June 23, 2025 • 26 mins
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Speaker 1 (00:05):
The more you study the Tribulation as a Christian, the
more relief you'll feel, knowing that you'll be raptured away
before it begins. Today, on turning point, Doctor David Jeremiah
turns to Revelation chapter fourteen to set up the next
wave of terrible events that will transpire on earth before
Christ returns in ultimate victory. Listen as David introduces today's message,
(00:30):
two hundred miles of Bloodshed.
Speaker 2 (00:33):
Thank you for joining us today. You know, every great
story has a theme, and it takes a discerning reader
to get above all the details and discover it. And
let me tell you if there is a theme to
the Tribulation and the Book of Revelation, it is that
God is moving toward separating the righteous from the unrighteous.
(00:53):
Before the close of human history, we see those two
strains running side by side, the wheat and the terrors growl,
going together. But one day God will separate it and
we will not be intermingled any longer. The godly will
go to Heaven to be with Him. Those who have
put their trust in Christ will spend eternity with the
Lord Jesus Christ and the Father in heaven. And those
(01:15):
who have denied the Gospel and refused to believe will
not be in heaven, but they will be in Hell
apart from God. The separation begins even during the tribulation period,
through these times of war, and just a moment will
begin Part one, two hundred miles of bloodshed. This is
Revelation fourteen six through twenty intriguing teaching from the Book
(01:38):
of Revelation. I want you to remind yourself today to
at least consider going with us to New England in Canada.
In October the fourth of the eleventh, Don and I
will be leading a conference cruise to New England and Canada,
and we'll be sailing on Holland America's Zyderdam. We'll have
(01:59):
with us Michaels and Chez and Uriel Vega, and we
will see some of the beautiful sights of that part
of the world. We've been there a couple of times before,
and we always come away from that cruise experience thinking,
you know, I want to do this again because it's
just that much fun and it's such a beautiful place.
And we'll be teaching, and we'll be fellowshipping, and we'll
(02:19):
be enjoying each other and eating together, Oh do we
eat on these cruises, and then you would just be
glad you went. You'll be looking back at that event
as a highlight in your life. That's really true. Find
out about it today by getting in touch with us
at David Jeremiah dot org. There you will find all
you need to know to go with us on this cruise.
(02:42):
Here is part one of the message we've called two
hundred miles of Bloodshed.
Speaker 3 (02:51):
If you have ever, in your educational journey studied Greek drama,
you are aware of the fact that because Greek drama
often was portrayed with very few characters, actions that involved
a great many people were often treated in the drama
by the simple announcement as of a courier who would
(03:14):
come out to the center of the Greek stage, blow
the trumpet and make the announcement that there has just
happened a war, or that there has just happened some
great conflict between great bodies of people. In the fourteenth
chapter of the Book of Revelation, we have what is
similar to a Greek drama. Here we have a series
(03:36):
of announcements by the angels of some major dramatic events
which are about to take place. During the tribulation period.
There is in this chapter a series of visions which
are very complete in themselves and should not be expected
to be understood in any kind of chronological fashion. In
(03:57):
some respects, Chapter fourteen of the Book of Revelation, which
is in the parenthesis of the book, is.
Speaker 4 (04:02):
Like a table of contents.
Speaker 3 (04:05):
For instance, I have marked in my Bible how you
can organize the last half of the fourteenth chapter. You
need to organize the chapter around the angels. In the
sixth verse, you see I saw another angel number one,
verse eight, and there followed another angel. There's the second angel,
(04:25):
verse nine, and there was a third angel. In between
the third and the fourth angel, there is an appearance
of the Son of God. When you come to the
end of the chapter. In verse fifteen, you read and
another angel, and verse seventeen, and another angel, and verse eighteen,
and another angel. Each of these angels comes to make
(04:47):
an announcement, like on the stage in a Greek drama,
to announce some coming event in prophecy or in history
that is going to affect the nature of the people
of God who are still on this earth. Now, the
message of the first angel is recorded for us in
verses six and seven. And we shall call his message
(05:09):
the declaration of the Gospel.
Speaker 4 (05:12):
We read.
Speaker 3 (05:13):
And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven,
having the Everlasting Gospel to preach unto them that dwell
on the earth, and to every nation and kindred and
tongue and people, saying with a loud voice, fear God,
Give glory to Him, for the hour of his judgment
is come. And worship Him that made heaven and earth,
(05:34):
and the sea and the fountains of water. As we
look at this first message, we see that God has
decided to bypass the human instruments, and he swoops across
heaven with one of his angels to preach the gospel
one last time before judgment comes. And the angel preaches
(05:54):
the gospel in simple terms, reduced so that men can
understand it. It may seem that the angel had a
little gospel to preach, for he says nothing in his
message about the Gospel as we know it. He extends
nor forgiveness. He doesn't give an invitation to salvation. He
appeals to reverence and fear rather than to love. He
(06:15):
announces the hour of judgment rather than making an appeal
of salvation, and he stresses note carefully the creative work
of God. Notice what the Angel preaches. He says, worship
Him that made heaven and earth, and the sea and
the fountains of waters. The world in the day of
Tribulation will simply be what we know today, protracted through
(06:38):
many iterations until it is more profound in its declension
than we are. If we know evolution and humanism today,
think what it will be like in the tribulation period.
There won't be any godly churches around to teach them
what the scripture says. There won't be any Old Testament
preachers and teachers of the Word of God. So evolutionism
and humanism will be at a zenith. And therefore the
(07:00):
last message of the Gospel centers in on the real
need in the hearts and lives of men to acknowledge
that Jesus Christ is the creator. Now, this Gospel announcement
refers to the Gospel as the eternal Gospel. Notice what
it says he preached unto him the everlasting Gospel. And
(07:21):
that's the only place in the Bible where the Gospel
is ever called by that term the eternal Gospel. The
word eternal reminds us that the Gospel is a word
for all ages. It is always applicable in every age,
and that's what the Angel is preaching in the tribulation.
Some commentators have said, this isn't the Gospel of Jesus Christ,
this is the Gospel of the Kingdom, or this is
(07:42):
the Gospel of creation. But there's only one gospel. And Paul,
writing to the Galatian, said, if any man preach another gospel,
even if an angel comes and preaches the gospel and
it's not this gospel, then you shouldn't listen to him.
So the scripture tells us first of all that the
Angel comes and he declared, there's the gospel. That's the
first message. It's just a little vignette in the tribulation
(08:05):
period passing across the skies. Is the Angel preaching the
Gospel one last time. And it's a reminder to me,
as the book continually, is that whenever you see judgment
on the horizon, just wait and you will hear a compassionate, merciful,
loving God shouting forth one more warning to the people
who were headed toward destruction. Sometimes people say to me, well,
(08:27):
God isn't fair, and this judgment isn't right. Listen, God
has warned the people over and over and over again.
He sent one hundred and forty four thousand witnesses. He
empowered two witnesses supernaturally. Now he sends an angel to
preach the gospel, and it's almost as if nothing has happened,
because they're so committed to their unbelief. The second message
(08:47):
begins in the eighth verse, and this we shall call
the destruction of Babylon. And there followed another angel saying,
Babylon has fallen, has fallen that great city because she
made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath
of the medication. Now we don't have time to go
into this in a great detail, because in the seventeenth
and eighteenth chapter of Revelation, both of those chapters are
given over in entirety to the discussion of Babylon as
(09:10):
it is presented in the Book of Revelation. But Babylon
is mentioned here for the very first time in the
Book of Revelation. It is a preliminary announcement to the
final overthrow of the city and of the system known
as Babylon. Now, if you want to know what something means,
in the Bible, there is a law of interpretation called
the law of first mention?
Speaker 4 (09:31):
Do you know what that is?
Speaker 3 (09:33):
Usually, if you go back and find out when something
is mentioned the first time in the Bible, in that
mentioning of it, you will find out what it's all about.
Let's think for a moment about Babylon. Babylon, of course,
as you know, was mentioned in Genesis ten and eleven.
It was the city founded by a rebel whose name
(09:53):
was Nimrod, you remember him. And that Babylon grew into
the first great gentile world power, or that was going
to ultimately one day abuse the nations of the world.
That Babylon was a proud and idolatrous people. Isaiah the
Prophet says this about Babylon in Isaiah twenty one to nine.
Babylon is fallen, is fallen, and all the graven images
(10:17):
of her gods he hath broken unto the ground. Jeremiah
the Prophet says it this way. Babylon is the land
of graven images, and they are mad upon their idols. Now,
when you see the word Babylon in the Book of Revelation,
it means one of two things. Either the literal city
which will be reconstructed during the tribulation time and be
(10:38):
the center of the false prophet and all of the
workings of Satan. Or it means the system that is
associated with that city. Babylon is God's name for the
world's system of the beast. Babylon is a warning that
the easy way is really not the right way. And
when you understand that, you will understand why during the
(11:00):
period of time in history, during this period of time
in prophecy, during the tribulation period, that whole city and
its system is going to be destroyed. In fact, the
reason the word fallen is repeated is in order to
give an emphasis. In other words, Babylon is fallen, is fallen.
The prophet looks at it as if it is already accomplished.
Speaker 4 (11:20):
And the system, which.
Speaker 3 (11:21):
Is in opposition to God and to the Church and
to the Word of God, it's already doomed. It's already
looked upon by the prophet as if it is finished.
Then we come to the third message in verses nine
through eleven, and we shall call that message the doom
of the defectors. And the third angel followed them, saying
with a loud voice, if any man worship the Beast
(11:43):
and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead
or in his hand. The same shall drink of the
wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out
without mixture, into the cup of his indignation. And he
shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence
of the Holy Angels, and in the presence of the Lamb,
and the smoke of their torment ascendeth up forever and ever,
and they have no rest day nor night. Who worship
(12:05):
the Beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark
of his name. Now, this announcement by this angel just
sort of puts in very concise terms what the options
are for people who live during the tribulation.
Speaker 4 (12:18):
Here. They are very clearly.
Speaker 3 (12:21):
Worship the Beast and be damned by God, or worship
God and be damned by the Beast.
Speaker 4 (12:28):
You can't say it any clear in that. That's what
this message is.
Speaker 3 (12:31):
The message by the angel is to those who have
thought about taking the mark of the Beast to get
out from under the pressure. You know the story of
the thirteenth chapter, that the Beast has organized a system
whereby if you don't have six sixty six stamped in
your head or on your right hand. You can't buy,
you can't sell, you can't work, you can't function. And
(12:52):
the Christians who will not give obedience to the Beast
have refused to take the mark. Can you imagine the
pressure they must have felt to acquiesce. I think I
could handle it for myself. But if I had little children,
if I had a family, and my family was starving
and they couldn't eat, and someone came to me and said, listen,
all you got to do is take the mark and
(13:13):
you can go and buy food. What pressure? But the
Lord comes through the Angel and says, let me tell
you. You can buy food for a moment if you take
the mark of the Beast.
Speaker 4 (13:23):
But if you do, you have consigned.
Speaker 3 (13:26):
Yourself for an eternal fire and damnation in separation from God.
Now there isn't any in between ground. I don't see
any neutrality here. The Beast demands that all men wear
his mark and give total loyalty and dedication to him.
Those who will not do so will be tortured and killed.
God's orders are also clear. No one is to receive
(13:48):
the mark of the Beast, and those who do will
be sent to an eternal fire and brimstone. You know,
the Bible cuts it pretty straight, doesn't it. Bible just
draws a line right down the middle and says, we're
the beast and go to Hell. Worship God. You may
be taken out of this life, but there's an eternity
with God yet ahead for you.
Speaker 4 (14:08):
Now.
Speaker 3 (14:09):
Doctor John Walverard, who has written a wonderful commentary on
the Book of Revelation, has written, anyone who receives the
mark of the Beast, as required in thirteen seventeen, shall
also partake of the judgment of God. As he drinks
of the wine of spiritual fornication, he will also drink
of the wine of the wrath of God. It is
described in most dramatic terms as wine that is unmixed,
(14:33):
that is untempered by the mercy and grace of God.
And these worshipers are declared to be tormented with fire
and brimstone in the presence of the Holy Angels and
in the presence of the Lamb. The same scripture, which
assures all Christians of the love of God and the
grace of God, is extended to those who trust in Christ.
Is unequivocal in its absolute statements of judgment upon the wicked.
Speaker 4 (14:56):
End of quote. Another writer by the name of J. B.
Speaker 3 (14:59):
Smith is anyone who is disposed to discredit the biblical
teaching of the eternal destiny of the wicked should be
reminded that Jesus and his beloved disciples said more in
regard to the doctrine of hell than all of the
remaining contributors to the New Testament record, and then he
cited this information. This is supported by the fact that
(15:21):
Jesus referred to Hell the word gehenna in the text
eleven out of the twelve times that it occurs in
the New Testament, Jesus said it. And Jesus made twelve
out of nineteen references to hell fire, and he used
other expressions more than any other person in the New Testament. Now,
(15:41):
sometimes we get the picture of Jesus that he's all
love and joy and peace and goodness, and he never
speaks about that other place. But that isn't true. That's
only because people have read their Bibles. Jesus spoke more
about Hell than any other writer or contributor to the
New Testament. Why, because he knew it was real. He
knew it was literal, and he knew that his responsibility
(16:03):
as the emissary of God Almighty was to warn people
lest they go there. So we have here the doom
of the defectors. And what this angel reminds everybody as
he flies across the heaven during the tribulation period. He
just gives us a little vignet. He's saying, take the
mark of the Beast if you choose. But notice what
(16:23):
the options are. Listen carefully. The torment of those who
worship the beast will last forever, but the torment of
those who refuse the mark is but for a moment,
and then there is glory forever and ever and ever.
Speaker 4 (16:37):
That's the choice, all right.
Speaker 3 (16:40):
We're looking at these little messages by the angels as
we see the end of this chapter, and we notice
number four, the Death of the Saints, Verses twelve and thirteen.
Now this is one of the great passages in all
of the Bible, in my estimation. Here we read, here
is the patience of the saints. Here are they that
keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.
And I heard a voice from heaven say unto me, right,
(17:01):
blessed are the dead which die in the Lord. From
henceforth yea saith the spirit, that they may rest from
their labors and their works do follow them. Now, the
word patience here at the beginning of this text is
a reference to endurance. Literally, the text says this here
is the endurance of the saints. These are the saints
(17:21):
that endure and remain faithful for the three and a
half years of the reign of the Beast. These saints
have become saints through the witness of the one hundred
and forty four thousand, or through the witness of the
Two Witnesses. Sometimes people say, are there going to be
any Christians in the tribulation?
Speaker 4 (17:37):
My, my, yes. In fact, we.
Speaker 3 (17:40):
Are told that there are going to be multitudes upon multitudes,
numerous people who come to Christ through the witness of
the one hundred and forty four thousand, and through the
Two Witnesses, and through people who have been saved as
a result of them, and continue to preach the Gospel
and listen to this through books that are still left,
through tapes that are still floating around. People are gonna
(18:02):
hear the word of God, and they're gonna hear tapes,
and they're gonna read books and they're gonna hear preachers
who've been preached to who've gotten saved. And the Bible
says that there are going to be multitudes of people
who are saved. Chapter seven tells us that there are
thousands of saints in the tribulation period. In fact, there
are so many that they cannot be numbered. And these
saints may have wondered about their future reward. Now think
(18:24):
about this promise. The promise here is blessed are they
who die in the Lord? Why is this promise here?
Listen carefully. These saints may wonder about their future reward.
They could not know the joy of the kingdom, and
they could not know the joy of the rapture. They
were too early for the kingdom and too late.
Speaker 4 (18:42):
For the rapture. They were in the tribulation. What's going
to happen to them?
Speaker 3 (18:47):
So the Lord just sends an angel down gives them
their own little special blessing.
Speaker 4 (18:51):
He says, their hope is this.
Speaker 3 (18:53):
If they lose their lives for faithfulness during the tribulation period,
there is a blessing just for them. Blessed are the
dead which die in, the Lord, says the angel. The
Spirit of God communicates that message. And just as the
New Testament, listen to me now, just as the New
Testament begins with the beatitudes of Jesus for the living,
(19:14):
it ends with the beatitude of Jesus for the dying.
Speaker 4 (19:18):
Even though these words.
Speaker 3 (19:19):
Were particularly written for people who died during the Tribulation period,
they are also for the saints of every generation. Blessed
are the dead who die in the Lord. And notice
what it says, these are the people who have rested.
Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord. From
henceforth the AA saith the Spirit that they may rest
(19:41):
from their labors.
Speaker 4 (19:42):
The rest that is talked about.
Speaker 3 (19:44):
In this verse, or the sleep, is a picture that
the New Testament uses consistently to describe the death of
a believer. That's the phrase, that's the word that is
used to describe how a person dies in Christ. Remember
when Jesus was at the tomb of Lazarus, he said,
our friend Zuth sleepeth, But I go to awaken him
out of sleep. But Lazarus was dead. He'd already begun
(20:05):
to decompose. Jesus said this about Jyros's daughter. Why make
ye this ado and weep? The damsel is not dead.
She sleeps, but she was dead. But you see, the
word we use for death is sleep. Paul wrote to
the Thessalonians, and we know this passage well, But I
would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them
which are asleep, that you sorrow, not even as others
(20:27):
which have no hope, For we believe that Jesus died
and rose again. Even so them also which sleep in Jesus,
will God bring with him. What does that word sleep mean?
That's what the word for death is to a Christian.
He's resting, he's sleeping. We're not talking about soul sleep.
We're just saying that the believer does not die in
(20:47):
the sense that we know death. He is just waiting
the coming of the Lord. Blessed are those who've gone
to sleep in Jesus, and one of these days their
rewards will follow them their labors. I wish more time
to talk about that, because it's a precious promise. The
Bible teaches that to us very clearly. Let's look at
number five in this text, number five, the Division of
(21:09):
the people. Here's the next vision. And I looked verses
fourteen through sixteen, and behold a white cloud, and upon
the cloud one sat like under the son of Man,
having on his head a golden crown and in his
hand a sharp sickle. And another angel came out of
the temple, crying with a loud voice to him that
sat in the cloud, thrust in thy sickle and reap,
for the time has come for thee to reap. For
the harvest of the earth is ripe. He that sat
(21:30):
in the cloud thrust in his sickle on the earth,
and the earth was reaped. Now, in order to fully
understand what's going on here, I want you to hold
your place in revelation and go back with me, if
you will, to the book of Matthew, and we're going
to look at a parable that explains what's happening here.
Look at Matthew chapter thirteen. Here we have a parable explained.
(21:51):
And he answered unto them, he that soweth the good
seed is the son of Man. The field is the world.
The good seed are the children of the Kingdom. But
the terror are the children of the wicked one. The
enemy that sowed them is the devil. The harvest is
the end of the age literally, and the reapers are
the angel as Therefore the tears are gathered and burned
(22:11):
in the fire. So shall it be in the end
of this age the Son of Man shall send forth
his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom
all things that offend and them which do iniquity, and
shall cast them into a furnace of fire. There shall
be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then shall the righteous
shine forth as the son in the kingdom of their father,
who hath ears to hear, let him hear. There is
(22:34):
another parable in this same chapter, beginning at verse forty seven,
which is exactly teaching the same thing. Notice in the
forty seventh verse again, the kingdom of Heaven is like
unto a net that was cast into the sea and
gathered of every kind, which when it was full, they
drew to shore and sat down, and gathered the good
unto vessels, and cast the bad away. So shall it
be at the end of the age the angels shall
(22:56):
come forth and sever the wicked from among the just,
and shall cast them into the furnace of fire. There
shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Now go back
to Revelation fourteen, and Revelation fourteen records the end of
the age fulfillment of these words. At the end of
the age, we are told the Son of Man comes
and an angel comes out of the temple saying they
(23:17):
should thrust in the sickle and reap, for the earth
is ripe. What this means now is that God is
going to come down to this earth at the end
of the tribulation period. There's going to be a separation
of the true Christians from those who are not Christians.
And I don't think it'll be hard to identify them.
They're all going to be marked one way or the other.
And the Lord is going to come with his sickle,
(23:38):
and he's going to thrust in his sickle, and the
scripture says he is going to reap the harvest that
day of the earth.
Speaker 2 (23:49):
There are many metaphors that are used in the Book
of Revelation to help us see and understand what is
happening here. The harvest medley is very clear. When you
read that and understand what it means, you see what
God is up to. As we mentioned at the beginning
of today's program, he is in the business of separating
the righteous from the unrighteous. I hope you get on
(24:11):
the right side of that separation. We are making available
during the month of June a very special book. It's
called In the Words of David Jeremiah. It's a quote
book with over three hundred quotes taken from published words
that I have written for books and articles.
Speaker 4 (24:29):
And some that I've done in messages.
Speaker 2 (24:32):
These quotes are separated on special pages with beautiful design,
and this book is yours. For a gift of any amount.
At Turning Point during the month of June, please ask
for your copy of this month's resource. You will treasure this.
It's a beautiful book and it's our way of saying
thank you. Have a great day.
Speaker 1 (24:56):
For more information on Doctor Jeremiah series, Escape the Coming Night,
please visit our website, where we also offer two freeways
to help you stay connected, our monthly Turning Points magazine
and our daily email devotional Sign up today at Davidjeremiah
dot org, slash radio that's Davidjeremiah dot org, slash Radio,
or call us at eight hundred ninety four seven nineteen
(25:17):
ninety three ask for your copy of the new, revised
and expanded edition of the book In the Words of
David Jeremiah, Quotable Truths to live by. It's yours for
a gift of any amount. You can also purchase the
Jeremiah Study Bible in the English Standard, New International, and
New King James versions, complete with notes and articles from
doctor Jeremiah's decades of study. Get all the details when
(25:41):
you visit our website Davidjeremiah dot org. Slash Radio, This
is David Michael Jeremiah. Join us tomorrow as we continue
the series Escape the Coming Night on Turning Point with
Doctor David Jeremiah.
The more you study the Tribulation as a Christian, the
more relief you'll feel, knowing that you'll be raptured away
before it begins. Today, on turning point, Doctor David Jeremiah
turns to Revelation chapter fourteen to set up the next
wave of terrible events that will transpire on earth before
Christ returns in ultimate victory. Listen as David introduces today's message,
(00:30):
two hundred miles of Bloodshed.
Speaker 2 (00:33):
Thank you for joining us today. You know, every great
story has a theme, and it takes a discerning reader
to get above all the details and discover it. And
let me tell you if there is a theme to
the Tribulation and the Book of Revelation, it is that
God is moving toward separating the righteous from the unrighteous.
(00:53):
Before the close of human history, we see those two
strains running side by side, the wheat and the terrors growl,
going together. But one day God will separate it and
we will not be intermingled any longer. The godly will
go to Heaven to be with Him. Those who have
put their trust in Christ will spend eternity with the
Lord Jesus Christ and the Father in heaven. And those
(01:15):
who have denied the Gospel and refused to believe will
not be in heaven, but they will be in Hell
apart from God. The separation begins even during the tribulation period,
through these times of war, and just a moment will
begin Part one, two hundred miles of bloodshed. This is
Revelation fourteen six through twenty intriguing teaching from the Book
(01:38):
of Revelation. I want you to remind yourself today to
at least consider going with us to New England in Canada.
In October the fourth of the eleventh, Don and I
will be leading a conference cruise to New England and Canada,
and we'll be sailing on Holland America's Zyderdam. We'll have
(01:59):
with us Michaels and Chez and Uriel Vega, and we
will see some of the beautiful sights of that part
of the world. We've been there a couple of times before,
and we always come away from that cruise experience thinking,
you know, I want to do this again because it's
just that much fun and it's such a beautiful place.
And we'll be teaching, and we'll be fellowshipping, and we'll
(02:19):
be enjoying each other and eating together, Oh do we
eat on these cruises, and then you would just be
glad you went. You'll be looking back at that event
as a highlight in your life. That's really true. Find
out about it today by getting in touch with us
at David Jeremiah dot org. There you will find all
you need to know to go with us on this cruise.
(02:42):
Here is part one of the message we've called two
hundred miles of Bloodshed.
Speaker 3 (02:51):
If you have ever, in your educational journey studied Greek drama,
you are aware of the fact that because Greek drama
often was portrayed with very few characters, actions that involved
a great many people were often treated in the drama
by the simple announcement as of a courier who would
(03:14):
come out to the center of the Greek stage, blow
the trumpet and make the announcement that there has just
happened a war, or that there has just happened some
great conflict between great bodies of people. In the fourteenth
chapter of the Book of Revelation, we have what is
similar to a Greek drama. Here we have a series
(03:36):
of announcements by the angels of some major dramatic events
which are about to take place. During the tribulation period.
There is in this chapter a series of visions which
are very complete in themselves and should not be expected
to be understood in any kind of chronological fashion. In
(03:57):
some respects, Chapter fourteen of the Book of Revelation, which
is in the parenthesis of the book, is.
Speaker 4 (04:02):
Like a table of contents.
Speaker 3 (04:05):
For instance, I have marked in my Bible how you
can organize the last half of the fourteenth chapter. You
need to organize the chapter around the angels. In the
sixth verse, you see I saw another angel number one,
verse eight, and there followed another angel. There's the second angel,
(04:25):
verse nine, and there was a third angel. In between
the third and the fourth angel, there is an appearance
of the Son of God. When you come to the
end of the chapter. In verse fifteen, you read and
another angel, and verse seventeen, and another angel, and verse eighteen,
and another angel. Each of these angels comes to make
(04:47):
an announcement, like on the stage in a Greek drama,
to announce some coming event in prophecy or in history
that is going to affect the nature of the people
of God who are still on this earth. Now, the
message of the first angel is recorded for us in
verses six and seven. And we shall call his message
(05:09):
the declaration of the Gospel.
Speaker 4 (05:12):
We read.
Speaker 3 (05:13):
And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven,
having the Everlasting Gospel to preach unto them that dwell
on the earth, and to every nation and kindred and
tongue and people, saying with a loud voice, fear God,
Give glory to Him, for the hour of his judgment
is come. And worship Him that made heaven and earth,
(05:34):
and the sea and the fountains of water. As we
look at this first message, we see that God has
decided to bypass the human instruments, and he swoops across
heaven with one of his angels to preach the gospel
one last time before judgment comes. And the angel preaches
(05:54):
the gospel in simple terms, reduced so that men can
understand it. It may seem that the angel had a
little gospel to preach, for he says nothing in his
message about the Gospel as we know it. He extends
nor forgiveness. He doesn't give an invitation to salvation. He
appeals to reverence and fear rather than to love. He
(06:15):
announces the hour of judgment rather than making an appeal
of salvation, and he stresses note carefully the creative work
of God. Notice what the Angel preaches. He says, worship
Him that made heaven and earth, and the sea and
the fountains of waters. The world in the day of
Tribulation will simply be what we know today, protracted through
(06:38):
many iterations until it is more profound in its declension
than we are. If we know evolution and humanism today,
think what it will be like in the tribulation period.
There won't be any godly churches around to teach them
what the scripture says. There won't be any Old Testament
preachers and teachers of the Word of God. So evolutionism
and humanism will be at a zenith. And therefore the
(07:00):
last message of the Gospel centers in on the real
need in the hearts and lives of men to acknowledge
that Jesus Christ is the creator. Now, this Gospel announcement
refers to the Gospel as the eternal Gospel. Notice what
it says he preached unto him the everlasting Gospel. And
(07:21):
that's the only place in the Bible where the Gospel
is ever called by that term the eternal Gospel. The
word eternal reminds us that the Gospel is a word
for all ages. It is always applicable in every age,
and that's what the Angel is preaching in the tribulation.
Some commentators have said, this isn't the Gospel of Jesus Christ,
this is the Gospel of the Kingdom, or this is
(07:42):
the Gospel of creation. But there's only one gospel. And Paul,
writing to the Galatian, said, if any man preach another gospel,
even if an angel comes and preaches the gospel and
it's not this gospel, then you shouldn't listen to him.
So the scripture tells us first of all that the
Angel comes and he declared, there's the gospel. That's the
first message. It's just a little vignette in the tribulation
(08:05):
period passing across the skies. Is the Angel preaching the
Gospel one last time. And it's a reminder to me,
as the book continually, is that whenever you see judgment
on the horizon, just wait and you will hear a compassionate, merciful,
loving God shouting forth one more warning to the people
who were headed toward destruction. Sometimes people say to me, well,
(08:27):
God isn't fair, and this judgment isn't right. Listen, God
has warned the people over and over and over again.
He sent one hundred and forty four thousand witnesses. He
empowered two witnesses supernaturally. Now he sends an angel to
preach the gospel, and it's almost as if nothing has happened,
because they're so committed to their unbelief. The second message
(08:47):
begins in the eighth verse, and this we shall call
the destruction of Babylon. And there followed another angel saying,
Babylon has fallen, has fallen that great city because she
made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath
of the medication. Now we don't have time to go
into this in a great detail, because in the seventeenth
and eighteenth chapter of Revelation, both of those chapters are
given over in entirety to the discussion of Babylon as
(09:10):
it is presented in the Book of Revelation. But Babylon
is mentioned here for the very first time in the
Book of Revelation. It is a preliminary announcement to the
final overthrow of the city and of the system known
as Babylon. Now, if you want to know what something means,
in the Bible, there is a law of interpretation called
the law of first mention?
Speaker 4 (09:31):
Do you know what that is?
Speaker 3 (09:33):
Usually, if you go back and find out when something
is mentioned the first time in the Bible, in that
mentioning of it, you will find out what it's all about.
Let's think for a moment about Babylon. Babylon, of course,
as you know, was mentioned in Genesis ten and eleven.
It was the city founded by a rebel whose name
(09:53):
was Nimrod, you remember him. And that Babylon grew into
the first great gentile world power, or that was going
to ultimately one day abuse the nations of the world.
That Babylon was a proud and idolatrous people. Isaiah the
Prophet says this about Babylon in Isaiah twenty one to nine.
Babylon is fallen, is fallen, and all the graven images
(10:17):
of her gods he hath broken unto the ground. Jeremiah
the Prophet says it this way. Babylon is the land
of graven images, and they are mad upon their idols. Now,
when you see the word Babylon in the Book of Revelation,
it means one of two things. Either the literal city
which will be reconstructed during the tribulation time and be
(10:38):
the center of the false prophet and all of the
workings of Satan. Or it means the system that is
associated with that city. Babylon is God's name for the
world's system of the beast. Babylon is a warning that
the easy way is really not the right way. And
when you understand that, you will understand why during the
(11:00):
period of time in history, during this period of time
in prophecy, during the tribulation period, that whole city and
its system is going to be destroyed. In fact, the
reason the word fallen is repeated is in order to
give an emphasis. In other words, Babylon is fallen, is fallen.
The prophet looks at it as if it is already accomplished.
Speaker 4 (11:20):
And the system, which.
Speaker 3 (11:21):
Is in opposition to God and to the Church and
to the Word of God, it's already doomed. It's already
looked upon by the prophet as if it is finished.
Then we come to the third message in verses nine
through eleven, and we shall call that message the doom
of the defectors. And the third angel followed them, saying
with a loud voice, if any man worship the Beast
(11:43):
and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead
or in his hand. The same shall drink of the
wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out
without mixture, into the cup of his indignation. And he
shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence
of the Holy Angels, and in the presence of the Lamb,
and the smoke of their torment ascendeth up forever and ever,
and they have no rest day nor night. Who worship
(12:05):
the Beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark
of his name. Now, this announcement by this angel just
sort of puts in very concise terms what the options
are for people who live during the tribulation.
Speaker 4 (12:18):
Here. They are very clearly.
Speaker 3 (12:21):
Worship the Beast and be damned by God, or worship
God and be damned by the Beast.
Speaker 4 (12:28):
You can't say it any clear in that. That's what
this message is.
Speaker 3 (12:31):
The message by the angel is to those who have
thought about taking the mark of the Beast to get
out from under the pressure. You know the story of
the thirteenth chapter, that the Beast has organized a system
whereby if you don't have six sixty six stamped in
your head or on your right hand. You can't buy,
you can't sell, you can't work, you can't function. And
(12:52):
the Christians who will not give obedience to the Beast
have refused to take the mark. Can you imagine the
pressure they must have felt to acquiesce. I think I
could handle it for myself. But if I had little children,
if I had a family, and my family was starving
and they couldn't eat, and someone came to me and said, listen,
all you got to do is take the mark and
(13:13):
you can go and buy food. What pressure? But the
Lord comes through the Angel and says, let me tell
you. You can buy food for a moment if you take
the mark of the Beast.
Speaker 4 (13:23):
But if you do, you have consigned.
Speaker 3 (13:26):
Yourself for an eternal fire and damnation in separation from God.
Now there isn't any in between ground. I don't see
any neutrality here. The Beast demands that all men wear
his mark and give total loyalty and dedication to him.
Those who will not do so will be tortured and killed.
God's orders are also clear. No one is to receive
(13:48):
the mark of the Beast, and those who do will
be sent to an eternal fire and brimstone. You know,
the Bible cuts it pretty straight, doesn't it. Bible just
draws a line right down the middle and says, we're
the beast and go to Hell. Worship God. You may
be taken out of this life, but there's an eternity
with God yet ahead for you.
Speaker 4 (14:08):
Now.
Speaker 3 (14:09):
Doctor John Walverard, who has written a wonderful commentary on
the Book of Revelation, has written, anyone who receives the
mark of the Beast, as required in thirteen seventeen, shall
also partake of the judgment of God. As he drinks
of the wine of spiritual fornication, he will also drink
of the wine of the wrath of God. It is
described in most dramatic terms as wine that is unmixed,
(14:33):
that is untempered by the mercy and grace of God.
And these worshipers are declared to be tormented with fire
and brimstone in the presence of the Holy Angels and
in the presence of the Lamb. The same scripture, which
assures all Christians of the love of God and the
grace of God, is extended to those who trust in Christ.
Is unequivocal in its absolute statements of judgment upon the wicked.
Speaker 4 (14:56):
End of quote. Another writer by the name of J. B.
Speaker 3 (14:59):
Smith is anyone who is disposed to discredit the biblical
teaching of the eternal destiny of the wicked should be
reminded that Jesus and his beloved disciples said more in
regard to the doctrine of hell than all of the
remaining contributors to the New Testament record, and then he
cited this information. This is supported by the fact that
(15:21):
Jesus referred to Hell the word gehenna in the text
eleven out of the twelve times that it occurs in
the New Testament, Jesus said it. And Jesus made twelve
out of nineteen references to hell fire, and he used
other expressions more than any other person in the New Testament. Now,
(15:41):
sometimes we get the picture of Jesus that he's all
love and joy and peace and goodness, and he never
speaks about that other place. But that isn't true. That's
only because people have read their Bibles. Jesus spoke more
about Hell than any other writer or contributor to the
New Testament. Why, because he knew it was real. He
knew it was literal, and he knew that his responsibility
(16:03):
as the emissary of God Almighty was to warn people
lest they go there. So we have here the doom
of the defectors. And what this angel reminds everybody as
he flies across the heaven during the tribulation period. He
just gives us a little vignet. He's saying, take the
mark of the Beast if you choose. But notice what
(16:23):
the options are. Listen carefully. The torment of those who
worship the beast will last forever, but the torment of
those who refuse the mark is but for a moment,
and then there is glory forever and ever and ever.
Speaker 4 (16:37):
That's the choice, all right.
Speaker 3 (16:40):
We're looking at these little messages by the angels as
we see the end of this chapter, and we notice
number four, the Death of the Saints, Verses twelve and thirteen.
Now this is one of the great passages in all
of the Bible, in my estimation. Here we read, here
is the patience of the saints. Here are they that
keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.
And I heard a voice from heaven say unto me, right,
(17:01):
blessed are the dead which die in the Lord. From
henceforth yea saith the spirit, that they may rest from
their labors and their works do follow them. Now, the
word patience here at the beginning of this text is
a reference to endurance. Literally, the text says this here
is the endurance of the saints. These are the saints
(17:21):
that endure and remain faithful for the three and a
half years of the reign of the Beast. These saints
have become saints through the witness of the one hundred
and forty four thousand, or through the witness of the
Two Witnesses. Sometimes people say, are there going to be
any Christians in the tribulation?
Speaker 4 (17:37):
My, my, yes. In fact, we.
Speaker 3 (17:40):
Are told that there are going to be multitudes upon multitudes,
numerous people who come to Christ through the witness of
the one hundred and forty four thousand, and through the
Two Witnesses, and through people who have been saved as
a result of them, and continue to preach the Gospel
and listen to this through books that are still left,
through tapes that are still floating around. People are gonna
(18:02):
hear the word of God, and they're gonna hear tapes,
and they're gonna read books and they're gonna hear preachers
who've been preached to who've gotten saved. And the Bible
says that there are going to be multitudes of people
who are saved. Chapter seven tells us that there are
thousands of saints in the tribulation period. In fact, there
are so many that they cannot be numbered. And these
saints may have wondered about their future reward. Now think
(18:24):
about this promise. The promise here is blessed are they
who die in the Lord? Why is this promise here?
Listen carefully. These saints may wonder about their future reward.
They could not know the joy of the kingdom, and
they could not know the joy of the rapture. They
were too early for the kingdom and too late.
Speaker 4 (18:42):
For the rapture. They were in the tribulation. What's going
to happen to them?
Speaker 3 (18:47):
So the Lord just sends an angel down gives them
their own little special blessing.
Speaker 4 (18:51):
He says, their hope is this.
Speaker 3 (18:53):
If they lose their lives for faithfulness during the tribulation period,
there is a blessing just for them. Blessed are the
dead which die in, the Lord, says the angel. The
Spirit of God communicates that message. And just as the
New Testament, listen to me now, just as the New
Testament begins with the beatitudes of Jesus for the living,
(19:14):
it ends with the beatitude of Jesus for the dying.
Speaker 4 (19:18):
Even though these words.
Speaker 3 (19:19):
Were particularly written for people who died during the Tribulation period,
they are also for the saints of every generation. Blessed
are the dead who die in the Lord. And notice
what it says, these are the people who have rested.
Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord. From
henceforth the AA saith the Spirit that they may rest
(19:41):
from their labors.
Speaker 4 (19:42):
The rest that is talked about.
Speaker 3 (19:44):
In this verse, or the sleep, is a picture that
the New Testament uses consistently to describe the death of
a believer. That's the phrase, that's the word that is
used to describe how a person dies in Christ. Remember
when Jesus was at the tomb of Lazarus, he said,
our friend Zuth sleepeth, But I go to awaken him
out of sleep. But Lazarus was dead. He'd already begun
(20:05):
to decompose. Jesus said this about Jyros's daughter. Why make
ye this ado and weep? The damsel is not dead.
She sleeps, but she was dead. But you see, the
word we use for death is sleep. Paul wrote to
the Thessalonians, and we know this passage well, But I
would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them
which are asleep, that you sorrow, not even as others
(20:27):
which have no hope, For we believe that Jesus died
and rose again. Even so them also which sleep in Jesus,
will God bring with him. What does that word sleep mean?
That's what the word for death is to a Christian.
He's resting, he's sleeping. We're not talking about soul sleep.
We're just saying that the believer does not die in
(20:47):
the sense that we know death. He is just waiting
the coming of the Lord. Blessed are those who've gone
to sleep in Jesus, and one of these days their
rewards will follow them their labors. I wish more time
to talk about that, because it's a precious promise. The
Bible teaches that to us very clearly. Let's look at
number five in this text, number five, the Division of
(21:09):
the people. Here's the next vision. And I looked verses
fourteen through sixteen, and behold a white cloud, and upon
the cloud one sat like under the son of Man,
having on his head a golden crown and in his
hand a sharp sickle. And another angel came out of
the temple, crying with a loud voice to him that
sat in the cloud, thrust in thy sickle and reap,
for the time has come for thee to reap. For
the harvest of the earth is ripe. He that sat
(21:30):
in the cloud thrust in his sickle on the earth,
and the earth was reaped. Now, in order to fully
understand what's going on here, I want you to hold
your place in revelation and go back with me, if
you will, to the book of Matthew, and we're going
to look at a parable that explains what's happening here.
Look at Matthew chapter thirteen. Here we have a parable explained.
(21:51):
And he answered unto them, he that soweth the good
seed is the son of Man. The field is the world.
The good seed are the children of the Kingdom. But
the terror are the children of the wicked one. The
enemy that sowed them is the devil. The harvest is
the end of the age literally, and the reapers are
the angel as Therefore the tears are gathered and burned
(22:11):
in the fire. So shall it be in the end
of this age the Son of Man shall send forth
his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom
all things that offend and them which do iniquity, and
shall cast them into a furnace of fire. There shall
be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then shall the righteous
shine forth as the son in the kingdom of their father,
who hath ears to hear, let him hear. There is
(22:34):
another parable in this same chapter, beginning at verse forty seven,
which is exactly teaching the same thing. Notice in the
forty seventh verse again, the kingdom of Heaven is like
unto a net that was cast into the sea and
gathered of every kind, which when it was full, they
drew to shore and sat down, and gathered the good
unto vessels, and cast the bad away. So shall it
be at the end of the age the angels shall
(22:56):
come forth and sever the wicked from among the just,
and shall cast them into the furnace of fire. There
shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Now go back
to Revelation fourteen, and Revelation fourteen records the end of
the age fulfillment of these words. At the end of
the age, we are told the Son of Man comes
and an angel comes out of the temple saying they
(23:17):
should thrust in the sickle and reap, for the earth
is ripe. What this means now is that God is
going to come down to this earth at the end
of the tribulation period. There's going to be a separation
of the true Christians from those who are not Christians.
And I don't think it'll be hard to identify them.
They're all going to be marked one way or the other.
And the Lord is going to come with his sickle,
(23:38):
and he's going to thrust in his sickle, and the
scripture says he is going to reap the harvest that
day of the earth.
Speaker 2 (23:49):
There are many metaphors that are used in the Book
of Revelation to help us see and understand what is
happening here. The harvest medley is very clear. When you
read that and understand what it means, you see what
God is up to. As we mentioned at the beginning
of today's program, he is in the business of separating
the righteous from the unrighteous. I hope you get on
(24:11):
the right side of that separation. We are making available
during the month of June a very special book. It's
called In the Words of David Jeremiah. It's a quote
book with over three hundred quotes taken from published words
that I have written for books and articles.
Speaker 4 (24:29):
And some that I've done in messages.
Speaker 2 (24:32):
These quotes are separated on special pages with beautiful design,
and this book is yours. For a gift of any amount.
At Turning Point during the month of June, please ask
for your copy of this month's resource. You will treasure this.
It's a beautiful book and it's our way of saying
thank you. Have a great day.
Speaker 1 (24:56):
For more information on Doctor Jeremiah series, Escape the Coming Night,
please visit our website, where we also offer two freeways
to help you stay connected, our monthly Turning Points magazine
and our daily email devotional Sign up today at Davidjeremiah
dot org, slash radio that's Davidjeremiah dot org, slash Radio,
or call us at eight hundred ninety four seven nineteen
(25:17):
ninety three ask for your copy of the new, revised
and expanded edition of the book In the Words of
David Jeremiah, Quotable Truths to live by. It's yours for
a gift of any amount. You can also purchase the
Jeremiah Study Bible in the English Standard, New International, and
New King James versions, complete with notes and articles from
doctor Jeremiah's decades of study. Get all the details when
(25:41):
you visit our website Davidjeremiah dot org. Slash Radio, This
is David Michael Jeremiah. Join us tomorrow as we continue
the series Escape the Coming Night on Turning Point with
Doctor David Jeremiah.
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