Amazing Facts

Doug Batchelor: We are going to be going through a series of lessons dealing with Bible prophecies and talking about the times in which we're living. I do it the same way I always do. I like to have a lesson so you have something written. I find the best way for people to remember things is that you read it, you hear it, you see it, and then I hope you take your lessons and you share it. Then you'll remember it.

I sort of use a question-answer format. How many of you have seen one of our seminars, like going back to Net 99 from New York City in the past? You're going to hear some of the same questions and the same answers, and you'll have to take that up with the Lord because the scriptures haven't changed. I find this is the best framework for me to make sure that I cover certain topics. I don't have my messages written out, and it maintains a little bit based on what's happening in the world, the headlines, and what I had for breakfast.

We're going to be covering the main themes of Bible prophecy. We're going to be talking about the second coming of Jesus tonight. We will talk about the big question, "Why is there evil in the world?" We will look at the most amazing prophecies in the Bible. We're going to be talking about things like the beast, the antichrist, angels, Armageddon. We're going to cover all the mountain peaks of Bible prophecy, but I'll tell you right now, knowing the answer to all these things is not going to save anyone.

The central theme of prophecy is a personal relationship with Jesus. It's His book. The first words in Revelation are "the revelation of," not "the antichrist and the beast," but the Revelation of Jesus Christ. He is the central character of all scripture. If you forget anything that you learned during this seminar, I hope the primary thing is that you are drawn closer to Jesus. Prophecy is something the Lord put in His word. He wants us to teach it and preach it, and that's why we do what we do.

Tonight's lesson is very important. We're going to be talking about the certainty of Jesus' return. I thought I'd begin with a little amazing fact. I remember where I was, and you may remember where you were when you got news of this terrible tsunami that hit around Thailand and Indonesia. It was a devastating 9.1 earthquake under the ocean floor, which created tsunamis that affected 15 countries. Approximately 225,000 to 230,000 people died.

The sad thing is that many of them could have been saved if they had heeded some simple warnings. There were signs. For one thing, after the earthquake, the waters on many shores went out. People that lived locally knew what that meant. The fishermen went up and down the beaches and some of these coastal regions, and they told the people to run for higher ground. A lot of their warnings were unheeded, or people did not understand.

Tourists could be seen thinking, "Look at all these tidal pools. What a rapid low tide." They all went out, and the children were out picking up starfish. The people in the know said, "Leave." Birds all took off from the trees. Dogs were heading for higher ground. Elephants resisted the orders of their masters, and they began to head inland. There were signs and there were warnings, but so many people waited until the last minute, and then the water came in with a vengeance. So many people were lost because they didn't understand what it means when you have a freak tide that suddenly goes out. It means it's coming back with a vengeance.

Well, there are signs given in God's word that tell us about the last days. Jesus wants us to be prepared. One of the main reasons for prophecy is so that we can know what's coming and prepare for eternity. God sent His son into the world to save us. Jesus came for three reasons. He wants to show us what the Father is like, He wants to show us how to live and love one another, and then ultimately to die as a sacrifice in our place.

All the prophecies point to this central theme, so we can know what's coming. A lot of prophecy is best understood looking back. Jesus said, "When these things come to pass, then you will see, and you will know, and you will believe." As we look at past prophecies that have faithfully been fulfilled, it's going to strengthen our faith that the future prophecies will also come true, and we will prepare.

God told Noah because of the wickedness in the world, there is a judgment coming. Did you know there's a judgment coming again? Christ said, "As it was in the days of Noah, so will it be in the day when the Son of Man comes." Noah preached with his voice, by his example, and with his hammer for 120 years. God is so patient. Even some people who helped him build the ark didn't heed the signs. At one point, the sky grew black as all these birds came two by two. Clean birds came by sevens, the others came by twos, and then the animals came. People saw the signs.

They thought, "That's really strange." Your ideas and your mind about Noah going out with his sons and having a rodeo and rounding up all these creatures? God miraculously brought many of them, and then he gathered them in the ark, and people saw this. But they thought, "When it starts to rain, then I'll get ready." At that point, the door was shut, and it was too late.

Human nature has not changed much. How many of you wait until a couple of days before it's time before you file your taxes? We tend to procrastinate, and so God gives us these prophecies so we can be prepared in plenty of time and not just to save ourselves, but through our lives, we can reach others. By the way, your life as a believer is a better life. Jesus said, "I have come to give you life more abundantly." That's one reason we do these prophecy seminars, not just to tantalize people with how we can prove prophecy comes true, but we want you to have an abundant life.

I remember I did a series like this in New Mexico on the Navajo reservation. A couple came in, and it was obvious they were terrified on opening night. I talked to them afterward, and they said, "We were very afraid because our pastor told us there's a curse pronounced on anyone who studies Revelation." I said, "I don't know where he's getting that. The Bible says there's a blessing pronounced on anyone who studies these things." I trust that as you attend, as you watch, as you share, you're going to be blessed during this seminar.

The Bible tells us in Amos 3, verse 7, "Surely the Lord God does nothing unless He reveals His secret to His servants the prophets." God is going to tell us what is coming. Now, we have a practice just so you have a feel for what is the generic idea out there on the street. What are people thinking about the nearness of Jesus' coming, the end of the world, whether there are signs, or if the world will end? We sent some cameramen out on the street to get some feedback. We're going to share that with you right now.

Guest (Male): 2035.

Guest (Female): I guess it would depend on the person's definition of soon. Maybe within the next century, but not within my lifetime, I don't think.

Guest (Male): I think it will, but I'm not sure exactly what time it will end. Probably when Jesus comes back.

Guest (Female): If humans continue to destroy the world with everything that we're doing, then perhaps it'll happen a lot sooner.

Guest (Male): I don't know, man. They said the world was going to end back in 2007. I'm sorry, that's 2006, so I don't believe it.

Guest (Male): Sure, the world's going to end when it's time for it to end.

Guest (Female): Destruction and probably selfishness.

Guest (Male): It's probably going to be nuclear destruction, one of those great filters. I think that or global warming, but nuclear destruction is much more direct, much faster.

Guest (Female): I think that when it's time, Jesus says it's ready.

Guest (Female): I'm not really sure. I think probably just an accumulation of things, like just a lot of things happening. In one word, sin is what's going to bring our world to the end.

Doug Batchelor: Actually, that last answer, I hope you could hear, but she was saying, "I think it's going to be sin." That is actually more profound than you might think. That really is what it's going to be. But you have the answers in our culture all across the map. Will the world end? Is it going to end? How is it going to end? Everything from nuclear, chemical, global warming. One thing most people agree on is it cannot go on the way it's going much longer.

Let's jump into our study for tonight. I'm going to start with the question-answer format. Jesus used that, sometimes called the Socratic method. You ask questions, get you to think, and we'll find the answers in the Bible. I will be giving you many, many scriptures. Friends, this is a Bible presentation. I hope you check on me. We do everything we can in these programs to encourage people to read the Bible for yourself. Don't just trust what preachers are saying. The Bible is not a mystery you cannot understand.

It helps to have preachers teach, but then we give you an opportunity. Ask questions. We're not afraid of any Bible question. We'll do our best to answer it. We don't have all the answers, but I think we can help along the way. So, question number one: how positive was Jesus that he would return? Is this a biblical teaching that he's coming again? John 14, verse 3, Jesus said, "If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to myself; that where I am, there you may be also." He wants us to be with him. He promised, "I will come again." Jesus is not a liar; he is going to come again.

God promised the first coming of the Messiah. It happened 4,000 years after the promise, but he came. Here we are now, 2,000 years after Jesus said, "I will come again." You can count on it, friends, he's coming again. Matthew 16, verse 27, "For the Son of Man will come," it is very definite, "in the glory of the Father with His angels, and He will reward each one according to his works." That scripture's going to come up again a little later.

Question number two: what can we know about the time of Jesus' return? This is where people sort of inch out on the edge of their seat. The time of Jesus' return? Pastor Doug, are you going to give us a date? Let's find out what the Bible says. Matthew 24, verse 36, Jesus said, "But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven," one place it says, "or the Son." Jesus, in his earthly existence, didn't even know the day and the hour. Of course, if he had given a date to the apostles, it would have made no sense based on our calendars. He does know now, clearly; he's at the right hand of the Father.

But no one knows the date. Watch out about people who say, "I've calculated the date. Most people don't know, but I know." The Bible tells us that for most people, it's going to be a surprise. "Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming in an hour when you do not expect." Just as it was in the days of Noah and Lot, a lot of the world was totally taken by surprise. For most of the world, it will be a surprise.

But what can we know about the time? Matthew 24, 33, "So you also, when you see all these things," what things? The signs that he had given, "know that it is near." We can know when it is near. Don't forget Paul said most of the world is going to be taken by surprise. It'll overtake them like a thief. But he said, "You are not children of the night, that that day should overtake you as a thief." He wants us to be looking at the signs. Why else would Jesus give us the signs except that we could map that we're running out of time and be mobilized to share the good news while time remains?

Now, we've all heard about different people that have set dates for Christ's coming. The Amazing Facts film crew went and interviewed Brother Harold Camping. He was the president of Family Radio, a great radio station. I respect them, but he had some quirky beliefs. He was the director, and he set dates several times for the second coming and, obviously, was wrong. The sad thing is that some people believed it. They quit their jobs, they sold their homes, they put all their money into spreading the message that Jesus was coming May 21st, 2011, and nothing happened.

Question number three: what are some of the signs of the nearness of Jesus' coming? Friends, these things are becoming more and more relevant all the time. Let's look at some of them. Jesus tells us in Matthew 24, verse 4, He said to them, "Take heed that no one deceives you," the first thing he tells us, "for many will come in my name, saying, 'I am Christ,' and will deceive many. And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you be not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet."

There have been wars all through history, but wars are a sign, and they will increase with frequency and intensity. But just a war doesn't mean Jesus is coming. People thought Christ was coming after World War I, and then after the nuclear bombs or atomic bombs in World War II. But we're seeing a trend. One nation will rise against another nation, kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and there have been pestilences, that's plagues, and earthquakes in various places.

All of these things are increasing. He says, "All these are the beginning of sorrows." Still in Matthew 24, verse 4, "Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated of all nations for my name's sake. Many will be offended and betray one another and hate one another, and many false prophets will rise up and deceive many." Notice the emphasis: false Christs, false prophets. That means false theology. He's not talking about other religions; he's talking about those who come in the name of the Lord. That's why Jesus said in the last days, many will come and say, "Lord, Lord," and he'll say, "I don't know you."

Out of 12 spies, 10 were unfaithful and two were faithful. It seems like strait is the gate and narrow is the way that leads to life because people follow the crowd, and the devil is out there deceiving people. All right, he talked about earthquakes. Well, there have always been earthquakes, but they are increasing in frequency and in intensity. This is a chart from the National Geophysics Data Center. You can see between 1900 and 2020, the intensity and frequency of earthquakes. Even since we've done this, we were in Vanuatu; they had a tremendous earthquake about a year ago. Then they had this almost 8.1 earthquake in Russia this year. It just seems like things are shaping up for a real seismic event.

Natural disasters between 2004 and 2014, 18 earthquakes with a magnitude of 8.0 or more rattled subduction zones around the globe. That's an increase of 265% over the average rate of the previous century. This is from the Geological Society of America. People are observing that things are changing. Their theories are, "Well, we're pumping too much oil and water out of the ground and it's making things shift," and there's all these theories. But the fact is, intensity and frequency are increasing.

This is data assembly that is done by a Munich research geo-research company. They provide information to insurance companies about whether there are trends in natural disasters that would help you know how much to charge for insurance. Some insurance companies were rendered bankrupt from the hurricanes and the fires in recent decades. We had a fire up where we live in Northern California, the biggest one in state history, national history: one million acres. It burned through some property we have. It burned for a month. It was called the August fire, a million acres.

You could see it from the satellites. In almost every category, the scientists are seeing an increase. How many of you have had your insurance go up? That's sort of a redundant question, right? Plagues and pestilence, Jesus said. Well, there've always been plagues and pestilences, but just in the last century, they had the plague of 1918. Between 30 and 50 million people died. COVID was also a global plague, but it almost did more damage economically and geopolitically compared to other plagues with death. And then there was the Ebola outbreak. We haven't figured out how to stop these plagues that are often transferred. They develop in animals and then are transferred to humans. Plagues, and now with international travel, plagues can spread very quickly if they have a dormant period. Thousands of people died from the Ebola outbreak in 2011, and the world was paralyzed.

Another sign Jesus gave, there'd be an increase of violence. He said, "As it was in the days of Noah," it says men's hearts were only evil continually and violence filled the land. The sad statistic is that in 2022, 1,000 American soldiers died in action in combat. That's our army scattered around the world. During the same time, 21,000 people died in our cities from gang violence. We hear more and more about just random shootings, and shootings in schools, and shooting political aggression and violence.

This is one of the signs. I've got a theory. Since you asked, I'll tell you what it is. They're always talking about what laws we can make and change, and you know there are too many guns or what kind of guns. Friends, I'll just tell you that I think the more and more young people and adults are entertained by violence, it affects us. The value of human life decreases. The kids are playing games that are more and more violent: Grand Theft Auto, Call of Duty. The whole game is shooting, shooting, shooting.

I think some of them spend so much time doing that, we become separated from reality. And the movies. Used to be that when a cowboy got shot in black and white when I was a kid, he'd grab his chest and fall off his horse. No blood. No. Now, the head gets shot completely off the shoulders and everything. It's become so grotesque and so violent to keep the audience. They've got to intensify the violence. That's what's happening. Even some Christians become entertained by that.

Immorality is increasing. Jesus said, "As it was likewise in the days of Lot," and we know about Sodom and Gomorrah. "Even so will it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed." Jesus said those conditions back then are going to be replicated as the conditions in the last days. There'll be violence like the days of Noah, evil hearts, and then also the moral decay that we see.

It seems like, friends, don't get upset with me. I know this is politically incorrect, but you need to take this up with God and the Bible. I did not write the Bible. I like to be liked, but I also want God to like me, so I have to be faithful and tell you what the Bible said. Jesus said from the beginning, He made them male and female. There are two options the Bible gives us. This is God's plan. I am absolutely mystified how the society and the world have become befuddled over something so basic as the differences between men and women. I think some people are coming to their senses now when they have men saying they're really a woman and then they go into boxing and they box women. You used to get arrested for doing that.

But you don't see too many women that want to be men and get in the ring with men. Is it just me, or is there something wrong there? The mushrooming population. I'm going to be very free in telling you the word of God because I don't live here. I can move back to California when I'm done. Population explosion. Just look at these statistics. It took approximately 5,000 years, I think I've got the exact figures here in the front of my Bible. It took approximately 5,000 years to get the first billion people in the Bible.

Then it only took 123 years, 5,000 years, one billion. 123 years, second billion. Then it only took 23 years to get the third billion. I remember when there were three billion people. 14 years later, the fourth billion. Now, over eight billion people. Clearly, that can't go on forever. So, just the explosion of the population and the resources that humans are using from the world, it's got to have an effect on how much longer it can last. World Wildlife Fund said that since 1970, humanity has wiped out approximately 60% of the animal populations during a 40-year period. 52% decline in wildlife during that time.

I love history, and I read like about the Lewis and Clark expedition when they first crossed the Great Plains. They said it could take two days for one buffalo herd to cross a river. Two days, millions of them. They shot them all. And the passenger pigeons, they used to darken the skies. There's none left; they're extinct.

Guest (Male): Who are the harlots of Revelation 19, and what does the Esther's act of disobedience connect them to the Mother Church?

Doug Batchelor: All right, well, you find the beginning of the harlots is found there in Revelation 17. It talks about this principal Mother of Harlots. The fact that she is a mother of harlots means that she has daughters, so there are multiple harlots. She is symbolized by an apostate church. Now, a woman in the Bible is a symbol of the church, and you have Paul saying, "Husbands, love your wife as Christ loves the church." In the Old Testament, books like Hosea, God compares His church to His bride or a wife. There's a number of examples in the Bible. "I've likened the daughter of Zion," the daughter of Zion is God's people, "to a delicate woman."

There's several places in the Bible where God likens His people, Old and New Testament, to a church. The beautiful pure woman that you see in Revelation 12 is clothed with God's light. God made the sun, moon, and stars, and it says that woman in Revelation 12 is standing on the moon, clothed with the sun, a crown of 12 stars above her head, symbol of God's church. Jesus said to the church, "You are the light of the world."

In Revelation 17, you've got this other woman and her daughters. Artificial adornment: it's gold and pearls, and she's sitting on a beast that is scarlet, and she's wearing scarlet and purple. It says that she sits among seven mountains. So, most have associated that woman with the seven hills of Rome. If you have any doubt, you go to the last verses of chapter 17 of Revelation, and it says, "That woman that you saw is that great city that reigns over the kings of the earth."

The great city that reigned over the kings of the earth when John was imprisoned was Rome. So, it's a woman, a church, in Rome. You don't have to think very long about who that represents. Clothed with gold and pearls and a golden cup in her hand. Well, the Roman Catholic Church is a very wealthy institution. Of course, there are many godly Christian people in the Catholic Church; I'm not condemning them. I'm just saying the church institution fell away from scripture and became worldly and was compromising. We have a lesson, and it's called "The Beast, the Dragon, and the Woman." They'll send that to you, anybody that wants to understand that study. Simply call 800-835-6747 for the free offers. 800-835-6747. Thank you, Glenn, for your call.