If everyone could please turn to Ecclesiastes 8, it says in Ecclesiastes 8:5:
Whoso keepeth the commandment shall feel no evil thing: and a wise man’s heart discerneth both time and judgment.
We are pretty familiar with this verse, many of us, because we have been hearing it a lot, yet God is explaining here His whole end-time plan concerning a wise man’s heart. This would be a true believer because God gives us a new heart and a new spirit and we become wise. Once we are saved, we have the Spirit of Christ, who is wisdom Himself, indwelling us. So God gives us this kind of heart, and it says here that a wise man’s heart will discern (or understand) time and judgment.
This is exactly what we are finding. First, we had to understand time. We had to learn about time. God opened up the information from the Bible on the Biblical calendar of history in Genesis chapters 5 and 11, primarily. From this, we have been able to see very exact time relationships all down through history.
We hear a lot about 1988 being the 13,000th year and the importance of 1994 and 2011. But, you know, there are time relationships that we can pinpoint due to this calendar of history, all the way down from Adam, from creation in 11,013 B.C., and onward.
For instance, Jacob and Esau were born in the year 2007 B.C. Exactly 1000 years later in 1007 B.C., David became king. Exactly 1000 years after that in 7 B.C., Christ was born. From Jacob and Esau, it was 2000 years until the birth of Christ. Then from 7 B.C. until 1994, it was exactly 2000 years. From David becoming king in 1007 B.C. to 1994 was exactly 3000 years. From Jacob and Esau and their birth to 1994 was exactly 4000 years. There are all kinds of interrelating time relationships. From creation to the flood, it was 6000 years plus tribulation with 23 years. From the flood to the cross, it was 5000 years plus 23 calendar years, meaning that you would not minus one for the year zero. But still, 5023: 5000 an even number, and then 23 for a period of tribulation, as God sometimes tacks that on.
These relationships are all over the place. They are all over the place. We know because when we do come down through the judges into the kings’ period, at several points we are able to interrelate the Biblical calendar with our current calendar. Many people agree, for instance, on the dates regarding Solomon.
If there was an error in the way that we are understanding the Biblical calendar in putting the Biblical reference patriarchs end-to-end—when one dies, another is born—if that was in error, we should be off by thousands of years. The only other calendar that is out there is Bishop Ussher who says that the earth is only about 6000 years old. We are saying, no, it is 13,000 years.
When we come down all the way from Adam, you would think that if there were mistakes, when we got to the days of Solomon, it would be some crazy number. But it is not; it is a number that locks in exactly with what Biblical archaeologists and many theologians conclude was the reign for Solomon. There are just many, many proofs.
Some people, Family Radio listeners—and I do not mean to point this out, but this is just to indicate that they understand many things—they have been listening to the Gospel for many years. Now, all of a sudden, they are having problems with the calendar of history.
The real problem is that they do not want May 21 st, 2011, to come. They do not want this date that is right there in front of them to happen, and so they are searching and searching and searching. They are just, basically, raising questions to minister doubt in order to avoid the whole issue, but you cannot avoid it. You cannot avoid it. There is no question concerning the calendar; it all locks into place and it is going to happen. God has confirmed this and He has revealed to us time.
For instance, He tells us this back in Genesis 45. In the way that God writes the Bible in parables, He straightforwardly tells us that He is going to reveal the beginning of the Great Tribulation, a dividing point for the Great Tribulation, and an end for the Great Tribulation.
In Genesis 45, where Joseph was hiding himself from his brethren, he could not refrain himself any longer and so he reveals himself to his brethren. Joseph is a type of Christ, his brethren are a picture of the true believers, and the seven-year famine is a picture of the Great Tribulation. Acts 7 tells us this; it uses the very two words that are in Matthew 24, megas thlipsis, to describe the seven-year famine.
It says in Genesis 45 that Joseph calls his brethren closer, “Take a good look at me. Look, look, I am your brother Joseph. I hid myself from you,” just like God hid the words and sealed them till the time of the end. “I closed the book, but now it is time to reveal myself,” just like the Lord Jesus is revealing Himself through His Word. He says, “Come closer; look at my face,” which his brothers do. Then notice what Joseph tells them in Genesis 45:6:
For these two years hath the famine been in the land: and yet there are five years, in the which there shall neither be earing nor harvest.
So he is saying, “Two years ago, the famine started.” This is the year 1877 B.C., so it began in 1879 B.C. “Now I want you to go back to my father and tell him to come into Egypt.” This is the year 1879 B.C. and there is going to be a big change; every one of the Israelites is going to come into Egypt. “When you get here, this awful famine is going to continue five more years.”
Basically, he gave them three dates: 1879, the beginning of the famine; 1877, the dividing point of this famine because, “You will no longer be in the land of Canaan; you are coming into Egypt”; and 1872, five years later will be the end of the famine.
Joseph is a picture of Christ, and what have we learned about our day? The beginning of the Great Tribulation is 1988. That is when it began after Pentecost in 1988. There is a dividing point in September 1994. From there, we go 17 years and we know that the end will be in 2011. We have three dates: 1988, 1994, and 2011.
God is telling us through this historical parable with Joseph, “Look, I am going to reveal to you and I am going to show you and make it plain to you.” “Come very close,” Joseph said. “See my face; see who I am; recognize me.” Jesus is likewise doing the same concerning time. Concerning time, He is letting us know who are His brethren. These are the dates, “These are the significant and important dates that you must know.” Of course, He went beyond what we read here and gave us May 21st, the actual day and month, not only the year, but He is letting us know that He is going to reveal this information to us.
There is a lot of other information that we know about the timeline, but what I wanted to look at today was how Ecclesiastes says, “a wise man’s heart discerneth both time and judgment.”
There have been many people who have said to me, and probably to you, too, “That was too fast. You believed in hell and the whole church world believed in hell. For nearly 2000 years, it was a faithful doctrine. Now you heard this just a little while ago. After a few weeks, you changed and you no longer believe that hell is forever and ever with a conscious suffering? Then you are following a man; you are following a man.”
What they do not understand is that God has linked together time and judgment. Once we finally understood time, then it naturally led into a better understanding of judgment. We have very definite dates that the Great Tribulation will be 23 years, from 1988 until 2011. May 21st will be that 23rd year, the fulfillment of those 23 years and the 8400th day. Five months later will be the Feast of Tabernacles in October.
That Feast has not been fulfilled and we have known for some time that God must fulfill this Feast. The way that He is going to fulfill this Feast is by ending the world. This is why this Feast is said to be held in the end of the year, the acceptable year of the Lord. There are many references to believers going up to keep the Feast because it is spiritually referring to the Rapture.
So we had this Feast in mind. We knew for some time that God had to fulfill this Feast, but then when someone noticed that May 21 st, 2011, was the 17th day of the 2nd month of the Biblical or Hebrew calendar, then that changed everything. That changed everything because that was the final…no, actually, that was not the final piece. That was the next to final piece, because there had to be a slight adjustment with the Feast of Tabernacles itself concerning the 8th day. For awhile, we were thinking that the last day would be October 20th, but then we found in studying the dedication of the Feast in Kings and Chronicles that the 8th day was actually two days so that God could give them an extra day to travel, which pushed it and nudged it over by one day; October 21st. Then it was pretty easy to see the relationship between May 21st and October 21st being five months, which led to Revelation 9 and the references to five months.
And here is a very important verse in Genesis 7. In Genesis 7:4, it says:
For yet seven days, and I will cause it to rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights; and every living substance that I have made will I destroy from off the face of the earth.
And this was the 10th day of the 2nd month. Seven days later, as God mentions in verse 11, it is the 17th day of the 2nd month, and then He says in verse 16, Genesis 7:16:
And they that went in, went in male and female of all flesh, as God had commanded him: and JEHOVAH shut him in.
This is on the 17th day of the 2nd month.
When you think about this and you think that May 21st, 2011, is the 17th day of the 2nd month of the Biblical calendar and that this is also the year that is 7000 years from the flood, that God is indicating and equating May 21st with this 17th day of the 2nd month, for all intents and purposes, even though it may not be an exact 7000 years—it is the equivalent to 7000 years to the very day—and He is saying, “This is the day that the door is shut; this is the day that the door is shut,” then this is key. This is very key because who is the door? Christ is the door. According to John 10, “I am the door.”
Can you get into heaven any other way but through that door? Is there any other way? There is none other name given amongst men whereby we must be saved. He is the only way. He is the way, the truth, and the life.
So if the door is shut on May 21st, 2011, that means that there is no other way into heaven. You can try to climb up some other way. You can be like a thief and a robber and try to go through a window, but that is not going to get you into heaven. There is none other way. Therefore, that is the last day of salvation, but there is still five months.
You see, the Feast of Tabernacles has nothing to do, in many ways, with May 21st, 2011, but that Feast has to be fulfilled. There must be some way that this Feast can still be involved with the end of the world.
Well, a good passage that helps us to understand time and judgment is Luke 13. In Luke 13:24-30, it says:
Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able. When once the master of the house is risen up, and hath shut to the door…
And when is that going to be? When is the door shut? May 21 st, 2011. The “master of the house” is doing it; Christ is doing it.
When once the master of the house is risen up, and hath shut to the door, and ye begin to stand without, and to knock at the door, saying, Lord, Lord, open unto us; and he shall answer and say unto you, I know you not whence ye are: Then shall ye begin to say, We have eaten and drunk in thy presence, and thou hast taught in our streets. But he shall say, I tell you, I know you not whence ye are; depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when ye shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves thrust out. And they shall come from the east, and from the west, and from the north, and from the south, and shall sit down in the kingdom of God. And, behold, there are last which shall be first, and there are first which shall be last.
So here, what are we learning about May 21st, because this is all happening when the door shuts? May 21st is the day when people cry, “Lord, Lord.” That is the day.
I have always associated Matthew 7 with judgment day, the end of the world, standing before the judgment seat, being thrown into hell, when they are crying, “Lord, Lord.” But it starts May 21st; that is the day of the Lord that will go on for five months. That is when people have been shut out of the Kingdom of God. That is when the Rapture has already taken place.
So they are going to God and they are crying out, “What about me? What about me? I did many things in Your name. I have done many things. I have given money. I have handed out tracts. I have witnessed. I have read the Bible. I have prayed. I have sung hymns. What about me?”
“Ye must be born again.” There is no way around this. You can do all that and a thousand other things. “Ye must be born again; I never knew you; depart from Me ye that work iniquity.”
This is on May 21st, 2011, and so we also learned that this is when weeping and gnashing of teeth begins. You see, these are ideas; these are verses that we would read—I would read and you would read probably—and we would immediately think of hell: eternal damnation, crying “Lord, Lord,” weeping and gnashing of teeth. But God is saying that this happens when the door is shut, and the door is shut on May 21st, 2011.
You see, He is tying this together, and there cannot be the end of the world at that point. There cannot be an end of man because there is this five-month period that still has to happen so that the Feast of Tabernacles can find fulfillment, like the other Feasts, like the Passover and like Pentecost. They were fulfilled to the very day, and so Tabernacles has to take place; it is five months later. So these things are happening beginning on May 21st.
Look at Matthew 8. It says in Matthew 8:11-12:
And I say unto you, That many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven. But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
We know that weeping and gnashing of teeth takes place May 21st; likewise, being cast into outer darkness occurs on May 21st. May 21st is the day of the cry, “Lord, Lord.” It is the time of weeping and gnashing of teeth. It is the time of being cast into outer darkness, because this verse is joining that idea with weeping and gnashing of teeth.
We just keep going on because God gave us the key to when He shuts the door. Luke 13 says that when the master of the house is risen up and he shuts the door, that is when weeping and gnashing of teeth takes place. But this is language that we assumed incorrectly was referring to an eternal damnation. And outer darkness has nothing to do with suffering in hell forever and ever. It has to do with five months. It is associated with five months.
Or go to Matthew 22. These are just the places where we find that phrase, “weeping and gnashing of teeth.” It says in Matthew 22:11:
And when the king came in to see the guests…
And, you know, this is all different language but it is all the same idea of the master of the house arising or the king coming in.
And when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment:
And what is that wedding garment really referring to? Christ’s righteousness; the robe of His righteousness: that pure, white linen that is the righteousness of the saints that we must have.
Again, nothing else will do. Nothing else will do. If you are wearing any other kind of a garment, it is just filthy rags. It is filthy rags. You have come to the wedding, the feast of the marriage of the Lamb between Christ and His bride. It is the time to take them up into Heaven to consummate the marriage and you are not wearing the proper attire. You are not saved. You are trusting in your own righteousness. If you think you are saved and you are not, you are trusting in something, some work, deep down maybe, but you are trusting in something. Whatever it is, it is not true saving trust that God must give, His faith. It is not real salvation, and it is a shock.
“Friend”; He does not call him an enemy; He says, “Friend,” just like Jesus did to Judas. When Judas came with the soldiers to take Him, Jesus called him a friend. Now, this is not a friend like Abraham is a friend of God, but it is a friend in the sense that there is a relationship between God and this person, just like there is a relationship between God, we can say, and everybody here. Right? We all have a relationship with God. They are different types of relationships, but we, each one, have a relationship with God because we are hearing His Word and His Gospel. So, in this sense, we are a friend.
Matthew 22:12-13:
And he saith unto him, Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless. Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
May 21st, 2011.
Here, it gives a little bit more information. It is the day of the binding. Remember in Matthew 13 in the parable of the wheat and tares, “Bind the tares in a bundle to throw them into the fire.” In the binding and the finality of the binding, God is separating the wheat and the tares now; but on that day, it is done completely. The fire will be at the end of the five-month period when there will be the fervent heat that destroys the whole world and all of the unsaved people who are still on it.
Also in Matthew, in Matthew 24, in the passage towards the end of the chapter dealing with watching, it says in Matthew 24:42-43:
Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come. But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up.
This verse is interesting. How it is worded, it is indicating, “Watch and you will know the hour when the thief is coming.” This is another one of those verses that God is giving us to let us know that, yes, He will come as a thief for the world, for the people who are not looking for Him or for the unsaved. But for His people, they will understand time and judgment. God will reveal His secret to His servants the prophets. His people are all those who declare the Word of God; that is the spiritual meaning of a prophet. His people will know that it is time and they will know that it is the judgment.
Then further on in this passage, in Matthew 24:50-51:
The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of, And shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
And more information. This is the day that they are cut asunder and they will receive their portion with the hypocrites.
You see, all the information that I once would have assumed was describing hell is describing a five-month period that begins on May 21st. It is the time of the Lord’s coming: it is a time of weeping and gnashing of teeth, of outer darkness, of binding, of being cut asunder, and of receiving the portion of the hypocrites.
Let us look at this language of the portion of the hypocrites. There is something similar in Luke 12:45-48:
But and if that servant say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming; and shall begin to beat the menservants and maidens, and to eat and drink, and to be drunken; The lord of that servant will come in a day when he looketh not for him, and at an hour when he is not aware, and will cut him in sunder, and will appoint him his portion with the unbelievers. And that servant, which knew his lord’s will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes. But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes…
So again, we add additional details. May 21st is the time of the beating with stripes. It is the time of the punishment for sin. Of course, when someone died throughout history, they were being punished for sin. But May 21st begins the day of the Lord, the resurrection of the unsaved dead, where all of their remains (whatever is left of them) are exposed in a shameful way to all the world. All those living upon the earth are also likewise being shamed for their rebellion against God, especially the Christian, the professed Christian, especially the Christian who claimed a relationship with God.
It will be a shame, will it not, if you happen to be a pope or a bishop or a priest or a minister or a pastor or an elder or a deacon on that day? God has come and He has taken up His people. He has gathered together His elect and He has brought them into the clouds with Himself, and you are here. You are left behind? That would be very shameful.
Of course, the Bible tells us that they are going to get busy, like locusts, and they are going to try to figure out a way and why this happened and try to appease people and come up with a gospel that will satisfy anyone who is also left behind. But, still, they have the greater shame, and shame is a big part of the judgment. They have the greater shame in the sense that God is saying here that they are being beaten with many stripes, while those in the world who were unsaved and never really showed any interest in the Gospel are also being beaten. It is their time of punishment, too, but it is fewer stripes.
I think that it was last night that Mr. Camping talked about the stripes in that verse in Deuteronomy 25. When someone discovers something from the Bible, I do not think that we should hesitate to discuss it, especially if it is true and faithful and accurate. You know, I have learned things from many different people, the most from Mr. Camping. I have learned things from other believers, too, and I think that we are just called to teach the truth and to share what we know. If an individual learns something from Family Radio, he shares it with another individual. There is nothing wrong with that. Or if someone who is teaching learns something from Family Radio, they share it with other individuals, more than one.
I think that it is kind of and probably a little carnal to say, “Well, he is just teaching something that Mr. Camping taught. I just want to hear it from Mr. Camping.” No, that is not a good way of thinking, because what we want to hear is the truth. We do not care who taught it or who teaches the truth; we want to hear the truth.
I try to reference whom I learn things from, but, of course, when we are ultimately learning from the Bible, we are learning from God; we are learning from the Holy Spirit. And here in Deuteronomy 25:2-3, it says:
And it shall be, if the wicked man be worthy to be beaten, that the judge shall cause him to lie down, and to be beaten before his face, according to his fault, by a certain number. Forty stripes he may give him, and not exceed: lest, if he should exceed, and beat him above these with many stripes, then thy brother should seem vile unto thee.
So God has given a law. He has given a law that when someone who is wicked is being punished for their wickedness, you can only whip him 40 times; you cannot go above.
It is interesting with the Apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians, he was whipped several different times. It says in 2 Corinthians 11:24:
Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one.
Which means that they had that verse in mind and they did not want to exceed 40. What if they miscounted? So they gave thirty-nine. They were extra cautious, but they hated Paul. They despised him. That is why they were whipping him, and yet they could not whip him to death by whipping him and whipping him and whipping him until he died. They had to stop at thirty-nine.
Now, it is interesting that this happened five times. What is 5 x 39? 195, which, if you were to break down the number, is 3 x 5 x 13. The number 3 is God’s purpose; the number 5 has to do with the atonement of grace and judgment, which is what is involved in the atonement; and the number 13 relates to the end of the world.
I think that in giving this reference and the reference in Deuteronomy, God is letting us know that it is His purpose that judgment will not exceed the 13,000 years of Earth’s history; that is, within that 13,000 years, plus the tribulation period and the five months, God will complete His punishment. He is not going to beat someone in hell eternally. He is not going to throw someone in hell. It is an idea that does not glorify God in any way to create a place called hell and to throw sinners into it where they are not going to be changed, so that they are going to continue on being sinners.
Right? Is that not the idea? They are resurrected unsaved; they are resurrected with the same minds and thoughts and with the same personalities. There they are and God says, “You are a sinner and I am going to throw you into hell.” So He creates hell and He throws the person there.
Well, what are they naturally going to do as they are being whipped and as they are being punished by God forever and ever and ever? They are going to blaspheme Him. Remember, it is weeping and gnashing of teeth, if you want to apply that to eternal damnation. If you think that it applies to this period, gnashing of teeth is a furious reaction. We could show from the Bible that this is what is in view by this language.
So someone in hell is going to be so angry—if there was such a place or ever would be such a place—they will be so angry that they are going to shake their fist at God and call Him names and gnash with their teeth against Him, on and on and on and on and on. In other words, they are going to sin against God, new sin, fresh sin, into eternity future.
If you think that this is a wicked world and all the sin of this world is an ugly mess, imagine if there was a world created where man would have no end, imagine the multitudes of sins that would pile up in that awful place, if there ever could be such a place. And it is supposed to glorify God that sin is unchecked into eternity?
Well, yes, but if they sin, He will just whip them harder. God will whip them harder and they will blaspheme Him even more, because they are unchanged in heart and nature.
Now, what glorifies a king when there has been a rebellion in his dominion? What glorifies a king? Is it to round them all up and then have them murmur and complain and blaspheme the name of the king, on and on and on? No, the king puts them to death, “Off with their heads!” He hangs them. He silences the rebellion and then there is peace in the kingdom. And that is what God is going to do on October 21st in 2011.
Okay, we will stop here.