Pentecost Resurrection #7

Additional Details on Pentecost and
The First Resurrection
Some of the Events Before and After

Fred R. Coulter—June 14, 2008

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Now I promised last time, which I didn't do, that I would explain the two wave loaves of Leviticus 23—so let's turn there, and that is pg. 240 in the new Bible. So when you get your new Bible and you're listening to it, you'll know where to go. Now let's come back to Leviticus 23:10—just to refresh our memory and the meaning of this, and then we will come to the two loaves. "Speak to the children of Israel and say to them, 'When you have come into the land which I give to you, and shall reap the harvest of it, then you shall bring the premier sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest to the priest. And he shall wave the sheaf before the LORD to be accepted for you. On the next day after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it'" (vs 10-11).

Now, what is the fulfillment of this day? The ascension and acceptance of Jesus Christ as the firstborn from the dead. The "premier sheaf" represents the dead Christ cut from the earth—and that sheaf was taken to the altar of burnt offerings and laid alongside the altar of burnt offerings until the morning after the Sabbath. They cut it at the end of the Sabbath—as the Sabbath was ending—took it in and placed it alongside the altar after the morning burnt offering was given. Then the first thing the priest did was take that "premier sheaf" and wave it to God. Now the waving or lifting symbolizes the resurrection—the resurrection of Christ.

Now let's come down here with the two wave loaves—v 17: "You shall bring out of your homes two wave loaves… [What were they to do with the loaves? They were to be waved. Now if the 'premier sheaf' pictured the acceptance of Christ after His resurrection, going to heaven to be accepted of the Father, what do you suppose waving the loaves represents? Now we'll see in just a minute.] …two wave loaves of two tenth parts. They shall be of fine flour. They shall be baked with leaven…"

Now, we'll talk about leaven, because this year I did not explain it the way that it needs to be explained, so I will. Why have such a ceremony? Why is this similar, but different, than the Wave Sheaf Offering Day?—referring to Christ. The Wave Sheaf Offering Day was the "premier sheaf"—symbolizing Christ being the first resurrected and the first accepted by God the Father. So why these two loaves? Well, it says right here: "…They are the firstfruits to the LORD" (v 17). Now could anything be plainer than that?

Now first of all, let's go to James, the first chapter. Please note that that two loaves brought in from each household—so there were many, many, many loaves. If you had 12,000 heads of house with all their families there, you would have 24,000 loaves, symbolizing a multitude, right? Yes! And it says that they are "the firstfruits unto the Lord."

James 1:17 (pg. 1,126): "Every good act of giving and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with Whom there is no variation, nor shadow of turning. According to His own will, He begat us by the Word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all His created beings" (vs 17-18).Are se called 'firstfruits'? Yes! If the wave sheaf offering symbolized Christ resurrected and ascending to the Father, what do you suppose the wave loaves on Pentecost picture but none other than the resurrection—because they're waved to God—of the firstfruits, who are the Church?

Now, let's cover something else concerning Jesus. Let's come here to the book of Colossians, the first chapter—and this is a verse that gets people all discombobulated, especially when it is taken out of context. And people read it in such a way as to use this verse as proof that Jesus was not God before He came in the flesh, as God manifested in the flesh—but He was firstborn. All right, we'll have the answer here.

Colossians 1:15, (pg. 1,197)—speaking of Christ: "Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation… ['Oh! He was created before everything else.' That's what is said in these false seminars that try to say that there's only one God and Jesus was not. Okay, we will answer the question here. "Firstborn of all creation"—what does that mean? Does the Bible explain it? All right, let's go on, speaking of Christ]: …Because by Him were all things created… [Now, did He create Himself? How could He be the firstborn of all creation, claiming that He was created when it says in the next verse 'by Him all things were created']: …the things in heaven and the things on earth, the visible and the invisible, whether they be thrones, or lordships, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by Him and for Him…. [This ties in with John 1:1-3—that nothing came into existence except that He created it.] (v 17): … And He is before all, and by Him all things subsist. And He is the Head of the body, the church; Who is the beginning, the firstborn from among the dead… [So the firstborn of creation means that He was the firstborn from among the dead of all of those who are created to receive eternal life at the resurrection.] …so that in all things He Himself might hold the preeminence" (vs 15-18).

Now this agrees with Leviticus 23, doesn't it? The wave sheaf represents Jesus. The wave loaves represent all of those in the first resurrection, as we will see. So, that is the answer—the answer to v 15 is answered in v 18. He is also called the firstborn from among the dead in Rev. 1.

Now let's carry this a little bit further. Let's ask the question concerning why the two wave loaves are made with leaven; because we all know—and every year we put leaven out of our homes during the Days of Unleavened Bread because it symbolizes sin. Why then does God have them make the wave loaves out of leaven? And what is the significance of that? Let's come to Matthew 13 and let's look at a parable that is hard for some people to understand.

Matthew 13:33 (pg. 973): "Another parable He spoke to them: 'The kingdom of heaven is compared to leaven… [Well now, let's ask the question: Is leaven always a symbol of sin? If it always a symbol of sin, then we should never eat anything leavened, correct? Only during the Days of Unleavened Bread. Is there a good use for leaven? Well, yes! We see it right here! Would you say then the Kingdom of Heaven is likened unto sin? How could that be when righteousness is going to dwell in the Kingdom of Heaven?] …The kingdom of heaven is compared to leaven which a woman took… [A woman symbolizes the Church, doesn't it?] …and hid in three measures of flour until all was leavened.'"

Now there are a lot of people—mostly women—today who have never made bread. But when you make bread and you use yeast you have to let it rise. What happens when it rises? The force of the CO2—or gas that is released from the yeast—causes it to disperse bubbles throughout the dough, so therefore it rises. Now if you want to make it rise a little faster, you give it a little heat—not too much to bake it, but enough to bring it up. Before the leaven has come up, you can do many things with the dough, can't you? You can braid it—mom makes good braided bread; you can make cinnamon rolls; you make doughnuts—if you cook them in good oil; you can make rolls, hamburger buns. So you can do a lot of things with it. While it's rising, it's pliable and workable and moldable, correct?

And that's just like, we can say in this case then, the leaven is likened to the unseen work of the Holy Spirit within us. Not to puff us up to make us vain, but to give us the growth through the Holy Spirit—because that's actually what happens to the dough, isn't it? It expands—so that can symbolized as growing in grace and knowledge through the power of the Holy Spirit.

Now, if the baker doesn't like the way the dough is rising, what does he do? Beats it down, doesn't he? Starts all over again. That's a trial, so that you're not going to mix your way in with God's way, so He beats us down, as it were, through trials. So then He heats it up again and let's the leaven rise. Now here's the final action of the leaven in the loaf—which is this: What do you do with it so you can have an edible product? Eating flour dough is not too yummy, yummy is it? We had a hamburger some time ago and the bun was absolutely just mush. It was doughy, and I was thinking of that: Man, you don't want to eat dough. So, what you do, you put it the oven and bake it. This is the final trial if you compare it to growing in grace and knowledge and so forth. It is finalized, cooked in the oven. Now once it's cooked, baked—sorry about that, you don't cook bread, you bake it. You roast meat; you cook in a pot; and you bake bread. It's in its final form.

Now let's come back here to Ephesians, the second chapter (pg 1,190), and let's see something very important about conversion. The thing that we need to understand is this: Salvation is creation. And that's why the leavened loaves picture a new creation in Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Now let's read it here—Ephesians 2:8: "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this especially is not of your own selves; it is the gift of God, Not of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto the good works…" (vs 8-10). Now tie that in to what I've mentioned about 'change your brain, change your life'; the Holy Spirit, the molding of the brain; and how the brain is moldable: by thoughts, by experiences, by emotions. And you can have your brain changed even by changing your thought-pattern without the Holy Spirit, because you make up your mind to do something, you make up your mind to stop something. But with the Holy Spirit: now God is working in your mind to create in you what? The character of God! So it is creation. Now then, there comes a point when it's put into the oven. Only in this case, the grave. It's finished, no longer any work can be done with it. Once you bake the bread it's done—it's a new creature. You set a lump of dough beside it and you look at the loaf of bread. This bread came from this lump of dough, and I can do it again. So it's created. Verse 10: "For we are His workmanship… [So God is working in us with His Spirit.] …created in Christ Jesus unto the good works that God ordained beforehand in order that we might walk in them."

Now, let's just come over here to Ephesians 4:22: "That concerning your former conduct, you put off the old man… [That's beating the dough back; and that also ties in with the Feast of Unleavened Bread—to get rid of the self within.] …which is corrupt according to deceitful lusts; And that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind… [That's how God does this—in the spirit of our minds. And He does the spiritual work; we must do, as it were, the grinding of the flour, the making of the dough—but God does the work much like the power of leaven when it raises the dough.] …And that you put on the new man, which according to God is created… [there it is again] …in righteousness and holiness of the truth" (vs 22-24).

Very interesting! So there is the parallel as to why the leaven. Now, let's ask the question: Why not just one loaf; or why not, since this is such a good thing, three loaves instead of two loaves, or a whole basket of loaves? Now let's come to Revelation 15 and we will answer the question. Here is the symbolism and parallelism we find in Revelation 15—which in the new Bible is pg. 1,238. Now here's just a little insight into why there are two loaves.

Revelation 15:2: "And I saw a sea of glass mingled with fire, and those who had gotten the victory over the beast… [And as I've said before: The Beast goes clear back to where? Garden of Eden.] …and over his image… [Which ALL idolatry, down through all history, is an image to the Beast—as well as the mammoth one they're going to make at the end.] …and over his mark…" (vs 1-2). The mark of the Beast is coming. Remember when I gave the sermon The Mark of the Beast is Here. Everyone got all excited—and I said don't get excited, there's still a lot of work to do. And they found that these implants that they have now cause cancer—so they have to rework them so they won't cause cancer. And I've got another book which is called Singularity is [Here] Near—which shows that they want to do with the human brain and the human mind far more than we have ever thought.

Now how many have seen this Capital One ad?—where this fellow is there…it's a take off of the barbarians they did before, and here's this barbarian and you see part of his scalp removed and what do you see in it? You see computer chips and things in there—and that's not far-fetched from what they want to do. So I need to read the book and I'll give you some sermons on how much they want to control every human being on earth with the mark of the Beast "…and over the number of his name…" (v 2). They already use certain little chips to assist certain parts of the body. Parkinson's disease they can put it in at the base of the brain and help alleviate some of the shaking. That in itself would not be a wrong thing, but it just shows the way that you get people to accept something that they should not accept is to lead them step-by-step along the way with things that work—until you get to the point that you want to do the final thing. That's how Satan works.

Now, let's continue here: "…and over the number of his name, standing on the sea of glass… [Don't you suppose that's a whole lot easier than trying to stand on a cloud?—just a little jest here.] …having the lyres of God. And they were singing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb…" (vs 2-3). The song of Moses pictures all of those from the Old Testament who receive eternal life—one loaf. All of those who sing the song of the Lamb are those who are saved from the New Covenant—the second loaf. So that's why there are two loaves.

Now obviously, these have to be resurrected people because you don't get to a sea of glass that is in the clouds unless you own a personal helicopter and you can fly up there, or you are resurrected and carried by the angels to go up there. And I don't think any helicopters are going to get anywhere close to the Sea of Glass, because I'm sure there are angels which will just—whooop!—down goes anything that comes up against it.

Now, let's come back to Acts, the second chapter and let's rehearse this again, though we covered it on the Day of Pentecost—where it talks about the fulfilling of the Day of Pentecost. Now let's add a little something more to this that we haven't discussed; because what happens on the Day of Pentecost, in addition to the animal offerings that they were to bring? They had the wave loaves that they were to wave. So here the Holy Spirit comes, the power to give the growth and the creation of God within you on the Day of Pentecost. So that's the start of the second loaf. Finishing of it will be the resurrection.

So when all of this took place—let's just read a few verses here: Acts 2:1 (pg. 1,083): "And when the day of Pentecost, the fiftieth day, was being fulfilled, they were all with one accord in the same place. And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like the rushing of a powerful wind, and filled the whole house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them divided tongues as of fire, and sat upon each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit… [If you could say all of a sudden you have the power. Right.] … and they began to speak with other languages, as the Spirit gave them the words to proclaim" (vs 1-4).

Now just think: here all these Jews out there waving, taking these wave loaves to the priests. And here are the priests, they're coming up to the priests and the priests wave the loaves—the priests and the Levites. Probably the Levites were acting on behalf of the priests. So here are lines of Levites, and here are people coming by bringing their two wave loaves out of their home, that they made according to the specifications that God gave: two parts of flour and leaven. And right when this ceremony was beginning here comes the Holy Spirit. And also remember, the trumpet was to be blown every Holy Day, so the trumpet was being blown at the temple area at the same time—as I brought out From Mt. Sinai to Mt. Sion. So just picture this and then all of a sudden the Holy Spirit comes. This is an amazing thing. So there is the symbolism of the two wave loaves of Leviticus 23.

Now, we need to cover some things concerning some prophetic events and settings and so forth. Let's come back and look in the book of Revelation 12:9—we'll pick it up here on page 1,236. We see this happening more and more and more and more. People are more deceived, believing lies, living in sin, promoting sin; and it ties right in here with Revelation 12:9: "And the great dragon was cast out, the ancient serpent who is called the Devil and Satan, who is deceiving the whole world…" Now, that's present tense and it's the whole world. Remember, the book of Revelation is talking about events that happen in the whole world. Are we having a worldwide, major financial crisis? Yes! Are we having a worldwide weather crisis? Yes! So when it talks about the 'whole world' it means the whole world!And if you don't believe that he's not deceiving all the nations of the world, then do this: show me one nation that is not deceived. You can't find any. And even the people of God, some of them still allow some of the deceiving barbs to get into their churches and ruin their lives, personally both.

Now continuing: "…he was cast down to the earth, and his angels were cast down with him" (v 9). The fallen angels are called demons. Now when that happens, this is going to be a major, beginning event. People have asked: How long is the day of the Lord? Well the day of the Lord can include the whole three and a half year period, plus a little bit more beginning with this next event. It can include the last year—as a day in prophecy is a year—and it can include the very day that Christ and the saints put their feet on the Mt. of Olives. So you have to discern from the context what it is talking about.

So, let's read this along and let's get the story flow, because this is THE event, right here—the casting down of Satan. And where's he going to be cast down from?—because there was war in heaven. Is there a coming war that's going to take place in heaven—that is above the earth—and will it be something that we can see? Very possibly. I think that clear back in 1980 I wrote an article on space wars and prophecy—when we had Bible Answers magazine. And I said it was my belief that perhaps there's going to be a great space station up there and the Beast, possessed by Satan, will make a trip up there to prove that he's God! And he's cast back down to the earth. Now that makes me wonder: Is that when he receives the deadly wound that is healed. You know, you can speculate—that's speculation—ding, ding, I just rang my bell. There may be other things that could bring about a deadly wound, but that certainly would be one, if you were cast down from the space station. And they just enlarged it by a great deal.

So we have to ask the question then: How much longer do we have? Please understand this: Every crisis and every worldwide crisis does not necessarily mean the end is just around the corner; but it is a combination of events that will bring everything together on stage so then we will know that the end is near. And here is the single event, with the casting down of Satan the devil. The whole world is going to know this! Now they won't know that it is God Who has done it. But nevertheless, notice what happens here, let's finish this off:

"…and his angels were cast down with him. And I heard a great voice in heaven say, 'Now has come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of His Christ… [Is that the beginning of the large Day of the Lord being a little more than three and a half years long? Possible. Because you see, when this event takes place, everything else is going to follow right along exactly as God has said, but the final fulfillment of this will not be completed until Christ and the saints return to the earth.] …because the accuser of our brethren has been cast down, who accuses them day and night before our God. But they overcame him through the blood of the Lamb… [That's why every day we need forgiveness of sins. That's why the model prayer is: 'forgive us our sins as we forgive others who sin against us; or trespass against us.' And 'through the blood of Christ then is the grace of God, and by grace you have been saved, not of yourself,' etc., etc. So you can put a lot of verses there in that particular place: 'the blood of the Lamb.'] …and through the word of their testimony…'" (vs 9-11). Because there's going to come a time that will fulfill Matt. 10 that we are going to bring testimony of the coming Kingdom of God to this world.

Now, Jim just handed me a news-clipping that in Colorado they're going to try and have all the preachers never say anything outside of a church about the truth concerning homosexuality. That is the word of someone's testimony about how evil and wretched homosexuality is. And it's going to bring satanic persecution. And the question is this: In order to stay in the kitchen (being the Church) you got to be able to take the heat. I'll have to give a sermon on Sodom and Gomorrah and remember all the good people of Gomorrah? They died, too, because they put up with all of it. Or it was forcibly brought upon them, legally, like they're doing today; because Satan always uses the same tactics. In that case, "get out of Dodge." That's what it says in Matt. 10, doesn't it? They persecute you in one city, go to another one—cause another furor and leave and go to another one. That day's going to happen. I don't' know if I'm going to live long enough to even participate in it, but nevertheless, we can do it on the website right now.

"…'through the word of their testimony, and they loved not their lives unto death'" (v 11). Because Satan is the one who holds the fear of death over everyone. And through Christ you overcome the fear of death. You don't go out and stand in front of a train and say, 'God, I'm not afraid of death.' That's not what it means. You're not dieing for Christ, you're dieing in stupidity in front of an ongoing train. That means you're willing to stand for Christ under all circumstances, whether it costs your life or not.

Just a little aside here: They're having great debates on what is humane execution. Hanging, they say, is cruel and unusual punishment. Electrification, in the electric chair, they say is cruel and unusual punishment. Now they're saying that the injections are cruel and unusual punishment because it causes pain. So what will be the final solution? The guillotine. Quick, painless and Rev. 20: Biblical: "…who were beheaded for the witness of Christ." So if they put you face-up, you'll see the guillotine coming; and the next thing you will see is the angel raising you to the Sea of Glass. If you're looking down and the guillotine comes, you'll be looking at where your head's going to fall and that's going to be the end of it. And then the angel will take you up to the Sea of Glass when the resurrection takes place. God has it all worked out.

Let's go on—because we need to get a time-flow here—v 12: "'Therefore, rejoice you heavens and those who dwell in them. Woe to those who inhabit the earth and the sea! For the Devil has come down to you, having great wrath because he knows that he has only a short time.'" Now, let's tie this in with Revelation 13. Let's see if we can make the two fit.

Revelation 13:3—concerning the beast with seven heads and ten horns: "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… [That's why there's so much occultism out in the world today.] …who gave his authority to the beast…. [Now, Satan offered this to Jesus Christ (Mat. 4; Luke 4) 'I'll give you all the kingdoms of the world if You worship me.' Now, the Beast does that.] …And they worshiped the beast, saying, 'Who is like the beast? Who has the power to make war against him?' And a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies was given to him; and authority was given to him to continue for forty-two months" (vs 3-5). So we've already covered the 42-months as three and a half years—correct?

"And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme His name, and His tabernacle, and those who dwell in heaven. And he was given power to make war against the saints, and to overcome them; and he was given authority over every tribe and language and nation. And all who dwell on the earth will worship him, whose names have not been written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. If anyone has an ear, let him hear" (vs 6-9). Now that says an awful lot. All this is world-government with the zenith of authoritarianism under Satan the devil and dictatorship unheard of in the history of the world.

Now, when Satan is cast down, is that when the deadly wound occurs? Because this is a tremendous event to have him cast down. The world will know that something big has taken place. I don't know if CNN is going to report it, or Fox News or whatever—but it will be known! Now when this happens, what are they going to do? They are going to start looking for the enemies on the earth who have caused this. And guess who the enemies will be? The true Christians.

Let's read on—Revelation 12:13: "And when the dragon saw that he was cast down to the earth, he persecuted the woman who had brought forth the man child." In this case, it's symbolic of the Church.

Now here is going to a place of safety. We're going to talk about this because this is necessary in understanding the events of the book of Revelation and what happens, and how that ties in to the first resurrection and the events that we will cover later. Obviously, I'm not going to get very far this sermon, but I'm going to continue until I finish. And everyone who's been on our mailing list for a while knows that when I start a series we're not done until we have finished. And Jim has asked me many times, so has Betty, because they do the Care Packages: how many sermons will this be? And they've learned not to ask me anymore. So I'm going to finish it so we all understand it, so all of those in United and Living and wherever they may be, will understand it—and I hope they go directly to their ministers and say: 'What about this? What about that? What about the other thing?' And always remember, when I started this, I said what: "If I am wrong I'll be willing to change." If they are wrong, are they willing to change?

(go to the next track)

We are getting a clearer view of the last three and a half year timeframe. We just finished in Revelation 13:7—how the Beast Power was given power to make war against the saints; that's the martyrdom. "…and he was given authority over every tribe and language and nation. And all who dwell on the earth will worship him, whose names have not been written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. If anyone has an ear, let him hear" (vs 7-9). In other words, God says if you really listen carefully, and with God's Spirit, then you can understand. That's what He's saying with this. But otherwise you'd better listen. When God says, "He who has an ear let him hear"—that means, if you've heard it you're responsible for it.

Now, let's come back and see how that ties in with Revelation 12 and we will put these together. Kind of in a parallel. Revelation 12:12: "'Therefore, rejoice you heavens and those who dwell in them. Woe to those who inhabit the earth and the sea! For the Devil has come down to you, having great wrath because he knows that he has only a short time'…. [Question: How long is a 'short time'? We'll see. We already have the time of 42-months from Rev. 13:5. So how much longer than 42-months is a short time?] (Let's read on, v 13): …And when the dragon saw that he was cast down to the earth, he persecuted the woman who had brought forth the man child" (vs 12-13). So there's the time of persecution. How long will be the time of persecution? The time of persecution is the what? Find out where 'all them there' Christians are—the enemies of the state.

Now notice there's going to be another event that takes place, and this is NOT "the rapture." There's no such thing as "the rapture." These things are not going to be done secretly. These things are going to be done openly and so the events are going to be well known. "And two wings of a great eagle were given to the woman… [sign of protection] …so that she might fly… [Now how are they going to fly?] …to her place in the wilderness… [Now, the wilderness does not tell us where it is. And as I've said all through my ministry, that if you think it's Petra and it's not, then you'll find out where it is when you arrive—if you go! And if you think it's Petra and you don't go, you will never know because you're going to lose your head.] (so let's read it): …where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time… [3-1/2 years again—42 months is 3-1/2 years] …from the face of the serpent" (v 14).

Now how are they going to get there? We'll see this in just a minute. This is different than the resurrection. Although it may, in outward appearance, be very similar; because we will see it will be the angels who will take whoever is going to a place of safety—the angels will take them there. You're not going to fly there in a 747, you are not going to drive there in a car, you are not going to wait for a phone call from the minister to say: 'Time to flee, you got your Petra bag ready?' And a lot of them use to keep them in their cars when they went to Sabbath services, but they forgot the Scripture which says, 'pray that your flight be not on the Sabbath.' So taking a Petra box  in your car to Sabbath services was a futile thing. But it showed one thing: What were these people seeking? A place of safety to save their physical necks! What did Jesus say we need to seek first? A place of safety? or The Kingdom of God! So there we have three and half years.

Now as they're getting to the place where they're going to be—and we'll see how they get there in a little bit—"…the serpent cast water out of his mouth as a river, so that he might cause her to be carried away by the flood…. [And that's NOT a flood of false doctrine as some people have tried to say.] …But the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened its mouth, and swallowed up… [all the false doctrines.] (NO!): …the river that the dragon [devil] and cast out of his mouth. Then the dragon was furious with the woman and went to make war with the rest of her seed… [Now that ties right in here with Rev. 13:7; and Rev. 12:17 & Rev. 13:7 tie together.] (now notice): …who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ" (vs 15-17). I'm going to give a sermon next week on What is the Testimony of Jesus Christ? Do you know what it is?

Now this gives us a timeframe, doesn't it? And this is just before the second seal opens; because when this takes place then there's war against the saints—but you don't go just after the saints, you go after all of your other enemies. Just like in WWII, what did the Nazi's do? They went into Poland—killed a lot of Polish people. But what was their goal? Get all the Jews. So when war is declared, that's not the primary purpose. The primary purpose is to get all those Christians; while we kill a lot of other enemies we don't like at the same time.

Now, let's come back to Luke 17. You've probably have some notes in your old Bible, but your new Bible you might not have notes in it; but here it tells us some very important things concerning how they go to a place of safety. And in the new Bible this is pg. 1,042. Luke 17:20—now this sounds an awful lot like the resurrection, but it's not—because you see, the resurrection takes place when? At the seventh trump, during the final phases of war on earth. Now the circumstance that we will see here are not in time of war, so this takes place before. This ties in with the first part of Rev. 12, where the "woman is given the wings of a great eagle." And isn't interesting where Jesus said, "Wherever the eagles are gathered there will be the carcass be"—or there will the body be. So in this case, the angels will be likened unto eagles. And what does one of the cherubim that oversees the throne of God, what does it look like? An eagle. And didn't God save the children Israel…that He brought them into the wilderness on eagle's wings. No, they walked. Now wherever the place of safety is going to be it's going to be too far to walk. And hitchhiking in those days will be very dangerous; and you might not be able to get a plane ticket or a boat ticket. And no one is going to let you go because they will see, "Aha! Here's one of those enemies that doesn't have the mark of the Beast—and the authorities will be right there to arrest you. So it has to be done, as we'll see, by the angels.

Luke 17:20: "Now when the Pharisees demanded of Him when the kingdom of God would come, He answered them and said, 'The kingdom of God does not come with observation… [Now that's kind of funny, isn't it? He's talking about Himself in this case, because when the Kingdom of God is coming, every eye is going to see it—right? But what He's saying here: The Kingdom of God does not come because you are observing things to perceive when it arrives.] …Neither shall they say, "Behold, it is here!"' Or, "Behold, it is there!" For behold, the kingdom of God is standing in the midst of you.' And wasn't He the King of the Kingdom, and does not a king symbolize a kingdom (Dan. 2 & 7) correct? So He's using the interpretation of the Bible on Himself.] …is standing in the midst of you…. [The Protestants believe that this is 'in the midst of you.'—so they say, 'The Kingdom of God is in your heart.' So this is the correct translation.] (v 22): …Then He said to the disciples, 'The days will come when you shall desire to see one of the days of the Son of man… [That can refer either to His ministry, can also refer to the days leading up to His coming.] …and shall not see it. And they shall say to you, "Look here," or, "Look there." Do not go, neither follow them. For as the light of day, whose light shines from one end under heaven to the other end under heaven, so also shall the Son of man be in His day'" (vs 20-24).

Now then, He comes back—and this is very interesting; this is why you have to rightly divide the Word of God. What happens next? Here He's talking about His literal beginning of His literal return to the earth in v 24; then v 25 what does He say? Back to the present time. "'But first it is necessary for Him to suffer many things and to be rejected by this generation…. [So here's where we need to pay close attention to what Jesus is saying.] …Now as it was in the days of Noah… [that is a loaded phrase, by the way. They may have lived a whole lot longer, but we are catching up on the knowledge through computers to make it as if we live longer than we actually do in the accumulation of knowledge. But who is to say that they didn't have computers before the flood.] (let's read on): …so also shall it be in the days of the Son of man'" (vs 25-26). Notice: 'the days' can include the whole three and a half year period plus what? Plus the time of persecution and the part of the Church that is taken to the place of safety and from there on to the end. So you have 'days of the Son of man.'

Verse 27 [transcriber's correction]: They were at MacDonald's and the pub—no! "'They were eating, they were drinking, they were marrying, they were being given in marriage, until the day that Noah went into the ark, and the Flood came and destroyed them all.'" Now the flood took how long? 40 days, 40 nights. 'The windows of heaven opened.' Did God bring some of the ice meteors, as it were, close to the earth and melt them, add water? 'Broke up the fountain of the deep.' How much water under the earth? We don't know. And if you break up the fountains of the deep and you sink the continents you're going to cover it by 15 cubits exactly as the Bible says. That's a scientific fact.

Now here's another comparison: "'And it was the same way in the days of Lot… [Sodom and Gomorrah] …they were eating, they were drinking, they were buying, they were selling, they were planting, they were building… [Good economics, right? What is thing that we stress today? The economy. What is it based upon? Construction, housing, food, harvest of crops, buying and selling of food—so that's all part of it there.] …But on the day that Lot went out from Sodom, it rained fire and sulphur from heaven and destroyed them all. This is how it shall be in the day that the Son of man is revealed'" (vs 28-30).

• Now, you have up here, v 26: "Now as it was in the days of Noah…" So that's the time leading up to it.
• Then you have v 27: "…until the day that Noah went into the ark…"
• v 28: "And it was the same way in the days of Lot…" So we're talking about periods of time here, correct?
• vs 29-30: "But on the day that Lot went out from Sodom, it rained fire and sulphur from heaven and destroyed them all. This is how it shall be in the day that the Son of man is revealed."

Is it going to be fire and sulphur coming down? NO! It's not going to be. What is as they were doing? They were eating, they were drinking, they were buying, they were selling—that's how the society is going to be in the day that the Son of man is revealed. And when is the Son of man revealed according to Rev. 12? When Satan is cast down! That's the beginning of it.

Then we have a greater revelation when we come to the sixth seal. Now, we'll talk about that again, but what I want to do is get the timing down so we understand it, and not have the confusion; because what we are going to read next does not show war; does not show persecution. It shows a time before there is war and probably just some persecution beginning to start; because notice the activity:

Verse 31: "In that day, let not the one who is on the housetop, and his goods in the house, come down to take them away; and likewise, let not the one who is in the field return to the things behind." So this shows that there is going to be, all of a sudden BAM!, there is going to be war that is going to come. It sounds like things will be good along with all the evil that is still here in this society.

You ask about buying and selling: What if Israel is in captivity at that time? Well, let's look at the war in Iraq. Didn't they receive a lot of bombs, tanks, planes, killing, shooting, armies? Have they had roadside bombings and all these things, and executions going on? Yes! In the middle of war. But what have they also had? Buying, selling, limited, semi-normal activity. So the description here…that's a good question: what does it mean 'buying and selling'?

Now what we covered in Rev. 6 about the first four seals also fits into this, too. So, I would say this is the time just before the second seal and the declaration of war by the Beast Power; because that's when they're going to a place of safety—not before then. You know, all the nations involved in WWII were either bombing or being bombed, and they had to go out and buy and sell and do things. It was harder to do, obviously, but still, in order to survive, you have to have some activities take place where you can eat, where you can drink, where you sleep. Now, it might not be very pleasant conditions, but at least if you have a hunk of bread and a drink of water you're going to survive another day.

So let's read on here. So this is a time before great disastrous war. So when it comes time, you leave everything behind.

V 32: "'Remember Lot's wife. Whoever shall seek to save his life shall lose it; and whoever shall lose his life shall preserve it'" (vs 32-33).

Now we come to something entirely different, which ties in with v 29 on the day that Lot went out from Sodom. That was before the disaster occurred. "'I tell you, in that night… [This is different than v 31-32…well, v 33 applies all the way through ] …there shall be two in one bed; one shall be taken, and the other shall be left…. [So this is normal activity. The King James says 'two men in bed' but that only happens in San Francisco and other places like that. Should be translated: 'two in one bed, one shall be taken the other left.' Now this is in the night.] (notice v 35): …Two women shall be grinding together… [Now when do you grind flour? You do it at midnight? No, you don't do it at night. When do you generally grind flour? As soon as you can after sunrise in the early morning. Because in the heat of the day you don't want to be grinding flour, because sometimes the chaff of the wheat can even explode in hot temperatures. So you want to get it all ground into flour—and so there will be two grinding together.] …one shall be taken, and the other shall be left…. [How are they taken? All right, we'll answer that in just a minute.] …Two men shall be in the field; one shall be taken, and the other shall be left'" (vs 34-36). Now that's different from when it says, 'the one who's in the field, don't go back.' So the 'one who's in the field don't go back' is different than 'two men are in the field, one shall be taken and the other left.'

Now this is mysterious: "And they answered, saying to Him, 'Where, Lord?' And He said to them, 'Where the body is, there will the eagles be gathered together'" Now with that, you know exactly where the place of safety is. I'm being facetious because you don't! And besides, the king of Jordan right now is not too hot on having people from the Church of God going over there trying to lease Petra from the state of Jordan. Now if it's Petra, and you get there, you will know.

Question is: What does it mean "taken"? We have here, v 29: "But on the day that Lot went out from Sodom…" How were they taken out of Sodom? The angels took them. In that case, they walked, they didn't have very far to go. In this case, if there's a way to go, then you are going to be carried by the angels to wherever the place of safety will be—and it will be much like Enoch or Elijah. They were taken up into the first heaven—they didn't go to the throne of God—and they were both taken away. Now Rev. 12 tells us where they were taken. Luke 17 tells us the conditions under which they will be taken. So these are pretty normal conditions: sleeping, grinding, working in the fields. So this has to be just before the war. This has nothing to do with the literal day that Christ comes to the earth. This is right at the three and a half year period before the completed second return of Jesus Christ.

Now, when that takes place, will the world know of it? Probably will. There'll probably be reports. Christiane Amanpour—she will probably give the report something like this:
The authorities have reported that when they have come around to arrest some of these people, some of them disappeared in the night; and some of them were taken away right early in the morning; and other's were scooped up right out of the field. And we have some witnesses that saw that. What did you see? "Well, I saw that they just up and left."

I don't know if God is going to let them see the angel or not. So maybe it's kind of like, whoooosh, there they go away. And then somewhere—wherever the place of safety is—if there's another news agency over there, they're going to say:

A strange phenomenon has occurred out here in the wilderness. We are getting reports from the local people that all of a sudden there's a great influx of people that just seem to be dropping out of the sky. And the authorities have come here and the armies have come and they haven't been able to get them because all of a sudden, out of the earth, comes great rivers of water. So the commanding general has given up on this and now, in his anger, he has instructions from the world leader who says, "Go get the rest of them and kill them."

Now to me, that makes more sense than anything else, because it would have be something like that. And the reason, if you get to a place of safety, you don't have to take a suitcase with you; you don't have to take a 'Petra box' with you; because God will probably feed those who go—on manna. He will provide water out of a rock. And your clothes will not wear out, nor will your shoes. Did that happen previously? Yes, during the Exodus. Is God 'the same yesterday, today and forever'? Yes! It will be like the raiding aliens—body snatching. Now we'll get into the asteroid here in a little bit, but almost every movie on the end-time or the end of the age—collision of the two worlds and all this sort of thing—what do they have? Aliens invading. And Independence Day was the one that showed it the most graphically the best. All the nations of the world in a phenomenal display of cooperation, have all gathered together and they have all the same communication and they are fighting this invasion from outer space, which destroyed the capital city of America. Be the same way.

So the end-time events are going to be fantastic, heaven-shaking, earth-shaking, the whole world is going to know it. So now, all of you belated Protestants who believe in a secret rapture—which won't happen—you're the ones who are going to be "left behind"! And the authors of the book Left Behind will be left behind! Only those that GOD CHOOSES out of those that are His—and it's going to be a small portion of those who are true Christians who are going to go to a place of safety—the rest are going to have to give their lives as a witness against this satanic, evil system at the end. That's just where it's going to be. And just because you belong to a Protestant church and your minister tells you every Sunday, "Oh, if you accept the Lord in your heart, you are going to be raptured away when the secret voice of the Lord, which only those who have the Lord in their hearts will hear." Isn't going to happen! That's a satanic lie!

There IS a place of safety for a few of the chosen ones that God Himself is going to personally select. It's not going to be selected by the minister standing up there Sunday morning—or Sabbath morning—saying give your heart to the Lord and you will be in the secret rapture. That's why the sermon I did on the secret rapture is called The Ruptured Rapture. It WILL NOT take place.

Now that we have that time-setting, let's come to Luke 21 and let's look at the things that Luke says are going to be happening (just a few pages over since we're in Luke 17). And I just imagine that at the resurrection those going clear back to Abel, I wonder what Abel's going to think when he's on the Sea of Glass? And here are all of these that have been resurrected in the first resurrection, we're all standing on the Sea of Glass. All have a new body; all have a new mind; we all speak one language because, with a new creation, we'll have the new language implanted into our new minds by God at the transformation.

And we're going to be looking down at the earth and seeing all these things that are going on there. And I imagine Abel is going to say, "How did this happen?" And Noah's going to come over and say, "Well now, Abe, this was very similar to our day." And Lot is going to come over and say, "Yeah, I got away by the skin of my teeth. And my two daughters were the first Laodiceans on earth." And the apostles who wrote these things are going to say, "We never imagined it would be like this." So it's going to be quite an event. We'll talk a little bit more about the Sea of Glass a little later, but let's talk about the events here in Luke 21 leading up to that time.

Luke 21:5: "And while some were speaking about the temple, how it was adorned with beautiful stones and consecrated gifts, He said, 'As for these things that you now see, the days will come in which there shall not be left one stone upon another that shall not be thrown down'" (vs 5-6).

Now, just to interject something here very important to understand: This one verse, if the Jews would read it and understand it, would tell you that where the Mosque of Omar is, is not where the temple was. Just ask some questions:

• Are there stones standing on top of one another where the Mosque of Omar is? Yes.
• Where do the Jews go to pray? They go to pray at the Wailing Wall on the west side, don't they? Yes.
• What do they do with the little prayers that they write? They stick them in between the rocks that are stacked, which constitute the old wall of Ft. Antonio.

And the reason that those rocks are exposed is because all the rocks to the west and south of that were all torn down, just like Jesus said. They are not there. That's why the temple will not be built on the place of the Mosque of Omar. Now if you want to know where the temple will be rebuilt, read it in the appendix of the New Testament.

"…'that shall not be thrown down.' And they asked Him, saying, 'Master, when shall these things be? And what shall be the sign that these things are about to take place?'…. [I mean, this is pretty disastrous, and 'we want to know.'] …And He said, 'Beware that you be not deceived… [Everybody pay attention to that verse because how many in the Church of God has been deceived? Say there, that where we started in Rev. 12 that Satan's deceiving the whole world, right? And why are false prophets coming into the Church and those originating within the Church, that Satan raises up, to deceive the elect.] …[So] He said, 'Beware that you be not deceived; for many shall come in My name, saying, "I am Christ"…[or 'I am the Christ'] …and, "The time has drawn near." Therefore, do not go after them'" (vs 6-8).

Now, that just happened with Ron Weinland, who said his wife and he were the two witnesses. That everything he prophesied would happen during the Days of Unleavened Bread and up to Pentecost have not happened. Yet, he said a year ago, when he was on these radio programs being interviewed by some fairly famous radio broadcasters and talk-show hosts, he said, 'If these things don't come to pass then I'm a false prophet.' So, he put out an e-mail here recently that he said that he would have 'declare himself a false prophet if these things didn't happen by Pentecost. Well, no, maybe we better make it out to July.' People in the Church followed him! Just like lemmings. Why? Because they want to follow a man instead of Christ. So Christ is going to send a man you can follow. And you want to believe false doctrine so you can be important. God will let you believe false doctrine so you can be important. It says, 'Don't go after them.'

Verse 9: "'And when you hear of wars and revolutions, do not be terrified… [Do we hear that right now? Yes, all the time. From that time till this.] …for it is necessary that these things take place first, but the end will not come immediately'…. [And He didn't tell them, 'Well now, hold on, gang, because it's going to be about 2000 years before it happens.' If He would have said that, just think what Peter would have said. Because even when things didn't work out the way that he wanted them to work out, after the resurrection of Christ, then he had seen Christ, he said, 'I'm going fishing.' Think what would have happened if Jesus would have told him, 'Two thousand years, you've got to wait. But you go out and work hard and you go out and be zealous.' Well, you know how human nature is. When do you go to the store to buy something? When your cupboard is full of it, or when it's nearly empty? That's the same way that they would respond. So He says, 'Not immediately.' They had a type of it when the temple was destroyed in 70 AD.

"Then He said to them, 'Nation shall rise up against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; There shall also be great earthquakes in different places… [Have we had them this year? Yes, indeed. Just one day before yesterday in Japan—7.6 on the Richter Scale. Didn't get any pictures of any of it yet. I haven't seen it on television because Tim Russert died, and he is so important that that had to occupy all of the channels for a day and a half, about his life. Well, this is more important.] …earthquakes in different places, and famines… [Do we have them today? Yes.] …and pestilences… [Do we have it today? What is AIDS? Pestilence. What are the sicknesses that we have? Pestilence.] …and there shall be fearful sights and great signs from heaven…. [Okay, that hasn't happened yet. But it's going to.] …But before all these things, they shall lay their hands on you and shall persecute you, delivering you up to synagogues and prisons, and bringing you before kings and governors, for My name's sake'" (vs 10-12). So that could happen from that time right all the way down until now. Was Paul brought before kings? Yes. Were the apostles brought before the Sanhedrin? Yes. Were they beaten in the synagogue? Yes. Were they kicked out of the synagogues? Yes.

Verse 13: "'But it shall turn to you for a testimony. Settle therefore in your hearts not to premeditate what you shall answer. For I will give you a mouth and wisdom that all those who are opposing you shall not be able to reply to nor resist. But you shall be delivered up even by parents… [Don't we have that today? Anonymous tip—you can turn in anyone, you don't have to let anyone know who you are.] …and brothers and relatives and friends, and they shall put some of you to death; And you shall be hated by all because of My name. But not a hair of your head shall by any means perish. By your patient endurance you shall gain your lives. But when you see Jerusalem being surrounded by armies, then know that her desolation has drawn near…. [That's 70 AD] …Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, and let those within her go out, and let not those in the countries come into her; For these are the days of vengeance, so that all things that have been written may be accomplished'" (vs 13-22).

Now we'll end here because I'm beginning to run out of time, and we'll pick it up here next time. But you have a fulfillment during 70 AD as a type of fulfillment. Then you have at the end-time a repeat of it, for the things at the end. So that's why we're going to see a temple built in Jerusalem. And if you have a computer, I'll mention it again, go online and look up The Temple Institution—and they have books, they have pictures, they have all kinds of things ready to go. And they are now doing DNA tests to find out who the Kohans or the descendants of the priests among the Jews really are. So they're getting ready. They have the priests, the high priests, robes ready to go. They have the bowls to catch the blood for the offerings ready to go. They have the cornerstone for the temple ready to go. They have the lots for the selecting of the goat for the Lord and the goat for Azazel ready to go. So go online and look it up. I think you will be amazed. Then read the appendix in the New Testament which tells you where the temple will be.

Now that was written by Ernest Martin. And of course, the Jews won't accept anything written by a "Gentile." What they do is this: They send one of their trusty rabbis to secretly check it out and then he writes a book as if it's brand new. Because they couldn't admit that a "Gentile" would tell them where the temple is going to be built—after all 'we Jews know everything.'

So anyway, there's lots of exciting things to happen, so if you can endure through the economic trauma we're going through, then we'll see a lot of these things happen.

FRC:bo
Transcribed: 6-30-08

Scriptural References:

• Leviticus 23:10-11, 17
• James 1:17-18
• Colossians 1:15-18
• Matthew 13:33
• Ephesians 2:8-10
• Ephesians 4:22-24
• Revelation 15:2-3
• Acts 2:1-4
• Revelation 12:9-12
• Revelation 13:3-9
• Revelation 12:12-17
• Luke 17:20-37
• Luke 21:5-22

Scriptures referenced, not quoted:

• John 1:1-3
• Revelation 1; 20
• Matthew 10; 4
• Luke 4

Sermons referenced:

• The Mark of the Beast is Here
• From Mt. Sinai to Mt. Sion
• The Ruptured Rapture

Books referenced:

• Singularity is Near by Ray Kurzwiel
• Left Behind by Time by LaHaye & Jerry Jenkins