Let us go to Revelation 15. In Revelation 15, we have seen over the last couple of studies that the seven messengers are the true believers. This verse alone proves this. We read in Revelation 15:6:
And the seven angels [messengers] came out of the temple, having the seven plagues, clothed in pure and white linen…
Revelation 19:8 tells us that pure and white linen is the “righteousness of saints.” This has nothing to do with angels, with angelic beings or spirit beings. They do not need the righteousness of Christ, but every one of the elect absolutely needs the covering of the pure and white linen. This is the covering over our sin. It is that spotless robe of Christ’s righteousness. This is what these seven messengers are clothed with, and so they cannot be angels.
Actually, these are the same ones that verse 2 is speaking about. Revelation 15:2 says:
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.
They are one and the same. They are those who got the victory over the beast.
Who are those who got the victory over the beast? They are God’s people who came out of great tribulation. These are the great multitude whom God saved, who came out of great tribulation. They were not in the churches where the “man of sin” had taken his seat and where he was ruling.
On top of this, God ransacked Satan’s kingdom. He did this at the cross when He bound him, but He did not actually redeem all of those whom He had saved from before the foundation of the world until just prior to May 21. Then everyone whose name was written in the Lamb’s Book of life was saved.
This was a great victory for the Gospel and for the Lord Jesus Christ. This is the victory that is in view and it is a victory over four things:
…victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name…
The “number of his name” would be 666, which we read about in Revelation 13.
Look at Revelation 17 where it mentions the beast. We read in Revelation 17:8:
The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit…
“The beast” is just another name for Satan, but this is a name that God primarily uses to identify his rule during the 23-year great tribulation. It continues:
…and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is.
So this is indicating that Satan ruled prior to the cross. Christ bound him at the cross and that was like a deathblow. But then he was loosed on May 21, 1988, and so he “yet is.” This is what these three statements are referring to.
Then we read in Revelation 17:9-10:
And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth. And there are seven kings: five are fallen…
This is referring to Satan’s time of ruling prior to the cross. It continues:
…and one is…
This would be referring to the New Testament Age. Then it says:
…and the other is not yet come…
Remember that this was written in the first century A.D. This is looking towards the loosing of Satan, which took place in the 20th century. It continues:
…and when he cometh, he must continue a short space.
This is referring to the little season of great tribulation.
Then it says in Revelation 17:11:
And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition.
So the beast is “of the seven.” It is significant that God said in Revelation 17:9:
…The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth.
So the beast is likened to seven mountains.
Now think about these two things. The seven messengers, who are the true believers, got victory over the beast and the beast is likened to mountains.
This word “victory” from Revelation 15:2 is a word that is often translated as “overcome” and also “prevailed.” For example, we read In Revelation 5:5:
And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book…
He got the victory. That is the same word. This means to be victorious or to win.
What happened on May 21 was that God overcame the kingdom of Satan. He was victorious. The battle of Armageddon began. Immediately, God slew a third part of men and He is presently pouring out torment on the rest of mankind. Actually, on all of mankind; but those not associated with the churches are being tormented in the sense that they are not those who have already been killed. This is a great victory for God.
Let us now go back to Genesis 7 and we will see why Revelation 15 mentions 4 things that the believers, typified by those seven messengers, got the victory over. They got the victory over the beast and his image.
What is the “image of the beast”? Remember that Revelation 13 said that it was given life so that it could speak. Of course, this image became the churches. They are the only ones who could actually verbalize and give homage to the beast. They are the ones who through their false gospels that teach lies glorified Satan and not God. It is an image that is not in the likeness and image of God, but it is in the image of the one who took his seat in the temple. It is the churches and congregations. This is why it said in Revelation 13 that “as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.”
This is very, very similar to Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego when Nebuchadnezzar made that golden image and it was commanded that everyone needed to bow down to the image at the hearing of the musical instruments. When those instruments played, everyone in Babylon was to fall down and worship. If they did not fall down and worship, they were thrown into a burning, fiery furnace. This is what happened to those three young men, but God protected them because they did not worship the image to Nebuchadnezzar who was a type of Satan and an image of the beast.
This very much points to God’s people who did not worship the image in the churches. They came out of the churches and congregations during the 23-year great tribulation period. Not only was this part of the victory, but God will give them the final victory on the very last day.
Turn to Genesis 7. In Genesis 7:18, we read about the flood. It says:
And the waters prevailed, and were increased greatly upon the earth…
This word “prevailed” means “victory.” This is very much the same idea. God warned the world repeatedly through Noah and through the construction of the ark that He was going to destroy the earth with a flood. People scoffed, mocked, and dismissed this. Then, finally, that very definite last warning was made, “Yet seven days.” Then God gathered all of the animals, which was another very visible indicator of warning to the world. Then Noah and his family, eight souls, went into the ark, the door was shut, and then God began to bring the flood waters.
The Bible tells us in 1 Peter that those waters were what saved Noah and his family. Let us read this so that we can see what God is likening the water of the flood to. We read in 1 Peter 3:20:
Which sometime…
This is better translated as “aforetime.” It continues:
…were disobedient…
This is speaking of the people of that day. It continues:
…when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water.
The water lifted them up. It lifted up the ark and this was a means of deliverance to them. However, at the same time, this put down everyone else in the world and was a means of judgment to them.
This is exactly the same thing that the Word of God does. God’s Word is a two-edged sword. On the one hand, it cuts to salvation. On the other hand, it cuts to judgment.
This is telling us that they were “saved by water,” and then we read in 1 Peter 3:21:
The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us…
Then it talks about:
…(not the putting away of the filth of the flesh…
This means that it is not water baptism that saves but the baptism by the Spirit.
The water of the flood was a figure or a historical parable where God is likening this to His Word. It is His Word that brings judgment. It was His Word that warned the people and it was really a disregard for His Word that destroyed the people, not the water of the flood. It was disobedience to the Word of God.
So once the water came on that very first day, which was the 17th day of the 2nd month, the waters prevailed. The water or the Word of God was victorious. It was a demonstration by God that His Word is true and faithful and that His Word will always prevail over man, always.
The Word of God is eternal, but people are constantly arguing with God’s Word and fighting against His Word as they try to avoid His Word, and yet no one has ever been able to do this, no one. Maybe for a short period of time someone can do this; but, finally, the Word of God prevails in everyone’s life as it will in all of our lives, too. But here, the waters prevailed.
Then look at Genesis 7:19:
And the waters prevailed exceedingly…
Then look at Genesis 7:20:
Fifteen cubits upward did the waters prevail…
This is the third time that we read of the waters prevailing. Then we read in Genesis 7:24:
And the waters prevailed upon the earth an hundred and fifty days.
We read of the waters prevailing four times: victory, victory, victory, victory.
The seven messengers got the victory “over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name.” These are four victories and the number four has to do with the furthest extent or the universality of whatever is in view. It is what is going on all over the earth. This is true, but God is also linking the two. He is linking these two ideas.
The people of God who are coming out of great tribulation are victorious, and so they are saved. This is as it says here that Noah and his family were saved by water and that the waters prevailed. The second thing is that the victory was over the beast and the beast is likened to mountains in Revelation 17.
So in Genesis 7:18-20, we read:
And the waters prevailed, and were increased greatly upon the earth; and the ark went upon the face of the waters. And the waters prevailed exceedingly upon the earth; and all the high hills…
This word can also be translated as mountains. It continues:
…and all the high hills [mountains], that were under the whole heaven, were covered. Fifteen cubits upward did the waters prevail; and the mountains were covered.
The beast typified by seven mountains in Revelation 17 is underneath the water or the Word of God. The Word of God has exalted itself. God has exalted His Word and He is prevailing over the beast, over everything that belonged to Satan, over all of his kingdom.
Satan is deposed. He has been put down and he has lost that lofty position of being given rule and reign in the churches and congregations. God officially gave this to him and God has officially taken this away.
Now, he is nothing and this is a great blow. This is a terrible blow to the pride of Satan. How else can an evil spirit be harmed? How can an evil spirit be hurt, except for finally, at the very last day, when he will utterly be destroyed and be no more?
But for five months, this is an assault on his pride. He always wanted to be like God and this must have been a glorious time for him to sit “as God” showing himself that he is God in the temple; but now God is through with this and has brought him down.
So one thing that was accomplished right away on May 21 was the putting down of Satan; and God identifies the seven messengers as being victorious.
This is another way that we see that they do represent the believers. This is another lock that locks this in place. There are so many things that point to this that this is really not a question. They are not angels. They are men.
An additional point to this is that John in the book of Revelation bows down to one of these seven angels later in the book of Revelation. When John does this, the angel tells him, “See thou do it not: I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God.” He was very much telling John that he was a man just like John, a true believer.
Let us read now from Revelation 15:5. We read in Revelation 15:5-6:
And after that I looked, and, behold, the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened: And the seven angels [messengers] came out of the temple, having the seven plagues, clothed in pure and white linen, and having their breasts girded with golden girdles.
The girdle has to do with being a priest and we are all priests, every one of us. We are a “royal priesthood.”
They are also standing upon a “sea of glass.” This is pointing to the fact that they have been cleansed and are therefore able to serve God in the ministry. This is just like the priest who would ceremonially have to wash himself before entering into the temple, and he washed himself in the “brazen sea.”
Here, they are standing on a “sea of glass” and they are girded with girdles, just like a priest would be, and they are going to carry out a priestly function, which is just service to God. God had the Old Testament priests do very particular things; but the royal priesthood, the body of believers, we just do whatever God tells us.
When it was the time of the Great Commission to carry the Gospel into the world, we carried the Gospel into the world. When the Great Commission ended, like it has now, and we are not to carry the Gospel in order that people become saved, we serve God this way, too. It is service to God to cease from sowing seed and from going out into the world, if this is what He wants.
Actually, this non action is part of the judgment that is now on the world. This is one of the evidences that God is giving that this is indeed Judgment Day and that fire and brimstone is spiritually falling. This is because we are not to sow seed upon land in which fire and brimstone is falling.
So notice that the seven messengers come out of the temple. Then notice that Revelation 15:8 says:
And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and from his power; and no man was able to enter into the temple…
We saw two historical examples of what God is saying. The first was the tabernacle that you can read about in Exodus 40. The tabernacle had to be built. Once it was completed, then the glory of God entered into the tabernacle. The word “cloud” is used in Exodus 40 instead of the word “smoke.” But the glory of God, the glory of the Lord, entered into the tabernacle, and then Moses was not able to enter in.
The second historical example is Solomon’s temple. After this temple was completed or finished, the glory of the Lord entered into the temple and the priests had to come out. They were not able to minister in the temple. And so we find these similar elements.
Number one, the temple or tabernacle was completed. Number two, the glory of the Lord fills it. Number three, no man is able to enter in. This would only be for a certain historical period of time, because they would then go on to use the tabernacle throughout the 40-years in the wilderness; and Solomon’s temple would have been used after the initial time of God filling it. But the picture still remains that when the temple is built and finished, then God fills the temple.
Keep in mind what the temple and the tabernacle represented. We read about this in Hebrews 3. We read in Hebrews 3:6:
But Christ as a son over his own house; whose house are we…
We are the house of Christ. This is talking about people. This is not talking about a physical building at all, but people.
Look also at 1 Peter 2:5:
Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood…
So God saves one person. This is easy to see. He saves one person and then He puts a stone in the wall to His house. Then He saves another person and it is like he takes this individual, like a living stone, and adds him to His house.
All through history, He is building His house. Then He just greatly increased the speed of this during the 6100 days of the latter rain when He added a great number of people, “a great multitude, which no man could number.”
The Gospel went into all of the world, and so this house was multiplying and multiplying as it was getting to completion. Finally, just before May 21, it was done. The house is now complete.
Look at 1 Corinthians 3:16:
Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?
“Ye” is a plural word and that is why the King James Version is good to have. When this word is consistently translated as “you,” then we do not know when this is plural or singular. God is talking to His people, the body of believers, and saying, “Ye are the temple.” We are the temple. We are the house that He was building. We are the stone-by-stone that He was constructing His house with.
So the house is finished. The house is completed. What then is the next step? The next step is that the glory of the Lord fills the temple. The glory of God enters in.
We know that God individually enters into every person whom He saves. If there were a handful of elect out there who did not have the Spirit of Christ in them, then the temple would not be complete because He would not have entered completely and filled the temple. He would not have filled the house. But once everyone has become saved, it is as though He filled the whole building, the whole structure. The temple of the Lord is now inhabited and God dwells within.
We are familiar with this language. He tells us that He is going to dwell with His people forevermore. This is true and this is going to be in a special way, in a different way than now. There is going to be that final movement from this world into the new heavens and the new earth when we will go into that temple. We are called the temple, but so is Christ.
Christ is called the temple in Revelation 21. This is speaking of the heavenly Bride, the New Jerusalem, the body of believers. When we read about this city, which is the house that we were just talking about, this is God’s people. We read in Revelation 21:22-26:
And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it. And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof. And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it. And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day: for there shall be no night there. And they shall bring the glory and honour of the nations into it.
This is finally Heaven itself and the end of all things for this earth, and Christ is the temple.
In Revelation 15, the seven messengers came out of the temple. We would understand this to mean out of Christ.
Remember something that has been true all throughout history. Jesus was pointing back to Jacob’s ladder in the book of Genesis when he told Nathanael, “Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man.”
We see angels again. Of course, this was not referring to angelic beings. In many cases, this word is not referring to angels in the Bible. Christ was referring to the believers. This is because once God would save someone, that person in their soul would be seated in heavenly places in Christ, and so they would be in Heaven. Then they would be sent right back to earth and dispatched to carry the Gospel as a messenger, as an “angel.”
All through history, this meant that they would then try to share the Word of God with people, with tracts or however, so that those whom they shared with might become saved. But now, the problem is that the temple is complete.
To look at this another way, there is no room in the inn. One way of looking at this is that there is no more room in the temple. The temple body is now complete. Every stone is in place.
So the glory of the Lord fills the temple, the seven messengers come out of the temple, and no man is able to enter into the temple until the seven plagues are fulfilled or finished, and these seven plagues are poured out over these five months. At the end of five months, God’s people go into the temple that Revelation 21 is talking about. This is Christ and the new heavens and the new earth.
This is what is being said, but there is another temple. It is not Zerubbabel’s temple but Ezekiel’s temple. In Ezekiel 40, we find God coming to the prophet Ezekiel. It says in Ezekiel 40:2:
In the visions of God brought he me into the land of Israel, and set me upon a very high mountain, by which was as the frame of a city on the south.
Then from Ezekiel 40 through Ezekiel 48, God is going to tell Ezekiel and give him revelations about a temple. First, He is going to measure the temple. Then God is going to enter into that temple, and then there is other discussion about sacrifices and other things. But this is very unusual and this is very complicated.
Actually, I have never understood most of this and I do not know anybody who has. But one thing we can be sure of is that this temple is not a literal temple. This is a vision.
In other words, the house of God that we are being shown in these chapters of Ezekiel is a spiritual house. This is exactly what God described His people as, as a spiritual house.
So when God is measuring this house and He is discussing this, He really has in view and is pointing to the body of believers, the elect, as He is putting them together. This points to God’s whole salvation plan and then the completion of this plan.
If we go to Ezekiel 42, we are going to see some of these same elements. Remember that first, the tabernacle is finished. Solomon’s temple was finished. Then the glory of the Lord enters in.
It says in Ezekiel 42:15:
Now when he had made an end of measuring the inner house…
Right here we see that He made an “end of measuring” the house.
Remember that we read in Revelation 11:1-2:
And there was given me a reed like unto a rod: and the angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein. But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months.
The Lord is indicating that measuring the temple is important. But do not bother with the court without. That is given to the unsaved or the ungodly. But the measurement of the temple has to do with the believers because there is an end of measuring. Again, since this is not going to be a literal house, this means that it is an end of what is in view here.
Ezekiel 42:15 continues:
Now when he had made an end of measuring the inner house, he brought me forth toward the gate whose prospect is toward the east, and measured it round about.
The east gate becomes very important in these chapters and we can understand why when we read the rest of the Bible. This is because the direction of the east has everything to do with Christ. The wise men saw His star in the east and followed it from the east to Jerusalem. Also, lightning comes from the east and shines to the west and the Bible identifies this with the coming of the Lord. The Bible says, “For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be,” and so this is the direction that God associates with Himself and with His coming.
When we look at Revelation 16:12, we read this about the east:
And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared.
Lord willing, we might be able to get into this soon, maybe next week. We will see how the drying up of the river, like the drying up of the Red Sea or the drying up of the Jordan River, was preparation for the crossing over of the people of God from this world to the next.
But here in Ezekiel 42, the house is measured. Then look at Ezekiel 43:1-7:
Afterward he brought me to the gate, even the gate that looketh toward the east: And, behold, the glory of the God of Israel came from the way of the east: and his voice was like a noise of many waters: and the earth shined with his glory. And it was according to the appearance of the vision which I saw, even according to the vision that I saw when I came to destroy the city: and the visions were like the vision that I saw by the river Chebar; and I fell upon my face. And the glory of JEHOVAH came into the house by the way of the gate whose prospect is toward the east. So the spirit took me up, and brought me into the inner court; and, behold, the glory of JEHOVAH filled the house. And I heard him speaking unto me out of the house; and the man stood by me. And he said unto me, Son of man, the place of my throne, and the place of the soles of my feet, where I will dwell in the midst of the children of Israel for ever, and my holy name, shall the house of Israel no more defile, neither they, nor their kings, by their whoredom, nor by the carcases of their kings in their high places.
God fills this house, this spiritual house, and He takes His seat upon His throne.
Actually, we read that the glory of the Lord is what fills this house. Maybe we can get into this more at another time. For now, let us just look at this verse. This is talking about what happened and what is happening during this time. We read in Matthew 24:30:
And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
He has “great glory.” He has filled the temple. It is the glory of the Lord that has filled it.
Look also at Matthew 25:31:
When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels [messengers] with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:
This is right now. He is seated upon the throne of His glory with His people.
We know that the saints will judge the world, and He is judging the world. But what a gentle judgment. What a gentle judgment! The judgment is that the temple is filled.
This is a horrible thing because this means that there is no more possibility of eternal life, but just look at all of the awful things that man’s mind has developed about the judgment of God. Man thinks that there will be a place of eternal damnation where unsaved man will be tormented forever and ever and ever.
We thought that there would be five months of awful torment, and we were even wrong about this. We have seen how much more kind and gentle God is, because the judgment is simply that He has saved all of His people. The torment is that no one can become saved. This is the judgment upon the world and this is what is going on now.
This is why when Christ sits upon the throne of His glory with all of the holy messengers, which is all of the elect with Him, He begins separating the sheep from the goats; and this is the judgment that has taken place. It was that final separation.
Let us go to chapter 44 of Ezekiel. There is still a lot here that we do not understand in these chapters and I do not think that we are going to have time to understand them, but at least we are beginning to get a little insight into some important things.
It says in Ezekiel 44:1-2:
Then he brought me back the way of the gate of the outward sanctuary which looketh toward the east; and it was shut. Then said JEHOVAH unto me; This gate shall be shut, it shall not be opened, and no man shall enter in by it…
This is the third element. First, finish measuring the house. Then the glory of the Lord fills the house. Then no man enters in.
With the tabernacle, this was the case. With Solomon’s temple, this was the case. With this spiritual house that we are reading about in Ezekiel, this is the case. And in Revelation 15, we read that the messengers came out of the temple and that no man was able to enter into the temple. And so this all fits together and God is indicating what happened on May 21.
It continues:
…This gate shall be shut, it shall not be opened, and no man shall enter in by it; because JEHOVAH, the God of Israel, hath entered in by it, therefore it shall be shut.
When did the door shut? Remember that a door and a gate are basically the same thing. With the door, you enter in. With the gate, you enter in. And you can shut a door and you can shut a gate. They are one and the same.
On May 21, 2011, God shut the door. This was the equivalent day of the 17th day of the 2nd month in Noah’s day when He shut him in.
Now, God here is indicating that with this temple, once it is complete, He enters in. He is the last One in, because He now fills the whole place. All of His people are now indwelt. Then the final action is that it is finished, and so the door is shut.
This means that there will be no more entering in. There is no more possibility of entering into Heaven.
Then we read in Ezekiel 44:3:
It is for the prince; the prince, he shall sit in it to eat bread before JEHOVAH; he shall enter by the way of the porch of that gate, and shall go out by the way of the same.
There are many verses that deal with “the prince.” For example, Acts 5:31 says:
Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour…
This is, of course, speaking of Jesus. If you look in a concordance, you will find many verses in relation to this. The Prince is the One who has taken His seat. He is sitting in that temple eating. This is Christ and He is the temple, but remember that we are one flesh. We are of His body. What is true of Him is true of us. We are the temple and He is the temple. This is how God looks at this.
Then we read in Ezekiel 44:4:
Then brought he me the way of the north gate before the house: and I looked, and, behold, the glory of JEHOVAH filled the house of JEHOVAH: and I fell upon my face.
God is really emphasizing that this is a glorious time. This is a time where He is seated upon that throne of glory and He should be given great honor and glory and worship and praise because of what He has done. He has redeemed all of His people.
There is a problem, though, because we just read that the east gate shut. Look now at Ezekiel 46. We could explain this away by just saying that this was further on and that it has nothing to do with the previous account of the gate shutting; but, actually, this fits into exactly what is going on today. It says in Ezekiel 46:1-3:
Thus saith the Lord JEHOVAH; The gate of the inner court that looketh toward the east shall be shut the six working days; but on the sabbath it shall be opened, and in the day of the new moon it shall be opened. And the prince shall enter by the way of the porch of that gate without, and shall stand by the post of the gate, and the priests shall prepare his burnt offering and his peace offerings, and he shall worship at the threshold of the gate: then he shall go forth; but the gate shall not be shut until the evening. Likewise the people of the land shall worship at the door of this gate before JEHOVAH in the sabbaths and in the new moons.
It is interesting that the gate shut for six working days; but on the Sabbath day, it will be opened. Also in the day of the new moon, it will be opened.
Right now, the gate is shut. But we know that the gate must open again because Revelation 15 said that no man shall enter in until the seven plagues were poured out. This means that at the completion of the pouring out of the plagues, they enter back into the temple. They go back into the temple, so the gate must open. But it will not open until the Sabbath and until the new moon.
As we think and wonder about what God is saying, we have to remember that God associated Sabbath with what period of time? He associated Sabbath with the great tribulation, as we read in Matthew 24:20:
But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day:
This should actually be translated “in” Sabbath:
…neither [in] sabbath:
Why? If you remember, Mr. Camping pointed this out. This was really a wonderful thing.
Turn to 2 Chronicles 36. This is the fall of Babylon and Cyrus is about to take the kingdom. It says in 2 Chronicles 36:20-21:
And them that had escaped from the sword carried he away to Babylon; where they were servants to him and his sons until the reign of the kingdom of Persia: To fulfil the word of JEHOVAH by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed her sabbaths: for as long as she lay desolate she kept sabbath, to fulfil threescore and ten years.
This is 70 years. This whole 70 years typified the great tribulation. In our time, this turned out to be 23 years. And for that length of time, God was keeping Sabbath.
Mr. Camping did an excellent study where he indicated that the Gospel would go into all the world in a pure form or in a pure way like never before. This is because keeping Sabbath means that you rest. You rest and you do no work of any kind on the Sabbath. Instead, you rest.
It was through the ministry of Family Radio that we learned this. God began to use them in a great way. The Gospel went into all the world in many, many languages teaching that man could do nothing to get himself saved, no work of any kind.
Baptism will not save you. Partaking of the Lord’s Table will not save you. Walking down an aisle will not save you. Accepting Christ will not save you. Speaking in tongues will not save you.
For those of us who listened to the Open Forum, a lot of calls could be characterized by just a person calling up and wanting to know if this work or if that work would save them. People would ask, “Can I do this to save me?” The answer would be, “No.” Or, “Can I pray the sinner’s prayer to save me?” Again, the answer would be, “No.” Then they would ask, “What can I do to save myself?”
Well, the only thing that God would allow and that God would permit is that they could cry out to Him for mercy. This work would not save them either; but, perhaps, if it was His good pleasure, He might have saved them.
This was broadcast into all the world; and it is no wonder that the rest of the church world called this a false prophecy, because they are nothing but works. They are nothing but, “Do this, do that, do the other thing to get yourself saved and enter into Heaven.”
Except for a few small ministries, it was primarily through Family Radio that God broadcast the true and faithful Gospel into all the world, “You cannot do anything to get yourself saved.” This was during this period of Sabbath rest, or when God observed Sabbath while the church was under His judgment, that the wonderful verse in Galatians 2:16 was emphasized all over the earth like it had never been before.
Galatians 2:16 says:
Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.
Those two little words “of” were emphasized and re-emphasized. It is not faith “in” Christ, like many Bibles have dared to change. It is the faith “of” Christ. It is the faith belonging to Him. It is the work that He did to save His people.
This was sent all over the world and this was what was meant to keep Sabbath. There was a Sabbath observance for the 6100 days especially of the latter rain, and then it ended. It ended on May 21.
People who think that God is still saving have some major obstacles to overcome. Number one, He says in Revelation 7 that the great multitude came out of great tribulation. He does not say that they came out of five months of judgment. Number two, God observes Sabbath for the figure of 70 years that typified the great tribulation. This is because they go hand-in-hand. He used that pure Gospel to save that great multitude during the time of the 6100 days. When the great tribulation ended, which it did because we are post great tribulation, this is when all those whom He intended to save have become saved.
Where is a verse anywhere in the Bible that tells us of this other group that is to become saved? We know that there was a group that was identified with Pentecost, the firstfruits. We know that there was a group that was identified with the great tribulation, the great multitude. But where is this group where people are being saved during these five months? Where do we read about them? Where do we find them in the Bible?
We do not. We do not. This is an obstacle that cannot be overcome, because God is not teaching that anyone is being saved now. He is teaching just the opposite. This is about as opposite as we can get.
It is not a small thing to say that God is saving when He is not. People tell us that we had better watch out if we are saying that there is no more salvation. But is it a light thing to say that God is saving when He is not?
Is this not what the churches and every false gospel through history have been guilty of? Is this not what the whole church today across the whole world is guilty of as they proclaim, “Come to us and we will give you salvation”?
Claims of salvation are nothing new to Satan. The Buddhists and Muslims and Hindus and every other religion claim a way to Heaven, which is basically a promise of salvation. Every false gospel under the sun claims that there is salvation.
To say that there is still salvation might sound good and holy and this might comfort people; but if this is not true, this is nothing but a lie. Satan has no problem in offering this type of lie. He does this all of the time. Today, it is a lie to say that God is saving when He is not saving. Everything that we have looked at indicates this.
So the Sabbath was during the 6100 days and then the Sabbath ended. The Sabbath ended.
Another way of looking at this same thing is the new moon. Remember that September 7, 1994 was the first day of the seventh month. I do not know if this is in every case, but this is true in almost every case. In the Hebrew of the Old Testament, the word “month” and “new moon” are one and the same. How this could be read when we see this is “the first day of the seventh new moon.”
This helped me. I was looking through a concordance. Every place where I read “month,” I replace it with “new moon,” as in the fifteenth day of the new moon or in the twentieth day of the new moon.
This really helps us to see their mindset. They were looking in the sky. They did not have calendars like we do, so they would look in the sky for the first sign of the new moon.
What was the sign of the new moon? Well, there is a little bit of a question about this in some circles. But, really, a new moon, traditionally for the Jews and how God looks at this in the Bible, is the first sighting of the crescent moon or that sliver of moon that we can begin to see.
So the new moon begins in this way and then it gets fuller and fuller and fuller until it goes dark and black. Then that period is over and we wait for the next new moon.
Keep in mind, not literally but spiritually, what is the condition of our moon? It is black. Right now, it is dark. The next time the moon appears will be the new moon, which will be October 21.
If we go to Leviticus 23:24, God links the first day of the seventh new moon to the jubilee. It says:
Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, In the seventh month, in the first day of the month [or the new moon], shall ye have a sabbath, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, an holy convocation.
Leviticus 25:9 uses the same word here that is translated “blowing of trumpets,” which is the Hebrew word teruw'ah, to translate the word “jubilee.”
Mr. Camping has also pointed out that the first day of the seventh month in 1994 began a jubilee period, a second jubilee and a new moon. This season went on for the whole 6100 days.
There are different ways of referring to the same thing, like we were just calling it a Sabbath rest. We could call this the latter rain. We could call this the second outpouring of the Holy Spirit. And we can also call this the jubilee, the second jubilee.
Christ was the first jubilee, because He was born in the jubilee year of 7 B.C. Then, of course, throughout the New Testament church age, He proclaimed deliverance to the captives. Then that jubilee ended at the end of the church age and the second jubilee, 2300 evening/mornings later, began on the first day of the seventh month when there was a blowing of the teruw'ah.
We read in Psalm 81:3:
Blow up the trumpet…
This word for “trumpet” is showphar and it would only be the showphar that would be blown in the seventh month. In the other months, they would blow a different type of trumpet. The showphar was a ram’s horn that signaled the jubilee.
It continues:
Blow up the trumpet in the new moon, in the time appointed, on our solemn feast day.
So 1994 began that second jubilee, a new moon, and then it ended. It ended. A jubilee came to an end because that was a time of proclaiming liberty. Then once God saved everyone, the year, in a spiritual sense, came to a close and it ended. Now we are in the five-month period. And so in a real way, God looks at this as a darkening of the moon.
I say these things because of a verse we read in Isaiah 66. Maybe you remember this verse and this might make better sense to you now. Go to Isaiah 66. There is a verse here that I think we can understand better. We read in Isaiah 66:22-23:
For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, saith JEHOVAH, so shall your seed and your name remain. And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another…
Literally, this reads, “from new moon to new moon.” It continues:
…and from one sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith JEHOVAH.
This is referring to Sabbath to Sabbath and new moon to new moon.
The Sabbath ended on May 21. The next Sabbath will be October 21, and maybe we can look at how this will be next time. The moon ended. It darkened. The moon darkened and now there is this period of waiting.
The Jews would wait for the first sighting of that sliver of moon and that would be the next new moon. The next new moon will be October 21. We will see how this is possible in the next study.
Let us stop here.