Sermon

The New Exodus | Revelation 15:1-8 | Pastor Daniel Batarseh (Bible Study Series)

Bible Study with Pr. Daniel Batarseh | Verse by Verse Series | Maranatha Bible Church - Chicago

Open publisher episode ↗

Publisher transcript

Transcript

View source ↗
  1. Let's meet together in God's Word in the Book of Revelation

    Revelation 15 chapter mention

  2. chapter 15. Revelation chapter 15, What you

    Revelation 15 chapter mention

  3. and I have before us today is the shortest chapter in the

  4. entire Book of Revelation, but don't mistake its brevity for

  5. insignificance. Last time we were together in

  6. this book, we examine the closing verses of Revelation

    Revelation 14 chapter mention

  7. chapter 14, and in it we discovered that God has given us

  8. a preview of the final judgments that He will unleash upon

  9. mankind. Namely, they were a prelude to

  10. the seven bowls of God's wrath, the final series of His justice

  11. against an evil world before the return of the Son of God.

  12. Now, as we come to chapter 15, we arrive at their introduction.

  13. In other words, the trailer for these judgments has ended, and

  14. the opening scene now begins. But when you read this chapter

  15. carefully, you'll notice that John is doing something much

  16. more profound than setting the stage for the culmination of

  17. God's manifest justice. There seems to be a weaving of

  18. other things taking place, a profound picture that he is

  19. putting together. And it's my prayer that we will

  20. seek to capture it in our time together this afternoon.

  21. And the best way to start is by just reading the entire chapter.

  22. It's very short as you know, So let's start here in verse one of

  23. Revelation 15. Then I saw another sign in

  24. heaven, great and amazing, 7 angels with 7 plagues, which are

  25. the last, for with them the wrath of God is finished.

  26. And I saw what appeared to be a sea of glass mingled with fire,

  27. and also those who had conquered the beast and its image and the

  28. number of its name, standing beside the sea of glass, with

  29. harps of God in their hands. And they sing the song of Moses,

  30. the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and

  31. amazing are your deeds, O Lord God the Almighty.

  32. Just and true are your ways, O King of the nations.

  33. Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify your name for You alone.

  34. Our holy all nations will come and worship you for your for

  35. your righteous acts have been revealed.

  36. After this I looked and the sanctuary of the Tent of Witness

  37. in Heaven was opened. And out of the sanctuary came

  38. the seven angels with the seven plagues, clothed in pure bright

  39. linen with golden sashes around their chest.

  40. And one of the four living creatures gave to the seven

  41. angels 7 golden bowls full of the wrath of God, who lives

  42. forever and ever. And the sanctuary was filled

  43. with smoke from the glory of God and from his power.

  44. And no one could enter the sanctuary until the seven

  45. plagues of the seven angels were finished.

  46. Lord, we ask that You would do a work in our hearts as You did to

  47. Your servant Titus. We read in Your word that Paul

  48. confessed gladly that You put it into the heart of Titus to have

  49. the same earnest care for the Corinthians that he had.

  50. And Lord, we see a promise in that truth that You can take our

  51. hearts and put in it what You desire.

  52. So Lord, as your church, we extend our hearts to you.

  53. We say, put in these hearts your love, a love for you, a love for

  54. the Word, a love for the church, a love for the lost, a love for

  55. that which is holy. And use this message to

  56. accomplish that. We ask these things in Jesus

  57. name, Amen. A lot of imagery here is

  58. familiar to us, isn't it? We've seen echoes of this

  59. throughout the Book of Revelation, and yet there is

  60. something very unique, one element in what we just saw that

  61. stands out, a reference to Moses that seems a little strange.

  62. Moses doesn't appear before this, and Moses doesn't show up

  63. after this in the Book of Revelation.

  64. But John is not only making reference to the man Moses, he

  65. tells us specifically here in verse three that they sang the

  66. song of Moses. So it's less about him bringing

  67. our attention to the person and more about us remembering an

  68. event. We know exactly where the song

  69. of Moses was sung, and we'll get to that in a moment.

  70. But this clear reference is absolutely essential to

  71. unlocking other allusions in this prophetic passage.

  72. When you see this, you understand that there are other

  73. details around it, that when you put it together, it forms a

  74. grand and familiar picture. And that's what I want us to

  75. see. Keep the song of Moses in the

  76. back of your mind, and let's look over very quickly the

  77. verses that we just read. Look at verse one again and I

  78. think that as we read this, light bulbs are going to go off

  79. verse one. Then I saw another sign in

  80. heaven, great and amazing, 7 angels with seven what plagues.

  81. Verse 2 And I saw what appeared to be a sea of glass mingled

  82. with fire, and also those who had conquered the beast and its

  83. image and a number of its name standing beside the sea.

  84. The ESC writes beside because the Greek word EPI is very

  85. elastic. It can mean beside, before, on.

  86. So some of your translations say they were standing on the sea,

  87. but the ESB renders it beside. Standing beside the sea of glass

  88. with harps of God in their hands.

  89. Look at verse 3 and they sing the song of Moses, the CERN of

  90. God, and the song of the Lamb sang.

  91. Let's go over to verse 5. After this I looked and the

  92. sanctuary of the Tent of Witness in heaven was opened.

  93. Other transitions say the Temple of the Tabernacle of the

  94. Testimony. This is a clear picture and

  95. reference to the Tabernacle, verse 6.

  96. And out of the sanctuary came the seven angels with the seven

  97. plagues, clothed in pure bright linen with golden sashes around

  98. their chest. In other words, they're dressed

  99. like priests. Finally, verse 8.

  100. And the sanctuary was filled with smoke from the glory of God

  101. and from his power. No one could enter the sanctuary

  102. until the seven plagues of the seven angels were finished.

  103. So think about this with me. Plagues, deliverance from a

  104. global tyrant, singing victoriously by a sea Moses and

  105. more specifically the song of Moses, a lamb, the tent of

  106. witness, priestly looking servants of God, and finally the

  107. sanctuary filled with the smoke of God's glory.

  108. It couldn't be more obvious. What John is doing here in this

  109. vision is clearly making an allusion to the Exodus story and

  110. the journey into the wilderness. But for what purpose?

  111. Well, by borrowing these details, John is obviously

  112. bringing to mind this pivotal moment in redemptive history.

  113. But more than that, he's also describing a new Exodus to come.

  114. That's what's happening here. It says, oh, the age.

  115. The apostle is saying you are very aware of God's redemptive

  116. power, namely what he did for Israel, bringing them out of

  117. Egypt. But I'm here to tell you by the

  118. authority and this inspiration of the Holy Spirit that there is

  119. another exodus to come. And what I want to speak to you

  120. about is just that, the new exodus.

  121. Have you ever thought about it? It's promised, it's illustrated,

  122. it's presented to us right here in this chapter.

  123. And the way we're going to seek to understand this new Exodus is

  124. by coming to this text, looking at the major characteristics and

  125. then comparing it with the Exodus of old, paralleling some

  126. truths and and contrasting some realities.

  127. For what reason? So that in the end, we would

  128. come to the conclusion that what is to come, this great act of

  129. deliverance, is far more significant, far more powerful,

  130. and far more glorious than what Israel experienced in Egypt.

  131. I want you and I today, by the grace of God, to consider 3

  132. facets of this new exodus, of this exodus that is promised for

  133. the future. They're very simple to remember.

  134. Again, there's going to be similarities, but we're also

  135. going to see how this exodus is greater #1 John wants us to see

  136. the wrath of God and connection to this act of deliverance.

  137. That's what he immediately perceives in the opening of this

  138. chapter. What he sees in this new vision

  139. is 7 angels who come and emerge with 7 plagues that will

  140. complete God's wrath on the earth.

  141. Notice they are the last. This is another clue that the

  142. Book of Revelation is chronological.

  143. Some people believe it's cyclical, that it's repetitive,

  144. that it's just showing different angles of the same scene.

  145. But this is an indication that no, there's a progression taking

  146. place in Revelation. We've already covered the sealed

  147. judgments, we've seen the trumpet judgments, and now these

  148. bowls of God's wrath. They're the final acts of God's

  149. judgment. But notice this.

  150. The same way that God's judgment was the means of bringing total

  151. and complete deliverance to Israel, so will be for the

  152. church at the end of the age. Jesus Christ took God's wrath

  153. upon himself on the cross, yes, and he secured our redemption.

  154. But there's still more judgment to come, namely upon the wicked

  155. to make way for our total redemption for the new age, the

  156. new world, the new Kingdom to come.

  157. And that's what John is indicating here.

  158. You and I, we know that the way God accomplished this

  159. deliverance for Israel was by unleashing 10 plagues.

  160. But more than that, the final blow against Pharaoh and his

  161. tyrannical regime was what? Being buried beneath the Red

  162. Sea. And that's what seems to be

  163. indicated here, the message being illustrated when John sees

  164. not just the last plagues, but also a scene of a sea of glass

  165. mingled with fire. Did you see that?

  166. Verse 2? And I saw what appeared to be a

  167. sea of glass mingled with fire. The last time we saw the sea of

  168. glass was back in chapter 4, but there was no mention of it being

  169. mixed with fire. It was like crystal.

  170. It was calm. It's a reflection of God's

  171. purity, His Holiness, His righteousness, his, his

  172. consistency. But then now the sea of glass

  173. before his throne reappears, but this time it's being illuminated

  174. by flames. It's being stirred, so to speak,

  175. by fire. That doesn't mean that there's

  176. going to be a literal splitting of the Red Sea in the

  177. Tribulation period. What it does show, however, is

  178. that this glass like mass mixed with fire before God's throne

  179. conveys that God is about to bring the fatal and total defeat

  180. of the evil systems of the world, just like the Red Sea did

  181. in the past. John is deep.

  182. Clearly, he's being led by the Holy Spirit.

  183. However, there is a difference between what we see here in this

  184. experience of a future exodus for the Church, for the redeemed

  185. in Christ, and what Israel knew. There is a clear order of

  186. events. When you go back to Exodus, what

  187. do you find? The plagues being poured out

  188. upon Egypt, and then the Red Sea.

  189. And then after the Red Sea, what on the other side of the shore,

  190. The people of God looking upon their enemies, drowning in the

  191. in the water and rejoicing. They were singing then, but now

  192. we come here and what do we discover?

  193. We have mention of plagues. We have even this connection

  194. with the idea of a sea, and they're singing.

  195. But when are they singing? Well, keep in mind the plagues

  196. are being introduced in this chapter, in chapter 16.

  197. They're going to be triggered. They're actually going to be

  198. released. They haven't been released yet,

  199. and yet the redeemed in heaven are singing.

  200. They're singing before it happens.

  201. Why? Because they know that the

  202. outcome is guaranteed. This is a declaration of faith.

  203. This is a demonstration of absolute trust.

  204. There's a contrast here. The redeemed in the Old

  205. Testament erupt and praise after God achieved his promise, which

  206. is wonderful. But the righteous here who are

  207. in heaven, namely they choose to praise God and glorify Him

  208. before anything plays out on the earth.

  209. This is obviously a look into a future end times event, but the

  210. worship of these Saints instructs us about our worship.

  211. You and I cannot afford to reserve our praise only when God

  212. does something for what He has accomplished in the past.

  213. He's worthy of that. We must continually acknowledge

  214. Him for the good that He has allowed us to experience and

  215. enjoy. Yes, but broaden your worship,

  216. my brother and sister. You and I have permission and we

  217. are invited. More than that, we are commanded

  218. to praise God for what He will do, what He what He promised

  219. that would happen. Not just what He has performed,

  220. but what He has promised will take place.

  221. And the reason why we can sing about those things with absolute

  222. fervor and zeal and rock solid confidence is because He said it

  223. would happen. Because He said it, He will do

  224. it. And so the explosiveness of our

  225. worship, yes, rightly so, should be in response to what the Lord

  226. has done, but also what He will do.

  227. And this is what we find here. These Saints are not

  228. experiencing yet, but they are still glorifying God.

  229. Now Speaking of singing, we come to the second feature of this

  230. new exodus that is so important. We looked at the wrath of God,

  231. but when? Now we have to look at the song,

  232. the songs that they are singing in verse three and four, and

  233. they sing the song of Moses, the servant of God and the song of

  234. the Lamb. Now there is a harmless debate

  235. about this singing taking place here, and here's the discussion.

  236. Is this speaking about two songs or one harmless?

  237. Your salvation doesn't count on it, thank God.

  238. So is this 2 titles for the same song?

  239. Others will say and argue, no, no, these are two separate tunes

  240. blended together like a medley. And then there are a minority

  241. who say no. This is clearly indicating that

  242. there are two separate songs being sung here.

  243. If you and if you take the text at face value, it seems to be

  244. just that. There's the song of Moses and

  245. then the song of the Lamb. If it was one song, you would

  246. think that it would say something like and they sing the

  247. song of Moses, the servant of God and the lamb.

  248. But that's not what happens. You have two songs here being

  249. mentioned. Now, why is that distinction

  250. important? I think one reason why it's

  251. important is because when we look at the song of Moses, we

  252. are aware that this is the people of God rehearsing God's

  253. past faithfulness. This is something that we find

  254. in Exodus 15. And so they are looking back and

  255. they are even echoing what the Saints of old were rejoicing

  256. about. But the song of the Lamb appears

  257. to be a new song. And John gives us a glimpse into

  258. some of the lyrics of this new song.

  259. And before we look at these lyrics, consider what this means

  260. for us on this side of the cross.

  261. This is so glorious. We as followers of Christ have

  262. more to sing about than those who went before us.

  263. The prophets of all. They had insight into the

  264. future. There is.

  265. There is obvious clues in even the Psalms about Messiah and

  266. what He will do and what He will accomplish on behalf of the

  267. world. But in reality, the redeemed of

  268. old sang about a shadow. You and I get to sing about the

  269. fulfillment. We have the complete picture.

  270. We have our eyes opened because the New Covenant grants us

  271. clarity, more revelation, more testimonies, and as a result, it

  272. should stimulate and encourage greater worship.

  273. We have more to sing about. It's not just the song of Moses

  274. that's been there from nearly the beginning.

  275. We also have the song of the Lamb.

  276. This is one of the advantages that we have as followers of

  277. Christ today. I want you to turn to a verse

  278. that is so important for us and being able to answer why we are

  279. more blessed in the new covenant.

  280. It's in Second Timothy one verse 10.

  281. This will confirm the argument that I'm trying to make here.

  282. Listen to what Paul says about one of the treasures of being in

  283. Christ, what Christ was able to offer us in Second Timothy 110

  284. in describing the power and the privilege of the gospel.

  285. Notice what he mentions Paul says, and which now has been

  286. manifested through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who

  287. abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through

  288. the gospel. We know that when Jesus came, He

  289. destroyed death, but he did more than just destroy death.

  290. It says here that He brought life, that is eternal life, life

  291. now, and immortality to light through the gospel.

  292. In other words, when Jesus Christ entered into the scene

  293. and did what he did and taught what he taught, he turned the

  294. light on. In the Old Testament they could

  295. see, but it was almost like entering into a room with a very

  296. faint light. And so you can make out the

  297. shapes and and you can touch and see.

  298. Maybe this is what this object is.

  299. But when Christ comes into this whole picture of redemptive

  300. history, he flicks on the light and we can see everything.

  301. And we know what we need to know by God's grace concerning

  302. immortality, everlasting life, what's what's going to happen

  303. after death and about life now. So the Old Testament, they had

  304. their songs, but we have more, They had their insights, but we

  305. have greater. And this is what I find here,

  306. that there is a principle that reminds us of our great treasure

  307. in Christ, not just the song of Moses, but the song of the Lamb.

  308. Now let me add something that I know I don't need to convince

  309. you of. I'm aware who I'm preaching to,

  310. but it's good to be reminded about it anyway.

  311. The fact that these Saints who are in heaven, we're going to

  312. discover that they're, they're the Saints who were martyred

  313. during the Tribulation period. The fact that they're singing

  314. the song of Moses and the song of the Lamb teaches us that the

  315. Old Testament and the New Testament are consistent, that

  316. they're in harmony. The old does not contradict the

  317. new and vice versa. The new completes the old.

  318. And this is this is illustrated here because I'm afraid that

  319. there are many people who are under the illusion that there is

  320. disagreement or even different versions of God or that because

  321. we're New Testament believers, this really gets me going.

  322. So I'm that because we are not followers in Christ and we are

  323. enjoying the new covenant and Christ inaugurated this New

  324. Testament, we don't need to really look into the Old

  325. Testament that there's not much benefit for us there.

  326. We're in the last book of the Bible.

  327. And guess what they're doing? They're singing the song of

  328. Moses. I jure you.

  329. And again, I know I'm preaching to the choir here, but just in

  330. case there's one who's listening to this and has been convinced

  331. that we can disconnect ourselves from the Hebrew Scriptures.

  332. No, no, no, no, no. God bids us to explore and

  333. examine and relish in what came before, especially because we

  334. have the complete picture now in Christ.

  335. We have the flashlight to look at everything that's found in

  336. what came before and see it for what it really is.

  337. Why would you miss out on that? I'm telling you, there's a

  338. growing trend within the evangelical circles of

  339. dismissing the Old Testament, of ignoring the Hebrew Scriptures,

  340. and that's creating a lot of problems theologically.

  341. I'm going to take my cue from the Saints found here in the

  342. Book of Revelation. They didn't just sing the song

  343. of the Lamb. In fact, you Can't Sing the song

  344. of the Lamb unless you know the prior songs, the Lamb.

  345. Where does that come from? Well, if you know the song of

  346. Moses, it'll make more sense. So here's the application.

  347. Read your Old Testament, enjoy it.

  348. Enjoy it enough where you can sing about the truths you find

  349. in it, and that'll always point you to Christ.

  350. So they sing. Now we'll look at some of the

  351. lyrics here. We can't look at every detail.

  352. I want to just mention one thing and it's how the words you and

  353. you are repeated over and over again.

  354. Again, we can spend a whole message just on the lyrics here,

  355. but consider this. Your deeds, your ways glorify

  356. your name. You alone are holy.

  357. Worship you for your righteous acts. 6 times in the stanza.

  358. God and God alone is the object of this choir's adoration and

  359. affection. You, you, you're, you're, you.

  360. And that becomes even more meaningful when you remember who

  361. it is singing these truths. Go back to verse 2, it says

  362. here. And I saw what appeared to be a

  363. sea of glass, mingled fire, and also those who had conquered the

  364. beast and its image and the number of its names standing

  365. beside the sea of glass with harps of God in their hands,

  366. Those who had conquered the beast.

  367. And what way do they conquer the beast?

  368. These are Christians during the regime of the Antichrist, and

  369. they clearly refused to bow the knee to him, and because of that

  370. they lost their lives. These are those who have shown

  371. great strength and resilience, those who have shown absolute

  372. and total devotion to Christ, those who overcame unspeakable

  373. difficulties in the world because of their love for the

  374. Lord Jesus to the point where they had to lose their heads in

  375. order to prove it. You might say these are super

  376. Christians, right? You might say these are very

  377. impressive believers who have displayed such incredible

  378. faithfulness to the cause of Christ.

  379. And indeed, these are Saints that we can applaud.

  380. But I love what I find here, that these victorious,

  381. triumphant believers, when it comes to worship, give all the

  382. glory to God. You, your, it's all about you.

  383. Again, we're learning about how to worship.

  384. We're learning what worship is in the Book of Revelation.

  385. Do you, do you notice how much there is about worship in this

  386. book? True worship is being able to

  387. acknowledge that no matter what I do for Christ, no matter what

  388. I accomplish in his name means nothing.

  389. My boss is in the Lord alone. Anything that happens in me,

  390. anything that happens through me, should cause me to recognize

  391. that God is the source of it. And if it wasn't for him, then I

  392. wouldn't be able to do any of this anyway.

  393. And so these Saints here who did great feats, who accomplished

  394. great things for Christ in the darkest hour of human history,

  395. were able to still give God all the glory.

  396. Because that's what true worship looks like.

  397. The song of this new exodus, but finally the tent for the third

  398. and final time. In this particular vision, John

  399. tells us that his attention is turned to something, and it's

  400. found in verse 5. After this, I looked in the

  401. sanctuary of the tent of witness in heaven was opened.

  402. So this sanctuary of the tent, this is speaking about another

  403. translation of the Tabernacle, the Tabernacle that is in

  404. heaven. And what what John highlights is

  405. that this tent opens and as it opens, something's going to come

  406. out of it. Now, the reason why this tent is

  407. highlighted, it's because the Holy Spirit uses that through

  408. John to keep the theme of the Exodus alive, to keep our minds

  409. still connected to that motif. And I trust that we're all aware

  410. that the Tabernacle is a very obvious symbol in the Old

  411. Testament, that after the people escaped Egypt and went into the

  412. wilderness, God called them to build a dwelling place for his

  413. presence with his people on the earth.

  414. The Tabernacle was God's temporary home on this planet.

  415. So that's what we have in mind. This tent speaks about God's

  416. presence, it speaks about His, the hosting of his glory, which

  417. then causes us to interpret that what's about to transpire and

  418. emerge from this Tabernacle means it's coming directly from

  419. God. What John is about to see next

  420. because of this tent means that this is issuing from the

  421. undefiled, pure, glorious presence of the Lord.

  422. And what is John? See next, 7 angels with 7

  423. plagues. That will be the punctuation

  424. mark of God's judgement upon humanity.

  425. And there's no confusion here. They're not operating with their

  426. own authority. They're not doing this

  427. independently. These angels were dispatched

  428. from the presence of God. That disturbs some people.

  429. And in case that might agitate you, this truth is further

  430. confirmed in that this is not only something coming from God

  431. the Father, this is also something that Jesus Christ

  432. affirms. How do we know that?

  433. It's very subtle, but it's profound at the same time.

  434. Did you notice how they were dressed?

  435. Bright linen garments? But more than that, John tells

  436. us that they had golden sashes around their chests.

  437. Does that remind you of anything?

  438. The last time we saw anybody wearing a golden sash was back

  439. in Revelation chapter 1, Revelation One.

    Revelation 1 chapter mention

  440. Look at this in verse 13. This is John's experience of the

  441. glorified Christ, and this detail shows up about Him here.

  442. Revelation 113 And in the midst of the lampstands, one like a

  443. Son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash

  444. around his chest. What is happening here?

  445. Many chapters later now we see angels with a golden sash around

  446. their chest. And here's the point that's

  447. being made. These angels who are reporting

  448. for duty are resembling and reflecting the nature of Jesus

  449. Christ. They are about to do something

  450. that is in complete alignment with the will and desire of

  451. Christ himself, and that irks people because they have

  452. developed a theology about the person of Jesus Christ that

  453. completely disassociates him from any judgement against

  454. sinners. Now these angels who are walking

  455. towards the bulls are actually reflecting Jesus, representing

  456. Jesus, and showing that what they're about to do is what

  457. Christ wants to do. God's judgement is real.

  458. And not only is it real, nothing and no one can change that

  459. reality. And that becomes even more

  460. obvious when we see what happens next with this Tabernacle.

  461. Look at verse 8. And the sanctuary was filled

  462. with smoke from the glory of God and from his power.

  463. And no one could enter the sanctuary until the seven

  464. plagues of the seven angels were finished.

  465. So these 7 angels come towards the bowls.

  466. One of the four living creatures gives them the actual

  467. instruments symbolically, and they're going to pour them out

  468. in the coming chapters. We'll look at that next week.

  469. But notice what John sees. He sees a cloud, the tangible

  470. presence of God filling this heavenly Tabernacle.

  471. And my question is, why do I need to know about it?

  472. Is this just cinematic drama? Is this just to add more color

  473. to the scene? Is this just to make us realize

  474. the seriousness of the moment? In part, yes.

  475. But again, we're looking at the new Exodus.

  476. Again, we're looking at the Holy Spirit making connections and

  477. references for us to understand the deeper message here.

  478. And you know your Old Testament well enough, I'm sure, to

  479. understand that we've seen a similar manifestation in the

  480. past, that the earthly counterpart to this heavenly

  481. Tabernacle also once hosted the manifest presence of God's

  482. glorious cloud. Do you remember in Exodus

    Exodus 40 chapter mention

  483. chapter 40? Let me read this to you don't

  484. have to turn there, but listen to what happens in Exodus 40,

    Exodus 40:35

  485. verse 35. And Moses was not able to enter

  486. the tent of meeting because the clouds settled on it, and the

  487. glory of the Lord filled the Tabernacle.

  488. This actually happens not with the Tabernacle, but with the

  489. temple when Solomon builds it in Jerusalem.

  490. Listen to this in First Kings 8 verse 10, First Kings 8, verse

    1 Kings 8:10 1 Kings 8:10

  491. 10. And when the priest came out of

  492. the holy place, a cloud filled the House of the Lord, so that

  493. the priest could not stand to minister because of the cloud,

  494. for the glory of the Lord filled the House of the Lord.

  495. So both times in the past when the earthly counterparts hosted

  496. God's cloud, the same thing occurred.

  497. The leadership, namely the priest, could not enter in and

  498. do what they were supposed to do.

  499. What's 1 of the main duties of a priest?

  500. To intercede and stand in the gap on behalf of a sinful

  501. people. So keeping that pattern in mind,

  502. now what do we have? We come to the New Testament, We

  503. see the true Tabernacle, the heavenly one that the earthly

  504. ones copied from, and a cloud fills it.

  505. Same thing. So then we must assume that the

  506. same outcome is here. What do I mean by that?

  507. In the same way that the priest could not enter in to do what

  508. they were supposed to do, the fact that a cloud comes to this

  509. temple in heaven suggests that God will not allow intercession

  510. to take place. In other words, as he is

  511. prepared to pour out these bowls of judgement, he will not accept

  512. any prayers, he will not accept any intercession, he will not

  513. receive any cry to stop his hand.

  514. The Tabernacle be closed for service until every drop of

  515. those bowls is poured out. So this is an illustrative way

  516. for the Holy Spirit to describe one of the most frightening

  517. components of the period of the bold judgments.

  518. God will not hear any prayers during that time.

  519. It will be too late. He gave way too many chances.

  520. And so He will do what He is going to do, and it will be

  521. unstoppable and it will be irreversible.

  522. You know, this brings to mind Jeremiah's language when he

  523. wrote in that short book called Lamentations, of what happened

  524. when God allowed Babylon to be the instrument of his judgement

  525. against his own. Listen to these words from

  526. Lamentations 3, verse 44. Ready for this?

    Lamentations 3:44

  527. Jeremiah writes. You have wrapped yourself with a

  528. cloud so that no prayer can pass through.

  529. There are times when God has done that.

  530. We're a nation where people have since so grievously, so

  531. consistently, so rebelliously that he wraps himself in a

  532. cloud, so to speak, and not one single prayer can penetrate it.

  533. It will fail. And what we find here in this

  534. vision is it has reached that point at the end of time.

  535. So it doesn't matter how strong the nation's cry out, it doesn't

  536. matter how much they plead, it doesn't matter how long they

  537. fast. In fact, as we're about to

  538. discover with these judgments, they're going to be in such

  539. rapid succession, there'll be virtually no time to be able to

  540. pray anyway. We've come to a very important

  541. turning point in our understanding of Bible prophecy.

  542. This is the end of the end. But here's how I want to end

  543. this message today. The status of the Tabernacle in

  544. heaven is a hopeful one. This afternoon.

  545. It's a hopeful one. There is no cloud wrapping

  546. around it where no prayer can pass through.

  547. You know, it's amazing when you read the book of Hebrews.

  548. Oh, I love Hebrews. When are we going to go through

  549. Hebrews? It's too deep.

  550. Need a little bit more time. The more you study, the more you

  551. realize that the author is showcasing how Christ is more

  552. brilliant, more awesome than virtually everything.

  553. And we're familiar with the comparison of Jesus being our

  554. great high priest and the Levitical priest, and how the

  555. different components of the Levitical priesthood is inferior

  556. to Christ. But I was reminded through this

  557. when I went to Hebrews last night, late last night, looking

  558. at the Tabernacle, there's a heavenly one.

  559. It's the one that actually God called Moses to look at, to

  560. imitate when he built this physical one on earth.

  561. But in Hebrews 8, verse one and two, we're actually told that

  562. Christ does what He does as our high priest in heaven in the

  563. true Tabernacle. And why is he teaching that at

  564. that point in his book? Because he wants to tell the

  565. Jewish Christians who want to so badly go back to the ironic way

  566. of worship and atonement that Jesus Christ is not only a

  567. greater high priest, He does his priestly work in a more superior

  568. place. You want to go back to the

  569. temple? Do you realize that the temple

  570. is just a copy of a greater and a heavenly?

  571. 1 Jesus, our great High Priest in the New Covenant, is there on

  572. our behalf, and not only is He there, he's doing something

  573. there. Here's what he's doing right

  574. now. Hebrews 7, verse 25.

    Hebrews 7:25

  575. Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost of those who

  576. draw near to God through him. Since He always lives to make

  577. intercession for them, He always lives to make intercession for

  578. them. That's now.

  579. There's a time coming that there will be no intercession.

  580. It will only be judgement. Nobody can do anything about it.

  581. But between now and then there is One who is willing to take

  582. anybody who humbly comes before him by faith, and he will enter

  583. into this heavenly Tabernacle, so to speak, and bring that

  584. request on your behalf, and it will be answered.

  585. Listen, there is an open door in this heavenly Tabernacle for

  586. mercy and for our needs to go in.

  587. But in Revelation 15, it will be open for judgment to come out.

  588. Don't wait. Now is the time to understand

  589. that I have an open heaven above me, that there is something

  590. greater than what Moses built. And I can connect to that

  591. reality by faith and say, oh, this Jesus who rose from the

  592. dead, He didn't stop ministering.

  593. He stopped ministering on the earth, but in heaven.

  594. Now he's willing to actually represent me before God the

  595. Father. And he remains the single

  596. greatest unending high priest. He will never be replaced.

  597. He will never die. He doesn't borrow from heavenly

  598. lambs and ox and bulls. He brings His eternal blood

  599. every single time. And so this is a prophecy of

  600. doom in Revelation 15. But let me end it on a note of

  601. great hope and joy today. If you don't know Jesus Christ

  602. and you cry out to Him, He will hear it.

  603. He will hear I'm talking about the real Jesus of Nazareth.

  604. He will hear you. I say this often that apart from

  605. salvation itself, one of the greatest thrills and ecstasies

  606. that you can know in this life on this side of eternity is when

  607. God answers prayers. I'm talking about real prayers,

  608. not like, was that God or was that coincidence?

  609. No, no, no, no, prayers like that was God.

  610. And one of the strongest ways you can know God answering your

  611. cry is when you cry out for salvation.

  612. You'll know when you're saved. You will know.

  613. You know how you'll know because you won't recognize yourself.

  614. Not perfect, but new direction, not instantaneously glorious,

  615. but set on the path of sanctification.

  616. And the only way that is possible now is because we're in

  617. the age of grace and that heavenly Tabernacle is still

  618. open. And this priest is willing to

  619. take your request and bring him to God and make it real in your

  620. life. Let's thank him for these

  621. truths. Father, we thank you from the

  622. bottom of our hearts that though we can rejoice with the song of

  623. Moses, of what you've done for Israel and Egypt, we can look

  624. forward to a new exodus where you will destroy the Antichrist,

  625. his system, all the oppressors of the people of God for all

  626. time in a single moment, and we will enter into the Promised

  627. Land. We thank You that we have more

  628. songs to sing on this side of the cross.

  629. We thank You that even now there's a greater Tabernacle in

  630. our favor, one in heaven that we have access to.

  631. And so, Lord, if one here doesn't know what this means, we

  632. pray that you would open their eyes to experience the reality

  633. of the great work of our great High Priest.

  634. Lord, for us who are here and know you and enjoy you and love

  635. you, may everything that we heard in this message only stir

  636. us to see the majesty and the brilliance of Your word.

  637. We are amazed and we stand amazed before you.

  638. We ask these things in the name of the great High Priest, one

  639. who will never be replaced, one who has infinite mercy

  640. available. Jesus, Amen.

  641. Let's stand church, let's rejoice Christ and our

  642. deliverance that is to come at the end of the age.