Prophecies Fulfilled In Zechariah I

In studying the Bible remember that God has arranged it
precept upon precept line upon line; here a little, there a little (Isa. 28)

Fred R. Coulter—December 2, 2023

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We're going to continue our study a little bit in Haggai, but mostly in Zechariah today. What we're going to see is a fulfillment in writing of what God describes here in Isa. 28

God has put His Word together in such a way that you can't just pick it up and read it and understand it. Certain parts you can that are very basic, that are very easy to understand. Other parts of it you can't do it. That's why people say, they can't understand it. That's why other people say that it's full of lies. We will see that when we get into Zechariah today.

Isaiah 28:12: "To whom He said, 'This is the rest He gives to the weary,'… [that to us, that's rest from our sins and so forth] …and 'This is the refreshing,' yet, they were not willing to hear."

Because we all have free moral agency and we must, when we hear we must obey, and we must believe! Then all of that is to develop into the love of God.

Here's what happens; v 13: So then, the Word of the LORD was to them precept upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, there a little; that they might go, and fall backward, and be broken and snared and taken."

Now that's what it is to the world. But let's see what it is then to us:

Verse 9: "Whom shall He teach knowledge?…."

Think about that for a minute, that everything that we do in studying the Bible and studying and restudying and restudying, because it's layer upon layered, spiritually speaking, that God has to reveal it.

We know this: Sabbath, Holy Days, and the Calculated Hebrew Calendar are the things that give us understanding of God's purpose, of what He's doing, of prophecy, and everything that God is doing. Those are the things that the world will not hear. So, they can't understand it. and they fall and they're broken. But not to us!

"…And whom shall He make to understand doctrine? Those who are weaned from the milk and drawn from the breasts," (v 9).

You have to have a basic knowledge of the Bible that you learn from beginning obedience until you come to the point that you can begin to understand.

Eduardo's message—The Lord is My Light—was a very good example of advanced learning in the Bible. With God's Spirit within us, that helps us draw close to God. That's what's important! But there are two sides to that coin.

IF we understand that it's 'precept upon precept, line upon line, here a little, there a little,' THEN we can understand the Scriptures, which  we will see when we come to the book of Zechariah here in just a little bit.

Now let's come to Haggai. Let's just finish up something here in Haggai and then we'll come back to Zechariah after the break. We will see what I just covered in Isa. 28 is exactly how Zechariah is written.

However, here's another aspect of understanding the Word of God.. Combined in all of the books that go with this—Ezra, Nehemiah, Dan. 9. Now, Dan. 10 & 11 are very difficult to understand.

We will get Carl Franklin's research for you on that sometime here not too far down the road. But in Haggai 1 we are told: 'consider your  ways.' In other words, look at your life and repent of what you're doing and do what God wants

Haggai 1:12: "Then Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, with all the remnant of the people, obeyed the voice of the LORD their God and the words of Haggai the prophet, as the LORD their God had sent him. And the people feared before the LORD."

Now what happens with that? Once you do that, this is much like when we were called! We're going along our way and our lives are all messed up and we cry out to God and He reaches down and He begins to call us. And if we obey and respond to God, then here's what happens:

Verse 13: Then Haggai, the LORD'S messenger, spoke the message of the LORD to the people, saying, '"I am with you," says the LORD.'

Now what happens with that? God helps you in motivation, in desire and in love to do what He says! What we're also talking about is what people would say is New Testament doctrine. But you see, the whole Bible is filled with New Testament doctrine. We'll see some of that when we get to Zechariah.

Verse 14: "And the LORD stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest…"

What this tells us is that WHEN the leaders of the people are close to God and obey God, and are stirred up in what they need to do in carrying out what God wants them to do, THEN God is with them! Notice what happens then:

"…and the spirit of all the remnant of the people…." (v 14). That's what's important! That's how we understand.

Verse15: "In the twenty-fourth day of the sixth month, in the second year of Darius the king."

So that's why you have to go back and read Ezra and Nehemiah and also the book of Esther, tie all of those things together in the sequence of time, Because from the time that the temple was completed in 515B.C. there was almost 200 years of relative peace because of the blessing of God.

The book of Esther tells us that in many of the other nations, the people repented and started keeping the Laws of God. You read the proclamation by Cyrus about sending the Jews back home. He also gave a command as did Darius the king who followed him: that all the people of the nations around Judea would give provisions, food, money, animals for sacrifice, etc. They were all blessed! That's the thing that we can find when we get to the book of Zechariah. But the thing that is important here is this:

The Apostle Paul wrote to Timothy in 2-Tim. 1 that he was to stir up the Spirit of God that was within him with the laying on of hands. That's when you receive the Holy Spirit. The Spirit of God works in us and with us as we yield to God and desire the way of God more and more and more.

Now think of it this way: Do we not eat food every day? What happens if we don't eat food? Sooner or later you die. That's why we need to yield to God. And remember what God says about the Laodiceans at the end. What is their condition? They're neither hot nor cold; they're lukewarm. It's just like you take a hot cup of tea or coffee, and if you let it sit and don't drink it while it's hot, it becomes lukewarm and you taste it and you spew it out of your mouth! That's what God says that he does with those who are lukewarm. But IF we come to God and stir ourselves up with God's Spirit, THEN God will grant us His Spirit and

• we will have a closeness to God
• we will have more understanding of His Word
• we will be able to function in this world of darkness that is absolutely crumbling right in front of our very eyes

Let's see how it is that God has arranged the different prophecies. We will see this in virtually every one of the books of the prophets.

First of all, there will be something about the present time, just like we saw with Haggai in building the temple, and how God would bless them.

• then we have things that are near, ready to happen in the present time
• then all of a sudden, right out of nowhere, there's something that has to do with the first coming of Christ, or His second coming, which it seems to be clear out of place
• then we also have things pertaining to the spiritual Kingdom of God

All of those are what you might say, scrambled together with line upon line and precept upon precept, here a little and there a little.

Let's see an example of that in the final verses of the book of Haggai; Hag. 2:20. Make a note that how quickly some of these prophecies came to Haggai and to Zechariah right after they came back to the area of Judea.

Haggai 2:20: "And a second time the Word of the LORD came to Haggai in the twenty-fourth day of the month, saying… [it came to him twice in that day] …'Speak to Zerubbabel, governor of Judah, saying, 'I will shake the heavens and the earth. And I will overthrow the throne of the kingdoms, and I will destroy the strength of the kingdoms of the nations. And I will overthrow the chariots and their riders. And the horses and their riders shall come down, each one by the sword of his brother. In that day,' says the LORD of hosts, 'I will take you, O Zerubbabel, My servant, the son of Shealtiel,' says the LORD, 'and will make you like a signet ring; for I have chosen you,' says the LORD of hosts" (vs 20-23).

So right in the middle of that, we have two verses which pertain to the second coming of Christ. Then it ends with the blessing upon Joshua the high priest and Zerubbabel the governor!

Then we will see later when we get to Zech. 3 & 4, which we've covered before, that Joshua the high priest and Zerubbabel are likened to the two witnesses (Rev. 11).

Let's come to Zech. 1 and see that it took some months and then the Word again came to Zechariah.

Zechariah 1:1: "In the eighth month, in the second year of Darius…"

Go back and look at the years that it's mentioned with Darius and see how closely all of these prophecies came together.

"…the Word of the LORD came to Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo the prophet, saying, 'The LORD has been very angry with your fathers. Therefore, you say to them, "Thus says the LORD of hosts, 'Return to Me'…"'" (vs 1-3).

See how this ties in with everything in the Bible?

• you come to God
• you repent to God
• He'll respond to you

"…'Return to Me' says the LORD of hosts…" (v 3).

Well it didn't take them very many months to slack up off on what they were doing in building the temple. Okay now notice the promise.

"…'Return to Me' says the LORD of hosts, 'and I will return to you'…" (v 3). That's a promise!

Then He gives them a warning again; and when you read Ezra and Nehemiah these people were hot and cold, hot and cold, hot and cold!

Verse 4[transcriber's correction]: "'Be not as your fathers, to whom the former prophets have proclaimed to them, saying, "Thus says the LORD of hosts, 'Turn now from your evil ways and your evil doings.' But they did not hearken, nor attend to Me,' says the LORD."

Think about that! Isn't that the way that human nature is? You say, 'Okay Lord I'll do it,' and then you go down the road a little further and you forget all about it. So he says, 'I want you to learn a lesson.'

• that's why we have the Bible.
• that's why we have the histories that are here

So that we can learn from their mistakes and not do the same thing. Zechariah tells them this; God's message:

Verse 5: 'Your fathers, where are they?….'" They all died in Babylon, because they were there 70 years.

"…And the prophets, do they live forever?…." v 5). No! God has to raise them up!

Verse 6: "…But My words and My statutes, which I commanded My servants the prophets, did they not overtake your fathers?…."

In other words, remember what was said, and don't do the same thing! This is why today we have the whole Bible.

"…And they returned and said, 'As the LORD of hosts planned to do to us, according to our ways and according to our doings, so He has done with us'" (v 6). Again acknowledging with repentance!

Verse 7: "On the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month, it is the month Shebat… [just two and a half months later] …in the second year of Darius, the Word of the LORD came to Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo the prophet, saying, 'I watched by night. And behold! A man riding on a red horse…'" (vs 7-8).

Now we're going to look at the horses here in Zechariah the first chapter. A lot of people, pundits, prophets and Protestants say that these horses are the same ones as Rev. 6, but they're not.

We will see that these horses are not the same because the ones in Rev. 6 are for destruction and death, leading up to the departing of the heavens like a scroll. So, keep that in mind as we read this:

Verse 8: "I watched by night. And behold! A man riding on a red horse, and he stood among the myrtle trees in the ravine. And behind him were red, speckled and white horses."

In the book of Revelation you have white, red, black and pale. All of those are for destruction!

Verse 9: "Then I said, 'O my lord, what are these?' And the angel who talked with me said to me, 'I will show you what these are.' And the man who stood among the myrtle trees answered and said, 'These are those whom the LORD has sent to walk to and fro through the earth'" (vs 9-10).

What does that mean? That means that God has spirit beings, some of them like horses, some of them like something else that we've seen other places, plus we've seen in Revelation the seven eyes of the Lord. And we see in 2-Chron. 15 that the eyes of the Lord go to and fro through the earth.

This is how God keeps track of what's going on. He was right in the process of having the temple rebuilt in Jerusalem. There had to be peace. These spirit beings, though like horses, were to bring peace so that they could finish the temple. Nehemiah came later and built the walls, and that's important. Keep that in mind. We'll talk about that in a little bit.

Verse 11: "And they answered the angel of the LORD who stood among the myrtle trees, and said, 'We have walked to and fro through the earth, and behold, all the earth sits still and is at peace.'"

That's why these horses cannot be the ones of Rev. 6, because everything in Rev. 6 is for destruction. This is peace.

Verse 12: "Then the angel of the LORD answered and said, 'O LORD of hosts, how long will You not have mercy upon Jerusalem and upon the cities of Judah against which You have cursed these seventy years?'" So, this is a present prophecy!

Verse 13: "And the LORD answered the angel who talked with me with good words and comfortable words. So, the angel who talked with me said to me, 'Cry aloud, saying, "Thus says the LORD of hosts, 'I am jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion with a great jealousy'"'" (vs 13-14).

That's why He was going to build a temple. Why did that have to be built? To come all the way down over 500 years later to Jesus Christ, Who prophesied that He would come suddenly into His Temple! We find that fulfilled in John 2.

Verse 15: "'And with great anger I am angry at the heathen that are at ease—in that I was but a little angry, but they furthered the affliction.' Therefore, thus says the LORD, 'I have returned to Jerusalem with mercies….'" (vs 15-16).

That's why they were able to build, and actually they had a time: from the time of getting the temple finished right on down through the time of Alexander the Great, they had relative peace and prosperity. Jerusalem was thriving! Trade was taking place! At that time you had Ezra and what was known as the Great Synagogue.

The Great Synagogue was a gathering of 120 of the priests, and under Ezra's direction they recopied and canonized the whole Old Testament up to the book of Malachi, which was the last book added to the Old Testament. So, during that time there was peace, there was prosperity, there were people, there were children. We'll see that all in just a little bit here.

Verse 16: "Therefore, thus says the LORD, 'I have returned to Jerusalem with mercies. My house shall be built in it… [because they just laid the cornerstone of the temple with Haggai] …And a line shall be stretched over Jerusalem.' Cry aloud again, saying, 'Thus says the LORD of hosts, "My cities shall yet overflow through prosperity…"'" (vs 16-17). That was in that period after the temple was built!

"'…and the LORD shall yet comfort Zion, and shall yet choose Jerusalem.' Then I lifted up my eyes and looked, and behold, four horns!" (vs 17-18). What are these horns?

Verse 19: "And I said to the angel who talked with me, 'What are these?' And he answered me, 'These are the horns that have scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem.'"

Those are the conquering nations that took away the ten tribes of Israel and then took away the Jews.

Verse 20: "And the LORD showed me four craftsmen. And I said, 'What are these coming to do?' And He spoke, saying, 'These are the horns which have scattered Judah, so that no man lifted up his head. But these have come to terrify them, to throw down the horns of the nations who lifted up their horns over the land of Judah to scatter it'" (vs 20-21). God cleaned it all out, got rid of all the war!

Let's see how this all flows along. We will see how that—like in many places in the prophets—it talks about:

• the current time
• the near future
• the far away future
• the first coming of Christ
• the second coming of Christ

All of those just kind of put right in the middle of something that's of a completely different topic!

That's what makes it difficult to understand and why you need the Sabbath and the Holy Days and the flow of them so that you can put the Scriptures together.

Zechariah 2:1: "I lifted up my eyes again and looked, and behold! A man with a measuring line in his hand. Then I said, 'Where are you going?' And he said to me, 'To measure Jerusalem, to see what is its breadth and what is its length.' And behold, the angel who talked with me went out, and another angel went out to meet him" (vs 1-3).

What does this show you? This shows you God's blessing of his angels to help and inspire the people to do what God wanted them to do!

That's why right at the first He says, 'Return to Me, I'll return to you.' When God returns to you, What are you going to do?

Verse 4: "And he said to him, 'Run, speak to this young man, saying, "Jerusalem shall be inhabited…"' [that's right there at that time] …As towns without walls for the multitude of men and livestock in her."

This is a projection forward "…without walls…" meaning they don't need any defense. But Nehemiah came and they built the walls later.

Verse 5: "'And I,' says the LORD, 'will be to her a wall of fire all around, and will be the glory in her midst.'"

God is saying, 'I'm here, My angels are here, they're going to do what I want everyone to do.'

Verse 6: "'Ho! Ho! Flee then from the land of the north,' says the LORD…"

In order to come from Persia, you have to come from the north and come directly own south in order to come to Jerusalem. That's what it's talking about.

"…'for I have scattered you as the four winds of the heavens,' says the LORD. 'Ho! O Zion, escape, you who live with the daughter of Babylon'" (vs 6-7).

That's contemporary, bringing more people out of Babylon. There were three waves of exiles coming back out of Babylon to Jerusalem and Judea over a 20-year period.

Verse 8: "For thus says the LORD of hosts; 'After His glory, He sent me unto the nations who plundered you; for he who touches you touches the apple of His eye, for behold, I will shake My hand over them, and they shall be a prize for their servants. And you shall know that the LORD of hosts has sent me'" (vs 8-9).

In other words, just look at what's happening at the present time and you will see that it's the hand of God who's inspiring it to be done.

I can look at that in this way and know how that felt: There was a time when the Radio Church of God, Worldwide Church of God, later renamed from the Radio Church of God, and Ambassador College. When they started they were small. They were zealous. They were doing what God wanted them to do. The campus expanded and it was beautiful. It was nice. It was lovely. It was really a wonderful place to be.

I was there from 1961 to 1964 and graduated in 1964, got married in 1965. While we were there, the students were praying, the students were studying. They were all talking about God's Way and God's Truth and what they were learning. Everyone was, it was a happy and joyous place to be.

But then, BAM! Something happened! Something happened! Dolores and I went back there to visit the campus and it was like about three or four years later.

In all the dormitories they had down in the basement, they had prayer booths. At the time that we were going to school, all the students were praying and studying, growing in grace and knowledge and it was really good. So we come back to visit and what did we find? The students weren't praying as much. Some of the prayer closets were used to store things. What happened to the atmosphere on the college campus? The atmosphere of God being with them was further removed! That was something! Then what happened with that? All the troubles and difficulties came!

So here we find that God is saying, 'I'm with you. You're going to build, you're going to plant.'

Verse 8: "For thus says the LORD of hosts; 'After His glory, He sent me unto the nations who plundered you; for he who touches you touches the apple of His eye, for behold, I will shake My hand over them, and they shall be a prize for their servants. And you shall know that the LORD of hosts has sent me. Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion, for lo, I come, and I will dwell in your midst,' says the LORD" (vs 8-10).

Now that means at that time with those people. But this is also a prophecy that can be projected into the future, just like I explained there about the college in Pasadena.

This happened during that 200-year period; v 11. "'And many nations shall be joined to the LORD in that day, and shall be My people; and I will dwell in your midst, and you shall know that the LORD of hosts has sent me to you."

You could take this one verse and you could also project this into what Christ would be doing when He raised up His Church. So, here we have another principle in prophecy, a duality and sometimes a multiplicity, meaning that the prophecy would be fulfilled kind of like in cycles down through time. So, we see the same thing here.

Verse 12: "And the LORD shall possess Judah, His portion in the Holy land, and shall choose Jerusalem again."

We see part of that almost today. Did not the Jews come back and take Jerusalem in 1967? Yes indeed!

Now, there's going to be a third temple built, so keep your eyes on that. We've covered that in many different ways, but that's going to be interesting. And the only thing I can say about the temple being built in Jerusalem again is this: When they start building it, you know there's not much time left.

You can also tie this into that period when God came and put His presence with the people and in the temple, and also to the return of Christ.

Verse 13: "Be silent, all flesh, before the LORD; for He has risen out of His Holy dwelling place."

Now then we come to Zech. 3 & 4; these are very interesting. We've covered this concerning the two witnesses. I just draw your attention to it rather than go through in each detail with it, because we've recently covered it; that the two witnesses, the type of them was Joshua the high priest, and Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, the governor of Judea.

Zech. 3 is the repentance granted to Joshua, the son of Josadak, the high priest. And this will also be a type of the repentance that is granted to the high priest that will be appointed to the third temple.

So there are going to be some tremendous things happening over there in Jerusalem, but they've got to get rid of Hamas first.

Zech. 4 talks about grace, grace. Grace was given to those who came back to build the temple. Grace, grace also refers in a prophecy of v 7 to the grace coming with Christ.

Zechariah 4:8: "And the Word of the LORD came to me, saying, 'The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house. His hands shall also finish it.' And you shall know that the LORD of hosts has sent me to you. 'For who has despised the day of small things? For they shall rejoice, and shall see the plummet in the hand of Zerubbabel. These seven are the eyes of the LORD…" (vs 8-10). (tie in Rev. 1, 4 & 5).

"…These seven are the eyes of the LORD, which run to and fro through the whole earth" (v 10). We know that that is happening all the time.

Verse 11: "And I answered and said to him, 'What are these two olive trees on the right side of the lampstand and on its left side?' And I answered again and said to him, 'What are the two olive branches beside the two golden pipes, emptying the golden oil out of themselves?' And he answered me and said, 'Do you not know what these are?' And I said, 'No, my lord.' And he said,..." (vs 11-14).

Verse 14 summarizes and prophesies of the two witnesses in Rev. 11.

Verse 14: "And he said, 'These are the two anointed ones who stand by the LORD of the whole earth.'"

All right, so hold your place here and let's come to Rev. 11, because we will see that that's how they are identified. That's going to be interesting when it comes to when the two witnesses are raised up. Everybody's speculating when they are going to be raised up. Well, if you want to know, we can come to that in a very easy conclusion.

Revelation 11:1: "Then the angel gave me a measuring rod like a staff, saying, 'Arise and measure the Temple of God, and the altar, and those who worship in it. But leave out the court that is within the temple area, and do not measure it because it has been given up to the Gentiles; and they shall trample upon the Holy city for forty-two months. And I will give power to My two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and sixty days… [keep that in mind] …clothed in sackcloth" (vs 1-3).

As I have said, they're not coming from anybody in the Church. Anybody who says they're the two witnesses, you can eliminate them very easily. They're not in Jerusalem. They're not clothed in sackcloth and ashes and fires not coming out of their mouths.

Verse 4: "These are the two olive trees… [Zech. 3 & 4] …and the two lampstands… [Zech. 4] …that stand before the God of the earth…. [this is pretty powerful stuff here] …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 4-6).

So we have them identified, v 4: the two olive trees! How do we know when they will start their prophecy? Some people are saying that they start at the beginning of the seven years. Not true! How long is their prophecy? 1,260 days! That's what it says. Then they are finally killed by the beast, and their bodies lie in the street of Jerusalem and everyone will see that and make merry and send gifts to one another.

Now then, they're there 3-1/2 days; that means they were dead, and they're the first two to be resurrected.

Now, here's how you figure when they start. They're the first two resurrected. When does the resurrection take place? What Holy Day pictures that? Pentecost! So, if you write for our Daniel/Revelation series we have the chart that measures it out, that shows how you know where they begin.

• What do you do? You take the last Pentecost and you count backward 1,260 days and you have when they start!
• When is that? Shortly before the man of sin, the son of perdition comes into the temple and declares himself to be 'God'!

• When do the beast and false prophet come to their end?
• When do they come to their end? Rev. 19, last part!

• the first resurrection is on Pentecost
• the seven last plagues are from Pentecost through Trumpets
• we all return with Christ from the Sea of Glass, and He brings the plague against all of the armies that are fighting and all their flesh comes off their bones! (Zech. 14).

All the birds of heaven come and clean up the mess. And an angel takes the beast and the false prophet and casts them what? Into the Lake of Fire!

So you know when the beast and a false prophet receive their 42 months. God calculates the time with the two witnesses in days. Forty-two months is different because some months have 30 days and some months have 29 days. So, you count back by months, and that's how you come to the point that they really begin in their power and also the miracles and 'signs and wonders' by the false prophet.

That's how you figure it out. If you don't know the Holy Days and you don't understand how the book of Revelation is laid out by the Holy Days, you're never going to know when they start and when they finish!

Zechariah 5:1—this is very mysterious: "Then I again lifted up my eyes and looked. And behold! A flying scroll. And he said to me, 'What do you see?' And I answered, 'I see a flying scroll; its length is twenty cubits, and its width ten cubits.' And he said to me, 'This is the curse that goes forth over the face of the whole earth...'" (vs 1-3).

• What's another way of explaining that?
• What is the curse that is coming upon the whole world at the end time?

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…" They worship the beast (Rev. 13).

Satan does what? He gives power and authority to the beast! With the signing of the peace pact (Dan. 9.27), that's the beginning of the last seven years.

Right in the middle of it is when the Great Tribulation begins. That's when the beast goes into the Temple of God and says, 'I'm God.' Why would he do that? Because these two witnesses out here say they are from God! But the beast says, 'They're my enemies.' Every time the beast sends someone to get them, fire goes out of their mouth to devour them.

• How does the false prophet respond? He does great signs and wonders (Rev. 13)!
• What does he do? He makes fire come down from heaven!

So here you have a fiery clash between the false prophet and the two witnesses of God. How's that for a movie? How would you like to make a movie on that?

Zechariah 5:4: "'I will bring it forth,' says the LORD of hosts; 'and it shall enter into the house of the thief, and into the house of him who swears falsely by My name. And it shall remain in the midst of his house, and shall devour it, and its timber and its stones.'"

That's the complete destruction of the religious system of this world! We'll see that in just a minute.

Verse 5: "Then the angel who talked with me went forth and said to me, 'Now lift up your eyes and see what this is that goes forth.' And I said, 'What is it?' And he said, 'This is the measuring container that goes forth.' And moreover, he said, 'This is their resemblance throughout all the earth.' And behold, a round lead cover was lifted up, and a woman was sitting upon the measuring container. And he said, 'This is wickedness.' And he threw her down into the midst of the measuring container. And he thrust down the round lead cover over its opening." Now let's see what this means!

Verse 9: "And I lifted up my eyes and looked, and behold, two women came out…."

• What are the two women?
• What is Babylon the Great called? A harlot!
• Isn't that a woman?

Let's see what's happened with Islam. Islam and the Catholics are coming together—two women—and they will control the religions of the earth! They'll all come together! So, that's the best I can understand that.

"…he (the angel) said, 'This is wickedness.'…." (v 8).

Verse 9: "And I lifted up my eyes and looked, and behold, two women came out….

"…And the wind was in their wings; for they had wings like the wings of a stork. And they lifted up the measuring container between the earth and the heavens. And I said to the angel who talked with me, 'Where are they going with the measuring container?' And he said to me, 'To build a house for it in the land of Shinar…'" (vs 9-11).

• Where was that? Shinar was where the tower of Babel was built!
• What happened at the tower of Babel? They were worshiping  Nimrod and Semiramis!

God confounded their languages!

So, this shows a gathering together of the religions going right back to the founding basis of Babylon. That's why in the book of Revelation that this world's religious system is called Babylon the Great! The whole system! Religious and nations! Babylon the Great!

Well, this is a good place to end, but that's the best we can do with prophecy up to here. When you're studying prophecy, remember that there are different grades of prophecy mixed in with one another.

This is how God has caused it so that only those who love Him and obey Him will understand it! Those who don't, they won't be able to understand it. It becomes a great mystery! So, they rely upon their own philosophies and their own religions!

Scriptural References:

• Isaiah 28:12-13, 9
• Haggai 1:12-15
• Haggai 2:20-23
• Zechariah 1:1-21
• Zechariah 2:1-13
• Zechariah 4:8-14
• Revelation 11:1-6
• Zechariah 5:1-3
• Revelation 12:9
• Zechariah 5:4-11

Scriptures referenced, not quoted:

• Daniel 9-11
• 2 Timothy 1
• Zechariah 3
• Revelation 4; 6
• 2 Chronicles 15
• John 2
• Revelation 19
• Zechariah 14
• Revelation 13
• Daniel 8:27
• Revelation 13

Also referenced:

• Message: The Lord is My Light by Eduardo Elizondo
• In-Depth Study: Daniel/Revelation

FRC:bo/po
Transcribed: 12/7/23

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