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Revelation Lesson 19 Handout

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2 Thessalonians 2:3–4 3Let no one in any way deceive you, for it wil l not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, 4who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God. D aniel 9:27“And he wil l make a f irm covenant with the many for one week, but in the middle of the week he will put a stop to sacrif ice and grain offering…” In the Institute of Temple Treasures, in Jerusalem, you can see that they have already made all of the things that go into this temple. They have fashioned all the spoons, goblets, plates, and more in the same way the originals were made. They have made all wall hangings and cloths just l ike the originals, and have even dyed them using the same techniques used then. Everything is completely ready – except for the temple. They have made a fairly large replica of a temple outside Jerusalem, but it is only a model. The real one is yet to be built . There is even a school that teaches young priests how to properly prepare an animal for sacrif ice according to the traditions of the past. Plans drawn, priestly garments made, utensils used are made – seems l ike everything is done and awaiting the building of this temple. Revelation 11 1Then there was given me a measuring rod l ike a staff; and someone said, “Get up and measure the temple of God and the altar, and those who worship in it . 2“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 under foot the holy city for forty-two months. 3“And I wil l grant authority to my two witnesses, and they wil l prophesy for twelve hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth.”

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4These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth.

5And if anyone wants to harm them, f ire f lows out of their mouth and devours their enemies; so if anyone wants to harm them, he must be kil led in this way. 6These have the power to shut up the sky, so that rain wil l not fall during the days of their prophesying; and they have power over the

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waters to turn them into blood, and to strike the earth with every plague, as often as they desire. Matthew 17:1–13 1Six days later Jesus took with Him Peter and James and John his brother, and led them up on a high mountain by themselves. 2And He was transfigured before them; and His face shone l ike the sun, and His garments became as white as l ight. 3And behold, Moses and Eli jah appeared to them, talking with Him. 4Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here; i f You wish, I wil l make three tabernacles here, one for You, and one for Moses, and one for Eli jah.” 5While he was sti l l speaking, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and behold, a voice out of the cloud said, “This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased; l isten to Him!” 6When the disciples heard this, they fell face down to the ground and were terrif ied. 7And Jesus came to them and touched them and said, “Get up, and do not be afraid.” 8And l ift ing up their eyes, they saw no one except Jesus Himself alone. 9As they were coming down from the mountain, Jesus commanded them, saying, “Tell the vision to no one until the Son of Man has risen from the dead.” 10And His disciples asked Him, “Why then do the scribes say that Eli jah must come first?” 11And He answered and said, “Eli jah is coming and will restore all things; 12but I say to you that Eli jah already came, and they did not recognize him, but did to him whatever they wished. So also the Son of Man is going to suffer at their hands.” 13Then the disciples understood that He had spoken to them about John the Baptist. 7When they have f inished their testimony, the beast that comes up out of the abyss wil l make war with them, and overcome them and kil l them.

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8And their dead bodies wil l l ie in the street of the great city which mystically is called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified. 9Those from the peoples and tribes and tongues and nations wil l look at their dead bodies for three and a half days, and wil l not permit their dead bodies to be laid in a tomb. 10And those who dwell on the earth wil l rejoice over them and celebrate; and they will send gifts to one another, because these two prophets tormented those who dwell on the earth. 11But after the three and a half days, the breath of l i fe from God came into them, and they stood on their feet; and great fear fell upon those who were watching them. 12And they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, “Come up here.” Then they went up into heaven in the cloud, and their enemies watched them.

13And in that hour there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell ; seven thousand people were kil led in the earthquake, and the rest were terrif ied and gave glory to the God of heaven. 14The second woe is past; behold, the third woe is coming quickly. 15Then the seventh angel sounded; and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdom of the world has become the

Micah Laizure� 2/15/13 11:49 AM

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kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ; and He wil l reign forever and ever.” 16And the twenty-four elders, who sit on their thrones before God, fel l on their faces and worshiped God, 17saying, “We give You thanks, O Lord God, the Almighty, who are and who were, because You have taken Your great power and have begun to reign.

18“And the nations were enraged, and Your wrath came, and the time came for the dead to be judged, the time to reward Your bond-servants the prophets and the saints and those who fear Your name, the small and the great and to destroy those who destroy the earth.” 18“And the nations were enraged, (there wil l be f inal battle of Armegeddon) and Your wrath came, (bowl judgments) and the time came for the dead to be judged, (Great White Throne judgmenet in Chapter 20) and the time to reward Your bond-servants the prophets and the saints and those who fear Your name, the small and the great,( Bema judgment, the time when we will be rewarded for what we did for Him on earth) and to destroy those who destroy the earth.” (seems l ike a f inal battle) 19And the temple of God which is in heaven was opened; and the ark of His covenant appeared in His temple, and there were f lashes

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of l ightning and sounds and peals of thunder and an earthquake and a great hailstorm. ARK OF THE COVENANT Original container for the Ten Commandments and the central symbol of God’s presence with the people of Israel 1

The ark was designed for mobility. Its size (about four feet long, two and a half feet wide, and two and a half feet deep) and rectangular shape were appropriate to this feature. Permanent poles were used to carry the ark, since no one was allowed to touch it , and only priestly (Levitical) personnel were allowed to carry it . The ark was the most important object within the tabernacle of the desert period, though its relationship to the tabernacle was discontinued sometime after the conquest of Canaan. 2 Revelation 12 1A great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars; Genesis 37:9–10 9Now he had sti l l another dream, and related it to his brothers, and said, “Lo, I have had sti l l another dream; and behold, the sun and the moon and eleven stars were bowing down to me.” 10He related it to his father and to his brothers; and his father rebuked him and said to him, “What is this dream that you have

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had? Shall I and your mother and your brothers actually come to bow ourselves down before you to the ground?” 2and she was with child; and she cried out, being in labor and in pain to give birth. 3Then another sign appeared in heaven: and behold, a great red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads were seven diadems. 9And the great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.

4And his tail swept away a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she gave birth he might devour her child.

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5And she gave birth to a son, a male child, who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron; and her child was caught up to God and to His throne. 6Then the woman fled into the wilderness where she had a place prepared by God, so that there she would be nourished for one thousand two hundred and sixty days.

As Ray Stedman has noted, Jesus does not tell the residents of Tel Aviv or Haifa to f lee. The greatest danger is in Jerusalem and the peril is so great that the true believers in Yahweh must leave town immediately. They are called to f lee to the mountains, and since Jerusalem is already in the mountains of Judea, the f l ight wil l evidently be down to Jericho, then across into Jordan.

Most Bible scholars believe this godly remnant wil l f ind refuge in the ancient rock-hewn cliff city of Petra, and in the surrounding region in the land of that once belonged to the descendants of Esau, that is Edom (Southern Jordan).

The remnant wil l survive there, protected by God, for three and a half years. Meantime terrible destruction will come upon the land of Israel--which wil l be the center focal point of war. The entire world wil l suffer terrible destructive judgments, all from the Lord on that Day--but the believing refugees who constitute what the Bible calls "true Israel" wil l be safe in the sheep-fold around Bozrah and environs.

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Petra is an abandoned city carved into rocks – it has one entrance to the Jews wil l be able to hide and be protected.

The city is deserted and is diff icult to reach but because of the narrow passages it would be easy for a small force to defend against a larger army.

7And there was war in heaven, Michael and his angels waging war with the dragon. The dragon and his angels waged war, 8and they were not strong enough, and there was no longer a place found for them in heaven. Daniel 12:1 1“Now at that t ime Michael, the great prince who stands guard over the sons of your people, wil l arise. And there wil l be a t ime of distress such as never occurred since there was a nation until that t ime; and at that t ime your people, everyone who is found written in the book, wil l be rescued. Daniel 10:13 13“But the prince of the kingdom of Persia was withstanding me for twenty-one days; then behold, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I had been left there with the kings of Persia. Jude 9 9But Michael the archangel, when he disputed with the devil and argued about the body of Moses, did not dare pronounce against him a rail ing judgment, but said, “The Lord rebuke you!” 9And the great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. 10Then I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God and the authority of

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His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, he who accuses them before our God day and night. 11“And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their l i fe even when faced with death. 12“For this reason, rejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them. Woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, knowing that he has only a short t ime.” 13And when the dragon saw that he was thrown down to the earth, he persecuted the woman who gave birth to the male child. 14But the two wings of the great eagle were given to the woman, so that she could f ly into the wilderness to her place, where she was nourished for a t ime and times and half a t ime, from the presence of the serpent. 15And the serpent poured water l ike a river out of his mouth af ter the woman, so that he might cause her to be swept away with the f lood. 16But the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and drank up the river which the dragon poured out of his mouth. 17So the dragon was enraged with the woman, and went off to make war with the rest of her children, who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus.