Revelation: Part 34

When anyone anywhere responds to this knowledge, by having a desire to know this God, God will move heaven and earth to get the message to them.

Turn to Revelation 12. Now, I want to talk a little bit about anti-semitism before we get into this. Where did it come from? Why?

What’s the cause? God’s very literal about what he says in prophecy. I want you to realize that, that when God predicts something, he means exactly what he says. It’s not allegorical.

Now, the book of Revelation that we’re studying, I don’t know whether we’ve got that little chart, dispensation chart. Right here, that is the seven-year period the book of Revelation covers. That’s what it’s talking about. Now, just as Moses and many of the other prophets predicted, they were brought back, but he said that after that, you will forsake me again.

And he said this time the Lord shall scatter you from one end of heaven to another. You’ll be driven into every nation under heaven. There you will have no rest for the sole of your foot. You will fear day and night.

And he says that you will be scattered for a long time. But then as Ezekiel and others predicted, especially Ezekiel in chapters 36 and 37, they predicted that when they came back from this third dispersion, that they would be made into a nation in troubled times, they would gradually be returning to the land, but he said that once that nation is reborn from the third dispersion, they will never be destroyed as a nation again. Though they will go through a terrible, terrible Tribulation. So in 1948, may 14th, the beginning of the end started.

That was when Israel was brought back from all over the world, and against all odds, made a nation. Now, that is -that’s the heart and center of God’s outline of history right there. That’s God’s outline of history, not mine. And God said that when they returned there would be a tremendous -first of all, that all during this period they were scattered throughout the country.

He said there would be no rest for the sole of your foot. You’ll fear day and night. And he said that there would continue to be this hatred of the Jew. And, you know, as -I’m trying to get this book that I wrote called, “the road to holocaust,” I’m trying to get it rereleased.

Because this book is once again relevant. I wrote this book in order to bring out -I call it “the road to holocaust” for good reason. Because there is within this theological teaching about postmillennialism, the idea that all prophecy and the covenants made to Israel and everything, should be taken allegorically, that is, other than face value. Okay.

Now, this started with origin in the second century A.D. He was one of the so-called Church fathers. He was basically a humble and -a guy that was seeking to live for God in a humble way. But he introduced something that would be the key to going astray in the Church for at least 1,300 years.

He introduced the allegorical method of interpreting in the Bible. And this began to influence theologians that were all through the historical people we call the Church fathers. But it remained until the time of augustine, which was in the late fourth, early fifth century. Augustine was the one -now, he was a great theologian in many ways, but he was the one who systematized the allegorical interpretation of the Bible.

Especially about prophecy. And that became the dominant view of the Church almost ever since. And because of augustine’s writings and his theology using the allegorical method of interpretation, the catholic Church believed that they were the new Israel, that all the covenants that were first given to Israel, were first given to the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, were forfeited when they rejected Jesus Christ as Messiah. And all of those covenants were given to the Church and we became the new Israel as the Church.

This is what is called replacement theology. Remember those words. So this resulted in -you say, well, where are you going with this, Hal? Well, here’s where I’m going with it.

Once it was determined that the covenants made to the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were no longer valid to them, then the Israelites were considered impudent and haughty to still claim they had a right to be a distinct people. You have to realize that anti-semitism is supernatural. It’s not like any other similar racial hatred that we might find somewhere or hatred toward a certain ethnic group, a certain country, a certain thing. It’s different than that.

Because the hatred for a Jew goes beyond the rational. And you can see it. Since the fourth century after Christ, there have been three anti-Jewish policies. Conversion, expulsion and annihilation.

The second, expulsion, appeared as an alternative to the first, and the third, annihilation, as an alternative to the second. The nazi destruction process did not come out of a void. It was the culmination of a cyclical trend. We have observed the trend and three successive goals of anti-Jewish administrations -administrators.

One, now listen to this, the missionaries of the christian Church had said in effect, you have no right to live among us as Jews. Now that started when they first started interpreting prophecy allegorically and saying that all the unconditional covenants made to the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were no longer valid for them. The Church now had replacement theology. So that led to the second phase.

The secular rulers who followed had proclaimed, you have no right to live among us. First, it was you have no right to live among us as Jews. Then it was, you have no right to live among us. Which inevitably led to this.

The german nazis at last decreed, you have no right to live. One created the next stage, created the next stage. But what I want you to see, is this all started in the Church. And it started with a theological error.

And the pity is, it started with churchmen who were well-intended. Good men. But your method of interpretation is key to everything. If you -if you begin to interpret any part of the Bible allegorically, when it’s clearly written to be taken literally, and especially when you have examples of how Jesus Christ and the apostles interpreted prophecy, they always interpreted literally, then when you go astray from that, it’s going to create a great havoc.

A man that I respect greatly, he helped change the course of history, perhaps more than any man. Martin Luther. And martin Luther stood against -over a thousand years of darkness in the Church, and using a literal interpretation of Scripture about salvation Scripture, he stood against the Church and what they had taught for over a thousand years and said salvation is by faith alone, period. It is not based on works.

It’s not based on ritual. It doesn’t depend on the priest. It doesn’t depend on Church attendance. It is based on faith in Christ’s death in our place and receiving a gift of pardon he purchased for us by that.

Now, that broke a thousand years of darkness. And he became a great man and I respect him greatly. But by the end of his life, something got ahold of him and he still -though he took the Scripture literally about most everything else and that’s how he recovered so much theology, he still interpreted prophecy allegorically. And that’s why, do you know that streicher, adolph hitler and several others used a quote from martin Luther to justify what they’d done with the Jews?

So what we’ve been studying here, and I’m sorry to have given you a lesson in history and getting into theology and all of that, but you have to understand the undergirding reasons for why what we see is happening. And you have to understand that -I’m not saying any one denomination is wrong on this because the allegorical interpretation of prophecy runs across the spectrum. You find that method of interpretation and it’s growing again. They’re back to that again.

Almost in every denomination out there today. And it makes it easy for Satan to introduce his idea that, you know, the Jews have no right to anything, that the Church has replaced them. There’s certainly no right for them to look forward to a future under God. You know, I had a chance to learn some things firsthand.

I have a dear friend. He was born in munich, Germany, the name of John bolton. I met him when he came along with me to a tour to Israel. And he talked me into coming back with him to visit his family home in munich, or at bad tolz, which is south of munich.

And so I did. I went along with him. I love to learn about history and so I was picking his brain. And come to find out, his father was the head of stahlhelm.

Now, stahlhelm, this is back during hitler’s rise to power, stahlhelm means steel helmet. He was the head of the german officer’s union military, which was called stahlhelm. In the very home where we were sitting before the fire, he said when I was nine years old, I saw my father on several occasions sit before this fire with adolf hitler, hermann goring, and goebbels. And they would have vigorous conversations.

And they were seeking to get -because hitler desperately needed the support of the german officer corps, military officer corps. And so they would have these discussions and they’d come there. And he said adolf hitler used to pat me on the head and say, he’s a good german boy. He’s a good german boy.

He looks like the perfect german boy. And he still does. He’s ramrod straight. If you look at him, you know he’s a german right away.

He was in the hitler youth. But he said I remember one night my father said pack everything that you can carry, only what you can carry. He had taken what little money he could smuggle out of his accounts and he said we had to go across, walk across the mountains into switzerland. And they immigrated to the United States.

His father was a plymouth brethren, a very strong christian. Now, plymouth brethren believe what I have up here, this chart, which is called a dispensational chart, which comes out of a literal interpretation of Bible prophecy, he probably believed that more than -well, the plymouth brethren believe it emphatically. It’s built around that kind of teaching. So he said when my father learned what hitler intended to do with the Jews, he couldn’t go along with it.

So I just want to read a few things here in the book of Revelation. Revelation 12. A great sign -I’m reading from the new American standard Bible. A great sign appeared in heaven.

A woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet. And on her head a crown of twelve stars. And she was with child and she cried out, being in labor and in pain to give birth. Let’s read on.

Now, remember it says, the woman is a great sign. And this is semeion in Greek, which means a sign that shows divine action behind it. It’s used all through the book of Revelation. There are three different words for miracles in the Bible.

One is semeion, which means it’s a miracle which is primarily to point to the finger of God being in it. There is teras, which means it is a miracle to show the power of God. And there’s another word that it is a miracle just to demonstrate God’s mercy. Okay.

Now, this is the one that it’s to show the finger of God is in it. All right, now, going on to Revelation 12:3. Then another sign, and this is in the Greek the word that means another of the same kind. It’s allos.

There’s another Greek word, heteros, which is translated by the english word, other to, but it means other of a different kind. Allos means another of the same kind. So this is another sign of the same kind appeared in heaven. And behold, a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and on his head were seven diadems.

And his tail swept away a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she gave birth, he might devour her child. Verse 5. And she gave birth to a son, a male child, who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron.

And her child was caught up to God and to his throne. Then the woman fled into the wilderness where she had a place prepared by God so that there she would be nourished for 1,260 days. And there was war in heaven. Michael and his angels waging war with the dragon.

The dragon and his angels waged war. And they were not strong enough and there was no longer a place for them in heaven. And the great dragon was thrown down. The serpent of old, who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world, he was thrown down to the earth and his angels were thrown down with him.

Then I heard a loud voice in heaven saying, now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down. He who accuses them before our God day and night. Verse 11. And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony.

And they did not love their life, even when faced with death. For this reason, rejoice, o heavens, and you who dwell in them. Woe to the earth and the sea because the devil has come down to you having great wrath, knowing that he has only a short time. And when the dragon saw that he was thrown down to the earth, he, Satan, persecuted the woman, and it says whom gave birth.

It’s literally because she gave birth to the male child. That statement right there shows why there’s anti-semitism. Did you get it? He, Satan, persecuted the woman because she gave birth to the male child.

Why does Satan hate Israelites? Because they’re part of the race that gave birth to Jesus the Messiah, who is the one who defeated Satan at the cross. And that’s why the Jew is hated. And every human being, whether he’s a christian or not a christian, who turns hatred toward an Israelite, is inspired by the devil.

And I know this personally, that from early time when I was a christian, God -and this I learned reading the Bible on my own as a tugboat captain with no teacher. I developed a tremendous love for the Jew by reading the Bible and seeing that these were God’s people. And even though they’re being disciplined, they are still in a covenant relationship with God. Now that doesn’t mean they’re saved unless they believe in the Messiah.

But they are still in covenant relationship with him. And God is still going to bring them back. There’s going to be a great repentance. And those ones will be given all the promises that God made to them.

And they will, under Jesus the Messiah, rule the world for a thousand years. Now, I want to give you some clues, okay. Go back to verse 1. A great sign appeared in heaven and a woman clothed with the sun and the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars.

All right. How do we know what this means? You remember I told you that most of the symbols that are in the book of Revelation particularly, but through the whole Bible, most of the symbols that are used are explained somewhere else in the Bible. Now, let me read you something from Genesis 37, beginning with verse 9.

This is about the sons of Jacob. It features Joseph. It says, now he had still another dream. And he refers, if you look at the context, he refers to Joseph, who was his father’s favorite.

Now, he had still another dream. And related it to his brothers and said, quote, lo, I have still another dream, and behold, the sun and the moon and eleven stars were bowing down to me. He related it to his father and to his brothers, and his father rebuked him and said to him -now, it’s important to see how Jacob interprets that dream his son had. Okay.

Here’s what he says. What is this dream that you have had? Shall I, your mother and your brothers actually come to bow ourselves down before you to the ground? What did he do?

He just interpreted the dream. He says, shall I, Jacob, meaning he’s the son, and your mother, he said the moon would be under his feet. And your eleven brothers, he was the 12th, shall your eleven brothers bow down before you? So there he interpreted it.

The eleven stars were his eleven brothers. So the book of Revelation, which is God’s grand central station, uses symbols that only christians carefully studying the Bible would be able to decipher. And it says she gave birth to a son, a male child. And who was there to try to destroy this male child from the instant he would be born?

Satan, the dragon, which is interpreted in verse 9, as that old serpent known as the devil and Satan. So why is there -what’s the mystery of anti-semitism? The mystery is that this hatred that is so great, is supernatural in its origin. Satan is the one that is the author of hatred toward Israelites.

Do not be infected with this virus. You will answer for it before a Jew named Jesus. If you have the guts to be a real revolutionary, come forward right now and accept Jesus Christ as your real revolutionary, and he’ll make a revolutionary that will change lives. Thank you so much for standing with me as a watchman on the wall.

I pray daily that he will reward your faithfulness and protect and prosper you in these difficult times. Thank you again for being a vital part of my team.