Revelation: The Keys to the Kingdom

“When I saw Him, I fell at His feet like a dead man. And He placed His right hand on me, saying, “Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last, and the living One; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades.” (Rev 1:17-18, NASB)

One of the biggest issues in life for all of us is the issue of our own mortality. The resurrection of Yeshua transformed death eternally. This is revealed most clearly in the book of Revelation. Over the next few sessions, we will be diving into the issue of the end times and specifically how to live congruent with God’s plans and purposes.

The book of revelation is primarily an account that unveils the majesty of Yeshua our Messiah. It tells us:

“The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show to His bondservants, the things which must soon take place; and He sent and communicated it by His angel to His bond-servant John,” (Rev 1:1)

The things which must soon take place. We are in that hour, and we need to be prepared.

What are the clues that we are in the hour? Turn to 2 Peter 3

“This is now, beloved, the second letter I am writing to you in which I am stirring up your sincere mind by way of reminder, that you should remember the words spoken beforehand by the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior spoken by your apostles. Know this first of all, that in the last days mockers will come with their mocking, following after their own lusts,” (2Pe 3:1-3)

We will show that we are in the hour spoken of by the prophets but also in the hour of mockery marked by people going after their own lusts.

“and saying, "Where is the promise of His coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation."” (2Pe 3:4)

People, including church people have adopted a pessimism about the return of the Lord. What people often don’t realize is that there is a clock and God had given us many keys to the exact hour of His return.

The first key that we will talk about is the key of Israel. As you all know Israel became a nation in 1948. This fulfilled Jeremiah 30:1-3

“The word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying, "Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, 'Write all the words which I have spoken to you in a book. 'For behold, days are coming,' declares the LORD, 'when I will restore the fortunes of My people Israel and Judah.' The LORD says, 'I will also bring them back to the land that I gave to their forefathers and they shall possess it.'"” (Jer 30:1-3)

We have both hosted tours and live in this promise. Yeshua in Luke 21:29-33 connects this with His return:

“Then He told them a parable: "Behold the fig tree and all the trees; as soon as they put forth leaves, you see it and know for yourselves that summer is now near. "So you also, when you see these things happening, recognize that the kingdom of God is near. "Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all things take place. "Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away.” (Luk 21:29-33)

This tells us that a timer has begun with the restoration of Israel. The next prophetic signpost is Jerusalem.

In AD 70, Jerusalem was overthrown and remained in foreign or Gentile control until 1967 with the 6 Day War. Yeshua said:

“And they will fall by the edge of the sword and will be led captive into all the nations; and Jerusalem will be trampled under foot by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.” (Luk 21:24)

In 1967, the times of the Gentiles ruling Jerusalem came to a close and now a new clock is ticking. The miracles that occurred in the 6-day war were astounding.

In one story 88 Egyptian tanks were coming against 1 Israeli tank. He began firing thinking, “this is it. I’m going down firing”.  The Egyptian tanks stopped and to his surprise, the Egyptian commander got out of his tank and asked the soldiers to allow him to surrender to them. They, in shock asked why? They were alone. The Egyptian said that all night he saw the countryside filled with tanks all in white and soldiers in white. He said, “You fired at us all night and we can’t take any more.”

Another miracle was a small regiment of Israeli soldiers were down to their final bullets. One had 3 and another 4. The Syrian army was bearing down on them. The Israeli soldiers realized that they were about to die. All of a sudden, the Syrian army stopped in its tracks, pointed to the sky and said Father Abraham and shrieked and started running. Later when interviewed, the Syrians said, that it wasn’t “Father Abraham but the angels that frightened them with their flaming swords. We knew we couldn’t defeat them.”

One final story, a division of Israeli army was surrounded by a mine field on one side and the enemy on the other. There was nowhere safe to go. They were outnumbered 100:1. Suddenly a huge wind began to blow exposing all of the mines, so they were able to cross the minefield safely.

This is the generation that saw the restoration of Jerusalem and thus we are in the period of His return!

A third sign was prophesied by Daniel and in the book of Revelation: The revival of the Roman Empire. This the platform for the antichrist. In 1957, the Treaty of Rome which created the foundation for what we know today as the EU.

“"Then there will be a fourth kingdom as strong as iron; inasmuch as iron crushes and shatters all things, so, like iron that breaks in pieces, it will crush and break all these in pieces.” (Dan 2:40)

“"Thus he said: 'The fourth beast will be a fourth kingdom on the earth, which will be different from all the other kingdoms and will devour the whole earth and tread it down and crush it. 'As for the ten horns, out of this kingdom ten kings will arise; and another will arise after them, and he will be different from the previous ones and will subdue three kings.” (Dan 7:23-24)

“And the dragon stood on the sand of the seashore. Then I saw a beast coming up out of the sea, having ten horns and seven heads, and on his horns were ten diadems, and on his heads were blasphemous names. And the beast which I saw was like a leopard, and his feet were like those of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion. And the dragon gave him his power and his throne and great authority. I saw one of his heads as if it had been slain, and his fatal wound was healed. And the whole earth was amazed and followed after the beast; they worshiped the dragon because he gave his authority to the beast; and they worshiped the beast, saying, "Who is like the beast, and who is able to wage war with him?" There was given to him a mouth speaking arrogant words and blasphemies, and authority to act for forty-two months was given to him. And he opened his mouth in blasphemies against God, to blaspheme His name and His tabernacle, that is, those who dwell in heaven. It was also given to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them, and authority over every tribe and people and tongue and nation was given to him. All who dwell on the earth will worship him, everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who has been slain. If anyone has an ear, let him hear. If anyone is destined for captivity, to captivity he goes; if anyone kills with the sword, with the sword he must be killed. Here is the perseverance and the faith of the saints. Then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb and he spoke as a dragon. He exercises all the authority of the first beast in his presence. And he makes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast, whose fatal wound was healed. He performs great signs, so that he even makes fire come down out of heaven to the earth in the presence of men. And he deceives those who dwell on the earth because of the signs which it was given him to perform in the presence of the beast, telling those who dwell on the earth to make an image to the beast who *had the wound of the sword and has come to life. And it was given to him to give breath to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast would even speak and cause as many as do not worship the image of the beast to be killed. And he causes all, the small and the great, and the rich and the poor, and the free men and the slaves, to be given a mark on their right hand or on their forehead, and he provides that no one will be able to buy or to sell, except the one who has the mark, either the name of the beast or the number of his name. Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for the number is that of a man; and his number is six hundred and sixty-six.” (Rev 13:1-18)

“Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and spoke with me, saying, "Come here, I will show you the judgment of the great harlot who sits on many waters, with whom the kings of the earth committed acts of immorality, and those who dwell on the earth were made drunk with the wine of her immorality." And he carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness; and I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast, full of blasphemous names, having seven heads and ten horns. The woman was clothed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls, having in her hand a gold cup full of abominations and of the unclean things of her immorality, and on her forehead a name was written, a mystery, "BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH." And I saw the woman drunk with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the witnesses of Jesus. When I saw her, I wondered greatly. And the angel said to me, "Why do you wonder? I will tell you the mystery of the woman and of the beast that carries her, which has the seven heads and the ten horns. "The beast that you saw was, and is not, and is about to come up out of the abyss and go to destruction. And those who dwell on the earth, whose name has not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, will wonder when they see the beast, that he was and is not and will come. "Here is the mind which has wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits, and they are seven kings; five have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come; and when he comes, he must remain a little while. "The beast which was and is not, is himself also an eighth and is one of the seven, and he goes to destruction. "The ten horns which you saw are ten kings who have not yet received a kingdom, but they receive authority as kings with the beast for one hour. "These have one purpose, and they give their power and authority to the beast. "These will wage war against the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, because He is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those who are with Him are the called and chosen and faithful." And he *said to me, "The waters which you saw where the harlot sits, are peoples and multitudes and nations and tongues. "And the ten horns which you saw, and the beast, these will hate the harlot and will make her desolate and naked, and will eat her flesh and will burn her up with fire. "For God has put it in their hearts to execute His purpose by having a common purpose, and by giving their kingdom to the beast, until the words of God will be fulfilled. "The woman whom you saw is the great city, which reigns over the kings of the earth."” (Rev 17:1-18)

Another sign is the restoration of Hebrew which was prophesied in Zephaniah 3:9

Zep 3:9  "For then I will restore to the peoples a pure language, That they all may call on the name of the LORD, To serve Him with one accord.

We will be going into much detail on these verses but for now, just be open to the time that we are living in, is the return of the Lord. How are we to live? Well think of a football game or a race and you are coming to the finish line. How you finish is everything. We have been in a relay race since the time of Yeshua. The baton has been passed from generation to generation and we are the anchor leg runner. You save the strongest runner for the final sprint.

 This is not the time for la-di-dah Christianity or even human potential Christianity. Nothing wrong with being your best, but this is the hour to live strong for the finish.

“'He who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit down with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.” (Rev 3:21)