Thru the Bible

Steve Schwetz: Does it feel to you like our country and our world are spinning out of control? Well, take heart. Don't be discouraged because a better day is coming, and possibly soon. As the seventh angel in Revelation 11 says as he blows his trumpet, "The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever." Won't that be a day? Welcome to *Thru the Bible*. I'm your host, Steve Schwetz, and our teacher, Dr. J. Vernon McGee, picks up our study of Revelation in chapter 11 at verse 13. Now, be sure to stay with us for the entire study because Dr. McGee not only concludes chapter 11 but also introduces us to chapter 12, where we're going to learn about the key that unlocks how we interpret Revelation.

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Heavenly Father, thank you for the comfort and encouragement that we receive from your word. Please bless us with deeper faith, peace, and wisdom as we open our hearts to your word. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. Here’s our study of Revelation 11 on *Thru the Bible* with Dr. J. Vernon McGee.

Dr. J. Vernon McGee: Now, friends, we come here to the 11th chapter of the book of Revelation, verse 13. And we have the doom of the second woe. Now we are in the time of the blowing of the sixth trumpet—we've had that—and now this is that interval of a lull between the woe. These are woe trumpets, and the second woe was connected with the sixth trumpet. And it's a great earthquake. I read in verse 13: "And in that hour there came to pass a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell, and 7,000 names of men were killed in the earthquake: and the rest were afraid and gave glory to the God of heaven."

This is a number of those slain to be added to the fourth that were slain at first—that is, a fourth of the population of the world—and then a third of the population of the world. Over half are gone, and now 7,000 more. Little wonder that the Lord Jesus said, "Except those days were shortened, no flesh would survive." Now, the earthquake here seems to be limited to the city of Jerusalem, just as it was when Christ rose from the dead. It says that 7,000 names of men were killed. Well, that's an idiom to indicate that they were men of prominence. They are the ones that had gone along with Antichrist among God's people—men whose names got in the headlines when Antichrist came to power.

We come now to: "The second woe is passed; and, behold, the third woe cometh quickly." That's verse 14. This ends the second woe. The third woe begins shortly, though not immediately. The third woe is not the blowing of the seventh trumpet; that'll come next, as that leads us beyond the Great Tribulation into the millennium. The seventh trumpet likewise opens up to us the seven personalities of chapters 12 and 13. And the third woe begins when Satan, one of the personalities, is cast down to earth. We'll see that when we come to it in Revelation 12:12.

Now we have here the seventh trumpet and the end of the Great Tribulation and the opening of the temple in heaven. Here in the middle of all of the woes and the judgments of the Great Tribulation, this is inserted for the encouragement of the believers that will be left on the earth—those that were sealed. Because you're apt to get very much discouraged with several years—although the total length of the Great Tribulation is but seven years and the intensity of it breaks in the last half of that period—it doesn't seem long to read about it. But I found seven days in the hospital to be the most trying experience of life, and I thought those days would never end. You do need a little encouragement as you go along.

Now let me read, and I'm going to package this here and put together verses 15 through 18. "And the seventh angel blew the trumpet; and there followed (or came to pass) great voices in heaven saying, 'The kingdom of the world (of the cosmos) is become the kingdom of our Lord, and of His Christ; and He shall reign unto the ages of the ages (that is, forever and ever).' And the twenty-four elders sitting before God on their thrones fell upon their faces and worshipped God saying, 'We give thanks to You, O Lord God the Almighty, who art and wast, because Thou hast taken Thy great power and didst reign. And the nations were angry, and Thy wrath came, and the time (or the period) of the dead to be judged, and to give the reward to Your servants the prophets, and to the saints, and to them that fear Thy name, the small and great; and to destroy those who destroy (or corrupt the destroyers) of the earth.'"

The blowing here of the seventh trumpet is of utmost significance, and it's of special relevance in the understanding of the remainder of this book. In the program of God, it brings us chronologically to the breathtaking entrance of eternity, where the mystery of God is finally unraveled. And it brings us in God's program as far as Revelation 21, where eternity begins. Now, the broad outline of events which are significant to God is given to us here by the Holy Spirit. This section is a summary, a syllabus, or a capsule synopsis of events up to the door of eternity. I think if we will more or less focus on these events, you will understand what we're talking about.

First of all, here, there were great voices in heaven at the blowing of the seventh trumpet. Now, you'll remember at the opening of the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven. Now, here, what a contrast! Because here the blowing of the seventh trumpet reveals God's program, clears up the mystery of God, and all of God's created intelligences can see the end now and are jubilant in anticipation of the termination of evil being so close at hand. It's a time of joy for them.

Then, "the kingdom of the world." You notice in my translation I put it like that. Why? Because that's what it is. It's not "kingdoms"; it's "kingdom." It denotes the fact that the kingdoms of this world are at present under Satan—they all are—and to them there's no distinction of nations, no east or west, no iron curtain; all are his. Both sides are included in his domain. A great many people think that Satan's controlling Russia today, but that the Lord is controlling the United States and angels are hovering over the capitol at Washington. May I say to you, those angels may not be God's angels that are hovering over Washington today. It doesn't look like it.

But actually, today, all the kingdoms of this world are his, and so it's called "the kingdom" and not "kingdoms" of the world. It's the totality of a civilization and society of which men boast of self-improvement, but which becomes more godless and wicked each day. It's a condemned civilization that's moving to judgment. And it's going to become the kingdom of Christ someday. And it says of our Lord and His Christ. This kingdom is going to be subdued someday—not by some little sweet, saccharine talk on brotherhood and love. It's going to be brought to Him, and He's going to rule because we're told in scripture: "The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel against the Lord and against His anointed saying, 'Let us break their bands asunder, cast away their cords from us.'"

The early church understood that that was the condition of the world. They quoted that when persecution broke out in the early church, and you'll find that in Acts the fourth chapter, verses 23 to 26. And then in Psalm 2:9, we read: "Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel." Now, we're going to see the details of what's given here in this section when we get to the 19th chapter of Revelation, and He's coming to put down rebellion. You can see, therefore, the seventh trumpet is moving along step by step towards eternity.

Now we're told that the 24 elders sitting before God—they begin to worship, fall upon their faces. In other words, this is the church in heaven. It causes the church in heaven to worship and to celebrate the coming of Christ to the earth. This'll be the answer of our prayer: "Thy kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven." And then "the nations were angry." Now, that reveals the fact that the stubborn rebellion of man will be right down to the very end, right down to the wire. The stubborn heart of man is in rebellion against God, and this old nature, this carnal nature that you and I have—it's not obedient to God. Friends, you couldn't even make this old nature that you and I have—you couldn't make it obedient to God, I don't care what you do.

This is exactly what Paul says. He says, "Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: it's not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be." You just couldn't bring this old nature under. That's the reason He's going to get rid of it someday. And that someday is coming. It says here the nations were angry because why? The wrath of God is come. They'd been fed all this putrid pablum today about the fact that God never intends to punish sin and that man's getting better and better every day, while all the time he's getting worse and worse.

Now, the sixth thing I note here: "And the time of the dead to be judged." Now, that brings us to the Great White Throne judgment we're going to see in the 20th chapter. And then we read: "And to give the reward to Your servants the prophets, and to the saints, and to them that fear Thy name, the small and the great." Now, the church has already gone into His presence. The believers there have already been rewarded. We saw the crowns on the heads of the elders. Now, these are Old Testament saints, Tribulation saints, that are included in the first resurrection, but at a different time. And they are now going to be rewarded as the kingdom begins.

Also, He's going to destroy those who destroy the earth. And that's both man and Satan, for man is a destroyer as well as Satan is. And we're warned today: "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about seeking whom he may devour." Now, that brings us down to verse 19, and I shall read it. "And the sanctuary (or the temple) of God in heaven was opened." Now, when we see the church again, it'll be in the New Jerusalem, and we're told definitely there's no temple there. So here there is a temple in heaven, and that temple that Moses made was made after the pattern in heaven.

But the church goes to the New Jerusalem. That'll be our eternal abode—that's our heaven. And it's going to be heaven, friends, in spite of the fact that you and I are going to be there. Now, I read: "And the sanctuary of God (or the temple of God) in heaven was opened." And that means that God is dealing now with Israel. "And the ark of His covenant was seen in His sanctuary (in His temple): and there followed lightnings, and voices, and thunders, and an earthquake, and great hail." Now, that confirms again that there's a literal temple in heaven. That's important.

Now, this sanctuary or temple of God in heaven not only does that, but it was opened, and that indicates worship and access to God. All of this points to the nation Israel. The church has no temple. The measuring of the temple on earth and the opening of the temple in heaven declares the prominence of Israel in this section. And the next chapter will substantiate this. Now, the ark of His covenant was seen in His sanctuary. It reminds us that we're dealing with a covenant-making and covenant-keeping God, and He's going to keep the covenants He's made with Israel, and He'll make a new covenant with them at this time—that is, the law will be written in their hearts instead of on cold tablets of stone.

Now, I come down where it says lightnings and voices and thunders and an earthquake and great hail. That speaks of judgment that's yet to come. And this opens up for us now actually chapter 12. And we move now to chapter 12. If you have your Bible, why just follow along here as we come to chapter 12. And here you have the final conflict between Israel and Satan after he's cast out of heaven. And seven performers are introduced to us by this seventh trumpet that is blown during the Great Tribulation period. And we find here the Woman is the first, the Red Dragon second, the Child of the woman, and then we have Michael the Archangel, and then the Dragon persecutes the woman, and then we have the Remnant of Israel here.

We have six that are introduced to us, and then the next chapter, 13, we'll see the two Beasts that are presented to us. These are the seven that we have. Although the seventh trumpet of chapter 11 brings us through the Great Tribulation and the millennium to the very threshold of eternity, you see a great deal of detail was omitted. So beginning with chapter 12, this will be compensated for in the presentation of seven prominent personages who play a dominant part in the Great Tribulation period. You have here, after that, the pouring out of the seven bowls of wrath and then the final destruction of commercial Babylon and religious Babylon.

Now, the prominence of the nation Israel is brought before us. It was suggested in the previous chapter with the measuring of the temple on earth and the opening of the temple in heaven. And the last verse that we read of chapter 11 is the opening to this chapter here. Now, these seven personages are representatives of persons, both natural and supernatural, physical and spirit, rulers and nations. And the identification and clarification of these is essential for a proper understanding of the Revelation. And let me then take up the very first one, and that will illustrate what we're talking about.

And we come now actually to the crux of the interpretation of the entire book of Revelation, and it revolves about this point. I heard an outstanding minister—a very intellectual minister—years ago make the statement that, "If you tell me your interpretation of the woman in the 12th chapter of Revelation, and I'll tell you your interpretation of prophecy." And I thought, *My, how foolish that man was.* Well, let me today make the statement: you tell me what your interpretation of this woman is, and I'll tell you your interpretation of prophecy. I believe this is the key.

Now let me read it now in my translation. "And a great sign was seen in heaven; a woman arrayed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars; and she was with child and travailing in birth, and being tormented to be delivered." Now, we have here in the Authorized Version—it goes like this. And by the way, a Scotch preacher got in trouble, not by reading this verse, but by the way that he read it—the emphasis he put. And he read it like this: "And there appeared a great wonder in heaven—a woman." And my friend, that's not the way to read it, and that's not the way that John intended for us to read it.

But the important thing here is, who is the woman? Well, you're acquainted with the interpretation of Rome: that it represents the Virgin Mary. Well, there are Protestant interpreters that have been as far wrong as that. Today, actually most of them just follow the tradition of Rome and interpret the woman as the church of all ages. And that's, I think, even worse. Practically all denominational literature follows this line.

Now, there've been several female founders of cults. They couldn't resist the temptation of seeing themselves pictured in the woman. And Joanna Southcott said that she was the woman in Revelation 12. And in October 1814, she would have the man-child, but she never did—but she had 200,000 followers. And we've had in this country several founders of cults and religions that have thought they were. We have had even in Southern California a few female preachers that got the idea they might be the woman—but they weren't.

I think we can dismiss all these claims unless we want to forsake all intelligent approach to interpretation. Now, the identifying marks of the woman—the sun, moon, and stars—and these belong to Israel as seen in Joseph's dream. Let me read it now in closing. "He dreamed yet another dream, and told it his brethren, and said, 'Behold, I have dreamed a dream more; and, behold, the sun and the moon and the eleven stars made obeisance to me.' And he told it to his father, and to his brethren: and his father rebuked him and said unto him, 'What is this dream that thou hast dreamed? Shall I and thy mother and thy brethren indeed come to bow down ourselves to thee in the earth?'"

You see, the woman is a sign in heaven though her career's on earth. She's not a literal woman here; she's a symbol. The career of the woman corresponds to that of Israel, for it's Israel that gave birth to Christ, who is the child. But I'm going to have to go into that next time because I think this is a very important section—to know who the woman is. We say it's Israel. We believe we can continue to substantiate that. So until next time, may God richly bless you, my beloved.

Steve Schwetz: Well, Revelation is getting more and more intriguing as we move along. We're halfway through our journey in this amazing book, and as you've been with us for a while, you can see that each chapter we've studied is critical to understanding the book as a whole. But as we found, chapter 12 holds the key to how we understand Revelation. So be sure to join us next time for more of this important study.

Now, if you want to go even deeper in your own study of Revelation, why don't you download Dr. McGee's booklet *God's Grand Finale: An Introduction to Revelation*? If you need to be reminded that God is in control, walk with Dr. McGee through God's calendar of end times and be assured Revelation is more than a fantastical story of beasts. It's actually the true story of our Sin-bearer, Jesus Christ. Your free digital copy is available anytime in our app or at TTB.org, or call us at 1-800-65-BIBLE if we can help you find it.

It's time to break in our daily study of Revelation for the weekend, so you can always join me for Dr. McGee's Sunday sermon as well. As always, you can hear it online or you can use our search tool to find a station in your area that carries it. Just go to TTB.org. Until then, may God bless you through His word and strengthen you in His grace. I'll see you next time here on the Bible Bus.

*Thru the Bible* is a five-year study of God's entire word, and together we discover God's purposes in history and our lives, found only when we believe in Jesus Christ. Do you know Him yet?