Through the Bible with Les Feldick
LESSON 2 * PART 1 * BOOK 69
KINSMAN REDEEMER – PART 1
Revelation 5; Ruth; I Corinthians 15:1-4
It is good to see everybody in again this afternoon. We’ve got folks from Minnesota, California, and Alabama. Did I miss anybody? Florida? Yeah, Jim right here is from Florida.
Okay, for those of you out in television, in case you’re a new listener, we’re an informal Bible study. We try not to get preachy. I don’t want to get theological, per se, but we just want to teach the Book verse by verse, line upon line, and precept upon precept. And we have been blessed! My, we are getting so many people that are seeing things they have never seen before!
My goodness, you know, I see things that I never, never heard 30-40 years ago. That’s the whole idea. So, those of you joining us we again thank you for your prayers. That’s most of all. We thank you for your kind letters, and then we thank you for your financial help. After all these things do have to be paid for, and you’ve been picking up the bill every month. We thank you from the depths of our heart. Okay, we’re going to continue on with the redemption of the planet from the last taping.
Now, we talked about the redemption that God promised back in Genesis chapter 3 when Adam and Eve were first out of the Garden. Then we spoke of some other times of redemption, like Israel coming out of Egypt. That was an act of redemption. Then we looked at the work of the cross, how that in itself is the work of redemption for the whole human race. And it can be appropriated only by faith.
Now we have to make that clear, because I had the question come in again the other day. Since God performed the work of the cross, which was sufficient for every human being, does that mean that sooner or later everybody’s going to get to Heaven? Don’t you ever think it! It is only those who appropriate this finished work by faith.
I’m always giving the illustration that Congress can appropriate billions and billions of dollars for a particular purpose. We’ll say for highways. But the states have to make application. They have to appropriate that which Congress has set aside. Otherwise, it just stays there. Well, now that’s the work of salvation. God has finished it. It’s satisfactory for every human being that’s on the planet to personally appropriate it – by faith. That’s what we keep emphasizing. If I’ve got time this afternoon, I’m hoping to get into one of my favorite Gospel passages – I Corinthians 15:1-4. I just can’t imagine why it’s not used more often, but it isn’t. But we’re going to if I have time. So anyway, then we looked at redemption, I think as Paul perceived it in Galatians when he said, “He came to redeem them who were under the Law.”
Now, we’re looking at the redemption of the planet. We’re going to have to go to the Book of Ruth after a bit, because when we come down to the redemption of the planet, we have to understand that when Adam fell and he lost that dominion…now, I guess we’d better look at that. I know I’ve got everybody in Revelation 5, don’t I? Well, let’s go back to chapter 1 of Genesis. Keep your hand in Revelation. I’ll be right back.
I remember years ago when we were still in the original studio and a gentleman and his wife, who have now moved to Phoenix. They aren’t on the program any more, but Monty and Helen always used to sit on the front row. And I would do just like I did today – okay, I’m going to be starting out in such and such chapter and such and such a verse, and Monty would look up and say, “You want to bet on it?” But, that’s the way I teach. I can’t help it. Okay, back to Genesis chapter 1 when God is now making the promises to Adam in chapter 1 verse 28.
Genesis 1:28a
“And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth (or fill it up), and subdue it: (Now, look at the next statement. This is to Adam.) and have dominion over…” The Garden of Eden? Is that what your Bible says? No! That’s what everybody’s idea is, that the only place that Adam had any authority was in the Garden. No! He had the whole planet. That was his dominion.
Genesis 1:28b
“…and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.” Was all that in Eden? Well, of course not! So, what does that tell you? Adam’s dominion was the whole planet. It was all his to have control of, under God of course. All right, but when Adam sinned, when he disobeyed God by the simple act of eating of the tree, what happened to that dominion? He lost it! Who picked it up? Satan! Never forget that. Adam dropped the ball, and just that quick Satan picked it up. So consequently, for the last 6,000 years, who’s been the god of this world? Satan! Oh, under God’s Sovereignty. We don’t take anything away from that, but Satan has been the god of this world for the last 6,000 years.
Now, somebody is going to say, now where do you find that in Scripture? Well, there are several places. Let’s stop first at one in Matthew chapter 4, because I want to establish with my whole television and radio and internet audience that Satan has been the god of this world for the last 6,000 years. And the only way that God can wrest control from him is to redeem it. He’s going to pay the price.
All right, Matthew chapter 4 and this is when the Lord is being tempted by Satan. But we’ll just look at one of them, verse 8. Matthew 4 verse 8 and as you look at these different Scriptures, don’t forget what we’re talking about. We’re going to show that Satan is in control of this world. This is in Christ’s earthly ministry.
Matthew 4:8a
“Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain,…” Now, as I was mulling this over the last few days, how many of you have seen a picture of the globe from outer space? I’m sure you all have – that beautiful, round blue and white globe. Well, I like to think that whatever this high mountain was, it was high enough that Jesus, in His human form with Satan, could see the whole planet. Now, that’s just my own idea. But, whatever – he takes him up to an exceeding high mountain and shows him all. See, that’s why I have to think that it had to be from a tremendously high vantage point.
Matthew 4:8b
“…and showeth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them;” Now, that means what it says and it says what it means. He saw them all. Since they were both eternal creatures, Satan as well as the Lord Himself, I think Satan took Him, mentally at least, all the way past the empire of Rome which was now on the scene, and back through the Greek Empire, the Mede Empire, and the Babylonians, all of the beauty of that. I also think he projected into the future. So, he gives the Lord Jesus this whole view of planet earth in all of its empires.
Now, look what this creature says. I was just about to say something that wouldn’t have been kind. But Satan is a rascal. Look what he says!
Matthew 4:9
“And saith unto him, All these things (Everything pertaining to the planet and the empires and the cities and the parks and you name it.) I will give thee, (Now remember who’s talking? Satan! He’s telling Jesus that all these things that they’ve been viewing of planet earth he says, I will give them to you.) if thou wilt fall down and worship me.” Well, now you’ve heard me ask the question more than once. Were they Satan’s to give? Well, of course! He’s the god of this world. But you see, the Lord could very well have said, that’s fine, Satan, I’m going to have them some day without you. But He didn’t.
Now let’s move ahead a little bit to Corinthians. Go to II Corinthians chapter 4 verses 3 and 4. Now, this is what the Book says! Whenever I put out something that I think, it’s my own idea, I’m always hopeful anyway that I express it that way. But when the Book says it, I want you to know it’s what the Book says.
II Corinthians 4:3-4a
“But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: (Why? Next verse–) 4. In whom (lost people of this world) the god of this world (Who’s he talking about? Satan! The Devil) hath blinded the minds of them who believe not,…” Has he got the power to do it? Absolutely! That’s why we’re always emphasizing that it takes the work of the Holy Spirit to come through and open the understanding of the lost person, because Satan’s power is going to do everything he can to keep them from it.
And it is the same way when I’m always exclaiming the power of the resurrection. Why do I put so much on the power of the resurrection? Because Christ had to break through all the powers of the Satanic forces in order to overcome and become victorious. Well, the same way here. The lost of this world are literally encompassed with the power of Satan. He’s going to keep them there if he possibly can. But the Spirit is still above the powers of Satan. The Spirit can still break through and open the hearts and minds to bring people to a knowledge, or at least have the opportunity to have the knowledge of, salvation.
All right, so always remember that when Adam dropped the ball, when he sinned and lost dominion over the planet earth, Satan picked it up. And he’s been enjoying that now for 6,000 years. But the day is coming, and we think we’re getting closer and closer, when Christ is going to pay off that mortgage that Satan has been holding on the planet. That’s what the Scripture is picturing here. He’s holding his control of the planet just like a mortgage. And the reason is that it was something that was God’s and He handed over to Adam and what happened? They lost it! Satan picked it up.
Now, you know I’m always giving the simple illustration of losing control of something that you’ve owned. That is – if you take it to a hock shop and you take whatever they’ll give you for it. But the understanding is that you’ll someday be able to come back and redeem it by buying it back, by paying the price. Well, that’s the perfect picture of redemption all through Scripture. Something that was fully owned is lost and now has to be redeemed. Now, is that so hard to understand? All right, the planet was God’s. He gave it to Adam. They lost it. Satan picks it up. Now God is going to pay the price to redeem it.
Now, we’re going to have to go to the Book of Ruth after a bit, because that explains what chapter 5 is talking about. Without the Book of Ruth it would be pretty hard to define what we’re talking about in Revelation 5. But we’re going to stay in Revelation 5 first. So don’t go back to Ruth just yet. Okay, Revelation chapter 5 verse 1. And John writes:
Revelation 5:1a
“And I saw in the right hand of him who sat on the throne…” Now, there again I have to stop, because of all the questions I get of what people are saying. Christ is not sitting on the throne in Glory. Who is? Figuratively speaking now, I’m sure that you don’t have a literal throne chair and God the Father is sitting there over all the ends of time and then a smaller chair here on which Christ is sitting. But the analogy is that God the Father is seated on the throne in Glory and God the Son is beside him. “Sitting at the right hand of the Majesty on High,” that’s the way the Scripture puts it.
Okay, let’s just jump in at verse 7, where we have God the Son going to approach God the Father with the idea in mind of taking the scroll and paying it off. But first let’s jump back to Daniel and pick up pretty much the same kind of a scene in Heaven, which many commentators call identical, but I don’t. I just can’t see that it’s the same one, because this taking of the scroll in Revelation is at the beginning of the Tribulation getting ready for the horrors that are going to follow. In Daniel it seems like the same thing, but it can’t be, because Daniel’s vision is now ready for him to take up the Kingdom which comes immediately after the Tribulation. So, let’s go back to Daniel chapter 7 to pick up the scene in Heaven, how that God the Son comes before God the Father. I guess I should go up to verse 13.
Daniel 7:13-14
“I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man (That’s the Son of God, that’s Jesus the Christ.) came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of Days, and they brought him (God the Son) near before him (God the Father). 14. And there was given him (the Son) dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.”
Now that’s obvious He’s now ready to take over the Kingdom. Well, back here in Revelation, even though it seems like the same, and some commentaries will say it is, it can’t be, because in Revelation He’s getting ready to introduce the paying off of the mortgage, which is in reality the Tribulation, as we’re going to see. Okay, so come back with me to Revelation chapter 5 and repeat verse 7.
Revelation 5:7-8
“And he came (God the Son comes before God the Father) and took the book out of the right hand of him who sat upon the throne. 8. And when he had taken the book, (this mortgage) the four creatures and the four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odors (the incense you know) which are the prayers of the saints.
Revelation 5:9a.
“And they sang a new song, saying, (Now watch this!) Thou (speaking of God the Son) art worthy to take the book, (the mortgage) and to open the seals thereof: (And here’s the reason He’s worthy.) for thou wast slain, (The death of the cross) and hast redeemed us (These are some of the believers here gathered around the throne. So they’ve already experienced the redemption.) to God by thy blood…” You remember in our last programs, in the last taping anyway, that was one of the redemptions we looked at – the price of redemption which was the blood of the Lamb. All right, reading on.
Revelation 5:9b
“…for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation;” See, that doesn’t confine it here to the Jew. This has already reached out to the whole human race in redemption.
All right, now just for the sake of interest let’s turn the page, at least in my Bible, and go on into chapter 6 for a moment. I’m not going to make another study of the seals, but I want you to see that this is the mortgage that Satan is holding on planet earth and Christ is going to pay it off with the horrors of the Tribulation. Now, I know that’s probably hard on the surface to explain, but just think.
For 6,000 years what has Satan promoted on planet earth? Misery. And turmoil. And heartache. And death. And destruction. That’s Satan’s bag. Now, in so many words, what’s God going to tell him? I’m going to pay you back in full. You’re going to get paid back with more misery than you could ever dream of. You’re going to get paid back with more death and destruction than you ever dreamed of. That’s what the Tribulation is going to do.
All right, so in chapter 6 this is the first seal taken off of that mortgage. Now, you can’t look at the details of the mortgage until you take the seals off. So the first thing that happens in response to taking off the seal is the introduction of the antichrist. There again, that’s why I feel people are totally wrong when they think this is the real Christ. It can’t be. This is the counterfeit. This is the antichrist. I’m always emphasizing that the word “anti” throws a curve at people. They just think it’s against Christ. No, the word “anti” is best defined as the false, or the counterfeit, Christ. And look how he does it.
Revelation 6:1
“And I saw when the Lamb (Christ) opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four creatures saying, Come and see.” Now, this is the first opening event of the Tribulation. And what is it? The appearance of the antichrist.
Revelation 6:2a
“And I saw, and behold a white horse:…” A counterfeit. The true Christ is going to come on a white horse, absolutely He is. At least symbolically in Revelation 20, so the antichrist is going to be a counterfeit, so he does the same thing. He makes his appearance on a white horse.
Revelation 6:2b
“…and he that sat on him (that is on the horse) had a bow; and a crown was given unto him; (He’s going to have great authority.) and he went forth conquering, and to conquer.”
Well, that’s the first seal, the opening part of the Tribulation. Well, that leads into the second seal. We’ll just take a couple of these, and then we’ve got to get back into–no, only six minutes left. All right, so now you take the second seal.
Revelation 6:3-4a
“And when he had opened the second seal, I heard the second creature say, Come and see. 4. And there went out another horse (Another event in this seven year period of horror) that was red: (The first one was white, speaking of the counterfeit. But now here comes the red horse.) and power was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth,…” Well, what’s the opposite of peace? War! So, even though we just signed a seven-year peace treaty, seemingly, up in verse 2, this next event is the absence of peace. It’s going to have to be war.
Well, those of you who have heard me teach over the years, I feel that this is the great northern invasion of Ezekiel 38 and 39. It’s going to be headed up by Russia, and, I think, now as we see everything coming together so fast there in the Middle East, I think it will be Russia and the Muslim world.
They’re going to come together according to Ezekiel 38 and 39 and they’re going to invade Israel. But there’s an interesting little tidbit back there in Ezekiel 38. And that is that of all the Muslim nations that are listed as coming in with Russia, there is one that is glaringly absent. And who is it? Iraq. Babylon. They’re not in there. All the rest of them are. That’s why I’ve been saying now for the last year, this may not be Bush’s war after all. This is God’s war, because we have to get Iraq ready for–“Babylon, Babylon is fallen, that great city.”
Well, now what did that all depict back in the Book of Revelation here? That Babylon would be the great commercial center, not just one like a New York, but it’ll be the great commercial center. It’ll be a city so beautiful it’d knock your eyes out. But in the final hours of these seven years, it too is going to fall. And that’s what Revelation 18 says, “Babylon, Babylon is fallen, that great city.” And the sailors, I think they’re out on the Persian Gulf, will be able to see the smoke of its burning. And, oh, it’s coming so fast.
Now, you’ve got to stop and use some common sense. If all this begins to gel and we get peace in Iraq, they’ve got the second largest reserve of oil in the whole world. Now, if oil goes up to $70-$80-$90-$100 a barrel, can you imagine the wealth that will be flowing into Baghdad? It’s beyond human comprehension. Well you see, with that kind of money to play with, they’ll be able to build a city like mankind has never built before, and they’ll do it in probably less than a year. That’s what I’m looking for. I’m looking for this ancient city of Babylon to suddenly just blossom out there in the desert.
Old Saddam Hussein already had a pretty good start, you know, on some of his palaces out there. With all the oil money flowing into it, you just wait and see. Now, that’s my own idea. See, there’s one of those things. I don’t set that in concrete and say, this is what the Bible says. But I think I’m on the right track that this great war here in the “red horse” and in Ezekiel 38 and 39 will be that invasion of the Russians and the Muslim world. God will destroy them, of course, on the mountains of Israel.
Well, we’ll just take one or two more of these and then this half-hour is gone. Move on down to verse 5, the third seal. It, too, is a horse.
Revelation 6:5-6
“And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third creature say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand. 6. And I heard a voice in the midst of the four creatures say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine.”
Bible scholars tell us that these bits of income are enough for a workingman to survive for one day. But there’s going to be tremendous shortage of food or food grain – feed grains we call it. Because, I feel, of the results of this great Russian invasion, there will be a worldwide calamity on particularly the food production areas of the world – our Midwest, the Russian Ukraine, and The Steppes and so forth.
All of a sudden the great food production areas of the world are decimated, which I think will now be the advent of nuclear power. The world is now destitute of food. The big food producing areas are wiped out. Now you find that you have a pair of balances, which indicate food rationing. The multitudes of people that have already been killed will be in the major food producing areas. The rest of the world will enter into a time of shortage.
Well, then I would like to move on down with the few seconds I have left to the fourth one. When people think that the first part of the Tribulation is going to be a Sunday school picnic, they’d better think again. Look what the Scripture says. After this next horse has run its course, it takes us pretty much up into the seven years.
Revelation 6:8
“And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth.” One fourth of the world’s population is going to get wiped out in the first half of the Tribulation. So don’t ever think it’s going to be something rosy.