WEBVTT 1 00:00:15.529 --> 00:00:23.432 Who can tell me what we talked about last week? 2 00:00:23.442 --> 00:00:28.654 Can you remember that far back? 3 00:00:28.664 --> 00:00:42.600 We talked about the mystery of the church, and it was more or less an introduction. 4 00:00:44.310 --> 00:00:53.665 We saw how the sanctuary shows us the way, the truth, and the life. 5 00:00:53.675 --> 00:00:59.810 Remember those three doors in the sanctuary? 6 00:00:59.810 --> 00:01:15.265 And we saw a little bit about how that connects with the book of Revelation, even, because in the beginning of the book, it describes a way, 7 00:01:15.275 --> 00:01:16.480 or a path. 8 00:01:18.829 --> 00:01:31.461 In the end of the book it talks about the life, and throughout the book, it talks about the truth, 9 00:01:31.471 --> 00:01:38.549 and contrasting the truth with the lives of the world. 10 00:01:41.120 --> 00:01:54.959 And you remember that we saw a little bit about Revelation and the different ways that you can organize the book, or categorize the book. 11 00:01:55.909 --> 00:02:12.080 This is one way, and it shows us this mountain-like illustration, where we have comparable themes on each side. 12 00:02:12.080 --> 00:02:24.393 Then at the point, the summit of the mountain, that's like the most important part in some aspect, and in this case, 13 00:02:24.403 --> 00:02:31.930 it talks about the confrontation between the righteous and the wicked, 14 00:02:31.940 --> 00:02:34.689 the church and the devil. 15 00:02:37.319 --> 00:02:49.009 We're going to talk a little bit more about how the churches fit into this outline of the book of Revelation. 16 00:02:49.629 --> 00:02:56.809 And I want to start by going to the book of Zechariah chapter 4. 17 00:02:56.819 --> 00:03:06.120 In this chapter, the prophet Zechariah is describing a vision, and he saw an angel. 18 00:03:06.659 --> 00:03:16.729 And the angel that talked with me came again and waked me as a man that is waked out of his sleep, and said to me, what seeth thou? 19 00:03:19.099 --> 00:03:30.230 And I said, I have looked, and behold, a candlestick, all of gold, with a bowl upon the top of it, and his seven lamps thereon, 20 00:03:30.240 --> 00:03:33.385 and seven pipes to the seven lamps, 21 00:03:33.395 --> 00:03:36.189 which are upon the top thereof. 22 00:03:39.939 --> 00:03:54.479 So it's like a candelabra, like the Jews had with seven branches and seven individual lights or lamps on each branch. 23 00:03:58.939 --> 00:04:12.439 But he continues, and he says, he saw two olive trees by it, upon the right side of the bowl, and the other upon the left side thereof. 24 00:04:14.879 --> 00:04:24.741 So I answered and spake to the angel that talked with me, saying, what are these, my Lord? 25 00:04:24.751 --> 00:04:27.271 I wouldn't know either. 26 00:04:27.281 --> 00:04:35.370 This, I think, is a nice illustration to give us a picture of what he saw. 27 00:04:36.629 --> 00:04:46.860 He saw the seven-branched candlestick, the lampstand, and then he saw this bowl, and this is all between two olive trees. 28 00:04:49.449 --> 00:05:04.549 And the two olive trees had a pipe that drained the oil into the bowl, and the bowl drained the oil into the lamps, 29 00:05:04.559 --> 00:05:11.114 and the lamps burned the oil to make their light. 30 00:05:11.124 --> 00:05:15.709 Now, this picture is just a symbol. 31 00:05:18.240 --> 00:05:28.583 The trees and the lampstand with the seven lights, these are all symbols for something else, 32 00:05:28.593 --> 00:05:36.116 and it's up to us to learn and understand what those symbols mean. 33 00:05:36.126 --> 00:05:46.009 What is the real thing that God wants to tell us through this vision that Zechariah saw? 34 00:05:51.689 --> 00:06:02.414 Now, I want to show you that this relates to something we have seen many times before now. 35 00:06:02.424 --> 00:06:11.709 Hopefully, we're starting to get a little bit more familiar with this picture. 36 00:06:16.250 --> 00:06:30.339 Here we have the sign of the Son of Man formed by two comets over a certain time frame, 37 00:06:30.349 --> 00:06:40.379 and we've talked about how this shows us the Alpha and Omega. 38 00:06:42.980 --> 00:06:59.250 And that's Jesus's signature, and the two key constellations, both in the Greek language, they both start with the letter Omega. 39 00:07:00.569 --> 00:07:06.822 Orion starts with Omega, and the Horologium starts with the letter Omega, 40 00:07:06.832 --> 00:07:13.673 and they're the only two constellations in the sky that start with that letter, 41 00:07:13.683 --> 00:07:18.298 which is interesting because they're both right here, 42 00:07:18.308 --> 00:07:20.439 and they're both clocks. 43 00:07:21.379 --> 00:07:33.311 One is clearly a clock, and the other one is also sometimes known as an hourglass. 44 00:07:33.321 --> 00:07:44.810 Now, these are like on either side of this sign, and in the middle of the sign, 45 00:07:44.820 --> 00:07:54.699 what we saw last week is how the seven churches are all in between. 46 00:07:55.870 --> 00:08:07.575 At each point, this is the path in the heavens of the churches, just like it's a reflection of what is on the earth, 47 00:08:07.585 --> 00:08:12.621 where the churches that were named in Revelation, 48 00:08:12.631 --> 00:08:15.447 they were all along a path, 49 00:08:15.457 --> 00:08:19.079 and it's a similar thing in heaven. 50 00:08:20.740 --> 00:08:32.679 But notice where the Horologium is, there's no church, and also where Orion is, there's no church. 51 00:08:32.689 --> 00:08:39.268 The seven churches are not the same as the two clocks. 52 00:08:39.278 --> 00:08:48.639 Can you see the resemblance to what we saw, or what Zechariah saw envisioned? 53 00:08:50.289 --> 00:09:04.010 On the two sides, you have the olive trees, and in the middle, you have a candlestick with seven branches, 54 00:09:04.020 --> 00:09:08.669 just like we saw with the churches. 55 00:09:10.659 --> 00:09:16.230 On the two sides, we have Orion and the Horologium, that's where it goes there. 56 00:09:17.049 --> 00:09:30.937 They are the olive trees in the vision, and then the seven churches, they are represented by the seven-branched candlestick, 57 00:09:30.947 --> 00:09:38.330 and so what we see is something we could illustrate it like this. 58 00:09:40.429 --> 00:09:46.250 Now, I put the trees here in a different orientation. 59 00:09:46.250 --> 00:10:01.675 You know, in space with the constellations, everything is just kind of floating around, so forgive me for making the trees float around too, 60 00:10:01.685 --> 00:10:07.735 putting them in the direction of those constellations, 61 00:10:07.745 --> 00:10:10.159 but this is the idea. 62 00:10:10.190 --> 00:10:20.127 You have one olive tree for the Horologium, and one olive tree for the constellation of Orion, 63 00:10:20.137 --> 00:10:29.431 and then remember there was the bowl that was on top of the seven-branched candlestick. 64 00:10:29.441 --> 00:10:37.360 That bowl is where the oil would go, and that's the oil of the Holy Spirit. 65 00:10:37.360 --> 00:10:48.173 And the Holy Spirit is represented by the dove, and even has the olive branch in his mouth. 66 00:10:48.183 --> 00:10:58.629 So we see a very clear, I think, description of Zechariah's vision shown in the heavens. 67 00:10:59.649 --> 00:11:08.348 He's seeing the sign of the Son of Man in this chapter of Zechariah 4, 68 00:11:08.358 --> 00:11:19.408 and therefore it makes sense when he asked the angel that he didn't know what they were. 69 00:11:19.418 --> 00:11:30.727 When the angel that talked with me answered and said to me, knowest thou not what these be? 70 00:11:30.737 --> 00:11:33.700 And I said, no, my lord. 71 00:11:34.700 --> 00:11:48.162 He didn't know what that was, because it wasn't possible to see this until a specific point in time. 72 00:11:48.172 --> 00:11:52.346 You know, that's how God works. 73 00:11:52.356 --> 00:12:02.992 These constellations have been there forever, or at least for many generations. 74 00:12:03.002 --> 00:12:11.049 Not all of the constellations were labeled at the same time. 75 00:12:11.139 --> 00:12:20.511 There are some that are very ancient, and then there are some that are relatively modern. 76 00:12:20.521 --> 00:12:30.830 The Horologium, for example, was assigned to that constellation in, I think, 1755 or around there. 77 00:12:30.870 --> 00:12:45.370 And that's one of the more recent ones, but God knows the end from the beginning, so there's no limitation. 78 00:12:45.940 --> 00:12:53.740 It doesn't mean that it's not significant or biblical just because it was discovered more recently. 79 00:12:54.759 --> 00:13:00.262 It was assigned, really, by an astronomer. 80 00:13:00.272 --> 00:13:17.824 He looked at the heavens in the southern hemisphere, and he named a number of different constellations that cover the rest of the sky, 81 00:13:17.834 --> 00:13:19.789 so that today, 82 00:13:19.799 --> 00:13:23.325 with our modern astronomy, 83 00:13:23.335 --> 00:13:29.874 we have the entire sky covered in constellations, 84 00:13:29.884 --> 00:13:34.590 and God uses whatever is available. 85 00:13:34.590 --> 00:13:45.526 Whoever arranges the things, the astronomers who look and they divide the constellations, that's not a limitation for God, 86 00:13:45.536 --> 00:13:49.649 and it doesn't mean that He doesn't use that. 87 00:13:50.059 --> 00:13:57.554 Everything that God does, at least almost everything, he's done through people. 88 00:13:57.564 --> 00:14:02.213 We have the Bible today, but who wrote the Bible? 89 00:14:02.223 --> 00:14:04.500 Did God write the Bible? 90 00:14:04.510 --> 00:14:08.750 We call it the Word of God, but who wrote it? 91 00:14:10.370 --> 00:14:14.593 There were many different people that wrote it. 92 00:14:14.603 --> 00:14:23.669 God gave them the inspiration, he gave them the visions, and then they expressed it in their own way. 93 00:14:29.139 --> 00:14:41.283 Yes, he gave the oil, the spirit, and then the people themselves expressed it, and they put it in their own terms, 94 00:14:41.293 --> 00:14:47.248 and then those things are what we call the Word of God, 95 00:14:47.258 --> 00:14:48.419 and it is. 96 00:14:50.279 --> 00:14:55.383 And so it is with when we see things in the heavens. 97 00:14:55.393 --> 00:15:02.940 I used to wonder, should we really concern ourselves with the boundary lines? 98 00:15:02.940 --> 00:15:07.119 I mean, isn't that kind of arbitrary? 99 00:15:07.129 --> 00:15:15.590 But God uses what we see, and he teaches us through the things that we see. 100 00:15:15.590 --> 00:15:23.452 You know, just like Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount, he was sitting on the mountainside, 101 00:15:23.462 --> 00:15:28.311 and so he starts talking about the lily of the fields, 102 00:15:28.321 --> 00:15:29.901 things like that, 103 00:15:29.911 --> 00:15:32.110 that the people can see. 104 00:15:33.289 --> 00:15:45.513 In that case, he used his own creation, but he also used examples in other cases of things that were in common knowledge, 105 00:15:45.523 --> 00:15:48.139 or were man-made perhaps. 106 00:15:49.350 --> 00:16:07.609 So that shouldn't be a stumbling block for us when we see that God uses a clock that was assigned by an astronomer. 107 00:16:07.619 --> 00:16:11.906 Okay, so back to our story. 108 00:16:11.916 --> 00:16:16.659 We have these two olive trees. 109 00:16:16.659 --> 00:16:23.979 They're described as olive trees in Zechariah's vision. 110 00:16:23.989 --> 00:16:35.167 Let's continue reading, because he says something interesting in chapter 4, verse 6. 111 00:16:35.177 --> 00:16:40.879 The angel said, do you know what these are? 112 00:16:40.879 --> 00:16:52.535 And he said, no, I don't know, and so the angel answered and spake unto me, saying, this is the word of the Lord unto Zerubbabel, saying, 113 00:16:52.545 --> 00:16:54.832 not by might nor by power, 114 00:16:54.842 --> 00:16:56.364 but by my spirit, 115 00:16:56.374 --> 00:16:58.490 saith the Lord of hosts. 116 00:16:58.500 --> 00:17:03.000 So, by my Spirit, that's the relationship to the oil. 117 00:17:04.269 --> 00:17:15.067 The olive oil represents the Spirit, not might, not power, but Spirit, the Spirit of the Lord, 118 00:17:15.077 --> 00:17:21.269 and then he gives some specific things to Zerubbabel. 119 00:17:21.950 --> 00:17:33.119 I'm not going to read those, but I will read verse 10, because he talks about how Zerubbabel will do a work, and he will finish that work. 120 00:17:33.940 --> 00:17:42.554 Then in verse 10, he says, for who hath despised the day of small things, 121 00:17:42.564 --> 00:17:51.405 and that's something that we can associate with very well in our ministry, 122 00:17:51.415 --> 00:17:53.647 because sometimes, 123 00:17:53.657 --> 00:17:58.250 we feel like we're such a small group. 124 00:18:00.789 --> 00:18:08.737 And yet we have this message that nobody else in the whole world has, 125 00:18:08.747 --> 00:18:22.789 and it's full of wonderful and amazing things that explain the mysteries of the Bible that have been there for many ages. 126 00:18:23.359 --> 00:18:32.960 And nobody really has a good grasp of what these symbols mean in the Bible, especially in the book of Revelation. 127 00:18:34.259 --> 00:18:42.990 People have many different ideas, and you ask them, but they don't come together. 128 00:18:43.799 --> 00:18:47.041 One person says this, oh, the two witnesses. 129 00:18:47.051 --> 00:18:49.029 What are the two witnesses? 130 00:18:50.230 --> 00:18:59.496 People think that the two witnesses are two men, usually illustrated with beards and gruff, wearing sackcloth, 131 00:18:59.506 --> 00:19:04.720 and they think they're going to show up in Jerusalem one day. 132 00:19:04.789 --> 00:19:14.750 People are waiting for the two witnesses to appear in Jerusalem, because in the book of Revelation, it talks about two witnesses. 133 00:19:15.509 --> 00:19:24.897 We'll look at that in just a minute, but God has given to this ministry many precious gifts, 134 00:19:24.907 --> 00:19:29.896 and as we have already seen now in this chapter, 135 00:19:29.906 --> 00:19:34.079 he's pointing specifically to this sign. 136 00:19:37.309 --> 00:19:46.420 And he gives the admonition, Who hath despised the day of small things? 137 00:19:48.589 --> 00:19:55.511 For they shall rejoice and shall see the plummet in the hand of Zerubbabel with those seven. 138 00:19:55.521 --> 00:20:01.230 They are the eyes of the Lord, which run to and foe through the whole earth. 139 00:20:01.819 --> 00:20:14.089 He's talking about the seven lamps, the Spirit of God that goes through the whole earth, and then Zechariah wants some clarification. 140 00:20:16.019 --> 00:20:25.689 Then answered I and said unto him, in verse 11, What are these two olive trees upon the right hand, right side of the candlestick, 141 00:20:25.699 --> 00:20:28.069 and upon the left side thereof? 142 00:20:30.250 --> 00:20:35.006 And I answered again and said to him, What be these two olive branches, 143 00:20:35.016 --> 00:20:40.029 which through the two golden pipes empty the golden oil out of themselves? 144 00:20:40.839 --> 00:20:51.029 So Zechariah is having a conversation with the angel, and he's asking him, Hey, what are these symbols that you're showing me? 145 00:20:51.039 --> 00:20:52.494 What does it mean? 146 00:20:52.504 --> 00:20:57.660 And the angel answered and said, Knowest thou not what these be? 147 00:20:58.460 --> 00:21:01.386 And I said, No, my lord. 148 00:21:01.396 --> 00:21:15.541 Then he said, These, the two olive trees, these are the two anointed ones that stand by the Lord of the whole earth. 149 00:21:15.551 --> 00:21:19.190 This is a very important line. 150 00:21:20.220 --> 00:21:28.532 These are the two anointed ones that stand by the Lord of the whole earth. 151 00:21:28.542 --> 00:21:35.160 Now go to Revelation chapter 11, and let's look at verse 3. 152 00:21:35.920 --> 00:21:43.269 This is the chapter that talks about the two witnesses, and this is where they are introduced. 153 00:21:43.269 --> 00:21:56.569 He says, I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and three score days clothed in sackcloth. 154 00:21:58.789 --> 00:22:05.817 And this is why people think that there's going to be two people that give witness. 155 00:22:05.827 --> 00:22:14.369 They teach for one thousand two hundred and sixty days, and they're going to be dressed in sackcloth. 156 00:22:15.640 --> 00:22:22.910 And later it talks about, well, yeah, they expect that in Jerusalem. 157 00:22:23.509 --> 00:22:30.736 But then the very next verse says something very interesting. 158 00:22:30.746 --> 00:22:35.366 Verse 4, These are the two olive trees. 159 00:22:35.376 --> 00:22:37.369 So wait a minute. 160 00:22:38.880 --> 00:22:45.189 Are these two witnesses people, or are they olive trees? 161 00:22:45.199 --> 00:22:51.396 It describes them first as two witnesses that prophesy. 162 00:22:51.406 --> 00:22:53.772 They give a prophecy. 163 00:22:53.782 --> 00:22:59.160 But then it says, these are the two olive trees. 164 00:22:59.859 --> 00:23:04.486 Then he goes on, and he says, and the two candlesticks. 165 00:23:04.496 --> 00:23:09.123 And then he says, standing before the God of the earth. 166 00:23:09.133 --> 00:23:10.880 Remember those words? 167 00:23:11.920 --> 00:23:22.714 It's the same words that we saw in Zechariah 4, verse 14, Then said he, These are the two anointed ones. 168 00:23:22.724 --> 00:23:30.405 And when they would anoint someone, they would anoint them with olive oil. 169 00:23:30.415 --> 00:23:35.170 And they stand by the Lord of the whole earth. 170 00:23:38.619 --> 00:23:42.707 So this is what we're seeing here. 171 00:23:42.717 --> 00:23:51.013 The two witnesses are these two olive trees and the two candlesticks. 172 00:23:51.023 --> 00:23:59.660 We talked about that last week, how there's two lights that are shining. 173 00:24:01.250 --> 00:24:05.278 We need to talk about that a little bit more. 174 00:24:05.288 --> 00:24:12.359 But my point here is to show very clearly that these two witnesses are symbols. 175 00:24:12.369 --> 00:24:19.690 We shouldn't be looking to Jerusalem or anywhere else to find these two witnesses. 176 00:24:22.720 --> 00:24:24.915 They are olive trees. 177 00:24:24.925 --> 00:24:27.121 They're candlesticks. 178 00:24:27.131 --> 00:24:31.190 Different symbols for the same concept. 179 00:24:32.500 --> 00:24:46.274 When we look in the heavens and we see the relationship to Zechariah's vision, where we have the two olive trees with the seven churches, 180 00:24:46.284 --> 00:24:47.882 and Jesus said, 181 00:24:47.892 --> 00:24:51.099 you are the light of the world. 182 00:24:52.319 --> 00:25:00.506 He told his people, you're the light of the world, his disciples, who are the churches. 183 00:25:00.516 --> 00:25:07.940 And so they are the lights, the seven churches that are surrounding the Spirit. 184 00:25:08.839 --> 00:25:16.701 Or put another way, the Spirit is in the midst of the churches. 185 00:25:16.711 --> 00:25:22.951 And then we have the two witnesses on either side. 186 00:25:22.961 --> 00:25:38.289 And what I wanted to point out earlier was that this picture could never have been seen until these comets were discovered. 187 00:25:41.240 --> 00:25:54.510 For thousands of years since Zechariah had this vision, God was looking all the way until 2022, at least. 188 00:25:54.520 --> 00:26:03.619 Because that was when this comet, E3, was finally discovered in the sky. 189 00:26:03.629 --> 00:26:09.549 2017, they discovered this one that was coming. 190 00:26:10.200 --> 00:26:14.204 And then in 2022, they discovered this one. 191 00:26:14.214 --> 00:26:21.839 And as they looked at them, then they learned what path they're taking in the sky. 192 00:26:23.029 --> 00:26:32.642 And that's how we came up with this picture, by using that information and with other biblical clues, 193 00:26:32.652 --> 00:26:36.640 we were able to identify this time frame. 194 00:26:39.269 --> 00:26:46.006 And then all of these connections started to come together. 195 00:26:46.016 --> 00:26:50.126 So this is prophecy being fulfilled. 196 00:26:50.136 --> 00:26:52.400 Very old prophecies. 197 00:26:53.250 --> 00:26:58.903 Older than even the time when Jesus was here on the earth. 198 00:26:58.913 --> 00:27:02.715 Zechariah was an Old Testament prophet. 199 00:27:02.725 --> 00:27:06.019 And I think that's really amazing. 200 00:27:06.460 --> 00:27:11.846 It shows us the importance of the time that we're living in. 201 00:27:11.856 --> 00:27:14.100 This is no ordinary time. 202 00:27:14.110 --> 00:27:22.259 This is a time that all of the prophets of the Bible, they all looked forward to this time. 203 00:27:22.680 --> 00:27:27.912 They were longing to understand this time. 204 00:27:27.922 --> 00:27:34.401 The angel asked him, you don't know what this means? 205 00:27:34.411 --> 00:27:34.785 No. 206 00:27:34.795 --> 00:27:39.500 He didn't know, but he wanted to know. 207 00:27:40.019 --> 00:27:42.744 What are these olive trees? 208 00:27:42.754 --> 00:27:44.571 What does it mean? 209 00:27:44.581 --> 00:27:49.223 And today, after so long, God is revealing it. 210 00:27:49.233 --> 00:27:53.471 He's showing us these are the olive trees. 211 00:27:53.481 --> 00:27:57.680 And the olive trees are the two witnesses. 212 00:28:05.690 --> 00:28:12.130 Last week, we talked about how the seven churches, of those seven churches, 213 00:28:12.140 --> 00:28:18.569 there were two churches that Jesus had nothing negative to say about them. 214 00:28:20.119 --> 00:28:32.418 The church of Smyrna, he said, you will endure a lot of trials, and some of you will die, you will be killed. 215 00:28:32.428 --> 00:28:40.430 But he said, be faithful to death, and I will give you a crown of life. 216 00:28:41.049 --> 00:28:49.470 And then the other church that he had nothing negative to say about was the church of Philadelphia. 217 00:28:50.140 --> 00:29:01.170 Revelation 3, verse 10, he says, because thou has kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation. 218 00:29:03.700 --> 00:29:11.442 So He's encouraging them because they kept the word of his patience. 219 00:29:11.452 --> 00:29:18.284 Now, when you're patient for something, what does that mean? 220 00:29:18.294 --> 00:29:20.210 You have to wait. 221 00:29:20.869 --> 00:29:23.868 It necessarily means you're waiting. 222 00:29:23.878 --> 00:29:28.042 If you're patient for something, you have to wait. 223 00:29:28.052 --> 00:29:32.029 That means there's a time that you have to wait. 224 00:29:32.569 --> 00:29:41.167 And so we see this relationship to the church of Philadelphia, this relationship to time. 225 00:29:41.177 --> 00:29:45.524 They kept the time, the word of his patience. 226 00:29:45.534 --> 00:29:52.470 That's interesting also because it shows us that Jesus is being patient. 227 00:29:53.859 --> 00:30:07.293 He wants also that sin is dealt with and that he wants to be united with his people, just like he told in the book of John, chapter 14. 228 00:30:07.303 --> 00:30:14.168 He said, if I go, I will come again and receive you to where I am at. 229 00:30:14.178 --> 00:30:17.940 He wants that, but he's being patient. 230 00:30:19.069 --> 00:30:31.779 And this is very interesting because he says, you have kept the word of my patience, the time, you've kept the time of my patience. 231 00:30:31.789 --> 00:30:36.339 I've been waiting, but you have kept that time. 232 00:30:37.589 --> 00:30:52.619 So it shows that the time that Jesus has been waiting has been kept or committed to, guarded, safe kept by this church of Philadelphia. 233 00:30:57.210 --> 00:31:03.314 Philadelphia understands the time, is how we could put that. 234 00:31:03.324 --> 00:31:12.470 And because of that, I also will keep thee, or preserve thee, from the hour of temptation. 235 00:31:13.500 --> 00:31:27.569 So he gives a blessing to the church of Philadelphia in that, because they kept the time, they understood the time and guarded it. 236 00:31:27.609 --> 00:31:36.859 This word keep, it means to guard or protect, to save, all of these things are included. 237 00:31:38.450 --> 00:31:58.305 And unfortunately, much of God's church today has forgotten the time and many even deliberately don't want to know the time, 238 00:31:58.315 --> 00:32:03.589 but this promise isn't for them. 239 00:32:04.890 --> 00:32:15.680 This promise is for those who are willing to keep the time, to appreciate it. 240 00:32:15.720 --> 00:32:18.322 Thank you, that's a better word. 241 00:32:18.332 --> 00:32:26.049 And this hour of temptation will come upon all the world to try them that dwell upon the earth. 242 00:32:26.970 --> 00:32:36.480 This is the time that we are, like we talked about in a couple of weeks ago with the seventh trumpet. 243 00:32:37.630 --> 00:32:46.665 The seventh trumpet is announcing essentially this time, that's the time that we're in. 244 00:32:46.675 --> 00:32:54.349 The closer we come to the end, the more trials the world will be enduring. 245 00:32:55.740 --> 00:33:02.319 But God says that he will keep us from that hour or preserve us through that hour. 246 00:33:04.640 --> 00:33:20.289 You know, just because we're on earth in the midst of a lot of trouble, it doesn't mean that we are directly involved in that trouble. 247 00:33:21.309 --> 00:33:34.435 He will keep us one way or the other from the hour of trial, in the ark of safety, and that's what we see here. 248 00:33:34.445 --> 00:33:37.509 This is the ark of safety. 249 00:33:40.220 --> 00:33:48.003 Now, if we look just at this part, I have two different pictures here. 250 00:33:48.013 --> 00:33:51.572 What do you notice is different? 251 00:33:51.582 --> 00:33:58.365 One is pointing this way, the other one is pointing that way. 252 00:33:58.375 --> 00:34:13.579 Now, when we look at this picture and we see our map of the seven churches, we have the Spirit is here, and then the churches are around. 253 00:34:16.000 --> 00:34:20.791 Here we have the church of Philadelphia. 254 00:34:20.801 --> 00:34:29.426 This is the church that is depicted in the river, and this is the river. 255 00:34:29.436 --> 00:34:38.760 There's even a person illustrated there, and that shows the symbol of baptism. 256 00:34:40.030 --> 00:34:45.849 And baptism, with the dove, even it shows a picture of Jesus' baptism. 257 00:34:48.500 --> 00:35:02.645 And just as Jesus told his disciples, John and his brother especially, they wanted to be near to Jesus in his kingdom, and Jesus said, 258 00:35:02.655 --> 00:35:10.139 are you able to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized? 259 00:35:12.349 --> 00:35:27.081 So he was saying that baptism is about an experience, and there's a special experience that Philadelphia has that we just talked about. 260 00:35:27.091 --> 00:35:36.030 That's that experience in the word of Christ's patience, in the knowledge of time. 261 00:35:37.750 --> 00:35:49.733 Philadelphia has that experience of time, and so that's a form of baptism, just like Jesus said, 262 00:35:49.743 --> 00:35:55.849 the baptism being an immersion in an experience. 263 00:35:59.519 --> 00:36:09.009 And then if you look over here, the constellation that corresponds with Smyrna is the Dorado. 264 00:36:09.019 --> 00:36:14.519 That's a fish that is known in this part of the world. 265 00:36:15.659 --> 00:36:24.179 It's golden in color, therefore it's called Dorado, which means gold in Spanish, or golden. 266 00:36:27.650 --> 00:36:47.959 And so when we look at that picture that I just had, we see that this tool can point toward the Dorado or toward the man in the river. 267 00:36:47.969 --> 00:36:54.780 This is significant because it's like a seal. 268 00:36:56.320 --> 00:37:00.431 When you put a seal, it's like writing. 269 00:37:00.441 --> 00:37:03.815 You write on someone's forehead. 270 00:37:03.825 --> 00:37:07.389 That's how the Bible describes it. 271 00:37:09.260 --> 00:37:23.184 And here we have the head of the fish, and in the other direction we have the head of the one being baptized. 272 00:37:23.194 --> 00:37:35.320 So this is a symbol that shows us that these two churches are representatives of the witnesses. 273 00:37:37.579 --> 00:37:44.070 They're not the witnesses, but they shine with the light that comes from the witnesses. 274 00:37:45.579 --> 00:37:58.682 So in this picture, where we have these seven churches, notice the vision of Zechariah. 275 00:37:58.692 --> 00:38:08.631 It shows us the relationship of the Holy Spirit with the churches. 276 00:38:08.641 --> 00:38:15.699 We have the two olive trees, and they give oil. 277 00:38:18.360 --> 00:38:30.929 Looking at the symbols, the two trees would give oil to the bowl, and the bowl would distribute that to the lamp stand. 278 00:38:32.130 --> 00:38:35.267 And so we see how it works. 279 00:38:35.277 --> 00:38:45.260 The two witnesses are the two clocks, the hourglass, as Orion is, and the other clock. 280 00:38:46.380 --> 00:38:58.630 They give the oil of the Spirit, that's illustrated here, and that's distributed to the seven churches that are around it. 281 00:39:00.110 --> 00:39:13.750 And notice that the picture that's described, it talked about two pipes that come from two branches of the olive trees. 282 00:39:18.460 --> 00:39:32.140 And there's one pipe, if you will, that comes from Orion, and there's one pipe that comes from the Horologium. 283 00:39:32.150 --> 00:39:40.234 And those go and they form the sign in which the Spirit is given. 284 00:39:40.244 --> 00:39:48.929 So the oil of the two witnesses is given by the means of these comets. 285 00:39:49.329 --> 00:39:53.976 That's how we came to understand this vision. 286 00:39:53.986 --> 00:40:05.957 It's how we came to understand many things in the Revelation, through the observation of these comets in particular, 287 00:40:05.967 --> 00:40:08.639 but also some other ones. 288 00:40:10.110 --> 00:40:25.389 When we look at the seven churches in the book of Revelation, they're right at the beginning, where Jesus describes those seven churches. 289 00:40:27.659 --> 00:40:33.128 And that corresponds to what is written at the very end. 290 00:40:33.138 --> 00:40:40.169 In the last two chapters, it talks about Jesus being with the holy city. 291 00:40:40.179 --> 00:40:43.869 I'd like to look at that a little bit. 292 00:40:45.400 --> 00:40:49.291 Revelation chapter 21 and verse 1. 293 00:40:49.301 --> 00:41:03.599 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away, and there was no more sea. 294 00:41:06.570 --> 00:41:18.719 And I, John, saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 295 00:41:19.719 --> 00:41:27.159 Now this is the same language that's used for the church, the bride for her husband, Jesus. 296 00:41:27.989 --> 00:41:41.409 So verse 3, and I heard a great voice out of heaven, saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, 297 00:41:41.420 --> 00:41:44.460 and they shall be his people, 298 00:41:44.470 --> 00:41:48.119 and God himself shall be with them, 299 00:41:48.130 --> 00:41:49.949 and be their God. 300 00:41:51.250 --> 00:41:59.292 So in the beginning of Revelation, Jesus sends his letters to the seven churches. 301 00:41:59.302 --> 00:42:01.079 They're scattered. 302 00:42:01.730 --> 00:42:05.078 They're not all in one place. 303 00:42:05.088 --> 00:42:12.246 But in the end of the book, Jesus is dwelling with his people. 304 00:42:12.256 --> 00:42:18.010 God himself shall dwell with them, the Bible said. 305 00:42:20.670 --> 00:42:24.234 The tabernacle of God is with men. 306 00:42:24.244 --> 00:42:35.566 He will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. 307 00:42:35.576 --> 00:42:41.551 So we see this union from the individual churches to now. 308 00:42:41.561 --> 00:42:45.619 In the end of the book, they're united. 309 00:42:46.090 --> 00:42:49.678 God with his people. 310 00:42:49.688 --> 00:43:02.429 And that is the picture also that we see in the sign of the Son of Man. 311 00:43:02.439 --> 00:43:21.800 To each of these seven churches, Jesus gave counsel, he gave warning, and he also said to him who overcomes. 312 00:43:23.429 --> 00:43:29.703 Each of the churches, he gave a promise to those who overcome. 313 00:43:29.713 --> 00:43:40.530 And so we see in each case, there is a part of the constellation that's outside, and a part that is inside. 314 00:43:42.050 --> 00:43:49.435 And a part outside, a part inside, for each of those seven churches. 315 00:43:49.445 --> 00:43:56.059 And that represents those who have overcome, they are inside. 316 00:43:56.880 --> 00:44:01.901 And those who don't overcome are outside. 317 00:44:01.911 --> 00:44:10.117 And then in the end of the book, we see the one group all together. 318 00:44:10.127 --> 00:44:13.170 Jesus is with his people. 319 00:44:13.170 --> 00:44:17.937 This is the sign of the Son of Man, Jesus. 320 00:44:17.947 --> 00:44:32.239 And he's with his people, with those who have overcome and are represented therefore inside, in Christ, not outside of Christ. 321 00:44:33.230 --> 00:44:43.369 And that's why for Laodicea, where he says, if you don't repent, I will spit you out of my mouth. 322 00:44:44.650 --> 00:44:49.613 That's what we see here, and it's entirely outside. 323 00:44:49.623 --> 00:44:54.090 But what about those who repent from Laodicea? 324 00:44:55.579 --> 00:45:10.884 They also may come inside, because there are the dogs outside the city that is from Revelation chapter 22, 325 00:45:10.894 --> 00:45:17.670 but they also have a little bit that's inside. 326 00:45:19.090 --> 00:45:35.319 And so those who are on the outside of the city, whether Laodicea, who's been spit out, or those who are listed in among the dogs, 327 00:45:35.329 --> 00:45:39.564 we talked about that once before, 328 00:45:39.574 --> 00:45:41.811 in Revelation 22, 329 00:45:41.821 --> 00:45:43.059 verse 15. 330 00:45:45.949 --> 00:46:02.586 For without, outside the city are dogs and sorcerers and whoremongers and murderers and idolaters, whoever loveth and maketh a lie. 331 00:46:02.596 --> 00:46:11.730 So, these are a description of those who are outside the city, the dogs. 332 00:46:12.639 --> 00:46:18.440 And they're in the same camp outside, like Laodicea, who has been spit out. 333 00:46:19.670 --> 00:46:26.574 And those who repent from that group are represented also inside. 334 00:46:26.584 --> 00:46:41.019 So, Jesus calls his people to overcome, to repent from those things that are wrong, which, by the way, includes certain false doctrines. 335 00:46:42.000 --> 00:46:49.300 He admonishes a couple of the churches, saying, you have this doctrine that I don't like, that I hate. 336 00:46:51.230 --> 00:46:59.002 And many times, especially in our day, we don't want to tread on anyone's toes. 337 00:46:59.012 --> 00:47:02.161 We don't want to disturb anyone. 338 00:47:02.171 --> 00:47:05.300 We want to be nice to everybody. 339 00:47:06.670 --> 00:47:13.126 And therefore, the church has lost a lot of its power, because instead of saying, hey, 340 00:47:13.136 --> 00:47:17.330 there are certain doctrines that you shouldn't believe, 341 00:47:17.340 --> 00:47:20.033 you shouldn't have these doctrines, 342 00:47:20.043 --> 00:47:21.309 false doctrines. 343 00:47:22.639 --> 00:47:26.027 Nobody wants to talk about those things. 344 00:47:26.037 --> 00:47:29.500 Nobody wants to change what they believe. 345 00:47:31.119 --> 00:47:45.036 But Jesus says, no, that's part of overcoming, those who overcome those things, those who overcome the wrong concept of time, 346 00:47:45.046 --> 00:47:48.598 especially relevant to our day. 347 00:47:48.608 --> 00:47:53.719 Those who overcome are with Christ in the end. 348 00:47:55.440 --> 00:48:13.030 And so, I would just appeal to everyone watching this video and everyone here to look in your lives and hear God's voice. 349 00:48:14.550 --> 00:48:30.933 Because just as the comets go through each church, and for each of those churches, Jesus says something at the beginning. 350 00:48:30.943 --> 00:48:38.380 After he introduces himself, he says, I know thy works. 351 00:48:40.750 --> 00:48:45.869 To the next church, he says, I know thy works. 352 00:48:47.489 --> 00:48:52.889 To the next church, he says, I know thy works. 353 00:48:52.899 --> 00:48:58.769 For all seven churches, he says, I know thy works. 354 00:48:58.779 --> 00:49:00.519 Jesus knows us. 355 00:49:01.170 --> 00:49:03.269 He knows your heart. 356 00:49:03.279 --> 00:49:11.992 He knows what's there that shouldn't be there, what false doctrines there might be. 357 00:49:12.002 --> 00:49:22.480 And he gives us counsel, and he gives us encouragement, and he invites us to repent and to overcome. 358 00:49:23.840 --> 00:49:38.030 And so, that's what is necessary so that we can be among those united with Christ that are described in the end of the book of Revelation. 359 00:49:40.469 --> 00:49:49.254 So, I invite each one to take that seriously and personally, because Jesus knows your works personally, 360 00:49:49.264 --> 00:49:52.579 and not just collectively as a church. 361 00:49:53.590 --> 00:50:03.980 But each one is saved or lost personally according to their relationship with Christ. 362 00:50:05.500 --> 00:50:06.318 And so, 363 00:50:06.328 --> 00:50:16.316 it's necessary for us to reflect on our hearts and hear God's voice to us and what he 364 00:50:16.326 --> 00:50:26.070 speaks to us through his written word and also through what we see in the heavens. 365 00:50:27.760 --> 00:50:30.909 So, with that, I would like to close with a word of prayer. 366 00:50:35.900 --> 00:50:46.610 Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you once again for showing us another one of your wonders in the heavens. 367 00:50:49.619 --> 00:51:03.599 It never ceases to amaze me how much you have put into one small area of the heavens, how many prophecies, 368 00:51:03.609 --> 00:51:09.006 how many visions point to this one area, 369 00:51:09.016 --> 00:51:11.908 and not just an area, 370 00:51:11.918 --> 00:51:14.150 but it's a time. 371 00:51:15.070 --> 00:51:29.133 It's a time in history when we can see these things that have been prophesied by you, who knows the end from the beginning, 372 00:51:29.143 --> 00:51:32.563 and you care for your people, 373 00:51:32.573 --> 00:51:35.307 and you know our works, 374 00:51:35.317 --> 00:51:40.909 and you invite us to surrender our lives to you. 375 00:51:41.639 --> 00:51:48.880 And you are true and faithful, and we can trust you, 376 00:51:48.890 --> 00:52:08.095 and you have shown yourself trustworthy that even though for many generations your people have not completely understood your prophecies, 377 00:52:08.105 --> 00:52:12.829 though they have been beneficial. 378 00:52:14.199 --> 00:52:22.309 But in these last days you have spoken from heaven with time. 379 00:52:23.949 --> 00:52:33.739 And you're pointing to this very time and this very sign showing us that Jesus indeed is coming. 380 00:52:36.409 --> 00:52:49.449 And this is His sign, and we believe that, and we ask that you will abide with us as the Spirit is depicted in the midst of the sign. 381 00:52:51.980 --> 00:53:02.530 We thank you for hearing our prayer and for guiding us in these troubled and confusing times in the world. 382 00:53:05.119 --> 00:53:06.250 We love you. 383 00:53:06.260 --> 00:53:12.007 We look forward to being united with you at last, in the end. 384 00:53:12.017 --> 00:53:20.760 We pray this in the name of Jesus, our Savior, and in his new name, Alnitak, the wounded one. 385 00:53:22.000 --> 00:53:22.539 Amen. 386 00:53:22.549 --> 00:53:32.679 Thank you, and we'll see you next week where we'll talk more about the sign of the Son of Man.