Through the Bible with Les Feldick
LESSON 3 * PART 4 * BOOK 71
ANTI-CHRIST: THE BEAST, THE WICKED ONE – 4
Daniel 9:27 – Revelation 19:11
So good to have everyone back in today. All we want people to do is see what the Book says. And hopefully, hopefully you’ll not just blind yourselves to one denomination. If they’re on track, fine, but a lot of them aren’t. You have to determine that by searching the Scriptures.
Our last several programs we’ve been dealing with the Day of the LORD, those final seven years. They can scoff at it all they want, but the Book says it’s going to happen. And if the Book says it – it’s going to happen! I just have to keep repeating that. And a lot of them now are starting to scorn this. Even theologians are saying that all this is long in the past. It’s all been fulfilled.
And I have to say – when? When? None of this has ever happened before. If it hasn’t happened before, it’s still out in the future. I read one article again the other night that since Jesus came back there in A.D. 70 and then …blah, blah, blah. What? Jesus returned in A.D. 70??? Yeah, that’s what’s out there. So, I have to just encourage you to stop and think. Did anything happen historically that all of this is referring to? No. So it’s still out in front of us.
Anyway, now we’re going to do something a little different. We’ve been looking at these seven years, not in depth but just enough to whet your appetite. On this half hour, we’re going to look how it’s all going to end. It’s only going to go seven years. What happens at the end of the seven years? All right, we’re going to look at Revelation chapter 19 and verse 11. This is the Second Coming of Christ.
Revelation 19:11
“And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness (Not with all the satanic wickedness of the anti-Christ, but this Christ will come in righteousness.) he doth judge and make war.” For the purpose of defeating the wicked, God-opposing anti-Christ in his world. All right, verse 12:
Revelation 19:12-13
“His eyes (The Messiah’s, the Christ’s) were as (Now, it doesn’t say they were, but they were like burning) flames of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written that no man knew, but he himself. 13. And he was clothed with the vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God.” Now, put verse 13 in your computer for just a few seconds. We’re going to come back to it.
Revelation 19:15a
“And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword,…” Now wait a minute! Don’t picture Him with a Roman sword or a dagger in His teeth, but again, compare Scripture with Scripture. What is the Sword of the Lord? The Word of God! So, He speaks and things happen.
Revelation 19:15-16
“And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it (the spoken Word now, remember) he should smite the nations: (plural) and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: (When He sets up his kingdom following all this.) and he (Now we come back into the seven years again.) treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. 16. And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.”
Now, if you’ve got a translation that capitalizes all that, every time I see this I have to think of the other time when Rome put a caption above Him and what was theirs? “THIS IS JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS.” But this is “KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.” And He’s going to rule and reign on this planet like it’s never been ruled before.
But, before He sets up His Kingdom and before He establishes His rule, He’s going to finish the punishment of wicked mankind. Now remember, when we started this several programs back, we used the analogy of a mortgage. Satan has had the planet mortgaged ever since Adam dropped the ball when he disobeyed. And how is God going to pay off the mortgage? With the horrors of these last seven years. Judgment. Chastisement. Vengeance. And wrath.
All right, it’s going to be depicted in several areas of Scripture as “grapes in a wine-vat.” We’ve been over in Jerusalem, and it was interesting. And I guess things like that sit in my mind. They had an ancient wine-vat which had been carved out of stone, and they gave a demonstration of how that they would put their teenage kids in that wine-vat and they would stomp the grapes and the juice ran out the bottom. Well all right, that’s the same analogy of Scripture, so far as God’s final judgment on this planet is concerned.
Now we’re going to jump back from Revelation. I’m going to take you all the way back to Isaiah chapter 63. This is the beauty of Scripture. And then they have the wherewithal to ridicule this and say it’s just a bunch of myths and legends, when it’s written hundreds, if not thousands, of years apart. And it all fits. How can they? That’s what makes this Book what it is. Isaiah 63, written 700 years before Christ. We’re going to start at verse 1. And just let the Scriptures speak to you.
Isaiah 63:1
“Who is this that cometh from Edom,…” Now you’ve got to know your Middle East geography a little bit. Edom was down there south of the Dead Sea, southwest of Israel. Not all that far, maybe a hundred miles, but here is where evidently His Second Coming is going to begin. He’s going to start down there to the southwest, and He’s going to be moving up towards the Nation of Israel.
Isaiah 63:1-2
“Who is this that cometh from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah? this that is glorious in his apparel, traveling in the greatness of his strength? I that speak in righteousness, mighty to save. (And so the prophet asks,) 2. Wherefore art thou red in thine apparel, and thy garments like him that (What?) treadeth in the wine-vat?”
So, what’s the color of His outer clothing? Grape juice. Like He’d been treading in the wine-vat. But, there’s another commodity that has the same color, and what is it? Blood. So, here we have the analogy then that His garments are literally stained with blood like the treader of grapes in the wine-vat is stained with grape juice. There’s the comparison. All right, now let’s read on, verse 3.
Isaiah 63:3a
“(The Coming Christ answers) I have trodden the winepress alone; (He hasn’t had others to help Him.) and of the people there was none with me; for I will tread them (That is humanity – now keep the analogy of the wine-vat, don’t lose that.) in mine anger,…” Now here again, let me compare Scripture with Scripture.
Keep your hand in Revelation and Isaiah. Now, come all the way back to Psalms chapter 2, which we use over and over and over. I used it at the beginning of this series. I want you to see how language fits all the way through. Psalms chapter 2, dropping in at verse 4. The human race, Jew and Gentile together, have rejected the Messiah, and then verse 4 of Psalms 2.
Psalms 2:4-5
“He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them (that is humanity) in derision. 5. Then (The day is coming. That’s a time word.) shall he speak unto them in his (What?) wrath, (Not love. Not Grace. Wrath! What’s the other word for wrath? Anger, fury just like you just saw in Isaiah.) he shall speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure.” What does that mean? He’s just utterly going to crush them. Okay, come back to Isaiah.
Isaiah 63:3b
“…for I will tread them in mine anger, and trample them in my fury; and their blood shall be sprinkled upon my garments, (That’s why they were stained.) and I will stain all my raiment.” Fromexercising the wrath and vexation of God on Christ rejecting humanity.
Now, I better to stop a minute. Are people going to be prone to say that God is unfair? Yeah, they will! They’ll say this is supposed to be a God of love, a God of mercy. It doesn’t sound like it to me. No, His mercy is ended.
He has now given mankind 6,000 years of His Grace, and they walk it underfoot. And the further we go, the more they hate Him, the more they detest Him. Even our beloved nation, what we’ve always thought was Christian, is getting further and further from it every day. And do you think God is going to let us get away from it? No way. In fact, I had a caller yesterday that asked, “What was the meaning of the parable of the pounds?”
Well, it’s really simple. We call it, to whom much is given, much is what? Required. And that’s what the parable means: “To whom He gave ten pounds, He required something that was comparable to it in return. To whom He gave five, He expected something less.” Well all right, the same way in nations.
America has been so blessed. We have had such a spiritual background in our nation. And what are we doing with it? Walking it underfoot, we’re despising it. I’ve said it for thirty years. When judgment comes, America is going to suffer the worst of all because we’ve been the most blessed. We’re the most privileged. We’ve been given the most “pounds” according to the parable. So it behooves us to be aware of that. All right, back to Isaiah 63 and verse 4.
Isaiah 63:4a
“For the day of vengeance is in mine heart,…” Now, that brings up another thought. When some of the religions of the world hate Christians and they persecute them and put them to death, do we as a Christian people respond in kind? No! That’s why it’s so difficult. They can come and kill Christians, and we can’t load up our 30.06’s and shoot them in the back as they leave. That’s totally contrary to our concept of Godliness. The whole difference between Christianity and the other religions of the world is our whole foundation of everything is love. Not hate. Not vengeance. The other religions can say if they oppose you – kill them. We can’t do that. That’s why we have to fight with our hands tied behind our backs. We can’t respond in kind.
In fact a verse in Romans comes to mind. Keep your hand in Isaiah. Keep your hand in Revelation. Let’s look at Romans a minute to get an idea that, yes, the day is coming when God is going to speak in vengeance like the world has never seen, but that’s not the way Christianity operates today. Romans chapter 12 and always remember this. We can’t respond in kind. We can’t respond by killing our enemies. We’re to love them, but yes, that’s working with your hands tied behind your back. But we know that God is in control. All right, you got Romans chapter 12 verse 17, this is our modus operandi.
Romans 12:17-20
“Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men. 18. If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men. 19. Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, (We don’t take vengeance on our enemies.) but rather give place unto wrath: (that is of the enemy) for it is written, (Here it comes now.) Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord. 20. Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals fire on his head.”
All right, when the Lord finally pours out wrath and vexation and judgment, it’s only because they’ve rejected Him for 6,000 years, and His patience has finally run out. And it will be a judgment that is just and fair. He will not have abrogated the whole idea of love one iota. All right, back to Isaiah 63.
This is the end of the Day of the LORD. This is the Second Coming. But it’s going to be preceded with wrath and vexation on the human race, verse 4 again.
Isaiah 63:4-6
“For the day of vengeance is in mine heart, and the year of my redeemed is come. 5. And I looked, and there was none to help; and I wondered that there was none to uphold: therefore mine own arm brought salvation unto me; and my fury, it upheld me. 6. And I will tread down the people in mine anger, and make them drunk in my fury, and I will bring down their strength to the earth.”
All right, now in that same light, let’s look at Jeremiah, since we’re back in the Old Testament anyway. Jeremiah chapter 25 verse 30, a totally different prophet writing a hundred years later. And he doesn’t write because of what he read in Isaiah. He writes by the same inspiration of the Holy Spirit that the others write, and he makes the same analogy.
Jeremiah 25:30
“Therefore prophesy thou against them all these words, and say unto them, The LORD (Now that’s God the Son. That’s Jesus Christ in the Old Testament language.) shall roar from on high, (This is His Second Coming, now.) and utter his voice from his holy habitation; (Here it comes!) he shall mightily roar upon his habitation; he shall give a shout, as they that tread the grapes, against all the inhabitants of the earth.”
All right, now let’s go all the way back, if you will again, to Revelation chapter 14. Now we can drop in at verse 14. And remember, this is all at the end of the Day of the LORD, although we can call the Kingdom’s 1,000 years as part of it. But this is the end of the vengeance and the wrath, the seven years of Tribulation.
Revelation 14:14-15
“And I looked and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud one sat like unto the Son of man, (Now remember, that’s a reference to Christ in His earthly ministry for sure.) having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle. 15. And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to him who sat on the cloud, Thrust in thy sickle, (Which speaks of harvest, doesn’t it?) and reap: for the time is come for thee to reap; for the harvest of the earth is ripe.” Now, if you look in the Greek, it is almost over-ripe. It’s beyond the normal.
Revelation 14:16
“And he that sat on a cloud thrust in his sickle on the earth; and the earth was reaped.” It was harvested. Now, of course, we’re going to be looking at the grapevine and literally taking off the lumps of grapes and throwing them into the wine-vat.
Revelation 14:17-18
“And another angel came out of the temple which is in heaven, he also having a sharp sickle. 18. And another angel came out from the altar, which had power over fire; and cried with a loud cry to him who had the sharp sickle, saying, Thrust in thy sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth; for her grapes are fully ripe.”
Now, what does the vine always speak of? Grapes—in Scripture, but the grapes in this instance are what? Humanity. That’s the analogy. Thrust in your sickle and gather the humanity that is ready for judgment. The Book of Revelation has told us earlier that the worse things got the more they blasphemed. They don’t repent. They don’t turn and say, “God, what would you have me to do?” They blaspheme all the more.
All right, so God continues now to bring in His wrath and vexation. He gathers humanity just like the husbandman would gather the grapes and cast them into the wine-vat. Now verse 19:
Revelation 14:19
“And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of God.” Now, this isn’t Grace! This isn’t mercy! This isn’t love! This is judgment. And it’s coming. The world is getting more prepared for it every day. All right, so He brings it into the great winepress of the wrath of God. Now in verse 20 we get a picture of where this symbolic wine-vat is.
Revelation 14:20a
“And the winepress was trodden without the city…” Well, what city is Scripture always focused on? Jerusalem! So now we’re talking about the homeland of Israel.
Now, here I’m going to put in my own projection. I’m thinking that the winepress of humanity will be the valleys of Israel. Now, there are three or four great valleys in the little land of Israel. You’ve got the Hula Valley up north of Galilee. You’ve got the Valley of Sharon around the eastern end of the Mediterranean. You’ve got the Valley of Megiddo that runs from Mount Carmel toward Galilee. And then you have the Jordan Valley that runs all the way down to the Dead Sea.
All right, now the way I look at this is that the generals of the anti-Christ’s armies will bring in their millions. And they will pack them into these valleys of Israel. Now again, like I say, this is my own projection. But I think I’m as close as you can get. Remember, we’re in a period of time when God is now in control of everything. The anti-Christ is now under His judgment and all his armies. I think God is going to cause the generals of these armies to put their armies into these valleys of Israel contrary to any ounce of common sense. They’re going to just pack them in like sardines.
Now picture them: the Hula Valley to the north, the Valley of Sharon along the Mediterranean Sea Coast, the Valley of Megiddo in the middle, and the Jordan Valley down here. They all, more or less, geographically interconnect. Pack them with millions of troops of the world’s armies. This is Armageddon. And God is going to crush them like grapes in a wine-vat. Now finish the verse.
Revelation 14:20
“And the winepress was trodden without the city, (Or outside the city of Jerusalem, because Jerusalem sits on hills, you know.) and blood came out of the winepress, (Picture my valleys.) and blood came out of the winepress, even unto the horse bridles, (Three feet? Four feet deep? And that is going to cause a river of blood.) by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs.” A river of blood about 180 miles long.
All right, you say, how in the world can it happen? Well, skip across to chapter 16 and this is how I think, I can’t prove this from Scripture, but I think I’m showing the connection that the final judgment that is going to fall on the planet earth is now described here. I think I’ve got time to go all the way up to verse 19 of chapter 16. We’re bringing it down to the final hours of this seven years and the Second Coming of Christ.
Revelation 16:19
“And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: (New York, London, San Francisco, Chicago, they’re all going to fall.) the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, (That’s, again, the reason I think Iraq may come down and yet blossom out of the desert and be a great financial center for all this.) and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine (There are your grapes again.) of the fierceness of his wrath.” And here comes what I call the crushing element of the grape-vat, these valleys full of men.
Revelation 16:21
“And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven, every stone about the weight of a talent: (or a hundred pounds) and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail; for the plague thereof was exceeding great.” What have you got? The crushing element of these valleys full of men.