BEHOLD, I COME QUICKLY

BEHOLD, I COME QUICKLY A Study of Revelation LESSON 27 Revelation 11:1-11:3 INTRODUCTION TO REVELATION 11 Behold, I come quickly: blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book. (Revelation 22:7) The Unpardonable Sin Before we get into Revelation 11, lets pause to lay a foundation. Remember also that Revelation 10 and 11 is a lull between the Trumpet Judgments and the Bowl Judgments during which we are about to experience the full force of God s wrath in the climax crescendo. As we saw earlier, Jesus brought a message to Israel of the promised kingdom. This was a physical kingdom and referred to the Messianic Kingdom ruled by the Messiah. This is presented in the Book of Revelation as the Millennial Kingdom. This was the hope of the Jewish people. 1 Jesus brought this message, as did John the Baptist. In doing so, Jesus validated the message with many signs, including healing the blind and the raising of the dead. Finally, in Matthew 12, the Jewish leaders accused Jesus of working the signs by the aid of a demon, Beelzebub. In rejection of the signs, the Pharisees rejected Jesus as Messiah claiming He had an evil spirit. Jesus accused them of blasphemy of the Holy Spirit and called the sin unpardonable. MAT 12:22 Then was brought unto him one possessed with a devil, blind, and dumb: and he healed him, insomuch that the blind and dumb both spake and saw. 23 And all the people were amazed, and said, Is not this the son of David? 24 But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, This fellow doth not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub the prince of the devils. 25 And Jesus knew their thoughts, and said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand: 26 And if Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against himself; how shall then his kingdom stand? 27 And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your children cast them out? therefore they shall be your judges. 28 But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you. 1 Tim LaHaye, Thomas Ice, Ed Hindson (General Editors), THE POPULAR HANDBOOK ON THE RAPTURE, Arnold G. Fruchtenbaum, The Basis of the Second Coming of the Messiah, Eugene, OR: Harvest House Publishers, 2011, p. 250. 1

29 Or else how can one enter into a strong man's house, and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong man? and then he will spoil his house. 30 He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad. 31 Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men. 32 And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come. 33 Either make the tree good, and his fruit good; or else make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt: for the tree is known by his fruit. 34 O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. 35 A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things. 36 But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. 37 For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned. 38 Then certain of the scribes and of the Pharisees answered, saying, Master, we would see a sign from thee. 39 But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas: 40 For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. 41 The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: because they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here. 42 The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: for she came from the uttermost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and, behold, a greater than Solomon is here. It was John the Baptist s job to prepare the nation for their Messiah. John brought a broom to sweep it clean, but the nation rejected their Messiah. 2 The last state became worse than the first that we see as we continue in Matthew 12:43: Matt 12:43 When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest, and findeth none. 44 Then he saith, I will return into my house from whence I came out; and when he is come, he findeth it empty, swept, and garnished. John the Baptist has fulfilled his role of preparing Israel for their Messiah, but Israel would not receive Him. As a result that generation committed the unpardonable sin and Israel s promised kingdom was delayed. 2 The Basis of the Second Coming of the Messiah, pp. 257, 259, 260. 2

Matt 12:45 Then goeth he, and taketh with himself seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first. Even so shall it be also unto this wicked generation. In the very next chapter, Matthew 13, Jesus began to speak in parables to hide the truth. The teaching in parables was a sign of judgment on the nation. 3 The Sign of Jonah Matt 16:1 The Pharisees also with the Sadducees came, and tempting desired him that he would shew them a sign from heaven. 2 He answered and said unto them, When it is evening, ye say, It will be fair weather: for the sky is red. 3 And in the morning, It will be foul weather today: for the sky is red and lowring. O ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky; but can ye not discern the signs of the times? 4 A wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given unto it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas. And he left them, and departed. Jesus told us that the sign of Jonah is His burial and resurrection: MATT 12:40 For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. Jonah was three days and nights in the belly of the whale before he was resurrected for God s purpose. The resurrection of Lazarus (John 11:1-44), who had been dead four days, was the first sign of Jonah. John 11:39 Jesus said, Take ye away the stone. Martha, the sister of him that was dead, saith unto him, Lord, by this time he stinketh: for he hath been dead four days. 40 Jesus saith unto her, Said I not unto thee, that, if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God? 41 Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead was laid. And Jesus lifted up his eyes, and said, Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me. 42 And I knew that thou hearest me always: but because of the people which stand by I said it, that they may believe that thou hast sent me. 43 And when he thus had spoken, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth. 44 And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with graveclothes: and his face was bound about with a napkin. Jesus saith unto them, Loose him, and let him go. 45 Then many of the Jews which came to Mary, and had seen the things which Jesus did, believed on him. 46 But some of them went their ways to the Pharisees, and told them what things Jesus had done. In the New Testament there are three signs given that qualify as the sign of Jonah, each having a significant impact on the Jews and their nation. The first sign was that of the 3 The Basis of the Second Coming of the Messiah, p. 258. 3

burial and resurrection of Lazarus, the second was the burial and resurrection of Jesus, the third sign will be the death and resurrection of the two witnesses. The first two signs were rejected by Israel, while the third sign will be accepted and lead to the salvation of the Jews of Jerusalem. 4 Jesus Condemned A Political Event Notice, this was not a purely religious decision that the Jewish leaders were making. Their main concern was their jobs and what remained of their government. John 11:47 Then gathered the chief priests [Sadducees] and the Pharisees a council, and said, What do we? for this man doeth many miracles. 48 If we let him thus alone, all men will believe on him: and the Romans shall come and take away both our place and nation. 49 And one of them, named Caiaphas, being the high priest that same year, said unto them, Ye know nothing at all, 50 Nor consider that it is expedient for us, that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation perish not. 53 Then from that day forth they took counsel together for to put him to death. The Pharisees [conservatives] responded politically and with religious concerns; while the Sadducees [liberals], also politically motivated, were influenced by their unbelief in the supernatural (miracles or the resurrection). 5 Leaders Reject In Matthew 12 we saw that the leaders rejected Jesus. In Matthew 23 Jesus pronounced woes on those same leaders. Matthew 23:13 is just a sample of those woes: Matt 23:13 But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in. Jesus came into Jerusalem riding on a donkey and was received by the masses as the Messiah. Then, we see this in Luke 19: Luke 19:41 And when he was come near, he beheld the city, and wept over it, 42 Saying, If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes. 43 For the days shall come upon thee, that thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round, and keep thee in on every side, 44 And shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy children within thee; and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another; because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation. 4 The Basis of the Second Coming of the Messiah, pp. 256, 260. 5 J. Vernon McGee, THRU THE BIBLE, Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1983, Vol. IV, pp. 442, 443. The Basis of the Second Coming of the Messiah, pp. 261, 262. 4

The leaders should have known, to the very day, the time that Messiah would show up (thy visitation) because of Daniel s seventy-weeks prophecy (Daniel 9:24-26). Jesus was crucified a few days later and was resurrected on the third day. This was the second sign of Jonah to the nation. The leaders officially rejected that sign with the stoning of Stephen in Acts 7. It is interesting to note that the Gospel message was officially carried to the Gentiles for the first time in Acts 8. 6 The third sign of Jonah to the Jewish nation will be the death and resurrection of the two witnesses that we shall see later as we continue our study in Revelation chapter 11. This sign will be accepted by the Jews leading to their salvation notice: After pronouncing woes against the Jewish leaders in Matthew 23, the Lord proclaims: Matt 23:37 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! 38 Behold, your house is left unto you desolate. 39 For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord. Notice that Jesus did not say that Israel would be forsaken as a nation forever. Jesus will not return in His Second Coming until the people and nation say blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord. This is the point of the Tribulation, the salvation of the nation of Israel. When Israel rejected their Messiah, God went back to His place. Hos 5:15 I will go and return to my place, till they acknowledge their offence, and seek my face: in their affliction they will seek me early. Requirement for the Second Coming Their Messiah will not come again to them until they plead for His return, as Jesus stated in Matthew 23:39 Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord. Zechariah 12 is a chapter that begins with Israel s national repentance. Their national offence is not the killing of Jesus, the Romans did that, but their rejection of Him. It is in Zechariah 12 that we find the leaders repenting and seeking the Lord. Then, in Zechariah 12:10 we see this: Zech 12:10 And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn. Time No Longer Revelation 10:6 indicates that God will delay no longer His wrath upon the rebellious world. REV 10:6 And sware by him that liveth for ever and ever, who created heaven, and the things that therein are, and the earth, and the things that therein are, and the sea, and the things which are therein, that there should be time no longer: 6 The Basis of the Second Coming of the Messiah, p. 264. 5

God's focus will now be on Israel and the Temple, and He will not delay. 7 In Old Testament prophecy we see three things happening: God will gather the nations, God will shatter the nations, and God will cause Israel to rebuild the Temple. 8 God Will Gather the Nations God will make Jerusalem a "cup of trembling" to all the nations; a "burdensome stone" for all people, and all the people of the earth will be "gathered against it." ZEC 12:1 The burden of the word of the LORD for Israel, saith the LORD, which stretcheth forth the heavens, and layeth the foundation of the earth, and formeth the spirit of man within him. 2 Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem. 3 And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it. ZEC 14:1 Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee. 2 For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city. 3 Then shall the LORD go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle. 9 God Will Shatter the Nations God will gather the nations against Jerusalem then He will shatter them. Anyone gathered against Jerusalem will harm himself, since he will be going against God. 10 JER 51:19 The portion of Jacob is not like them; for he is the former of all things: and Israel is the rod of his inheritance: the LORD of hosts is his name. 20 Thou art my battle ax and weapons of war: for with thee will I break in pieces the nations, and with thee will I destroy kingdoms; 21 And with thee will I break in pieces the horse and his rider; and with thee will I break in pieces the chariot and his rider; 22 With thee also will I break in pieces man and woman; and with thee will I break in pieces old and young; and with thee will I break in pieces the young man and the maid; 23 I will also break in pieces with thee the shepherd and his flock; and with thee will I break in pieces the husbandman and his yoke of oxen; and with thee will I break in pieces captains and rulers. Notice that God says that Israel is His weapon against the nations. We see that the focus of the world is on this tiny sliver of a nation, and on its capitol city Jerusalem. The Palestinians want Jerusalem as the capitol of a Palestinian state. The international community seems to want Jerusalem declared an international city, open and available to all nations and religions. 11 The religious Jews want to rebuild their temple. The Palestinians want to keep their mosque called the Dome of the Rock. The conflict is between Jacob and Ishmael, Judaism and Islam. Jerusalem is considered holy by three religions, Christian, Judaism, and Islam. Christians worship on Sunday, Judaism worships on Saturday, and Islam worships on Friday. Jesus was crucified there, the Temple of the Jews was located there, and the Muslims believe that Muhammad ascended into heaven from there. 12 What About the Temple? The question is who worships the true God? Regardless of the claims, we know that the Jewish Temple will be rebuilt from the reference to the "sacrifice" in Daniel 9:27. 7 Duck, Richards, REVELATION: GOD'S WORD FOR THE BIBLICALLY-INEPT, p. 151. 8 Duck, Richards, REVELATION: GOD'S WORD FOR THE BIBLICALLY-INEPT, p. 151. 9 David Baron, ZECHARIAH, A Commentary on His Visions and Prophecies, Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Publications, 1918, p. 495: As when He fought in the day of battle may be better rendered: as in a day of His fighting in a day of conflict. There are many instances in the Bible when God fought for His people. 10 Duck, Richards, REVELATION: GOD'S WORD FOR THE BIBLICALLY-INEPT, p. 151. 11 David Hocking, THE COMING WORLD LEADER, Understanding the Book of Revelation, HFT Publications, Hope For Today Ministries, 2000, p. 180. 12 Duck, Richards, REVELATION: GOD'S WORD FOR THE BIBLICALLY-INEPT, p. 157. (Dome of the Rock) ENCYCLOPAEDIA BRITANNICA, electronic version, 1994-1999. 6

DAN 9:27 And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate. We do not know what is to become of the mosque when Israel rebuilds the Temple. A rebuilt Temple on the Temple Mount after removal of the mosque would be an insult to the God of Islam. The issue is extremely volatile. 13 The Muslim mosque, called the Dome of the Rock, or the Mosque of Omar, is located over the site traditionally thought to be the place where Abraham offered Isaac on Mount Moriah. 14 That Muhammad ascended to heaven from this spot is tradition. The truth may be that the mosque was built over the exposed rock on the Temple Mount as a competition with the rival caliph of Mecca, in order to replace or divert the pilgrimage to Ka'ba, the holy stone of Mecca. 15 The rebuilding of this temple may take place after the Gog and Magog invasion that we saw earlier. Russia and her allies, the Muslim nations, may have been destroyed or otherwise neutralized. During this battle the mosque may have been destroyed. Possibly the Temple will be rebuilt, as the result of a covenant, alongside the Dome of the Rock, in an International Jerusalem. With all opposition out of the way, the third Temple (Tribulation Temple) may be rebuilt with the aid of an international agreement. 16 This temple will not be authorized by God, and will be desecrated by the Antichrist. For other prophetic references to a future temple (the fourth Temple during the Millennium) see Ezekiel chapters 40 through 48, and the following: AMO 9:11 In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen, and close up the breaches thereof; and I will raise up his ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old: MIC 4:1 But in the last days it shall come to pass, that the mountain of the house of the LORD shall be established in the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills; and people shall flow unto it. HAG 2:9 The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former, saith the LORD of hosts: and in this place will I give peace, saith the LORD of hosts. ZEC 6:12 And speak unto him, saying, Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, saying, Behold the man whose name is The BRANCH; and he shall grow up out of his place, and he shall build the temple of the LORD: 13 Even he shall build the temple of the LORD; and he shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule upon his throne; and he shall be a priest upon his throne: and the counsel of peace shall be between them both. As a "Son of David'" Jesus was from the "stem of Jesse" (David's father). Jesus is the "Branch" as indicated by Isaiah: ISA 11:1 And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots: 2 And the spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD; The Millennial Temple (the fourth temple) will be built by the "Branch," Jesus. But, Jesus was referring to an End Time (third) temple when He referred to Daniel 9:27 as follows: MAT 24:15 When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:) This is what Paul had in mind in 2 Thessalonians: 13 Duck, Richards, REVELATION: GOD'S WORD FOR THE BIBLICALLY-INEPT, p. 151. 14 LaHaye, REVELATION ILLUSTRATED AND MADE PLAIN, pp. 149, 150. (Dome of the Rock) ENCYCLOPAEDIA BRITANNICA, electronic version, 1994-1999. 15 Thomas Ice, Randall Price, READY TO REBUILD: The Imminent Plan to Rebuild the Last Days Temple, Eugene, OR: Harvest House Publishers, 1992, p. 88, 90. 16 Morris, THE REVELATION RECORD, pp. 108-111, 190. Phillips, EXPLORING REVELATION, p. 146. 7

2TH 2:3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; 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, shewing himself that he is God. It's clear that the third Temple must be rebuilt during the Tribulation; and the Lord, during the Millennium, will build another temple. After the Millennium there will be a "new heaven," and a "new earth." There will be no temple there because "the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the Temple." REV 21:22 And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it. 8