On the two witnesses, you know, we haven't been in Revelation in a little while, and I was tempted just to say, man, just do a review from one to 10, but I want to keep pressing on. And so Revelation 11 is where we find ourself. Really, we get through Revelation 11, we'll be over halfway, kind of at the halfway point here, and hopefully it's been encouraging and enlightening to you. But as we look at the two witnesses, we want to read just a few verses in. We'll take a few verses at a time. I felt this is one of those sections where we probably needed to do that and just slow down a little bit. But we left off in chapter 10 with John being told to eat the words of that scroll. And as he ate it, we were told that it was sweet like honey, but also bitter. And if you remember, we talked about the sweetness of it was that the prayers of the saints under the altar are being answered. So the answered prayer and also the gospel going out, but also the bitterness was the result of the judgment that was going to fall on Jerusalem. And so that declaration, that written declaration that John was told to eat just like Ezekiel was, was sweet in the sense that the prayers of the people of God were being answered, but also bitter because of the realization of judgment that was going to fall on the people of Jerusalem. We pick up this evening in chapter 11 at these two witnesses. Now let's read a few verses and then we'll start back in verse number one. So let's pick up starting in verse number one. Then there was given me a measuring rod like a staff. And someone said, get up and measure the temple of God and the altar and those who worship in it. Leave out the court, which is outside the temple, and do not measure it. For it has been given to the nations, and they will tread underfoot the holy city for 42 months. Now, let's just stop there. When we think about these two witnesses, I wanna, first of all, think about verse number one. Several things I wanna bring to your attention in verse number one, but we wanna start with this measuring rod. John is told that there was given to him a measuring rod like a staff, a measuring rod, and he was told to get up and measure the temple of God and the altar and those who worship in it. So I want to say, first of all, that if Revelation was written after 70 AD, when there was no longer a temple standing, then it would be quite difficult for John to go measure a temple that is no longer there. All right, so there's my first point. The second point is, what do we do with John being told to take a measuring rod and go measure? Well, he's told to go measure this temple, the temple of God, and also the altar and those who worship in it. Now, in order for us to understand what's going on, obviously we need help, and we need help from the Bible. Hopefully that's where we find all of our answers there, but as we think about John going to measure something, this rod, this measuring rod, it takes us back. Remember what I told you. There is 440 illusions. back to the Old Testament. Don't forget that. And part of what I want us to understand is that this is not the first time that a prophet has been told to go measure something or even measure the temple. And so we have an occasion in Zechariah and we also have an occasion in Ezekiel. Now listen to Zechariah's reference here in Zechariah chapter one, verse 16. Therefore, thus says the Lord, I am returning to Jerusalem with mercy. My house shall be built in it, says the Lord of hosts. Now listen to this next phrase, Zechariah one 16 and a surveyors line shall be stretched out over Jerusalem. Okay. Zechariah 1.16. Now, when did Zechariah prophesy? Before the exile, Babylonian exile, or afterward? Afterward. They had been in Babylon for 70 years. Cyrus the king, because God worked in his heart sovereignly, had turned it to be one that wrote a decree that they could come back and build the temple. The Lord is saying here, post-exilic time through Zechariah, that he's going to stretch out a measuring line, a surveyor's line, and it shall be stretched out over the house of Israel. Now, what does that mean? Why would God need to stretch out a surveyor's line over the house of Israel? Well, what does a surveyor do? If you have a surveyor coming out to your property and he goes and surveys a particular area of land or acreage or whatever, what is he doing? He's measuring off that which belongs to who? you. So the same implication is here. What God is measuring off is what belongs to him. And what is he is going to be responsible for, so to speak, what he's going to protect. Now, God is in other words, going to be the protector for Israel. When they come back, he's going to be the survey line or the protecting wall. And that's why they were being surveyed. In the same sense here in Revelation 11 verse 1, where John says he is to go like a surveyor, so to speak, with a measuring rod and measure the temple of God, the altar, and those who worship in it. There's something happening here. In the New Testament, you'll find that there's two words for the word temple. And one word is just a generalization, temple referring to a building. But the other word for temple, which is naos, which is the word we have here, is a reference to that inner place of the temple where God dwelt. Now, where did God dwell? Behind the curtain, His spirit hovering above the what? Ark of the covenant between the two cherubim, right? So that's where God was. So the word that refers to that location is the word that is used here when you see the temple of God, the naos of God, that enter, that inner sanctum, that inner place where God's presence dwelt. And so the inner place is the place where God is going to protect. He's measuring it off. This is the place he's going to be protecting. This is the place that he is mapping off, so to speak, saying that it belongs to him. Now let me ask you this question. Where is, or let me ask it this way. Who is the true temple of God? The building? It's Christ, right? John two. Now he said the temple referring to his body that he would raise it up again. Who's the body of Christ? The church. So where is the surveyor line being measured around regarding who's going to be protected during this tribulation that the Jews are about to encounter that's going to fall down on Jerusalem? Believers. This is what John is saying, that God is putting a line around the true temple, the true dwelling of God, the true worship place of God, those who are true believers, those who are the true Israel. And the church would be protected through this time. Let me ask you the question, were they? Yes. Where did the Christians run to? Pella. They fled when they saw Jerusalem surrounded by what? Armies. They took the advice of their Lord and they fled. This is what John is measuring. Now, do we have any other proof that the church is the true inner sanctum, the inner place where God dwells, the inner place where true worship happens? I'm so glad you asked that question because Ephesians chapter two, verse 21 to 22 says, in whom the whole building being fitted together is growing into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit. God has tore down through Christ the dividing wall between Jew and Gentile, and there is now one body, one man, one person, And that's the church. And John is told to go measure the temple. He's also told to go measure the altar. Now this altar, if you was to study the old covenant and the old temple, you would note that the altar would not be behind the curtain. Where was the altar? The altar was kind of in that middle ground between the front entrance and what was behind the curtain. Now that altar is called the altar of incense. Well, what was done there? Prayers, right? The incense, the prayers of the saints going up before God is a sweet aroma. Now, it's interesting to me that in the new covenant, that altar, there is a adjustment that's been made. What do you remember happened when Jesus died on the cross? An earthquake happened and what was torn in two? The veil. The veil was torn in two. And what we learn is that this altar of incense was no longer out in front of the veil, but now it also was in the midst of that inner sanctum, that true place of worship. In the old covenant, the curtain was there, the altar was outside, but now, you and I, being Christ has been torn, sort of like the Bible tells us in Hebrews, that the veil being torn in his flesh, he opened that access to God. And we are the priest who now, who could only come into that place? Let me ask it that way. Our priest. But as Luther argued so adamantly, guess what you and I have been made in Christ now? Priest. It's called the doctrine of the priesthood of the believer. You and I are granted access now to come where? Before the Lord. Revelation 5.10 says, you've made them to be a kingdom and priest to our God. Hebrews 4.16 says, let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace and receive mercy. This is the sweet side. This is the glorious good news that you and I have. Now, we need to remember. that Hebrews chapter eight tells us that these things that were on earth, according to Hebrews chapter eight, four to five, says they were a copy and a shadow of the heavenly things. A copy and a shadow of the heavenly things. So on earth, the temple and all that was within it was utilized by the Jewish people was a copy and a shadow. But the sanctuary that was in heaven, That is the true sanctuary, which is where Christ went, according to Hebrews 9 24. Christ did not enter a holy place made with hands, a mere copy of the true one, but into heaven itself to appear before the presence of God for us. This is the new covenant. This is the hope that you and I have. Christ is our high priest, is in that sanctuary. But consider this reality too, and I think this is what we miss about even these moments and even on Sunday morning as we gather to worship our Lord, is that even though we're here on earth, we already participate in heavenly worship. Why? Because we are already members of the true sanctuary. Paul said here in Hebrews 10, brothers and sisters, since we have boldness to enter the sanctuary through the blood of Jesus, he has inaugurated for us a new and living way through the curtain, that is through his flesh, since we have a great high priest over the house of God. Now listen to what he said in Hebrews 12. You have come to Mount Zion. to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, myriads of angels, a festive gathering, and to the assembly of the firstborn whose names have been written in heaven. This is where we have come. It's not where we're going. We're already participating in that great reality. And I think we miss that so many times. The church, the body of Christ, is the heavenly temple. The body of Christ is the heavenly city. And that's what John is implying here in verse one. Why do we know that? Because notice verse two. Now, the New American says, leave out the court, which is outside the temple and do not measure it. I'm not big on the term there, leave. Most of your translations are gonna say cast out, throw out, put out. The implication is is to excommunicate, so to speak. You're putting somebody out of a particular place. You leave out or you throw out, cast out. And so who are those that are cast out of the sanctuary? Are those that are cast away from the presence of God? Who is that? The unbelievers, right? Those who have rejected the Messiah. God is not putting a surveyor line around those who have rejected the Messiah. The surveyor line, the measuring rod, was measuring those who have come by way of Christ. But the surveyor's line is not measured off to protect those who are outside in the outer court because they are the ones who have rejected the Messiah. And that's the implication of verse number two. Cast out the court which is outside the temple. Leave it out. Don't even measure surveying it. Don't measure it. Do not measure it. In other words, do not measure off that location because my protection is not there. For it has been given to the nations. That word nations is another term that is often used for guess what? Gentiles. We're going somewhere. What was given to the Gentiles? Who was kicked out? All this language, remember? Why do you think John would receive a word from God in verse two to cast out or leave out of his measuring that outer court that is being trampled under by the Gentiles? Why would he leave that out? Why is that area mentioned there? Well, take your Bibles and turn with me. I was gonna read a lot of these, but some of them you just need to see. Luke chapter 13. Luke chapter number 13, verse 24. Luke chapter 13, verse 24. And I just wanna read this to you. Luke chapter 13, I'm sorry. Luke chapter 13, verse 24. Luke chapter 13, verse 24. The word of God says, make every effort to enter through the narrow door. Because I tell you, many will try to enter and won't be able once the homeowner gets up and shuts the door. Then you will stand outside and knock on the door saying, Lord, open up for us. He will answer you. I don't know you. Where are you from? Then you will say, we ate and drank in your presence and you taught in our streets. But he will say, I tell you, I do not know you or where you're from. Get away from me, all you evildoers. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth in that place when you see Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but yourselves will be what? Will be what? Thrown out. They will come from east and west, north and south to share the banquet where? In the kingdom. but who are the ones cast out? The ones that thought they had it. Now, I'm not going to ask you, you could turn to Matthew eight. I'm not going to ask you to, but Matthew chapter eight, verse 11, 12, he says, I tell you, many will come from East and West and share the banquet with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. But the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. In other words, the ones who thought that the temple and the inner sanctum belonged to them specifically have now been cast out because they were the ones who rejected the Messiah. They rejected Him. As a nation, they rejected Him. Now, does this fulfill anything Jesus has ever spoken? Turn on over to Luke 21. Luke 21, verse 24. Luke 21. Verse 24. Luke 21, verse 24. The word of God says they will be killed by the sword and led captive into all the nations. And Jerusalem will be trampled by what? The Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled. Guess what chapter two of Revelation 11 says, because we didn't finish reading it. It's the same thing. So let's go back to Revelation 11 verse two. Revelation 11 verse two. He says, leave out the court which is outside the temple and do not measure it for it's been given to the nations or to the Gentiles and they will tread underfoot the holy city for how long? 42 months. 42 months. Now, what is this 42 months? 1260 days and it's three and a half years is what it boils down to. Where do we get that? Well, we get it from Daniel 7 verse 25. Daniel 7 verse 25 says, a time, times, and a half a time. And then Revelation helps us interpret it, three and a half years, 42 months, 1260 days. Now, are we looking at this being literally three and a half years, literal 42 months, or when you study the Bibles, particularly the Old Testament, three and a half kind of got brought up a good bit, didn't it? What did three and a half often insinuate? Well, you remember in the Bible, the number seven implies what? Completion, wholeness. Well, what would three and a half indicate? Darkness, incomplete, unfulfilled. Well, think about the Old Testament. How long did the drought between Elijah's first appearance and the Baal prophet's victory on Mount Carmel last? Three and a half years. And there's other instances we could point out there about the three and a half years. But the implication is, is that in this time of tribulation, which will come upon the city of Jerusalem, upon the nation of Israel, during this reign, sorry, during the war of the Jews, the summary that we have between verses one and two is simply this, the church will be saved, the church will be protected, but Jerusalem will be destroyed and invaded. That's what you have in verses one and two. That's what you have in verses one and two. You say, why? Why would that happen? Well, because Israel declared her allegiance to Caesar. John 19, 15, we have no king but Caesar. And they thought also, if you go back to Matthew 21, the parable that Jesus gave of the vineyard, at the end of that parable, the Bible says that the workers of that vineyard looked and saw the son and said, oh no, here's the heir, let's kill him so we can keep the inheritance and that way he won't get it. And then Jesus asked him, what do you think the owner of that vineyard's gonna do when they find out they killed his son? And they said, oh goodness, it'll be horrible. He'll destroy them all. He said, so it will happen to you. And the kingdom will be taken from you and given to a people to produce the fruit of it. Now here's the question. History trivia. How long did the Roman invasion last in Jerusalem? You ready for this one? Three and a half years. So, that's verses one and two. I don't know where we are on time, but that's verses one and two. Let's move on to verse three. We'll take verses three to six in this section. Verses three to six. It says, and I will grant authority to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1260 days, clothed in sackcloth, He says, these are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth. And if anyone harms them, wants to harm them, fire flows out of their mouth and devours their enemies. So if anyone wants to harm them, he must be killed in this way. Now, look at verse six. It says, these have the power to shut up the sky so that the rain will not fall during the days of their prophesying. And they have the power of the waters to turn them into blood and to strike the earth with every plague as often as they desire. Now, who are these two witnesses? You know, and I know again, and I'm just telling you how I was, when I was coming up thinking about Revelation, you know, thinking about this all being a future reality rather than something that actually unfolded in the days of Jerusalem. You know, I was thinking, you know, you hear so many guesses on who these two men, in people's mind, it was literally two men that God would send to be witnesses in the street. And, you know, the unfolding of that event that I had often heard was that these men would preach, you know, there's gonna be people shooting at them, trying to kill them, nothing could harm them for the first three and a half whatever days, and then they would die, they'd lay in the streets, and people's gonna have a party, and then God raises them up again, and you know, that's kind of the story I heard or thought about. But when you think about what's unfolding in Israel's day, and you think about everything we've looked at, what Jesus said in Matthew 24 and so on, and you think about these two witnesses, why are two witnesses important? Because they needed it, why? Because if anybody was gonna be put forth guilty of a crime that was worthy of execution, you had to have how many witnesses? Two to three witnesses. and their testimony both had to agree perfectly or the execution could not be carried out. So who is it that has testified perfectly in order for this execution of Jerusalem to come to fulfillment? Answer, the law and the prophets, which are represented by, guess who? Elijah and Moses. Why? Because he says here that they got the power to shut up the sky and the rain. Well, where'd your mind go? Elijah. But they also got power to turn the water into blood. Where'd your mind go? All right, so who represents the law and who represents the prophets? Guess who? Elijah represents the prophets and Moses represents the what? Law. So what has testified against Israel their entire existence? The law and the prophets. has stood the test of time. And we see that, and let me ask you this, why is it that this execution is falling down on them? Remember the words of our Lord, Luke 11, verse 51, for the blood of Abel to the blood of Zachariah, who you killed between the altar and the sanctuary, yes, this generation will be held responsible. You remember what our Lord said when he cried out looking at the city of Jerusalem? What did he tell him? Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the what? Prophets and stones those who are sent to her. How often I would have gathered you, but you didn't come. You didn't come. It's the law and the prophets that are the two witnesses. And the two men that stand certainly representative of those two things are Moses and Elijah. I was thinking about the chapter Malachi chapter four. The Bible says this, remember the instruction of Moses, my servant, the statutes and ordinances I commanded him at Horeb for all Israel. Look, I'm going to send to you the prophet Elijah before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes. And he will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and the hearts of the children of their fathers. Otherwise I will come and strike the land with a curse." Guess what the last word in your Old Testament is? Curse. Curse. The last thing Malachi told these people was that they would be a curse. And these two witnesses, they're dressed in what? Sackcloth. Well, when did you hear sackcloth in the Old Testament? Anytime somebody was what? Mourning, weeping, repenting, you know, sackcloth and ashes is what you often heard most of the time. And these two witnesses are dressed in sackcloth, which denotes, kind of gives off the message of woe, the message of a need of repentance. And this matches the whole narrative. And these two witnesses have miraculous powers, just like the prophets of old, and their powers seem to echo that of Moses and Elijah. And guess who are the two that visit him on the Mount of Transfiguration? Moses and Elijah. And Moses turned the water to blood. He struck the earth with the plagues. Elijah called fire down from heaven and he shut up the heaven so that the rain wouldn't fall during the days of Ahab. This is what is standing as a prophetic witness against the people of Israel. In Acts chapter one, verse eight, Jesus said, when the power, when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, now you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem. you will be, the church was. The church was the means by which the message of the law and the prophets continued to be preached in the streets. It was through the church in that day. There wasn't a day that went by that the church was not preaching and teaching the message of the law and the prophets. And then we see here verse number four, these are the two olive trees and two lampstands that stand before the Lord on the earth. John, what in the world about olive trees and lampstands? Well, where is this at? Well, guess what? Takes us back to Zechariah, another illusion. Well, what about Zechariah? Do we know? This is Zechariah chapter four, verses two to 14. Now, these two olive trees and these two candlesticks are intended to make us think of Zerubbabel and Joshua. And you can go back to Zechariah chapter four on that. But why call our attention to that episode in Israel's history? You need to remember that Zechariah was a prophet during the post-exile days. So after Israel had been in Babylon, now they've come back to the city of Jerusalem. Cyrus gave them decree to come back and rebuild it. You need to know that Zechariah and Haggai were the two prophets that were preaching during that time. Now, when they came back, Cyrus told them to rebuild the temple. But what do we know happened? They started on it, but what? They didn't finish it. They left it half done. It was like an eyesore that was just sticking out there for everybody to see and they went on about their own business doing their own thing. They were too busy to carry out the decree that God had issued. And then Jerusalem was under the leadership of Zerubbabel and Joshua. Zerubbabel you could say was the king or he was the political leader and Joshua was the one that stood as the priest. during that day. So you have a king and you have a priest, Zerubbabel and Joshua. And the people of Israel weren't too happy with those guys. They came, the prophets preached. The two olive trees are Zerubbabel and Joshua. Olive trees, and you're asking, now preacher, I don't know if I believe you, but I'm finna quote it to you, so just give me just a second. But what is the olive tree? What's the olive tree gotta do? What do they do with olives? Smashed it, what do they get from it, olive oil? What was the olive oil served to do? Fuel the lamps and the altar and all, which would do what? Give them fuel for the fire, right? And if you had a live olive tree, then that meant that the implication was the light of that lamp was never gonna run out, right? All right, so what also is attributed connected-wise in being the olive tree that gives power or gives light and never runs out? The Holy Spirit, right? You read all those connections. Well, how do we know all this to be true? Zechariah four, five to six, the angel who was speaking with me answered and said to me, do you not know what these are? And I said, no, my Lord. Then he said to me, this is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel saying, not by my might, nor by power, but by my spirit. So in other words, Zerubbabel and Joshua were empowered by the spirit of God to bring about this great message of preaching to them. Zechariah 4, I said to him, what are these two olive trees on the right of the lampstand and on the left? I answered a second time and said to him, what are these two olive trees which are beside the two golden pipes, which are emptying the golden oil for themselves? Well, he said, answering me, do you not know what these are? And I said, no, my Lord. Then he said, these are the two anointed ones which are standing by the Lord of the whole earth. The power of those two witnesses in the nation of Israel during their day was irrevocable in Joshua. In this day, the two powerful witnesses are Elijah, which was the prophets, and Moses being the law. And guess what? None of them, not any of them considered, they ignored, ignored the message. They ignored the message. How do we know this? Well, you remember one of your favorite parables you love to hear preached on in Luke about the poor man that sit at the gate named Lazarus. He died and went to Abraham's bosom, right? And then the rich man died and he went to hell. What does the last part of that parable say? Jesus taught it. Lord, send somebody. Send somebody to tell my five brothers about this place What'd he say? He said, if they hear not Moses and the prophets, so if they don't hear the law and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded that even though one rose from the grave. Let me ask you the question, were they persuaded? No, they weren't persuaded. So what is Jerusalem now? Well, let's keep reading in Revelation 11. Revelation chapter 11, picking up in verse seven. When they had finished their testimony, the beast that comes up out of the abyss will make war with them and overcome them and kill them. Their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city, which mystically or analog, kind of like a, figuratively is called Sodom and Egypt. where also their Lord was crucified. Well, what do we know happened? We know that indeed our Lord was crucified, the one that stood as the great representative of all the law and the prophets. And we know that during this time, unfortunately as we read, that there was basically a lot of cheering, a lot of happiness that broke out. But I want you to know what Jerusalem now is called because of their actions. And if you'll notice verse eight, what is Jerusalem called? How do we know it's Jerusalem? Because it says that dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city, which is called Sodom and Egypt, where the Lord was crucified. Okay, let me ask you, what city was that? Jerusalem, which is called what? Sodom and Egypt. Now, there's these Exodus motifs all throughout the Bible. All throughout the Bible. And it's interesting to me that even this language was used by Isaiah and Jeremiah. They referred to Israel as, you know, like sodomy or Sodom and then also Egypt because of the way they treated the Lord. But Jesus, being the greater Moses, who is leading his people out of Egypt and birthing the new Israel, the true temple, the true Exodus, I want you to, and I'll close with this, but I found this fascinating. If you'll turn with me to Luke chapter nine, verse 31, I want you to see this word. Luke chapter nine, verse 31. Luke chapter number nine. Now in Luke chapter number nine, beginning in verse 28, we have the transfiguration. And as they are up on the mountain, as you keep reading, you get down to verse number 31. And we're told here, well, look at verse 30. And behold, two men were talking with him, and they were Moses and Elijah, who, appearing in glory, were speaking of his departure. Was speaking of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. Now, the New American uses the term departure. If you have a King James or a New King James, it uses the term deceased. Now, I want you to know that I found this extremely fascinating because what really is the word there for departure or even in the New King James, King James, the word for deceased there, They were asking him, Moses and Elijah were asking Jesus about his departure or decease. That word in Greek is the word for exodus. Moses was asking the Lord about his exodus. It is Christ who leads people into the greater exodus by exiting bondage, not in Egypt, but in their sin. He sets them free and he leads them out. And Moses and Elijah come down and appear with him and begin to ask him about his exodus. about his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. It is Christ who was about to lead his people out of Jerusalem that had become Sodom and Egypt. It is Christ who came to take his people from the old covenant, which had been broken and demanded nothing but curse, and free them and bring them into the new covenant, which they would remember their sins no more. This stuff gets me excited, but I want you to just see that and know it's there. That as Moses led the people of Israel out of Egypt, As Abraham sit that night and had a conversation with the Lord himself on the hill, fixed him a meal and these other angels went down and they led Lot and his family out of Sodom. It is now Israel who has become Sodom and Egypt by which the Lord Jesus who is the true Israel and the greater Moses is leading his people out of Egypt and Sodom. You know, thinking about Luke and Revelation, but there's just so much there, but verse 10 of Revelation 11, those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them and celebrate, and they will send gifts to one another because these two prophets tormented those who dwell on earth. In Luke 23, guess what happened? The Bible says Herod and Pilate became friends with one another that very day. What day? Well, guess what day? The day that the one that represented the law and prophets had what? Been put to death. At the death of Christ, do you remember rejoicing happened? That's all over there. Mocking, gambling. Rome and Israel joined hand in hand to celebrate this death. But Moses had given a warning in Deuteronomy 18, that if they didn't listen to the prophet whom God would raise up, that would be greater than him. Guess what would happen? And guess who quoted that same passage as they was killing him for preaching? Stephen. I'm just moving on. It's so... I wanna read a quote and I'll close. This guy's name is Herbert Schlossberg. I don't know him, but I love what he said here. We are not the lords of history and do not control its outcome. But we have assurance that there is a lord of history and he controls its outcome. We need a theological interpretation of disaster. One that recognizes that God acts in such events as captivities, defeats, and crucifixions. The Bible can be interpreted as a string of God's triumphs disguised as disasters. Now, coming Sunday morning, Lord willing, I think about 1 Corinthians 2, 8, where the Bible says that the rulers and authorities would not have killed him if they would have known what it meant. But who has been trying to damper God's plan since the promise was made to the woman? Satan. And I'll close, we're not missing, but the end here where it talks about The breath of God came and lifted them up and made them alive again. And they continue to preach this message. And then the earthquake happened. But notice what it says there. A tenth of the city fell, 7,000 people were killed in the earthquake, and the rest were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven. That's 7,000. Is 7,000 ring a bell anywhere? We've been talking about Elijah, right? Elijah and Moses, 7,000. Elijah, oh Lord, ain't nobody left. What'd he say? He said, hey son, I got 7,000 that have not bowed the knee to Baal. Look what the text says here in verse 13. 7,000 people were killed this day. In Elijah, in God's conversation, 7,000 were spared or saved or sealed. but here 7,000 have been killed. In other words, what we see is the tables now have been turned regarding the people of Israel. This time it is the apostates or those who have rejected the faith who are the 7,000 in Israel. And the majority now are those who have come to Christ. It's the ones in that 7,000 In the Old Testament, only 7,000 are faithful. In the New Testament, only 7,000 are wicked, so to speak. It's flipped. John is just flipping the script. And all that is intended to grab our attention. A Jewish mind would have not had trouble gathering those symbolisms. Well, brothers and sisters, what do we learn from this tonight? Well, I think there's a lot to learn, but again, let me always conclude by saying this. Walking through this is not pointing out how bad Israel was. Walking through this is not to demean them in any way. Walking through this points us to the reality that God said what he meant and he meant what he said. If you reject his son, you will be judged. If you reject Christ, you will receive his wrath. But those in Christ have had a surveyor's line put around them, and they're safe. I hope you are safe. I hope that you're saved. I hope that you know Christ, confess him as Lord, and believe that God has raised him from the dead. I think another lesson we should learn from Israel, which is the lesson we read in Romans 11. Brothers and sisters, we live in a very blessed time. Israel had been given, they'd been given the law, they had the prophets, they'd been given the word, they'd been given a copy and a shadow of the temple. They looked at the sacrifices. You and I, we have the Bible in a phone right now. We can listen to it riding down the street. We can read it anytime we want to. We can pull up any kind of study helps. I can point you in any direction, north, south, east or west on that phone to get you any kind of information you want about studying your Bible. It's almost like Israel in their day. They had it all and still missed it. And I think the reality is true for you and us here in America. You can have it all and hear it over and over and over again and still be one that don't know Him. I hope you'll look to Christ as Lord and Savior. Let's pray.