Feast of Trumpets 2016—LIVE

Pentecost to Trumpets: the wrath of God to the saints ruling the world with Christ

Fred R. Coulter—October 3, 2016

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Here we are for the Feast of Trumpets. What a day this is and what a way the world is.

We know that all the Holy Days are listed in Lev. 23. That's just like a seed, as I've said so many times. When you come to Lev. 23 and read about the Feast of Trumpets, you don't know very much about it from just reading there. This is a starting point for a lot of things in the Scripture that have to do with the end-times.

There can be some minor fulfillments along the way down through time, from that time to this, which there has been.

Leviticus 23:23: "And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying…" This is what's important. It's like an e-mail I got from a man who wanted to have a discussion about how much Truth there was with Catholicism and what we teach and we should start on the grounds of where we agree. Sound familiar?

He sent me one that had to do with resurrection on Sunday; that was the last one. Just let him know, please don't send any more e-mails. What I should have done was send him back about the command for the Feast of Trumpets and say, 'Tell me what this means?' But I didn't.

This is the word of God to us. Always remember when you're studying the Word of God this very important thing: Every Scripture is God-breathed!

Why did God put in there about the course of Abijah concerning Zacharias, the father of John the Baptist? {Note sermon: When Was Jesus Born?} Because that tells us something!

• if you don't know about the Calculated Hebrew Calendar
• if you don't know how the temple was set up
• if you don't know how the priests were set up in courses

it means nothing to you!

Likewise with the Feast of Trumpets; you read this and it says, v 24: "Speak to the children of Israel saying, 'In the seventh month, in the first day of the month, you shall have a Sabbath, a memorial of blowing of ram's horns, a Holy convocation…. [What does that mean? Doesn't tell us a thing about it here!] …You shall do no servile work therein but you shall offer an offering made by fire to the LORD'" (vs 24-25).

All the Levitical priest offerings were listed there in Num. 28 and 29. For us today, since we don't have an altar on earth and we don't offer animals, we are to bring according to the blessing that God has given us. Every Holy Day we take up an offering.

(pause for offering)

The Feast of Trumpets is really a tremendous example of 'line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little.' You put it all together, as Paul says, 'rightly dividing the Word of God.' There is one Scripture that is really quite a fantastic Scripture:

Psalm 119:18: "Open my eyes so that I may behold wondrous things out of Your Law." The whole Bible is the law of God, the Word of God. So we're going to look at some of those wondrous things today, the meaning of it and how it fits in with the Feast of Trumpets.

Early this morning I woke up, couldn't sleep, so I decided to go watch the news. I turned on CNN International. It was a tremendous preparation for today. I'll tell you why. We are here for a great purpose, and we are here to prepare for the greatest thing that's going to happen to the earth! We are here to bring about what this world needs, but cannot have. That's why we have the sequence of the Holy Days:

• Passover: You have to start so you can have a right relationship with God, so you need the sacrifice of Christ.
• Unleavened Bread: You need to change your behavior, through the power of God's Holy Spirit.
• First day counting to Pentecost: You also need a resurrected living Christ, at the right hand of God:
• Pentecost: shows the harvest of God for the Church and what we're going to do

• Why has God done it this way?
• Why has God called just a few people?

Few are willing to believe God and obey Him. Even some within the Church have problems with that. That shows you the strength of independent free moral agency.

As I was watching the television, I was reminded of Romans 8:18: "For I reckon that the sufferings of the present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed in us."

What are we as human beings? We can see great pictures of the universe and trillions of galaxies, and all of that sort of thing, then you think about us. We started out from a speck of dust and we have trillions of cells. Those are all operating all the time. If man thinks he's important then he needs to consider. He exists because of the creation of God and the spirit of man. Then everything that God has put in our bodies. Remember this for those who say the law has been done away. You tell them to quit breathing, stop your heart, quit thinking. Now what do you have? We are all subject to law. Everything in our bodies is subject to law.

• You take your temperature, how much?
• You take your heart beat, how much?
• You take your blood pressure, how much?

If everything is not within a certain realm of working, you are either sick, dying or dead.

Why has God called us? Here we are! I know all of you important people have your business cards out there. Pass them to the center, would you please.

Here's why, v 19: "For the earnest expectation of the creation itself…. [the whole creation] …is awaiting the manifestation of the sons of God." Think about that. How important are the people of God to this world? We're going to assist Christ in bringing what it cannot achieve!

I was watching and it showed South Africa. I didn't know that they made a lot of war implements down there. There's war in Nigeria, Malawi, Zimbabwe, Darfur, South Egypt, Liberia, Yemen, Iraq, Iran, Syria, and then look at the refugee problem in Europe.

Everybody's talking about climate change. Climate change is because of the sins of human beings! God is going to send Christ to rescue us! Man can never do it, but he has done it in such a way that the world, even though they have the Bible that would tell them, they either don't read it or don't understand it.

When you read some of these Scriptures, you need to think:

• What is it that God has done?
• What is God doing?

And how great a marvelous thing it was that Jesus Christ did to become a human being and be the sacrifice for the sins of the whole world.

This Scripture in Isa. 41 can apply to everything that God does. I wonder what it was like planning all the animals? I wonder what it was like when it came time to work out the final plans for eyes: human eyes, animal eyes, fish eyes, bird eyes. How can an eagle way up there look down and see the prey and just that quick get it? Just that one thing!

How about when they were planning for hearts: human hearts, ape hearts, elephant hearts, fish hearts, chicken hearts. What about down to a mouse heart? Those nasty little things that come and steal your food at night. Currently we're having a rat and mouse infestation because they're digging up all the soil to put in a new subdivision not too far from us. They scurry out, but we get them with peanut butter.

Isaiah 41:4: "Who has planned and done it… [think about with every human being from the beginning of time down to now and we have 7-billion plus] …calling forth the generations from the beginning? 'I, THE LORD, AM THE FIRST AND THE LAST; I AM HE.'" God did it!

In Rev. 1 He says, 'I am the First and the Last' twice. The last part of Revelation He says, 'I am First and the Last.' This tells us everything in God's plan begins with God and ends with God. He has a tremendous plan for His family.

If you would tell some of these politicians running for office, and there are a good number of them—some good, some bad, some indifferent, and some you don't know what they are—and tell them, 'You're waiting for us.' They wouldn't know it.

God has made His plan known. God has kept this secret and revealed it a bit at a time. Remember what the Psalm says, 'The secret of God is with those who fear Him,' and that means to love and obey Him.

How important are you really to God? So important that He has revealed to us His secret plan to solve the problems of the world, which the world cannot discover, because they are not willing to believe and obey God. Yet, God has so much love that in spite of all the turmoil, war, killing, death and all of this sort of thing, He's going to bring them all back to life. That's an astounding thing. Think on that!

You know the story of the image in Dan. 2. You know the account there. It starts out with Nebuchadnezzar. Why did God start with Daniel revealing many of these things in the prophecies? Because we have a known point in history! You go back earlier than this and some of the dates are hard to figure and hard to find. With the Babylonian Empire and Nebuchadnezzar you can coordinate all the histories and the different empires, and so forth. He begins the end-time revelation here, which is 2500-2600 years ago: head of gold, chest of silver, legs of brass, iron, then iron and clay.

Daniel 2:44: "And in the days of these kings…"—the ten toes. This is why we have to be alert to what is happening in the world, because many misinterpretations can take place. We're going to see there is one major event that has to happen in the world before the end comes. You have to really keep that in mind. This is part of it.

"'…the God of heaven shall set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed. And the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever. Because you saw that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it broke in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold, the great God has made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter. And the dream is certain, and its interpretation is sure.' Then King Nebuchadnezzar fell upon his face and worshiped Daniel…" (vs 44-46).

Verse 47: "The king answered Daniel and said, 'It is true that your God is the God of gods, and the Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets, since you could reveal this secret.'"

Nebuchadnezzar had this dream. He told all of the astrologers and experts in dream analyzing to come and tell him the dream and the interpretation. They couldn't do it, but Daniel did. Nebuchadnezzar was never converted, but he had quite an experience. This is one every politician, king and leader in the world ought to read.

Daniel 4:1: "Nebuchadnezzar the king… [this is the epistle of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon] …to all people, nations, and languages, that dwell in all the earth…" God intended this as a lesson for every leader, king and politician.

What was it? When he got lifted up in his vanity and said, 'Oh, how great I am. Look what I have done; look what I have built—this great city Babylon' BANG! God knocked him down for seven years. He was just like an animal out there eating grass. After seven years God gave him back his sanity again.

The book of Daniel also does something very important. Let's see that Dan. 7 is another rendition of Dan. 2. It starts out with Nebuchadnezzar and comes to the setting up of the Kingdom of God. That prophecy is being fulfilled from that time, and we're still living in the time of it being fulfilled.

Likewise Dan. 7, here we have the four major empires. Then we have the seven heads and ten horns, so now it expands out with a little more understanding. If you want to understand that, we have in the Faithful Version Bible, Appendix Y: Chart—Reign of Gentile Kingdoms, along with the chronologies.

Let's see where this ends. What we want to do is see where these prophecies end, because they all have to do with us in the end-time.

Daniel 7:21: "I watched, and that same horn made war with the saints and overcame them, until the Ancient of Days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the Most High.…" (vs 21-22)—judgment. We are going to rule the world. We'll be spirit beings, going to be a vast difference.

"…And the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom. Thus he said, 'The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be different from all the other kingdoms and shall devour the whole earth, and shall trample it and break it in pieces. And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise. And another shall arise after them. And he shall be different from the first, and he shall subdue three kings And he shall speak words against the Most High…. [How is he going to do that?] …and shall wear out the saints of the Most High, and think to change the set times and the laws.…'" (vs 22-25).

What are the set times? The appointed times of God: Sabbath, Passover, Unleavened Bread, Pentecost, Trumpets… Let's look at the number 4 for just minute:

• on the 4th day the appointed times were set
• Jesus began His ministry on the 4th day
• He ended His ministry with His death on the 4th day of the week
• 4 days later He ascended into heaven

When you count just the Holy Days, not Passover, you have two for Unleavened Bread, Pentecost—which is #4—and Trumpets. Amazing how those things come through.

Verse 26: "But the judgment shall sit, and his dominion shall be taken away to be consumed and to be destroyed unto the end."

This is why we need to really stay close to God and really do the things we know we need to do, because the goal is so great.

Verse 27: "And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High, Whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom. And all kingdoms shall serve and obey Him."

You go through Daniel and every single one of these prophecies end in the coming of Christ and the end of the age. Think of that!

Daniel 8:23: "And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors have come to the full…'"

What is that going to be like? You look at the world today and then all of the crime, sin, everything that's taking place, what does it mean to come to the full? And we have to live in that time? We better be strong in the Lord.

"…a king, fierce of countenance and understanding dark sentences, shall stand up" (v 23). That is directly possessed by Satan the devil. We've had some close to it. Look at just in our lifetime. We've had Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin, Mao tse Tung; since then we've had Hillary and… (Don't send your execution squad to me)

Verse 24: "And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power. And he shall destroy marvelously, and shall prosper and do his own will, and destroy the mighty and the Holy people." That is the end-time martyrdom of the saints.

How is he going to have the power? Let's look at it for just a minute. How many remember reading in a magazine put out by a church that said the beast was such-and-such a man? It was a German or Austrian and that the ten kings are going to five in Western Europe and five in Eastern Europe. No! Didn't happen!

What is going to happen? You look at Europe right now. Europe is about ready to disintegrate as a civilization because of the influx of all of the ones from the Middle East. Will they all be sent back? We have to think on that; we don't know. But that would be a miraculous thing indeed.

What power will he have? We need to keep our eyes on that, and in Switzerland there is the Hadrian Collider. They are getting into particles of power that are going to be awesome indeed. How that's going to come about we don't know.

Revelation 13:1: "And I stood on the sand of the sea; and I saw a beast rising up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and on his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy."

This describes how the earth is going to be reconfigured governmentally by the world government that is coming.

Verse 2: "And the beast that I saw was like a leopard, and his feet like the feet of a bear…"—the whole system. Then it comes down and talks about the man:

"…and his mouth like the mouth of a lion; and the dragon gave him his power, and his throne and great authority" (v 2). The dragon is Satan the devil; that ties right in with what we read in Dan. 8.

Verse 3: "And I saw one of his heads as if it were slain to death, but his deadly wound was healed; and the whole earth was amazed and followed the beast. And they worshiped the dragon, who gave his authority to the beast.…" (vs 3-4).

This is going to be an astonishing thing that's going to take place. With all the trouble in the world, it's going to look like men are finally going to have it together.

"…And they worshiped the beast, saying, 'Who is like the beast? Who has the power to make war against him?'" (v 4).

How is that going to be accomplished? You could say maybe he'd be given control of all nuclear weapons. Possible! Or maybe they're going to find another super-weapon through the Hadrian Collider that no one can make war. If that's the case, and they're worshiping him, how are they going to view him?

When you talk about all the things that happen, you go through Matt. 24, 'don't let anyone deceive you. They'll be wars and rumors of wars and persecution. There were will be the 'abomination of desolation standing in the Holy Place.' That has never happened. So there needs to be another temple built.

Let's look at this for what it really says, 2-Thessalonians 2:1: "Now, we beseech you, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him… [the resurrection] …That you not be quickly shaken in mind… [Paul wrote this in 52A.D.] …nor be troubled—neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by epistle, as if from us…" (vs 1-2). Look at the things he was fighting against.

• How many have heard the gospel of Mary Magdalene?
• How many have heard that Jesus married Mary Magdalene?

Talk about getting everything all confused!

Sidebar: Why could Jesus never marry any physical woman on earth? He was already married as the husband of Israel! Marriage is binding until you die. So, who died? All of Israel? or Christ? Christ!

"…saying that the day of Christ is present…. [some false prophets have used that very phrase] …Do not let anyone deceive you by any means because that day will not come unless the apostasy shall come first…" (vs 2-3).

What is the total apostasy of all of mankind? Rev. 13, the world worships the dragon and the beast, total apostasy!

This also answers the question why God is having the Jews build a third temple, and they will build it. It won't start until it is time. They are so blinded that they can't understand that the Mosque of Omar is sitting on a lot of big stones, each weighing many, many tons. Jesus said of the temple and the temple area 'there would not be one stone left upon another.' So, how blinded are the Jews? Completely!

They come and pray at the Wailing Wall and they're actually bowing to the Mosque of Omar. Think of that! They don't know where the actual place to build the temple is, but it's right there under their nose. When they find it, they will build it.

Why build it? Because the Jews say that if they build the temple the Messiah is coming! They're not looking for Jesus; they are looking for a physical Messiah. How is that going to work out with the beast? We don't know, yet, but it's going to work out.

"…unless the apostasy shall come first…" (v 3). We're getting closer and closer to the whole world worshiping Satan.

There's another part to it: "…the man of sin shall be revealed—the son of perdition… [Dan. 8] …the one who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God…" (vs 3-4). This verse right here has never happened. This tells us before the end can come, has to be a temple built, world has to be organized under Satan's system. There has to come a great leader who will be proclaimed as God.

To prove that he is God, he's going to go into the temple of God. That's what it tells us right here. "…above all that is called God, or that is an object of worship; so that he comes into the temple of God and sits down as God, proclaiming that he himself is God" (v 4).

That's been the ultimate goal of Satan the devil from the beginning of his rebellion. What does Rev. 13 tell us? The whole world is going to worship him! He's going to have great powers.

Who is going to be able to make war against him? Everyone will say, 'Finally we have peace. We're all worn out to war and killing, terrorist attacks, all of these things.' It will look like there will be peace—for a short period of time that the Bible shows is about three and a half years, the 70th week of the 70-week prophecy of Dan. 9. Again Daniel comes to the end.

What you do is go back and read the book of Daniel and see every one of these prophecies concerning what's going to happen in the world and at the end. That's an amazing thing when you understand it. But it can't be understood without the book of Revelation. {note sermon series: Daniel and Revelation}

"…proclaiming that he himself is God" (v 4).

• How is this going to affect the Jews?
• Will they accept him as God in the flesh? If the whole world is deceived, yes they will!
• Guess what's going to happen right about that time? God is going to intervene!
• How is God going to intervene? Two witnesses!

Verse 5: "Do you not remember that when I was still with you, I told you these things? And now you understand what is holding him back in order for him to be revealed in his own set time…. [appointed times] …For the mystery of lawlessness… [heart and core of Satan's way] …is already working; only there is One Who is restraining at the present time until it arises out of the midst. And then the lawless one will be revealed (whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth, and will destroy with the brightness of His coming)" (vs 5-8).

With that verse, I want to ask how could certain people even within the Church of God say that when the WCG was taken down with false doctrine that the leader who became the replacement of the apostle was the man of sin, the son of perdition? Did Jesus come and destroy him with the brightness of His coming? No, he died of cancer 40-weeks after he proclaimed you don't have to keep the Sabbath, and he died on the Sabbath. The hand of God still works!

This has never happened, v 9: "Even the one whose coming is according to the inner working of Satan, with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in those who are perishing because they did not receive the love of the Truth, so that they might be saved" (vs 9-10).

The difference between the world and looking for this, and for those of us who are preparing for the Kingdom of God, is that we are learning to build the character of God first—love, hope, faith—and all of the things we need to learn. Then when the resurrection takes place and we have a spirit mind and a spirit body, I wonder what that's going to be like?

Satan is deceiving the whole world (Rev. 12:9), because God is going to let him do it.

Verse 11 "And for this cause God will send upon them a powerful deception that will cause them to believe the lie, so that all may be judged who did not believe the Truth…" (vs 11-12). What is Truth?

• Word of God
• laws of God
• commandments of God
• Jesus Christ is the Way, the Truth and the Life

"…but who took pleasure in unrighteousness" (v 12).

Something else is coming along. That's why you have to understand this prophecy flow. We have one on the nations coming together. We have secret weapons that will be made. We have the organizing of the world. Now what do we have coming, coming, coming? The second half of Rev. 13!

Revelation 13:11: "And I saw another beast rising out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, but spoke like a dragon." Looks like the salvational religion of the world, but it's straight from Satan the devil.

Verse 12: "And he exercises all the authority of the first beast before him…" (v 12)—rules the whole world. What is another thing to watch for? Combining of religions! Have you heard of 'Chrislam'? They give Muslim prayers in the Vatican! Why should you be surprised? That was never Christian.

Notice what he does, "…and he causes the earth and those who dwell therein to worship the first beast… [as God] …whose deadly wound was healed" (v 12). Undoubtedly the false prophet is going to be the pope.

• Which one?
• When will he come? Don't know!
• How long will this one live? We don't know!

Remember John Paul I.

• How long did he last? Thirty days!

Anytime you're going to expose the finances of the Vatican, we have a funeral for you. That tells you no one is going to clean it up. Maybe it's the pope.

Speculation: And he lays hands on the beast who was wounded. Why will the beast receive a deadly wound and it will probably be from an assassin?. The pope prays for him, lays hands on him and he comes back to life. The whole world's going to go wild. Very possible!

We need to think about these things as they come along, but not get locked into saying that because we think about it, our thoughts become Scripture. They don't; it just helps us look for what we need to look for.

He's going to prove his power because v 13: "And he performs great wonders, so that he even causes fire to come down to the earth from heaven in the sight of men." Seeing is believing! They'll have all of these scientists authenticate, yes, he really called fire down from heaven.

Verse 14: "And he deceives those who dwell on the earth by means of the wonders that were given to him to perform in the sight of the beast, saying to those who dwell on the earth that they should make an image for the beast, which had the wound by the sword, yet, was alive."

I think they're going to make images, tee shirts, watches, hats, jackets, maybe even socks. Who knows what they will do.

Verse 15: "And he was given power to give life to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast also could speak…" It probably will appear real, not done by digital components but by the power of Satan.

"…and he causes everyone who will not worship the image of the beast to be killed" (v 15). All true Christians will be some in a place of safety, some without their heads.

Verse 16: "And he causes all, the small and the great, and the rich and the poor, and the free and the bond, to receive a mark in their right hands, or in their foreheads… [all refers back to the one whose image was made] ….so that no one may have the ability to buy and sell unless he has the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name" (vs 16-17). It's coming!

You ever gone to the store and they won't take cash? That day is coming. They don't even know how to count. Think about it. How many here have credit cards? Every one of us! What if the company said, 'All your credit cards have been cancelled'? What's going to happen? 'Well, you can go down to this nice government store on the corner here and we'll give you a nice little tattoo.'

They've advanced it from a big chip on your hand to a small chip inserted into your hand. Now they've got it down to a tattoo, which fits in with the Greek. The Greek word there is 'epi' which is on, but in. That's going to be something!

(go to the next track)

There are many, many different Scriptures we could go to, we'll go to some, but the Feast of Trumpets is the Day of the Lord. He is going to come in power and take over the world. As we saw with Pentecost, what's going to appear first? The sign of the Son of man! The world is going to be convinced at that time, which takes place just right about Pentecost, before the resurrection the next Pentecost. It's Pentecost to Pentecost.

What is the world being prepared for now? Invasion from outer space! What one thing would bring the whole world together? To fight the invasion of the aliens! In that sense they are correct, but wrong. They are correct that they are aliens, because they don't know the true God. They will never know those who are resurrected. Yes, we're going to fight! Let's see why.

Isaiah 13:9: "Behold, the Day of the LORD comes, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to make the earth a desolation; and He shall destroy the sinners out of it, for the stars of the heavens and their constellations shall not give light; the sun shall be darkened in its going forth, and the moon shall not reflect its light. 'And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the tyrants. I will make man more scarce than gold; even man more than the fine gold of Ophir. Therefore, I will shake the heavens, and the earth shall move out of its place…'" (vs 9-13). That's why no one knows the day or the hour, because the timing is all messed up.

"…in the wrath of the LORD of hosts, and in the day of His fierce anger" (v 13). These are going to be events that are going to shake this world to its core.

Isaiah 24:1: "Behold, the LORD makes the earth empty and makes it waste, and turns it upside down, and scatters its inhabitants."

If you don't believe that's possible, think about every mountain that you look at it. It was once under water, now where is it? Anywhere up to as high as Mount Everest at 29,000 feet.

Verse 2: "And as it is with the people, so it shall be with the priest; as with the slave, so with the master; as with the handmaid, so it is with her mistress; as with the buyer, so with the seller; as with the lender, so with the borrower; as with the creditor, so with the debtor." You'll be free of all your debts.

Verse 3: "The earth shall be completely laid waste, and utterly stripped; for the LORD has spoken this word." I want you to think about that.

As I was watching that CNN International report, it showed Syria bombed to smithereens! I couldn't help but think of all the fly-over of Germany at the end of WWII and all the buildings bombed, the roofs gone, the windows blown out, bricks and rubble in the street. That's what it's going to be like. For "…the Lord has spoken this word"; therefore, it's going to happen!

Verse 4: "The earth mourns and languishes; the world withers and languishes; the proud people of the earth wither. And the earth is defiled under its people; because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, and have broken the everlasting covenant. Therefore, the curse has devoured the earth, and they who dwell in it are desolate; therefore, the people of the earth are burned, and few men are left" (vs 4-6).

How many are going to die? We don't know! Let's come to Jer. 25 and what I want you to think about as we go through these Scriptures is how these things are going to take place over the whole world. No one is going to escape. Here's quite a prophecy of Jeremiah. God told Jeremiah to take a cup and go to all of these nations. Jeremiah never went there. This was a prophecy given to Jeremiah that was to be given to the whole world at a later time.

Jeremiah 25:26: "And all the kings of the north, far and near, one with another, and all the kingdoms of the world, which are on the face of the earth… [all inclusive] …and the king of Sheshach… [king of contention, that has to be the beast of Rev. 13] …shall drink after them. Therefore, you shall say to them, 'Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, "Drink and be drunk, and vomit, and fall, and rise no more because of the sword which I will send among you. And it shall come to pass if they refuse to take the cup at your hand to drink, then you shall say to them, 'Thus says the LORD of hosts, "You shall certainly drink"'"'" (vs 26-28). It is going to happen!

Verse 29: "'For, lo, I begin to bring evil on the city, which is called by My name; and shall you go unpunished? You shall not go unpunished. For I will call for a sword on all the inhabitants of the earth,' says the LORD of hosts. 'And prophesy against them all these words, and say to them, "The LORD shall roar from on high, and utter His voice from His Holy habitation. He shall mightily roar over His dwelling place. He shall give a shout, like those who tread out grapes, against all the people of the earth'" (vs 29-30). Think about it; all the people of the earth.

Verse 31: "'A noise shall come to the ends of the earth; for the LORD has a controversy with the nations; He will plead with all flesh. He will give those who are wicked to the sword,' says the LORD. Thus says the LORD of hosts, 'Behold, evil shall go forth from nation to nation, and a great whirlwind shall be stirred up from the farthest corners of the earth. And the slain of the LORD shall be at that day from one end of the earth even to the other end of the earth; they shall not be mourned, nor gathered, nor buried. They shall be as dung on the ground'" (vs 31-33).

That is awesome; that has never happened! I don't care what war in history you look at, it has never come to that. This is God returning to fight against them.

Let's see when that's going to start. Rev. 6 is very interesting indeed because in Rev. 4 & 5 we have the vision of God's throne and then the Lamb that was slain, and only He could open the seals. Why is this important? This tells us that nothing is going to happen at the end-time unless Jesus Christ makes it happen! Only He could open the seals
When is the Tribulation going to come? When Jesus opens the second seal, not before! So, we have the seals. We'll summarize them. They come 1-2-3-4.

• First seal: religious deception, the white horse.
• Second seal: the Tribulation begins

What happens when massive war begins? Immediately:

• Third seal: starvation, death, rationing of food
• Fourth seal: these things are going to cover one-fourth of the earth

It's going to make World War II look like sandbox!

• Fifth seal: the martyrdom of the saints

What happens? They're going to say, 'Who is responsible for this? Who is causing all of this?' All of those who won't receive the mark of the beast and all of those who won't go along with the world government are killed! They won't be able to get them all, because when we come to Rev. 7 we have 144,000 and the great innumerable multitude.

Notice when those Scriptures we just read in the Old Testament will be fulfilled:

Revelation 6:12: "And when He opened the sixth seal, I looked, and behold, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as the hair of sackcloth, and the moon became as blood; and the stars of heaven fell to the earth… [we read that in Isa.] …as a fig tree casts its untimely figs when it is shaken by a mighty wind. Then the heaven departed like a scroll…" (vs 12-14)—complete change in everything. That's when the sign of the Son of man will appear (Matt.24) that's going to shine like the sun from east to the west.

Once that is seen, it's going to be there for one year. What happens to the people on the earth? After they recover from some of these things a little bit, they will think they are safe and that is was just an anomaly out there in the heavens! But this is going to be so mighty.

"…departed like a scroll that is being rolled up, and every mountain and island was moved out of its place. And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the powerful men, and every bondman, and every free man hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains; and they said to the mountains and to the rocks, 'Fall on us, and hide us from the face of Him Who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb" (vs 14-16).

They will know what it is, but they are going to think that they're going to be able to escape and win. The deception of Satan and human reasoning is just so incredible.

Verse 17: "Because the great day of His wrath has come, and who has the power to stand?"

All of a sudden it's quiet. With all the upheaval that takes place, look at what happens whenever there's an earthquake. How long does it take them to get things ready and up and going, clean out the roads, and things like this?

From Pentecost to Trumpets, that's what they are going to be doing. In the meantime, Pentecost, Rev. 7, 144,000 are going to be rescued as is the great innumerable multitude. That's going to be something! Then we come from Pentecost to Trumpets. That's where we are today. It pictures the great battles that take place. They are not going to take place until the 7th seal is opened.

Revelation 8:1: "Now, when He opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about a half hour. Then I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them" (vs 1-2).

Now God is intervening directly with His angels, v 3: "And another angel, who had a golden censer, came and stood at the altar; and much incense was given to him, so that he might offer it with the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar that was before the throne."

Who are the saints now? There was a martyrdom; they're dead! There are a few in the place of safety (Rev. 12) and 144,000 and the great innumerable multitude. Of all the things going on, they're going to be praying every day and probably almost all day and all night, with all the events that are taking place.

Once that takes place, v 5: "And the angel took the censer, and filled it with fire from the altar, and cast it into the earth… [direct power and war from God] …and there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings, and an earthquake. Then the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound their trumpets" (vs 5-6).

Those come 1-2-3-4, rapid succession! First one: fire and hail mingled with blood, cast into the earth.

"…and a third of the trees were burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up" (v 7).

Revelation 9:4: "And it was said to them that they should not damage the grass of the earth, or any green thing, or any tree…"

Here we have all the grass was burned up (v 7). Then we have grass in Rev. 9: 4.

• What does this tell us? There's a space of time!
• What does grass know? If there's water and there's soil, it grows!

I was watching about 'the steppes' in Russia. They have so many antelope and things. Every year there's a big fire. It drives them all away for a while and then they come back. Because it rains, the grass grows, they have another crop and here we go again. This is what happens here. Burns up all the green grass on the earth. Then with all the clouds and all the things taking place, it's probably raining, there's water and grass comes back and grows again.

Revelation 8:8: "Then the second angel sounded his trumpet; and there was cast into the sea as it were a great mountain burning with fire, and a third of the sea became blood; and a third of the living creatures that were in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed. And the third angel sounded his trumpet; and there fell out of heaven a great star, burning like a lamp; and it fell on a third of the rivers, and on the fountains of waters. Now, the name of the star is Wormwood; and a third of the waters became wormwood; and many men died from drinking the waters because they were made bitter. Then the fourth angel sounded his trumpet; and a third of the sun was smitten, and a third of the moon, and a third of the stars; so that a third of them were darkened; and a third part of the day did not shine, and likewise a third part of the night" (vs 8-12).

Again, no way to know the exact day or hour when the resurrection takes place. Rev. 9—the last three trumpets are the woes. Now it gets down to a kind of war that has never been seen before. You can read of that in Joel 2 & 3.

Revelation 9:1: "And the fifth angel sounded his trumpet; and I saw a star that had fallen from heaven to the earth, and there was given to him the key to the bottomless abyss." This star that fell was an angel, because he had a key.

Verse 2: "And he opened the bottomless abyss; and there went up smoke from the pit, like the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by the smoke from the pit. Then locusts came onto the earth from the smoke; and power was given to them, as the scorpions of the earth have power" (vs 2-3). What is this? Demons out of the prison! That's what it is.

After it describes them, v 11: "And they have over them a king, the angel of the abyss; his name in Hebrew is Abaddon, but the name he has in Greek is Apollyon"—Satan the devil.

Here are all these demons. How many demons are in prison? We don't know! What would the earth be like if God let them out all at once? We have it right here: death, destruction, misery—as never before. Then the retaliation, the sixth seal. That's for all the armies of the East.

Why is China rising to be such a mighty nation? Rev. 9! There's going to be the army of 200-million. That army is going to be strung all the way from Asia clear to what we would call Iraq.

Verse 14: "And it said to the sixth angel, who had the trumpet, 'Loose the four angels… [demonic spirits] …who are bound in the great River Euphrates.' Then the four angels, who had been prepared for the hour and day and month and year, were loosed…" (vs 14-15).

We have tremendous demonic power occurring that hasn't occurred in any of our lifetimes.

"…so that they might kill of third of men; and the number of the armies of the horsemen was two hundred thousand thousand; and I heard the number of them" (vs 15-16). Great fantastic battles taking place!

We have to come back to just before the beginning of opening of the first seal. That is the two witnesses of Rev. 11. Let's understand something about them; they are prophesied about in Zech 3 & 4: the high priest of the temple and the governor of Judea. You can read that. There is a man who claims that he is God's apostle for the 21st century and he says he's going to have authority over the two witnesses. People in the Church of God believe him and follow him.

The way you read the Bible is that God says, 'These are My witnesses.' Zech. 3 & 4 says these are the two olive trees that stand before the God of the earth. Not a super-apostle. This shows there's a temple (Rev. 11:1-2); he's to measure it.

Revelation 11:3: "And I will give power to My two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth. These are the two olive trees, and the two lampstands that stand before the God of the earth" (vs 3-4). The God of the earth! So, don't let anyone fool you.

When the two witnesses come, they will be known. Here's what they're going to do, v 5: "And if anyone attempts to harm them, fire will go out of their mouths and devour their enemies. For if anyone attempts to harm them, he must be killed in this manner. These have authority to shut heaven so that no rain may fall in the days of their prophecy; and they have authority over the waters, to turn them into blood, and to smite the earth with every plague, as often as they will" (vs 5-6). That's a lot of authority!

Picture this. You go back to the time of the Exodus. You have Moses and Aaron who are two witnesses against pharaoh and the priests of Egypt.

There have seen some programs on the History Channel recently about Egypt; very interesting. They have found that there's a 200-year period when Egypt was virtually a barren desert. They've been excavating some of these villages and they find whole skeletons of people that were met with instant disaster. Sound a little bit like Exodus, all the things that happened there? Yes!

It was true! Egypt was nothing for 200 years. Remember God prophesied that the Nile would quit running. It did. I looked at that and I saw the pictures of those people caught and it was because of catastrophe that came upon them. I thought that you don't want to argue with God! You don't want to think that you know more than God. That's the whole way that people reason concerning the Bible.

Here are these two witnesses, and all these plagues and everything. Now they are finally killed and everyone rejoices. The world can see them, because they all have their smart phones, or whatever. They are resurrected after three and a half days, and the two last that are killed to be the first two resurrected.

They are told, v 12: "And they heard a great voice from heaven, say, 'Come up here!' And they ascended into heaven in a cloud; and their enemies saw them rise. And in that hour there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell; and seven thousand men were killed in the earthquake. And the rest were filled with fear, and gave glory to the God of heaven. The second woe is past… [that's the sixth trumpet] …Behold, the third woe is coming immediately" (vs 12-14).

The seventh trumpet is coming immediately, v 15: "Then the seventh angel sounded his trumpet; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, 'The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and His Christ, and He shall reign into the ages of eternity'"—the first resurrection.

We ascend, meet Christ in the air on the Sea of Glass. Think about this for a minute: Starting with Abel, through the Spirit of Christ, through the Old Testament time, is going to be in the first resurrection. They'll be there. All the people from the time of the beginning of the Church until the return of Christ, they will be resurrected. How are we going to communicate? God destroyed the Tower of Babel long ago. We're going to be resurrected with a language put into our minds so we can communicate!

• Is God a God of organization? Yes!
• Is He going to have us all organized so we know what we do? Yes!
• Are we going to have a great ceremony there after Pentecost to worship the Father and the Son, receive our new name, new garments, find out what we're going to do?

If it all occurred on one day, you'd get up there and what do you see? You see all these white horses and the angels say, 'Get on horses. You're going to go down to the earth. You're going to rule the earth?' Where am I going to go? How does this thing work?

No, we're going to be all told what we're going to do. We're all going to receive our rewards and we will be organized. Then we will come down in the final battle with Christ.

Fill in there seven last plagues; we're going to see them all. Also the marriage supper of the Lamb is going to take place; the marriage of the Lamb is going to take place. It's going to be busy on the Sea of Glass.

Think about this for just a minute: When the final message goes out from Satan the devil, the beast and the false prophet to gather all the armies, that is the final wrath of God, they get there and it takes some time for them to get there. From Pentecost to Trumpets is roughly four months. That will give them time to get organized and come in spite of everything. God is going to make them come.

Then when we come to the Feast of Trumpets, that's when Christ comes back to the earth in person and all of the saints with Him.

Revelation 19:11: "And I saw heaven open; and behold, a white horse; and He Who sat on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He does judge and make war. And His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns; and He had a name written that no one knows except Him. And He was clothed with a garment dipped in blood; and His name is The Word of God" (vs 11-13). That goes back to John 1:1.

Verse 14: "And the armies in heaven were following Him on white horses… [that's us] …and they were clothed in fine linen, white and pure. And out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it He might smite the nations; and He shall shepherd them with an iron rod; and He treads the winepress of the fury and the wrath of the Almighty God" (vs 14-15).

There are many, many other prophecies from the Old Testament you can fill it. So we cover that in the sermon series we have of Daniel and Revelation!

Then God has a special surprise for the beast and the false prophet, it is called the Lake of Fire. After that is done, you have to come back in ten days, because on Atonement the author of all evil is going to meet his fate. That's on the Day of Atonement.

I know there were many other Scriptures I could add into it. If you want a little more information, you can listen to the CD or watch the DVD, though I cover some of the same Scriptures. I can never give it exactly the same, so you're stuck with it. That will fill in more.

The day is coming when we will rule the world and all evil will be put down. We will do it!

Scriptural References:

• Leviticus 23:23-25
• Psalm 119:18
• Romans 8:18-19
• Isaiah 41:4
• Daniel 2: 44-47
• Daniel 4:1
• Daniel 7:21-27
• Daniel 8:23
• Revelation 13:1-4
• 2-Thessalonians 2:1-12
• Revelation 13:11-17
• Isaiah 13:9-13
• Isaiah 24:1-6
• Jeremiah 25:26-33
• Revelation 6:12-17
• Revelation 8:1-3, 5-7
• Revelation 9:4
• Revelation 8:8-12
• Revelation 9:1-3, 11, 14-16
• Revelation 11:3-6, 12-15
• Revelation 19:11-15

Scriptures referenced, not quoted:

• Numbers 28; 29
• Revelation 1
• Matthew 24
• Daniel 9
• Revelation 12:9; 4; 5; 7
• Joel 2; 3
• Zechariah 3, 4
• Revelation 11:1-2
• John 1:1

Also referenced:

• Sermon: When Was Jesus Born?
• Sermon Series: Daniel and Revelation
• From the Holy Bible in Its Original Order: Appendix Y—Chart-Reign of Gentile Kingdoms

FRC:lp
Transcribed: 10-21-16
Formatted: bo—11/8/16

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