Last time we were discussing this strange reference in Ezekiel 1. Let us take a look at this to begin with. We read in Ezekiel 1:1-2:
Now it came to pass in the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, in the fifth day of the month, as I was among the captives by the river of Chebar, that the heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God. In the fifth day of the month, which was the fifth year of king Jehoiachin's captivity,
We know that King Jehoiachin was taken captive in 598 B.C. The fifth year or five years later would be 593 B.C.
God gives no explanation of “the thirtieth year” here or anywhere else in the Bible. All throughout history, no one could have ever known what this was talking about until we had a timeline of the kings. It is then that we could know the year of Jehoiachin’s activity, and then we could count back.
This counts back to 622 B.C., which was the 18th year of King Josiah, at which time Josiah was 26 years old, because he had begun to reign at age 8. 26 is 2 x 13, and this is no coincidence. Thirteen years from this point would be 609 B.C. when Josiah would die at the age of 39, which is 3 x 13. The number 13 is a clue that God gives us to relate this to the great tribulation, which began in 1988, the 13,000th year of earth’s history.
This understanding has only been due to the work that God opened up through Family Radio with the timeline of history and the chronology of the Hebrew kings. Once we understood these things, which no one understood accurately until recently, then we knew what happened 30 years earlier in 622 B.C. So what did happen in that year of King Josiah’s ministry?
We find that the key thing was that he was really zealous. We would call him a true believer and say that he was faithful. He was doing a lot of things. He was just cleaning up Judah. Yet there is one thing that stands out, which is that they found the Book of the Law. It had been in the temple. It had been lost, but they found it in Josiah’s 18th year, in the year 622 B.C.
This also relates to 1988, which was the 13,000th year of history. This is because on May 21, 1988, God took the seals off of the Bible. It was sealed up “till the time of the end,” and then God took the seals off.
When God took the seals off, this did not mean that we had an immediate and instantaneous understanding of everything. If you recall, we went many years before we would learn the end of the church age. Awhile longer, we learned about annihilation. Then we learned later about Christ being slain as a lamb before the foundation of the world. Even though the wraps were off the Bible itself, there was a process that God had in revealing truth; and even now today, we are learning things, actually, a lot of things.
By the way, let us go to Daniel 9. It says in Daniel 9:1-2:
In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of the seed of the Medes, which was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans; In the first year of his reign I Daniel understood by books the number of the years, whereof the word of JEHOVAH came to Jeremiah the prophet, that he would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem.
Some people bring certain accusations to us, and there are some who are always going to try to find fault and be very critical and skeptical. We are not really trying to answer them, but discussing this helps us. But some people now say, “It is after the fact, after May 21 comes and goes, that you change your story. Now, it is a spiritual judgment. Now, there was a spiritual great earthquake.” Yes! Yes; because now God is opening up our eyes to understand these things.
So notice Daniel. Daniel is someone whom God gave much end-time revelation to. Daniel is the man whom God instructed, “Seal the book, even to the time of the end.” And Daniel, of course, knew about the 70 years, but he did not know where they fell until Babylon actually did fall and the kings of the Medes and the Persians took that kingdom. Daniel was still there. This was in the first year of Darius when it says that Daniel “understood by books the number of the years.” This was in 539 B.C.
But Daniel and the others might have been thinking that they would be a little longer in Babylon. This is because the king of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar, did not come against Jerusalem until about 605 B.C., not 609 B.C. Jeremiah was talking about 70 years, and so we can see how they might have thought that the Babylonian captivity would have gone from 535 B.C. or a little bit longer. But when it ended in 539 B.C., there was a little recalculation and the recognition that the countdown would be from when Josiah died, the last good king, after which there were all of those evil kings who followed and it seemed that God was very much against them and fighting against them rather than for them.
So it was from the death of Josiah that Daniel understood “by books,” by the Bible, the 70 years and where it fell. It would end right in the year 539 B.C., because, obviously, Babylon just fell and Darius of the Medes was ruling in Babylon. Yet this was knowledge that came after the incident. This is because the incident itself, the fall of Babylon, showed Daniel that this must be the end of the 70 years. And we know that this 70-year period typifies the great tribulation that we just completed on May 21, 2011.
Back on May 21, 1988, the Book was opened. The Scriptures were unsealed. 8400 days later ended this great tribulation, the 23-year period, which was a full 23 years. And then we have this mysterious 30-year reference in Ezekiel, which goes back to 622 B.C. This was in the fifth year of king Jehoiachin's captivity, which would have been 593 B.C. This would have been the 30th year from the finding of the Book of the Law.
In a real way, this parallels the opening of the Scriptures. They could not understand the Bible when they did not have the Bible. They did not have the Old Testament Scriptures. This is why God is making reference to 622 B.C., because the 70-year period has to relate to 84 somehow.
So if we go from 622 B.C., the finding of the Book of the Law, to 539 B.C., it is 84 years. 539 B.C. is the end of the 70 years and it is the end of 84 years since they found the Book of the Law; and this ties in with the beginning of the great tribulation and the opening of the Scriptures when 8400 days later it is the end of the great tribulation.
This is one big way that God is pointing to the 70-year period in which He is telling us to compare this and to consider this with 8400 days; because the number 84 is in view and this has to do with the great tribulation period.
We are not going to get into all of the proofs that connect the 70-year period to the great tribulation. I am sure that most of those of you who listen to Family Radio know that they have books and that Mr. Camping has discussed this in those books. He has laid this all out.
I will just mention one thing quickly, which is the 1,290 years from the time that Jacob entered into Egypt. If we go 1,290 years from then, which was 1877 B.C., this falls on 587 B.C. This 1,290 reference is found in Daniel 12 where it speaks of “the daily shall be taken away, and the abomination that maketh desolate set up,” which has everything to do with the great tribulation.
So this 1,290 begins in 1877 B.C. after two years of the famine of that day, which also typified the great tribulation. Then 1,290 years later lands in 587 B.C. in the midst of another period, a 70-year period, that typifies the great tribulation.
If you recall, 1290 is 3 x 430. Israel was in Egypt for 430 years from 1877, and then God just basically tripled this to bring it to 587 B.C. Then once again from 1877 B.C., if we triple 1290, we get 3870 years. This takes us to 1994, which was in the midst of that great tribulation after 2300 evening/mornings. These dividing points are of two main historical types of the great tribulation. When we multiply 430 (three times) into 1290 and then 1290 three times into 3870, it lands in 1994.
The 70-year period is very important because this is helping us to understand our present time. The end of 70 years meant the end of the great tribulation. What happened at the end of that 70 years, we can then learn from and apply this to what is happening now, because this was a historical parable pointing to May 21.
We then learn from Acts 16 that there was a great earthquake as it approached midnight that opened up all of the prison gates and released, for all intents and purposes (even though they did not go anywhere), all of the prisoners. This relates to May 21. This was Judgment Day, yes, but this was also the day that the captives were released. And much of the Bible has to do with captivity and freedom, being a slave in bondage in Egypt and being set free.
How often does God remind us of this, especially when His people would go astray, “I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.” He freed them, and this is perhaps maybe the biggest theme in the Bible. This is because we read of the Egyptian bondage and their deliverance from that, the Babylonian captivity and their deliverance from that after 70 years, and the Jubilee period, which is a time when liberty is proclaimed to all of the captives in all the land; and all of these converge on May 21, each one of them. This is why we are going through this.
Actually, Lord willing, maybe in the next study we will go to Revelation 9 and we will see the same thing, which is freedom, freedom from the captivity that is in view there but which is a little hidden. But before we talk about Satan’s fall, which we are all interested in because this is good news, let us look first at how God set him up.
Satan, of course, is the devil, the serpent, the wicked one, the evil one, and he was roaming the earth all throughout the Old Testament period. But then at the cross, Jesus tells us in Matthew 12, “How can one enter into a strong man's house, and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong man?”
So Satan was bound at the cross, like it says in Revelation 20:1-3:
And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.
In 33 A.D., he was bound. Revelation 12 describes a battle between Michael and Satan, the devil or the dragon. He is cast out of Heaven. Then he goes to the earth knowing that he has a short time and pursues after the woman who brought forth the man/child, the Lord Jesus. This meant that he was pursuing the believers, and he had done this all throughout history. He has gone after the people of God.
So he was bound at the cross, but he still seemed to have a lot of freedom. He could go about “as a roaring lion,” he was sowing tares in the churches, and there was all kinds of evil in the world; but in a way, and in a big way, God restricted his movements, held him back and bound him during the church age. We would have to say that he bound him in the world also, because take a look at the world today since 1988 when Satan was loosed. Take a look at the churches today since 1988 when Satan was loosed. We can see a great multiplication of sin since what bound him was removed for 23 years, from May 21, 1988 until May 21, 2011.
He was still in the world. He was still existing. He was the enemy of God. There was a spiritual battle raging all throughout history, but he had limitations that God had set on him. He could not stop anyone from being saved in the world during the church age. He wanted to be like God and he wanted to rule over the churches completely, but he could not. He could infiltrate churches. In Revelation 2, the Bible speaks of “the synagogue of Satan.” This was back in the first century, and many churches over the centuries became a “synagogue of Satan.” He had his emissaries, he being “an angel of light,” and those who come bringing the Word of God, the Bible, and who are not saved; they are emissaries of Satan.
So we read that Satan was bound “a thousand years.” After that, “he must be loosed a little season.” The “thousand years” has to do with the completeness of whatever is in view. Even though this was an actual 1,955 years from 33 A.D. to 1988, God considers this to be a thousand-year period, which was the complete length of time of his binding. But God has always had a plan to release him, to let him go, and He did at that time. He was in the bottomless pit, but he does something once he is loosed.
Look at Revelation 11. In discussing the two witnesses, it says in Revelation 11:7:
And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them.
God is locking in when this takes place and it was not May 21. He is locking this in. “The beast” was bound for “a thousand years” and he is now ascending; he is coming up. It is not that he had already ascended. This is like a current action. He is ascending up out of the bottomless pit. Immediately, he goes to the churches where the saints are and wars against them and overcomes them victoriously. Then their dead bodies are lying in the streets for the three and a half days. This relates only to May 21, 1988. This cannot be referring to what happened just a couple of months ago. Of course, it is related, but it really has nothing to do with that.
So this says that he is ascending up, he is making war against them, and he will overcome them. This word for “overcome” is translated in one place as “victory.” He will be victorious and prevail.
Did Satan win on May 21 of 2011? No; absolutely not! It was the greatest defeat that the kingdom of darkness and its ruler, Satan, has suffered in the history of the world, except for what Christ has done in going to the cross and living out that tableau. Otherwise, this was a great victory.
So here we see “the beast,” which is a name that God gives Satan primarily for the great tribulation, for that 23-year period; and Satan has a lot of names. He is Satan, “the devil,” “the serpent,” “the dragon,” and “the beast.” Just like God has many names, God gives Satan many names that teach us about him. The word “Satan” comes from a Hebrew word that means “adversary”; and so this name teaches us a characteristic of him. The name “beast” has to do with the great tribulation, like we read in Revelation 13:1-5:
And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy. And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority. And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death…
This happened at the cross. It continues:
…and his deadly wound was healed…
This happened when he was loosed in 1988. It continues:
…and all the world wondered after the beast. And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him? And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him…
The word for “power” is Strong’s #1849 and it means “authority.” Authority was given to “the beast” by “the dragon.” It does not say this as it said earlier, but it was by God. God gave Satan or “the beast” the authority.
Who let him free? Christ did. He loosed him in order to accomplish His purpose, which was to bring judgment against the unfaithful house of God, the churches and congregations of the world.
We saw in Revelation 13:7 that as soon as he was loosed, he ascends, makes war, and overcomes the saints. This was God’s plan. He used Satan, as it says at the end of Revelation 13:5:
…there was given unto him a mouth…and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months.
This is another synonym for the length of the great tribulation. God does not say 42 months plus 153 days. Satan has no authority now officially in God’s sight; none. Does he exist? Yes. Does he exist in the churches? Yes. Is he in the world? Yes. Is God recognizing him and his rule as the “man of sin”? No; He is not. This is because authority was given to him to rule during the length of the great tribulation, the 23 years or the 8400 days.
This is just as God used Babylon. He raised them up. What does He say of Nebuchadrezzar in Jeremiah 25? Nebuchadrezzar is a picture of Satan, and Babylon typifies the kingdom of Satan or this world, which includes the churches at this time. In Jeremiah 25:8-10, it says:
Therefore thus saith JEHOVAH of hosts; Because ye have not heard my words, Behold, I will send and take all the families of the north, saith JEHOVAH…
He is talking about Judah and how they did not hear His words. He is, therefore, going to take these families. It continues:
…and Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and will bring them against this land, and against the inhabitants thereof, and against all these nations round about, and will utterly destroy them, and make them an astonishment, and an hissing, and perpetual desolations. Moreover I will take from them the voice of mirth, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride, the sound of the millstones, and the light of the candle.
So God removed the light of the Gospel out of the churches when He loosed Satan, which is what this historical parable is teaching us. And since He is saying this of Nebuchadrezzar, a very evil king, it is almost as if God is saying, “Satan, My servant, I am going to loose you in order for you to accomplish My purpose, just like I utilized King Nebuchadrezzar in order to come against Judah.”
Then it says in Jeremiah 25:11:
And this whole land shall be a desolation, and an astonishment; and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years.
There is a limitation. Again, “Power was given unto him to continue forty and two months.” The king of Babylon was to rule for 70 years. The judgment of God against His people was for 70 years. God just used the Babylonians and Nebuchadrezzar as a figure to teach us what He had just completed, the judgment on the churches of the world.
Then after this verse, look at what we read in Jeremiah 25:12:
And it shall come to pass, when seventy years are accomplished…
Think May 21. Wherever we read of Babylon falling, think May 21. This is a key. This is God pointing to that Day of Judgment, the day of release. What this typifies is the end of the 70-year period.
It continues:
…that I will punish the king of Babylon, and that nation, saith JEHOVAH, for their iniquity, and the land of the Chaldeans, and will make it perpetual desolations.
This, again, is what has happened and is happening now as God is punishing the king of Babylon.
Remember what some people used to think about these five months? Some people wondered about Satan, this most evil being who has caused more harm than any man over the history of the earth. They wondered how he was going to suffer if there would be a physical earthquake and intense physical suffering for a people. We thought that people would be dying like flies, but Satan is a spirit being. They questioned if this would be fair and wondered how he might suffer during this time.
You know what? Those people were right in trying to find out how Satan could suffer more, since he deserves it more. We know that God is very just.
Now we find that we are in these five months, the Day of Judgment, which is 153 days. As we go along, the people of this world do not seem disturbed about anything related to this. They seem to be fine. But there is someone who knows, and this is Satan. This is because it was his kingdom and he had all of these captives. He kept them. He was holding them. As a matter of fact, just like Pharaoh, it is as if he would say, “Who is the LORD, that I should obey his voice to let Israel go?” He was not going to let them go.
But God is extremely stronger than Satan. God has already won the victory from before the foundation of the world in paying for the sins of all those elect who were out there in the world. God triumphed. He had already bound Satan at the cross. Then He loosed him, but this did not mean that Satan could stop God from saving His people because He could not. They were already paid for and God redeemed them. On May 21, they were set free. All of those people were set free.
Let us take a look at some of the language that is related to Satan and this period that we are in right now. Let us go to Jeremiah 50. We read in Jeremiah 50:13-16:
Because of the wrath of JEHOVAH it shall not be inhabited, but it shall be wholly desolate: every one that goeth by Babylon shall be astonished, and hiss at all her plagues. Put yourselves in array against Babylon round about: all ye that bend the bow, shoot at her, spare no arrows: for she hath sinned against JEHOVAH. Shout against her round about: she hath given her hand: her foundations are fallen, her walls are thrown down: for it is the vengeance of JEHOVAH: take vengeance upon her; as she hath done, do unto her. Cut off the sower from Babylon…
Let us go to Psalm 126. This speaks of God turning their captivity. This just means that it is pointing to the end of the 70 years and the release of the Jews, which we carry over to the end of our 23 years, the end of the great tribulation and the release of all of God’s elect, the 200 million. Psalm 126:1-3 says:
When JEHOVAH turned again the captivity of Zion, we were like them that dream. Then was our mouth filled with laughter, and our tongue with singing: then said they among the heathen, JEHOVAH hath done great things for them. JEHOVAH hath done great things for us; whereof we are glad.
This ought to be our mindset and our constant thinking up until October 21, “Thank You; thank You; thank You.” We are to rejoice in what God has done.
Just consider this. When the Israelites came out of Egypt, out of hard bondage, was that a time for them to murmur and complain? They did. After only a couple of days, they did; and none of them made it into Canaan, except for a handful. They perished in the wilderness due to unbelief.
God, again and again and again in the Bible, stresses that He brought His people out of the “house of bondage” and set them free. This is why the rebellion of Korah, the murmuring at the “waters of strife,” and all of those instances that we find are abhorrent to God, “I just delivered you. Do you not realize that you were in Egypt as a slave? You had cruel taskmasters over you and I set you free. Now, are you completely unthankful?”
God rebukes them constantly about this, and that was a physical deliverance. Most of them, the vast majority of them, were unsaved. But we are not talking about something that is just a figure concerning May 21. We are not saying that we have only been physical delivered. No; this was deliverance from sin and Satan, complete deliverance.
Everything that is most important is wrapped up in salvation, and God gave that on May 21. So why are we crying? Why are we cast down? Why are we weeping?
This is why Psalm 126 is a good Psalm for us because the Lord has turned again our captivity, as it goes on to say in Psalm 126:4-6:
Turn again our captivity, O JEHOVAH, as the streams in the south. They that sow in tears shall reap in joy. He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.
As it says in Ecclesiastes 3, there is “a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance.” There are certain seasons. Now is the time to rejoice. This is what God has in mind. We wept carrying the Gospel. We wept over our family and friends and the people of the world. This is now done. The Bible says that now, “your sorrow shall be turned into joy.”
In Jeremiah 50:16, God is indicating that what we are doing in not going out and handing out tracts, in not bringing the Gospel on tracts trips any longer, is exactly what He wants, as He says that He will “cut off the sower” who sows seed, because there is no need for this.
The Gospel went out to release those who were spiritually in prison. There are no more prisoners who are God’s elect. There are none; and Jeremiah 50:16 says:
Cut off the sower from Babylon, and him that handleth the sickle in the time of harvest: for fear of the oppressing sword they shall turn every one to his people, and they shall flee every one to his own land.
Let us also read verse 17, Jeremiah 50:17-19:
Israel is a scattered sheep; the lions have driven him away: first the king of Assyria hath devoured him; and last this Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon hath broken his bones. Therefore thus saith JEHOVAH of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will punish the king of Babylon and his land, as I have punished the king of Assyria. And I will bring Israel again to his habitation, and he shall feed on Carmel and Bashan, and his soul shall be satisfied upon mount Ephraim and Gilead.
God will punish the king of Babylon. There are so many verses in relation to this.
Let us go to verse 31 of this same chapter. We read in Jeremiah 50:31-34:
Behold, I am against thee, O thou most proud, saith the Lord JEHOVAH of hosts: for thy day is come, the time that I will visit thee. And the most proud shall stumble and fall, and none shall raise him up: and I will kindle a fire in his cities, and it shall devour all round about him. Thus saith JEHOVAH of hosts; The children of Israel and the children of Judah were oppressed together: and all that took them captives held them fast; they refused to let them go. Their Redeemer is strong; JEHOVAH of hosts is his name: he shall thoroughly plead their cause, that he may give rest to the land, and disquiet the inhabitants of Babylon.
Again, Satan was not about to let them go. God just took them. He took the kingdom. Babylon is fallen. This means that Satan’s official power is completely removed.
Look at Jeremiah 50:46. I want to look at these verses because this helps us to see the situation that we are in. We read in Jeremiah 50:46:
At the noise of the taking of Babylon the earth is moved…
This word is related to the word “earthquake.” It actually has the same consonants as the Hebrew word for “earthquake,” which means that it is the same word because the vowels or the vowel pointing was added later, but not by God.
So Jeremiah 50:46 is actually saying:
At the noise of the taking of Babylon the earth moved [quaked], and the cry is heard among the nations.
On May 21, the great earthquake came because it opened up the prison doors, like we see in Acts 16. That amazing earthquake was incredible because it caused no structural damage that we are aware of. It did not hurt the city of Philippi. It did not bring down the prison walls. The Philippian jailer later takes Paul and Silas and washes their stripes and they have dinner. You would think that there would have been panic and hysteria if there had been a great earthquake that had destroyed the whole city of Philippi. But this earthquake was perfectly designed by God to accomplish one thing, which was to shake that prison so that its bars came open and that somehow the locks fell off.
Maybe in our day, we could see how this might happen because the doors and locks are all electronic. If a prison were shaken today by an earthquake, maybe some circuit would go berserk and all of the automatic doors would pop open. But these were not automatic doors. These doors were in old dungeons and prisons and they had to chain the locks. They chained Paul and Silas especially in the inner prison. But somehow this great earthquake loosed all of the prison doors and took off all of their bonds. They could have walked out, and yet they did not.
We were expecting a great earthquake on May 21 and we got it. We got it. Spiritually, all of God’s elect are now free.
Let us go to Jeremiah 51. We read in Jeremiah 51:6-11:
Flee out of the midst of Babylon, and deliver every man his soul: be not cut off in her iniquity; for this is the time of JEHOVAH'S vengeance; he will render unto her a recompense. Babylon hath been a golden cup in the JEHOVAH'S hand, that made all the earth drunken: the nations have drunken of her wine; therefore the nations are mad. Babylon is suddenly fallen and destroyed: howl for her; take balm for her pain, if so be she may be healed. We would have healed Babylon, but she is not healed: forsake her, and let us go every one into his own country: for her judgment reacheth unto heaven, and is lifted up even to the skies. JEHOVAH hath brought forth our righteousness: come, and let us declare in Zion the work of JEHOVAH our God. Make bright the arrows; gather the shields: JEHOVAH hath raised up the spirit of the kings of the Medes: for his device is against Babylon, to destroy it; because it is the vengeance of JEHOVAH, the vengeance of his temple.
God, of course, finally after 70 years, brought the kings of the Medes against Babylon. They took Babylon, and it did not seem like it was much of a battle. They put to death the king of Babylon, Belshazzar, and yet this was all God’s plan. This was all His purpose.
We read about Darius as the king of the Medes, but his name was also Cyrus. He had two different names. And God says of Cyrus, “He is my shepherd.” Of course, Christ is the Good Shepherd, and so Cyrus typifies Jesus. It was Cyrus who made the proclamation to let all of the Jews go. After 70 years, there was a release of the captives at the beckoning of Cyrus, whom God also refers to in Isaiah 45 as “his anointed.” This is the word that is also translated as “Messiah” in Daniel 9.
So Cyrus releases the captives of Babylon. We will not look at this right now, but you can read this in the last chapter of 2nd Chronicles, 2 Chronicles 36 and into Ezra 1. Actually, Ezra follows 2 Chronicles. God gets done saying this at the end of 2 Chronicles 36. Then He repeats this in the very next book; and so we cannot miss that King Cyrus freed all of the Jews.
This does not mean that they all went up, because they did not; but again, this is a historical parable. And so their prison gates swung open after 70 years and they were released. Some 40-50,000 Jews did return to the land Judah, to Jerusalem, at Cyrus’ allowance, and they went back to rebuild the temple.
Let us go to Isaiah 14. I would like to read the whole chapter, but we do not have time. Again, this has to do with the king of Babylon. Notice the language that God uses concerning him. We read in Isaiah 14:3:
And it shall come to pass in the day that JEHOVAH shall give thee rest from thy sorrow, and from thy fear, and from the hard bondage wherein thou wast made to serve.
This is a similar statement made to those in Egypt, because they are basically one and the same picture. God brings the release of the Jews from Egypt and He brings the release of the Jews from Babylon. These are identical pictures almost, except for their locations and some of the details of how God went about doing things.
For instance, look at Isaiah 48:20-21:
Go ye forth of Babylon, flee ye from the Chaldeans, with a voice of singing declare ye…
Notice the singing. There is no more weeping. He has turned our captivity and now we sing. It continues:
…with a voice of singing declare ye, tell this, utter it even to the end of the earth; say ye, JEHOVAH hath redeemed his servant Jacob. And they thirsted not when he led them through the deserts: he caused the waters to flow out of the rock for them: he clave the rock also, and the waters gushed out.
Verse 21 is speaking of when the Jews came out of Egypt, and the previous verse, verse 20, is speaking of Babylon. God just brings them together, because it is, spiritually, the same picture, the picture of deliverance from sin and deliverance from Satan.
Let us go back to Isaiah 14:4. It said in verse 3, “And it shall come to pass in the day,” in the day that they experienced this rest and deliverance from hard bondage, and then Isaiah 14:4 says:
That thou shalt take up this proverb against the king of Babylon…
When it has been experienced, it is then that this proverb can be taken up. This is because it was previously impossible to know this.
Mr. Camping has developed a lot of these things, like the 70-year period in relationship to the 23 years. It was by God’s grace in opening his eyes that he saw the relationship of the 1,290 years from 1877 B.C. to 587 B.C. and then the tripling of this to 1994 A.D.
So we are not actually learning anything new as we are going through this, except we now have, like Mr. Camping would say, a superior vantage point, and we can look back and see that, obviously, there was not a physical earthquake. Then we start realizing, “Oh; the 70 years, the king of Babylon is killed by the Medes and the Persians”; and so he is dead in one way, and I think it is as “the beast.” He is still “the devil” and he is still out there, but “the beast” was his name exclusively for the great tribulation period; and we are now past this.
It is this aspect of the devil that has been overcome. Now we can “take up this proverb against the king of Babylon.” Remember that God tells us to “spare no arrows.” Shoot the arrows. After all, this is the “vengeance of his temple.”
This is what we can declare. We can share this with people. There is nothing wrong with doing this if anyone asks. Tell people, “You know what? On May 21, God delivered all of His elect, 200 million. Also, Satan is now being judged. He is being exposed to shame.”
Isaiah 14 goes on to talk about this, as we read at the end of Isaiah 14:4:
…and say, How hath the oppressor ceased! the golden city ceased!
Satan is the “oppressor,” typified by the king of Babylon. The “golden city” is Babylon itself, the world, and the churches within the world now.
Then we read in Isaiah 14:5-6:
JEHOVAH hath broken the staff of the wicked, and the sceptre of the rulers. He who smote the people in wrath with a continual stroke, he that ruled the nations in anger, is persecuted, and none hindereth.
We are talking about the “most proud.”
He is the one that is being referred to in 1 Thessalonians 2. He is the one whom God loosed. We read in 2 Thessalonians 2:4:
Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.
It is easy to get an image of a proud king seated upon a throne and ruling the churches that once belonged to Christ, and knowing that when people go to church every Sunday that he is the one who is receiving the worship. Oh, how proud! On top of this, God officially gave him authority as “the beast” to rule in the churches.
This is much like Haman “the adversary” as it says in Esther. “Adversary” is the Hebrew word for “Satan.” Haman was much like Satan in his pride because Haman wanted to rule. He really wanted to rule in place of Ahasuerus; and when Ahasuerus spoke about uplifting someone and giving them great honor, Haman thought, “To whom would the king delight to do honour more than to myself?”
You know, we have a lot in common with Satan. In our pride, we really do. We are very self-focused and self-centered. I am speaking about myself, but we will not get into this.
So Satan was officially ruling with all authority that was given to him by God. Now, suddenly, Babylon is fallen, as well as his captives. The captives cannot be taken unless the king and his kingdom are destroyed.
Now, the captives are all free, which is like Pharaoh experienced in one day, “What have we done in letting Israel go free?” All of the captives who were God’s elect, an enormous number, a great multitude, were released. This is big evidence that the king of Babylon has fallen.
It says again in Isaiah 14:5:
JEHOVAH hath broken the staff of the wicked, and the sceptre of the rulers.
A king rules with a scepter.
Then it says in Isaiah 14:6-7:
He who smote the people in wrath with a continual stroke, he that ruled the nations in anger, is persecuted, and none hindereth. The whole earth is at rest, and is quiet: they break forth into singing.
Again and again, God is telling us to sing, to rejoice, to be glad in our feast, as it says in Nehemiah 8. When the people heard the Word of God by thirteen men, they began to weep, and then they were told to “mourn not, nor weep.” This is because we weep when we bring the Gospel and this period is over. They were told to be glad and to rejoice. Plus, the feast of tabernacles in other places has the reference of “thou shalt rejoice in thy feast.”
Is this not where we are going? We are going to keep the feast. We are proceeding in that direction.
Then we read in Isaiah 14:8:
Yea, the fir trees rejoice at thee, and the cedars of Lebanon…
Take a look at Psalm 92:12:
The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree: he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon.
Isaiah 14:8 again:
Yea, the fir trees rejoice at thee, and the cedars of Lebanon…
These are the righteous whom God saved. It continues:
…saying, Since thou art laid down, no feller is come up against us.
They cannot be hurt. They cannot be cut down. Since the king of Babylon has been put down, they are safe and secure.
Then we read in Isaiah 14:9:
Hell from beneath is moved for thee to meet thee at thy coming: it stirreth up the dead for thee, even all the chief ones of the earth; it hath raised up from their thrones all the kings of the nations.
This is as if all of the dead rulers, all of the chiefs, all of the kings of past history, could speak. This is as if they could take notice, which they cannot. This is because once someone is dead, they are dead and they cease to exist if they were unsaved. God is just putting words in their mouths.
Then we read in Isaiah 14:10:
All they shall speak and say unto thee, Art thou also become weak as we? art thou become like unto us?
They are dead, and so the king of Babylon, Satan, has become like unto them, which is dead. This is what happened after the 70 years. The king of Babylon was put to death on that very night that Daniel had read the writing on the wall.
Then it says in Isaiah 14:11:
Thy pomp is brought down to the grave, and the noise of thy viols: the worm is spread under thee, and the worms cover thee.
This is referring to shame. He is being shamed openly; and I am sure that he will be more and more as God’s people pick this up and begin to realize that this is what God has done.
There are people out there saying, “Are you kidding? When May 21 came and nothing happened, that was the greatest embarrassment ever. This was a huge disappointment.”
Well, what I would say is that they are not looking at this properly. They are not looking at what happened with the eyes of God. They are looking at this through the eyes of the media, yes; they are looking at this through the eyes of the churches, yes; but they are not looking at this through the eyes of God and His Word, because May 21 was the greatest day of victory, outside of what Christ has done, in the history of the world. A great multitude that no man could number was, again, set free. They were set free.
If God looked at the Egyptians and the physical deliverance of the Jews and told them that they should be very thankful for what He had done, how much more thankful should we be when 200 million people were set free from sin and Satan and guaranteed eternal life and all of the blessings that come with this?
Just consider the disciples after Christ went to the cross. Do we really have a lot of insight into spiritual things when Jesus had told them repeatedly and plainly what was going to happen. It happened exactly as He said, “three days I will rise again.” They did not catch this. Even though this was directly stated, they missed this.
We see this in Luke 24 where we read of two disciples, one of which is Cleopas. They are on the road to Emmaus and they are sad. They are cast down when we read, “Jesus himself drew near, and went with them.” Then He asks them, “What manner of communications are these that ye have one to another, as ye walk, and are sad?” They say, “Art thou only a stranger in Jerusalem, and hast not known the things which are come to pass there in these days?”
Let us turn there. We read in Luke 24:18-21:
And the one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answering said unto him, Art thou only a stranger in Jerusalem, and hast not known the things which are come to pass there in these days? And he said unto them, What things? And they said unto him, Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, which was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people: And how the chief priests and our rulers delivered him to be condemned to death, and have crucified him. But we trusted that it had been he which should have redeemed Israel: and beside all this, to day is the third day since these things were done.
We trusted You, Lord. We trusted that certain things would happen on May 21.
There is no indication that these men, these disciples, were not true believers, and they had other things in mind about what should have taken place with Christ on the earth, with the Messiah. He was going to deliver Israel. He was going to be their king and to remove Roman rule. All of these kinds of ideas were floating around. Even though Jesus told them directly what was going to happen – that He would be scourged, spit upon, wear a crown of thorns, and rise after three days – even though He told them these things pointblank, they missed it. They understood none of this.
What a defeat! What an awful thing that the Saviour was taken and whipped and then crucified and that He then died! It was the greatest disappointment ever, right?
So these men are sad because they had trusted that things would work out a certain way when they did not. Then Jesus gently rebukes them, as we read in Luke 24:25-26:
Then he said unto them, O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken: Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory?
Of course, but they had the wrong mindset about this whole thing. They thought it would be one way. They thought, “Oh, our chief rulers, those in the church, prevailed.” They thought that the world had prevailed, because the Roman Empire put Him to death, but this was not so.
So they keep talking to this Man and their hearts are burning within them. Then after having a meal, He disappears from their sight.
We read in Luke 24:32-34:
And they said one to another, Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures? And they rose up the same hour, and returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven gathered together, and them that were with them, Saying, The Lord is risen indeed, and hath appeared to Simon.
They are now full of confidence. It is now all good and it is time to rejoice.
Then we read in Luke 24:35:
And they told what things were done in the way, and how he was known of them in breaking of bread.
Christ stayed around for forty days after His resurrection. He had good reason to, because His disciples were hanging their heads and walking around cast down. He had to set things straight. They were not to look on the outward appearances. It might have seemed like He was defeated, but this was actually His plan.
From that day on and all throughout the church age, everyone looks at the cross, not as a defeat because it was not a defeat, but as a triumph. This was a tremendous triumph, and May 21 was a tremendous day of victory for the people of God.
Look at Revelation 15. I just want to look at the first couple of verses, but we cannot really get into this. We read in Revelation 15:1:
And I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvellous, seven angels [or messengers] having the seven last plagues; for in them is filled up the wrath of God.
By the way, let us look at verse 6 before we read verse 2. It says in Revelation 15:6:
And the seven angels [or messengers] came out of the temple, having the seven plagues, clothed in pure and white linen, and having their breasts girded with golden girdles.
This tells us that they are men. They are not angels. This is because when someone is clothed “in pure and white linen,” it says in Revelation 19, “For the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.” The angels who are in Heaven never fell and they never needed a covering for sin. They never needed to be made white like we do, like God’s people do.
So these “seven messengers” are clothed in garments that have to do with only receiving them if Christ has saved someone and given them “the robe of righteousness.” It is then that one is made all clean and pure and they have no spots.
Then we read in Revelation 15:2:
And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire: and them that had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name, stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God.
This is past tense. They got the victory. Then these seven angels or messengers in Revelation 16 are going to pour out the seven last plagues; and one of these plagues is poured out “upon the seat of the beast.” And the seat is where a king rules. Satan has been ruling in the churches as “the man of sin.”
Now God is opening up information to His people and we will share this. We will share this. We just will not take tract trips to share this. We will put this on the EBible Fellowship website and Family Radio will have this information.
But this is a plague “upon the seat of the beast” because Satan no longer has that rule. Officially, in God’s sight, he is no longer ruling in the churches or ruling in the world. Who is? Christ is.
We have to be careful with this. The churches are completely sinful and fallen away and this is not going to change; and nobody should ever go back to a church. Likewise in the world, the world is just continuing to multiply sin and get worse and worse and worse; and so these things are not going to change; but as far as official rule, it is God during this period of these five months of judgment.
We will stop here and take a break. Then we will come back and maybe try to finish reading Isaiah 14 or at least a few more verses. Then we will go to Revelation 9 and we will see victory. We will see victory.
Let us stop here and have a word of prayer.
Dear Heavenly Father, we do thank You for Your Word and the comfort that it gives us when You open up our understanding to it. It is then that we realize what the true situation is. Father, we do pray that You would, having had mercy, would have mercy on our families and on our neighbors and friends and co-workers. May You help us to be an example of the believer and to serve You, to feed sheep as You would allow. We pray for Family Radio. We pray that You would continue to bless them and all who work there, as well as Mr. Camping, that You would strengthen him. May You bless his wife and his whole family. Father, we do ask that You would help us to be a blessing over the next few months. Father, we pray these things in Christ’s Name. Amen.