Through the Bible with Les Feldick
LESSON 2 * PART 3 * BOOK 77
CONNECTING THE DOTS OF SCRIPTURE – PART 43
Genesis – Revelation (The Kingdom)
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All right, Ezekiel chapter 47, and we’re going to continue on with the Old Testament prophecies concerning this time that is still future. We’ve been looking at all the horrors of the Tribulation in the past several tapings. That’s why we’re looking at the Kingdom now, because that’s the next event after the Battle of Armageddon. We’re going to be looking at the Second Coming of Christ, if not this afternoon, it’ll be in our next taping.
But here we’re still in the Old Testament promises concerning this glorious Heaven on earth Kingdom with the capital in Jerusalem. All right, in Ezekiel chapter 47, Ezekiel is describing the millennial throne in Jerusalem. I’m not going to take the time to go back to all that. But in the first verses of chapter 47, he’s speaking of the throne room in Jerusalem as being the headwaters of this gorgeous river that’s going to flow from Jerusalem to the Mediterranean to the West, and it’s also going to flow to the Dead Sea to the East.
Now, we’re going to pick up the one that flows east of the Dead Sea in Ezekiel 47 verse 7. Now get the picture. Christ is ruling from the throne room on Mt. Zion in Jerusalem. From underneath the throne room will come this fountain of fresh water—half going west to the Mediterranean and half going east to the Dead Sea.
Ezekiel 47:7-8
“Now when I had returned, behold, at the bank of the river were very many trees on the one side and the other. (in other words, on both sides of this river) 8. Then he said unto me, These waters issue out toward the east country, (That is from Jerusalem.) and go down into the desert, and go into the sea: (That is the Dead Sea.) which being brought forth into the sea, the waters (the Dead Sea waters) shall be healed.” Now, I think you are all aware that nothing lives in the Dead Sea today. Now verse 9:
Ezekiel 47:9a
“And it shall come to pass, that everything that liveth, which moveth, whithersoever the rivers shall come, shall live: and there shall be a very great multitude of fish, because these waters shall come thither:…” In other words, this freshening water supply coming from this river out of Jerusalem will actually generate the Dead Sea into a fresh water sea, and all the fish will begin to be in its habitat.
Ezekiel 47:9b-10a
“…and there shall be a very great multitude of fish, because these waters shall come thither: for they shall be healed; and every thing shall live whither the river cometh. 10. And it shall come to pass,…”You know, I love those words—just simply because it flies in the face of most of humanity. They doubt these things, and they think that we’re just grasping at something.
But listen, as I’ve been saying for the last six months every place I go. When it says it’s going to happen, then it’s going to happen! You can just rest on it. And we’re getting closer and closer every day. My goodness, when you see what’s going on in the world and the things that are almost – like I told Iris, I’m not one to worry, but I am getting a little bit concerned even about our own beloved America. Because, you see, everything is so fragile.
If anything collapses, the whole thing goes. I trust you all know that. And all of a sudden our abundance might be anything “but.” So, I’m all for—you’d better get a little garden ready. You’d better start some home garden, because it could happen overnight. But anyway, when the Book says that–“And it shall come to pass,” we can see the handwriting is on the wall. We’re getting closer and closer.
Now, after the Dead Sea becomes fresh water and filled with fish, well, what follows? Fishermen! And here we come in the next verse.
Ezekiel 47:10a
“And it shall come to pass, that the fishers shall stand upon it from En-gedi…” Now, those of you that have been there, En-gedi is a park. It’s a Jewish wildlife park on the west side of the highway. On the east side is the Dead Sea where you usually go swimming. It’s a resort area now. That’s En-gedi.
Ezekiel 47:10b
“…from En-gedi even unto En-eglaim; they shall be a place to spread forth nets; their fish (They’re going to be catching fish.) shall be according to their kinds, as the fish of the great sea, exceeding many.” The Mediterranean—this renovated Dead Sea is going to produce fish like you won’t believe. And that’s all part of this regeneration of the planet. The places that were cursed the worst are going to be the most blessed.
Now, let’s move on into a little different prophetic view in Daniel. Daniel is going to show how that this Kingdom cannot come in until the King sets everything straight. Come in at Daniel chapter 2. It’s a portion of Scripture that many of you have heard taught from other Bible teachers. You’ve heard it from me. This is the vision from the dream of Nebuchadnezzar.
Daniel chapter 2 and let’s start at verse 31. I think you all remember the story. The King had a dream and couldn’t remember what it was. He was about to put all his magicians to death because they couldn’t figure it out for him, but they told him about this Jew that maybe could do the job. So he calls up Daniel. And Daniel, of course, by the miraculous power of his God, is able to not only recover the dream but interpret it. And here we are in Daniel chapter 2 verse 31. Daniel is speaking and he says:
Daniel 2:31-33
“Thou, O king, sawest, and behold a great image. (or likeness) This great image, whose brightness was excellent, stood before thee; and the form thereof was terrible. (or frightening) 32. This image’s head was of fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass, 33. His legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay.”
Now, we know from previous studies that this great image was a preview of prophecy concerning the Gentile empires that would be coming down the pipe of history. We’ve always shown it before that the head of gold was Babylon—the first great Gentile Empire in human history—Nebuchadnezzar. And he told Nebuchadnezzar “thou art this head of gold.”
The next part of the image coming down to the chest area of silver was indicative of the next empire, which was the Medes and the Persians. And you remember the Medes and the Persians blocked off the Euphrates River. The Babylonians were caught sleeping, and the Medes and Persian army came in on the dry river and just simply overwhelmed the Babylonians in a minute of time.
Then the next empire that usurped the Medes and the Persians was Alexander the Great—the Greek Empire. And that, of course, is indicated by the belly of brass. The Greek’s only held forth two or three hundred years, and then here come the Romans—the fourth great Gentile Empire. And Rome not only defeated the Greeks, but enlarged their Empire. And then we have another extension of this image, and that is down to his feet and toes. Here we have, especially the toes, designated as part iron and part clay.
Now, we know from our study of prophecy that these great empires all came in their prophetic order. First the Babylonians, then the Medes, then the Greeks and then the Romans—and Christ was rejected and crucified under the Roman Empire. But, the prophecy stopped, and the clock stopped.
And instead of carrying on as our timeline shows—instead of this timeline just keeping right on going after the crucifixion and the ascension, then the Tribulation and the Second Coming and the Kingdom—it stopped after His ascension. We have the rise of the Apostle Paul, and in comes where we have been for 2,000 years—what we call the Dispensation of Grace, the Church Age. This Church Age is made up of mostly Gentiles who have believed for salvation that Jesus died for their sins, was buried, and rose again.
We feel we’re right out here at the final days of it. We don’t know, but it certainly seems that way. We have to be taken out of the way, because this Body of Christ will not fit with the prophecy from the Old Testament. This is totally separated from all of this. So now we’re over here at the end of the Church Age, at this point in time on this timeline. We’re waiting for the Rapture, for the removal of the Body of Christ. Then the next event is still like it is up here – the Tribulation, the Second Coming, and the Kingdom in that order.
And all of this is unfolding, because we’ve seen these same four Empires back in the news now every day—the same four Empires. Babylon of course is Iraq. I’ve said for the last three years—this is not Bush’s war; this is God’s war, because Iraq has to be made ready for the end time. Now, if you want to see Iraq in the end time—I didn’t intend to do this, either. That’s why I get off schedule. I shouldn’t do this, but I have to. That’s my way of teaching.
Come back with me to Revelation 18. Oh, my goodness, jump in at verse one. I was going to go all the way over to verse 9, but let’s start at verse 1. Now, why am I doing this? Because of what I just said—this Iraqi war is God’s war. It’s getting the Middle East ready for the Second Coming. This is why I feel it has to be the way it is, because – now why do we do this? You all know that Iraq has the second greatest supply of oil of any nation on earth—greater than anybody except maybe Saudi Arabia. All it needs is the right kind of people to come in and put it into production and get it shipped out. Well, that oil is at a hundred and some dollars a barrel. Can you imagine the wealth that gives that little country? And you see, when you’ve got money, you can do anything.
Now, I maintain that once all the dust settles, Iraq will start pumping oil like you won’t believe. They will, just wait. It’ll happen. All that money, it’s already accumulating, you know. All that money will be spent to rebuild the ancient city of Babylon. And this is what you see here in Revelation. Now, when they’ve got the money, they’ll be able to build a city of two or three hundred thousand population in less than a year’s time. They did it over in the Emirates in the little city called Dubai. I’m sure that you’ve all been seeing a little bit about Dubai. Unbelievable! Manmade lakes and golf courses out there on what was nothing but pure sand. Well, how did they do it? Money! Well, all right, if Iraq ends up with all these jillions of oil dollars, this can happen almost overnight. Okay, here we come, Revelation 18 verse 1.
Revelation 18:1-2a
“And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory. 2. And the angel cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen,…” Now, when I taught this ten years ago, I put the word Babylon here as connecting all the global systems of the world, not just Babylon alone. All the great financial centers and the whole globalized economies in the world are now going to be under the control of the anti-Christ, and it’s going to fall. That’s what this chapter is all about, the end of this great Gentile financial empire.
Revelation 18:2b-3
“…Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and this is become the habitation of demons, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird. 3. For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich (Money, money, money—that’s all they can think about.) through the abundance of her delicacies.”
Revelation 18:4-5
“And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. 5. For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.” Verse 7:
Revelation 18:7-8
“How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her: for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, (She’s a big, new, beautiful city—but don’t forget all the other financial centers of the world are all tied together. It’s not just this one city alone. But on the other hand, it has to be a city, because it’s spoken of as such.) and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow. 8. Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, (This will be at the Second Coming of Christ. This is what we’re building up to out of our Old Testament study today.) death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her.”
Now, coming down to verse 9, I think we identify the city in particular. Don’t forget, it’s going to be Paris and Berlin and London and New York and Chicago and San Francisco; and you just go all around the globe. They’re all tied together in our globalized economies. But here sits the queen of them all.
Revelation 18:9-11
“And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication and lived deliciously with her, shall bewail her, and lament for her, when they shall see the smoke of her burning, 10. Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come. 11. And the merchants of the earth shall weep, and mourn over her; for no man buyeth their merchandise anymore:” And look at their commodities.
Revelation 18:12
“The merchandise of gold, and silver, and precious stones, and of pearls, and fine linen, and purple, and silk, and scarlet, and all thyine wood, and all manner vessels of ivory, (all the things of the wealthy society of this globalized economy) and all manner vessels of most precious wood, and of brass, and iron, and marble.” Now, come all the way down to verse 16.
Revelation 18:16-18
“And saying, Alas, alas, that great city, that was clothed in fine linen, and purple, and scarlet, and decked with gold, and precious stones, and pearls! 17. For in one hour (Now, I’m a literalist. This is going to just be almost instantaneous.) so great riches is come to nothing. And every shipmaster, (Which I feel will be down on the Persian Gulf.) and all the company in ships, and sailors, and as many as trade by sea, stood afar off, 18. And cried when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, What city is like unto this great city!”
Well, I think again, all the petrol dollars are being accumulated, and it’s going to rise up out of the dust—the most beautiful city the world has probably ever seen. The Gardens of Nebuchadnezzar will be put to shame by what they’ll be able to do with all this oil money. And if you doubt me, you just go to the internet or whatever, and you look up the city Dubai – D u b a i – and it is unbelievable. They’ve built all that in just a short period of time. See, Ike knows what I’m talking about. And that’s just a little foretaste of what I think they’ll do in Iraq.
Well, back to Daniel 2. I didn’t plan to do that. Here we have the great Gentile Empires. Starting with Nebuchadnezzar back there in 606 B.C. and ending with the Roman Empire at the time of Christ. All right, about 300 and some years after Christ’s death, the Roman Empire disappeared into the dustbin of human history. But now here we are. That’s where I left off. Iraq is back in the news every day. That’s ancient Babylon. It is the same place.
All right, the next empire was the Medes and the Persians. Well, who’s Persia? Iran. And if you don’t know that Iran is in the news every day, you’ve got your head in the dirt someplace. All right, then what’s the next one? Syria. And Syria is in the news now every day. Getting closer, I think, to a confrontation with Israel. So that brings us up to the fourth empire, which was Rome. What’s the present day Roman Empire? The European Union.
And like I think I shared in the last taping. Way back when the European Union was still in its infancy, I told my Bible classes that someday they would have their own currency. I didn’t know what they’d call it. And I said you just watch that. After it finally gets on the world currency markets, it’ll just gradually go right up past the American dollar. And that’s where it is today. I think it’s up to about a dollar and a half or more for a dollar. And it’s all right here.
So, now we are at that point in history where all these Old Testament Gentile Empires are back in the news. They’ve all got a role of one sort or another. Now, let’s continue on reading in Daniel. So I can at least finish this part of it before this program ends. Now then, verse 34 of Daniel 2, after laying out these four empires, with a fifth made of ten toes, which I feel is the European Community. It’s a revived Roman Empire.
Daniel 2:34
“Thou sawest (he tells the king) till that a stone was cut out without hands,…” Now, I’m thinking that someday I may make an afternoon, or at least program or two, on all the references throughout Scripture where Christ is the “Rock” or the “Stone.” I think it’s enough for an afternoon. But over and over Christ is referred to as the Stone or the Rock.
You remember when Moses struck the Rock? Who was the Rock? Well, it was Christ. All right, here we have a Stone depicted in this prophecy, but what’s unique about this Stone? It’s cut out without hands. So, what is it? It’s a supernatural boulder. A huge boulder! That’s what we want to be putting in our imagination. Here comes this huge boulder with which human effort has nothing to do whatsoever. It’s a miraculous thing. Now read on.
Daniel 2:34
“Thou sawest till that a stone (Which is a reference to Christ; but in its symbolism, it’s a boulder.) was cut out without hands, who smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces.” Now remember, the image is standing upright. The head is Nebuchadnezzar, the chest and then the legs and the feet.
Now, when this boulder comes and strikes that image on its feet, what’s the natural result? It’s going to tip over. As it tips over, what does that boulder do to the statue? Crushes it. Grinds it to powder. That’s the symbolism. What’s the reality? When Christ comes, the powers that be that the anti-Christ is going to be coming out of and is going to use as base will be the European, the Revived Roman Empire. That’s going to be the base of it all. All these other empires’ influences are still with us, but they’re all going to be crushed with the Second Coming of Christ. Now, you got the picture?
All right, so he “strikes the image upon his feet,” which is the Revived Roman Empire, out of which the anti-Christ is ruling the world. But all the influences of the Persians and the Syrians and the Greeks and so forth are still evident. But they’re all going to come under that rolling Stone.
Daniel 2:34b-35a
“…which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces. 35. Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together,…” See where we’re going? We’re going from feet to legs, to the belly, to the chest, to the head. And it’s going to be utterly ground to pieces together.
Daniel 2:35b-35c
“…and became like the chaff of the summer threshing-floors; and the wind carried them away, (Which means what? There’s no more evidence of them. They’re completely wiped off the planet—everything pertaining to them.) that no place was found for them: (But now, that’s not the end. What’s the next part of the statement?) and the stone (Jesus Christ in His Second Coming) that smote the image became a great (kingdom) mountain (in the King James), and filled the whole earth.”
All right, now we’ve got to make one more reference. I’m not through in Daniel. I may come back next half hour. I don’t know. But now, come over quickly in the minute we have left to Zechariah. This is the next to the last book in your Old Testament. Zechariah—because I want you to see how the language is exactly the same. Daniel depicts this great Kingdom as filling the whole earth, not just the Middle East, not just Israel. It’s going to be an earthly Kingdom covering the whole earth. All right, Zechariah 14, again, I’ve got to watch my time. I think I’ve got time.
Here are the closing stages of the Tribulation as we saw it in our last taping. When everything is going to be utterly reduced to nothing, so that God can start out with a totally cleansed earth. All right, then verse 3:
Zechariah 14:3-4a
“Then shall the LORD go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle. 4. And his feet (His Second Coming) shall stand in that day upon the Mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east,…”
All right, now skip across the page, at least in my Bible, to verse 9. Here we’ll have to close. Now verse 9, and look at the identical words that we saw in Daniel.
Zechariah 14:9
“And the LORD shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one LORD, and his name one.” And that Kingdom is going to fill the earth from one end to the other, and it’s going to be like the Garden of Eden.