THE BOOK OF REVELATION

INTRODUCTION - Last Sunday morning we learned how the Great Tribulation is not something in the future but actually took place in 70 AD when Jerusalem was destroyed by the Romans (Luke 21:23,24). It is not a worldwide event, nor does it involve all the nations of the world. Rather, it is a tribulation limited to the land of the Jews and to the generation of Jews who rejected Christ. The Christians would escape the Great Tribulation, for they heeded the words of Christ in Matthew 24. Through this tribulation God would overthrow the old dispensation and would take the kingdom from the Jews. The church would be established and the kingdom of Christ would go forth. This morning we will finish off section 7 in our outline and continue on to the next passage, dealing with the cataclysmic signs of 70 AD.

7) THE GREAT TRIBULATION - JERUSALEM TRAMPLED BY THE GENTILES (CONTINUED)

F) FALSE CHRISTS WILL APPEAR DURING THE TIME OF THE GREAT TRIBULATION - Matthew 24:23-27 - Earlier in Matthew 24, the disciples were warned about false christs. Now the warning comes again, for as the destruction of Jerusalem approaches so messianic fever would begin to heighten. Josephus reports on the false prophets and messiahs in Jerusalem before its overthrow, and even attributes the death of some six thousand Jews to a prophet who told them to hide in the Temple and to wait for a sign from God. All of them were slaughtered by the Romans. The Christians were once again told not to listen or be fooled by the false prophets. Christ was not coming to Jerusalem to deliver the Jews but to judge them. His coming would be like a bolt of lightning, falling quickly upon the Jews. The Christians were to run.

G) JERUSALEM DESCRIBED AS A ROTTING CARCASS - Matthew 24:28 - Jerusalem was a dead city, and Christ compares it to a corpse being attacked by eagles. Spiritually, the city was void of God. Christ uses Old Testament imagery to describe the coming of an eagle to destroy Jerusalem. Moses had warned the Jews that a nation would come like an eagle and attack the Jews if they broke the covenant of God (Deuteronomy 28:49). Both the Assyrians and Babylonians in the Old Testament are described as eagles when they come to attack Israel (Hosea 8:1; Habbakuk 1:8). Now it was the Roman empire's turn to be the eagle. It is interesting to note that the emblem of the Roman empire was, in fact, the eagle.

H) JERUSALEM WILL BE TRAMPLED UNTIL THE TIMES OF THE GENTILES BE FULFILLED - Luke 21:24 - The "time of the Gentiles" may have two possible applications. It could be a reference to Rome's domination of Jerusalem. The city would become a wasteland after its destruction, with just a few people living in its ruins. It would fall into Roman hands and rebuilding would not take place for another two hundred years. The phrase could also refer to the period we are presently living in, the period of Gentile Gospel witness. Jerusalem is still trampled by the Gentiles as a Muslim mosque occupies the site of the Temple. Though Israel is a nation today, it is still a nation occupied by Gentiles.

8) CATACLYSMIC SIGNS TO TAKE PLACE RIGHT AFTER THE TRIBULATION - Matthew 24:29-31 - Three incredible events are said to happen after the Great Tribulation: cataclysmic signs involving the sun, moon, and stars, the coming of the Son of Man on the clouds, and the gathering of the elect from around the world. How can these incredible events possibly fit into the first century? Surely they are too magnificent and too great to apply to anything but the second coming of Christ and the end of the world. If the sun, moon and stars were literally darkened in those days, it would have meant the end of the world and no one would have lived beyond this. Yet the time frame of Christ in Matthew 24:34 still puts these events into the first century. If we admit that these things are future, we are going to have to admit that the entire chapter is futuristic. Matthew 24:29 tells us that these three signs happen "immediately" after the Great Tribulation, so either these events are all first century, or the entire chapter is to be pushed to the future. We shall remain faithful to Christ's time frame and endeavor to show that it was absolutely necessary for these three events to take place right after the fall of Jerusalem. These three events are specifically tied in to Jerusalem's overthrow and it is crucial that they take place in the first century.

A) THE SUN AND MOON WILL BE DARKNED AND THE STARS WILL FALL FROM HEAVEN - Matthew 24:29 How do we explain that these things actually happened after the fall of Jerusalem? The answer is that Jesus is speaking in prophetically figurative language in this text. They are words of prophetic judgment which the Jews of Christ's day would immediately recognize. Modern readers are convinced that the words must be taken literally, but our Bibles will show us that we have no right to do this. If these words were literal, then we would have to say that the same events literally happened four other times in the history of the Old Testament. If such were the case, then none of us would be around today to talk about it. From the Old Testament we will see that these words were spoken by God when He came against a nation in judgment. How fitting that such Old Testament words would now be spoken at the overthrow of the Jews. A simple study of the Old Testament references using these words will immediately show that such language could not be literal, but is a figurative image for God "putting out the lights" of a nation in His anger and justice.

1. ISAIAH 13 - GOD'S JUDGMENT AGAINST BABYLON - Babylon was the nation which took the Jews into captivity. Nebuchadnezzar destroyed both Jerusalem and the Temple. This was God's judgment against the Jews. Yet the Babylonians were not acting in righteousness. The Babylonians had no love for God, and the Lord was now determined to come against that nation in judgment. Isaiah 13 speaks entirely of Babylon's fall, but it is verses 10 and 13 which should interest us. When Babylon falls, the stars of heaven and the sun and moon will cease to give their light. Heaven and earth will be shaken out of their places. This is not speaking of the end of the world, but of the time when Babylon would be overthrown. Literal? No, these are prophetic words of judgment. It is all figurative. The Jews of the New Testament would know these words, for Babylon was a great enemy of the Jews. The people of Israel would be well away of God's pronouncement of judgment against Babylon.

2. ISAIAH 34:1-12 - GOD'S JUDGMENT AGAINST EDOM - Another enemy of Israel was the nation of Edom. These were the people descended from Esau. There were continual skirmishes between the Jews and Edomites through their history. Now it was time for God to judge this nation. It is verse 4 which uses the same figurative language of judgment against Edom. When Edom is judged, the hosts of heaven will be dissolved and the heavens will roll up like a scroll. This is figurative, and again, the Jews would be well aware of God's pronouncement of judgment against this nation.

3. EZEKIEL 32:1-10 - GOD'S JUDGMENT AGAINST EGYPT - Once again we are reading about an enemy of Israel. God would not let this nation go unpunished and the Babylonians will be the ones who are sent against the Egyptians. Yet note again the incredible language of verses 7 and 8. Here we learn the meaning behind the sun, moon and stars being darkened. Literally it means that God is "putting out the lights" of a nation under judgment (Ezekiel 32:7). Again, we must realize that the Jews of Christ's day were well aware of this prophetic language and its meaning.

4. AMOS 8:7-14 - GOD'S JUDGMENT AGAINST SAMARIA - In Amos 8, the prophetic language of judgment is now turned against Samaria, the northern kingdom of Israel. Once again we see the darkness which God brings to a nation when He puts out its lights in judgment (Amos 8:9).

If these phrases are used figuratively in the Old Testament as the prophetical language of judgement, what right do we have to give them a literal meaning in the New Testament? The Jews would certainly be aware of their meaning in a figurative context. The massive difference is, the words which were once spoken against the enemies of the Jews is now being heaped upon the people of God as the Lord turns towards them in judgment. Christ is saying in Matthew 24 that God is now going to "put out the lights" of Jerusalem, as He did with the Jewish enemies in the Old Testament. He will take the kingdom from them, bring His wrath against them, and put out their lights. This is another reason why this was the greatest tribulation in the history of Israel.

5. ACTS 2:14-21 - GOD'S JUDGMENT AGAINST JERUSALEM - Peter explains the gift of tongues in terms of a prophecy found in Joel 2:28-32. Yet as Peter speaks of this prophecy, he also includes the images which we have just read in Matthew 24. Peter is not talking about the end of the world. His audience is the present Jewish generation, the one that is to be judged by Christ. Tongues were given so that they might repent and turn to Christ. Yet if they did not, assuredly they would be lost in the great judgment to come upon Jerusalem. Those who call upon the name of the Lord will be saved from this coming judgment.

6. REVELATION 6:12-17 - THE PARALLEL TO MATTHEW 24 - We have paralleled Matthew 24 and Revelation 6 all along, and once again we see a repetition of themes in Revelation 6. The divine judgment against Jerusalem is the major theme of Revelation and here in this passage we read of the same words of wrath as God puts out the lights of that city.