00:26:05 Conclusion and Next Time on Hope for Today
SPEAKER 04 :
Is the gospel in the Old Testament? You bet. Is the presentation of turning to Jesus Christ and believing in him and submitting to him in order to be saved? Is that in the Old Testament? Absolutely. Psalm 212. You want to witness to somebody who’s Jewish, give them Psalm 212. I’ll tell you what you ought to do. You ought to kiss the Messiah. Kiss the son lest he be angry and you perish. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him.
SPEAKER 1 :
Thank you.
SPEAKER 02 :
Long before the book of Revelation, the warning was already written. Psalm 212 says, And now in Revelation 19, that moment explodes into view. The heavens open, the white horse thunders forward, and the Messiah the world has ignored now rides in glory. Eyes like fire, crowned with many crowns. This is no invitation, dear friend. It is a confrontation. In righteousness, he judges and makes war. And every prideful heart will know the truth of that ancient command. Blessed are all who put their trust in him. This is Hope for Today with Bible teacher David Hawking. And today we’re continuing with our study from Revelation chapter 19 of the second coming. And in just a moment, we’ll focus again on verses 17 through 21. So turn there and we’ll get started in just a moment. First, I want to let you know that you can find books, audio messages, video teachings, study helps, and many, many other tools to strengthen your walk with the Lord on our website, davidhawking.org. You know, if you’ve ever wanted to go deeper, if you’ve ever wanted more than just a quick glance at Scripture, well, you’re going to find a wealth of solid, biblically faithful material, again, on the website, davidhawking.org. We have a number of free resources that are available anytime, right at your fingertips, and also resources you can purchase, strengthen your faith, and help support the ministry of hope for today. Again, that’s davidhawking.org. We’ll turn now to Revelation chapter 19, starting at verse 15. And here’s David to continue our study on the second coming.
SPEAKER 04 :
And we talked about how his names identify him clearly. His nature describes him powerfully. The third thing I’d point out to you in these verses is that the nations will obey him completely. Look at verse 15. Three things that show you how the nations will obey him completely. Number one, he strikes the nation or smites the nations with this sharp sword. Number two, he’s going to rule them with a rod of iron. And number three, he stomps the nations. For lack of a better word, he really does. He treads out. He stomps the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. Now let’s back up a little bit. When he strikes the nations, it says, out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations. You know, in Hebrews 4.12, it says the word of God is quick and powerful and sharper than a what? Two-edged sword. The Greek word is makaron. But here it’s a different Greek word, ramphia. Now, ramphia is a very interesting word if you’ve ever done any reading in Greek culture and history. Romphia is a giant sword that requires both hands to lift and to use. Romphia is not the hand-to-hand combat sword that’s too edged that the Romans used. It’s the giant one that comes in for the final kill or execution or decapitation. Well, back to Psalm 2 and look at verse 9. It starts out, “‘Why do the heathen rage and the people imagine a vain thing?’ The kings of the earth set themselves. The rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against his anointed. But he who sits in the heavens, verse 4, shall laugh. He’ll speak unto them in his wrath. Verse 6, I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion. Verse 7, thou art my son. This day have I begotten thee, the Father says to the Son, ask of me and I’ll give thee the heathen for thine inheritance and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. Now verse 9, chapter 2. Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron. Thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel. And look at the verbs that follow. One, be wise therefore, O kings. Two, be instructed, ye judges of the earth. Three, serve the Lord with fear. Four, rejoice with trembling. And five, kiss the son lest he be angry and you perish from the way when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him. Is the gospel in the Old Testament? You bet. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him. It’s picturing someone kneeling and bowing before a monarch and kissing their hand and acknowledging their greatness. Bow the knee to him. Back to Revelation 19. He smites the nations with this giant sword. He shepherds them, only it’s different than what they think. The rod we read about in Psalm 23, thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me. What’s the difference between a rod and a staff? It is a very common imagery. When the Messiah comes, the rod won’t be a little flexible stick. This rod is made out of iron. And with it, he’s crushing and smiting, ruling. In Revelation 2, 27, again to the message to the church of Thyatira, it says he shall rule them with a rod of iron. And look at the next statement. And as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers, even as I received of my father. He is talking about Psalm 2 that we just read. He’ll dash them into pieces like a potter’s vessel. They’ll be crushed. He’s going to rule them with a rod of iron. It’s talking about judgment here. Look at chapter 12 of Revelation, verse 5, when it describes the conflict of Satan with the woman Israel and the child she brings forth, the Messiah. It says in verse 5, “…she brought forth a man-child who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron.” This is talking about his ultimate victory at Armageddon when he defeats all the nations of the world. He’s going to rule them with a rod of iron. He’s going to stomp on them. Revelation 19.15 says he treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. Turn back to chapter 14 of Revelation about where the Son of Man has the sharp sickle and he thrusts in the sickle, the harvest is ripe. And then it changes from grain to grapes. The end of verse 18, the grapes are fully ripe. And verse 19, the angel thrust in the sickle into the earth, gathered the vine of the earth, cast it into, here it is, the great winepress of the wrath of God. And the winepress was trodden without the city, and blood came out of the winepress, even unto the horses’ bridles, by the space of a thousand six hundred furlongs, or approximately, in our language, two hundred miles. So the whole picture here of Christ coming again, powerful, spectacular description, but it’s in conquest. It’s defeating all the nations of the world. It’s bringing it all to a great climax. Now back to Revelation 19. If you look at the last five verses, you have the terrible destruction that’s going to come. First we see the spectacular description of the coming of Jesus Christ, and then we see the terrible, terrible destruction that is going to come. Verse 17, I saw an angel standing in the sun. He cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, all these birds, come and gather yourselves together under the supper of the great God. This is not the married supper of the Lamb. that you may eat the flesh of kings, flesh of captains, flesh of mighty men, flesh of horses, of them that sit on them, the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great. And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse and against his army. And the beast was taken with him, the false prophet, the wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast and them that worshiped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone. And the remnant, The rest of those armies were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth, and all the fowls were filled with their flesh. What an unbelievable devastation. Notice four things. First of all, we have the coming of all birds to the supper of the great God. You see an angel standing in the sun. Kind of interesting, because in Joel 2.31, it says that the sun will be turned into darkness. And here it says the angel standing in it. What an awesome sight that must be. It says they cried with a loud voice. You’ll find that frequently throughout Revelation, crying with a loud voice. And normally, as I examined it in chapter 6, 7, twice in 7, 10, 14, 18, normally has something to do with judgment coming when it says cry with a loud voice. And this cry is to all the birds. Now the purpose is that they’re going to all eat the flesh of all these people, nations of the world that have come against God’s people. Turn to Ezekiel 39. Some of you are aware that Ezekiel 38 and 39 talks about a great northern power that invades Israel. And there’s a lot of discussion about when this will occur. But when they make this invasion, apparently they don’t engage anyone. An earthquake destroys much of their army. And this northern power is knocked down. But one of the problems about this passage, I think you ought to understand that as a Bible teacher, I could easily skip over this problem and hope that nobody noticed it. But that’s not what I consider to be faithful Bible teaching. If there’s a problem, let’s talk about it. This is the Word of God. I trust it implicitly. I’m not afraid of it. I’m not intimidated by so-called contradictions. I have found that as we continue to study them, they’re easily reconcilable. Well, this is one of those that is a little bit of a problem. In Ezekiel 39, beginning at verse 17, it says… thou son of man, thus saith the Lord God, speak unto every feathered fowl and to every beast of the field, assemble yourselves and come, gather yourselves on every side to my sacrifice that I do sacrifice for you, even a great sacrifice upon the mountains of Israel, that you may eat flesh and drink blood. You shall eat the flesh of the mighty, drink the blood of the princes of the earth, of rams, of lambs, of goats, of bullocks, all of them fatlings of Bashan. You shall eat fat till you be full and drink blood till you be drunken. Two things that God forbids to his people, don’t ever eat fat or drink blood. Verse 20, Thus ye shall be filled in my table with horses and chariots, with mighty men, with all men of war, saith the Lord God. And I will set my glory among the heathen, and all the heathen shall see my judgment that I have executed, and my hand that I have laid upon them. So the house of Israel shall know that I am the Lord their God from that day and forward. If this is the invasion of Russia, some Bible teachers believe it will happen before the tribulation. Some believe it’s at the middle of the tribulation. Some believe it’s the same as Armageddon. Some believe it’s at the end of the millennium. Who is it referring to when it says Gog and Magog? And is it Russia? And is it an invasion that’s separate from the Battle of Armageddon? Well, one reason to make it the same as Armageddon At the same time, is this fact of birds being invited to the supper of God? Because that’s what is said in chapter 19, and this is the passage in the Bible that that passage is quoted from. Now, what are the possibilities here? Well, one possibility is that we’re talking about two events, both of which God invites the birds, the vultures, to come and enjoy the flesh of those who’ve been conquered. There’s no reason why it couldn’t happen to two different occasions, to two different events. invasion of armies that is one possibility another possibility which we’ve already suggested is that armageddon is like a campaign and the initial invasion does come from the north and iran and perhaps an islamic empire of some sort uh coming in and they’re wiped out and by an earthquake and now all the other nations uh have better get on a bandwagon let’s clean this mess up and that’s why they all come and then the lord comes and finishes them off So it’s very possible it’s the same type of event. And the conclusion to all these people laying all over the mountains of Israel and all over the plains of Basra and Jordan, the conclusion to all this is there’s vultures coming. I don’t claim to have all the answers on this. I’m studying it like you are. And it’s not real clear. In Matthew chapter 24, which describes the coming of our Lord in power and great glory at the end of the tribulation, Preceding that statement about after the tribulation, verse 29, we have this statement in verse 28. Wherever the carcass is, there will the eagles be gathered together. Now, the verse preceding it says, as the lightning cometh out of the east and shineth even in the west, so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be. And the very next statement, wherever you see the carcass, that’s where all the eagles will be gathered together. Supposedly, these people listening to Jesus have some sort of biblical background that connects the statement. What biblical background do you have? You have the prophecy in Ezekiel chapter 39. So if they are good Jews following their Bibles and they hear Jesus say, they now know that he has connected the return of the Messiah with that predicted vulture eating the flesh of the conquered ones who came against Israel. He’s connected the two and said, wherever you see the carcasses laying around, that’s where the vultures are gathered together. That’s the fulfillment of what was said long ago. And immediately after the tribulation of those days, the Son of Man will come. Well… Since the Son of Man comes to Basra and then defeats the nations, and then there’s an invitation to the birds, apparently the birds have already had lunch, and this is now dinner. Because wherever the carcass is, that’s where the vultures are gathered. And immediately after the tribulation, then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man and coming with clouds of glory. And he’s coming with the angels and all the armies of heaven with him. So apparently the destruction of Revelation 19 follows the fact that the vultures have already been active eating up some money during the tribulation days. And that’s probably Ezekiel 39. So all of this to say, folks, that I think rather than having a contradiction, what it is is describing a normal process of thousands, perhaps millions, slaughtered and the birds of the air coming and feeding off the carcasses because nobody’s bothering to bury these dead bodies. And that is the sign, when you see all that over the mountains of Israel, that soon… the Lord himself will come in power and great glory. And there will be another vulture-eating supper that will clean up all the nations of the world that are at the end of the tribulation when Jesus comes and defeats them. That’s what I think. And you say, well, are you sure? Of course not. But that’s what I think. The final conflict of the tribulation connected in my mind with this, and I’ll tell you why. In verse 19, it says, I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse and against his army. So this is not Ezekiel 38 and 39. You see? It’s the beat. Which one is this? Go back to chapter 16 and look at verse 14. The spirits of devils working miracles go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world to gather them to the battle of the great day of God Almighty. Verse 16, he gathered them together in a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon. The same verbiage is in verse 19 of chapter 19. Gathered them together to make war against him that sat on the horse. Also, in chapter 17, it just seems to me that all these kings of this final confederacy and the Antichrist, the beast, are all involved here. Because look at verse 14. These shall make war with who? What does it say? With the Lamb. And the Lamb shall overcome it. And here’s the description. For he’s Lord of lords and King of kings. It connects, you see, together. The fact is that what we have in chapter 19 is not the battle of Gog and Magog and Ezekiel, what it is is the final battle of Armageddon. And the terminology, the kings of the earth, plus the mention of the beast, the Antichrist, gathering together to make war against him, war against the Lamb, you connect it all together and it makes beautiful sense. It’s talking about the final cleanup when all nations will come against Israel and the Antichrist will lead the way and he’ll be defeated. Now, in verse 20, we have the capture of the beast and the false prophet. And the reason for their capture is implied here when it says, the one who wrought miracles with which he deceived them. Look at chapter 20, verse 10. When the devil’s cast in the lake of fire, it says the same thing about him. The devil that deceived them was cast in the lake of fire and brimstone. So why were the beast and false prophet cast in before the millennium, the devil at the end of the millennium? Why were they cast in at this point? Because of the deception they had brought in gathering together all these nations, the deception they had caused throughout the tribulation through the mark of the beast. And it seems to me that the result here is a dramatic reminder to all unbelievers of their final destiny. The two leaders that we have honored and worshipped all during the tribulation are thrown into the lake of fire. It’s just a dramatic statement. to prepare all unbelievers for the fact that that’s what you will face if you don’t turn to the Lord. The consequence that all nations face is mentioned in verse 21. What a gruesome awesome devastation and destruction and the result of this will be the messiah’s robe will be stained with blood and he will march up to the mount of olives with a robe stained with blood and say we won and he will set up his kingdom on earth believest thou this father we rejoice that one day soon your son will return I pray for Christians who are tolerating sin and ignoring your admonitions from your Holy Spirit and your word. God, I pray that they would be warned and encouraged to repent, to get right with the Lord. And I pray for those in our audience who are not really sure that if they would die or Jesus would come for his church, that they’d be caught up to meeting him. Lord, I pray that you would help us to see the seriousness of this. There is no other issue in life that needs to be settled any more than this one. But we really know the Lord personally. Thank you, Lord, for what you’re going to do. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
SPEAKER 03 :
Lord, you know who’s listening and who isn’t. And I pray for those that have never settled their relationship with you. O God, I pray that through your powerful Holy Spirit, as they put their faith and trust in the finished work of our Lord, who died for our sins and rose again from the dead, ascended to heaven and is coming back. Lord, if they will… believe in you. You have told us in your word that God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. I pray, friends, that you’ll give your heart to him right now.
SPEAKER 02 :
That’s David Hawking here on Hope for Today, boldly proclaiming the heart of the Father. Well, how about you, dear friend? Would you like to know how to get right with God? According to the Bible, how to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. If you say, yes, yes, that’s me. Well, we’d love to send you David’s booklet, What is Christianity? And a Bible study by mail as our gift to you. Again, if you don’t know Jesus as your Lord and Savior, or if you’re new to the Christian faith. Reach out today by calling 800-75-BIBLE, that’s in the U.S., or 888-75-BIBLE in Canada. And BIBLE is 242-53. And just before David returns to bring our study time to a close, Matt and I have a resource. This may just answer some of the lifelong questions you’ve never been able to get answers to.
SPEAKER 01 :
Matt, what tough question is dominating your thoughts right now? Who am I? Where did I come from? What is the meaning of my life? Where am I going? Matt, this is where your dad’s book, Life’s Greatest Questions, is so very helpful and uplifting. Yeah. Inside this book, Life’s Greatest Questions, we go back to the Bible for the answers to the perplexities of the human heart from the beginning of creation and the fall of mankind to the end time eschatology of revelation. God’s Word has the answer to our deepest needs.
SPEAKER 02 :
And Life’s Greatest Questions opens the scriptures and applies them to the questions we’re all asking, Matt. And I’m thinking, too, that this book will not only help our listening friends, it will also help prepare them to help and encourage friends and family in their times of questioning and need. Life’s Greatest Questions by David Hawking, our featured resource this month, is just $10. And your purchase or donation will help the Ministry of Hope for today.
SPEAKER 01 :
And please pray for hope for today in these challenging times.
SPEAKER 02 :
You can get your copy of Life’s Greatest Questions by calling us at 875-BIBLE. That’s in the U.S. Or 888-75-BIBLE in Canada. And Bible is 24253. You can also or anytime you like at DavidHawking.org. That’s our website. And friends, you know, if the Lord lays it on your heart to support this ministry, please know that we do need the help. I want you to know how much your gifts really mean, because when you give, you’re doing far more than helping a radio program continue. You’re helping the Word of God go out, day after day, reaching people who are hungry, hurting, confused. Or maybe they just need to hear God’s truth one more time to turn their hearts over to Him. If you’d like to give, you can always write to us at Hope for Today, Box 3927. Tustin, California, 92781. That’s in the U.S. In Canada, write to Hope for Today, Box 15011, RPO, Seven Oaks, Abbotsford, Abbotsford is spelled A-B-B-O-T-S-F-O-R-D-B-C-V-2-S-H-P-1. And here’s David.
SPEAKER 03 :
We’re talking about the great return of our Lord at the end of the tribulation. The Bible calls it in power with great glory and majesty. Yes, the Lord is going to defeat all those who thought they could come and hurt the nation of Israel. And we are told that the Antichrist and the false prophet, they’re going to be thrown into the lake of fire. And the remnant that are slain with the sword of him that sat on that white horse, all the fowls of the air are going to be filled with their flesh. You know, it’s interesting how often God mentions that. A great supper. It’s also mentioned in the Gog Magog text of Ezekiel chapter 39. So we believe Gog and Magog, and that battle is probably the battle of Armageddon, the one that Revelation 16 began to talk to us about. And this is a wonderful conclusion, and we are excited about what the book of Revelation is all about. God bless you.
SPEAKER 02 :
And next time, it’s time for our monthly question and answer broadcast where David answers some of the toughest questions sent in over the years by you, our faithful listeners. Don’t miss it. Next time on Hope for Today.
