Shabbat Shalom kol beit Yisra'el and Mishpachah and welcome back to the second part of our study of the Song of Triumph that's a part of the 7th Shofar (Trumpet) Judgment and Third Woe. This brings us to Part 42 of the Book of Revelation course and to 2023 in the Roman year. We've been at this course now for over a year and the goal, Yah willing, to to be finished around this time next year in 2024 when I hope to be able to bring a encouraging report in line with today's message. Says the Psalmist:

"Yahweh, how great Your goodness, reserved for those who fear You, bestowed on those who take shelter in You, for all mankind to see! Safe in Your presence You hide them far from the wiles of men; inside Your sukkah (tent, pavillion) You shelter them far from the war of tongues. Blessed be Yahweh, who performs marvels of chesed (love, kindness, mercy) for me (in a fortress city)," (Ps.31:19-21, JB).

We devoted the entire meeting last week to examining the first verse of today's passage - verse 15 of chapter 11 - which is a declaration of the sovereignty of our Elohim (God) and Heavenly Father, Yahweh:

"To Yahweh your Elohim (God) belong indeed heaven and earth and the heaven of heavens, the earth and all it contains" (Dt.10:14, JB).

Consequently, because notice has been served on them - and because Yahweh's Davar (Word) can never return to Him unfulfilled (void, empty - Is.55:11) - the 'wild beasts' that are the nations and especially their rulers, are already defeated even though they don't know it and don't want to know about it. Drunk, as they are, by what they imagine to be total control and absolute power, they are blind to their own weakness and helplessness before the Creator of the Universe. And in declaring the Lordship of Yah'shua (Jesus) the Messiah, the servants of the Heavenly Kingdom find themselves speaking truth to power wherever they go, and it is this which provokes the fury of the 'wild beasts' who, being under the control of the 'Beast of beasts', in their arrogance and darkness cannot bear to be challenged.

This is megalomania, the insanity that arises from self-exaltation, and the passion for grandiose things that is the disease of both the rich and powerful and their psychophantic supporters who have lost the heavenly vision or never had it in the first place, the invitable consequence of abandoning Elohim (God) and forsaking His ways. For the wicked, wealth and power are the main thing; for the righteous, love, peace, faith and hope in Yah'shua our Messiah (Jesus Christ) that lead to individual and collective character development. These two are universes apart. The lesson we are to take from Revelation 11:15 is that all power and glory belong to Yahweh-Elohim and that without human beings having that right perspective, they will inevitably find themselves on the path of self-exaltation that leads to destruction.

With that said, let's now carefully read the Song of Triumph that is the title of today's segment:

"15 Then the seventh malak (angel) sounded (Rev.16:57; Is.27:13; Mt.24:31; 1 Cor.15:52; 1 Thes.4:15) [his Shofar (trumpet)]: And there were loud voices (Rev.16:17; 19:1) in heaven, saying, 'The kingdom [1] ('sovereignty' - Bullinger) of this world has [1] become {the kingdom ('sovereignty' - Bullinger)} [2] of our Master and of His Messiah (Christ, Anointed One) (Rev.12:10), and He shall reign forever and ever ('to the ages of the ages' - YLNT; 'le-olam-va-ed' - RSTNE)! (Ps.145:13; Dan.2:44;7:14,27; Mic.4:7; Zec.14:9; Lk.1:33)' 16 And the twenty-four elders (zeqanim) (Rev.4:4) who sat before Elohim (God) on their thrones fell on their faces (Rev.4:10) and worshiped Elohim (God), 17 saying:

'We give You thanks (Ps.30:12), O Yahweh-Elohim ('Master YHWH' - RSTNE; Lord God) Almighty ('of heaven's armies' - JNT, Amos 3:13; 4:13) (Rev.1:8),
The One who is and who was {and who is to come} ('He-Is-and-He-Was' - JB) (Rev.1:4),
Because You have taken Your great power and reigned ('begun to reign' - NIV) (Rev.19:6).
18 The nations (goyim, gentiles, pagans) were angry ('seething with rage' - JB) (Ps.2:1,5), and Your wrath has come,
And the time of the dead, that they should be judged (Rev.20:12),
And that You should reward Your avadim (servants) the nevi'im (prophets) (Rev.10:7) and the qodeshim (saints, set-apart ones; 'all who worship You' - JB)),
And those who fear Your Name, small and great (Rev.19:5),
And should destroy those who destroy the earth (olam - world; alt. land).'

19 Then the temple (sukkah, tent) (Rev.15:5,8) of Elohim (God) was opened in heaven, and the ark of His Covenant was seen in His temple (Sukkah) (Ex.25:10-22; 2 Chr.5:7; Heb.9:4). And there were lightnings, noises, thunderings ('peals of thunder' - JNT, JB) (Rev.4:5), an earthquake, and [a] great hail[storm] (Rev.16:21; OB 267:8; 368:11-12)" (Rev.11:15-19, NKJV).

I think this would be a good time to remind everyone that the Book of Revelation, even though it is placed at the end of the Bible and is indeed almost the last of the New Testament books to be composed (after John's three letters), in a way loops back to the very beginning of the Bible to Genesis. In the same way that Elohim (God) may be said to be 'one eternal round' as represented by a circle, so too is the Bible. Yes, it is linear too - it is an unfolding Story line from A to Z, from Alpha to Omega, from Alef to Taw, but the thing about eternal A-Z's, Alpha-to-Omega's and Alef-to-Taws, is that though they tell a progressive, unfolding Story, that Story never actually ends...it loops back and starts again following the same tavnith (pattern) or trail, but each time on a much higher level. That's why, as we have seen, prophecy has many layers and repeats the same theme, although each time it is slightly different and more developped. True, in the Book of Revelation we come to a major climax - certain things end permanently and certain new things come into view, but as we all know at the end of the Millennium, there is yet another short, if violently intense, cycle at the end of which Satan and his hosts are released one last time from the Very Deep Pit to test those who have been born during the Millennium, before the whole demonic gang are removed permanently. Whatever cycles that therefore follow after this big one do not involve any demons. Some things do actually come to a permanent end. But what of the time after the Millennium?

Before we make a stab at answering that question, it's as well to remember what 'Heaven' is and what it isn't. Evangelical Christianity, and indeed all of what we loosely 'orthodox' Christianity that includes Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy, are very much stuck in what I call a 'half-way-house' view of the future. Their eyes are focussed on the 'lunch break' of the first phase of eternity instead of 'day's end' which is what the Book of Revelation is all about. What do I mean by that?

As I hope we have now been clearly seeing, the Book of Revelation, like it's main prototype the Book of Daniel which is a kind of Old Testament miniature Book of Revelation, is all about the Kingdom of Elohim (God) which, as we have seen so many times, is one of the most misunderstood themes in the whole Bible. Just randomly ask a sample of orthodox believers what they understand 'the Kingdom' to be and they will give you answers framed around the concept of it being 'Elohim's (God's) Kingdom in Heaven'. And what they usually mean by that is that Elohim (God) is in charge of this wonderful place called 'Heaven' as opposed to this messy place called 'earth' - from which Elohim (God) wants to rescue us -- and that the main aim of life is to 'enter the Kingdom of Heaven' in the sense of 'going to Heaven when you die'. This concept is so deeply engrained in the Western psyche that no matter how many times you show Westerners the error of their thinking, they just can't seem to grasp reality.

Yes, absolutely, when we die and become disembodied a spirits; yes, we are taken to a wonderful place called 'Heaven' or 'Paradise' about which numerous tales are told of those who have visited there, some of which are authentic and others counterfeit. YouTube is full of such accounts. Be careful of them as I have warned so many times before. And I'm not saying that as a Seventh Day Adventist or other soul-sleeper (like a Jehovah's Witness and many Messianics) might say it because they don't believe we're even conscious after death - they're quite wrong about that - but as one who absolutely believes that disembodied spirits are fully awake and conscious (to 'sleep' is a biblical metaphor for physically 'dying' from the perspective of the survivors on earth) - no, I'm saying this because, to use N.T.Wright's excellent analogy, the place of disembodied spirits where the righteous go after death is but a traveller's inn, a stop-over en route to the main destination, a place of rest called Beulaland by John Bunyan in his book, Pilgrim's Progress. One of the reasons the Book of Revelation is such a closed book for so many is because the true understanding of the Kingdom has been lost through two millennia of human tradition.

The point, which I've made many times before and which we will all need to repeat many, many more times for the benefit of new people coming to this work, is that Elohim's (God's) Kingdom is not simply designed for the world of disembodied spirits called 'heaven' but is ultimately for, first, the Millennial earth, and second, for the glorified post-Millennial earth with its immortal, physically resurrected inhabitants. Yahweh-Elohim is the Creator of the whole world, and His entire purpose is to reclaim the whole world as His own - not throw it away as a failed job - and set it on the way to become the place He always intended it to be, before human rebellion pulled it so disasterously off track...just compare the original Eden with the Utopia that the insane, psychopathic, megalomaniac, highly demonised élites have planned for themselves as feudal lords with the remains of the culled global population serving their every whim as serfs or slaves. That's how badly wrong it's all gone. And this, brethren and sisters, is the message of the Four Gospels, despite many generations of misunderstanding.

One of the reasons this misunderstanding has come about is because when Matthew uses the phrase 'Kingdom of Heaven' - whereas the other Gospels mostly have 'Kingdom of Elohim (God)' - it has been all to easy for readers saturated with generations of Catholic thinking behind them, to suppose that the place of disembodied spirits called 'Heaven' is what Matthew, and hence Yah'shua (Jesus), were talking about. The fact that it's called 'heaven', the world which the Hebrews used to simultaneously describe the sky (shammayim), ought to alert us to the fact that more than a purely airy or etherial realm is in mind as the final destiny of the righteous.

But here, in today's passage, all is made perfectly clear for those able to see beyond their Catholic, Eastern Orthodox and Protestant indoctrination: the Kingdom of Heaven is explicitly political, and therefore earth-bound. The Kingdom is not just about a private spirituality in the present, or an escapist 'salvation' in the future. It's quite clearly all about the living Elohim (God) confronting the powers of the world with the news that He's now in charge, and that the mode of His rule is that which was established by "His Messiah (Christ)" - the Lamb - in verse 15. What's the message? Let's read it again, and the two verses after it, but in my messianised version of N.T.Wright's translation this time:

"The seventh malak (angel) blew his shofar, and loud voices were heard from heaven. 'Now the kingdom of the world has passed to our Master (Lord) and His Messiah', said the voices, 'and He will reign for ever and ever'. The 24 elders sitting on their thrones in Elohim's (God's) presence fell on their faces and worshipped Elohim (God).

"This is what they said: 'Almighty Yahweh-Elohim, we give You thanks, Who Is and Who Was, because You have taken Your power, Your great power, and begun to reign. The nations were raging; Your anger came down and with it the time for judging the dead to give the reward to Your servants the nevi'im (prophets), the qadosh (holy, set-apart) ones, too, and the small and the great - those who fear Your Name. It is time to destroy the detroyers of the earth." (Rev.11:15-18, KNT).

'Suffering love' is the message here, as powerful as it is unwelcome (and, sadly too, often unwelcome in the messianic community and churches, and not just in the world). The world and the fallen churches want a different kind of 'love', one that doesn't cost anything which at the same time cannot, therefore, achieve or build anything positive either. This is the so-called 'self-entitlement' kind of degrading, self-destructive counterfeit 'love'. And has not history proved the point for us? When was the time of the Messianic Community's (Church's) greatest expansion? The first three centuries! And during that time the Roman Empire was doing its fanatical, extremist best, through torture and death, to stamp the Christian movement out. As one of the great early teachers said, "The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Messianic Community (Church)". And so it has proved again and again. Any 'revival' which does not proclaim this is not, therefore, if it even happens, going to be an authentic reveival because we face a modern-day 'Roman Empire' no less vicious than the original one.

As a political power, it has actually never left the world - never ceased to exist - but simply 'changed clothes' and appeared in different guises, changing capitals as it once did anciently from Rome to Constantinople (Byzantium), and later to Paris and then to London and in our day to the twin capitals of Washington DC and Moscow.

If persecution of believers has subsided in parts of the world, it has always been because the Empire lacked the power, and not because it suddenly became benevolent, a reason why the curtailment of government powers through decentralisation is so important to freedom. That is why the Bible prefers Tribal Confederations to Empires. But when it has re-acquired and recentralised that power, it is soon up to its old deadly, murderous business again. And yet - and this is the irony of it all - Yahweh uses even the Empire for His own ends, as He did in the first three centuries, by enabling the Gospel to rapidly spread through its extensive and efficient communications infrastructure, in the same way He is using the modern Internet, saturated as it is with porn, misinformation, pure evil and blatant satanism. Thus the means of oppression can also become the means of propagation. We see this battle occuring everywhere and in every generation as Satan tries to tip the balance of power in favour of the 'Empire', which he can control, and against the 'Republic' which he cannot. We see this motif over and over again in the movies as well as in real life, as in the Star Wars epic. Moreover, to make matters all the more confusing, the 'Empire' is often mislabeled as the 'Republic' as it is today, as Satan uses the outward forms of godliness but populates its heart with evil. Thus we now speak of 'democracies' as the nations using that designation become increasingly more totalitarian. Such is confusing to the senses to say the least and can only be discerned by the spirit, for the Empire is expert at hiding behind the vocabulary of the Republic.

Once again we find various prophetic Psalms being fulfilled which the very first believers were aware of. Psalm 2 in particular, David's great 'Coronation Psalm' that was used at the installation of Judah's kings, was viewed by them as being the great central prophecy of Yah'shua (Jesus) Himself and is, in fact, what's called a midrash (an allegory or homily), possessing at least two prophetic levels - the royal and the messianic. Let's take a quick look at it:

"Why do the nations conspire and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together against Yahweh and against his Anointed One. 'Let us break their chains,' they say, 'and throw off their fetters.'

"The One enthroned in Heaven laughs; the Sovereign (Master, Lord) scoffs at them. Then He rebukes them in His anger and terrifies them in His wrath, saying, 'I have installed my King on Tsiyon (Zion), My qadosh (holy, set-apart) hill.'

"I will proclaim the decree of Yahweh:

"He said to Me, 'You are my Son; today I have become your Father. Ask of Me, and I will make the nations Your inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession. You will rule them with an iron scepter; You will dash them to pieces like pottery.'

"Therefore, you kings, be wise; be warned, you rulers of the earth. Serve Yahweh with fear and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest He be angry and you be destroyed in your way, for hHs wrath can flare up in a moment. Blessed are all who take refuge in Him" (Ps.2:1-10, NIV).

Yahweh's righteous judgment is thus contrasted with the rage of the pagan nations opposed to Him and His ways.

Now Jews, like Moslems, will tell you that Elohim (God) has no divine Son like Himself but there are several passages in the Tanakh (Old Testament) like this one which testify otherwise (Proverbs 30:2-6 is another good example) [1]. As the nations rage against Elohim (God), He in His turn reacts by establishing His king on the Holy Hill of Tsiyon (Zion). He then promises to give this king, His 'son', the nations of the world as His inheritance. And most importantly, no more will Israel's inheritance be the mere strip of territory between the Mediterranean and the Jordan River which Yahweh promised to Abraham but rather the entire world and all its kingdoms. The Messiah, Yahweh's Son-King, will overthrow the nations as they rage and fight against Him. Their best course of action, says the Psalmist, is therefore to submit to Him and sue for peace, for His Empire is a godly Empire, a benevolent Empire of Righteousness.

In John's vision, here in chapter 11 of Revelation, it has already happened! Note the difference between verse 17 and passages like the one in chapter 4 of Revelation where He is described as the one "who was, and is, and is to come" (Rev.4:8, NKJV). But here, now, John simply describes Elohim (God) as the one "Who is and Who Was" (NIV) - there's no 'is to come' anymore. Notice once again, as I mentioned last week, that the KJV and NKJV have got it wrong because they were not using a Greek manuscript but rather the committee that produced the KJV reverse translated the Book of Revelation part of the Latin Vulgate with all its errors!

• 1. KJV: "We give thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, which art, and wast, and art to come..." (Rev.11:17, KJV)

• 2. NKJV: "We give You thanks, O Lord God Almighty, The One who is and who was and who is to come..." (Rev.11:17, NKJV)

• 3. Vulgate: "...Gratias agimus tibi, Domine Deus omnipotens, qui es, et qui eras, et qui venturas es..." (Apoc.11:17, Biblia Vulgata)

• 4. NASB: "...We give Thee thanks, O Lord God, the Almighty, who art and who wast..." (Rev 11:17, NASB)

• 5. HRV: "...We praise you, Adonai YHWH almighty, who is and was..." (Rev.11:17, HRV)

• 6. JNT: "...We thank you, Adonai, God of heaven's armies, the One who is and was..." (Rev.11:17, JNT, CJB )

• 7. RSTNE: "...We give You hodu (thanks), O Master YHWH, who was, and who is, and who is coming..." (Rev.11:17, RSTNE, 3rd edition)

• 7. ISRV: "...We give You thanks), O YHWH El Shaddai, the One who is and who was and who is coming..." (Rev.11:17, ISRV, 2009 edition)

• 7. HalleluYah: "...We give You thanks), O YHWH El Shaddai, the One who is and who was and who is coming..." (Rev.11:17, HalleluYah Scriptures)

Why is the KJV, NKJV, the Geneva Bible, the Tyndale/Coverdale Version of 1535 (the first English Bible), Joseph Smith's (supposedly) 'Inspired' Version', RSTNE, ISRV, and HalleluYah error serious? Because in Revelation 11:17 He has now come and cannot therefore come in the future. These erroneous versions alter the meaning of the prophecy and therefore come under the curse of Revelation 22:18-19 by adding a phrase to the book. So please strike out the words "and who is to come" from your NKJV's at Revelation 11:17! Though I haven't researched the matter out yet, I suspect that those who believe Yah'shua (Jesus) isn't coming back until the end of the Millennium (the 'Post-Millenialists') may possibly use this corrupt verse to justify that position and are therefore 1,000 years too late in their predictions.

This is the critical point: the future that was announced in Revelation 4:8 has now arrived in the present! Not our present quite yet, but in the 'present' that is Revelation 11:17. The 'is to come' of Revelation 4:8 has become a reality by the time of Revelation 11:17. The suffering witness of the Messianic Community of martyrs has by then faithfully demonstrated to the world that Yahweh is Elohim (God), that Yah'shua (Jesus) is Master (Lord) and King, and the world has responded by glorifying the Elohim (God) of Heaven. What remains to be done now is to "destroy the destroyers of the earth" (v.18b, KNT) or as the Jerusalem Bible puts it "destroy those who are destroying the earth" (JB) from John's - and currently our - perspective in the prophetic timeline.

This is, incidentally, a great passage for environmentalists if you want a positive biblical entrée into the Green community. Yahweh absolutely cares about the planet and its environment as do we who are called to be custodians of it as Adam was. However, as it clear from this prophecy, man in his own puny power has been unable to prevent, let alone reverse, the rapid degradation of the planet caused by man's sinning, a reason Yah'shua (Jesus) must intervene, as He will. The Besorah (Gospel, Good News) is for Greens too! They too must repent of their idolatry, stop worshipping the planet ('Gaia') and start worshipping the Creator of the planet instead! Indeed, we are all called to be 'Messianic Greens' as responsible, caring gardeners, with a heart for animals, as the Torah teaches, and for plant life too. The Bible is as eco-friendly as it gets.

Now, of course, as we already know, the earth is being destroyed by so many different things, not least artificial weather modification, industrial pollutants and genetic engineering, to name but three, which is something we can, and must try, to do something about. We can, and must, stop polluting our air, water and soil with heavy metals, acids, plastics, and the like. But man-made CO₂ emissions are not the problem and there is nothing we can, or ought to, do about it. Thanks to rises in CO₂ levels, the Amazon Rainforest is regenerating. In fact, CO₂ is healthy stuff - it's what plants turn into food and oxygen for animals; higher levels of it have resulted in the reversal of human deforestation. The weather as a whole, Yahweh is in charge of, and it has its natural global warming and cooling cycles that we can do absolutely nothing about. In our zealous attempts to be good environmentalists we can sometimes end up doing more harm than good (like blocking off sunlight by injecting poisonous reflecting chemicals like aluminium into the atmosphere), a program not infrequently pushed by politicians who care little for the environment but more for their political agendas. CO₂ (carbon dioxide) - and now N₂ (nitrogen) - has become big business and a diabolical opportunity to tax citizens to death and thereby gain absolute political control of agriculture (food production) and thus of populations.

Let's return to the Song of the 24 Elders as there are some interesting truths embedded in it that I want you to see. You will notice that seven things are celebrated by them in anticipation. The number 7 alone, being the number of completion, is of course, significant. But note, if you will, that the number 7 is divided here into 4 and 3 too, and that is a pair of numbers which together we have encountered many times in the past - for example, the material (4) and the spiritual (the 3 heavens), the Deaconate (4) and the Eldership (3) of the Melchizedek Priesthood, the consonants (4) and the vowels (3) of the Tetragrammaton (Yah^uweh), the 3 Pilgim Festivals (Pesach, Shavu'ot and Sukkot), the communal (4) and the individual (3) and the 4 remaining of the 7, etc.. In today's passage, the last 3 are marked off by their belonging to the special appointed season in which they are to take place; whereas the first 4 relate to the 4 actions on the part of Elohim (God), and their effects.

Now the first act of taking His power is about to be seen in the 7 vials or bowls (Rev.15:8) which we will get to shortly - that is the time where the temple is filled with smoke from the glory of Yahweh-Elohim and from His power. The wrath of the nations, and of Elohim (God), are both mentioned in Psalm 2:1,5 as we've already seen. Indeed, connected with all of this we can read many of the Psalms, which are proleptic, meaning that they celebrate by anticipation that whicht is to come (Psalms 93-99 & 42 and many others are likewise proleptic...anticpating what is guaranteed prophetically to happen in the future). Sit down and read through them carefully sometime, remembering that they have reference to this particular time in the utterance of the 24 Elders.

Let me read you a couple of verses from another Scripture which refer to this time of wrath because I think it's important you have this as a reference - it's in Isaiah 26:

"Come, My people, enter your chambers (rooms), and shut your doors behind you; hide yourselves for a little while until the wrath is past. For Yahweh comes out from His place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity; the earth will disclose the blood shed on it, and will no longer cover its slain" (Is.26:20-21, NRSV).

That's why I have repeatedly told people to get out of the cities (many will be put under martial law) and to places of safety in the countryside because such an event is imminent. It therefore distresses me to learn that there are people who, having left the cities, are complaining of the hardships of the countryside and are returning the cities; they're doing what the Israelites grumbled about in the First Exodus, who wanted to return to their slavery in Egypt because they missed some of their former creature-comforts. Don't do it, not now, because the wrath of Yahweh is indeed about to be poured out, and in some places is already being poured out, to punish the sons and daughters of iniquity. And He is disclosing, in an avalanche of revelations and exposés, all the wickedness that has been done in secret by the servants of the Enemy. Read Isaiah 26:20-21 again. I believe the reason Yahweh has called me to do this Bible Study on the Book of Revelation at this time is in part because we are seeing a fulfilment of it before out very eyes in the last-but-one prophetic cycle. Please also, in this connection, read Isaiah 24:17-21; 30:27-28,30-33; Ezekiel 38:16-23 and Zephaniah 1:2-3,14-16; 3:8 - you'll find them listed in the website article covering today's sermon.

Let us be clear what is happening now in our own time, and what will happen then at the very end which the last generation amongst us will experience firsthand: In these judgments, under the 7th Shofar or Trumpet, Yahweh is no longer searching for amendment or repentance - the time for that is over. All is now wrath and vengeance. Yahweh at length replies to the reiterated cty of His people: "ARISE, O ELOHIM (GOD)" (Ps.3:7; 7:6; 44:26). Moreover, the time has come when the appeal of Psalm 68:1-3, and other Scriptures, shall be answered directly and for all to see:

"Let Elohim (God) arise, let His enemes be scattered,
Let those who hate Him flee before Him!
As smoke disperses, they disperse;
As wax melts when near the fire;
so the wicked perish when Elohim (God) approaches.
But at Elohim's (God's) approach, the virtuous rejoice,
exulting and singing for joy" (Ps.68:1-3, Jerusalem Bible/JB).

These, then, are the moments of transition from one state of reality to a new one. Let's read the last verse of today's text again:

"Elohim's (God's) temple in heaven was opened, and the ark of His covenant appeared inside His temple. There were flashes of lightning, rumblings, thunderclaps, an earthquake, and heavy hail" (Rev.11:19, KNT).

Not everything recorded here will happen now in our timeline precisely because this is but a pre- or foreshadowing of what is to come. Yet you may expect a massive earthquake quite soon. However, this is the only time in the Book of Revelation where John says that as Yahweh's temple in heaven is opened, revealing the throne room with its song of triumph, so the ark of the covenant appeared inside. This is an interesting scene, isn't it? You see, back in the first century when John was writing, there had been a lot of speculation in Judean circles about whether the Ark - the box containing the Ten Commandments and other key symbols of the Old Covenant like Aaron's rod and some manna - would be restored to the new temple. You will remember that it disappeared, either being removed by Pharaoh Shishak (when he "took away the treasures of the House of Yahweh" (1 Ki.14:25, JNT), or it was destroyed, along with the Temple by the Babylonians (Jer.3:16).

Ask Zionist Christians and Jews are wondering much about the same today, particularly as a so-called 'Third Temple' is waiting to be erected in modern-day Jerusalem, and many of them believe the Ark has survived. It might even be in Ethiopia at Aksum. Those of you familar with amateur archaelogists like the late Ron Wyatt, who made the claim that the Ark was buried directly under the cross where Yah'shua (Jesus) was crucified and onto which His blood supposedly seaped down through the soil to the Mercy Seat as part of the rite of atonement, may know that these people believe that the Ark will be found and re-installed in this 'Third Temple' which (as I have preached on many times, including during this course) will be a false temple.

I suspect Wyatt got his belief from Talmudic tradition which claims the Ark was either hidden "in its place" (i.e. in situ) or somewhere else (like Ethiopia). Yoma 52b says that King Josiah hid it but the Apocryhal (and error-ridden) Book of Maccabbees (2 Mac.2:4-8) says that Jeremiah rescued the Ark and brought it to a cave on Mount Sinai to be preserved until Yahweh gathers His people together in Messianic times. However, another Apocryphal book, 2 Baruch (6:5-10) says it was hidden by a malak (angel). There are lots of contradictory legends and traditions. Some Christians, astonishingly (because it's so absurd), believe that the Ark with its original Pot of Manna will supply the "hidden manna" described in Revelation 2:17, and that it's this 3,000 year-old jar of (by now rotted) manna that the myriads of qodeshim (saints, set-apart ones) will be eating from at "the marriage supper of the Lamb" (Rev.19:9). Since the original manna rotted after 1-2 days, I think it highly unlikely we are going to be served 3,000 year-old food. Would one pot feed millions? You have to insist on a suypernatural miracle of multiplication to get that to happen, in which case why not make it completely anew supernaturally?

I used to be a proponent of the Aksum (Ethioptia) Theory but I now no longer know, or much care, because the original physical structure was more than likely destroyed; it isn't, in any case, the main thing. And were is to be discovered (if it's still around) it would most likely become an object of idolatrous adoration by millions of Jews and Messianics who are already horizontally focussed on Jerusalem and a 'Third Temple' and not 'vertically' focussed on the Jerusalem and Temple above as they're supposed to be. Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy are plagued by a devotion to artefacts like the bones of martyrs and alleged fragments of the cross. I certainly do not believe in Ron Wyatt's fanciful (though emotionally appealing) story, for various reasons.

The most important 'Ark' is, in any case, to be located above, as is bourn out in today's passage in the Book of Revelation: for the Ark suddenly appears in the heavenly temple, thus investing a deeper meaning into it than any symbolic benefit gained from staring at the earthly one; and this for the simple reason that the earthly temple of Herod, like the one modern Jewry is planning to build based on Ezekiel's scroll, has nothing whatsoever to do with the atonement or end-time events. We have got to get our eyes off the earthly Jerusalem which, as we've seen so many times now, was (in the first century following the crucifixion), and still is, Sodom and Egypt (Rev.11:8)...the City of the Slave Women Hagar (Gal.4:24)...and affix our spiritual gaze instead back onto the heavenly Jerusalem, which will come down to earth when Yah'shua (Jesus) returns, because that's where all the important prophetic actions are happening, not in a Messiah-rejecting Jewish temple whose sacrifices will be a blasphemous rejection of Yah'shua (Jesus), the very building in which the Anti-Messiah or Antichrist will likely enthrone himself. By installing the Ark of the covenant in the heavenly temple - and remember the essence of the ark was always spiritual - Yahweh will demonstrate that He has been true to His covenant promises. By the time we reach this moment in prophetic history (which won't happen at the end of this Penultimate Judgment for obvious reasons), Yahweh will be seen to have done what He says He would do. He will have taken His power and begun to reign. And that, you'll agree, is pretty awesome news!

In brief summary, then, because I'll develop this more in next week's sermon: those who have been destroying the earth will themselves be destroyed - both those destroying the physical enironment and the spiritual equivalent. This will involve the destruction of Babylon including the modern city of Jerusalem with its coming fake temple, in order to make way for the coming New or Heavenly Jerusalem. As we will see later in chapter 20, this will also include the great destruction of the armies of Satan and the rebels who join it (Rev.20:9; cp. Is.24:21). With the destruction of these, Yahweh's judgments end, and the "mystery (or secret) of Elohim (God) is finished" (Rev.10:7), as well as, importantly, 'the mystery of Iniquity'.

We have seen that Heaven is a place of solid, tangible grand and glorious realities, and not a place of 'airy nothings', if I can borrow E.W.Bullinger's phrase, and as popular theology still pictures it. There is a heavenly temple, and heavenly worship, and a heavenly priesthood, on the tavnith or pattern of which the earthly was modelled (Ex.25:40; cp. Heb.9:25). The Book of Revelation is the book of unveiling, uncovering and opening so that we can see the Grand Design in minute detail, or at least in sufficient detail that the Enemy's counterfeits can be exposed. Seven great openings characterise it which I will explain at the beginning of next week's study which finds a parallel in the 7 Human Openings that I explained in our Into All Truth website that I made for babes in the faith.

Many things are now going to come together until there is perfect echad-unity and oneness. This is the penultimate 'consummation' time (Rev.10:7) and therefore the rest of the book is developped out of it. Instead of silence in heaven (Rev.8:1), which followed the opening of the 7th seal, John hears a heavenly chorus celebrating the victory of the Kingdom which the 7th shofar (trumpet) brings which we shall read about in the 3rd and Final Interlude of chapters 12-20. In these visions, then, we are getting the deepest possible perspective of the Messianic Community's (Church's) conflict in the last of the last days.

Until next week, may Yahweh heap His blessings upon you and strengthen you for the trials many of us are currently going through, and are about to go through, at this difficult time. Be assured that they will have a satisfactory ending for those who desire for more time to be given for the witness of the Gospel. So until then, Yahweh bless you and keep you in Yah'shua's (Jesus') Name. Amen.

Endnotes

[1] See, Biblical Evidences for Talmudic Jews

Acknowledgements

[1] Tom Wright, Revelation for Everyone - The New Testament for Everyone Commentary Series, Vol.19 (SPCK, London: 2011)
[2] E.W.Bullinger*, Commentary on Revelation (Kregel Classics, Grand Rapids, Michihan: 1984)
[3] David H. Stern, Jewish New Testament Commentary (JNT Publications, Clarksville, Maryland: 1992)
[4] ESV Study Bible (Crossway, Wheaton, Illinois: 2011)
[5] The NIV Study Bible (Zondervan, Grand Rapids, Michigan: 1995)
[6] Ed. J.R.Dummelow, A Commentary on the Holy Bible (MacMillan, London: 1909)
*E.W.Bullinger was a brilliant Anglican clergyman and scholar whose works merit careful study by serious students of the Bible. He was, however, seriously in error in at least three main areas, namely, (1) he believed the 'Church' has been raptured before the Book of Revelation opens, (2) he believed that the 7 churches in Revelation 2-3 are 7, literal Jewish churches or assemblies yet to come, and (3) he believed in a pre-tribulation, pre-millennial rapture.

• 1. White horse - military aggression
• 2. Red horse - bloodshed
• 3. Black horse - famine
• 4. Pale Green/Blanched/Pallid/Sickly-looking horse - disease, epidemics

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• 5. Persecution & prayer
• 6. Tremour & terror

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  INTERLUDE I (Ch.7)
  (The 144,000 Redeemed)

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• 7. Silence in heaven, listening to prayers which are then answered in a final catastrophe: a severe earthquake I

• 1. Scorched earth
• 2. Polluted sea
• 3. Contaminated water
• 4. Reduced sunlight

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• 5. Insects and plague (for five months) (1st Woe)
• 6. Oriental invasion (200 million army) (2nd Woe)

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  INTERLUDE II (Ch.10-11)
  (The Malak with the Little Scroll)
  (The Two Witnesses)

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• 7. The Kingdom comes, the world is taken over by Yahweh & Yah'shua (Jesus) after a severe earthquake II (3rd Woe)

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  INTERLUDE III (Ch.13-14)
  (The First & Second Beasts)
  (The Lamb & the 144,000)
  (The Messages of the Three Malakim)

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• 1. Boils on the skin
• 2. Blood in the sea
• 3. Blood from the springs
• 4. Burning by the sun

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• 5. Darkness
• 6. Armageddon

  ---

• 7. Hailstorm (OB 368:11-12) and severe earthquake III, leading to international collapse