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 Sermon > Official Service |
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Title |
Revelation Lectures(40) |
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Speaker |
Rev. Jaerock Lee |
Bible |
Revelation6:3-6 |
Date |
2007-09-28 |
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Revelation 6:3-6
[3] When He broke the second seal, I heard the second living creature saying, "Come."
[4] And another, a red horse, went out; and to him who sat on it, it was granted to take peace from the earth, and that men would slay one another; and a great sword was given to him.
[5] When He broke the third seal, I heard the third living creature saying, "Come." I looked, and behold, a black horse; and he who sat on it had a pair of scales in his hand.
[6] And I heard something like a voice in the center of the four living creatures saying, "A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius; and do not damage the oil and the wine."
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ.
As I told you in the last lecture, the white horse refers to the people of Israel.
And he who sat on it is the leading force of the people of Israel and he who holds sway over their fate
As the God-chosen people, the people of Israel will remain in the providence of God until the last day of this world.
God allowed the providence for the people of Israel to be recorded in many parts of the Bible.
And the history of the people of Israel is progressing just as He said it would.
2,000 years ago, nobody could even imagine that the nation of Israel, which was completely erased from this earth, would come back to their old territory and re-establish the lost country again.
But, the Bible had prophesied long ago about such history of Israel.
Deuteronomy 4:30 says, "When you are in distress and all these things have come upon you, in the latter days you will return to the LORD your God and listen to His voice."
Also Ezekiel 36:8-10 says, "But you, O mountains of Israel, you will put forth your branches and bear your fruit for My people Israel; for they will soon come. For, behold, I am for you, and I will turn to you, and you will be cultivated and sown. I will multiply men on you, all the house of Israel, all of it; and the cities will be inhabited and the waste places will be rebuilt."
It is saying that the people of Israel will come back to the devastated land of Israel and live in it again.
Also, Ezekiel 36:19-20 says, "Also I scattered them among the nations and they were dispersed throughout the lands. According to their ways and their deeds I judged them. When they came to the nations where they went, they profaned My holy name, because it was said of them, 'These are the people of the LORD; yet they have come out of His land.'"
It says that the people of Israel will be scattered among the nations and dispersed throughout the lands.
And, the verse 24 of the same chapter, it says, "For I will take you from the nations, gather you from all the lands and bring you into your own land."
And it says in the verse 28, "You will live in the land that I gave to your forefathers; so you will be My people, and I will be your God."
It says that the people of Israel that are scattered throughout the nations will come back to the land which God gave to their fathers.
In addition, Ezekiel 36:34-36 says, "The desolate land will be cultivated instead of being a desolation in the sight of everyone who passes by. They will say, 'This desolate land has become like the garden of Eden; and the waste, desolate and ruined cities are fortified and inhabited.' Then the nations that are left round about you will know that I, the LORD, have rebuilt the ruined places and planted that which was desolate; I, the LORD, have spoken and will do it."
When the people of Israel came back to the land where their ancestors used to live, the land was desolate and devastated.
While the people of Israel were dispersed throughout the nations, the land was abandoned and there was little rain, and thus it had become a parched wasteland and desert.
Even the trees and grass that remained in mountains were also cut by people and never re-planted. Obviously dust and ground were carried down away, and only rocks and stones were left in the land.
The mid coastal area became a desert of sand hills, the southern area became the Negev desert region. It rains only once or twice a year, and the temperature goes up to 40 in Celsius (110+ Fahrenheit) so that it couldn't become an inhabited area.
No matter how deep a well was dug, not even a drop of water gushed out.
But these places were changed by the people of Israel now. There are green trees and grass, and the land produces various fruits.
The water that is pumped out from the Sea of Galilee is sent to the far corners of Israel through water pipes, and used for irrigation.
This way, desolate land became fields for growing oranges. It became fertile and fruitful. It now became a land that grows beautiful trees.
Just as God says "I, the LORD, have spoken and will do it," whatever God has spoken is accomplished without fail.
But it doesn't mean that everything is accomplished while people remain still doing nothing only because God has spoken.
You must remember that Ezekiel 36:37 says, "Thus says the LORD God, "This also I will let the house of Israel ask Me to do for them."
Even though the people of Israel had been scattered throughout the world for about 2,000 years, no matter where they were, they believed that they would go back to their original land when the time came, they prayed, and they made efforts.
Of course, it was not something that could be accomplished just when people made efforts, however, since they believed and prayed and made efforts like that, when the time came, God allowed His word written in the Bible to be accomplished.
And, since Israel is in the providence of God like this, even though neighboring Arab nations made war several times against the newly established Israel, Israel won the wars each time.
There are still large and small conflicts, but Israel is holding a dominant position over others.
When the 7 Year Great Tribulation comes, there will be another war between Arab nations and Israel, which will detonate yet another World War.
In the days of the 7 Year Great Tribulation, other than this Arab-Israeli War, wars will break out in many parts of the world.
And all these wars will interact with each other, and there will be the 3rd World War.
Through tonight's scripture, we will continue to look into this situation.
It says in the verses 3-4, "When He broke the second seal, I heard the second living creature saying, "Come." And another, a red horse, went out; and to him who sat on it, it was granted to take peace from the earth, and that men would slay one another; and a great sword was given to him."
When the Lord broke the second seal, a red horse came out.
The color 'red' means 'shedding of blood.' 'A red horse went out' therefore means there will be 'great shedding of blood.'
Just as it says, "to him who sat on it, it was granted to take peace from the earth, and that men would slay one another," by the red horse and the one who sat on it, there will be a war of great blood shed.
Now then, what is this red horse specifically referring to?
The red horse refers to Russia.
In 1991, the Soviet Union which consisted of 15 socialist republics, collapsed.
But among them, Russia still has great power and influence.
Russia seemed to go downhill after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. However, just as I prophesied before, Russia is getting back its power.
And it is trying to expand its influential power over other neighboring countries.
But, as the Soviet Union collapsed, which was held in socialism, those republics which used to be a part of the Soviet Union wanted to exercise their own independent sovereignty based on their national origins and religions.
They refuse to be interfered with by Russia any longer.
In fact, the Soviet Union always had problems because of racial conflicts.
The multi-national Soviet Union had to suffer from various conflicts between republics which demanded their own independence and self-government.
There were also many conflicts between races and nations.
In a period of from January 1987 till mid 1988 alone, there were about 300 ethnic conflicts.
In large scale gatherings of several tens of thousands there were disputes over nationalism resulting in bloodshed and many causalities.
The Nagorno-Karabakh War that broke out in 1988 was an ethnic conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia, and it was put down by the input of the regular army of the Soviet Union.
Likewise, even before the collapse, ethnic conflicts didn't stop in many places of the Union.
Now, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, as the power of Russia is becoming greater and greater and as it practices extending its influence over neighboring countries, it is also becoming an apple of discord.
In the 7 Year Great Tribulation, these kinds of discords will become wars between nations and states.
IN the meantime, people will kill each other, and there will be great blood shed, and peace will be taken away.
Furthermore, just as it says, "a great sword was given to him," this war will not be easily put out. Instead, the war will expand in size.
By the way, all of these will be "granted" to take place
It means there must be God's permission. But you must not misunderstand it that God makes a war break out, and people die.
God governs everything in world history, but still everything takes place according to justice.
When evil is rampant and it crosses the line, it becomes a war; people kill people due to their own evil, and they are destroyed by themselves.
God doesn't ignore justice; God doesn't make a war break out or overthrow people as He pleases.
When the Israelites escaped from Egypt and conquered the land of Canaan, God didn't give the land of Canaan to Israelites unconditionally.
God told Abraham that He would bring the Israelites out of Egypt where they would become slaves into the land of promise. And He says in Genesis 15:16, "Then in the fourth generation they will return here, for the iniquity of the Amorite is not yet complete."
In other words, the descendants of Abraham would have to wait until the iniquity of the Amorites, who then lived in the land of Canaan, is complete, and then He would give the land to the Israelites.
Only when the sin and evil of the Amorites crossed the line, which was set within justice, would God allow the Israelites to destroy them and to take the land of Canaan according to justice.
If God drives away the Amorites and allows the Israelites to take the land of Canaan even before the iniquity of the Amorites reaches the full measure, then it will be against the law of justice.
Like this, even though God governs everything in the world history, God surely makes things work precisely according to the law of justice.
Therefore, even though all the things of the 7 Year Great Tribulation will take place only when God permits under His Sovereignty, they are all actually the results of their evil piling up and crossing the limit of justice.
According to the law of justice, "Reap as you sow," what people have sowed in their evil will come out in the days of the 7 Year Great Tribulation, and the natural environment of this earth will also cross the limit; therefore there will be great tribulations such as wars and natural disasters.
Back to the scripture, there will be ethnic conflicts between Russia and its neighboring nations. And Russia will also intervene in the Arab-Israeli War, and it will eventually develop into the 3 World War.
There was long-lasting history of dissension between Russia and Israel, and there will be hostile situations between both of them. About this, I will explain it to you later using the contents of the 38th chapter of Ezekiel.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ.
Now, the verses 5-6 reads, "When He broke the third seal, I heard the third living creature saying, "Come." I looked, and behold, a black horse; and he who sat on it had a pair of scales in his hand. And I heard something like a voice in the center of the four living creatures saying, "A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius; and do not damage the oil and the wine.""
It says when the Lord broke the third seal, a black horse came out, and he who sat on it had a pair of scales in his hand.
Here, the black horse has two meanings.
First, the color of black means 'sin.' 'A black horse' refers to the things that will take place by Satan which governs sin.
And 'he who sat on it' refers to the one who measures sin and evil. It may be the enemy devil and Satan, or anyone who is used as an instrument by the enemy devil and Satan.
Just as it says, "he who sat on it had a pair of scales in his hand," the enemy devil and Satan finds what kind of sin someone has, and measures how far his sin reaches.
When the sin crosses the line, the enemy devil and Satan bring about trials, afflictions, and problems to him, and there will be judgment for the sin.
This can sometimes be accomplished through people that the enemy devil and Satan manage.
During the 7 Year Great Tribulation, all the sin and evil of the people who are left in this earth will be precisely measured.
And depending on the level of the sin and evil, the afflictions and tribulations that come upon may vary.
Some are killed before others, and some others are killed later.
Even in the same tribulations and afflictions, some will suffer more, but some others will suffer less.
By the measure of the one who has a pair of scales in his hand, the price of sin and evil will be decided according to justice.
Secondly, 'a black horse' contains the meaning of huge typhoon and violent storm.
Huge typhoons and violent storms will come, but they will not become worse than they are supposed to be.
In other words, the typhoons and storms will be strong only by the limit that God allows and sets according to the measure of the scales.
The natural disasters will become worse, but in the days of the 7 Year Great Tribulation, there will be terrible calamities caused by huge typhoons and storms.
Of course, the natural disasters are getting worse and worse even these days. But during the 7 Year Great Tribulation, the calamity will reach its peak.
In addition, by the instigation of Satan, people will make conflicts and disputes and wars out of their evil.
And because of all these, just as it says, "A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius," there will be serious inflation.
In order to understand how serious it will be, we must convert the measure into that of today's value.
First of all, a denarius was a Roman currency. The daily wage for a laborer was 1 denarius
Therefore, a denarius can be worth of about 50 to 70 US dollars in today's currency.
Since a quart is almost equivalent to a liter dry measure. It may be safe to say one quart is about one liter.
Nowadays wheat usually costs about a dollar per kilogram (which is 'a dry liter').
Of course there is much more expensive wheat, but I'm talking about regular wheat.
Therefore, a quart of wheat costs about 1 dollar.
But, tonight's scripture says the price of a quart of wheat is a denarius. It means the price will be more than 50 dollars for a quart of wheat.
Compared to these days, it is more than 50 times today's price.
Obviously, it doesn't fix that the price of wheat to be exactly 50 dollars per a quart.
The price may be somewhat higher than that, or lower than that.
Also, the price of barley may be different from today when compared. (Currently, the price of barley is 23 dollars for 20 kilograms, and wheat is 16 dollars for 20 kilograms.)
Therefore, the meaning of the scripture is that the price of grain will be skyrocketing during the 7 Year Great Tribulation.
The price of grain will be expensive, and thus many people will starve. The situation will be so miserable that even if they have money, they won't be able to purchase goods.
Now, it says, "Do not damage the oil and the wine." It also has two meanings.
First, 'the oil and the wine' refers to the place which produces the oil and the wine.
It includes Israel and Middle East, and parts of Europe.
Therefore, "Do not damage the oil and the wine" means that such places will be protected even in the midst of huge typhoons and storms.
Secondly, 'the oil and the wine' refers to both the people of Israel and those who are left in the 7 Year Great Tribulation even though they said they believed in the Lord.
Since there will be the people who will be saved through 'Gleaning Salvation,' God doesn't allow them to be killed, but to reach salvation through martyrdom when the time comes.
That's why it says not to 'damage them; the people of Israel and those who are left in the world even though they said they believed in the Lord.'
It doesn't mean that all of them will be protected. Since there will be severe persecution in the midst, God will lessen all the situation until the actual martyrdom takes place.
I will explain about this oil and the wine in greater detail in the next lecture.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ.
The world has now become so insecure and dangerous that you have no idea what you will encounter, or where and when you will encounter it, unless God protects you.
But if you are God's children who are live in the word of God, there will be no need for you to worry.
God will protect you. Even if your spirit and soul are called by God, you will go to heaven. So, what is it that you might worry about?
But in the 7 Year Great Tribulation, the Holy Spirit will disappear from this earth, and those who are left in the earth even though they said they believed in the Lord will live everyday in horror and fear.
It's not only fear of death, but also fear of hell which is eternal death!
But the fear will be great only in the beginning. As time goes by, many among them will have their hearts dulled, and they will fall into the world just like the people of the world.
And thus, at the moment of martyrdom, only the minimum number of them who are left in this world will be saved through 'Gleaning Salvation.'
Now, what is the best way?
That's right. It is to be caught up into the air when the Lord comes to take us back.
I hope that all of you who are listening to this lecture on Revelation will awaken, and live a diligent believing life so that the 7 Year Great Tribulation will have nothing to do with you.
May all of you enjoy the 7 Year Wedding Banquet with the Lord in the air, in the name of the Lord, Jesus Christ, I pray!
Amen |
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