Good evening, friends, and welcome to the Last Day of Prophecy series. Over the next seven presentations, we're going to be looking at some of the most important and some of the most fascinating prophecies found in the Bible. My name is Jean Ross, and I'll be your host for the series. A very warm welcome to those of you here in Charlotte, North Carolina. We are so glad you came out and joined us this evening, and keep coming through the rest of the series, a lot of important information that is yet to come. I'd also like to welcome our friends watching across the country and around the world. This is an extended Bible study, so thank you for taking the time to join us. I think you will learn a lot as we study God's Word together. Now, for our friends watching us outside of North America, we have a special assignment for you. What we'd like you to do is, between now and probably on Tuesday evening, if you would--actually, Wednesday evening because today's Monday, at least in North America.
Between now and Wednesday evening, if you would like to send us a picture of your site where you're gathered and participating in the series, we'll try and see how many of those pictures we can put on the screen so that those here in Charlotte and the rest of those watching realize this is an international study together. Just go to our website, lastdayofprophecy, and you can click on the link that says Contact Us, upload your picture. We'd love to hear from you. And then, of course, those watching right here in North America, friends, you're going to have an assignment later on in the week to also share pictures of your gathering, whether you're in your home with a group, or whether you're at a church. We are so glad that you are participating with us through the series. Now, we have a theme song that we'll be singing each evening. And I think by the end of this week together, you will know that theme song really well, and you'll be humming it.
I'd like to invite Charles to come forward, and we're going to sing "Jesus Will Come on Time." The words will be on the screen, and friends, let's stand as we sing together. Thank you, Charles. Okay, folks, let's lift our voices and signify to Jesus that his words will be coming true now. All right. ??? Let's get ready to do that one more time. You got it now. One more time. (Jean Ross) Amen, amen. Let's bow our heads for an opening prayer. Dear Father in heaven, we are so grateful to be able to gather together and spend some time in your Word, studying these very important prophetic truths. And Lord, whenever we open up the Bible, we need the Holy Spirit to come and guide our hearts and our minds. So, we invite the Spirit to come and lead us into a clear and a full understanding of Scripture tonight, for we ask this in Jesus' name, amen. Please be seated. I'm very happy to introduce our speaker for this series, Pastor Doug Batchelor. He is the president, director, and speaker of "Amazing Facts." "Amazing Facts" is a media ministry, and so we're just delighted to be here in Charlotte. Pastor Doug, if you want to join me on stage, we just came from Northern California not too long ago, and I think we're getting over the jetlag for the most part. From California, or from South Africa? We were actually in South Africa just prior to this event, and so maybe that's more the jetlag. There's a little jetlag there. Good evening, friends.
Well, Pastor Doug, we're all so excited about this, and we want to give you as much time as needed to do the presentation, so it's all yours. Thank you, Pastor Ross. Well, we are very excited to be with you here in Charlotte, and we've been looking forward to this series. We've put together a set of new presentations based on Bible prophecy and, especially in light of everything that is going on in the world today, the last day of prophecy. Now, that's somewhat of a play on words I need to tell you right up front, because we're going to be talking about the day of the Lord, and we're going to be talking about the Lord's day, and they're not the same thing. We're going to be talking about the time of the end, and the end of time, and they're not the same thing. And we're going to delving into some of the Bible prophecies in Daniel and Revelation. This series of seven presentations is a cohesive whole, so we'd like to encourage you to try to attend every program because it will be like missing a piece of a puzzle. And if you have a friend, bring them. If you don't have a friend, bring your enemies. We still have a little room locally.
Some of you are watching at local groups in different parts of the world and the country. We know we have friends that were in South Africa, so they will be tuning into this broadcast. And we encourage you to bring your friends because I think we're living in a very pivotal time in the world's history, when God wants us to understand the eminence, the nearness of his coming. And we're so thankful that you're here. Well, we have a lot to talk about tonight. And our presentation tonight is dealing with the secret code in prophecy. Now, the Bible is a book filled with stories, but you know, the Bible is also a book filled with numbers. There's even a book in the Bible called Numbers. And certain numbers appear frequently. And I believe, after years of studying the Bible, that the stories in the Bible give us pictures in salvation, and they also help unlock prophecy. And the numbers, of course, do as well. You know, I remember years ago hearing about the Enigma Machine.
You probably heard of that as well. It was a machine that was built by the Germans, and this machine was actually built back during World War I. They used it for business. But when World War II broke out, the Nazis found out that it was such an incredibly sophisticated machine, with wheels, and gears, and buttons, and wires, so that they would transfer a message through this machine, and only those with the codebook and the machine at the other end could understand that message. They figured it was an unbreakable code. But what they didn't count on is there was a group of brilliant Polish mathematicians who, working with some British agents, they were able to crack the Enigma Code. And that, along with their capturing a codebook from a Russian U-boat that they ended up sinking so the Germans wouldn't know that the codebook was captured, they were able to understand the correspondence between the German military for the last half of World War II.
The US even built a computer-- See, once they got the message, then they had to decipher it very quickly. It was one of the first supercomputers, as big as a truck. Now it would fit in your watch. And all that computer did was decipher Enigma messages. The US built that machine for them. So, through the combined work of the Allies, they figure they took 2 years off of World War II because they understood the code of that machine. Well, you know, in nature and in the Bible, we see that there are cycles. Even in the book of Ezekiel chapter 1, it talks about a wheel within a wheel. And you can see these wheels within wheels that are taking place in Bible prophecy. We're going to talk a little bit about some of those unusual cycles in our presentation tonight. Now, first question.
We're going to do this in a series of questions, and the question I'm going to ask-- I like using this type of question-and-answer teaching method. Did Jesus give us some signs so we could know-- that they would indicate that His coming was near? I'm not talking about the day and the hour, near. What did He say? You can look in Matthew chapter 24, verse 33, "When you see all these things, know that it is near." He lists a group of prophecies, and He says, "When you see these prophecies being fulfilled, know that my coming is near." He wants us to know. "And again, there will be signs," Jesus said, "in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and on the earth distress of nations." Things above, thing in humanity, things in nature. There'll be signs that will intensify in frequency in their occurrence, and this will indicate his coming is near. And Jesus said, "When you see these things, "lift up your heads. "There will be perplexity of nations, and the sea and the waves roaring."
Now, what are some of the signs? I could stop right here and go into a presentation of about 50 different things that I think are signs that tell us that we are living in what I believe is the last generation. But I'm just going to list a few that really stand out for me. One is found in book of Daniel chapter 12, verse 4, where he says, "But you, O Daniel, shut up the words, "and seal the book until the time of the end; many will run to and fro, and knowledge is increased." I read a National Geographic article not too long ago that said, "This is the time in history "when people are traveling, more than any other time, away from the place of their birth."
You just heard Pastor Ross and I allude to we were on the other side of the planet a couple of weeks ago in South Africa. And Karen and I, this year, or within the last year anyway, were in Fiji and New Zealand, and just people going around the globe. They never did that back in Christ's day. He never went more than 100 miles from the place of His birth. How many of you knew somebody that grew up and spent their whole life, and they never traveled 100 miles? I knew a guy that lived 70 miles from the ocean. At 80 years old, he had never seen the ocean. Someone finally took him, and he was amazed, said, "Wow, that's a lot of water." But people will run to and fro, and knowledge will be increased. How many of you have a smart phone? You can access all of the wisdom of the ages now by just talking to it, and ask it a question.
I've just discovered this feature on my phone. It's been on phones for a long time. And it's amazing. My smart phone makes me feel dumb, actually. But if you had showed something like that to the Apostle Paul, he would have thought you were possessed. So, knowledge has increased more in the last 50 years than all of the history of man combined, so that's one of the signs. Here's another one. Jesus said, "This gospel of the kingdom will be preached "in all the world as a witness to the nations, and then the end will come." He didn't say it might come, He says, "Then the end will come." And, you know, even now this broadcast through the medium of television, it is bouncing in about half a second off satellites 23,000 miles up in space, and ricocheting through the Internet all over the world. And this is just one presentation, one ministry, or actually a group of ministries, that are preaching the gospel, and there's hundreds. I had the privilege of conducting one of the first public evangelistic programs in mainland China about a year and a half ago, preaching to a group like this, full auditorium, free, 15 presentations.
They told me it was the first time that had been allowed in 59 years. And so, we've seen it happening. And the DVDs and the Internet, the gospel is going everywhere now. Jesus didn't say everybody would believe, He said but it would go to all the nations, then the end will come. I think we're living in that generation that will see this. Now, this is a part I need to emphasize right at the front end of our study tonight. Next question, can anyone know the exact date of Jesus' return? I'm going to be talking about some signs, but we've got to be careful. Jesus was very clear. "But of that day and that hour no one knows, "not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father." No man knows. And if someone starts acting like they know the day and the hour, the year that Jesus is coming, right away you know there's something wrong with their theology. And Jesus was very clear. But we can know when it's near, and that's what we're going to be talking about.
Jesus said, "You know how to tell the weather." I mean, the weatherman can try and predict the weather with some accuracy by satellites, and they have a perspective. And Jesus said, "How come you can't see the signs of the times?" So, the Lord has given us signs of the times, but no man knows the day and the hour of his coming. And I want you to make-- I want to make that very clear in this presentation because I'm going to talk about some of the signs, and we're going to talk about some times, but not dates, for the Lord's coming. All right, question number three. What number appears most frequently in prophecy? You knew it, the number seven. And here's this one verse in the Bible in the book of Revelation. Revelation chapter 1, verse 20 talks about, "The mystery of the seven stars which you saw in my right hand, "and the seven golden lampstands. And the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands which you saw are seven churches."
It's pretty clear about the number seven. I've just got a small list here in my Bible that I assembled of some of the sevens that you find in Scripture. And you got, of course, 7 days of creation, 7 days before the flood, 7 days Noah and his family stayed in the ark before the rains started. There was seven fat and seven skinny cows in Joseph's dream. Seven times--seven years that Jacob worked for Rachel, seven times Elijah prayed on Mount Carmel, and it goes on and on with all the sevens. Matter of fact, I think there are about 35-- some of the sevens that you find in-- yeah, yeah, I've got some sign from sevens in nature here I was going to show you. You know, one of the strongest structures in the world is a bee's honeycomb, which is six hexagons circling the internal one, a seventh.
The cable that holds up the Golden Gate Bridge is six strands with a seventh going through the middle. That's kind of how our week has been designed. A rainbow has seven colors. And when you sing, you get six notes. Do-re-mi-fa-so-la-ti-do. If you sing do twice, then you get eight. There are actually seven Roman numerals. Now, here's something interesting that comes up later. If you add up the first six Roman numerals, you know what it comes to? Six six six. Of course, the D is 500. So, you add up the first 6, it's 666. Seven continents, seven seas, seven wonders of the world. Your head has seven entrances. I don't know that that means, but just some of those things that, you know, you think about. But the number seven is also, in the Bible, symbolic of some things. Seven is often associated with judgment. "Six things the Lord hates, yes, seven are an abomination to him."
You've heard about the seven deadly sins. And again, you can read in Leviticus 26:18, "And after all this, if you do not obey me, then I'll punish you seven times more for your sins." Similar verse is found in Leviticus 26:21, "And if you walk contrary to me, and if you're not willing to obey me," then it says, "I will bring on you seven times more plagues, according to your sins." Judgment, that's kind of frightening. But because it's connected with judgment, seven's also connected with forgiveness. For instance, Peter said, "Lord, how often shall I forgive my brother?" Matthew 18, "'Seven times?' And Jesus said, 'Seventy times seven.'" Jesus said not 7 times, but 70 times 7. Mary Magdalene, the Bible talks about, who was first at the tomb. It says, "He appeared to Mary, out of whom Jesus cast seven devils." Again, forgiveness. When the priest went before the Lord, he took the blood of the sacrifice, and he sprinkled it seven times before the Lord. And so, seven connected with forgiveness.
You may remember the story in 2 Kings chapter 5 about Naaman, the general who was a leper. He was told to wash in the Jordan. Jordan is a symbol of where Jesus was baptized: death, burial, and resurrection, baptism. Seven times, and he was cleansed from his leprosy. Miriam spent 7 days outside of the Tabernacle with her leprosy, and then she was healed. And so, seven is sometimes like a cycle of time that talks about a judgment. You can also find where it says, "A righteous man may fall seven times but rise again, but the wicked will fall by calamity." God will forgive. Righteous man, you fall. Mary Magdalene, seven devils cast out. She was the first one Jesus appeared to after he rose from the dead. So, how does an eternal God view time? Now, we're talking about numbers in time. How does an eternal God view time?
You and I, we live maybe 3 score and 10, which is 70 years. That's an average the Bible gives us. Not too far from the average today, depends on what country you're in and your lifestyle. But the Bible tells us in 2 Peter 3:8, "But beloved, do not forget this one thing, "that with the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like a day." If you live forever, then a millennium is like a day for you, it's nothing. And Peter is actually quoting where Solomon says, "For a day in your courts is better than a thousand." And King David said something similar in Psalm 91. Now, I don't know if you've ever heard before of the theory of what they call the millennial week. The millennial week, you ever heard of that before? Now, you know what a millennium is. Millennium is a Latin composite of two words.
Mille means thousand; anum means years. There is a chapter in Revelation 20 that talks about 1,000 years, where the saved live and reign with the Lord. Well, if you add up the dates in the Bible-- you know, the Bible is filled with chronology. There in Genesis chapter 5, it begins with the chronology that leads to Abraham. The book of Matthew, the New Testament opens with the chronology of Jesus Christ. And the dates are given in a number of these chronologies how long people lived. So, with a little bit of a calculator and some educated guesses, you can figure out that the world is just about 6,000 years old now. Now, I'm not--we don't know exactly how old.
There's a few ambiguities around the time of Noah. It says Noah had three boys, but it doesn't tell when he had which one unless they were triplets, which I don't think. And so, there's a few vague spots, so we're not exactly sure. I want to make that very clear. But one thing we are pretty sure of is that the world is about 6,000 years old biblically. And even if--you know, for those of you that believe in these long ages of creation, you can't argue with the facts of what the Bible says. And what I'm talking to you about is what the Bible says. This is a Bible seminar. So, you look at Adam was created approximately 4,000 years before Christ. You notice I didn't say he was born, he was created. And so, you've got about 2,000 years-- Bishop Usher's chronology was 4,004 BC. You got 2,000 years from Adam to Abraham.
They call that the Age of the Patriarchs. And about 2,004 BC, Abraham was born. Again, this is just approximate. Then you got 2,000 years from Abraham to Jesus. That's kind of interesting, do you realize Jesus was not born the year zero? After they set up this AD/BC dating method, and it was well entrenched, they realized they were off a few years because King Herod the Great died 2 BC. Well, we know he was alive when the babies in Bethlehem were slaughtered, and we've figured out Jesus was baptized the 27th year-- to about 27 AD. It says on His 30th birthday. All you got to do is count back and realize, "Oh, if He was baptized 27 AD and it was His 30th birthday, He was actually born in the BC age. Christ was born about 4 BC. So, you got 2,000 years from Adam to Abraham, 2,000 years from Abraham to Jesus, and where are we today? About 2,000 years after Christ, a very interesting time in history. Now, some people thought Jesus is coming 2,000 years after his birth.
I actually am on record in 1999 telling people I don't think that's true. You know why? Because everybody thought so. You remember the big theory in 1999, any of you alive back then? Any of you, if you remember, Y2K and the world was going to end, and all the planes were going to fall out of the sky? And I said, "No, I don't think Jesus is coming December 31, 1999." Really, why not? "Because all of you think so. And Jesus said, 'In such an hour you think not the Son of Man is coming.'" Now the church has pretty much gone to sleep, it could be anytime. Some people are then setting dates and saying, "Well, Jesus is going to come 2,000 years not from his birth, but from his ministry, his baptism, his anointing." Others say, "No, it's 2,000 years from his death." Don't even go there, friends. I'll tell you why.
It could be sooner than you think because Jesus said, "Except those days be shortened, no flesh would be saved." It could be later than you think because the Lord is longsuffering to us, were not willing that any should perish. He's waiting 'til the last minute to save as many as He can. So, we got to be very careful to start trying to pinpoint dates. And some of you, if you knew the date, it'd be like filing your taxes. You'd wait 'til the last minute to get ready. So, the Lord wants you to just be ready. And by the way, He could come for you tomorrow. Because if you die, your next conscious thought is the coming of the Lord, ready or not.
Well, the Bible says prepare to meet thy God. And everybody is going to stand before the judgment seat of Christ. And so, we shouldn't be playing with eternities, thinking that we're supposed to postpone our salvation or our commitment to God until we can pick the day when He's coming. You're thinking like that, there's something wrong with your relationship. It's like saying you want to wait 'til the last minute to enjoy as much sin as you can, and then just before Jesus comes, you'll repent and get ready. We all know folks who think that way. You know, someone reminded me one time there are a couple of examples of what they call deathbed conversions in the Bible, like the thief on the cross, so that nobody needs to lose hope. But there's only one or two so nobody dare presume. We need to be ready if you're a believer.
So, let's not set dates. But it's interesting, 2,000 years Adam to Abraham, the Age of the Patriarchs; 2,000 from Abraham to Jesus, the Age of the Jews; 2,000 years from Jesus, we believe, approximately somewhere to His Second Coming. And then we live and reign with Christ like a 1,000-year Sabbath. Now, look at some of the patterns in the Bible that talk about this. And I just told you about that one. And then you have there in Revelation chapter 20, "They live in reign with Christ for a millennium," a 1,000-year period of time. Some of you remember when God said to Adam and Eve, "In the day that you eat of it, you will surely die." He told Adam and Eve if you sin, in the day. Now, the day that Adam and Eve ate the fruit, did they drop dead? Well, spiritually, I think all of us would agree something went wrong.
They died inside, but they didn't die physically. But if a day with the Lord is like 1,000 years, and 1,000 years is a day, the Bible says Adam lived 930 years and he died. And who is the oldest man that ever lived? That's a trick question. Methuselah's the oldest man who ever died. The father of Methuselah, what was his name? Enoch, he didn't die. So, Enoch is technically the oldest man who ever lived. Methuselah's the oldest man who ever died, and how long did he live? 969 years. Was there any man that lived more than 1,000 years? In the day that you eat thereof, a day with the Lord is like 1,000 years, you will die. And God made Adam and Eve to live forever, so when God said, "You're going to die in the first thousand years," they were heartbroken. You'd think, "Man, if I could live 500 years, that'd really be something." But Adam and Eve were supposed to live forever, so when they were told, "You're going to die in the first millennium," it was a day for them.
Question number five, did Jesus ever tell the apostles they would witness the Second Coming, or His coming in glory? The answer is yes. If you look in Matthew chapter 16, verse 28, you'll find this in Mark chapter 9 as well. It says, "Assuredly, I say to you, "there are some of you standing here who will not taste of death till they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom." They were going to get a miniature picture of the Second Coming. After Jesus makes this cryptic statement, it says, "After six days." Why did he make the statement-- and in the book of Matthew and the book of Mark, it says 6 days later, something happened? It's very clear after He makes this statement-- and He makes this statement in Luke too. The next thing that happens is this experience. What happens? "After six days He took Peter, James, and John his brother, "led them up on a high mountain by themselves. "His face was shining like the sun, "His clothes became as white as the light. "And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, and were talking with Him." This was like a miniature picture of the Second Coming. He said, "You're not going to die until you see the Son of Man coming in power."
It says that Christ is surrounded by clouds of glory. Will He come in the clouds? Moses is there because Moses is someone who died, but God resurrected Him. Elijah's there because Elijah is somebody who did not die, but he was caught up to meet the Lord in the air. There's going to be two kinds of people when Jesus comes. The dead in Christ rise, those who are alive and remain are caught up. These two individuals represented the two classes of people. And God the Father speaks, He says, "This is my beloved Son, hear Him." Christ said, "I'm coming in the glory of the Father." This was a miniature picture of the Second Coming, and even more than that, what they call the Mount of Transfiguration is the ultimate endorsement because here you've got Moses, who represents the law. Elijah, who represents the prophets.
They're both pointing to Jesus and saying, "He is the one. He is the Messiah." This is--and God the Father says, "This is my Son." So, you got the mouth of two or three witnesses saying, "Jesus is the Messiah." And they're talking to Peter, James, and John. Now, if you're a Jew, what could be the best testimony you could get? If you said, "Well, Moses says that he is the Messiah, and Elijah says he's the Messiah," could you get a better endorsement than that?" You know, we're in a political season right now at the time of this recording. Kind of nauseating, isn't it? And everybody's trying to get endorsements. They try to get the most powerful, important people to endorse them. Nobody more powerful than Moses and Elijah. You know how the Old Testament ends? Malachi chapter 4, "Remember the law of Moses. Behold, I send you Elijah."
The law and the prophets is another way of saying the Word of God. And Moses represents the law; Elijah, the prophets. That's the New and Old Testaments, it's the law and the prophets. The New Testament is even part of the prophets. The testimony of the Word is that Jesus is the Messiah. But this was a miniature picture of the Second Coming. So, what are some of the other Bible stories, question six, that reference this cycle of seven? They got quite a few of them. Now, I hope you're taking notes. You will be--some of you maybe got a flyer that has some of these in there. But for example, how long was Moses on Mount Sinai getting the Ten Commandments? Forty days and forty nights. But you remember there was another time period before he went up. "Now the glory of the Lord rested on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it for," how long? "Six days. "And on the seventh day, the Lord called to Moses out of the cloud." And Moses went up, and he spent 40 days on the mountain.
You notice it says Jesus said, "You're going to see a miniature of the Second Coming." After 6 days, He took them up a mountain. And now, Moses goes up a mountain after 6 days. And a day with the Lord is like 1,000 years, and 1,000 years like a day. I think, I'm suspicious that, after 6 days, we're going up. That after 6 millennia, I don't know when that's going to be, but I think the Lord does things in patterns in the Bible, and He's going to stick to that. Another law they had, just some of the other stories. "If you buy a Hebrew servant," Exodus chapter 21:2, "He will serve six years; and in the seventh year he'll go free." Now, is Jesus going to set the captives free when He comes? So, 6 years the people in the world have been enslaved to the devil. He's a hard taskmaster. But the Lord's going to come, and He's going to set the captives free. And those who've trusted in Christ will be liberated at that time. Jericho. You know, when the children of Israel, the first battle to take the Promised Land was a city called Jericho. How many times did they march around the city of Jericho? Thirteen times. Well, everyone gets that wrong.
You all remember how many times they marched around the city the last day, but it says they marched around the city once for 6 days. Then on the seventh day, they marched around the city seven times. That's a total of 13. How many were at the Last Supper? Thirteen. What does that mean? I don't know, but I just think-- I always just think about these numbers. Just stir up your pure minds. You might give me your ideas. Anyway, but notice 6 days of marching around the city. Then the 7th day, they took the Promised Land. Are God's people going to perhaps get to see the Promised Land when we enter the 7th day? Another--by the way-- I wish I had 2 hours. By the way, you know how you say Joshua in Hebrew--I mean Greek? Jesus. And the way you say Jesus in Hebrew, it's Yeshua, Joshua, same name. Joshua comes to Jericho, and they blow seven trumpets. Does revelation talk about seven trumpets? And they shout. Is there a shout when Jesus comes?
The Lord will descend from heaven with a shout, the voice of the archangel, the trump of God. The dead will rise. And everybody died in that city of destruction except Rahab because she had a red token in her window, the blood of Christ. Everyone in the house with her was saved. Everyone in Christ and in the church of Christ, meaning His body, will be saved when He comes. These stories are giving us an insight into the themes of the Second Coming. It came to pass on the 7th day they marched around the city 7 times. And in the same manner, on that day, they marched around the city seven times, they blew the trumpets, the wall fell, and they took the Promised Land.
How about the story of King Joash? Now, this is a story some of you may not know. I'm teaching as though some of you have some Bible background. King Joash, you find this in 2 Kings chapter 11, was one of the young sons of David. He was 1 year old when his father died in battle. His wicked grandmother, her name was Athaliah. "When Athaliah, the son of Ahaziah saw-- "the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she arose and she destroyed all of the royal heirs," the royal seed. "But Jehosheba took Joash "and hid him and his nurse in the bedroom, from Athaliah, "so that he was not killed. And he was hidden with her in the house of the Lord for," how long? "Six years, while Athaliah reigned over the land." He was 1 year old. She rules over the land for 6 years, tyranny. By the way, Athaliah is the daughter of Jezebel. Right away, you know she's bad. She is synonymous-- Jezebel was called a harlot by the other prophets. She is the daughter of a harlot. In Revelation 17, it talks about Babylon, mother of harlots. And they worshipped pagan gods with harlotry back in those days and--but the son of David, what is Jesus called sometimes? What did they say to David-- Jesus when he came down the Mount of Transfiguration? Hosanna to the son of David. Son of David, have mercy on me. Joash, the son of David, the only survivor of David's line, is hidden in the house of the Lord.
Where's Jesus right now? He's in the heavenly temple, pleading. He's our high priest, Hebrews said, pleading His blood before the Father. We come boldly before the Father through Christ. But the Bible tells us after 6 years, you know what happened? The high priest, Jehoiadah, brought Joash out of the temple. Christ is going to leave that holy place, and He's going to come back. They blew the trumpets, and you know what it says? It's very interesting. They did it as the Sabbath began, when everything would be quiet in the city, and people were going to be getting ready. Just as the Sabbath began. That's at the end of the week, right? They all came together. He told the soldiers, "Blow the trumpets, shout. "I'm going to bring the son of David out, we'll put the crown on his head." He received the kingdom. Athaliah and all that followed her were slain. This is what's going to happen when Jesus comes. There'll be two groups, those that are loyal to the son of David and those that are not. And the same thing that happened in that story, the people rejoiced, the wicked were slain. For 6 years, she reigned over the land. Did God give His people a law about farming connected with the Sabbath? Question number eight.
Yeah, you know this. "Six years you will sow your land and gather in its produce, but the," what? "The seventh it will rest." Now, they didn't listen to this law because they were trying to make too much money. God told them, "Rest your land, let the poor eat of it. Just leave it desolate. Let it grow volunteer." But they wouldn't do it, so God carried them off to Babylon for 70 years. He said, "If you're not going to let the land keep Sabbath, "I'm going to give the land an enforced Sabbath while you're in Babylon." Here's the verse that talks about that. "As long as she," the land, "lay desolate she kept Sabbath, to fulfill seventy years." When Jesus comes next, when the millennium begins, what direction do we go? The Lord will come down, we'll be caught up to meet Him in the air, and this world is going to be in a desolate condition during that 1,000 years while we live and reign with Christ in glory. What are some of the other patterns of seven in Scripture? We got a lot, friends. Question number nine. Enoch, you can read in the book of Jude, "Enoch is the seventh from Adam. He prophesied about these men, saying, 'Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousand of his saints.'" Now, we just talked about Enoch, the father of Methuselah.
What direction did Enoch go? He went up. What generation was he? He was the seventh. So, if you count from Adam, Seth, Enos, you make your way up to Enoch, you get six before him, the seventh goes up. And the seventh, Jude says, talks about the Lord is coming. Very interesting. I don't know, maybe I'm seeing stuff that isn't really there, but to me, I just see a pattern. You can read in Job, "In six troubles, he will deliver you, yes, in seven no evil will touch you." Why does no evil touch us in seven? Because we're caught up. Not going to touch us then. Jacob, how long did he work for Rachel? It didn't seem like anything to him because he loved her. By the way, if you love the Lord, working for the Lord is no problem if you love Him. People that complain about the burdens of being a believer, you just got to fall in love with the Lord. And Jesus said, "If you love Me, keep My commandments." And after 7 years, first his father-in-law tried to trick him, so he had to have a honeymoon with Leah, who he didn't anticipate. But then he said, "I'll also fulfill her week, "and then I'll also give you Rachel, but you got to work another seven years." But there was a wedding after 7 years.
According to the Bible, after the millennium, the New Jerusalem, Revelation 21, comes down adorned like a what? Like a bride. And you'll get the wedding supper of the Lamb. Another story in the Bible that kind of bares out this big picture of salvation. You remember there was a famine in the land, and Elijah prayed for rain, and he sent his servant to the ocean. He said, "Any rain yet?" And he said, "It hasn't rained for three and a half years. There's nothing." He prayed again, he prayed again, he prayed again. It came to pass after six times, the servant came back, said, "Nothing, nothing, nothing." Seventh time he prayed, he said, "You know, there's a cloud coming up out of the sea." And that cloud grew, and it filled the sky, and it poured, and there was a storm. And by the way, there's going to be a storm, friends, in the future, just before Jesus comes. Christ said, "There's going to be a time of troubles "such as there never has been since there was a nation, even under that same time." You've heard of the tribulation? This is why Jesus said, "He that endures to the end will be saved." We've got to have a faith now, where we believe his Word and we love the Lord, amen? There was a small cloud, small like a man's hand, rising up out of the sea. Question number ten, did Jesus foretell there might be an appearance of delay connected with his return?
All right, now I just gave you a number of-- and I didn't give them all because there's time constraints. I just gave you a number of examples in the Bible of these cycles that you see. You know, one thing I didn't mention. I got this here in my notes. I told you you got kind of wheels within the wheels in the Bible. And for example, in the Bible, there is a week of days. We got a 7-day week, at the end you got the Sabbath. You got a week of weeks in the Bible. Every--after Passover, you go 7 weeks, a week of weeks, and then you had Pentecost. You've heard of that before. And so that was 50 days, or 49 days, and the 50th was called Pentecost. You got a week of months in the Bible. After Passover, they waited 7 months, and they had their feast of trumpets. You got a week of years. Every 7 years, you'd rest the land and you'd let the captive go free if you had a Hebrew slave. You got a week of decades you might say. They would count 7 sets of 7 years, and the 49th year you had a jubilee on the 50th. Amazing Facts is just celebrating our 50th anniversary as a ministry, so it's kind of our jubilee. And then you had 7 decades, 70 weeks is in Daniel chapter 9, comes up to 490 years. Jesus talks about forgiving 70 times 7. So, since you've got 7 days, and weeks, and months, and years, and decades, and centuries, why wouldn't you have 7 millenniums?
And that's what I'm saying, I think it's all a package biblically, and that it all fits together. All right, back to question ten. What were some of the other examples in the Bible that Jesus gave us to tell us, "Don't be disconcerted if people, even believers, start to think, 'Maybe He's late.'" I mean, here 6,000 years have gone by. It's been 2,000 since Christ was born. How come He hasn't come back yet? Don't forget, when Jesus came the first time, was the church ready for His first coming? Did His own people, with the Bible, grow tired of waiting for the Messiah? Why would we think the devil's going to be any different? It's going to be the same way the Second Coming as it was the first.
And they weren't reading the Bible. There was a few wise men in the east, couple of people in the temple, Anna and Simeon, some shepherds in the field, but most people were not ready for the first coming. The devil hasn't changed. So, what are some examples Jesus gave us so we can know that he told us to prepare for a time of delay that will test your faith, or at least the appearance of delay? After Jesus gives the signs in Matthew 24, talking about the Second Coming, he tells the disciples, "If that evil servant says in his heart, "'My Lord is delaying his coming,' and he begins to eat and drink with the drunken." Why would he mention, "If that servant says, 'My Lord delays'"? You know, it sounds like Christ is quoting what happened when the children of Israel got tired of waiting for Moses to come back. Moses went up the mountain to get the Ten Commandments, but he was, you know, over 80 years old. And he went up there, and there's thunder and smoke coming out of the mountain, and the mountain's shaking, and after a few weeks, you'd start to worry. You know, an old guy up there, he could have tripped, he's by himself. He's probably not coming back. After 3 weeks, 4 weeks, after 40 days, they said, "Oh, this is it, he's not coming back. "We can't go up the mountain, we're forbidden. We got to get someone else." It says, "While Moses delayed-- "when the people saw that Moses delayed coming down the mountain." They were being tested. What did they do? Many of them failed the test. They made a golden calf.
They compromised their worship. Could the church be faced with the same kind of test today? We're in a time of waiting right now, when our faith should be growing stronger, and some are compromising, trying to be like the world. Another example in the Bible, you've heard of Samuel the prophet. Samuel anointed king to be--Saul to be king. And he said, "You're going to have an epic battle with the Philistines. Don't go into battle 'til I offer sacrifice for you." Samuel was the prophet, he was the priest, he was the judge of Israel. Well, he said-- notice what he says, "You shall go down before me to Gilgal; and surely I will come." Did Jesus tell you that I will come again? Does He lie? "Surely I will come down to you to offer burnt offering "and sacrifices of peace offerings. "Seven days you will wait. Wait 'til I come. Wait 'til I come to you." Very clear instructions. But then the Bible says Saul, the Philistines were gathering, his men were getting afraid, many were deserting. Six days went by, Samuel was not even there. I think I made them a little nervous tonight before the program because there's a lot of preparation in recording one of these things. I had to go back to the hotel room and put on my suit. And I had a beard before the program. You folks saw me today, I had a beard. Karen said, "That beard's got to go." So, I had to shave. And you know, we weren't that far from starting. I think the crew started getting a little nervous, they thought, "Where's Doug?"
Thank you, dear, you look nice too. Oh, by the way, that's my wife Karen. She's up front. Wave your hand, dear. I didn't introduce her, I'm so--she had headphones on a minute ago. I didn't think you wanted her. She looked like she's feeding me information or something. You ever hear about these pastors that their wives, they got earpieces, and the wives are telling them what to do? No, really, it's happened. No, she doesn't, she's not telling me. Anyway, so the army of the Philistines was gathering, the people were afraid, and the Bible says, "He waited seven days, but Samuel didn't come." And Saul finally said, "Look, we've got to offer sacrifice." When the 7th day came, he was being tested, he did something that he was forbidden to do. The king was not the priest. He was not supposed to offer the sacrifice. And he went, and he did it because the other nations did it, so he thought, "It doesn't matter if I do it." He offered sacrifice, and as soon as he was done, guess what happened? Samuel came. Same thing that happened, as soon as they made the golden calf, Moses came. There's going to be a big test in the last days of God's people.
That's why Jesus said, "Many will come to me in that day, saying, 'Lord, Lord.'" He'll say, "I don't know you. Depart from me, ye who work iniquity." They lost patience waiting. Time of testing. Why do you think Jesus said in Matthew 25-- Matthew 24, signs of the Second Coming. Matthew 25, "While the bridegroom delayed." Who's the bridegroom in that parable? He's the symbol for Jesus, do we all agree? Did Christ--is he trying to tell us something? That there was a period of testing for those-- There's ten virgins, five wise, five foolish, right, you know the parable? There's a time of testing. Half of them failed the test because they thought, "Well, he's not coming back." You can look in John chapter 11, when Jesus resurrects Lazarus. Martha and Mary sent a message to Jesus when he was up in Galilee, saying, "Come quick, your friend Lazarus is sick." And Jesus dilly-dallied. It doesn't use those words in the Bible, but it seems like He waited. Finally, by the time He got there, he was not only dead, he'd been dead 4 days. And Martha and Mary, who loved Jesus, they said, "Lord, what's up? You healed so many people. "He was your friend. "You stayed with us, we told you he was sick. Why were you late? It's too late now." He said, "No, I'm not late. "You think I'm late, but I'm going to do something now "that you didn't anticipate.
And though you've been sad, you're going to rejoice." He resurrected Lazarus. But it looked like he was late. The Lord sometimes tests our faith. Will Jesus actually be late for His return? What do you think? Let's read some prophecies on this. It says in Habakkuk-- can you say that book? Habakkuk. "The vision is yet for an appointed time; but at the end it will speak, and not lie." Notice it says, "Though it tarries, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry." In other words, he says, "Though it tarries, but it will not tarry." Though it appears. And many in the world are saying, "I guess the Lord's not coming back. You can read here in Hebrews 10:37, "For yet a little while, "and He who is coming will come and will not tarry. And the just will live by faith." Friends, is your faith hanging on? Jesus said, "I'm coming again." This ought to be the great hope, the blessed hope of believers that will mobilize us. And if--how would you live if you thought the Lord was coming in a week? We ought to be living that way every day. He said, "I will come again." And He will reward everybody. You can read in Hebrews chapter 10, verse 37, "If anyone draws back, my soul has no pleasure in him." That's the rest of that verse. Here's one from 2 Peter 3, verse 3 and 4, "Knowing this first, that scoffers will come in the last days."
That's in the words of our song, mockers and scoffers. "Walking according to their own lusts, saying, "'Where is the promise of His coming? "'For ever since the fathers fell asleep, "all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation until now.'" What is Peter talking about, scoffers in the world? There have always been scoffers in the world. Maybe he's talking about scoffers in the church in the last days, walking after their own lusts. They're not walking godly lives, saying, "Oh, He's never going to come. Yeah, we've heard it. "Jesus is coming, Jesus is coming. You preachers have been saying that for years." That's right, and one of these days we're going to be right. He is going to come. He told us to let people know. How does the Bible end? "Even so, come Lord Jesus." We can't lose faith in that, friends.
It says--Peter says, "But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, "in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, "and the elements will melt with fervent heat; "and the earth also, and the things that are in it will be burned up." He's going to come. Romans chapter 13, verse 11, "And knowing the time, "that now it is high time to wake out of sleep; for now is our salvation nearer then when we first believed." What were those--how many of the ten virgins were wise? How many of them were foolish? How many were sleeping? I wonder if the Lord's telling us something about the condition before the bridegroom comes. We need to wake up. The Bible says, "The night is far spent, the day is at hand: "let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light."
Friends, I believe we're living in the most exciting time in the earth's history. I believe the Lord has told us in His Word. And through the signs of the times, through the stories of the Bible, through the cycles that we see in prophecy, and we'll be sharing a lot more. You need to stick with this program because we're going to be sharing things that you've maybe never heard before, but I promise you it'll be from the Word of God. And it's all going to tell you that Christ is coming soon, what's happening behind the scenes in prophecy right now much of the world is confused about, and how we can be ready. The Lord has not forgotten us.
He is going to come again. I remember back in 1995, when all of this unfolded during the Bosnian war. One of our fighter pilots, Captain Scott O'Grady, was flying over war-torn Bosnia when his F-16, a SAM missile, tore through his aircraft. And as he pummeled towards the ground, he pulled the ejection lever, and he exploded out of what was left of the cockpit, burned his face, injured his eye a little bit, and he parachuted down. And they saw--the enemy on the ground saw that they hit him, they saw him parachute down. They couldn't get to the spot quick enough, and he dropped his chute, and went and hid like a scared animal in the brush in the woods. And for 6 days, he was trying to evade the enemy in strange territory. And he was hiding under bushes, and sometimes he saw the boots going just right near him of the enemy looking for him.
They knew if they could get that American pilot, it would be quite a trophy. He had a radio, and he kept calling for help. He saw the battery was slowly fading on his radio, and he wondered if anybody was hearing him. And he said the only thing that sustained him during that time was his love for God, his love for his family, and his love for his country. For 6 days, Captain O'Grady hid, drank dirty water, and he ate bugs, and did all he could to survive. Kept calling for help, and finally he heard somebody call back on his radio. They were afraid to call him for fear that others would pick up the transmission. And he was given some instructions. And after 6 days, there was a clearing, he set off a flare, and a helicopter descended with 20 Marines jumping out to create a perimeter. He ran to that chopper and jumped in as fast as he could, and the whole thing took 7 minutes, and he got back. And you know what was amazing? Whenever I hear this story, I don't know, I'm getting old and emotional or something.
Just it was amazing to me that while he was going through that ordeal, he wondered, "Has my country forgotten about me? "Is anybody doing anything for me? "Are they going to come back? Maybe I'm just one soldier and they don't care." And if he could only know what was going on behind the scenes, the whole United States military, plus the military of allies, had been mobilized to save one soldier. Now, if faulty man can do that for their fellow man, will God forget about us? Is he going to come again? Friends, you can count on it. And I think that the time is coming near. It's not an accident that you're here, whether you're here in person in Charlotte or one of our locations around the country, I believe the Lord has brought you to these meetings. And there's others He may want you to invite because we don't have much time left.
I think the Lord is coming soon. He wants you to be ready. And once you are ready, He wants you to help get other people ready because, friends, can you tell me what is more important than eternal life? Jesus gave his life, He died that you might be redeemed from this enemy territory. He's going to come again. We'll be caught up to meet Him in the air, and He's going to take us back to those mansions that He's prepared. That's why He said, "Don't be troubled. "You can have peace. There's room for you in my Father's house." Do you believe that, friends? Now, I don't know what's going on in your background. I believe you're watching or you're here by divine appointment. The Lord wants you to be ready. We've just kind of given you a big, sweeping picture of the Scriptures tonight to illustrate that Jesus is coming soon. Do you believe it?
Can I pray for you? Father in heaven, I just want to pray that your presence will be with each person, those that are here in Charlotte, those who may be watching all over the world, and that the Holy Spirit will speak to their hearts right now. They'll know that there is a plan, that You have not forgotten, that You are not late, that this is all by divine design, and that You will come again. This world will not go on forever, but there is an end to these things. Bless these people, Lord, so that they might be ready. Bring us back again, and I pray that we can be prepared for Your soon return. We thank You for hearing this prayer, and we pray all these things in Jesus' name, amen.
Now friends, we would like to encourage you not to jump up because we've got a few more things both for the local group we're going to give to you real quick in a closing presentation. Those who are watching online, you have group leaders in your churches, in your home groups. They should have some materials they've downloaded that they can share with you. Tomorrow's presentation is going to be "The Lost Day of History." We look forward to seeing you then.