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You Will Not Be Led -4- Death in the Wilderness
The Lord spoke to Moses: “Go up from here, you and the people you brought up from the land of Egypt..
.. But I will not go up with you because you are a stiff-necked people..
Exodus 33::1a,3b CSB

Sojourning through the Shifting Sands of a Wilderness Encounter

What happened? Did the LORD GOD change His mind?

That’s what we might think when our journey following the Lord becomes difficult. But we know and neglect some of the warnings to this chosen people.

Yes, they are still chosen; but who will follow the Lord and Moses, obeying Commands of the Lord? Will we obey leaders chosen by the LORD who command us in our journey?

How did we arrive in this wilderness?

The Hebrews were slaves in Egypt. The Lord sends 10 plagues which finally convince Pharaoh to allow Moses to lead them away. (Most of us know this part.)

When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them along the road to the land of the Philistines, even though it was nearby; for God said,

“The people will change their minds and return to Egypt if they face war.” So he led the people around toward the Red Sea along the road of the wilderness. And the Israelites left the land of Egypt in battle formation. –Exodus 13:17-18 CSB

Then the Lord spoke to Moses:

“Tell the Israelites to turn back and camp in front of Pi-hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea; you must camp in front of Baal-zephon, facing it by the sea..

.. Then I will receive glory by means of Pharaoh and all his army, and the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord.” So the Israelites did this. – Exodus 14:1-2,4b

GOOD so far .. and most everyone knows of their escape by crossing the Red Sea.

BUT, now the trouble begins. (You probably know about the 40 years thing, too.)

Exodus 17:

17 וַ֠יִּסְעוּ כָּל־עֲדַ֨ת בְּנֵֽי־יִשְׂרָאֵ֧ל מִמִּדְבַּר־סִ֛ין לְמַסְעֵיהֶ֖ם עַל־פִּ֣י יְהוָ֑ה וַֽיַּחֲנוּ֙ בִּרְפִידִ֔ים וְאֵ֥ין מַ֖יִם לִשְׁתֹּ֥ת הָעָֽם׃

2 So the people quarreled with Moses and said, “Give us water so that we may drink!”

We can hardly take time to detail all the complaints and all the rebellion, but a selective look after the triumph of crossing the Red Sea will set the scene of their 40 year punishment as our warning to obey to the Lord our God.

4 .. “Why did you ever bring us up from Egypt to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?”

Scene at Mount Sinai

19 בַּחֹ֙דֶשׁ֙ הַשְּׁלִישִׁ֔י לְצֵ֥את בְּנֵי־יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל מֵאֶ֣רֶץ מִצְרָ֑יִם בַּיּ֣וֹם הַזֶּ֔ה בָּ֖אוּ מִדְבַּ֥ר סִינָֽי׃

16 And it came to pass on the third day in the morning, that there were thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud upon the mount, and the voice of the trumpet exceeding loud; so that all the people that was in the camp trembled.

And Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain.
Exodus 19:17 NASB

It is not a mere burning bush not consumed.

A PILLAR of FIRE from Heaven to earth!

NOT an insignificant spewing of fire and brimstone from within the bowels of the earth through the peak of a volcano. Sinai has neither exploded nor been consumed, but the Presence of the LORD IS AWESOME to behold!

LOUD TRUMPETS from above warning a consecrated people of God NOT to come near the place of the LORD as they have been warned and prepared.

18 Now Mount Sinai was all in smoke because the Lord descended upon it in fire; and its smoke ascended like the smoke of a furnace, and the entire mountain quaked violently. When the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God answered him with thunder.

Then the Lord came down on Mount Sinai, to the top of the mountain; and the Lord called Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up.

And now what?

“Depart, go up from here, you and the people whom you have brought up from the land of Egypt ..
And I will send an angel before you .. for I will not go up in your midst, because you are an obstinate people, and I might destroy you on the way.”
Exodus 33: 1-3 excerpt NASB

This is what the LORD would tell Moses later. Now, after seeing the awe of the Lord our God on Sinai, the faithful chosen of God must wait — the consecrated people of the LORD must wait for Moses to give them HIS WORD which must be obeyed.
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To be continued...
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March 5, 2021
Apocalypse 9 – the Wrath of the Lamb
We live now in a day of grace – but there is coming a day when the man that spits in the face of God shall meet His judgment.
Dr. W. A. Criswell on Revelation 1:19

Disaster on the Whole Earth

Perhaps you remember recent disasters or recall the terror of some singular event of history.
- 20th c. Disasters
- TERROR! of 9-11-2001
Deadliest Natural Disasters From The 20th Century
Write the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter
The Revelation of Jesus Christ to John 1:19 KJV

In the opening of the sixth seal Jesus Christ reveals to John an apocalypse of terror, which we might pray will not occur in our brief mortal days.
The Seven Seals

In case you joined our series late:

Finding the Evangelical Freedom of Balaam in our Evangelical Church

2 Peter 2: Pernicious Preachers of a False Gospel

2 Peter 1 – Last Will and Testament of Simon Peter

2 Peter 1 – Know Christ’s Divine Nature

Encumbrance – Reprise
OR the intro:

where I first quoted from the Sixth Seal Rev. 6:16-17.

Apocalypse – a mystery of Good News Unsealed

The Sixth Seal

Terror! – Cowering in the Wrath of the Lamb

November A.D. 1945 – Nagasaki three months after dropping of ATOMIC BOMB!

You can hardly image the devastations, the losses of so many lives, the traumatic terror of the sole survivors of unspoken disaster.
- August 1931, Yangtze River, China #1 20th c. natural disaster
  - 30,000 sq. mi. flooded, 40 million homes destroyed, 15% of crops destroyed
  - > 3 million, 700 thousand deaths, many from starvation & disease.
Do you recall from Apocalypse 7 – Death & Hell follows him the fourth seal deaths of 25% in China would be a hundred times that?
- > 360.7 MILLION souls!
9 AUG, 1945, explosion of Atomic Bomb 2000 feet above Nagasaki, Japan.

We needn’t attempt to measure the devastation of nuclear holocausts beyond that of just two cities in 1945 Japan to realize that when a time of the wrath of God is to come upon the world at the end of these last days its terrorized creatures, men of dust and ashes, will hope to hide from Almighty God.

Revelation 6:

12 I watched as the Lamb broke the sixth seal, and there was a great earthquake. The sun became as dark as black cloth, and the moon became as red as blood.

Would a nuclear blast above your city or an even more powerful manifestation of the Lord God not do the same in an instant? It would blacken the sun, cloud the moon and choke God’s breath of life from the atmosphere!

13 Then the stars of the sky fell to the earth like green figs falling from a tree shaken by a strong wind.

The Apostle John sees them as stars, but the science of these last days tell us that even an asteroid (let alone many meteors striking the earth) would destroy life as we know it. And ‘mother nature’ never caused it, nor could sinful scientists prevent it. Just imagine the force of a hurricane throwing the hard surfaces of space onto the homes and workplaces of your existence.

14 The sky was rolled up like a scroll, and all of the mountains and islands were moved from their places.

It is a hail storm, a tornado; the eruption of a volcano swallowing up the earth and pouring fire into the cities; a hurricane and tsunami billowing waves of destruction into the unsuspecting great cities by the sea.

Terror at the Wrath of the Lord!

Then everyone—the kings of the earth, the rulers, the generals, the wealthy, the powerful, and every slave and free person—all hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains.
Revelation 6:15 NLT

NO, it will not be only on earth — but from beneath it and into the depths of the seas the vengeance of Almighty God will finally punish the wicked and sinners..
- Deaths of 25% of Mankind; >1 BILLION, 961 MILLION
- > the TOTAL POPULATIONS of Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean, Northern America, (including the U.S.) and Oceania.
Apocalypse 7 – Death & Hell follows him

16 and they said to the mountains and to the rocks, “Fall on us..

and hide us
from the presence of Him who sits on the throne,
and from the wrath of the Lamb;
for the great day of their wrath has come,
and who is able to stand?”
Revelation 6:16b-17 NASB

Is your name in the Book of the Lamb?

..Then a white robe was given to each of them..
Revelation 6:11 – to the saints from Martyrs + the saints cry out
Can you stand for the opening of the seventh seal?

WAIT for a time; for first these must be sealed.

Revelation 7 | iiiiiii |Complete Jewish Bible

To be continued...
February 19, 2021
Apocalypse 7 – Death & Hell follows him
When the Lamb broke the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature saying, “Come!”
Revelation 6:7

Four Living Creatures: “Come!”

Note the description of this fourth beast and the other living creatures who have summoned John to the apocalypse of the Book (scroll).

Recalling that the four living creatures worship the LORD day and night and that they reside even closer to the Throne than the thrones of the Elders of Heaven, image how in awe of these you would be as a mere mortal.
- The first living creature was like a lion;
- the second living creature was like an ox;
- the third living creature had a face like a man
- and the fourth living creature was like a flying eagle.
And the four beasts had each of them six wings about him; and they were full of eyes within: and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come.
Revelation 4:8 KJV

The Fourth Seal:

Death and Hades

Revelation 6:

8 I looked, and behold, an ashen horse..

Describing ashes, a very symbol of repentance or death — some versions translate the colorless look of the fourth horse as ‘pale.’ Look on the ashen or pale horse as you might view the face of one close to death.

.. and the one who sat on it had the name Death..

Little surprise here as the three riders before had carried a bow, a sword and scales to weigh the scarcity of famine. In fact, after mention of hell, the remainder of the prophesy refers to the judgment given to them all!

and Hades was following with him.

Authority was given to them over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword, and famine, and plague, and by the wild animals of the earth.

What the Hades?
- How many of us have faced death?
If you have, perhaps then the prospect of heaven or hell became more pressing in your consideration of the Lord God and Jesus Christ.

This apocalypse of Jesus Christ to John seems far from the Good News of the pristine amusement parklike picture of heaven many of us hope for after the inevitable end of our mortal life.
- Do you have a ‘happily ever after’ view of heaven?
- Isn’t Hell just a threat to everyone else but ME?
  - (For surely I don’t deserve punishment, because Jesus wants everyone in my church to be with Him.)
- I believe in God and Heaven and Jesus,
  - BUT I don’t really think Hades or Hell exists — does it?
- Can’t the evil lives of others just end so we won’t have to put up with THEM anymore?
ᾅδης – Hades

What hidden (and perhaps dreaded) truth is being revealed here in this awful ἀποκάλυψις apocalyptic appearance to John?

The KJV translates Strong’s G86 in the following manner: hell (10x), grave (1x).

Jesus spoke of it in His teachings. The rebuke of the Lord was for those of His own home town, churchgoers (synagogue šabāṯ–keepers) where the māšîaḥ preached to those who denied that He IS the Son of God.

“And you, Capernaum, will not be exalted to heaven, will you? You will descend to Hades; or if the miracles had occurred in Sodom which occurred in you, it would have remained to this day.
Matthew 11:23 NASB

Yes, Capernaum was destroyed — and it did not take until the end of all days of the heavens and the earth.

So it will be for most mortals who must face death.

You will face death: you may die in suffering or war of even in peace — but the judgment of all flesh will come at the end of these last days.
- Will it be heaven for you (even as those in Capernaum believed)?
Or Hell, the same Hades of which Christ Jesus cautions Capernaum?

Hell on earth!

NO, it will not be only on earth — but from beneath it and into the depths of the seas the vengeance of Almighty God will finally punish the wicked and sinners.

And let’s not forget that we ALL have sinned!

As it is now we see in Revelation that even the saints suffer; but in the judgment of the end, only the saints of the Lord have Good News.

And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him.
And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth.
Revelation 6:8 KJV

Death… and Hell always follows.

After warnings to the seven churches, the Apocalypse began its Revelation of unseen Truth near to the Throne of Heaven.

From there the seals removed by the Lamb have revealed the voice of what is to come — spoken in Heaven.

We have seen the terrible messengers sent to the four corners of the earth in a time that is yet to come. Now note the extent of death on the earth.

If the Vision was for today

And I make not any claim that it is; but look at the numbers:
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Source: https://www.worldometers.info/world-population/ 

[Secure links on talk of Jesus {dot}.com provide additional opportunity to research scripture and other facts beyond those mentioned here and in other posts.]
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- Does this mean that after war and famine on the earth — that one fourth of mankind will suffer death?
We have already seen a frightful vision [Revelation 6:6] of the time when a day’s wages of a denarius (comparable to a penny) might only feed one man or small family for just one day — AND that assumes that a man could find work in an economy devastated by war.

See what that could look like in these last days in the year of our Lord, 2021.

A.D. 2021 – counting what counts

We easily get lost in today’s HEADLINE numbers of bad NEWS, but let’s begin with a couple of everyday numbers from which we can weigh what happens on a daily basis AND and give context to the foreboding projections of Revelation.
Current World Population

7,845,681,871 >TODAY

More than 7 BILLION, 800 MILLION

Deaths this year >7 MILLION
Deaths today >92,600

Deaths of 25% of Mankind

> 1 BILLION, 961 MILLION

MORE THAN the TOTAL POPULATIONS of Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean, Northern America, (including the U.S.) and Oceania.

One fourth of ALL mankind destroyed by God’s wrath!
Now see TODAY’S HEADLINES in light of the apocalypse of THE END.

A closer look at A.D. 2021 population:
- China > 1.4 BILLION — Deaths of 25% > 360.7 MILLION
- India < 1.4 BILLION — Deaths of 25% > 347.1 MILLION
- U.S. < 0.3 BILLION — Deaths of 25% > 83 THOUSAND
  - * US> 332,221,081
Compare today’s HEADLINES:
- CORONAVIRUS DEATHS = 2,411,000
- COVID deaths per million of population = 0,000,309.3
- Abortions this year > 5.2 million
- Communicable disease deaths < 1.6 million
- Cancer deaths this year > 1.0 million
Death Toll: 1/4 of the earth!

And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him.
And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth,
to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth.
Revelation 6:8 – apocalypse of the fourth seal

AS OF TODAY …

https://www.worldometers.info/world-population/

more than 7 BILLION, 8 million souls …
MORE THAN 1 BILLION, 961 million lives would end in death!
Math of the fourth seal of Revelation applied to AD 2021

Do you indeed speak righteousness?

(WLC 58:11) יִשְׂמַח צַדִּיק כִּי־חָזָה נָקָם פְּעָמָיו יִרְחַץ בְּדַם הָרָשָֽׁע׃

The righteous shall rejoice when he sees the vengeance;
He shall wash his feet in the blood of the wicked

So that men will say,
“Surely there is a reward for the righteous;
Surely He is God who judges in the earth.”

excerpt from Psalm 58: NKJV
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NEXT: The fifth seal + the saints cry out... 
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February 15, 2021