll rule that for 1260 days. Verse 8 says that the antichrist he'll be destroyed by Jesus at his return. It says by the spirit of his mouth and the brightness of his coming. And in sec and says in second Thessalonians right before that that he'll come with his mighty angels in flaming fire and destroy those who do not know God and those who do not obey the gospel of Jesus Christ. Did Jesus Christ come and destroy the wicked with fire yet? Will he? They saw him ascend on the Mount of Olives and they said you'll see him come in the same way he just ascended. He'll come back and destroy the Antichrist. Praise God. Happy day. Blessed hope. Hence the name of our fellowship, Blessed Hope Chapel. He is our hope. Amen. This is so amazing when you think about it. But guess what? The white the the big elephant in the room, why Elam can't be Persia. And Psalm Jeremiah chapter 49 can't be referring to Persia and refers specifically to Ilam because Persia is still in play right now. Amen. And they're God's throne isn't in Persia. Are you with me? They're going to be one of the nations. In fact, they're the first one mentioned that's going to seek to destroy Israel at Armageddon. Are you with me? Okay. So, I should teach more on prophecy. I used to teach on prophecy all the time, but uh these things come up and I need to talk about it. And we've been going through James, you know, going through Acts now. in Acts is dealing with Christ's second coming where we're at right now. Which is interesting because if we were in Acts right now, we'd be looking at we're just on the aftermath of when Jesus returns. When they see him ascend, he'll descend in like manner. As you saw him ascend, you'll see him descend. But when I hear these thoughts being propel propound, I'm like, "Wait a minute, guys. Elilam is just part of Persia, and Persia is a major player in the end of days, and God's not done with using them or disciplining them. And guess what? Let's talk about this a little bit further. They're the first in that coalition. They're part of the beast empire in the end. Uh and what's amazing is when will God restore their when will God restore them? He says he'll restore their fortunes. Isn't that good news? I want you guys to know something. Sometimes you look at what God says about Israel and you talk about go he talks about he'll bring them back in the land and bless them and so forth in the end. Don't forget God often pronounces judgment on other nations and pronounces the idea the fact the reality that there will be people that come to Christ in those nations. And when you read Revelation chapter uh 7:es 9-14 there's a great multitude in the end who are saved from every what nation kindred people and tongue. Think of where you're you descended from. You're not just your nationality. Your nationality is American if you're born here, but you're descended from a lot of you come from different nations. All of us for the most part, unless you're fully American Indian, you know, and guess what? Wherever you come from, there'll be people from your nation in the end of days during the tribulation period that'll be cleansed by the blood of Christ that will and it says the nations will bring their glory into New Jerusalem. Isn't that cool? So, I'm still holding out for Thai food hopefully in heaven. You know, I don't know about sushi. There'll be no more death. But I I'm sure whatever we eat, the fruit from the 12 every single piece, 12 types

Of fruit, man. One will blow away sushi. Don't worry, Joe. Okay. Oh, my soul. Don't worry. [laughter] It's going to you won't even think about, oh, I remember this place and you know, remember that place. So, it's interesting. But guess what? Persia's fortunes will be the remnant will be restored.

Look at what the Lord says about Persia and the other nations. Go to Zechariah. And when you go to Zechariah, go to chapter 14 verse one. Chapter 14 verse 1. Behold, a day is coming for the Lord when the spoil taken from you will be divided among you.

For I will gather, he says in verse two, I will gather a couple nations. Is that what he says? >> A lot of nations. Is that what he says? No. I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle and the city will be captured and the house is plundered and the women ravished and half the city exiled but the rest of the people will not be cut off from that from the city.

Then the Lord will go forth and fight against those nations as when he fights on the day of battle. In that day, his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which is in front of Jerusalem on the east. And the Mount of Olives will be what? Split in the middle from the east to the west. He's giving why give all this detail if it's not real? God's just making things up. No, this is going to happen.

And as the Jesus ascended from what mountain? The Mount of Olives. Why do you stand gazing into the clouds? The two angels say, "The same one that you saw will ascend, you will see also descend." And guess where he's descending? On the Mount of Olives. Just like where he ascended. It says it right here. Thus sayeth the Lord, in the day his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which is in the front of Jerusalem. And God is not just a wispy spirit. Amen. God took flesh. Amen. The disciples ate with him for 40 days and stuff like that. Okay?

In that day his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives which is in uh front of Jerusalem on the east and from the Mount of Olives will be split in the middle from the east to the west by a very large valley. Has the Mount of Olives has been split by the way yet? No. I've been there. I've been on the Mount of Olives been in the been in Gethsemane a number of times praying there where Jesus prayed overlooking the Kidron Valley seeing the temple mount. Looks like you've touched it almost from there. It hasn't been split yet. This didn't happen yet. uh split in the middle from the east to the west by a very large valley. So the half of the mountain will be moved toward the north and the other half toward the south. You will flee by the valley of my mountains for the valley of the mountains will reach Ael. Yes. And you will flee just as you fled before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah, king of Judah.

Then the Lord my God will come and woo and the holy ones with him, guys. That's the second coming of Christ. In verse six, in that day, in that day, there will be what? No light. The luminaries will dwindle. Sound familiar? When Jesus comes back, he says, "The sun will not give us light and the moon will, you know, won't and the powers of heaven will be shaken. For it will be a unique day which is known to the Lord, neither day nor night, but it will come about that at evening time there will be light."

And it talks about in verse eight, "And at that day living waters will flow out where?" Out of Jerusalem, half of them toward the eastern sea and the other half toward the western sea, toward the Mediterranean and toward the Dead Sea. Guess what? That hasn't happened yet. I've been to the Dead Sea. And I'm a guy that's very dense. Not so much in the brain, but somewhat maybe. But physically, you know, thick bones and so forth. And I could never float. I've gained enough weight where I can float a little bit now. Okay. But my whole family, we all just sink like balloon balloons made out of lead into the water. And guess what? I've been at the Dead Sea and I float really good. I'm like, I can float here cuz it's filled with salt. And I get in there, I'm like, this what it means like I can't even make myself sink because there's no fresh water in it. It's the lowest place on earth. But guess what? [snorts] The stream is going to flow into the Dead Sea. And God's going to make the earth like Eden again. And the and another stream is going to flow the other way into the Mediterranean Sea. And it's amazing that day there will be no light and so forth, he says. And that day the waters will flow from the mountain of Jerusalem or flow out of Jerusalem. It's not happening right now. And by the way, Jerusalem has all kinds of faults. Guess where they found? Under the Mount of Olives. Isn't that interesting? And they have all kinds of water underneath as well. Half of them toward eastern and on western. And and it's interesting. It says it will be in summer as well as in winter.

And the Lord will be what? This is interesting. Verse 9. And the Lord will be what? King over all the earth. In that day, the Lord will be the only one. And his name will be the only one. Well, guess what? During the time of Antichrist, he'll blaspheme God in heaven. He'll exalt himself above all other gods. It says, "By the way, is the Lord Jesus Christ, is he the only one right now that's lifted up?" No, you have Allah. You have a ton of false gods that are exalted throughout the nations right now. I look forward to this day. Amen. Happy day. The blessed hope of the Lord.

And it goes on to say, we don't have time to read it right now, but it talks about how when they're standing up, they'll be that the nations that surround Israel when the Lord comes to fight for them, there'll be confusion and they'll hit each other with their weapons. And it says while they're standing up and the Lord will come with fire. And what does it say will happen to those who are standing? Their eyes will be consumed out of their sockets. Their tongues will be consumed from their mouths while they're standing. Was that possible in those days? By the way, was there any weapon, fiery weapon that standing armies would all a sudden just dissolve? Now, if you look at thermonuclear war, guess what? When they look at what happened in Japan and Nagasaki and Hiroshima, you know, in some of those areas, there's imprints of people on walls who had been vaporized like it was a picture was taken of them. Well, it's going to be way beyond that when the Lord returns and perhaps thermonuclear warfare will be taking place at that time which will uh bring this about because it says in panic the nations will lop n what's going on right now with Iran they're firing things at everybody right has something they call the Samson project and Samson project is guess what if we're attacked by one of these Muslim nations around us Samson brought the whole temple down we're bringing everybody down all these Muslim nations around with us well it's not officially stated but if you look up Samson project you'll see that many believe that Israel's definitely got nukes and and that's their deal. We don't know exactly. That's just something that people have said for years. It's called the Samson project. I don't know. I just know this. The Lord's going to come back and it could be hit the fire from him because he's going to judge the wicked with the spirit of his mouth and the brightness of his coming. And he comes with all power or the Antichrist comes with all power, signs, and line wonders. But when Christ comes back, it says that the Antichrist be consumed not only by the spirit of his mouth, but the brightness of his coming. It says when Jesus Christ comes back, the scripture I mentioned earlier, he'll come with his mighty angels and flaming fire to destroy the wicked, those that know not God and those that don't obey the gospel of Jesus Christ. Do you know the Lord? Are you obeying the gospel of Jesus Christ?

And so this will happen and the nations that came up against him, it talks about this. What will happen? Verse 12. Now this will be the plague with which the Lord will strike who? Some of the peoples. Some of the nations. All the peoples who have gone to war against who? Jerusalem. Okay. Their flesh will rot while and it goes on to talk about their flesh uh being rotted while they're standing or consumed as some translations say. This is the amazing thing. This is what's amazing. Guess what? Even the enemy nations against Israel, those who came up against him, the Lord to fight will be destroyed. In book of Revelation chapter 17, it says the the 10 nations will give their power to the beast and and they'll go to this area of the world and they'll you know which in the Hebrew tongue is called Armageddon. Revelation 16:14-16 Revelation 17 they'll fight against the lamb and he'll come back. They'll fight against the lamb and those who are with him who are the called the chosen the faithful remain faithful to Jesus. Amen. and the lamb will be victorious over them.

But what's heavy is look at this and I love this verse. Thank you Jesus. Here's the mercy. Verse 16. Then it will come about that any who are left of any who are left any who are left of all the nations that went against Jerusalem will what? Go up from year to year to worship who? The king, the Lord of hosts and celebrate the feast of booths. What in the world is going on there? By the way, are all the nations going to Jerusalem? Celebrating the feast of booths people from all the nations right now. No. Says everything will be dedicated to the Lord. You know, this obviously hasn't happened yet. But guess what? And I think this is very, very important that we get this. It's going to happen. And this is what blows me away. Persia. Look at verse 16. Then it will come about that any who are left from all the nations that went against Jerusalem will go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of Hosts. Because guess what? Jesus came back. Why would he go to Jerusalem? Because he's reigning from Jerusalem. His feet stood on the Mount of Olives. Amen.

Now, the Jehovah witnesses say, "No, he came back in 1914. Where's he at? Did we go see him at Jerusalem?" No, he's invisible. Wait a minute. Jesus said in Matthew 28 19 and 20, "Behold, I'm with you always, even to the end of the age." Jesus has always been here spiritually. Amen. He stands in the midst of the churches. He's already here. But then at that time, his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives. Just as he ascended, he will descend.

And look what happens in verse 17. And it will be that whichever of the families of the earth does not go up to Jerusalem to worship the king, the Lord of hosts, there will be no rain on them. If the family of Egypt does not go up and or enter, then no rain will fall on them. And it will be the plague which which the Lord smites the nations who do not go up to celebrate the feast of boo. And it goes on to say, this will be the punishment of Egypt. So this would be the millennial when Christ comes back his according to Revelation chapter 20 six different times it says he'll rule for a thousand years from Jerusalem and there's all kinds of Old Testament prophecies about what we call the millennial period the kingdom age you know [clears throat] and people always ask me what my theology is end time theology and sometimes I'll say I'm historic premillennialist classical premillennialist like the early church fathers but you want to hone it down even more I'd say I'm an apostolic restorationist premillennialist. Okay, I haven't seen that term used, but that best describes me. An apostolic restorationist premillennialist. What does that mean? My theology is not based on even the church fathers who held most of my end end time esquetology. It's based on the teachings of Jesus and the apostles, the word of God. And it's restoration. It's because guess what? God talks about Israel being a major player in the end of days. Israel would be restored in the end of days. And it's premillennial because when you read Revelation 19, Jesus Christ comes back with who? The armies of heaven. And then the beast is taken. It says, "And with him the false prophet and they're thrown alive into the lake of fire. And then it was time to judge the dead. And those who blessed and holy are those who partake in the first resurrection because when Christ comes back, we'll be resurrected."

Believers, if you're a believer already, you've already been resurrected spiritually. Amen. You're born again. Paul talks about how we were dead in our sins, but we've been raised to life spiritually. But he says those same people in the Corinthians that there were awaiting our physical resurrection where the body, this corruptible body will be incorruptible, immoral, imperishable. Amen. We await the resurrection of the body in his second coming when we caught up to meet him in the air. Paul says in an instant, in the twinkling of an eye, we'll be changed and we'll be with him and we'll be like him. We're waiting for that time and we'll reign with him. And it goes on to say in Revelation chapter 29, chapter 20, we'll reign with him for a thousand years. Six times it says a thousand years. So what does the Bible teach? When does Christ come back in the book of Revelation? Revelation chapter 19. What happens when he comes back? He establishes his reign for a thousand years. He comes back pre or before the what? Thousand years. Not before the tribulation. I love my preacher brethren, but he doesn't come back before the tribulation. He says blessed and holy when he comes back are those who partake of the first resurrection and it lists those lists three different groups including those who did not take the mark of the beast. So when he comes back at a second coming to destroy the Antichrist the false prophet as well. What happens when he comes back to destroy him? You're blessed and holy if you partake of the first resurrection because a thousand years later plus there'll be a second resurrection of the wicked and the second resurrection they go to the lake of fire. They go to the they go to the read Revelation chapter 20. It goes on to talk about how there's if your name's not found written in the lamb's book of life when they're raised they'll be sent to the lake of fire. It's over a thousand years later.

Now, this is what's heavy about that when you look at it. When you read Revelation, when you read Zechariah here, the Lord comes back and he establishes kingdom. You haven't seen this happen yet. When you go to Revelation, he tells us a thousand-y year kingdom. So, he comes back in Revelation 19, second coming after the tribulation, the bride is made ready right before he comes back, it says. So, the church is there during the tribulation period by prey by preacher brethren. It's sad, but they're they're setting their church up for fall, many of them, because they're not prepared for tribulation. They're not prepared to stand in the evil day. Paul said, "Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand in the evil day." And Satan is stripping the church with of its armor right now. I talked to her sister and her family. They sit up front. And they came for a year or so, and I'll say this briefly, but all a sudden they fell into this idea that it's already happened. And I went over the house to talk to him about it and I saw a passage. I've shared this before. Ephesians 6:10 through18 put on the full armor of God that you could stand in the evil day and it wasn't up there anymore. A big old picture still but a light little tiny verse of book of Psalms that did not fit the size of scripture. I'm like that looks weird. Oh, that's where they had Ephesians. I'd been there once before but I remembered it. I believe that was the Holy Spirit putting that on my heart. Ephesians 610 through18. That's gone. I said if it's of course it's gone because they believe Satan has already been destroyed in the lake of fire and that there's no battle anymore that you don't have to be praying earnestly and and putting on the whole arm of God to stand against the evil one against the principalities and powers in the e against for the evil day. And by the way, that term evil day when it you look at it throughout the Old Testament and how it's used by the Jews, it referred to the end of days, the tribulation period, the the day of the Lord that would come after that. And they'd been stripped and not too much longer after that by sadly, it breaks my heart, they're no longer married. Sad things in the family. No evidence. Maybe somebody has come back. Hopefully the no evidence of family follow the Lord from people that know. It just breaks my heart. I still pray for them. I love them. But you have to be very very careful because the enemy wants to strip you of your armor.

Jesus said when you see these things taking place, know that your redemption draws near. We're supposed to be able to look at these things. Amen. And see that they herald his second coming. So we have an attitude of readiness. But when the Lord comes back, when he returns, Revelation 19, and the beast is taken with him, the false prophet in the third live lake of fire, he sets up his kingdom, which is a thousand-y year reign of Christ. So, he comes back when? Before or after the millennium or in the middle of it? Which one? Where? Before Revelation 19, then the millennium starts. That's why we're called pre-millennial. And that's why the first three centuries of church history when you look at Aronyaeus you look at Hpitus you look at Justin Martyr you look at the church fathers and Arena was a disciple of Polycarp who was a disciple of the apostle John who wrote the book of revelation and polycarp was the bishop of Smyrna who Jesus addressed the church the seven churches including the the the angel of the church of Smyrna now I don't believe he was the uh leader of the church of Smyrna at that very moment when revelation was written which araeus who sat in her polycarp said was in the 90s That's the first date we see is in the 90s. And Hpolitus, which who was a disciple ara, says the '9s as well. That was long after 70 AD. Okay. Could have been referring to could be referring to Nero. I know you laugh, but it's it's true. It's crazy, but you're right. But but it's sad because people are like, "Oh, maybe Nero was the Antichrist." Really? Was Nero killed by Jesus Christ at Christ's second coming? Yes or no? No. Nero self annihilated himself. I got to say that instead of the s word, s ui word because I'll get knocked off of YouTube. He did himself in a few years before 70 AD. And Revelation was written long after 70 AD. And none of the early church fathers are saying all this was fulfilled by 70 AD. In fact, if you're if you're going to be clear with scripture, when Jesus talked about the birth pains that would lead up to the abomination of desolation in Mark 13, Matthew 24, there'll be many there'll be false Christ and false prophets, wars, rumors of wars. These will begin to birth pains. He goes on and on. Guess what he said before these birth pains begin? Guess what he says will happen before they even start? The stuff that leads up to 70 AD in Luke chapter 21. He starts with the birth pains. He says, "Before this even happens, before this other stuff happens, they're going to take you and surround you and hem you in." And he talks about the destruction that will happen in Jerusalem before the birth pains even begin that lead up to the abomination of desolation, which did not happen in 70 AD. Just read Luke chapter 21. By the grace of God, Jesus gave us a very clear timeline. Mark and Matthew just begin with the birth painans and bring you to the very end. Luke lets us know this is very important. If you really care about timelines, Luke lets us know that Jesus also said this before this begins, before these birth pains begin, this will happen first. And he shows us stuff that leads up to 70 AD. And then he picks it back up where the where he left off with the birth pains, showing us what will lead to the very end. So you have 70 AD, the destruction of Jerusalem, and you have the abomination of desolation, which happens after that. Because 70 AD, Jesus shows us happens before the birth pains even begin. wars and rumors of wars and false Christs and false prophets and all these things in the future. But what's crazy about this and do your homework, go to read Luke and you'll read the birth pains just like Matthew and Mark, but you see that Jesus made a parenthetical statement. I remember when I first read that. I'm like, wow. And then you say, "Wow, but it speaks of some of the same things happening." Yeah. Because there's the near and far fulfillment. We see that over and over again in scripture when the Holy Spirit comes upon the church and they're speaking in tongues and and they're prophesying. What does Peter say? This is that which was spoken of by the prophet Joel. Was it? Yes, it was. No. Wait. Yes. No. Yeah. Yes, it was. But guess what else? And there'll be pillars of smoke and the moon will turn to blood and the sun will be like sackloth. And it tells as many as the Lord shall call. In other words, guess what? It has its ultimate fulfillment at Christ's second coming at the end of the age when he or prior to when he pours out his spirit upon all flesh. So that that's what you have to understand. You have to understand this telescopic view that God presents of you see these two mountains back to back. They look like they're right next to each other, but then when you get to the mountain, you see there's a big valley in between. It's further down. And that's how prophecy so often happens.

So this is quite interesting when you look at it because the Lord comes and he reigns for a thousand years and there's a difference there's a distinction between uh them and and what I'm saying here is guess when the fortunes of Elam will be restored right here in Zechariah the remnant of all the different nations that those people that are left will be blessed by the Lord. Why do they celebrate the feast of tabernacles though? Does it say? Well, guess what? The Jews when they started celebrating the feast of tabernacles, what was it a celebration of? Their deliverance from where? Egypt, right? They were held. They were in bondage to Pharaoh. They tabernacled through the wilderness as they went to the promised land. They were no longer in bondage. It was a time of c. They'd go in these tents to remember that they were taken out of Egypt and set free from Pharaoh. Amen. And that they're going to the promised land. They'd celebrate that. Well, guess what? The nations, who were they in bondage to before Christ came? Satan and the Antichrist. Amen. And when Christ came back, boom, he'll break the yoke not of just Elon, but of Persia and all the nations, right? scattered to the princes, kill the ultimate king of the earth at that time as far as wicked kings, the Antichrist, false prophet, and all the other kings that give their power to him. And it restore the nations, not just Elon, but all kinds of people groups. And all these nations will be invited to go and worship. Why the feast of tabernacles? Because guess what? They haven't been set free from Pharaoh. They've been set free from the one that Pharaoh typifies. That's the guess who? The Antichrist. And now they will go to where? the promised land, Jerusalem. Amen. And then Christ will reign for a thousand years. And all these Old Testament prophecies that you're reading like, man, these things are all over the place. What's he saying? There's all these Old Testament prophecy about the coming millennial kingdom, which will be fulfilled during that thousand years. And at the end of the thousand years, Satan will be let loose for a short season and uh come up against bring the it's it's heavy. And guess what? the next part of my message which is a number of pages long that's when I come back that's next week I'll be back Wednesday Lord willing we'll look at because it's like well it says Gog and Magog here in Ezekiel but then it mentions Gog and Magog at the end of the tribute at the end of the thousand years is that's when that's fulfilled it seems confusing near and far I'm going to show you the Gog and Magog war which we're we already referenced a little about about it when we talked about Ezekiel 38 Right? That's that war. Gog and Magog is totally a different is a totally different war than the Gog and Magog referenced in Revelation chapter 20 after the thousand-y year reign of Christ. And I can give you 10 or so big differences between the two. It only gets confusing from a western mindset. I shouldn't say it only, but it can get confusing because we don't understand the near and far and how God recapitulates and how God does things more than once. I can show you all kinds of pictures of Jesus Christ in the Old Testament who are not Jesus. Amen. All David and others who are pictures of Christ, but they're not Jesus. I show can show you all kinds of pictures of Antichrist in the Old Testament. Goliath, Nebuchadnezzar, several of them, but they're not the Antichrist. I can show you all kinds of prefigurations of the day of the Lord in the Old Testament that prefigure. They're not the day of the Lord yet. The ultimate day of the Lord that's coming. The very end is still coming. Keep your eyes on what the word of God says. Keep your eyes on what Jesus taught. Amen.

So, I guess I'll do a part two of this message next Wednesday, Lord willing, because it's 8:30 right now. It's a great time to stop because that will be the transition. We'll actually go to Revelation chapter 20 and then we'll look at Gog and Magog. We'll look at it from Ezekiel and there and we'll see these big differences, several of them. You'll just like you're saying, "Oh yeah, Elilam couldn't be Persia. Persia is still in play at the end." You'll say, "Yes, these are obviously two different wars." God using similar language because he treats nations and he exposes patterns and so forth. Amen. I love you guys. Let's [snorts] pray.

Father God, we come to you in your son's name. We thank you for the richness of your word. And Father, we praise you for your word says in the last days people going to and fro that we searching the scriptures and knowledge will increase. And father, you reveal that in the context of understanding the times, understanding the coming uh beast of fierce countenance, the little horn, uh the the the 1200 the the the final week that Aronya and others understood to be the last seven years of history. We pray father in your son's name that by your grace that we would look forward to your son's return that we would not lose the blessed hope that we would not be stripped of the helmet of salvation which Paul says is the hope of our final salvation in Christ his coming for your word says the one who endures the end will be saved we pray father in your son's name help us to dig our feet in the ground that Jesus Christ is Lord that Jesus Christ is coming back again and that if we lift up our heads we will not be disappointed for redemption will is drawing near, Father. And that we look at the wars and the rumors of wars and all these things happening and not be alarmed as Jesus said, and we know that these are the beginning of birth pains and the end is not yet. That there's much more to come, but that we would look at what your word says about as our road map into the future, not what mere men say. In Jesus name we pray.

Father, help us to draw close to you. And if anybody doesn't know you here, hasn't embraced Jesus Christ yet as a Lord and Savior, we pray they would because he's coming back. And even if he doesn't come back in our lifetimes, Lord, Father, your son said, "He that's not with me is against me. He that gathers not with me scatters abroad." That they would know that until they submit to Christ as Lord. And turn to him in faith and put their trust in Jesus for salvation that they are against Christ and they will perish forever. Don't let that happen to you. Embrace Jesus if you have not in Jesus' name. Amen. Praise God. Love you guys. Can we all please stand?

Did Jesus fulfill the prophecies of his first coming right to the very date that we're told that he would come and be cut off? Amen. Does he make good on his promises? everyone. >> Did he make good in his promise not to allow Israel to cease be a nation when he said that the star the sun and the moon will go away before that happens would that he bring him back to become a nation again. Did he make good on that promise? He will make good on this promise. Whoever comes to me I will not cast away. Does he make good on that promise? Yes. Don't doubt him. He loves you. He gave himself for you. And guess what? If he fulfilled all these other promises, will he fulfill the promise that he's going to come back and we caught up to meet him in the air and be with him forever? That he goes away to prepare a place for us that we may be with him forever in that place which is new Jerusalem which comes by the way after the thousand years to earth. Will he make good on those promises? >> Let's give him thanks because he's coming. Amen. Praise the Lord. We love you, Lord Jesus. Hallelujah. Praise you, Lord God. We praise your holy name. You are so good, Lord. We long for your son's return. Hallelujah. Love you guys. I have to scat way earlier than normal because my wife can't even make it because we got to go early in the morning to San Diego area and get ready for a wedding we're doing. So, love you guys. God bless you.