Revelation 10 - 11

Revelation 10 – 11: The Nature of Preaching

Objective: “Repent”

                1.            Change mind – attitude.

                2.            Change behavior – action.

                3.            Change heart – affections.

                4.            Change volition – appetite.

Acts 17:30b:  “In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent.”

Acts 26:20b: “First to those in Damascus, then to those in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and then to the Gentiles, I preached that they should repent and turn to God and demonstrate their repentance by their deeds.”

Acts 3:19: “Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord.”

Luke 24:47: “… and repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.”

“The rest of mankind who were not killed by these plagues still did not repent of the work of their hands; they did not stop worshiping demons, and idols of gold, silver, bronze, stone and wood—idols that cannot see or hear or walk. Nor did they repent of their murders, their magic arts, their sexual immorality or their thefts” (9:20-21).

***** God’s response to the human condition is preaching that pushes for change! *****

1.            The seven thunders (10:4)

                a.            The “mystery of God” (plan of salvation) would be fulfilled on the 7^th trumpet call.

                b.            Theory: on the “Feasts of Trumpets” (prophetic calendar: it’s the next holiday in line).

                c.             The little scroll: renews John call and mandate.

Ezekiel 3:1 – 3: “And he said to me, ‘Son of man, eat what is before you, eat this scroll; then go and speak to the people of Israel.’ So I opened my mouth, and he gave me the scroll to eat.  Then he said to me, ‘Son of man, eat this scroll I am giving you and fill your stomach with it.’  So I ate it, and it tasted as sweet as honey in my mouth.”

                                1.)           Joy to receive, painful to process and deliver.

                                2.)           Salvation to one (accepted) is damnation to another (rejected).

“Then I was told, ‘You must prophesy again about many peoples, nations, languages and kings’” (10:11).

2.            Notice God measures things (11:1).

                1.            That means God notices…

                2.            The physical measurements help us understand place and time in context.

                3.            TIME: 42 months = 3 and a half years, 1290 days.

Daniel 9:24 – 27: “Seventy ‘sevens’ are decreed for your people and your holy city to finish transgression, to put an end to sin, to atone for wickedness, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the Most Holy Place.^”

“Know and understand this: From the time the word goes out to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Anointed One, the ruler, comes, there will be seven ‘sevens,’ and sixty-two ‘sevens.’ It will be rebuilt with streets and a trench, but in times of trouble. After the sixty-two ‘sevens,’ the Anointed One will be put to death and will have nothing. The people of the ruler who will come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end will come like a flood: War will continue until the end, and desolations have been decreed. He will confirm a covenant with many for one ‘seven.’ In the middle of the ‘seven’ he will put an end to sacrifice and offering. And at the temple ^he will set up an abomination that causes desolation, until the end that is decreed is poured out on him” (10:25 – 27).

Theory of the “missing week.”

                3.5 years was the time of Christ’s ministry.

                3.5 years set aside for the rule of the Anti-Christ.

                (OR 7 years of the “Great Tribulation” – events of the book of Revelation)

3.            The two witnesses

                1.            Views:

                                a.            The church during the tribulation.

                                b.            Moses and Elijah.

                                c.             Two testifying believers.

                2.            Their power:

                                a.            Fire.

                                b.            No rain.

                                c.             Water to blood, every kind of plague.

                3.            Death

                                a.            Killed by the beast from the Abyss (Satan).

                                b.            Sodom and Egypt (sin and slavery) = Jerusalem (Rome, Babylon).

                                c.             3.5 days of celebration (not buried, denial of decency).

                                d.            “Breath of life” from God (verse 11).

                                e.            Went to heaven (ascension or rapture?) à validated their witness.

                                f.             Earthquake with 7,000 dead.

 “At that very hour there was a severe earthquake and a tenth of the city collapsed. Seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake, and the survivors were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven” (11:13).

CONTRAST with 9:21 – 22

God has used extreme measures to get our attention:

                1.            Adam and Eve à tossed out of the Garden of Eden and an animal was slaughtered.

                2.            The Exodus à first born died to free Israel OR the blood of the lamb protected.

                3.            The cross à Jesus became our substitute.

                4.            The public witnesses, death, and resurrection of God’s faithful witnesses.