God straight through the Lord and through the mercy of God.
I love you.
In Jesus' name I pray, Amen.
Amen.
All right, well, we're there in Ezekiel chapter 32, and tonight we are finishing up a section
of Ezekiel.
Of course, we've been preaching through the book of Ezekiel on Wednesday nights, taking
one chapter every week, and this is our 32nd week in Ezekiel.
And we've been going through it and learning a lot from it, and we've actually been in
a section, and I don't know if you remember this, we talked about it when we started it,
but we've been in a section of Ezekiel from chapters 29 through 32.
There is a section that deals with the land of Egypt and Pharaoh, king of Egypt.
So we're kind of finishing up that section.
We're going to start a new section next week in Ezekiel 33, which Ezekiel 33 is a real
famous chapter in Ezekiel, so I would encourage you not to miss that.
But look at verse 1, and let me just show you something about this section that we've
been dealing with in Ezekiel.
Ezekiel 32 verse 1 says this, and it came to pass in the 12th year, the 12th month,
and the first day of the month, that the word of the Lord came unto me saying, and of course
the book of Ezekiel is just a series of visions that this prophet received.
And here's another vision, verse 2, Son of man, take up a lamentation for Pharaoh, king
of Egypt.
So we're finishing up the section on Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and say unto him, now I want
you to notice what he says to Pharaoh.
He says, thou art like a young lion of the nations.
Now, I'd like you to keep your place there in Ezekiel 32.
That's our text for tonight.
But go over to the book of Revelation, Revelation chapter 5.
Last book in the New Testament should be fairly easy to find, Revelation chapter 5.
When it comes to this lion in Ezekiel 32, and not just the lion, but there's also a
whale that we're going to look at here in a minute, there's a lot of discussion about
this lion.
What does this lion represent?
People like to take these obscure passages and make them say things that don't mean any
thing, and they'll talk about the lion representing this nation or that nation or this country
or whatever.
But in the Bible, when you read the Bible, there's only two lions you read up throughout
the entire Bible.
In Revelation 5 and verse 5, you see the first one.
Notice what it says.
Revelation 5, 5 says, and one of the elders said unto me, weep not.
This is, of course, the vision of John up in the throne of heaven.
He's going to get a vision of end times prophecy.
The Bible says this, and he's weeping because there's a book that no man, no man in heaven
nor in earth, neither under the earth, was able to open this book.
He's weeping, and then this elder tells him, weep not, behold, the lion of the tribe of
Judah, the root of David, hath prevailed to open the book and to loose the seven seals
thereof.
So the first lion we see, I shouldn't say the first lion, but one of the lions we see
in the Bible is the Lord Jesus Christ.
He's referred to as the lion of the tribe of Judah.
Now we're going to go back and forth a lot between Revelation and Ezekiel, so I'd encourage
you to keep your finger there.
But go to 1 Peter chapter 5 just real quickly, and let me show you the second line.
Now it's interesting because often we see Satan being a copycat of Jesus.
We see this all throughout the Bible.
And we see it also in this idea of him being a lion, because Jesus is the lion of the tribe
of Judah.
But there's another lion that's mentioned in Scripture, and you're there in Revelation
and if you just head backwards, you're going to go past Jude, third, second and first John,
into the books of second and first Peter.
First Peter chapter 5, look at verse 8.
You know the verse, but let's look at it.
Be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary, the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about
seeking whom he may devour.
So the lions in the Bible are these two, Jesus, the lion of the tribe of Judah, and then the
devil, who as a roaring lion, walketh about seeking whom he may devour.
Now in Ezekiel 32, we're reading about the destruction of this lion.
So obviously we're not reading about the destruction of the Lord Jesus Christ.
So we are reading about the destruction of the devil.
Now if you go back to Ezekiel 32, and I want to show you that because I want you to understand
that we have been in a section of Ezekiel that people will tell you, and it's true,
deals with Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and we've been talking about that.
You may have noticed, and maybe you haven't, I don't know, maybe you haven't done a good
job at pointing it out for you, but what we've really been doing, and what we've been doing
since Ezekiel 28, is we've been in a section of this book that is focusing on Satan, on
the destruction of Satan, on the ministry, if you can call it that, of Satan.
We've been learning about Satan since Ezekiel 28.
Now you go back to Ezekiel 32, but let me just refresh your memory a little bit.
Of course, Ezekiel 28 is that famous chapter where we learned about the king of Tyrus,
and the king of Tyrus was a picture or a representation of Satan.
The king of Tyrus in that chapter is called the anointed cherub.
We know that the king of Tyrus was not a cherub.
We also are told that he was in the garden of Eden.
We know that the king of Tyrus was not in the garden of Eden, but Satan was, and we
saw some teaching there from Ezekiel 28 about Satan.
Then in chapter 29, if you remember, we saw Satan as Pharaoh king of Egypt, the great
dragon.
Remember, we talked about the great dragon that lies in the river, and we saw how that
was the representation of Satan, and he's being represented through Pharaoh.
Then in chapter 30, we saw Satan as Pharaoh king of Egypt, whom God will break his arms.
Remember that whole passage about God breaking the arms of Pharaoh, and we saw how that was
a picture of the battle of Armageddon, the end times battles, and Satan.
And then last week, in chapter 31, we saw the cedars.
Remember the cedars in the garden of Eden?
And we saw how it is Satan who is promoting all these political leaders, and we studied
about that in chapter 31 last week.
So really, these last several chapters have been about Satan and about what he does, and
in chapter 32, what we're going to learn about is the destruction of Satan.
And that's why we learn about this young lion of the nations who's going to be destroyed.
But it's not just a lion.
Look at verse 2 again.
Ezekiel 32, verse 2, son of man, take up a lamentation for Pharaoh king of Egypt and
say unto him, thou art like a young lion of the nations.
Notice what it says, and not only is he like a young lion of the nations, but the Bible
says there in verse 2, and thou art as a whale.
I want you to notice that word there, whale, in the seas, and thou camest forth with thy
rivers and troublest the waters with thy feet and foulest their rivers.
Now, again, there's a lot of confusion where people about this whale, and sometimes people
even try to attack the King James Bible and say, that shouldn't be a whale there and things
like that.
Here's what you need to understand.
The word whale, when being used here in the book of Ezekiel and as translated by the translators
in 1611, had a little different of a meaning than what you and I think of as a whale today.
When we think of a whale, we think of Moby Dick.
We think of Jonah being swallowed by a whale.
But the word whale, if you go back and look at the archaic meaning or the way that it
was used, the word whale was often used simply to speak of any sort of large sea beast, any
sort of large sea animal would sometimes be referred to as a whale.
In fact, in the passage, the passage itself, the verse itself shows you that we can't be
talking about a whale like what you think of with a blow horn or a blow whatever he's
got in the back, you know, and all those things.
Notice what it says.
Thou art as a whale in the seas, and thou camest forth with thy rivers.
Now, there's lots of fish that will go from the ocean into the rivers, but a whale is
not one of them, all right?
So we're not talking about a whale here like what you would think of today as a whale.
The word whale there is being used to just refer to a large sea animal, and that's not
saying that the King James Bible is wrong in any way.
That's the way that word has been used in history and in ancient literature and things
like that.
Here's what's interesting.
The underlying Hebrew word, because in Ezekiel we are using the underlying Hebrew, the same
Hebrew word that was translated by our King James translators as the word whale, here's
what's interesting.
Throughout the Bible has also been translated as the word dragon and as the word serpent.
So you see there that there is still a consistency with the references to or how this applies
to Satan.
If you kept your place in Revelation, go to Revelation 12.
I know we've seen this a lot lately because we've been going through these chapters, but
I want to show it to you again, Revelation 12.9.
It's interesting because that same word is translated as dragon and serpent, and of course
we just saw a reference to Satan as a lion.
Revelation 12.9 says this, and the great dragon was cast out, the old serpent called the devil
and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world, he was cast out into the earth and his angels
were cast out with him.
So I want you to understand that this passage, and there's nothing wrong with your King James
Bible, your King James Bible is perfect and it is God's word, but this is talking about
a lion and it's talking about a large sea animal and of course this is what Satan is
known as throughout the Bible, he's known as Leviathan, he's known as a dragon, he's
known as this sea serpent, a serpent, this is what the Bible refers to him as.
So when we are looking at Ezekiel 32 and we're talking about who is God talking about here,
when he's talking about this lion or this sea beast, this whale, he is referring to
Satan, this is a prophecy of Satan.
So what is it that God intends to do with this lion or this whale?
Go back to Ezekiel 32, keep your finger there in Revelation 19 because we're going to go
back and forth.
Ezekiel 32 and look at verse 3, I'm going to prove to you that this is talking about
Satan, all right?
If you're not impressed so far, that's all right, that was the weakest argument, all
right?
They get better from here.
Look at verse 3.
Thus saith the Lord God, I will therefore spread out my net over thee with a company
of many people and they shall bring thee up in my net.
So he's talking about this lion or this whale, this sea beast, large sea beast, and he says,
I'm going to spread my net over thee and I'm going to bring thee up in my net, verse 4,
and I will leave thee upon the land and will cast thee forth upon the open field and will
cause all the fowls of the heaven to remain upon me and I will fill the beast of the whole
earth with thee.
So I want you to notice that he says, what I'm going to do with you when I capture you,
when I take you out of the river, when I take you out of the sea, when I capture you in
my net, he said, I'm going to allow you to lay there and cause all of the fowls of the
heaven to remain upon me and I will fill the beast of the whole earth with thee.
He said these animals are going to come and they're going to eat you and they're going
to destroy you.
Look at verse 5.
And I will lay all flesh, I want you to see that word flesh there, I will lay all flesh
upon the mountains and fill the valleys with thy height.
So he's referring to the fact that, and please understand this, when we're talking about
the destruction of Satan, we're not just referring to the destruction of Satan, but we are referring
to the destruction of Satan and his armies.
Because if you're familiar with end times prophecy, you know that the two major battles
that Satan comes against God with, the Battle of Armageddon and the Battle of Gog and Magog,
and we're going to learn a lot about Gog and Magog when we get into Ezekiel 38 and 39,
both of these battles are where Satan basically mobilizes a human army against God.
And both of these are being kind of previewed here or talked about in this passage because
he says, look, when I destroy you lion, or dragon, or serpent, or whale, he said I'm
going to lay your flesh out and I'm going to cause all the fowls of heaven to eat you
and all the beasts of the earth to eat you up.
Go to Revelation 19.
Let me show you this in regards to Satan and his battles against God.
Revelation 19 verse 17.
And by the way, I think that this chapter is kind of alluding to both the Battle of
Armageddon and the Battle of Gog and Magog, because what's interesting is that both battles
end with Satan going to hell.
You say, well, how does that work?
He goes to hell at the end of one, and then he goes to hell again at the end of the other
one, and we'll talk about that here in a minute.
We go to Revelation 19, look at verse 17, and I saw an angel standing in the sun, and
he crowed with a loud voice saying, notice what he says, this says, and by the way, we're
going to read it here in a little bit, but this is after a major battle.
Notice what the angel is saying, to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, come
and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God that ye may eat the flesh
of kings and the flesh of captains and the flesh of mighty men and the flesh of horses
and of them that sit on them and the flesh of all men, both free and bound, both small
and great.
At the Battle of Armageddon, Satan is defeated, the Antichrist is defeated, and God calls
all of the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven to come and to eat the flesh of those
armies in that valley.
So we see the prediction there with the flesh, but it's not just that.
Keep your finger there, Revelation 19, go back to Ezekiel 32, look at verse 6.
Not only is there a prophecy of the flesh, but there is a prophecy of the blood.
Excuse me, Ezekiel 32 verse 6.
I also will, notice what he says, water with thy blood the land wherein thou swimest, even
to the mountains, and the rivers shall be full of thee.
So he says, when I destroy you, there's going to be so much blood that I'm going to water
the land with it.
He said, you're going to be able to swim in it.
The blood is going to flow like rivers.
He said, the rivers are going to overflow.
They're going to be full of thee, full of what?
Full of blood, full of dead bodies, full of these things.
Go back to Revelation 14.
Revelation 14, let me show you how the Bible predicts this for those future battles.
Revelation 14, look at verse 19.
Revelation 14, 19.
Now of course in Revelation 14, we're reading about the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ,
the rapture, and we know that the rapture kicks off the wrath of God, when God begins
to pour out his wrath upon the earth, because God is not going to pour out his wrath upon
believers.
He has not given us, he's not appointed us to wrath, so his wrath does not begin till
after the rapture.
Revelation 14, 19, notice what the Bible says, and the angel thrusts in his sickle into the
earth and gathers the vine of the earth and casts in the great winepress, notice, of the
wrath of God, okay?
Because once the angel brings out the sickle, this is when the wrath of God begins.
Verse 20, and the winepress was trodden without the city, notice, he's talking about his
judgment, his wrath, and all of this culminates with the battle of Armageddon, it's all referring
to the same event, it's not one day, it's not one event, it happens over a period of
time, but it's all referring to the same thing.
Notice what he says, verse 20, and the winepress was trodden without the city, and the blood
came out of the winepress, even unto the horses' bridles, by the space of a thousand
and six hundred furlongs.
Now, here's what he's talking about, he's saying that battle of Armageddon, or Megiddo,
when those armies go down into that valley, he says it's going to be like a man who would
put grapes in a winepress, if you're familiar with the idea, if you're familiar with the
idea of maybe someone having grapes in a big, like, pool-type tub thing, and they go
in there with their shoes off, with their feet, and they're pressing down on the grapes
in order to make juice, or to make wine, or whatever, God says that's how it's going to
be when Jesus comes on the white horse with his saints following after him, and he says
he comes down in battles, in the battle of Armageddon, he says it's going to be the winepress
of the wrath of God, and he says the blood is going to come out of that valley, even
unto the horses' bridle, he says it's going to go up to the horses' bridle, and it's referring
to the fact that there's going to be water with thy blood, that he said it's going to
be full of thee, there's going to be all sorts of flesh, corpses, dead bodies, blood flowing
like rivers, this is the battle of God against Satan.
Go back to Ezekiel 32, notice what he says, so we saw, we talked about who he intends
to punish, it's the lion, the whale, right, we saw what God intends to do, or how he intends
to do it, he's going to allow blood, he's going to kill them, and allow blood to flow,
then we see here when God intends to do it, notice verse 7, Ezekiel 32 verse 7, and this
is where we see that God is not literally talking about Pharaoh king of Egypt, although
of course we know that whenever there's a prophecy there's a dual meaning, there's a
specific application right then and there, and then there is a future application, so
Pharaoh king of Egypt was punished by God, but we know that this is a dual prophecy looking
ahead to a much bigger conquest of God for the king of the world, look at verse 7, Ezekiel
32 verse 7, and when I shall put thee out, notice what God says, I will cover the heaven
and make the stars thereof dark, I will cover the sun with a cloud and the moon shall not
give her light, all the bright lights of heaven will I make dark over thee and set darkness
upon thy land, saith the Lord God, so we see when he intends to deal with this lion or
this large sea beast, this whale, this serpent, this dragon, he says when I do it, he says
I'll do it when I cover the heavens and make the stars thereof dark and I will cover the
sun with a cloud and the moon shall not give her light, so go to Matthew 24, Matthew 24
and you should, if you're familiar with end times passages, this will sound familiar of
course, but let's look at it, Matthew 24, and this is of course telling us of a coming
day of God's wrath being poured out, and again, God's wrath happens after the rapture,
now the tribulation period is not the wrath of God, that happens before the rapture, notice
there in Matthew 24, look at verse 21, for then shall be great tribulation, such as was
not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be, and except those
days shall be shortened, there shall no flesh be saved, but for the elect's sake, those
days shall be shortened, then if any man, notice during the tribulation, Jesus has not
returned yet, alright, so it's not a pre-tribulation rapture we believe in, he hasn't came yet
because it says then if any man shall say unto you lo, here is Christ, or there, believe
it or not, for there shall arise false Christs and false prophets, and of course there's
going to be a great anti-Christ, and shall show great signs and wonders, in so much that
if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect, look, the notion of the pre-tribulation
rapture doesn't make any sense with this, with this chapter, because the pre-tribulation
rapture teaches no Christians are going to be around, right?
Christians get raptured up before the tribulation even happens, well if that's true, why is
Jesus telling them, hey, during the tribulation, don't fall for it if anybody tells you that
Christ, that Christ is coming, don't fall for that, and why does he say that these anti-Christ
are going to be so good that they would deceive even the very elect if the very elect aren't
even there to witness it, look at verse 25, behold I have told you before, wherefore they
shall say unto you behold, he is in the desert, go not forth, behold he is in the secret chambers,
believe it not, here's what he's saying, you don't have to worry about missing the rapture
and the second coming of Christ, the Jehovah's Witnesses are notorious for this, they predicted
the rapture of Christ several times, and they always say the same thing, well, you know,
when it doesn't happen, they'll say, well he came back, but he just came back to our
headquarters in New York City, you know, and we were the only ones that saw him, he met
with us in, you know, in our offices, and our prophet saw him, and blah blah blah, well
here's the problem with that, the Bible says in verse 25, behold I've told you before,
verse 26, wherefore if they shall say unto you, behold he is in the desert, go not forth,
behold he is in the secret chamber, believe it not, for as lightning cometh out of the
east, and shineth even unto the west, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
He says, look, in the same way that when lightning flashes across the sky, everybody sees it,
he says when Jesus comes back, everyone will see it, for whosoever the carcass is, don't
miss this, there will the eagles be gathered together, verse 29, immediately after the
tribulation of those days, shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her
light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of heaven shall be darkened,
and then shall appear the sign of the Son of man, in heaven, excuse me, and then shall
all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds
of heaven with power and great glory.
Go to Revelation chapter 6, Revelation chapter 6, so I want you to notice that at the rapture,
the second coming, the Bible says that they'll see the sign of the Son of man, then shall
the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds, it
says that the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars
shall fall from heaven, and that's what we saw in Ezekiel 32, verses 7 and 8, he says
that he was going to cover the heavens and make the stars thereof dark, and I will cover
the sun with a cloud, and the moon shall not give her light, and the bright lights
of heaven will I make dark over thee, and set darkness upon thy land.
So he says, look, when is it that the devil, when is it that Satan is going to get his
judgment, he says it's going to happen after the rapture, when the sun and the moon and
the stars go dark, and the wrath of God begins.
You're there in Revelation 6, I was going to have you look at verse 12, but let's start
a little earlier just so you can see the consistency here in scripture.
Look at verse 9.
Remember in Revelation 6 we're going through the different seals, and every seal is like
an outline, it's a different part of the end times.
In verse 9 we see the seal that kicks off the tribulation, because remember the tribulation
happens before the rapture, the wrath happens after the rapture, the tribulation is the
persecution of believers by the antichrist.
It's the putting on, it's forcing people to worship the beast in his image, it's the putting
on of the mark of the beast on the forehead or on the right hand, you won't be allowed
to buy or sell without the mark, you'll be put to death if you're not willing to take
the mark.
That's what we read about in Revelation chapter 6 verse 9 at the fifth seal.
Look at what it says.
And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were
slain for the word of God and for the testimony which they held.
Why are they slain?
Because they're being persecuted by the antichrist.
And they cried with a loud voice saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, does thou not
judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?
And white robes were given unto every one of them, and it was said unto them that they
should rest yet for a little season until their fellow servants also and their brethren,
don't miss this, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled.
Why?
Because it's a time of great tribulation.
But notice the sixth seal.
And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and lo, there was a great earthquake,
and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood, and the stars
of heaven fell upon the earth, even as the fig tree casteth her untimely figs, and she
is shaken of a mighty wind, and the heavens departed as a scroll when it is rolled together,
and every mountain and island were moved out of their place.
And he goes on.
What is that referring to?
Well, of course, we just read it in Matthew 24, the rapture.
But those signs in the sky, the sun, the moon, all of those things that went dark, that kicks
off the wrath of God, and that culminates with the judgment of Satan.
And that's what we read about in Ezekiel 32.
All right?
So go back to Ezekiel 32.
Look at verse 7.
I'm sorry, not verse 7.
Look at verse 9.
But in verses 7 and 8, we saw that he will cover the heavens, he will make the stars
thereof dark, and will cover the sun with the cloud, the moon, and not give her lights.
And you know, when we're studying these things out, you should write these references, maybe
in the margin of your Bible or something.
We're studying the Bible together.
But that way, you can have those references so that next time you read through the book
of Ezekiel, or if you want to study end times prophecy, you can make those connections later
on.
Look at verse 9.
In verse 9, we see how God intends to deal with this lion.
So we saw who God intends to deal with, which is the lion, the whale.
We saw what God intends to do with this lion and whale.
He intends to capture them in a net, kill them, and spread their bodies on the open
field so that the fowls of the air can eat them, and the beasts of the wilderness can
eat them.
We saw when God intends to deal with this lion.
He said, I will do it when I cover the heavens, when I make the stars thereof dark, when I
cover the sun with the cloud, when the moon will not give her light.
That's when I'll deal with it.
Notice verse 9.
Now God intends to deal with this lion again.
Verse 9, he says this, I will also vex the hearts of many people when I shall bring thy
destruction among the nations into the countries which thou has not known, and I will make
many people amazed at thee.
So I want you to remember that.
Many people are going to be amazed when they see the judgment of this lion or this whale,
and their kings shall be horribly afraid for thee when I shall brandish my sword before
them.
When God deals with this lion, or this dragon, or serpent, or whale, this sea, large sea
beast, he's going to brandish his sword before them, and they shall tremble at every
moment, every man for his own life, in the day of thy fall.
Verse 11, for thus saith the Lord God, the sword of the king.
Now look, through these few chapters we've seen that Nebuchadnezzar has been a picture
of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Remember we saw that, there was a hint towards that, when we saw that Nebuchadnezzar was
referred to as the King of Kings, and he was coming in a white horse, and again we see
here and we saw it earlier that he was brandishing his sword, so we see here that Nebuchadnezzar
is still picturing that.
Now we're literally talking about Nebuchadnezzar coming to kill Pharaoh, King of Egypt.
That actually happened in history.
Ezekiel is documenting that, he's not even documenting it, he's predicting it before
it even happened, but this is also a picture of a coming battle between the lion and the
King of Kings.
Verse 11, for thus saith the Lord God, the sword of the king of Babylon shall come upon
thee, and the sword of the mighty will cause thy multitude to fall.
The terrible of the nations, all of them, and they shall spoil thy pomp of Egypt, and
all the multitude thereof shall be destroyed.
Alright, let's run a reference, go to Revelation 19.
Revelation 19, and look at verse number 11, let's see the Lord Jesus Christ here represented
as Nebuchadnezzar.
Revelation 19 and verse 11.
Revelation 19 is a beautiful passage, I love to read it.
Notice what it says in verse 11, the Bible says this, and I saw heaven open, and behold
a white horse, and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness
he doth judge and make war.
His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns, and he had a name written
that no man knew but he himself, and he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood, and
his name is called the Word of God.
And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, that's us by the way,
clothed in fine linen, white and clean, and out of his mouth goeth, notice what it says,
a sharp sword, and with it he should smite the nations, and he shall rule them with a
rod of iron, and he treadeth, does this sound familiar, the winepress of the fierceness
and wrath of almighty God.
And of course we are reading there about the great battle of Armageddon where the King
of Kings comes and he destroys him with the sword of his mouth, and you say is it a literal
sword?
No, it's, remember the sword of the Spirit is the Word of God, and he is the Word of
God, and he destroys them with the sword of his mouth.
Now go back to Ezekiel 32, and I want to show you there that at the beginning of the chapter
we see the destruction of Satan, and the whole chapter is about the destruction of Satan.
We saw who he intends to do, it's the lion, it's the large beast, represents Satan, we
saw how he intends to do it, we saw all those things.
Notice what it says in verse 13, it says I will destroy also the beast thereof from beside
the great waters, and neither shall the foot of man trouble them anymore, nor the hoofs
of the beast trouble them, then will I make the waters deep and cause the rivers to run
like oil, save the Lord God.
When I shall make the land of Egypt desolate, and the country shall be destitute that whereof
it was full, when I shall smite all them that dwelt therein, they shall know that I am the
Lord.
This is the lamentation wherewith they shall lament her, the daughters of the nation shall
lament her, they shall lament for her, even for Egypt, and for her multitude saith the
Lord.
And I believe that this is all referring to actual events that happened at the time of
Ezekiel, verse 17.
And it came to pass also in the 12th year, so notice now we're beginning a new vision,
still connected to the old one, but it's a new vision in the 15th day of the month, that
the word of the Lord came unto me saying.
Now here's where the culmination happens, because now we start to talk about hell.
Now I want you to notice what it says about hell, and we won't spend too much longer on
this, but I want you to notice he describes for us what hell is like, and he gives us
a few descriptions of hell.
The first one is this, that in hell people are down in the center of the earth.
The Bible teaches us throughout the entire scriptures, Genesis to Revelation, the Bible
teaches that hell right now is in the center of the earth.
Let me show it to you from Ezekiel 32, verse 18, said a man wail for the multitude of Egypt
and cast them down.
Even her and the daughters of the famous nations unto, notice what he says, the nether parts
of the earth with them that go down into the pit.
Notice how he calls it the pit.
Whom does thou pass in beauty?
Go down, and be thou laid with the uncircumcised.
They shall fall in the midst of them that are slain by the sword.
She is delivered to the sword, draw her and all her multitudes, look at verse 21.
The strong among the mighty shall speak to him out of the midst of, notice what it says,
hell.
So when we're talking about them going down, going to the nether parts, going down to the
pit, we are referring to hell.
Notice with them that help him, so he says look, Satan is going to go down to hell with
the people that helped him.
They are gone down, they lie uncircumcised, slain by the sword.
So keep in mind, the battle of Armageddon is a battle being led by the antichrist who
gets his power from Satan.
He's bringing the kings of the earth, the armies of the earth, the nations of the earth.
Now we're going to see here described this battle, this battlefield, and these bodies
that are dead, that are killed, they lie uncircumcised, slain by the sword.
But he says they're going to go down with Satan into hell, all right?
So go back to Revelation, look at Revelation chapter 20.
Revelation chapter 20, look at verse 1.
Let's look at this battle, Revelation 20 verse 1.
And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit.
You see the phrase there, bottomless pit?
That's what we just read about in Ezekiel 32.
They went down into the pit.
The Bible calls it the bottomless pit because the pit is in the center of the earth.
And when you have a pit in the center of the earth, there's no bottom.
It's a bottomless pit, notice, and a great chain in his hand.
Verse 2, and he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the devil and Satan,
and bound him a thousand years, and cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him
up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand
years should be fulfilled, and after that he must be loosed a little season.
Now, go to Isaiah, and we're going to come back to Revelation here in a minute, but go
to Isaiah chapter 14, and let me just explain that.
So at the Battle of Armageddon, God destroys the armies, he leaves their bodies and corpses
lying in the valley, the blood runs like rivers, the fowls of the air come to eat the
bodies, those kings then go to hell with the devil, he's thrown into the bottomless pit,
but if you notice there, he's there for a thousand years.
And then he's going to be loosed.
Because after the Battle of Armageddon, we move into the thousand year millennial reign
of Christ, a literal reign upon the earth, and I've preached sermons about the millennial
reign, I'm not going to go into all that detail now, but of course we know, we're going to
talk about it in Ezekiel, when we get into chapters 40 through 48, we're going to learn
about the temple, the millennial reign, all those things.
After the millennial reign, the devil is released from hell, and he's allowed to gather the
armies of the world again, and again I don't have time to go into all that, but there will
be human beings who are in the millennial reign, not us who have been raptured in our
glorified bodies, but he's going to gather those armies, Gog and Magog, to fight against
Jesus one last time, and then of course same thing happens, Jesus defeats them, then he
gets thrown into the lake of fire, which is in the uttermost parts of the earth.
That's what's being referred to there, and there's more to that, and I just don't have
time to get into it, but I want you to notice Isaiah 14, look at verse 12.
Isaiah 14 verse 12, because this is the theme of Satan, alright, there's certain themes
to the story of Satan, and one of them is that he ends up in hell.
Isaiah 14, look at verse 12, how art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer?
Now this is the one passage where we are given his name, his proper name, Lucifer,
son of the morning.
How art thou cut down to the ground which didst weaken the nations?
For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne
above the stars of God, I will also sit upon the mount of the congregation and the sides
of the north, so this is the problem with Satan, he tried to exalt himself to the place
of God, verse 14, I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the
most high, notice God's response, yet thou shall be brought down to hell to the sides
of the, don't miss it, pit, look at verse 16, they that see thee shall narrowly look
upon thee, and consider thee saying, is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that
did shake the kingdoms, that made the world as a wilderness and destroyed the cities thereof,
that opened not the house of his prisoner, all the kings of the nations, even all of
them lie in glory, every one in his own house, but thou art cast out of thy grave like an
abominable branch, and as a raiment, and he goes on and talks about these things, but
I want you to notice that we're told that he's going to go down into hell, into the
bottomless pit, and he goes down with the kings of the nations, this is all referring
to that, those battles of Armageddon and Gog and Magog.
Go back to Ezekiel 32, you're there in Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, Ezekiel 32,
so we saw at the end of Ezekiel that hell, that in hell people are down in the center
of the earth, they're in the bottomless pit, but I want you to notice that also hell is
referred to as a place of death, people that are in hell are dead, Ezekiel 32 verse 22,
Asher is there, and all her company, and look, what we're going to look at is a list of all
the different kingdoms that were helping Satan, and how they all ended up. Asher is there
and all her company, his graves are about him, all of them slain by the sword, and we're
talking about the sword of the Lord Jesus Christ that came out of his mouth. Verse 23,
whose graves are set in the sides of the pit, and her company is round about her graves,
all of them slain, fallen by the sword, which caused terror, so I want you to notice, we're
talking about these kingdoms that are now in hell, because they follow Satan, but it
says that they caused, past tense, terror in the land of the living, so where they used
to be was called the land of the living, why is it called the land of the living? Because
where they are now is not called the land of the living, it's called the land of the
dead, because hell is death, look at verse 24, there is Elam, and all her multitudes
round about her grave, and again, we're just going through a list of the nations that were
helping him, all of them slain, fallen by the sword, which are gone down, uncircumcised,
into the nether parts of the earth, which caused their terror in the land of the living,
yet have they borne their shame with them that go down to the pit. Verse 25, they have
set her bed in the midst of the slain, with all her multitudes, her graves are round about
him, all of them uncircumcised, slain by the sword, though their terror was caused in the
land of the living, yet have they borne their shame with them that go down to the pit, he
is put in the midst of them that be slain. So he's saying, he's just going through this
list, but I want you to notice that he keeps calling it the pit, they're going down into
the nether parts, they're going down into the pit, and then he says you used to be in
the land of the living, but you're not in the land of the living anymore, why? And here's
what you need to understand, hell is death, people in hell are dead. Go back to Revelation,
let me show that to you, chapter 20. Now after that battle of Gog and Magog, you have
the great white throne, and I know I'm giving you kind of a lot, and I apologize, but just
try to hang with it. After the battle, you have the judgment of the great white throne,
notice verse 11, notice what the Bible says. And I saw a great white throne, and him that
sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heavens fled away, and there was found
no place for them, by the way, we're all going to be there, everyone's going to be there,
at this great white throne. He says the earth and the heavens fled away, and there was no
place found for them. Notice what he says, and I saw the dead, small and great, stand
before God, and the books were opened, and another book was opened, which is the book
of life, and the dead were judged out of those things which are written in the books
according to their works, and the sea gave up the dead, referring to their physical bodies,
which were in it, and death and hell were delivered up the dead which were in them,
and they were judged every man according to their works, and death and hell were cast
into the lake of fire, this is the second death. So I just want you to understand this,
when people die today who reject Christ, they go to hell. That is in the nether parts
of the earth, that is in the center of the earth, it is the bottomless pit. It's interesting
how scientists have figured out that in the center of the earth, there's lava and fire
and brimstone. Well, the Bible told us that thousands of years ago, that in the nether
parts of the earth, there's fire, and it's called hell, and that's where people go. Their
souls go down to hell, but not their bodies, because when people die today, what happens
to their bodies? We bury their bodies. Their bodies are here on earth. Many bodies end
up in the ocean, which is what we read about, that the sea gave up the dead. But at the
great white throne, just like there is a rapture or a resurrection for believers, where we
will be resurrected, where our souls that are in heaven will be reunited with our bodies
that are on earth, and we'll receive our glorified bodies and spend eternity in those glorified
bodies. The Bible tells us here that there is a resurrection of the damned, and these
people are going to be brought out of hell, which is in the nether part of the earth,
and reunited with their bodies so that they can be tried at the great white throne and
then thrown into the lake of fire. God at this point will remove hell from the center
of the earth, and he will put it into the lake of fire, which is the same thing, it's
just in the outermost parts of the earth. And throughout the Bible, when you study those
concepts of the lake of fire and hell, they're used interchangeably, it's referring to the
same thing. And here's what you need to understand, and maybe this will help you just to kind
of use an illustration. Hell is like the holding place. It's like when someone gets arrested
and they get thrown into jail, right? But they're not released, no bond. They have to
wait there till their judgment, then they're judged, and then they're sentenced to the
lake of fire. This is kind of the idea. People that reject Christ go to hell, but look, I
think there's some people in hell that are like, what in the world? Why am I here? I
got baptized. I spoke in tongues. I lived a good life. Why am I here? I literally think
there's people in hell that are just like, why am I here? So God, he's just God. He gives
them an opportunity. He brings them out of hell at the great white throne, and they stand
there. Look, didn't Jesus say about the great white throne, and many shall say to me in
that day, did we not prophesy in thy name? And in thy name cast out devils, and in thy
name do many wonderful works. That's what he's referring to. Look at what he says. Look
at verse 12. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God. And the books were
opened. That's talking about the books, the 66 books of the canon of the Bible. The Bible
is opened, and the books were opened, and another book was opened, which is the book
of life. That's the book that has the name of everyone who's not dead, because if you're
in hell, you're dead. And if your name's in the book of life, you're alive. Remember Jesus
said, Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. Jesus said, I am the resurrection
and the life. He that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live, and whosoever
liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believeth thou this? He's saying, look, the
dead were brought out, and they were judged according, notice what it says. People get
tripped up with this. They were judged according to their works. People say, well, why in the
world are they, I thought salvation was not a work. You know that God will let you get
judged however way you want? Because remember, they're saying to him, they're saying, did
we not prophesy in thy name? And in thy name cast out devils? And in thy name do many
wonderful works? That's what they're saying to him. So he says, okay, you want to be judged
by your works? I'll judge you by your works. Because do you know that theoretically you
could get to heaven without Jesus? So what do you got to do? Be perfect. Be sinless.
Here's the problem with that. There's none that do the good, no, not one. Here's the
problem with that. Look, these people, and look, and here's the point. You think if I
ended up in hell, and then God brought me out to the great white throne, and he said,
why should I let you into heaven? I'm going to say, did I not prophesy in thy name, and
in thy name cast out devils, and in thy name do many wonderful works? No, you know what
I'm going to be saying? I'm going to say, hey, I believed I'm the Lord Jesus Christ.
I called upon him for salvation. You said it was a free gift. Okay, the fact that these
people are trying to get in, they're still trying to get into heaven by talking about
other works just shows that they were not saved. And what does he say in Matthew? Depart
from me, I never knew you, ye workers of iniquity. Look, here's what God says. If you want to
take your chances and try to get into heaven through your work, God says, you want to be
judged by your works? I'll judge you by your works. Here's the problem with that. You're
going to be judged by this book, and this book is going to show that there is none righteous,
that there is none that seeketh after God, that there is none that doeth good. You're
going to be like Belteshazzar when Daniel told him, thou has been weighed and thou art
found wanting. You're not good enough. You won't make it. And these people are going
to get judged by their works and they're going to be found guilty. You say, well, what if
somebody accidentally goes to hell, then they get to the great white throne and they were
actually saved. Look, God isn't the United States government. He doesn't make mistakes.
If you're in hell, you're there for a reason. But I want you to understand something and
go back to Ezekiel 32. We'll finish this up. Look at verse 21. Just because they're dead
does not mean that they are not conscious or aware. Because notice in Ezekiel 32, verse
21, the strong among the mighty, notice they're all in hell, right? Notice, shall speak of
him out of the midst of hell. Remember Luke 16, the rich man with Lazarus, the rich man
speaking in hell. It's not annihilation like the Seventh-day Adventist teach or the Jehovah's
Witnesses. People will be tormented in hell day and night forever and ever. This is what
the Bible says. It says that they shall speak to him. Look at verse 22. Asher is there,
that's intense. He's there. It's not that he was there, he is there. When Satan gets
put into the bottomless pit at the beginning of the millennial reign, the Antichrist, the
beast and the false prophet get thrown into the lake of fire at the beginning of the millennial
reign after the battle of Armageddon. Hopefully this is all making sense to you. We just talked
about all of it, right? The battle of Armageddon, Satan gets thrown into the bottomless pit
in the center of the earth. The beast and the false prophet get thrown into the lake
of fire. The first people that go to the lake of fire, they're cast alive, is the beast
and the false prophet at the beginning of the millennial reign. A thousand years later,
when Satan is removed out of the bottomless pit, he gathers the armies of Gog and Magog.
Jesus whips him again. Now he throws him into the lake of fire. And you know what the Bible
says? Where the beast and the false prophet are. Present tense. Why? Because they didn't
burn up and disappear. They still are there. Because hell is forever. Because people who
reject the message of salvation will literally spend all of eternity, conscious, aware, in
a place of torment. Ezekiel 32, look at verse 31. This is probably the most powerful part
of this passage, and I don't want you to miss it. Ezekiel 32 verse 31. Pharaoh. Now
who have we been talking about this whole time? Who's Pharaoh picturing? It's Satan.
He's the lion, right? Your adversary, the lion, walking about as a royal lion, seeking
whom he may devour. He was the cedar tree in the Garden of Eden. It's been Satan this
whole time. Notice what he says. Pharaoh shall see them. Shall see who? Shall see the
list of these nations, these people, that were trusting him. That put their confidence
in him. That got whooped at the Battle of Armageddon. Got whooped at the Battle of Gog
and Magog. That their bodies are lying there, being eaten by the flowers and by the feet.
They go down to hell, and Pharaoh shall see them. Don't miss this. And shall be comforted
over all his multitude. You know that in hell there is no comfort? There is no one
being comforted, but Satan for all of eternity will have one comfort in hell, and it is this.
Everyone that he was able to drag into hell with him. Think about that. Pharaoh shall
see them, and shall be comforted over all his multitude. Have you ever thought about
hell? Just the Bible story? Have you ever thought about this? Look, the Bible says that
hell. Why would God create hell? The Bible says that hell was created for the devil and
his angels. God created hell for Satan who sinned. The wages of sin is death was initially
intended for Satan, for the devil. Hell was created for him. Say, why did this great dragon,
this old serpent, this whale, why did he show up in the Garden of Eden to begin with? Why?
Because once he was damned to hell, he had one goal, to get as many people in hell with
him as possible. Have you thought about that? God creates man in his image. God creates
man for a relationship. God creates man that man might glorify him. Satan knows that God
is just. Satan knows that God is true. Satan knows that God is love. Satan knows that God
cannot go against his own law, and Satan understands if I sin and I'm condemned to hell, and if
I can get them to sin, then they'll be condemned to hell. That's why he shows up in the garden.
That's why he beguiled the woman. That's why he set these events in motion because
he was trying to get as many people in hell. And here's the thing, he was right. God can't
go against his own law. God is no respecter of persons. If God told Satan, your sin has
condemned you to hell, he had to tell Adam and Eve, your sin has condemned you to hell.
So God became man to suffer our punishment, and he gives us the choice of salvation. And
here's what I'm telling you. Satan takes comfort in knowing of the multitude that he dragged
into hell. This is why we are in a spiritual warfare. This is why the Bible says that we
wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the
rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. We are
in a spiritual battle, and it is not about politics. It is about the souls of man. What
are you trying to accomplish here at Ready Baptist Church? Here's what we're trying to
do. We are trying to keep as many people out of hell as possible. But realize this,
that Satan is on the other side trying to drag as many people to hell as possible with
his works religion, with his works salvation, with his false Bibles, with his Antichrist,
with his false prophets. So here's a question I have for you. Are you in the fight? Are
you in the battle? Are you helping out? Because people are literally dying and going to hell
every day, every day. Well, I don't have any control. You know what? But you have control
over people in this community. I don't know. People say, what about the people in Africa?
I don't know what's happening in Africa, but I know in Sacramento, we can go knock doors
and preach the gospel, warn people, try to get them saved. Look, we have no control whether
they get saved or not. That's between them and God. But can we at least warn them? And
by the way, that's the context of Ezekiel 33, so don't miss it. Let's fire it in our
prayer. Heavenly Father, thank you, Lord, for your word. Thank you for the Bible. Thank
you for allowing us to study the Bible and learn these great truths, these prophecies,
these warnings you've given us throughout the Bible, Lord. I pray you'd help us to learn
it, to understand it, to be motivated by it. We love you. In the matchless name of Christ,
we pray. Amen.