Andy Walton - Class 2: Get Ready to See Jesus (Part 1)

Automatically transcribed. Accuracy is good but not perfect, and words are sometimes wrong. Trust the audio over the text.

1. 0:00

   Continue this theme of get ready to see Jesus. And I was just going to quickly recap just for a couple of minutes on what we said last week. So in just about three or four minutes, this is what we said. The first thing that I said was the reason I said this is about get ready to see Jesus and not getting ready to see him is because it's his sense of urgency in my mind and hopefully maybe even in yours as well that says, look, we're on the brink of this.

2. 0:30

   Jesus could return very, very soon. We said days, weeks, months, maybe a few years. It isn't decades, millennia, centuries away. Things are building up. And I think we all sense that, don't we, with the things that we see on the TV, the news that's coming through thick and fast, and even people that have no idea whatsoever about the Bible, I think, have a sense that things are reaching some sort of cliff edge. Do you, in the world at this time? Certainly I see that at work.

3. 1:03

   Now the other thing that we spoke about, this is a recap really of some of the things that we talked about last week. But in essence, here's what I sort of was trying to demonstrate. I was trying to demonstrate that Jesus himself, when he comes back, is going to appear in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.

4. 1:23

   And we who are alive, at the point that he comes back, will see him along with the rest of the living population of planet Earth. He's going to appear in the clouds of heaven. So when it says he appears in the clouds of heaven, some have said, well, those are symbolic clouds of the saints.

5. 1:45

   They were already judged and are with him at that point. But we tried to prove last week that that can't be the case, because the saints are raised when the trumpet is blown. And the trumpet is categorically blown the second that Christ appears in the heavens, in the clouds of heaven. So the trumpet is blown when Jesus appears in heaven.

6. 2:08

   At that point, all people will see him, including us, and the dead are raised then. And then what we showed from 1 Thessalonians 4 is that there is a delay. There is a delay for those who are alive when Jesus appears in the clouds of heaven, a delay for those who are still alive when he comes back.

7. 2:30

   And we know there's a delay because 1 Thessalonians 4 says that the dead in Christ are dealt with first. They are risen first. And then there's a colon. Do you remember that colon we talked about? There's a delay. And then we are caught up to be with them in the clouds and are taken ultimately to Jerusalem.

8. 2:51

   And so we then went and looked at the parable of the ten virgins in Matthew 25. And we saw, amazingly, that in that parable it's exactly the same situation. So it almost reads like there's two comings of Jesus. It says all the virgins are fast asleep, every one of them, wise and foolish.

9. 3:13

   Suddenly something happens to wake a whole lot of them up. And the thing that happens that wakes them all up, it says, is a great cry, a great clamour and a great noise. And somebody says, behold, the bridegroom comes. This isn't like somebody just stood up saying, hey, Jesus is coming back. This is Jesus coming back.

10. 3:39

    The great cry is associated with the great trumpet blast. The thief-like return, you know, of Jesus has nothing to do with silence and quietness. The thief-like return of the Lord Jesus Christ, and Revelation tells you this, is all about the unexpectedness of his return. He isn't coming back in some sort of secret mode, stealth mode.

11. 4:05

    And that's what the Jehovah's Witnesses say. They say, oh, he came back secretly in 1914. And I've had some people say to me, Jesus could have come back already and be judging the dead. No, he can't have done. How do I know? Because he hasn't appeared in the heavens. And the trumpet hasn't been blown.

12. 4:25

    And the virgins haven't all awoken. And then what we saw was in the parable of the ten virgins, the bridegroom finally came to take those who had been trimming their lamps. And that's what we will be doing in the delay between Jesus appearing and us being taken. We're going to trim our lamps.

13. 4:45

    We're going to prepare ourselves. Why do we need that bit of time to prepare? It's quite simply this. Because our minds, despite us trying to absorb all of this, are full of other rubbish. You're sat there thinking, and I'm thinking, when's the next holiday? When am I doing this? When am I doing that?

14. 5:09

    What's happening with my job? There's family issues. There's pressures. There's lots of stuff in our mind. The minute that Jesus Christ appears in the clouds of heaven, do you think you'll still be worrying about those things? Answer, no. And there'll be a short period of time, I don't know how long, and we will wait for the angels to come and collect us and to catch us up, it says, and to take us to be with Christ.

15. 5:36

    Those are the things that we talked about. Hey, on Sunday, when we were at the meeting, and we all did the One Peter chapter 1, didn't we, reading? Did you notice? I hadn't really seen it like this before. One Peter 1 verse 7 talked about the trial of our faith unto the appearance of the Lord Jesus Christ.

16. 6:01

    So our faith is being tried unto the appearing of Jesus. Remember we said that oil in our lamps that the virgins had was actually all about faith. And as Sister Pam Paul rightly said to me, faith isn't just about believing in your mind. Faith is, if unaccompanied by works, is dead. So really, we should be demonstrating our faith right now.

17. 6:30

    And that's so, so true, isn't it? So, the reason I wanted to recap that is because once you see that Jesus is going to appear with a trumpet and with an appearance in heaven, and then at some point later arrives in Jerusalem with the saints, and we're going to see that in a minute, there are in effect, therefore, two comings of Jesus.

18. 6:57

    One in the heavens, and secondly, arriving into Jerusalem. And once you see that, many prophecies become much clearer, and you can suddenly see an amazing pattern, and it helps you fit things together. And tonight, hopefully, that's what we're going to do. That's the slide of the parable of the ten virgins, as they saw in the distance their bridegroom and his best men that are all arriving with that bright light.

19. 7:28

    And he woke them all up. That's what we're going to see in the heavens. Anyway, enough of that. What we're going to do is try and put together a pretty complicated jigsaw puzzle. It's a big, prophetical jigsaw puzzle, because there's lots of strands of prophecy that we need to untangle and put together.

20. 7:51

    And I'm going to try my best, in the spirit of humility, I might have this wrong, but I've been looking at this every Saturday since 2003, and gradually and slowly, everything is sort of shaken into place, and this is where I've got to. And I'm sure there might be some of you that think, no, I don't, I think it might be more like this or that.

21. 8:11

    This is just where I've got to, and I'm going to use the scriptures to try and back it up. Right. What I thought I'd do is show my cards to start with. Okay. So you're not guessing where we're ending up. I'm going to show you the final picture that I see it, and then I'm going to go through the scriptures and drop them all into place to back up what I'm showing you in two seconds' time.

22. 8:38

    Is that okay? Right. Here we go. Here's the picture. What I'm doing is sketching this out. There's tons of detail behind all of this. The way I see things is, use it with Bible in hand, is that the final judgment of the world is running through three separate conflicts or three separate stages.

23. 9:03

    There's a stage one and a stage two and a stage three, and there is a time gap between each one, and each one of these stages is a conflict, and each one has got a different objective, a different objective of the people involved and a different objective of the Lord God Almighty himself, because they're three separate judgments, and it's only when all three have been dealt with that then the kingdom is really fully established.

24. 9:33

    So I'm going to talk you through these three stages, and I'm sure you've all heard of some of them, but you might not have seen it divvied up in this particular way. Now, stage one, I'm going to show you this in detail in a minute, but this is all to do with ten particular tribes that surround and are very close by Israel itself.

25. 9:58

    And this is stage one of the conflict that is coming. And we're going to, as I say, look at that in some detail. But some of the key passages that you could look at, and there's actually quite a few, but a couple of them is Psalm 83 and Isaiah 17. And this kicks the whole thing off, and this could happen at any time.

26. 10:22

    But I'll explain to you how it works and so on in just a minute. Stage two is the bit that we as Christophians have looked at a lot, and this is totally different in terms of who is involved. These are ten tribes, absolutely none of which are involved in the nine nations that are mentioned in Ezekiel 38.

27. 10:45

    This is part two. So part one is ten tribes that have absolutely nothing to do with whatsoever in terms of geography, the nine nations that actually are involved in Ezekiel 38. And we've spent a lot of time as a community looking at this particular chapter, and rightly so, because it's a big, big part of what is coming down the track.

28. 11:11

    But then there is a final stage after that, and the final stage is spoken about predominantly in Revelation chapter 17, and this is a totally different war at a different time. I'm going to prove to you that that is the case. And instead of ten tribes or nine nations, we now have, in Revelation 17, ten kings.

29. 11:32

    And this is a system that we'll have a very brief look at towards the end that is all symbolic. There's a harlot woman, and there's a beast, and there's ten horns and kings. And this is another war that happens after the other two. Now, let me tell you the motive about each of these stages, because they're all different, and they're all bringing about the judgment of God on this earth.

30. 11:58

    The first stage is all about conflict between Israel and her, what I'm calling, relatives. Okay? They're people, and actually, you know, when you look at the ten tribes that are mentioned there, she's not related to every single one. But in essence, this is a war between Israel and her relatives. People that are very, very close.

31. 12:22

    Some Arabs, Arab nations involved in that. This second war is nothing to do with Israel's relatives. This second conflict is all about Israel's riches. It's all about Israel's riches. We might say spoil. And the third one is nothing really to do with relatives, and it's nothing to do with riches. The third one is all to do with Israel's religion.

32. 12:50

    And those are the three stages of conflict that is coming, and there is gaps between each one, and significant things that happen between each one as well. And that is what we're going to look at. You might not be happy with that, but that's where we are, and that's what I'm going to now show you.

33. 13:10

    And I'm hopefully going to show you things, and you'll say, do you know what, I've read that many times, and why didn't I see that before?

34. 13:19

    Have you all got your Bibles open in Zechariah 12? What I'm about to show you is, I mean, when I grew up as a Christophian, and looked at these passages as a little boy growing up, I always saw Zechariah 12, and Zechariah 14, as just exactly the same conflict, but just spoken about twice.

35. 13:46

    And do you know something? It isn't. Zechariah 12, as I'm going to show you, is talking all about stage one. And Zechariah chapter 14, and he's talking all about stage two. And stage three is not mentioned in either of those particular passages. So, what I want to show you is, by looking at Zechariah chapter 12, that Zechariah 12 is all about the first stage, and is very, very different to Zechariah 14.

36. 14:20

    Now, let me just, before we delve into some detail on this, let me just show you this, okay? So, here is Zechariah chapter 12, verse 2. It's on the screen, but look at it in your version. You'll all have different versions in here, and that's good. And, I've checked probably a dozen or so versions, so I'm pretty much up to speed with what your version probably does say.

37. 14:40

    But here is one particular version. Verse 2, I will make Jerusalem like an intoxicating drink that makes the nearby people stagger when they send their armies to Jerusalem and Judah. In the AV, it says, I will make Jerusalem a couple of trembling unto all the people that are round about. And lots of modern versions convert round about to nearby or surrounding people.

38. 15:12

    So just remember that just for a minute. And in verse 6 of Zechariah chapter 12, it tells us something quite interesting because it says, on that day, says God, I will make the clans of Judah like a flame that sets a wood pile ablaze or like a burning torch among the sheaves of grain.

39. 15:31

    They will burn up all the neighbouring people, neighbouring people, notice, right and left, while the people living in Jerusalem remain secure. Zechariah chapter 2, Zechariah 14 says something quite different. It says, in verse 2, I will gather all the nations to fight against Jerusalem, the city will be taken, the houses looted, the women raped, half the population will be taken into captivity, and the rest will be left among the ruins of the city.

40. 16:06

    And then it talks about, you will flee through this valley and reach to Azel, yes, you will flee as you did from the earthquake in the days of King Uzziah of Judah, then the Lord my God will come and all his saints with him. Now in very simple terms, this says to me two different stories here.

41. 16:26

    This one says, there's some nearby nations or really you should say nearby peoples that are surrounding Israel that attack, they've got a war over Jerusalem, they attack, but Jerusalem remains secure. And that is quite an accurate translation in that modern version if you look at the original words, Jerusalem remains secure. So many people attack, Jerusalem survives.

42. 16:52

    Zechariah 14 says something quite different, all the nations attack and Jerusalem is ruined. You know, that doesn't sound like Jerusalem is secure, that sounds like Jerusalem is taken and the houses are looted and the women are ravaged.

43. 17:10

    So that's my initial thesis. Now I want to really delve into Zechariah 12 because I need to make the case to you much stronger than that, that Zechariah 12 is something that happens before Zechariah 14. Now have a look at this. I don't know if you've noticed this before, but in Zechariah chapter 12, and you do need the authorised version to see this clearly, but the authorised version has gone back to the original words and converted the original words into the words that we have here, more so than perhaps some of the modern translations.

44. 17:46

    But do you notice here where it says in verse 2, Behold, I'll make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about. And Jerusalem a stone is going to be a burdensome stone for all people, though all people of the earth be gathered against it. And then we've got every horse of the people is going to be smitten with blindness.

45. 18:08

    And we've got in the middle of verse 6 there, And they shall devour all people round about on the right hand and on the left. There's this particular word people. Now this particular word people means kinsmen or kindred. That's what this word that God is using in Zechariah 12, time and time and time again, he's using this word kindred or kinsmen.

46. 18:35

    That's what it means. And at the very end, it says in the authorised version, Jerusalem shall be inhabited again in her own place, even in Jerusalem. What? Jerusalem shall be inhabited again in her own place, even in Jerusalem. But modern versions put it much, much better than that. What it should really say is Jerusalem will remain intact and in her place.

47. 19:02

    And some versions put it exactly like that. Jerusalem is going to remain intact and in her place. So despite all these different peoples, all these different kindred, all these different kinsmen, coming against Jerusalem, Jerusalem survives intact and in her place. Very, very different than Zechariah 14 where Jerusalem is completely the opposite to that.

48. 19:30

    It's left in ruins. Now there's Zechariah constantly saying people, people, people, people, people. But when you go to Zechariah 14, no mention of people. Now he says, I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle. Then the Lord will go forth and fight against those nations as he fights in the day of battle.

49. 19:55

    So the prophet Zechariah switches from saying people, people, people, people, to nations and nations in Zechariah 14. And that is because we're switching from tribes in Zechariah 12 to nations in Zechariah 14. In Zechariah chapter 12,

50. 20:20

    you notice that it says, and this is in the authorised version, that Jerusalem is going to be a cup of trembling unto all these kindreds, all these people, round about. And it says it again down here, they, that's it, down here look, down in verse 6, it says, they, this is Israel, this is the Jews, shall devour all the people round about.

51. 20:47

    This is Israel devouring its immediate surrounding enemies. Israel is doing that. Zechariah 14, no mention of Israel devouring anybody. here, they, the rulers in Israel are devouring the people round about. Now, if you've got a modern version, it doesn't say round about, it says things like surrounding peoples. What did yours say, Ian?

52. 21:16

    Surrounding peoples. Some of it says nearby people. And when you look at this word round about, it literally means people that are very close by and encircling you, which is why they put nearby, close by, surrounding. These are peoples close to Israel fighting about Jerusalem, but Jerusalem overcomes. Jerusalem is intact. Jerusalem in this conflict remains secure.

53. 21:48

    Now, there's another interesting passage. You might have come across this one, because it was in the Christalfie magazine a number of years ago now, and it was highlighted, and I think it's a brilliant verse, because it's a prophecy about the time when Israel removes what are called pricking briars. In fact, I've gone and left it in my car, I was walking the dogs this morning, tripped over this great big brambly thing, I thought that would be a great visual aid.

54. 22:14

    So if anybody wants to see a big brambly sticky thing, it's in my car, on the back seat, hopefully the kids don't get in at the weekend and go, Dad, what is going on? Anyway, look what it says here, there'll be no more a pricking briar unto the house of Israel, nor any grieving thorn, now look, of all them that are round about.

55. 22:42

    So, basically, there's a little prophecy here in Ezekiel 28 that says, think of Israel sat there, and they're surrounded by these pricking briars, peoples that are jabbing at them and hurting them and they're spiking them and they're causing them an enormous amount of aggravation. And God says there's going to be a time when there's no more a pricking briar, and he uses exactly the same word, and they're close by, they're nearby, they're surrounding Israel, they're round about them.

56. 23:13

    And Zechariah 12 is telling us about the time when Israel removes the pricking briars. that's exactly what they're going to do. They're going to remove all the thorns in their side that are currently round about them.

57. 23:32

    This is what it says in one particular version, they will burn up all the neighbouring people, it says in Zechariah 12 verse 6, they will burn up all the neighbouring people, right and left, while the people living in Jerusalem remain secure. it's not Zechariah 14, that isn't Zechariah 14, they're burning up the neighbouring people, right and left, while the people living in Jerusalem remain secure, that isn't Zechariah 14.

58. 24:02

    This is the initial stage one war, when Israel clears out the problem of pricking briars around it. The NIV says Jerusalem will remain intact and in her place, not Zechariah 14, no, this is different. In verse 8, so we're going through almost every verse here in Zechariah 12, not really splitting anything out.

59. 24:25

    In verse 8 it says, in that day shall the Lord defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem. So at this point God is helping Israel do what it needs to do, which is to remove these pricking briars. They're all removed. But then we come to a very interesting bit, which is Zechariah chapter 12, verse 9.

60. 24:47

    And verse 9, if you've got the authorised, who in here is using authorised versions? So if you have a look in verse 9, have you got a little, I don't know what it's called, let's call it a doobie what's it, there's a thing up there, right? I don't know what it's called, but there's a thing there in your version, isn't there?

61. 25:07

    And that denotes, this is a brand new paragraph. This is a new paragraph, different theme now coming up. And look what it says in this new paragraph, it will come to pass in that day that I, the Lord God, will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem. But this is now linking us from what's just happened with the surrounding nations through to Zechariah 14 when it's nations that start coming in.

62. 25:42

    This is not God saying I'm going to seek to destroy the nations that have just been beaten up by Israel and destroyed themselves. This is God saying it's going to come to pass in that day when all this stuff has just happened, when Israel has overcome the pricking briars, that I'm going to seek to destroy all nations that come against Jerusalem.

63. 26:05

    And in Jung's literal translation it says all the nations that are coming in against Jerusalem. In other words, when you look at the tense of this word, it's written in the imperfect tense. So this word come here is in the imperfect tense. So it basically means it's something that is coming down the track and it's something that is developing to a future conclusion.

64. 26:30

    And that is exactly what that verse is saying. The nations are coming. Now Israel has destroyed the pricking briars. There's something more going to come. And the other thing that's going to come aren't peoples, it's nations. That word seek, by the way, when it says God will seek to destroy them, when you look at the word seek, it literally means to begin the process of searching.

65. 26:59

    It's God beginning the process of looking out for these nations that are about to come in. And this is why in the NIV, they've translated it not as seeking to destroy, but I will set out to destroy the nations that are coming in against Jerusalem. The New Living Translation says, I will begin to destroy all the nations that are coming in against Jerusalem.

66. 27:28

    You see, what I'm going to show you in a minute is, after this conflict that rages around Israel, that Israel wins initially, it's going to leave an enormous vacuum into which an outer ring of nations come into the vacuum that has been created. And so here we have stage one, and I believe Zechariah 12 is telling us exactly what's going to happen in stage one.

67. 27:58

    But you remember I said that there's other passages that also talk about this. And one of them is Psalm 83. Psalm 83 was written in around about 850 BC by one of the sons of Asaph. And he wrote these words. Keep not thou silence, O God, hold not thy peace, and be not still, O God, for lo, thine enemies make a tumult, and they that hate thee have lifted up the head.

68. 28:25

    They have taken crafty counsel, against thy people, and consulted against thy hidden ones. They have said, Come, let us cut them off from being a nation, that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance, for they have consulted together with one consent, they are confederate against thee, and here's the list of them.

69. 28:43

    This is the ten tribes that I listed out. The tabernacles of Edom, the Ishmaelites and of Moab, and the Hagarens, Gebel, and Ammon, and Amalek, the Philistines with the inhabitants of Tyre, and by the way, Asher is also joined with them. Funny thing is, all of these are tribes, every one of them are a tribe, until you get to Asher, which isn't a tribe, that is a nation.

70. 29:12

    That's why in Psalm 83, at the very end, he says, by the way, there's a big nation that's supporting them, as well as all these people. Now, I ask you, where are all these people? Where are the Hagarens? Where's Gebel? Where's Ammon? Where's Amalek? Where's the tabernacles of Edom? And what about the inhabitants of Tyre?

71. 29:32

    Where are all these people? Well, I can show you where they all are. Here's a map that shows you all of the nations in Psalm 83. Ammon, and Moab, and Edom, and we've got Amalek over here, and here's the Philistines over here, and there's Tyre up here, the inhabitants of Tyre, and there's Asher up there.

72. 29:52

    In fact, Asher is Syria. In this context, it's definitely Syria. If you look on a map, when Asaph was writing, back in 850 BC, Assyria's territory came right down and finished here, and was covering all of Damascus and all of Syria that we now know it. It did spread over here a bit as well, but actually it was definitely covering what we now know as Syria.

73. 30:21

    And God, I think, is saying, there's all these tribes, all these kindred, all these peoples that are going to get involved in this conflict, and actually there's a whole nation up here that also is going to support them in this conflict. Did you notice in Psalm 83, it said weird things like the tents of Edom.

74. 30:45

    Why doesn't it just say Edom? Why does it say the tents of Edom? It says the tents of Edom, I believe, because God isn't saying it's all of Edom, which is in modern-day Jordan. It's not, he's saying it isn't all of Edom, it's the tents of Edom that I want you to look at.

75. 31:02

    I don't know if you realise this, but there's the tents of Edom. You can actually go and see them today if you feel like it, if you wanted to go into that particular area of the world in Jordan. There's one and a half million Palestinian refugees living in tents in that exact area.

76. 31:20

    This is a Palestinian issue. This is God saying there's a particular kindred, there's a particular peoples that are surrounding Israel and these are the problem. Same applies to the inhabitants of Tyre. God doesn't say it's Lebanon that's coming against you, which is the country that Tyre is the capital city of. No, he says it's the inhabitants of Tyre.

77. 31:48

    And guess who is currently in the inhabitants, who's there in Tyre? Well, Hezbollah, their main stronghold is in the city of Tyre that exists today. And there's some articles there that talk about the Hezbollah stronghold in Tyre in Lebanon. And God says, actually, I'm not going to tell you about the whole of Lebanon.

78. 32:11

    What you need to go and look at are the peoples in Tyre. Those are the inhabitants that are going to come against Israel. And lo and behold, in these very last days, there they are, Hezbollah, one of Israel's sworn enemies that want to come in and ultimately destroy Israel. Israel. The Philistines equal the Palestinians.

79. 32:33

    And what do the Palestinians say? Hamas on the Gaza Strip, we want to, you know, poke Israel, we want to remove Israel, and we can see there's a conflict building up. And we can see, without stretching our imagination too far, that Zechariah 12 most certainly can and will happen. But that link to Syria with Asher is quite important because it then links us to Isaiah 17.

80. 33:02

    And Isaiah 17 effectively covers Zechariah 12 and 14 in the same chapter. So in Isaiah 17 it talks about the burden of Damascus in verse 1. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city and it will become a ruinous heap. But that hasn't ever happened. I know it looks almost like it has happened.

81. 33:27

    When you look at Damascus on the TV, it looks pretty flattened. But actually the suburbs are flattened, the centre of it is still intact. When God says Damascus will cease to be a city, believe me, when he says that, it will happen and it is going to come. Damascus is going to fail and cease to be a city.

82. 33:48

    It also says that the cities of Aroa are forsaken. And if you have a look where that is, it's exactly where some of the tribes that were just mentioned in Psalm 83 are. So there's some trouble going on over here in where we would now call Jordan. Jordan also gets involved in this, or at least some people within Jordan do.

83. 34:13

    But have a look now at the next verse. It's in Isaiah 17 14. Because it continues to say, the 45, so this is, imagine Damascus is gone, it's finished, it's destroyed. Verse 3 then says, the 45 towns of northern Israel, now that's a little bit cheating because it doesn't say northern Israel, it actually says Ephraim.

84. 34:38

    But in modern versions, they've converted Ephraim to say northern Israel. And that is because Ephraim is code for northern Israel in the Bible, just take my word for that. So the 45 towns of northern Israel will also be destroyed. So when Damascus comes to an end, the northern towns of northern Israel will also be destroyed, and the royal power of Damascus is going to end.

85. 35:05

    All that remains of Syria will share in the fate of Israel's departed glory, declares the Lord of Heaven's armies. In that day, Israel's glory will grow dim, and its robust body will waste away. The whole land will look like a grain field after the harvesters have gathered grain, and it will be desolate, and so on.

86. 35:24

    But this is talking about Ephraim, it's talking about the northern part of Israel is in trouble. The northern part of Israel is in trouble at the same time that Damascus is ruined. And so it is that this is part of the story of this first conflict. It is a trouble that's going to involve Syria, it's going to involve Hezbollah, it's going to involve the Palestinians, it's going to involve Hamas, it's going to involve other peoples that are surrounding Israel.

87. 35:57

    Now I don't know what power and force is needed to flatten a complete city. In fact, Jeremiah 49 says, all of the men of war living in Damascus will be killed in one day. So horrific is the destruction that's coming on Damascus. What we've seen isn't the end of the story, but it's clearly building up to something.

88. 36:18

    And in fact, even now Israel and Syria keep having scraps and Israel drops in bombs. You've seen it over the last few weeks and month or two. There's tension building up like a rate of knots at the moment because ISIS have crept right down to the border of the Golan and so on and so forth.

89. 36:37

    So these things might seem a way off, but they're not. They're absolutely at the door and Syria helping those other peoples is exactly what's coming down the track. So in this jigsaw puzzle that we put together, there's many other parts to this particular story, but there's three that we've looked at. Zechariah 12, Isaiah 17 and Psalm 83 all linked together.

90. 37:02

    Right, pause for breath. Now, let me just show you this very simply pictorially. There is a map of the world of the Bible, if you like, because everything else was outside the then known world. And we go in and we focus down here, and what I'm saying to you is there's an inner ring war of peoples that surround Israel, that are going to attack Israel.

91. 37:29

    Israel is going to be weakened, absolutely, Isaiah says it will be weakened, but Jerusalem, which is in South Israel, survives and remains intact. Right, but Israel puts that fire out and removes all of the pricking briars that are round and about them. That is where I think we've got to. But you know something, Zechariah 12 then says something pretty amazing, because it then goes on in the very next verse and says, verse 10, they, that's the Jewish people, will look on me, whom they have pierced and mourn.

92. 38:13

    And they will mourn for him as an only son, and they will grieve bitterly for him as for a firstborn son that has died. And there will be great sorrow and mourning in Jerusalem on that day. There will be great mourning. Now do you know what this is? This is the minute when the Lord Jesus Christ appears in the clouds of heaven.

93. 38:36

    We know that because it's quoted exactly like that in Revelation 1, I'll show you in a second, that we already looked at last week. But look at Isaiah 17. Isaiah 17 was where you've got the collapse of Damascus totally destroyed, and you've got Israel being drawn into that war, and northern Israel coming to having a very difficult time, and its cities flattened as well.

94. 39:04

    But look what it then says in the next verse, in Isaiah 17, verse 7, in that day, people will look to their maker, and turn their eyes to the Holy One of Israel. The very same thing we're being told in Isaiah is going to happen, that people are going to look all of a sudden to their maker, and turn to him, that's exactly what it's saying up here, they're going to look on me, the Lord Jesus Christ, whom they have pierced, and they will mourn.

95. 39:35

    This is the appearing of Jesus in the heavens, it's going to shock them to their core, that the Lord Jesus Christ has appeared in the heavens. And just to show you the link to Revelation, so there's Zechariah 12, they will look upon me, whom they have pierced, and will mourn for him as for an only son.

96. 39:58

    And Revelation 1 verse 7 says, he comes with the clouds of heaven, and everyone will see him, even those who've pierced him. And do you remember, when we put the puzzle together last week, we show categorically that this verse here must be at the point when Jesus appears in heaven, and we are taken after, and the dead are raised at this point, because it's at this point that the trumpet blast is made that raises the dead.

97. 40:30

    So Zechariah 12 is telling us when Christ appears in heaven, and Christ appearing in heaven, therefore, comes at about the time of stage 1. Now I don't know exactly, that's faded out a little bit on the screen here, but that there is a bright light in the heavens, this is Jesus coming with the angels, and all the world see him, and it comes at some point around stage 1, maybe at the end of it, maybe during it, I don't know, because it doesn't exactly say.

98. 41:04

    But it definitely comes before Zechariah 14, as we'll see in a minute, because Zechariah 14 says that Jesus comes with the saints with him, and the saints are not with him at this point, because he's just appeared in the clouds of heaven. Now, we move on to stage 2, you'll be glad to know, because I've done quite a lot on stage 1, because the reason I have is because as a community we've said very little about stage 1.

99. 41:37

    We've said an enormous amount about stage 2, but we've never really said much, I don't think, as a community, about stage 1. but it's there, and hopefully you can see it. Now, we move on to stage 2. By the way, in Zechariah 13, it's only a short chapter, and the message in Zechariah 13 is the horror that's about to come on the land overall, and the horror, it says in verse 8, is that two-thirds of the people in the land will be cut off and die.

100. 42:11

     That's what's coming on these people. I will bring, says God, that group through the fire and make them pure. I will refine them like silver and purify them like gold. They will call on my name and I will answer them. I will say these are my people. But God's only doing that when this great destruction that Zechariah 14 is talking about comes.

101. 42:33

     You might say, well, when Jesus appears, there they are mourning, ! Why does God then bring nations in like he does? And we'll talk about that in just a second. But here now is Zechariah 14. We know these words ever so well. This is different. These aren't peoples. These aren't peoples that are just nearby and surrounding Israel.

102. 42:56

     This is an outer ring of nations and into the void they come. What's the void? The void is an enormous void that's left the collapse of Syria that's left the surrounding pricking briars Hamas and Hezbollah predominantly they're gone. Israel is victorious but greatly weakened and into this great void in the Middle East come pouring like great rushing waters these nations.

103. 43:26

     God says I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle. The city will be taken and the house is rifled. The women ravished and half the city will go forth into captivity and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city. Then the Lord at this point goes forth and fights against those nations.

104. 43:45

     Now bearing in mind when it says all nations it doesn't actually even in the Hebrew mean every single solitary nation. I don't think we should be expecting some far flung there's 178 nations on planet earth. This does not mean all 178 somehow all arrive at Jerusalem. The word all there literally means entire or whole nations are being brought in and yes there are many nations but it doesn't necessarily mean every single solitary nation is going to come in.

105. 44:20

     This is the war of Ezekiel 38 and in this particular war look what happens. His feet will stand in that day upon the Mount of Olives. This is now remember with the parable of the ten virgins there was the appearing of Jesus that woke all the virgins up. It also wakes all the Jews up.

106. 44:49

     But it's too late at this point to do anything about it. Remember we said our fate is sealed at the point when Jesus appears in the clouds of heaven because

107. 45:02

     here we've got Jesus physically standing on the Mount of Olives. This isn't the Jews looking at them who they pierced and mourning. That happened when he appeared. This is now Jesus standing on the Mount of Olives and look who is with him. And all the saints are with thee in verse five. Now what must that mean?

108. 45:27

     If all of the saints are with Jesus at this point it has to mean the judgment has taken place and the judgment might take some time and therefore from the point that he was seen in the heavens in Zechariah 12 and the point that he arrives here into Jerusalem with the saints there is some gap there is a gap between Israel removing the pricking briars and the nations coming down into the void.

109. 45:58

     If you notice here in Zechariah 14 it also says that the Mount of Olives is going to split down the middle and there's going to be a great earthquake such as has not been seen since the days of Isaiah and in fact there's been some recent discoveries done about this earthquake in the days of Isaiah and seismologists have calculated by looking at the destruction that happened at that time in 750 BC that it was at least an eight on the Richter scale earthquake that hit Israel in the days of Isaiah one of the very largest earthquakes Israel has ever experienced and God is quoting this here to say it's going to be a bit like that it's going to be clearly a lot worse because if you split a mountain in half and make a big valley between it so great is

110. 46:56

     around planet earth and that is according to a professor who actually is not a Christian but studies these things he says if this is true and the Mount of Olives split like this says every single country on earth would feel it so great is the impact and amazingly of course we know that there is a fault line that runs straight through the Mount of Olives relatively only recently found going straight through the middle of it and that is going to break the Mount of Olives in two but this great earthquake is also mentioned elsewhere it's mentioned in Ezekiel 38 Israel isn't pummeled by mighty earthquake after mighty earthquake and destroying the walls time and time again there's a great earthquake in Zechariah 14 and it's exactly the same earthquake of when these nations come in and they're defeated by this great earthquake in Ezekiel 38 it says in my zeal and fiery wrath I declare that at that time there'll be a great earthquake in the land of Israel it's the same earthquake and the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and the beasts of the field every creature that moves along the ground and all the people of the face of the earth will tremble at my presence and the mountains will be overturned and the cliffs will crumble and every wall will fall to the ground it links us straight back into the chapter that tells us about the nations that are coming against Israel and the nations that are coming against Israel are these and they're all listed out this is stage two and these are the nine

111. 48:42

     nations that are mentioned in Ezekiel chapter 38 and you've got Mago Meshach Tubal and Rosh you've got Togamah and Gomer you've got Persia you've got Libya and you've got Ethiopia this is the outer ring of nations that come down I haven't got time to go through why we believe all of those places are where I've put them on the map but that's exactly where they were in the days of Ezekiel 500 or 600 or so BC but you notice none of them none of them at all cover these inner nations here because they were dealt with on round one stage one they're flattened the pricking bras have gone Israel is left weakened but sat there and there's a great and almighty void that's been left by the fire of conflict that burned there that happened first and that fire was put out and Israel was victorious and Jerusalem survived I actually think at this point this is when there is some cry of peace and safety right at this point this is when the world says it you know it's all over Israel's world and the enemies are gone everything is fine there could be peace agreements where actually Israel agrees to divide up some of the land in terms of a

112. 50:09

     is but the point is there's Israel that survived that and like great vultures or bears we might say or some aggressive creatures they all come pouring in now look at this now you've read this before but maybe not like this in Ezekiel 38 verse 8 it says a long time from now you Russia will be called into action in the distant future you will swoop down on the land of Israel now look at this which will be enjoying peace after recovering from war well well well Israel is recovering from war at the time that the nations of Ezekiel 38 invade I wonder which war they're recovering from and it is the war of Zechariah chapter 12 and Psalm 83 and Isaiah 17 and this war says God it happens after its people have returned from many lands so it's after they've returned it's they're in the land and you and your allies a vast and awesome army will roll down on them like a storm and cover the land it's they're going to pour in into this vacuum that is left now I'll show you something amazing now because remember I said that Isaiah 17 spoke about the destruction of Damascus then it said Israel was going to be greatly weakened then it said in that day people will see their God that's the Lord Jesus Christ in the heavens do you know how Isaiah 17 concludes it concludes exactly like this listen the armies of many nations roar like the roaring of the sea hear the thunder of the mighty forces as they rush forward like thundering waves that's Isaiah 17 verse 12 this

113. 52:21

     is amazing it's exactly the same story it is the surrounding nations coming pouring in to the vacuum that is left like a great flood of water right into Israel that is also Ezekiel 38 that is also Zechariah 14 and we know why Russia comes down why Gog comes down it's not about religion it doesn't say it's anything to do with religion it isn't about the relatives it's not like a hatred that goes back millennia no no no this is why he comes down Gog is going to say in his mind this is the leader of the Russian people currently Putin I'm going to go to a land of unwalled villages these people who are at rest they've just recovered from war they're all dwelling safely they're all super confident now these people but I'm going to go and I'm going to take a spoil and a pray it's not about religion for Putin he uses religion on the sides but really it's nothing to do with that it's about cash it's about pray it's about spoil so going back to this map here what we said was there's this initial conflagration between Israel and its surrounding peoples as Zechariah 12 says Israel wins that and overcomes what then happens is the Lord Jesus Christ at some point during that appears in the clouds of heaven in power and great glory Israel start mourning and wailing and weeping and so does the rest of the planet not us we've got oil we're excited we know now time is ticking we will be taken and caught up to be with Jesus but there's this great void that's

114. 54:13

     left now in the Middle East in Syria especially and into that void comes Russia and Iran and Africa by the way this war does definitely not include Europe one of the mistakes we've made is trying to make Ezekiel 38 equal stage 2 and stage 3 and it doesn't Ezekiel 38 is nothing to do with religion the religious war is coming next and I'll show you what that is so Europe remains out of it and it's a Russian Turkish Iranian Northern African conflict this one and they all come swooping down but then a great earthquake comes and as we know Britain and America are based down here as the king of the south in Saudi Arabia they can't do anything either Russia thinks it's victorious but at that point following the judgment that's now taken place in between times the Lord Jesus Christ comes and stands on the Mount of Olives so look in between this one we've got Jesus appearing in the clouds of heaven in between this one we've got Jesus finally standing on the Mount of Olives these are the defining bits between the stages but what about this last stage what about Israel's religion what is this about and why can't it have anything to do with stage two well it can't have anything to do with stage two it's utterly impossible for it to have anything to do with stage two because Revelation 17 says that the apostle John saw a woman sitting on a scarlet coloured beast full of the names of blasphemy having seven heads and ten horns and he says the angel says I will tell you the

115. 56:09

     mystery of the woman and of the beast that carries her which has got seven heads and ten the beast there is the European well it's actually it's more than the EU this is the resurrected holy Roman empire which brothers and sisters we have not seen yet the EU as we know it is not the final picture there is going to be ten kings that arise out of a divided up EU as we now see it and these ten kings are going to form almost identical to the ancient holy Roman empire and the ancient holy Roman empire was run by Germany this will be a Germanic empire that appears on the earth and the woman that's riding the European beast or the holy Roman empire beast is none other than Rome sat on the seven hills this is the false Babylonian religion that's nothing to do with Christianity but is all to do with Rome which actually is has got its roots all the way back in ancient Babel that's another story but why can't this be to do with Ezekiel 38 why can't Europe and this great war also be taking place at the same time as Ezekiel 38 and here is the answer the ten horns you see are ten kings that don't have a kingdom as yet but they do receive power as kings one hour with this big European beast they've got one mind and shall give their power and strength to the beast and these shall make war with the lamb and the lamb will overcome them for he is lord of lords and king of kings and look who is

116. 57:58

     with him they that are with him are called chosen and faithful the war that this beast and woman launch is against christ and the saints and where do you think they are they're in jerusalem the kingdom is being established and these guys say we are having none of that and they launch a war against christ and the saints that isn't the war of ezekiel 38 that doesn't say hey they're all coming down to fight christ and the saints no no no because christ and the saints don't appear until that conflict has actually taken place and christ arrives in the destruction after the earthquake and gog has been destroyed by the power of god himself this is a religious war against the lord jesus christ and the saints that are with him and interestingly what happens to the beast and the woman or the false prophet as it's called well in revelation 19 it says that the beast was taken and with code for the woman that wrought miracles before him and look where they end up they end up in a lake of burning fire and brimstone so this germanic empire right this germanic holy roman empire that makes war against christ and the saints is destroyed at the start of the millennium and is never ever ever seen again because they remain in the fire of burning fire lake of fire burning with brimstone so there's christ who has returned and we're with him now because he's back on the mount of olives he's establishing his kingdom and at some point probably fairly quickly this great big beast with the woman riding it comes

117. 59:53

     zooming down and makes war against christ and the saints but christ overcomes and wins we overcome and win this religious war and they're never seen on planet earth again the false religion of babylon never ever ever reappears ever again and christ eventually his kingdom grows and fills the entire world god and there's just one last point two last points just one to quickly make because that isn't quite the end of the story there's one of the last piece and it's so far in the distance you might say why bother talking about it but god does and here it is in revelation chapter 20 we're told that at the end of the thousand years guess who appears on earth again gog and may gog to gather people together to battle against the saints gog and may gog appear again now this is quite amazing and it's absolute categoric proof as to why may gog as some say is Germany don't they they say may gog is Germany therefore we've got to get Europe and Russia joined together all got to be friends no no no they're going to !

118. 1:01:11

     remain divided that's what the Bible says Europe and Russia are always and will always remain divided and here's the categoric proof that may gog can't be Germany in his eagle 38 because Germany is the holy Roman empire beast that went into the lake of fire and was destroyed forever and yet here popping up at the end of time is gog and may gog once again this isn't a religious war this is a war about spoil exactly like it is in Ezekiel 38 and guess where they end up guess where at the end of the thousand years gog and may gog end up look verse 10 of revelation 20 the devil who is the false accuser gog that deceive them at the time of the end of the thousand years look where he's cast he is cast into the lake of fire with brimstone and look who's there with him the beast and the false prophet who have been there for a thousand years may gog can't be Germany because there's the beast sat there in the lake of fire all that time may gog is southern Russia and so what we have is the Lord Jesus Christ who's developed his kingdom and at the end of the thousand years somebody very similar to gog that we see now makes war against Christ and the saints and he comes and attacks at the end of the thousand years the Lord Jesus Christ and he overcomes them with us and at the end of the thousand years there's no more opposition it's all finished it's job done it's complete and the very last picture of this huge

119. 1:02:57

     puzzle is quite simply this that the Lord God in heaven who looks like a human being he's got form he's got a head he's got arms he's got legs God is not some invisible power source he looks

120. 1:03:17

     and you know what's going to happen the Lord God himself will tabernacle with men and he will dwell with them and they shall be his people and God himself will be with them and be their God and God will wipe away all tears from their eyes and there'll be no more death and no more sorrow and no more crying there won't even be any more pain for the former things are passed away because God himself will come to this planet and dwell on this earth with us but only when all of this war all of this sin has been removed and so those are as I see the three stages and so we start off here we go last time through there is the initial conflagration between Israel and the surrounding peoples Israel wins and is left weakened Jerusalem is secure at this point and around this time Jesus appears in the clouds of heaven any time during this stage Jesus appears in the clouds of heaven a great void is left in this area and into that void come Russia and Ezekiel 38 nations coming straight in there and at this point Britain and America are not able to counteract it but the Lord Jesus Christ having judged the saints during that period

121. 1:04:41

     the comes to this planet that's how I see it that's the puzzle that is all stages and every single chapter links into that when we look at it carefully but next week what we'll do try and do a shorter talk next week I do apologise but look next week I'm going to give you as much evidence as I can that it is imminent that these things are on the cards and at any point this whole process is going to get underway might see you next week God willing