Welcome to Truth Matters Church, contending for the faith one verse at a time. In today's message, Pastor Alex continues his introduction to Revelation, laying the foundation for our study by looking at some of the homework we'll need to do in order to get a full understanding of this book. We'll see how the Old Testament is critical to grasping Revelation. We invite you to subscribe to this podcast and visit us at truthmatterschurch.org. Here is Pastor Alex. I also want to talk a little bit about the structure. I know last week I did a lot of just, it was just more of a sermon style. This isn't necessarily a church style. This is supposed to be, this is a Bible study kind of classroom setting. Now the challenge is if we start to get more people, we might not make much progress. And as you know, we'll have a lot to cover. So we do intend this to be interactive, but I'm thinking what we can do is I'll set time aside at the end so that we can start to converse about the material. Now one of the things is, what's pretty cool about at least the pastors in a typical church setting, when they preach, they go away and you can't ask them anything. They're off the hook. Me, you can be like, Alex, what do you mean by this? Explain that further, defend that with scripture more. So I'm like, I'm more accountable in that way, but it's good because it'll keep me on my toes and accountable. before you and before God and hopefully you can start to grapple with some of the content that we'll be going over because sometimes it can get pretty heavy. It can be sometimes controversial and things like that. So it's good for us to talk these through as we go through this study. I also want to mention, I mentioned last week, We're going to study the book of Revelation. That's what we're here to do. We're going to go from cover to cover, from chapter 1 to chapter 22. And I mentioned last week, we probably won't get into it, until about maybe week three or so. And as I started to continue to prep and put this together, I wanted to cherry pick just Daniel 70 week because in that prophecy, he does account for the latter times. And what I'm finding is, Pretty much all of Daniel's visions concerning the end time is very important for us to even have a chance to understand this book. And I want to suggest to you, I think a lot of times why revelation is so misunderstood, it's really a lack of knowledge of the Old Testament at the end of the day. I think we're a New Testament church, we're New Testament believers. I think I can understand why we're focused on the New Testament, the gospel, Jesus, everything, and that's all good. But there wouldn't be a New Testament without an Old Testament. And what I'm finding is at least when revelation is being taught, I'm thinking the Old Testament is getting shorted and it opens up to a lot of subjectivity and interpretations when in fact the Old Testament gives us the foundation. So Daniel is a big part of that. So we're gonna be doing a mini series on Daniel. on his visions and interpretations as it relates to the end times. We're not gonna go through all of Daniel, but only the visions and interpretations that God has given him concerning the latter days. Because when we open Revelation, we're gonna see it's a continuation in more detail of the latter days. So we need to have at least that backdrop. So we probably won't get to Revelation for another few weeks. But this is still, I mean, this is still a revelation study, but we're still continuing to lay that foundation. Amen? And kind of look at it this way. How many of us watched Karate Kid? Okay, for those of you who haven't watched Karate Kid, kind of the short of it is, right, there was this teen, right, new kid in town, and he was getting bullied, and he met this old man named Mr. Miyagi, and Mr. Miyagi turned out to be a master karate guy. And then they ended up developing a relationship and a friendship. And then Mr. Miyagi started to teach him karate to be able to defend himself ultimately, because they had that relationship and bond. And if you follow this movie, remember when he was training him? Wax on, wax off, wax on, wax off. We were like, that wasn't karate. Or he'd do sand the floor, sand the floor, right? And then paint the fence. And finally, Daniel got to the point, LaRusso, because he was just following everything he's doing. And he's like, we've done everything but karate. And he kind of lost it. And then finally, he said, show me what you've learned. And he ended up, he didn't realize he was learning karate. So let me just say this, when we're doing Daniel, it's like sand the floor. It's like wax on, wax off. It's like painting the fence, because it is the backdrop. And then you're not realizing, you're like, what does this have to do with Revelation? You'll understand it has everything to do with Revelation. because God gave Daniel specific visions and interpretations concerning the things that are to come. And then we know that John was given that finishing touch of the vision and puts the capstone of all of scripture. So just bear with me when we're going through the book of Daniel and just kinda keep the karate kid. If you're thinking, what does this have to do? Just stay the course and hopefully it'll all come together I think that that's about it. So what we'll do is we'll pick up in our first part of our study. We had five questions that we were looking to set the foundation for. We left off in the fourth question. So what we'll do is we'll pick up in the fifth question. And then we're going to pause and we're going to kind of go back through the material. And this is where the interaction is going to come. So we're going to spend much of today finishing this and then reconciling what we've learned in this material. And then we'll begin our mini series on Daniel. Sound good? All right, let's pick up where we left off. We finished up our fourth question as we're setting the foundation on the rules of engagement on how we're going to interpret the book of Revelation. So we've covered question four, how is it to be interpreted. Now let's go to question five. Again, as a reminder, these are some fundamentals, some foundational groundwork, some disciplines that we'll need to have under us. so that when we open up the book of Revelation, it'll give us the best chance to understand truth. So what do you need to understand? We're studying the book of Revelation. What do you need to know to understand the book of Revelation? And here are some things. This isn't all exhaustive, but here are just some things that I think are important. We do need to have some familiarity of Old Testament prophecies and promises. We need to have some knowledge of the Old Testament, and as I mentioned in our introductory discussions, the Old Testament is the foundation. Don't look at the Bible as, you know, the Old Testament was completed when Christ came and the New Testament pretty much takes us until Christ comes back. No. The Old Testament is the foundation of the new, and they're built upon the cornerstone, who is Christ. So the Old Testament is still relevant today. If you're wondering, have all the prophecies in the Old Testament been fulfilled? Well, the answer is no. There are promises that have been yet fulfilled, and it's all surrounding the second coming of Christ and the people and land of Israel, as we will see. But here are some things at least we need to know about the Old Testament. We're all probably familiar with the fall account. Remember when Adam sinned, Adam and Eve sinned, and God began to pronounce judgment for them listening to Satan and Adam to his wife. When God was pronouncing judgment at the fall, he prophesied to Satan in the midst of judgment. So Satan was there in the garden, and let me read that to you. It's very familiar to us. Genesis 3.15, and I, God is speaking here, pronouncing judgment, will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed. He shall bruise you on the head, and you shall bruise him on the heel. What I want to call out here as we read the fall, you might gloss over it, but this was prophecy. When Satan deceived Eve and tempted her to take of the fruit, and then in turn Eve gave some to Adam, and then when God appeared, And you know the story, they all were hiding, and they heard God coming, and they tried to cover themselves with leaves. You all know the story. But because of their disobedience and sin, God began to pronounce judgment, right, to Satan, to the woman, and to the man. for their participation in the fall. But when God was pronouncing judgment to Satan there in the garden who entered into the serpent, He says, I'm going to put enmity between you and the woman and between your seed and her seed. Now, the good thing about us and why we have an advantage is the word of God is progressive revelation. So when you start with the book of Genesis and you continue on in the Bible, God is progressively revealing his redemptive will and plan. And where we have an advantage today is that's all done. His revelation, the revelation of His redemptive will and plan has been fully revealed to mankind, and it is encompassed in the Word of God from Genesis to Revelation. But now when you take into account all of God's progressive revelation, here's what you're going to find. I'm going to input some personal subjects here now in this prophecy. And this is because I took into account what progressive revelation gave us, what further revelation God gave us in scripture. So let me insert the subject of this prophecy and hopefully this will become even clearer. Here's what the prophecy and here's the people or persons or beings being talked about. Let me reread it, look, and I, God, will put enmity between you, Satan, and the woman, catch this, Israel. You're like, but wait, he was talking to Eve, the woman at the fall, but when you take all of Revelation and the imagery that God uses to describe the people of Israel, you will see she is the woman. And when we get into the book of Revelation, he goes, I see a sign in heaven, a woman giving birth. We need to follow the divine revelation that God has given us, and you will see that when the woman is referred to, at least here, generally speaking, it is Israel. Look, I'll put enmity between you, Satan, and Israel, and between your seed, who's Satan's seed, ultimately Antichrist, and her seed, Israel's Messiah. He, Israel's Messiah, shall bruise you, Antichrist, on the head. And that's a crushing blow. And you, Satan, shall bruise him, who's Israel's Messiah, on the heel. When we read Genesis just by itself, you don't get that. But when you take a look of all of Scripture and the further revelation that God has given us, here's what it tells us. There's gonna be a showdown. between Satan's seed, Antichrist, and Israel's seed, Messiah. That's in store in the end times. That was prophesied from the very beginning of scripture in the fall. We're like, really? Yes, it was there. You need to know this. That's why when we open up Revelation, we're going to see someone arrive on the scene whom Paul calls the man of lawlessness, whom Daniel calls a man who utters great arrogance and boasts. You know, these prophets are telling us of this man who is coming, and look, it all ties down to the very beginning at the fall. So it's continued progressive revelation. So we need to understand that. Antichrist was prophesied at the fall, and so was Israel's Messiah. And Israel's Messiah will prevail. We gotta get that. Here's another thing we need to know. We have to have some basic understanding of the Abrahamic covenant. Let me read a passage here for reference, Genesis 15, 18. On that day, the Lord made a covenant with Abram saying to your descendants, and who are they ultimately? Israel, I have given this land from the river of Egypt as far as the great river, the river Euphrates. Not to get too much into it, but just know the call of Abram. God called Abram out of his pagan family. And he says, go to a land that I will show you. So he left his father's house. God engaged in conversation with this man named Abram, and he made a covenant with him. He's saying, I'm going to give you a land and I'm going to give you many descendants. And as you follow the story of Abram, God later changed his name to Abraham. But what we need to understand as we start to open up the book of Revelation, just understand that God made a covenant with this man, Abram, whom he later named Abraham. And let me say this, when God makes a covenant, He will fulfill it. God is not like a man that he should lie. God will always keep his promises. Here's another thing. Despite your performance, God will always keep his covenant. So as part of the Abrahamic covenant, he gave Abraham and his descendants the land of Israel. You know, fortunately for us, Israel, not so long ago in our history, 1948, they were reborn as a nation. And the land of Israel, as we know it today, is called Israel. You know, some, depending on, you know, who you want to acknowledge as power, you know, Palestine. But the land of Israel, God made a promise to Abraham way back towards, you know, early, early history. And he says, Abraham, That land, the land of Israel in the Middle East, that's yours and your descendants. God made a promise. That's why it's called the Holy Land, because God made a covenant with Abram. That's part of the Abrahamic covenant. We need to get that. And I mentioned God later changed his name from Abram to Abraham, and let me read that portion of text, Genesis 17, 6 and 7. I, God speaking, will make you, Abraham, exceedingly fruitful, and I will make nations of you, and kings will come forth from you. I will establish my covenant between me and you and to your descendants, Israel, after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant to be God to you and to your descendants after you. So one of the things we also need to understand, when God made a covenant with Abraham, He says it is an everlasting covenant. There is no expiration date. So here we are several thousand years removed from when God entered into this covenant with Abraham. That doesn't change the fact that that God said that is for Abraham and his descendants forever. And I don't wanna get too much into it, just know that there are two types of Abraham's descendants. There's descendants according to faith, and there's descendants according to the flesh. Obviously, for those of us who are in Christ, who are believers, we are Abraham's descendants of faith, that's true. But here in this prophecy, the descendants and the land, the Middle East, The land of Israel, that is given to Abraham's physical descendants after him, and that's an everlasting covenant. So there's a dispute in the land as we know it today. It's live and well. And there is a reason why it's a hotly contested land. And ultimately it boils down to this Abrahamic covenant. Interestingly enough, um, you know, while, when Trump was in, was still in office, uh, and one of the peace treaties that he signed, um, or helped orchestrate, I should say among, you know, the middle East nations was called the Abraham accord. So there's a dispute from the Arabs and the Israelis as to who are really Abraham's descendants and whose land it belongs to. So it's a holy dispute. But just know it all starts from here. What's going on there is not a coincidence. And the word of God gives us the genesis in Genesis of even that conflict. But we need to understand Abrahamic covenant. Have that, that land of Israel was given to Abraham and to his descendants. And if you follow the story of Abraham, the promise went from Abraham to Isaac. And then Isaac had Jacob and Esau. But if you follow the promise that God has made with Abraham here, the Abrahamic covenant, it went from Abraham to Isaac, and then from Isaac to Jacob. And when you follow the story, you'll realize there was a lot of manipulation that was trying to be done. There was a lot of man's effort that was all mixed up in that thing. But as Romans 9 tells us, the promise doesn't depend on man's will or effort, but on God, who ultimately is sovereign in his promise. So the promise, the Abrahamic covenant follows Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, whose name was later changed to Israel. And ultimately, from Jacob's line, we get the 12 tribes of Israel. Now there was some movement, within there, but just know ultimately the 12 tribes of Israel comes from Jacob. So the Abrahamic covenant and the land, the holy land, was promised to the people of Israel. We gotta get that, gotta get that. Now for those who are of the other faith, let's say of the Muslim faith, they're gonna have an issue with that. I didn't set the terms, God did. And of course, as we know in the Muslim religion, they're not going to acknowledge scripture as the word of God. They're going to acknowledge their Koran. But at least according to scripture, the holy land was given to Abraham and his descendants, the people of Israel, as an everlasting covenant. And what did I say earlier? When God makes a promise, he will fulfill it. They will inherit the land. But as we'll see, not without much tribulation before that happens to them. So let's keep going. What else do we need to understand? God made a lot of covenants. or several covenants, I should say, and one of them, it's the Mosaic covenant through Moses. We're all familiar with Moses. In Exodus 24, eight, and this was after the people of Israel reaffirmed their covenant with God. We'll pick it up, Exodus 24, verse eight. So Moses took the blood and sprinkled it on the people and said, behold, the blood of the covenant, which the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words. God made a blood covenant with the people of Israel. And we know for those of us in Christ, Christ made a new covenant in his blood. So for believers in Christ, we are Christ's new covenant people. But just know that the people of Israel are still God's blood covenant people. Here's another thing we need to understand. In all of Scripture, whenever you see God's people, 100% of the time, it's always the people of Israel. Here's where it gets a little confusing, because we're believers, aren't we God's people? In Scripture, that title, God's people, is reserved for the people of Israel. They are his people, they will always be his people. They're his covenant people, they're his blood covenant people, they will always be his people. Now, as we know, they don't, for the most part, have rejected Christ as Messiah. And that's part of their discipline and punishment. But the time will come, and Paul tells us this in Romans 9, where, you know, because of their rebellion, The gospel came to us, but the time is gonna come when God is going to go back and give them grace. And as we'll see when we get into the book of Revelation, he sealed 144,000 of them. So the people of Israel, God's people, they're still his people. Now whether or not they're saved is really at the end, whether or not they accept Christ as Messiah or not. But they're still his covenant people. Also, there are several mentions in the Old Testament about God making good on the promise of the blood covenant and not abandoning them forever. And I just wanted to use one scripture reference for an example, Zechariah 9.11. It says there, as for you, and this is all the tribes of Israel, as for you, all the tribes of Israel, also because of the blood of my covenant with you, I have set your prisoners free from the waterless pit. And this is a study in and of itself, but just know that this describes Messiah's activities at the end time to rescue them, to set prisoners free, and there's much more there. But just know that God entered into a blood covenant with the people of Israel, and although they didn't fulfill their end of the bargain, God is still gonna fulfill His, and He will come to their aid and rescue towards the end. Christ will personally do it Himself. So that's in store for the people of Israel at the latter days. Here's another thing that we need to understand. You see, there's a lot. These are things we need to at least have some understanding of it. We need to have an understanding in order for us to understand the book of Revelation and what's in store there, we have to also understand the Davidic kingdom. You're like, the Davidic kingdom? You know King David? We need to understand his kingdom because when you get to the book of Revelation in chapter 20, There's this thousand-year millennial reign. Where's that from? Well, you need to understand the Davidic kingdom and the promise that God made to King David. So let's read that account. And I picked 2 Samuel 7. And the context here, what was happening, you know, David wanted to make a temple for God. He goes, here am I living in palaces, and the Ark of the Covenant is sitting in tents. And he wanted to make a house for God. And God pretty much told David, David, you did good. I mean, that was a good thought. But you have blood on your hands, and you're not gonna make the house for me. But he goes, but your son Solomon will. But that was the context is, God is responding to his desire for wanting to build a kingdom, but God says, I'm gonna do something else for you, David. Let's read that, 2 Samuel 7. We'll pick it up in verse eight. Now therefore, thus you, and this was Nathan, who was the prophet at that time, shall say to my servant David, thus says the Lord of hosts, I took you, David, from the pasture, from following the sheep, to be ruler over my people Israel. I have been with you, David, wherever you, David, have gone and have cut off all your enemies from before you, David. And I will make you, David, a great name, like the names of the great men who are on the earth. I will also appoint a place for my people Israel and will plant them. And they, my people Israel, may live in their own place and not be disturbed again, nor will the wicked Afflict them any more as formerly even from the day that I commanded judges to be over my people Israel And I will give you my people Israel rest from all your enemies the Lord declares to you and he's speaking to David Catch this That the Lord will make a house for you. Hey David you wanted to make a house for me Check this out. I'm gonna make a house for you. I Let's keep going. When your David's days are complete, and you, David, lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your descendant, and I put in there, it's Messiah, ultimately, after you, who will come forth from you, David, and I will establish his kingdom. Because when you follow the Davidic kingdom, following David, Solomon, and the kings thereafter, we know that their kingdom didn't stand, but yet he says, I will establish his kingdom. Who's his? God is prophesying to David about Messiah's kingdom. Verse 13, he, and he's speaking of Messiah, shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his, speaking of Messiah's kingdom forever. So are we following along? David wanted to make a house for God. God says you did well wanting to make a house but instead David I'm gonna make you a house and I'm gonna establish his kingdom and he's speaking about Messiah and he's saying Messiah will build a house for my name. Did you know that when Jesus comes back, He will build a house for God's name? And He will establish the throne, the Father is that is, of His Messiah's kingdom forever. That is one of God's promises. But let's keep going, verse 13. Or verse 14, I will be a father to him. Here's where it gets a little confusing. Because here God is talking about Messiah on one breath, and then now he's talking about Solomon in another breath, and you need to pay attention. How do we know he's talking about Solomon here? It becomes evident. And I will correct him, Solomon, with the rod of men and the strokes of the sons of men, but my loving kindness shall not depart from him, Solomon, as I took it away from Saul, whom I removed from before you, David. Your, David's house, and your Messiah's kingdom shall endure before me forever. Your Messiah's throne shall be established forever in accordance with all these words and all this vision. So Nathan spoke to David. So when you follow this promise, you're like, wow, God, you made some pretty incredible promises. And we just cut the story short. When you when you read David's response, he's like, who am I? Oh, God, that you would have some such thoughts of me. It's like, wow. Oh, God, I am blown away by your kindness that you're showing to your servant, David. But he says, but let it be according to your word. God says, well, David is just like this. And he goes, you will be done, O God. And God promised a kingdom for David, and Messiah's kingdom will be established forever. We need to get this idea that there's this kingdom. Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done where? In heaven or on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the power and the power and the kingdom forever. Amen. It's in our Lord's prayer that his kingdom come. And this kingdom was promised in the Old Testament to the people of Israel, and in this case, to King David. So we have to understand this Davidic kingdom that God promised that he will establish, and it's Messiah's throne. We gotta get that. Then, when we start to unpack the book of Revelation, we're gonna see how we're gonna get there. Here are some additional considerations. Read Ezekiel, read Jeremiah, read Zephaniah, read Zechariah, read it. It's pretty much all prophecy concerning Israel's rebellion throughout their history, and a lot of it is also God rescuing them at the end. That's what much of the Old Testament, the major prophets is all about. It's pronouncing judgment to Israel for their sin, and as we'll see, where that sin took them, but then also within their, it's all over the Old Testament. Countless for us to go over that God, Messiah Himself, Jesus Christ, will physically come and rescue the people of Israel out of captivity. He will break the bonds of chains. He will lead them into the promised land. And here's another thing that we gotta keep in mind. Pattern is prophecy. We gotta kinda catch that a little bit because what you'll see is when you look at what happened in, you know, recorded for us in Scripture, a lot of times those are pictures of it just happens and it happens again and it's a consistent picture until ultimately that comes to fruition. And as we'll see when we get into one of our studies concerning the Book of Daniel and the vision and the dream that Nebuchadnezzar had concerning this great statue, we're also going to see how that comes into play at the end time. So what Nebuchadnezzar did, what Babylon did, as they were in power, some similarities is gonna happen towards the end of time. So there are stories in the Bible that are true historical events, but there are also pictures of what's in store for the future. So we need to stay with the themes of scripture to be able to understand what's gonna happen next. So God is predictable. God is the same yesterday, today and forever. How he dealt with Israel's rebellion in the past is how he'll deal with it in the present and in the future. But ultimately there will come a time of grace for them. So we need to, we just know that it's all over the Bible, all over the Old Testament of Messiah's activity in the end time. And as I mentioned, the people of Israel, will always be God's chosen people. And here is a verse to help hammer that home. Deuteronomy 7.6, for you, he's speaking to Israel, are a holy people to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you, and he's talking about Israel, to be a people for his own possession out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. they will always have that identification. And that supports that. So God will fulfill every promise made to them in the Old Testament. He will make good on his promise. But here's the thing, when we get to Daniel's prophecies, the 70-week prophecy, where at the end of that prophecy it says, he will make an end for their sin, atone for their sin, bring in everlasting righteousness, and ultimately a kingdom. He's gonna fulfill all that He's promised them, all the promises in the Old Testament. What did Jesus say? Not one promise or prophecy in all of the Bible won't be fulfilled. Every single one will be fulfilled. And as we look at the Old Testament and you read it, there's a lot still yet unfulfilled, and it all surrounds the people and the land of Israel. So we need to understand this. What else do we need to know? You're like, wow, I thought, aren't we just gonna open up the book? Well, there's more things we need to know. You know the biblical feasts in the Bible? You're like, oh, but none of us are, we're not in Judaism. Many of us aren't Jews and observing the festivals. God is very specific. I'll say that. And we need to have familiarity with the biblical feasts. Why? Because they're markers of when prophecy will be fulfilled. They're markers. So when God tells the people of Israel, and he sets a day aside, and he says, let's call it a holy convocation, and he gives the instruction on what that's to be, and it's on a certain month, on a certain day, and he gives the certain time period, God is not just doing that for kicks and giggles. It's very specific. So we need to be familiar with the feasts because they all have prophetic implications and fulfillment. Here are some examples as we know our Lord Jesus Christ. How about this? When was the Passover to be killed according to the stipulations of Passover that God has given the people of Israel? Nisan 14, at twilight. When was Jesus killed? Nisan 14, at twilight. The feast of unleavened bread. was also a picture of Christ being placed in a tomb. Oh, the Feast of Firstfruits that follows there. When did God, Jesus, rise from the dead and present himself as a firstfruits offering before God on the Feast of Firstfruits? Pentecost, which we're all probably familiar with one way or another. We'll hear about the Pentecostal church, for example. Among other things, they're really big on the gifts of the Holy Spirit in terms of speaking in tongues. And the reason why they're called Pentecost or the Pentecostal Church is because on the Pentecost following the ascension of Christ, the Holy Spirit was poured out to the believers and the apostles in Jerusalem on what day? Or on the Feast of Pentecost. So those are just some examples of how understanding the biblical feasts will give us an idea. And if we're really good and disciplined, we can even know when certain prophecies will happen, at least when on the Hebrew calendar. Now our calendar, right now we're under the Gregorian calendar. Before that was the Julian calendar, and not to mention the Hebrews have their different versions of calendars and different New Years, and it throws everything out of whack. But in terms of the biblical calendar and the months and days as prescribed in scripture, the prophecies will be fulfilled based on God's calendar, not man's. Another thing we want to be careful of, and there's a lot of teachings out there that pretty much says, oh, the spring feasts have been fulfilled, and then now the fall feasts are prophetic yet future, and here's just, I'll just kind of squash that right now. Passover, so if you say, oh, Passover is already fulfilled, really? Is it really fulfilled? Then why did Jesus say his disciples, I'll say it again, I will not have the fruit of the vine with you again until we have it when? In my kingdom. Passover isn't finished yet. that'll be celebrated in the kingdom of our Lord. But yet, we know Passover was significant. Nisan 14, for example, was significant because that was when our Lord died. And if you're interested, there's a study out there, really got into depth. But just so you know, Good Friday is not true. He wasn't crucified on a Friday. And I prove that through the scripture. Oh, and Resurrection Sunday. He wasn't resurrected on a Sunday. He was resurrected on the completion of the Sabbath after three full days and three full nights in the tomb. And if you want more information on that, go ahead and go to our website. I called it Good Wednesday, if you're interested. But the prophecies, or the biblical feasts, we need to have some understanding of them, so then now as a church, we're not gonna be in the dark, we're gonna know, okay, we know what the feasts are, and we know, here, I'm just gonna put this out there, when will God make atonement for Israel's sin? On the day of? Thank you. So whenever the day of atonement falls on God's calendar, that is when atonement will be made. But wait, take a step, but didn't Jesus atone for our sin already? Didn't he die on the cross 2,000 years ago, and whether you're a Jew or a Gentile now, believing in Christ, we have forgiveness of sins, yes. But that doesn't take away the fact that there are still prophecies that need to be fulfilled. And has Israel's sin have been put to an end? Not yet. They're still sinning right now, aren't they? Christ isn't here yet, isn't he? And he hasn't brought his kingdom yet. But that'll all come to an end and he will make atonement for their sin. And I want to suggest to you that understanding the biblical feasts will come into fruition. So when we start to open up revelation, and we're trying to put some time markers on when things are gonna be, having some understanding of that will help us understand when we can expect prophecy to be fulfilled. Here's another thing that we need to keep in mind, and I hate to break this to you. Have you heard this? The Bible is God's love letter to you. How many have heard that? No. This isn't God's love letter to you. I know that's a nice, soft way to introduce God to somebody. No, in fact, open up lamentations. Well, what kind of love letter is this? It's pretty sick and demented if you ask me. Don't get this wrong. The Bible wasn't written to you individually. The Bible was written to a specific people at a specific time in history, in the different epochs of time that the scripture is written. It was written to them. However, the truth that is communicated in there applies to us. We got to get that. So for example, Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, to the believers who are in Ephesus, are you a believer in Ephesus? No. So it wasn't written to you. You were like a fly on the wall. You're on the outside looking in and you need to get that. Don't put yourself in the book. He didn't write it to you. That's not how the Bible is intended to be understood. It was written for you and for your benefit. But we need to understand the context, the backgrounds, what was going on, what was God doing, why did the author write, and then we're going to give ourself a chance to understand what God is doing. And then we can take the truth that's applicable there and then bring it over to our lives, which means this. The Bible is a Middle Eastern-centric book. So if this was God's movie, the land of Israel is the stage, and the center of that stage is Jerusalem. We have to understand that the Bible is a Middle Eastern-centric book. So here's one thing. We're out here, way in the West, here in the United States. Don't put yourself in there. And we'll see. Where's the United States in all this? Well, there might be some areas where it could implicate the United States, but as we'll see, it is surrounding what's going on in the Eastern world. Once we get that, we understand that the Bible is a middle Eastern centric book and that God is going to fulfill all of his promises and it all surrounds these covenants that he's made with the people of Israel. What we're going to see is that that's where the book of revelation is going to come into play. And here's one example, right? The abomination that causes desolation that we're all familiar with. Matthew 24, when you see the abomination that causes desolation, standing in the Holy place, let the reader understand. And let them who are in where? Judea. You're not in Judea. Judea is south of Jerusalem, south of Israel, the southern part of Israel. He said, let those who are down there flee to the mountains. Another just case in point that the Bible and even this abomination that causes desolation is really not here in the United States, at least not when it happens. It's gonna be what's going on over there. You gotta get that. Here's another thing, and I mentioned this in our introduction. See, a lot of things we need to know, right? You can't just open up the book. We need to be grounded, and I'm trying to help us be grounded as we open up the book of Revelation. But here's what we need to understand. When John sees visions, Daniel sees visions, he says, I look into the night, and visions were given to them, and this is God giving them revelation. And they see into the heavenlies, it's not in the physical world. He sees beasts, he sees horns, he sees dragons, you name it. He's seeing these visions in the heavenlies, in the unseen world. Just know that what is happening in the unseen world will manifest itself in the physical. Only God can give us insight into what's going on in the unseen world, but through His Scripture, through His Spirit in us, when We have to understand, especially when you open up the book of Revelation, when John sees these visions, he's seeing into the heavenlies, and it's going to play itself out in the physical. Prophecy is always literally fulfilled, 100% of the time. It is never just spiritual. When it says the kingdom of God is within you, there are some who may not accept the argument that there is this physical, literal kingdom coming because the counter would be, well, doesn't the New Testament tell us that the kingdom of God doesn't come with observation, but it comes within you? Here's what I'm gonna say. That's true. But you gotta take all the scripture, you can't just pick that one, you can't cherry pick. But what about the Davidic covenant that we just read? Look, it's right there, black and white. That's what it says. So you need to account for both. There is a kingdom that you can see that is within the hearts of believers, but yet there is also, that's going to become physical. this spiritual truth or reality will become, a spiritual truth will become a literal fulfillment. We gotta get that. So all of prophecy will have a literal fulfillment, exactly as God has communicated in his word. And last but not least, and we can change this a little bit, because I wrote this before I was compelled to do more of the mini-series on Daniel. But we will, among other things, we're gonna have to understand Daniel's 70-week prophecy, and it's 70 weeks of years, or 490 years. And in short, and when we cover this prophecy, that 69 weeks of years in Daniel's prophecy has been fulfilled, and this would include the rebuilding of Jerusalem, Messiah's arrival, and Messiah being cut off. There's the 70 weeks of years that was given to Daniel and 69 have been fulfilled. And there is this 70th week, which includes, you know, the rescuing Israel, making atonement for their sin, bringing an everlasting righteousness that hasn't happened yet. So we need to understand Daniel's 70-week prophecy, but we're going to understand all of his other visions to the extent we can to help us really come to revelation with a good understanding and background. Thank you for listening to the Truth Matters Church Podcast. As Pastor Alex continues to lay the foundation for our new expository study in Revelation, we see there's quite a bit we need to understand about the Old Testament prophecies to really get a good grasp on the book of Revelation. So next week, Pastor Alex continues our study by examining the great statue prophecy found in the book of Daniel and how that relates to the end times. Be sure to subscribe to this podcast or mark us as a favorite so you don't miss out on our study in Revelation. And if you are in Northern California, we would love to have you join us in person for this study on Friday nights. Details are on our website at truthmatterschurch.org. That is truthmatterschurch.org. Contending for the faith, one verse at a time. This is Truth Matters Church.