Through the Bible with Les Feldick
LESSON 3 * PART 2 * BOOK 77
CONNECTING THE DOTS OF SCRIPTURE – PART 46
Genesis – Revelation (Eternity)
Okay, it’s good to see everybody back after a break. We’ll go into program number two for this afternoon. We’re going to continue connecting the dots of Scripture. Those of you joining us again, we want to thank you for your prayers, your letters, your financial help, and everything. And for those of you here in the studio, my, how we appreciate you coming in every month.
Now again, we’re just going to pick right up where we left off in the last taping. I think Jerry has titled this one “Eternity.” When I review the programs, I think sometimes I waste too much time, so we’re going to get right back into it. We’re going to start in Revelation chapter 19 at the Second Coming of Christ.
Now, if you remember, for the last several programs we were talking about the Tribulation and the horrors of it. And how by the end of the Tribulation, all the wrath and vexation of God will have utterly destroyed planet Earth as we know it. Out of that will come, then, a renewed Garden of Eden-like planet that will be made ready for the millennium, or the thousand-year reign of Christ. We’re going to look at that a little bit this afternoon. But the millennium begins, of course, with the Second Coming of Christ.
Oh, by the way, Iris wants me to let our television audience know we still have some of these Q & A books. I don’t mind advertising them, because they are a blessing. Everybody that gets one just loves our Question & Answer Book. It’s still available. It will be the best $11.00 you will ever spend. They make wonderful gifts.
All right, Revelation 19 and we’re going to begin at verse 11. Now, before the guys flip the board, remember that this is what we’ve been talking about for the last, oh, I don’t know how many programs. That this parenthetical period of time that we had in our last half hour program is made up of these various doctrines of the Apostle Paul – what he calls the Revelation of the Mysteries. That’s why we’ve left it on the board. So that if you haven’t caught them all, you can at least be reminded that these mysteries are only found in Paul’s Epistles and nowhere else.
That’s why I’m always emphasizing Paul’s Apostleship, and 90% of Christendom never reads Paul. They never look at his letters, and that’s where we find the message for salvation and the Rapture of the Church and all the other mysteries concerning the Body of Christ!
I can tell from our audiences that they never get to hear Paul’s letters in Sunday school and Church. They say, “Why don’t we get anything from Paul?” Well, get on your Pastor. Tell him to get to where the things are really meant for us, but they won’t do it. I’m aware of that.
All right, Revelation 19—the Second Coming is going to be the final event of those seven years of wrath and vexation and will usher in the thousand years of Christ’s reign. Verse 11:
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 he doth judge and make war.” In other words, God never does anything out of anger or getting even. No vengeance, as such, it’s simply the result of man’s rejection of His offer of love and mercy and grace. Verse 12:
Revelation 19:12-13
“His eyes (speaking of Jesus the Christ at His Second Coming, now) were as a flame 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 a vesture dipped (or sprinkled or splattered) in blood: and his name is called The Word of God.” Which, of course, is a perfect fit with John’s Gospel chapter 1.
Revelation 19:14-15a
“And the armies who were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. 15. And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations:…” Now as I’m reading, I’m thinking. A lot of these things come up, and I really don’t intend to do. But, you see, there is a difference of opinion, and I don’t mind that. I don’t mind that people disagree with me. And on some things, I just sit on the fence. In fact, my answer with people is getting more and more, “Hey, let’s wait until we get there! And then we won’t have to argue. We’ll know.”
Now, the question that is coming up more and more is—Is the Body of Christ going to return with Christ at His Second Coming, or will we be eternally set in the heavenlies? Now, of course, there is a large group of people that think we will be strictly heavenly bound and heavenly abode; and yet, you see, when I come to a verse like this—this is why I had to stop. When I come to a verse like this, I have to think that maybe we will be with Him at His Second Coming, even though we may later on go back up. Because don’t forget, when we get into the eternal state, time will mean nothing. In other words, when Jesus went from Earth to Heaven, and He came back, He ascended again to Heaven. Well, was that millions and millions and millions of miles that He had to traverse? Well, if it was, He did it instantly. So, never confine yourself once we get into the eternal that, oh, it can’t happen. Oh, yes, it can. All right, now here’s what made me stop. I sure didn’t plan to do this. Verse 14:
Revelation 19:14
“And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean.” Now think. Who can be the armies in Heaven? I think (this is why I’m on the fence), I think this is a reference to the Body of Christ. Not angels.
It can’t be the Old Testament Saints, because they’re not going to be resurrected until 75 days later, remember. Here’s what puts me in a dilemma. On the one hand, yes, I think we’re going to be with Christ at His Second Coming, and I think that we may have something to do with the Kingdom. Now, I know that’s going to rile a lot of people. But I just tell them, hey, disagree with me lovingly, as I’m not setting it concrete. I’m not being obstinate. I’m just saying, now wait a minute, we’ve got to think these things through.
Come back with me to Romans. This is another portion that nobody that I read has ever addressed to my satisfaction. And again, I’m not going to claim that I’ve got the answer, because a lot of these things are debatable. No doubt about it. We have that freedom. And when we get there, we’re going to find out who was right and who was wrong. All right, but in Romans chapter 8, here’s another portion of Scripture that I just can’t throw aside and say, no, that doesn’t mean us, it means somebody else. No, it means us.
Romans 8 verse 18, now Paul is writing, so he’s writing to us members of the Body of Christ.
Romans 8:18-19
“For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in (or to) us. 19. For the earnest expectation of the creation (That is all the animal kingdom, the birds, and everything on creation.) is waiting for the manifestation of the children of God.” Well, now go back up to verses 14, 15, and 16. And let’s establish—who are the Children of God that Paul is talking about? Well, it’s us, see? It’s us! Verse 14:
Romans 8:14-17
“For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the children of God. 15. For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. (Because we’re His child.) 16. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: 17. And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.” All right, now back down to where we were in verse 19.
Romans 8:19
“For the earnest expectation (of all) of the creation (At the end of the Tribulation and the horrors of it, what are they waiting for?) waiteth for the manifestation of the children of God.” That’s us. Well, how else could we be manifested except to be with Him at His coming. Now, that’s the way I have to look at it. All right, read on:
Romans 8:20-21
“For the creation was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope. 21. Because the creation itself shall also be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of (Whom?) the children of God.” Who were the children of God? The Body of Christ. Now, I can’t separate that. But kind of leave it. If you read an article tomorrow that refutes what I’m saying, don’t get angry. Just say, “Well, that’s one way of looking at it.”
Now, I have to give you another one, if I can find it quickly. I’m thinking of all this while I’m talking, you want to remember. Back here in Revelation 19—it’s not only here that I have a question, where the armies which are in Heaven are clothed in fine linen. Well, that can’t be anybody, I don’t think, except the Body of Christ. Now, I’m not going to take time to look for the other one. Like I said, this is all off-the-cuff anyway. But come back to Revelation 19, at least I want to get people to think. You don’t have to agree with me, but think.
Revelation 19:14a
“And the armies which were in heaven…” And I just can’t see that as angels, then it would have said angels. It can’t be the Old Testament saints, because like I said, they’re not resurrected until 75 days later, remember. That’s Daniel chapter 12, in case you have to look it up. All right, verse 15:
Revelation 19:15a
“And out of his (that is out of Christ’s) mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: (And remember that Hebrews tells us the Word of the Lord is a what? A two-edged sword. So we’re not talking about a metal sword here. We’re talking about the spoken Word that will come from the mouth of the Lord Jesus Christ at His Second Coming.) and he shall rule them (future—in the coming 1,000 years) with a rod of iron:…” And then coming back to the final days of the Tribulation which we looked at in a previous program. When I feel He will use the 100 pound hailstones, you remember, to crush those millions and millions of people gathered in the valleys of Israel. All right, then verse 16:
Revelation 19:16
“And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.” Now you see, there’s His full title. And He’s going to set up His Kingdom. All right, as a result of the horrors of those closing months of the seven years of Tribulation, come on up to verse 17.
Revelation 19:17
“And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come (Now these are birds of prey—the vultures and the eagles and what have you.) and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God;” Now, do I have to compare Scripture? Yes.
Come back with me again to Jeremiah chapter 25 and drop in at verse 31. Because I sometimes think when I read these verses that people just—well….maybe….but maybe not. This is what is coming. And I read an article again the other day of all the thousands of nuclear weapons that are just waiting to be exploded. And we’re getting closer and closer to it every day.
All right, by the end of the Tribulation I think they’re all going to be used, just like a string of firecrackers. And this will be the end result. Verse 31:
Jeremiah 25:31-32
“A noise shall come even to the ends of the earth; for the LORD hath a controversy with the nations, (All of them. Not just Israel now, we’re dealing with the whole.) he will plead with all flesh; he will give them that are wicked to the sword, saith the LORD. 32. Thus saith the LORD of hosts, (The same Lord that we’re reading about at His Second Coming.) Behold, evil shall go forth from nation to nation, and a great whirlwind shall be raised up from the borders of the earth.”
Jeremiah 25:33
“And the slain of the LORD (By the millions, beloved, millions, billions are going to be losing their lives.) shall be at that day from one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth: they shall not be lamented, neither gathered, nor buried; they shall be dung (or road kill) upon the ground.” Everywhere you look, dead bodies. It’s going to be awful.
All right, back to Revelation. And you know one of the amazing things of the last few years, and I’ve had more than one person call some of the wildlife people to see if this is true. All around the planet, there is a great increase in the birth rate of these birds of prey. The first one I read about, probably about 10 years ago, was one of the vulture types, I think, that was in the Middle East. They normally had two eggs in their nest, but were now having four. And same way here in America, a lot of the species that we call vultures and birds of prey are increasing by leaps and bounds. And, of course, they are under protection. Nobody can kill them. And it’s all for a reason.
And now here we have it in Revelation 19. He calls all the birds of prey together that they can come for the supper of the great God. All of this death and destruction, verse 18:
Revelation 19:18-19
“That ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great. 19. And I saw the beast, (that is the anti-Christ) and the kings of the earth, (who have been subjected to his demonic rule) and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army.” Of course, we covered that several programs back, but now this is a new part that I hadn’t covered before—verse 20.
When the Tribulation has run its course, and it’s over, then those two men who were primary in the leadership of planet Earth—the anti-Christ in the political and economical and the False Prophet, who will be the religious leader of that time—two men, and here they come.
Revelation 19:20
“And the beast (the anti-Christ) was taken, and with him the false prophet (Or the religious leader, whoever it is. I’m not going to put a name on either one of them. These men–) that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them who worshipped his image. (All during these seven years. Now both of these men–)These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.
Now, I know we all shrink at the thought of an eternal hell-fire. And nobody wants to even preach it or teach it anymore. In fact, I had a letter just the other day where the guy was angry. What kind of a God is it that would cast people into such a place? I’ll tell you what kind of a God He is. He’s a God who paid the price for every one of them if they would have believed it.
They don’t have to go there. And that’s going to be one of the awful things of eternal loss. They’re going to regret for eternity why they rejected their free pardon out. They don’t have to be there. So, don’t ever blame God for preparing such a place, because He suffered far more alone than the billions of mankind will in unison. So, don’t ever take anything away from God in that department.
All right, so these two men, the anti-Christ and the false prophet, who had been the leaders of the last seven years, will be the first human beings to go into what we now realize was the eternal Lake of Fire. All right, I’m going to take you on over into chapter 20. The Tribulation has ended. The Kingdom is now ready to be brought in. Verse 1 of chapter 20:
Revelation 20:1-2
“And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. (Not an iron chain. Iron won’t hold a spirit being like Satan. But it will be something that God can use to confine Satan.) 2. And he laid his hand on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years,”
Now, this is the first time in Scripture that we have a time frame on the Kingdom. All through the Old Testament, the Kingdom is merely promised as being forever and ever. But never is it signified as 1,000 years. But here in the Book of Revelation, we now have it simply defined as that period of time. All right, reading on in verse 3.
Revelation 20:3
“And cast him into the bottomless pit, (Not hell, not the Lake of Fire, this is a separate place that God has prepared to hold Satan for these 1,000 years.) and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, (But what’s the next word?) until (See, there’s another time word. He’s not going to stay there forever, yet. He’s only being confined for that 1,000 years of the Kingdom rule and reign of Christ and then–) the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.”
Now there again, we don’t know how long a period of time that will be after the 1,000 years of the perfect rule and reign of Christ over planet Earth. It’s going to be Heaven-on-Earth for all the inhabitants. I maintain the 1,000 years are a dispensation. Now, I’m going to exercise your thinking. Remember what a dispensation is? I hope you remember. A period of time during which God deals with the human race in a particular way or under a set of instructions. That’s a dispensation! (Note the seven dispensations listed below)
Adam and Eve were in a dispensation in the Garden of Eden. It was the dispensation of “Innocence,” and their instructions were simple—don’t eat of that tree. The next 1,400-1,500 years they were under the dispensation of “Conscience.” Their instructions were to bring a blood sacrifice. Well, conscience didn’t cut it, so they reaped the punishment of the flood. Then after the flood, they under the dispensation of “Human Government,” and they went through the Tower of Babel and the scattering of the population.
And then God did something totally different. He called out Abraham, and for a period of time he was under the dispensation of “Promise,” where God promised Abraham several things in Genesis chapter 12. All right, then after Abraham had established the Nation of Israel, they became a Nation down in Egypt. Then in 1500 B.C., God brought them out, and He put them under a new dispensation that we call what? Law. He gave the dispensation of Law, and that carried on from Moses until Paul. And that dispensation has its set of instructions—how to respond to sin and how to keep the Law and so on and so forth. It was a dispensation. A period of time during which there were specific instructions.
All right, today we’re in the dispensation of “Grace,” in which it covers the mysteries of Paul. But what are our instructions? To believe Paul’s Gospel—which is believing in your heart for salvation that Jesus died for your sins, was buried, and rose again—plus nothing else. Believe the Gospel. And once we become a believer of the Gospel, how to walk the Christian life. Those are our instructions. It’s our dispensation.
But when the Church goes in the Rapture, this dispensation ends, and the world goes back under an extension of Israel’s Law in the Tribulation. But now we come to the final dispensation of the Kingdom. It’s a period of time during which those people will be re-populating at an amazing rate, remember. And what are their instructions? Be obedient to the King. That’s all. Recognize that He’s the King. He’s the God of Glory. And as long as they’re obedient, they’re in God’s Grace.
All right, now in order to exercise the instructions of a dispensation, you have to have two choices. Think about it. You’re either going to follow the instructions, or you’re going to disobey them. Now, I stop once in a while to make people think. In this Dispensation of Grace, the world is faced with two alternatives – believe the Gospel or reject it. It’s that simple. Believe it and have eternal life. Reject it and go to an eternal doom. Now, you can’t get it any simpler than that.
All right, now in the Kingdom, it, too, is a dispensation. It is where God has given them the circumstances so that all they have to do is be obedient to the King. But, there has been nobody to trigger the opposition. Satan is locked up. So, in order for people to have the unction to make a choice, God has to bring Satan back for a period of time.
Now, I hope that answers a ton of questions, because it comes all the time. Why bring Satan back if He once had him off the scene? He’s got to give those new generations of people who have been born during this 1,000 years the opportunity to be obedient or disobedient. To make a choice like we had to make. So when Satan comes back in that period of time, we don’t know how long it is. Like I said in the first program, time means nothing to God. It could be awhile. But it’ll be long enough for those millions upon millions of new inhabitants of planet Earth to be confronted with the options—remain loyal to the King or follow the adversary. And what will most of them do? Like they’ve been doing for 6,000 years. They’ll go after the adversary. Unbelievable. All right, let’s pick it up in verse 7.
Revelation 20:7-8a
“And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, 8. And shall go out to deceive (Just like he’s been doing through this 6,000 years.) the nations…” That’s why several programs back I pointed out, who comes in at the front end of that 1,000 years?
Well, a remnant of the Nation of Israel, who’ll be the largest of any nation. But there will be a sampling of all the other nations on the planet who have survived the Tribulation as believers (Matthew 25:31-32). They’ll come in on the front end and start having families and reproduce. It’s going to be just like Israel in Egypt. My land, how fast do you think the Jews reproduced in those early years in Egypt? Why, like flies. You know, they probably had multiple births. They never lost a child. You remember what the mid-wives said, Why, those Hebrew women are so lively, there’s no way of putting their babies to death. It was a population explosion. Well, you’re going to have the same thing in the Kingdom. This 1,000 years is going to be a population explosion like the world has never seen, because there’s nothing to refrain life. There’s no death. No sickness. No weakness. All right, so now Satan comes back on the scene.
Revelation 20:8-9a
“And shall go out to deceive (all these repopulated nations) the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. 9. And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city:…” In total—just like it was 1,007 years earlier. They come back in total rebellion against the King, with the idea of overthrowing Him. But this time God doesn’t fool around. He speaks the Word, and the whole mass of them will be wiped off, except those who remain true to the King.
Revelation 20:9b
“…and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them.”
All right, now in a quick half-a-minute. What in the world will Satan use to deceive people who have had Heaven-on-Earth for a thousand years? Well, the Bible doesn’t specifically say it, but I think it’s implied, and I’m comfortable with my opinion. He’s going to offer them, just like he did Eve in the Garden of Eden – why be content to be under God? Why don’t you just be God? And that’s Satan’s lie. And it’s going to just take all those billions of new people, and they’re going to follow after him, and they’re going to go to their doom.