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Woodland Hills Church of Christ episodes

June 30, 2024 None Like It
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30 min
June 27, 2024 Zechariah Chapter 14
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47 min
June 23, 2024Revelation 11:15-19 The Seventh Trumpet
The Seventh Trumpet
Revelation 11:15-19
Introduction: When the first seal of the scroll was opened in chapter 6, we watched in amazement as horses ran across the stage, souls of those slain cried out under the altar, judgments were promised, trumpets bringing partial judgments warning of the end, and thunders warning that there would be no more delay. Now the seventh trumpet will sound, and the anticipation should cause us to be on the edge of our seat as in watching the hero of an epic movie win the final battle against the enemy.
But before we can hear the meaning of the seventh trumpet, we must remind ourselves of the context of the angel blowing this trumpet.
Context of the Seventh Trumpet
10:5-7 is our first reminder of the context of the seventh trumpet. We have seen this in previous lessons. The angel standing on the sea and the land is an exact parallel to Daniel 12 and the destruction of Jerusalem and the nation. However, in Daniel 12, the angel said the fulfillment of the prophecy would happen after a “times, time, and a half a time.” But in Revelation 10, the angel said “there would be no more delay” and when the seventh angel sounded, “the mystery of God would be fulfilled, just as he announced to his servants the prophets.”
Therefore, the sounding of the seventh trumpet is not the end of time, but the fall of the Israel nation. Jesus foretold this in Matthew 24, Mark 13, and Luke 21. In doing so, he also quoted from Daniel 9:24-27 and used similar words as in Daniel 12:1. As in so many places in scripture that foretell of our describe God’s judgments on a nation, the words used sound like the final judgment day. And yes, it is a final judgment day, but only on that nation. Cf. Acts 2:19-20.
Next, there are three clues in 11:15-19 that indicate the seventh trumpet is not the end of time judgment:
Vs. 15: “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ…” Notice that “kingdom of the world” is singular. It is not “kingdoms,” plural. God is in the process of bringing all enemies under Jesus’ feet. Israel is the first.
Vs. 17: “…for you have taken your great power and begun to reign.” This statement clearly tells us that the seventh trumpet is not the end of time. 1 Corinthians 15:24-26 tells us that Jesus will reign until all enemies are put under his feet, and the last enemy to be destroyed will be death.
Vs. 18: “The nations raged, but your wrath came…” Those words are a clear reference to to the prophecy of Psalm 2, and the rebellion of Israel. We will look at that in a moment.
10:9-11 gives us a final clue. After the blowing of the sixth trumpet, John was given a little scroll and told, “You must prophesy about many peoples and nations and languages and kings.” That part of Revelation is still be be revealed (chapters 13-18).
Psalm 2: Seeing the Broader Context
Psalm 2 could easily be considered a summation of the whole Bible. Who will rule, God or the nations through the influence of the Serpent?
By dividing the psalm in two sections we can get the primary message.
Vs. 1-9 Nations, kings, and peoples believe they can overthrow God and the King he has chosen to rule. (By the way, this gives us a clue to Satan’s purposes in rebelling.) Of course, God laughs at their attempts, establishes his anointed King on his throne, and tells him to dash these rebels and their nations in pieces.
Vs. 10-12 offers a warning to all the other nations concerning what they have just seen in God’s power. The call is to serve the Lord with fear and “kiss the Son lest he be angry, and you perish in the way…”
Notice how these two sections connect. In Acts 4, when Peter and John were threatened by the Council to stop preaching in the name of of Jesus, they went back to their companions and prayed for boldness. In doing so, they quoted the words of Psalm 2:1-3 and applied it to Pilate and the Jewish authorities who used Pilate to get their way.
Therefore, when we go back to Revelation 11:18, we read, “The nations raged, but your wrath came.” That is just what we read in the first half of Psalm 2. Israel became like the nations and conspired with them to overthrow Jesus as their King. Just like in the Parable of the Tenants, they killed the Son and tried to take over the vineyard. Thus, in Revelation 6-11 we have seen the Lamb “shattering” them in pieces. Will the rest of the nations learn the lesson and “kiss the Son?” No! See 9:20-21. They did not repent.
Therefore John is given more prophecies “concerning peoples and nations and languages and kings” (10:11).
The Message of the Seventh Trumpet
It is interesting that when the seventh angel blows his trumpet there is no detailed description of what happens. Just as chapter 10:5-7 said, that’s it! It is done! In a moment, Israel is gone.
Vs. 15: “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever.” This is just the beginning, as verse 17 says.
Consider God’s purpose from the beginning was to fill the earth with his glory. Isaiah describes the ultimate purpose of the Messiah when he says, “They will not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.” (Isaiah 11:9)
Jesus prayed, “Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”
Further, “the kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord.” This is the beginning of the world becoming God’s kingdom. As the Lamb continues to reign, each enemy will either kiss the Son or perish.
16-17: The last we saw the 24 elders was in chapters 4-5. Now when they see the Lord conquer, they leave their thrones and fall on their faces giving thanks to the Lord God Almighty. This has been a long awaited day, foretold thousands of years previous. When would the Serpent and his offspring be crushed. The reign of God’s anointed has finally come. Remember that the prophecy was not that the King would come and suddenly all the nations would be subjected to him. The prophecy was, “he will reign until…” Jesus would need to deal with more enemies before they all would be subjected to him.
Do you appreciate verse 18? Is it something you hope and long for?
I’m reminded of king Hezekiah after he foolishly showed the rulers of Babylon all the treasures of his house. God told him that because he had done this, the king of Babylon would come and take away these treasures along with the people, but that it would not come in his day. Hezekiah exhibited his selfishness when he said, “At least there will be peace and security in my day.”
It is a fleshly minded person who thinks only of themselves and what happens in their lifetime. God’s cause is bigger than that, and as Jesus taught, our prayers are to be for that eternal kingdom to come.
Look at it! The dead judged and the destroyers of the earth are destroyed. While it is sad that judgment on the wicked had to come, we must be so thankful to God that the destroyers and finally destroyed.
And in the midst of that judgment, we see God “rewarding your servants, the prophets and the saints…both small and great.” That is what we are living for in Christ. He has promised the greatest reward ever, that no one can even imagine. Because of that, we happily give ourselves up for his sake.
“God’s temple in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant was seen within his temple.” No one was allowed to look upon his ark. But now it is visible. God’s covenant promises are sure and steadfast. We are now ready for the judgment of the beast!
Berry Kercheville
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41 min
June 23, 2024 Submission To Leaders
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45 min
June 23, 2024Revelation 11:1-14 Preparing For The Seventh Trumpet
Preparing for the Seventh Trumpet
Revelation 11:1-14
Introduction: the Lamb has opened six seals of the scroll. When the seventh seal was opened, seven angels began to blow their trumpets. As each angel blew his trumpet, partial judgments were revealed upon the nation of God’s wrath. The judgments became worse and worse until people wanted to die. But in spite of these warnings, the nation being judged and the peoples of the world refused to repent of their wickedness.
In chapter 10, before the seventh trumpet sounded, we are given direct references to Daniel 12 that Israel was the object of God wrath and the judgments that were executed. Daniel had recorded that Israel’s final judgment would not happen until “times, time, and a half a time” had been fulfilled. But in Revelation 10 we learn that the time is up and there would be no more delay.
Chapter 11 prepares us for the seventh trumpet and the final judgment scene on Israel as prophesied in Daniel 12.
The Measuring Rod (11:1-2)
You will notice the contrast between verses 1 and 2. The temple of God is to be measured while the court outside the temple will not be measured. This leads us to investigate what is symbolized by the measuring. The first hint is given in the verses themselves. The outside of the temple is not measured, but left to be trampled by the nations.
The prophets use this symbolism quite often. Sometimes the measuring is for destruction and sometimes it is for protection.
For example: “And I will stretch over Jerusalem the measuring line of Samaria, and the plumb line of the house of Ahab, and I will wipe Jerusalem as one wipes a dish, wiping it and turning it upside down.” (2 Kings 21:13). In this case, destruction is evident.
However, nations/cities are also measured for protection and blessing: “And I lifted my eyes and saw, and behold, a man with a measuring line in his hand! Then I said, “Where are you going?” And he said to me, “To measure Jerusalem, to see what is its width and what is its length.” And behold, the angel who talked with me came forward, and another angel came forward to meet him and said to him, “Run, say to that young man, ‘Jerusalem shall be inhabited as villages without walls, because of the multitude of people and livestock in it. And I will be to her a wall of fire all around, declares the LORD, and I will be the glory in her midst.’” (Zechariah 2:1–5)
The difference in our text is obvious. The one not measured is doomed. Therefore, the one who is measured is protected in some way.
Who are the one’s protected? Notice that it is the temple with its holy things. The temple parallels the Messiah’s temple that is described in Ezekiel 40-48. In the NT, Christians are described as the temple of God: 1 Cor. 3:16 “Do you not know that you are the temple of God and the Spirit of God dwells in you?”
Who are the ones trampled? John records that it is the outside court, which is called the “holy city.” When Daniel was told the coming destruction of Israel, we read that the angel swore, “that when the shattering of the power of the holy people comes to an end all these things would be finished” (Daniel 12:7). Notice that the people who are shattered are called the holy people. In this case, “holy” does not represent a people who live in uprightness and purity; it is the people who had been set apart by God, but now had defiled themselves.
Now listen to Jesus’ words concerning the destruction of Jerusalem: “But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation has come near. Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, and let those who are inside the city depart, and let not those who are out in the country enter it, for these are days of vengeance, to fulfill all that is written. Alas for women who are pregnant and for those who are nursing infants in those days! For there will be great distress upon the earth and wrath against this people. They will fall by the edge of the sword and be led captive among all nations, and Jerusalem will be trampled underfoot by the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.” (Luke 21:20–24)
Of course, we need to remember that this protection of God’s people is not meaning they are protected from persecution and physical death. That has already been made clear to us in 6:9-10.
As a reminder, 42 months is symbolic of a time of tribulation and destruction. It is equivalent to “times, time, and a half a time, three and half years, and 1260 days. We will see all of these numbers used in future texts.
The Players in the Vision (3-8)
The two witnesses:
Two witnesses are identified as “the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth.” This part of the vision is explained in Zechariah 4:7 where the context is doing what seemed impossible, the rebuilding of the temple of the Lord.
In Zechariah’s vision there was a lampstand being fed by two olive trees. When Zechariah asked what this was, the angel answered, “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit.’” In other words, fulfilling God’s will in building God’s temple would not be dependent on human strength, but on the power of the Spirit, the power of the word of God. Cf. Matt. 16:18
In Zechariah 4:13-14, Zechariah asked the angel what the two olive trees were. The answer was, “These are the two anointed ones who stand by the Lord of the whole earth.” Again, since the olive trees fed the lampstand, and the lampstand signified the power of God to rebuild the temple through Zerubbabel, we can think of the Revelation text as indicating the power of God’s word to fulfill his promises concerning the physical nation of Israel and concerning God’s true Israel.
Next, we have symbolism seen in what these two witnesses do.
Those who oppose them are killed by fire coming out of their mouth and consuming them.
Further, they have power to “shut the sky, that no rain my fall.”
Also, they have power over the waters to turn them into blood and strike the earth with every kind of plague.
Just by these descriptions you will recognize the powers of both Moses and Elijah. these two great prophets foretold and foreshadowed both the coming of the Messiah and the coming destruction of Israel.
Further, they are given this power to prophesy for 1260 days, therefore a short period of time marked by tribulation.
Vs. 7: The beast from the bottomless pit makes war on the witnesses and kills them.
We have been introduced to the bottomless pit before. In 9:1, 11, the king/angel over the bottomless pit appears to be the devil.
In 13:1, it is the dragon that calls up the “beast” out of the bottomless pit. And it is this beast that is described in the same way as Daniel’s prophecy in Daniel 7, which is the fourth empire who reigns over the earth. Therefore, in 11:7, it is Rome who persecutes and kills the two witnesses.
This is further confirmation that the “witnesses” represent the apostles and Christians who are testifying to the word of God and being killed (Cf. 6:9).
Back up for a moment and see the bigger picture of the chapter: while the nations are trampling Jerusalem, Christians also are being persecuted and killed by the beast.
Vs. 8: Their dead bodies are left to lie in the street of the great city, spiritually called Sodom and Egypt, “where their Lord was crucified.” This can be none other than Jerusalem.
Isaiah 1:10 “Hear the word of the Lord you rulers of Sodom! Give ear to the teaching of our God you people of Gomorrah!”
Jeremiah 23:14 “But in the prophets of Jerusalem I have seen a horrible thing: they commit adultery and walk in lies; they strengthen the hands of evildoers, so that no one turns from his evil; all of them have become like Sodom to me, and its inhabitants like Gomorrah.”
Ezekiel 23:19-20 “Yet she increased her whoring, remembering the days of her youth, when she played the whore in the land of Egypt and lusted after her lovers there.”
The Death of the Witnesses, Reaction of the World, & Resurrection (9-14)
Vs. 9-10: Look at the world’s reaction to the death of those proclaiming God’s word. First, they shame them by not burying their bodies. Second, they rejoice that they no longer must deal with these people who taught them about the good news of King Jesus and warned them of judgment to come.
Notice that they rejoice as if God has been defeated! This again is a reminder of Psalm 2:1-3 and Satan’s desire to overthrow God and his people through world powers. “Why do the nations conspire and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth rise up and the rulers band together against the Lord and against his anointed, saying ‘Let us break their chains and throw off their shackles.’”
We see this same picture in verse 18: “the nations raged but your wrath came.” Seeing these words and the words of Psalm 2, should cause us to heed Peter’s words: “…prepare your minds for action and be sober-minded…” There are many blessings God has given that we can enjoy in this life, but above all else we must live with the seriousness of our battle with the spiritual forces of wickedness and what God is doing through us.
The text signals the contrast between the way the world thinks and the way Christians think. When we became Christians, we were baptized into his death. The symbol is not just death to sin, but death in the sense of how we are to live before God. Paul said, “We are always given over to death that the life of Jesus might become visible in our mortal bodies” (2 Cor. 4:11).
The world sees our death as their victory, but we have faith in our resurrection and the defeat of the world. Just as the Lord used Jesus death for his victory, so our sacrifice of ourselves even unto death, signals our victory and the victory of the gospel. Thus the words of the 2nd century Christian, Tertullian, “The blood of the martyrs is the seed of church.” As more and more Christians were murdered by the Roman state, thousands turned to Christ as they saw the martyrs’ participation in Christ’s triumph over death.
I am persuaded, this is exactly the meaning of the resurrection of the witnesses, the 7000 killed in the earthquake, and the rest being terrified and give glory to God. The cause of Christ is “resurrected,” God begins his judgment on Jerusalem with a tenth being killed, and the rest now see God’s promises being fulfilled and are thus terrified. Giving glory to God may not mean they are converted any more than Nebuchadnezzar’s recognition of God being the most powerful caused him to give up his own idols. But for these, it is too late. The seventh trumpet will now sound.
Lessons for Today
Notice that three types of nations are mentioned who fight against God’s people:
Sodom: filled with sexual perversion
Egypt: symbolic of oppression
Jerusalem: rebels and murders against God and his people
The two witnesses are a personification of Jesus’ picture of the churches as lampstands. In 6:9, the martyrs were killed “for the word of God and for the witness they had borne.” Over and over the visions of Revelation remind us of our identity and God’s expectation of our purpose in the world.
Next, notice why the peoples of the world rejoice: “these two prophets had been a torment to those who dwell on the earth.”
My first thought is, how funny that these people think that Christian’s are tormenting them! That is certainly not any Christian’s intention. But why would they see the gospel message as torment? It is because it demands a complete transformation. Christians are not allowed to live for themselves. Thus, the message is a disruption.
But there is another side to this statement. Much like the Roman Empire, we live in a world where tolerance is a virtue and challenging one’s beliefs is a hate crime. The danger we face is keeping silent about the good news of our King lest someone accuse us of tormenting them. These first century Christians were so passionate about Jesus, they did not allow that fear to hinder them.
Conclusion: Remember the words of Jesus to the church in Smyrna, “Be faithful unto death.” Faithful implies a loyalty to Jesus and also a loyalty to his cause.
Berry Kercheville
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40 min
June 20, 2024 Zechariah Chapter 13
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45 min
June 16, 2024 Infinite Redeemer
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44 min
June 16, 2024 Qualified Servants (Pt 2)
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46 min
June 16, 2024 Wait For The Turn
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37 min
June 13, 2024 Zechariah Chapter 12
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44 min