(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

Okay, we're in Revelation chapter number 12. Now Revelation chapter 12 is where John begins to reiterate what he had previously written from chapters 1 through 11. So now this is the second half of the book of Revelation. If you remember from chapters 1 through 11, we basically cover the first century AD all the way up into the tribulation. You have the first century AD from chapters 1 all the way to chapter number 3. Chapters 4 and 5 is where John is caught up to see the things which must be hereafter. Then you see the tribulation in chapter number 6, the rapture in chapter 7, the wrath of God from chapters 8 all the way to chapter 11, and then you have the millennial reign obviously at the latter end of chapter number 11. Now we're starting over in chapter number 12, and you say, why is it that the book of Revelation is broken up into two parts, and why is he reiterating what we already run over in chapters 1 through 11? Well, if you think about it, repetition is the key to learning to a certain extent, but one thing that I've learned is that when you repeat something that you're trying to learn, you'll learn it a lot better, and you'll learn a lot more if you add more information to what you're remembering, okay? And that's actually exactly what we see in the book of Revelation because you see chapters 1 through 11 give some pretty detailed information regarding the end times, especially in regards to the tribulation. Chapter 6, you see basically like a bird's eye view, an overview of what's going to take place in the beginning of sorrows, great tribulation, et cetera. However, in the second half of the book of Revelation, for example, chapter 13 dealing with the tribulation, we get more details as far as what that great tribulation actually looks like. In chapter 6, you see that there are souls under the altar, they were slain for the Word of God and for the testimony which they held, but in chapter 13, it kind of gives you more information as far as how that looks like, right? You see in chapters 8 through 11, the wrath of God and the trumpets that are blown and the effects of that, we see the vials being poured out in chapter 16, and it gives it with greater detail. We see the millennial reign in chapter 11 being displayed there at the latter end of chapter 11, but we don't necessarily see how that starts. Well, in chapter 19, we do. We see when Jesus Christ comes, we see when he comes on a white horse, he conquers his enemies and establishes his millennial reign. And another thing that we see in the second half of the book of Revelation that we did not see in the first half is the white throne judgment, the new heaven and the new earth in chapter 21 and 22. So basically, it reiterates everything that we saw in the first half just with more information. And in fact, even in the second half, you have two entire chapters dedicated to what? To Babylon. You know, chapters 17 and 18 are dedicated to Babylon, and so it's what we see in the first half but with far greater detail. Now in chapter 12, chapter 12 is probably one of the most cryptic chapters in this book, okay? And chapter 12 gives a basic synopsis from the first prophecy of Jesus Christ to the tribulation period of the saints. And there's four distinct characters in this chapter. You have the woman, you have the child, you have the red dragon, and you have the seed. Of course, we're gonna explain who the woman is. We obviously understand that the red dragon is referring to the devil, Satan, the serpent. We have basically the child is Jesus Christ, and the seed are basically those who are in Christ, those who are Christians, okay? And people are often intimidated by chapter 12 because of its heavy symbolism and imagery. However, when you compare the previous chapters and the chapters that come after this, we can basically decode a lot of what these visions are entailing and what God is basically trying to describe to us here. Now one thing you'll notice with chapter 12, or maybe you didn't notice, is that literally the same thing is being repeated three times in this chapter, okay? You have from verses 1 through 7, and then it explains the events, verses 1 through 7. Then from 7 through 11, it describes it again. And then from verses 12 through 17, it describes it once more. So it literally does it three times. And so the fact that he's repeating it three times, basically he's leading us to believe that what he's stating here is pretty important, okay? And we need to give heed to that which is stated more than once because obviously it's important if God sought to repeat it twice or even three times. Now the description of the woman actually becomes more descriptive as we go deeper into the chapter because at first you're like, who is this woman? And there's many speculations as far as who she is, but as we begin to look throughout the chapter, as we end the ending of the chapter, you'll basically see, okay, you know, there's a broader application to this, and I believe it's Eve, but there's a far broader interpretation to why this woman is being seen in these different scenes throughout this chapter. Now let's look at verse number 1, let's look at the great wonder here. It says, and there appeared a great wonder in heaven, a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of 12 stars. Now go to Genesis chapter 39 if you will, Genesis chapter 39, hold your place there in Revelation chapter 12, Genesis chapter 39. So John, he is seeing these visions again, and it's gonna reiterate everything that we saw in the first half, but he begins this vision with a wonder in heaven, a woman who is clothed with the sun, she has the moon under her feet, and a crown upon her head with 12 stars. And immediately you should automatically think, okay, this sounds familiar, it sounds like something we saw in Genesis chapter 39. Look at verse number 6, and he says, and he sent it to them, here I pray you, this dream which I have dreamed, this is Joseph speaking, for behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and lo, my sheaf arose and also stood upright, and behold, your sheaves stood round about and made obeisance to my sheaf. And his brethren said to him, shalt thou indeed reign over us, or shalt thou indeed have dominion over us? And they hated him yet the more for his dreams and for his words, and he dreamed yet another dream and told it his brethren, and said, behold, I have dreamed the dream more, and behold, the sun and the moon and the 11 stars made obeisance to me. So what is it that's being described here? Well later on we see that his father is kind of mad at him for having this dream, because the sun represents his father, the moon represents his mother, and the stars represent his brethren. So if we were to use that to interpret what we're seeing in Revelation chapter number 12, we can safely assume that what's being described in Revelation 12 verse 1 is Israel, okay? He said, well hold on a second, didn't you just say that the woman in chapter 12 is representative of Eve? Absolutely, I believe it is. The reason why I believe that is because of the fact that Eve is the mother of all living. Now wouldn't Israel fall in line with that, right? And I believe the reason he's stating that she is, you know, she has this crown of 12 stars representing Israel is because that's where Jesus Christ comes from. So remember, as we begin to get into the chapter, we're beginning to see that he becomes more narrow in his description of who this is referring to. Obviously it's Eve who is representing, you know, all living people, she's the mother of all living, but let's get a little more detailed, a little more descriptive. It's referring to a woman who produced the 12 tribes of Israel, which is where Jesus Christ came from, okay? Now go back to Revelation chapter 12, it says in verse number 2, and she being with child, travailing in birth and pained to be delivered. Now, what is the identity of the woman? You know, the Catholic apologists will say, well it's Mary, you know, it's the virgin Mary because the virgin Mary was the woman who gave birth to Christ. And verse 2 is an obvious reference to Jesus Christ being born, right? Others would state that it's representative of Israel because upon her heads were the crowns, as I mentioned. Some would even speculate you have dispensations that'll say, well this is, you know, symbolic of the church, okay? And the reason they state that is because in verse number 6, you have the woman fleeing into the wilderness for 1,260 days, they would say, well that sounds like, you know, the church that's going into that, but here's the thing, we don't believe in the church, right? We don't believe in the universal church. The probable answer is that it's Eve, okay? And as I mentioned, the Bible tells us that Eve is the mother of all living. Now, how can we know for sure that this is Eve that it's referring to? Well, because of the fact that the woman that's being mentioned here is actually chronicled throughout the entire chapter. Wouldn't that make sense that it's Eve, she's being chronicled throughout the whole chapter if she's the mother of all living? How can Mary be the one going into the wilderness for 1,260 days? Or how can Israel as a nation go into the wilderness for 1,260 days where she's nourished, okay? How can the church, if the dispensations believe that they're raptured before that, how can that be it? However, when you understand that it's Eve, it's easy to interpret this as being Eve because of the fact that Eve is the mother of all living, she's going to, the people, excuse me, human beings are going to exist from the beginning of time until after the tribulation, even through the wrath of God, obviously, okay? So she's depicted throughout all ages from Genesis chapter 3 all the way to the tribulation. Now go back to Genesis, if you would, I'm sorry about that, go to Genesis chapter 3. We see here with the sun, the moon, the 12 stars, verse 2 talks about the travailing and birth. Now, again, that's Jesus Christ, however, if this is Eve, you know who it also is, it's Abel because Eve gave birth to Abel, right? So even though it is symbolically representing Jesus Christ, the immediate person who's being born there is Abel, okay? And you know, later on we see, look at Genesis chapter 3 verse 15, this is the first prophecy, most of you are familiar with this, it says, and I will put enmity between thee and the woman and between thy seed and her seed. It shall bruise thy head and thou shall bruise his heel. Here we see one of the very first prophecies of Jesus Christ and is it no, it's no coincidence that in Revelation chapter 12, you have the beast appearing right after he's born in verse number 2, trying to devour the child after it's born, right? Now, as I mentioned that this is also representing Abel, the Bible tells us in Hebrews chapter 7 verse 4, by faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he also obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts and by it he being dead yet speaketh. Now, the Bible says in chapter 12 that Jesus Christ's blood speaks better things than that of Abel. So we see that Abel can be a archetype of Jesus Christ himself because just as he shed his blood and his blood speaks great things, the Bible's telling us here that Jesus Christ's blood speaks better things than that of Abel. Why is that? Because Abel's blood speaks revenge, vengeance, whereas Jesus Christ's blood speaks redemption, right? So, we see that. Now go back to Revelation, go back to Revelation chapter 12. So we see that in verse number 1, she's being pictured as someone who is of Israel, that's a great depiction there because that's where Jesus Christ comes. Verse 2 is not only referring to Abel, it's referring to Jesus Christ himself. Verse 3 says, and there appeared another wonder in heaven and behold a great red dragon having seven heads and 10 horns and seven crowns upon his head. And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven and did cast them to the earth and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered to devour her child as soon as it was born. Now here's what's interesting is that in verse number 4, we see Satan with his tail drawing the third part of the stars of heaven, this is referring to those angelic beings who were brought down when Lucifer fell, okay? Now what's interesting about that is that he draws them to the earth when he falls, but later on during the great tribulation, because here's the thing, when Satan falls from heaven, it doesn't mean he no longer has access to heaven because he still has access even to this day. You know, we see that example, you say well even the demons have access to heaven to speak to God? Yeah, don't you remember the story of Micaiah and how the false prophets, you know, they all had a lying spirit and in fact there's a lying spirit that came before God and said I'll be a lying spirit in the mouth of the prophets and he gave them permission to go and do so, right? You have Satan destroying, you know, Satan coming before God and basically asking God for permission to destroy Job's life. So Satan still has, Satan and his minions still have a presence in heaven in the sense where they can come before God and accuse us day and night. Now what we see here in verse number four that he's drawing the third part of the stars from heaven, these are basically fallen angels as we would call them today, fallen angels, demons, etc. that he convinced to come down with them and he cast them down to the earth. This is why people are demon possessed even in the New Testament because of these demons that we see here. Now it says in verse, let me see here, at the latter end of verse number four, it says here that the dragon stood before the woman which is ready to be delivered for to devour her child as soon as it was born. So here we see the war between the child and Satan and this is obvious reference to King Herod seeking to kill baby Jesus when he was born. Obviously he failed at that attempt. Look at verse number five, and she brought forth a man child who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron and her child was caught up into God and to his throne. So what do we see here? We see a just really quick synopsis of the entire life of Christ because he brings forth the man child. We know that he's going to rule all nations with a rod of iron and in between that and being caught up, he lives his life, he's crucified, he's buried and he resurrects and he ascends up into his throne, okay? So this is a reference to his resurrection and his ascension. Now I want you to notice here, look at verse number six, it says, and the woman fled into the wilderness where she had the place prepared of God that they should feed her their 1,203 score days. This is a very cryptic verse because if Eve represents all mankind, if the woman represents Eve, which is basically the mother of all living, but she also represents Israel because that's where Jesus Christ came from, but we see her here going through the wilderness and she represents all of mankind. How do we reconcile this if we know that, you know, obviously this is a reference to Christians? Well, if you think about it, it's giving us some terminology here, it's saying that she's going into the wilderness, right? Now when we think of the wilderness, what is the first thing that pops into your head when you think about the wilderness in the Bible? Egypt, right? Or how about when people, the children of Israel were in the wilderness, right? After they left Egypt. Now let me ask you this, when the children of Israel were in Egypt, were there saved and unsaved people within that group? Yeah, there was. There were saved Israelites and there were unsaved Israelites, correct? But they were both in the wilderness. And wilderness is often synonymous with temptation. We'll see that later on in Hebrew chapter number three, okay? Temptation, tribulation, trials, et cetera, this is often synonymous one with another. So you have the wilderness is synonymous with temptation and tribulation, but we also have the wilderness in the Old Testament that represents both saved and unsaved. Now if the woman who is Eve is fleeing into the wilderness, that would be safe to assume and if she's there for 1260 days, that would match up perfectly with what's gonna happen in the end times because Christians are not the only people who are gonna experience the beginning of sorrows, right? The beginning of sorrows comes upon the whole world. It comes upon both saved and unsaved. So both unregenerated people and people who are the children of God, both of these groups go into the wilderness, you understand? So this is a great description here because the woman is going into the wilderness. The woman is Eve who is the mother of all living. The mother of all living represents two groups, saved and unsaved, that make sense? So look at Revelation chapter 13, flip your page over there to chapter 13. Let's talk about the wilderness a little bit. You know when we think of tribulation, we often think of the famine and the shortage of resources and in fact, we think of a measure of wheat for a penny and in fact, a lot of people are thinking about that today. They're thinking a measure of wheat for toilet paper. People even today are just freaking out and they're buying up all kinds of toilet paper and they're buying all water and they're just kind of panic buying, right? I mean if it's like this now, if it's like this now, how much more during the tribulation when literally a measure of wheat is for a penny, okay? This is what we see here but you know, often people think, man, there's going to be such a shortage of food, what are we going to do as Christians? You know, what are we going to do during the beginning of sorrows when the seals begin to open up and there's a shortage of food, how am I even going to survive for three and a half years throughout the tribulation? How am I going to do it? Look what it says in verse 15, it says, and he had power to give life into the image of the beast, referring to the false prophet, that the image of the beast should both speak and cause that as many would not worship, the image of the beast should be killed and he causeth all, you know, those who are both unsaved and saved, he's going to try to cause those who are not saved but obviously it's not going to work, he will cause mainstream Christianity to do this and he causeth all both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond to receive a mark in their right hand or in their foreheads that no man might by herself save he that had the mark or the name of the beast or the number of his name. This is a pretty, I mean, standard statement that he's making, he's saying no one will be able to buy yourself unless you have this mark and mainstream Christians are going to be like sign me up, sign me up because I can't do without food, I can't do without water, I can't do without feeding my kids, by feeding my wife, I mean, it's going to be a difficult time, how are we going to do this and they'll take that mark if they're not saved, okay? And especially if you have this decree going out saying no one will be able to do this, no one will be able to buy resources, no toilet paper for anybody, you know, unless you have the mark of the beast, this is a tumultuous time and truly the tribulation, the beginning of sorrows is what we see, okay? So when you read that and you compare it with Revelation 6 and the measure of wheat for a penny, the pestilences, all these things that are going on, you kind of make yourself think like, man, how am I going to survive the beginning of sorrows, how am I going to eat, am I just going to starve myself, should I just begin intermittent fasting right now to get ready for that, you know, so I just get used to just not eating at all because it's never going to happen, you know, especially during that time, I mean, it's going to be a difficult time, how am I even going to get food during that time? I mean, look, especially if you have a family, that's a scary thought sometimes, right? Those of you who are a singer, you're like, man, I'm good, man, I just sleep in the back of my car, you know, just eat cheese and crackers and, you know, whatever, you know, I just can survive, I don't even drink water, so I don't even need it, you know, I don't even drink water to begin with, like give me some soda, some coke, you know, and I can survive off of that. Yeah, but here's the thing, like for moms and dads, it's like we think of like our kids, for husbands, we think of our wives, it's just like we got to protect these kids, so how is it going to be done, okay? Look back at Revelation 12, in verse number 6, it says, and the woman fled into the wilderness where she hath a place prepared of God. Now, one thing I want you to notice is that, or I want you to understand something, okay? It's always fun to decode cryptic scriptures in the Bible, right? That's always great, it feels good, but you know, we should never overlook what God is really trying to communicate to us. Often there's admonishments and encouragements that we see in the Bible, but we're so busy trying to decode everything that we don't even see the most simplest truth that God is trying to get across to us. And it says here, she fled into the wilderness and she had a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there 1,203 score days. Now according to the prophetic timetable, the 1,203 score days, 1,260 days, is referring to the beginning of sorrows. You have that and then you have the last 75 days of great tribulation leading up to the rapture, okay? So this is the beginning of sorrows that last for that long. Now look at verse 14, because this is later reiterated, again, there's, you know, John writes it once, then there's a first iteration and then there's a second iteration. We're gonna look at the second one, look what it says in verse 14, it says, and to the woman were given two wings of an eagle, of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place where she is nourished for at times and times and half a time from the face of the serpent. Now isn't that interesting? It tells us here that she has, it's given to her two wings of an eagle, right? It's kinda like when Jesus was led of the spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil, Matthew chapter four, right? So they're led into that wilderness and what does the Bible tell us? It says, into her place where she is nourished, what does it mean to be nourished? To be fed, to be taken care of, to be clothed, right? And it tells us for at times, times and half a times, that's three and a half years, okay? And it tells us here that God has a place prepared for her. So keep in mind that the wilderness is synonymous with temptation. Now you think of a wilderness, a wilderness is desert, it's a place of scarcity, it's a place where there's no food, there's no water. And in fact, when you think of the wilderness in the Bible in the Old Testament, God had to miraculously provide food for the children of Israel, I mean a million people, feed them every single day by doing what? Dropping manna from heaven. Well, I want to know how I'm going to earn a paycheck during that time. Well, you know what? Don't worry about that. You worry about serving God and God will drop down manna from heaven if he has to. Because it's in the wilderness, it's in those times of temptation and trials where God comes through the best. It's where he miraculously provides for your needs. Well, how is that possible if a measure of wheat is for a penny? Well, I'll tell you how it's possible, you know, I've not seen the righteous forsaken nor received begging bread, right? So if the Bible tells us that David has not seen the righteous forsaken nor received begging bread, is the exception the tribulation? No. But hold on a second, I've not seen the righteous forsaken nor received begging bread. What can we take from that? I've never seen saved people, but aside from saved people, people who are literally living unrighteously, I've never seen them forsaken nor received, get this, begging bread. God won't even let you beg for bread in times of temptation. Why? Because he's a good father. He's not going to give bad gifts to his children. You know, if you ask for an egg, he's not going to give you a scorpion. If you ask for a fish, he's not going to give you a stone. And in fact, the Bible says he's able to give abundantly above all that we can ask or think. Even to the point where you take 12 baskets home full of fish in a red, okay? And look, people are afraid of the wilderness today. People are scared of the wilderness. Why? Because it's parched. There's no water. There's no food. Great. It's a better place. It's a better platform for God to show himself strong on our behalf. Why do you think the woman is fleeing to the wilderness? Because there's a measure of wheat for a penny. That's why. Why do you think she's given wings to fly into the wilderness? Because of the fact that people are taking the mark of the beast just to go eat at Raising Cane's. And they're not taking the mark, right? So what's the next best thing? Go into the wilderness. Because we know that when God's people go into the wilderness, God provides for their needs in a miraculous way. So there's scarcity of food, but she's given two wings of an eagle. You say, well, hold on a second. You know, if you're saying it's Eve, didn't you just say the whole world's going to go through? So does that mean that God is going to nourish the entire world? I don't believe that for one second. Because look, folks, as I mentioned, as we begin to look at the woman and examine her throughout this chapter, the description of the woman gets more narrow. Initially it's Eve. We know that it's Eve. It gets a little more narrow when it describes the 12 tribes, showing us that that's where Jesus Christ comes from. But then it gets even more narrow when we see that they're going into the wilderness for 1,260 days. But then it even gets more narrow at the end of the chapter, because look what it says at the end of the chapter. It says, and the dragon was wrought with the woman and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. He goes after Christians, okay? Now turn to 1 Kings chapter 17, if you will. First Kings chapter 17. I'm going to read to you from Deuteronomy 8 verse 15 says, who led thee through the great and terrible wilderness, wherein were fiery serpents and scorpions and drop, where there was no water, who brought thee forth water out of the rock of the flint? I mean, think about this. God provides in the most unlikely ways a rock? A rock? Water comes spewing out of a rock? Yeah, because you know what? God can do anything. And nothing is impossible to God. All things are possible to him to believe it, right? Nothing is impossible when you put your trust in God. Amen. Do we have that song in the song book? Probably not. It's an old IFB song. Great song. Nothing is impossible when you're trusting in his word. It's true. Well, I don't know about that. Do you really think like in the end times, water's going to come out of a rock? Yeah, yeah. You're going to be the one who's going to get his head chopped off because you just don't believe, okay? And I don't want to get ahead of myself because I want to talk about those people just a bit. He brought forth water out of the rock of the flint. And look, even when they got tired of the manna, he gave them quail. He gave them raisins and canes. Who fed thee... I'm thinking about raisins and canes, obviously. Who fed thee in the wilderness with manna, which thy fathers knew not, that he might humble thee and that he might prove thee to do thee good at thy latter end. Now, let me give you just a great example of what we're looking at here in Revelation chapter number 12, okay? Because what we're seeing from verses 1 all the way up until verse number 6 is the woman. We see here she gives birth to the child, which is Jesus Christ. Satan appears. He draws the stars from the demons. He wants to devour the child. He fails. He lives, is crucified, is buried, ascends up into heaven. And then we see later on, it basically jumps forward 2,000 years, approximately. In verse number 6, where she's fleeing into the wilderness, she has a place prepared of God that they should feed her there 1,203 score days. They, I believe, is referring to the Trinity, okay? Let's look at a picture of tribulation with Elisha the Tishbite in the wilderness. Look at verse number 1 of 1 Kings chapter 17. When Elisha the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead, said it to Ahab, as the Lord God of Israel liveth before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word, the Bible says, okay? So notice that this happens over a period of years, and this is a time of famine, right? There's no rain. So what does God instruct them to do? Look at verse number 2. And the word of the Lord came unto him, saying, Get thee hence, and turn thee eastward, and hide thyself by the brook of Cherith that is before Jordan. What does he tell them? Go in the wilderness. What do you mean, like the desert? Go in the wilderness. Look, folks, it's in the wilderness where you're made a man. You don't believe me? Ask John the Baptist. Locust and wild honey, that was his diet, but God fed him, right? He says, Go to the wilderness. Look at verse number 4. And it shall be that thou shalt drink of the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there. That's impossible. No, it's not. He made it happen. That's why it says in Revelation 12, he says, She hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and three score days. And by the way, how long is this famine that we see? Three and a half years, according to James chapter number 5. We see that he prayed and it rained not, according to James chapter 5, for three and a half years. That's funny. Is that a coincidence? I think not. I try not. No, what's being depicted here is tribulation that he's going through. He said, Well, what is he going to do? Well, he needs to go to the brook Cherith that is before Jordan, go into the wilderness, and the ravens are going to feed them. I think this is so awesome, where God says, I've already commanded some ravens to come and feed you. He said, Ravens? Yeah. Ravens, what? Birds. And I've heard many people say, well, ravens are so unclean, you know, how are you going to eat? Look, if God sanctioned it, I'm sure it's going to be fine. It's probably going to taste delicious, too. He fills thy mouth with good things, amen, so that that strength is renewed like the eagle. So it says the woman fled, or excuse me, it says in verse number, where are we at? Verse number 3, Get thee hence and turn thee eastward, and hide thyself in the brook Cherith that is before Jordan. And it shall be that thou shalt drink of the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there. And let me just say this, is that I believe in the end times, we're going to see a lot of miracles. I'm talking about we're going to see the impossible become possible. I believe that wholeheartedly. And in fact, when you read Joel, the book of Joel, a statement that pops out, and you'll also see it in Acts chapter number 2, I don't have it in my notes, where it talks about that the young men shall see visions, dream dreams. Before that, you know, and it's talking about the sun and moon being darkened. I believe, I believe we will see a resurgence of these type of miracles where people are able to dream dreams and see visions in the end times. Now it's not the dreams and the visions that will help the TV preachers make money. It's the kind of things that we saw like the Macedonian call, where people will see visions to say, man, you know, there's an open city, there's a receptive city over there, I saw a vision, and they're able to go there and witness to people and do a great work. I believe that to be true, because if not, how else are you going to explain those scriptures? Where the young men are able to see visions, the old man shall dream dreams, this is what this is referring to. And I think we're going to see a resurgence of miracles being accomplished even in the end times, where ravens are feeding us. Oh, you're so ridiculous. You know, you're ridiculous for not believing that God can do such a thing. God created the ravens, why can't He? He can command the ravens to do whatever He wants. He controls the winds and the waves. You know, I think it would be pretty cool just to have a raven come cater to me every day. It's like, hey, what's up, man, you were kind of late today, bringing me flesh and bread, and He just drops it for me, and I just take it and eat it. I mean, that's awesome. Verse 5 says, so He went and did according to the word of the Lord. That's what we need to do. He's not questioning it. He's like, God, seriously? He's just like, I'm just going to do according to the word of the Lord. For He went and dwelt by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan, and the ravens brought Him bread and flesh in the morning. What is that? It's basically chicken tenders and Texas toast, maybe something like that, and bread and flesh in the evening, amen, and He drank of the brook. And it came to pass after a while that the brook dried up because there had been no rain in the land. So what can we learn from this? What we can learn is that God will take care of our basic needs. And by the way, I don't think during the tribulation, we're going to just be in dire need of our most favorite foods. We just need the calories to be able to go preach the gospel. We know the end is coming. We know that the end is near. We know the rapture is about to take place. Just feed me with food and water, things that are sufficient for me. Don't let me starve. Just give me whatever I need to continue on and do the work of God. So He gives them bread and flesh in the morning, bread and flesh in the evening, and drink of the brook. Now, this is symbolic of the tribulation, three and a half years. So what's going to happen when a measure of wheat is for a penny? We're still going to eat, but hold on a second, if you're doing like Elijah did and preaching to Ahab, we're still going to be fed, but hold on a second, we're still preaching the gospel and seeing people saved and not hunkering in your bunker, hiding, right? You know, at that point, you might just have to depend on Obadiah to feed you, right? So who do you want to be? You want to be the 7,000 prophets who have not bowed the knee to Baal, who are living in the cave, being fed by a prophet, by a man by the name of Obadiah, and thank God for that, but I'm not going to take my risk. I'd rather just preach against the religion of that day, which is the new world order. I'd rather just expose the wicked darkness, be not partaker of the evil deeds, but rather reprove them. I'd rather see people saved and just have God miraculously provide for me, why not? It'll strengthen my faith, it'll increase my faith, it'll help me to continue to go forward for God. I don't want to hide in a cave being fed by Obadiah and thank God for him. He obviously had the best intentions, but you know what? If I were to choose between Obadiah and God, I'd go with God, okay? Now go to chapter 18, chapter 18. It says, and it came to pass after many days that the word of the Lord came to Elijah in the third year saying, go show thyself unto Ahab and I will send rain upon the earth. And Elijah went to show himself unto Ahab and there was a sore famine in Samaria. So what is Elijah about to do? He's about to just take on the forces of darkness. One of the best stories in the Old Testament where Elijah, the Tishbite, goes against the 450 prophets of Baal, all of them are prophets of Baal, even the prophets of the grove. And he just, it's won against them, right? It's Elijah the Tishbite versus all these false prophets and he does just this great exploit before them. Now go to chapter 19. Now look, any time you have a great victory, any time there's just a great victory in your life, just mark it down. You're going to have a bad day the next day. That's typically how it works, okay? Whenever you have a great success, you see a lot of people saved or you just, you're just spiritually prosperous, just mark it down. Maybe the next day you're just emotionally spent and you're just like, I want to die. You're just like, I'm nothing. I just failed. I'm a failure. I'm telling you, that's how it works. And look, if you think I'm crazy, then you must think that Elijah's crazy because this is exactly what happens to him, okay? Because after he just slays all these prophets, I mean, he does it with style. He's mocking their God. He's like, oh, maybe he's taking a journey. Maybe he's sleeping. I mean, he's mocking the prophets of Baal. They're cutting up their skin. He's just mocking them and reviling them. And then he just like slays, and then the fire comes down and consumes the sacrifices and licks up the water, and then he's just, I mean, how much of a man do you feel like at that point? You're like, yeah, now you see what's up. Don't let any of these guys escape, all of them. Make sure they all die. I mean, you're walking away with bombs going behind you, you're just like, you're just, you're feeling good, right? But hold on a second, look at chapter 19, verse number 1. And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done and with all how he had slain all the prophets with the sword. Then Jezebel sent the messenger unto Elijah saying, so let the gods do to me and more also if I make not thy life as the life of one of them by tomorrow about this time. Now hold on a second, man, this guy just took on all these prophets and all of a sudden this woman, this false prophetess, Pentecostal, charismatic woman threatens Elijah and he just goes fleeing, right? Now what is this symbolic of? Well, you think if those first three years are the tribulation, it could be, I mean, Jezebel is almost like a picture of the antichrist, right? Well, she's a woman, yeah, well, I mean, she's an antichrist though, okay? Going after the man of God. So Jezebel declares war against Elijah just as we see in the end times at the three-year mark, right? We see that the abomination of desolation is set up and what does the Bible tell us? The antichrist makes war with the saints. You see, initially the antichrist is going forth conquering to conquer, he's doing all these exploits where people are dying on a massive scale, there's war, there's pestilences, the economic world changes and the currency changes, it's a new world order and he's conquering the world but then what does he do at the final end? He focuses in and he hones in on Christians, okay? So it's just like this, it's like Ahab and Jezebel were just kind of destroying Israel because don't you remember when Ahab says, thou the trouble is Israel and he's like, no, I'm not troubling Israel, you're troubling Israel, right? So they're kind of like destroying Israel but then at the latter end, Jezebel declares war against Elijah. Now look at verse number three, so this is like great tribulation for Elijah and when he saw that he arose and went for his life and came to Beersheba which belonged to Judah and left his servant there, this always perplexed me because I'm like, is she that scary? Like is this like a chola or something? Does she just like, just kind of threaten them and stuff? Like what is it that made him so afraid to run? Well, I think it's because it's just the persecution has turned up that much the more, right? So I think a lesson that we can learn here is this, man, we might do some great exploits during the beginning of sorrows but we need to get ready for that great tribulation because we're gonna have a lot of victory and in that victory, we might be tempted like Elijah to just flee for our lives. Now we should flee from the image of the beast, right? But not run from Jezebel. Verse four, but he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness and came and sat down under a juniper tree and he requested for himself that he might die and said, it is enough now, oh Lord, take away my life for I am not better than my father's. And as he lay and slept under a juniper tree, behold, then an angel touched him and said unto him, arise and eat. He always knows that that's probably just the solution, we just need a bite to eat. And he looked and behold, there was a cake, bacon on the coals and a cruise of water at his head and he did eat and drink and laid him down again and the angel of the Lord came again the second time and touched him and said, arise and eat because the journey is too great for thee. Yeah, the 75 days is great. And he arose and did eat and drink and went in the strength of that meat 40 days and 40 nights unto Horeb, the mount of God. Now what do we see at the latter end of that? We see him meet God. He goes into the mountain, he sees the fire, he sees the earthquake, he sees the whirlwind, then he hears a still small voice and the hand of God comes through the clouds, right? To basically meet Elijah. So in like manner, after those 75 days are done, that's when we see the Lord come in the clouds, right? Coming in the clouds, the rapture takes place. He says in verse 10, and he said, I am very jealous for the Lord God of hosts, for the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, throw down thine altars and slain thy prophets with the sword. And I even I only am left and they seek my life to take it away. Now go to Revelation chapter number three, Revelation chapter number three. So what do we see here with the story of Elijah? Well, I believe what we see here is exactly what we see in Revelation chapter number 12, where the woman goes into the wilderness to a place that's prepared for her. And this is how we got to see it folks, when we go through tribulation, when we go through that great tribulation in the end times, we have to understand there's a place prepared for us. And he said, why do we have to think about that? Because we're going to be tempted to quit. We're going to be tempted to be a bunch of pussyfooters, you understand? To tread lightly, to not do as much soul winning, to just kind of back off because we might be killed. Well, you know what? This is not the time to back off. Recognize there's a place prepared for you, be filled with the Spirit to go into the wilderness just to be tempted of the devil. But you know what? He that keepeth the word of his patience, he will also keep thee from the hour of temptation, the Bible says. And just mark it down, it's going to be a scary time where you're going to wonder, man, am I going to be delivered or not? But you know, we can rest assured that if we keep the word of his patience, he will keep us from the hour of temptation. He will make a way to escape. He will provide water from the rock. He will provide the meat from the ravens. He will provide the cruise. You say, well, what if there is no ravens? Then he'll bring an angel to do it because nothing's impossible with God. So what is the teaching of Revelation chapter 12 of the woman going into the wilderness? He's teaching us, hey, you're going to be nourished. You're going to be nourished. We don't have to starve. And look, those of us who have a little more weight on us, that's how God provides too, amen? You know, we can, we have enough fat reserves that, you know, we can kind of, we're nourished. No man ever yet hated his own body, but nourished and cherished it, okay? And guess what? It shall return that, it shall return the favor to us in the end times, okay? But the main thing that I'm trying to get across here is this, is that, you know, there's a reason why he's stating that they shall be nourished, that God will take care of them, that God will feed them in the wilderness. Because it is a wilderness, but God is able to miraculously provide for us during that time. Look what it says in verse 7 of Revelation 13, it says, and it was given to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them. And power was given to him over all kindreds and tongues and nations. And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. Verse 10, he that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity. He that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints. So I believe verse 10 where it says, he that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity. Those are the ones who are hiding in the caves, right? There are those who, there are Christians, there are Republicans, they're going to fight back. Well, he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword also. So where do we stand? Well, we want to stand in the last part, here is the patience and the faith of the saints. Well, we're keeping the word of God. We're sowing, we're doing great exploits for him, okay? Now go to Hebrews chapter 3, and this is where we'll finish off. By the way, this is a two-part series, because we've only gotten to verse 7, or verse 6. But keep in mind, we're going back again, okay? Now look at Hebrews chapter 3, and let's see how this applies to what we just spoke about with Elijah, the wilderness, having faith in God. Look at verse 7, wherefore, as the Holy Ghost saith, today if you hear his voice, heart and not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness. How does someone hearten their hearts by not having faith, right? When someone doesn't exercise their faith, they're heartening their hearts because they're not willing to believe. It says in verse 9, when your fathers tempted me and proved me and saw my works forty years, wherefore I was grieved with that generation and said, they do always earn their heart, and they have not known my ways. Do I swear in my wrath that they shall not enter into my rest? Take heed, brethren, lest there be any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God, but exhort one another daily, while it is called today, lest any of you be hardened to the deceitfulness of sin, for we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence, look what it says, steadfast unto the end. He's saying, look, if you stay confident, unto what end? Until the end of those 75 days. You see, those in the wilderness that chose not to believe, what happened? They didn't get to enter into the rest. You know that place that God hath prepared where He can nourish you and feed you? That's the rest, right? It says in verse 15, while it is said today, if you will hear His voice, heart and not your hearts as in the provocation, for some, when they had heard, did provoke, habe it, not all that came out of Egypt by Moses, but whom was he grieved with 40 years? In other words, who was he grieved with those who went into the wilderness? Was it not with them that had sin whose carcasses fell in the wilderness? I mean, wouldn't you agree there's going to be some Christians who are going to fall, their carcasses are going to fall during the tribulation? I mean, when it says that He made war with the saints and overcame them, He's referring to those who did not believe, okay? Look what it says, verse 18, and to whom swear he that they should not enter into his rest, but to them that believe not. So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief. Now we understand that the media application is referring to salvation. However, the secondary application that we get from this is what we see tonight, which is this, when the woman goes into the wilderness, when saints go into the wilderness, which is the tribulation, we just got to believe, just got to believe, not waver in our faith, because he that waver is like the sea that is tossed to and fro, let not that man think that he shall receive anything of the Lord. A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways, you know? If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask in faith, you know, and God gives it just he doesn't abrade us for it. So what is the teaching here that we see in Revelation chapter 12? We're going to go into the wilderness, and what we need to do as God's people is just keep believing. And look, this is what I've learned even during this time, because we're going through a tribulation right now, right? This is what I've learned. When I pray, I pray believing, nothing doubting. Don't try to reason away, you know, well, maybe God won't do it for me, because get that out of your mind. If you ask anything according to his will, according to the Bible, we have it. We have the petitions for which we've asked for, the Bible says. So what I'm saying is we need to increase our faith during this time, right? And look, when he gave, because look, there's a man in the Bible who literally said, you know, when Jesus said, Does thou believe, because his son was sick, he says, I believe, but what? Help thou mine unbelief. Now he was able to heal him. But Jesus also said when in regards to the fig tree, and in regards to the mountain being moved, he says, if you believe, and not doubt, you shall have whatsoever you ask. So there's a type of faith that God wants us to have, where we literally just don't doubt what we're asking for. He said, how do I do that, though? How do I ask for something and not doubt? You remove every single obstacle that you think God will have struck God from working. And when you think about, well, maybe this will happen, you say, well, God can still overcome that. I mean, think about this, do your children ever question you of anything that you're going to give them? They never question whether you're going to feed them. Never. It's already it's already settled in their mind. Well, that's the same childlike faith that we need to have. Well, we just say, well, I just know that God's going to give it to me. How? I don't know. He sent ravens. You know, how am I going to pay for the rent this month? Well, God is the one who takes care of me, so yeah, but the economy is just crashing right now. Yeah, but I mean, he could grow money on trees if he wanted to. He can just drop a wad of money in my hand right now if he wanted to. I don't know how he's going to do it. I just know he's going to do it. He's not going to ask me how he's going to do it. He's far more creative than I am. And you know what? He promised to take care of me. I know he's going to do it. I just need to pray, believe me. You know what? God loves it when his children just believe in it. They don't just they just don't question it at all. He comes to you come to him and you say, Lord, this is what I need. Can you just look if it's not specific, it's not dynamic. Ask specifically for the things that you need. So this is what I need. I know you're going to give it to me. I just need to keep serving you, you know, and by the way, examine your heart. Obviously, if you have sin in your life, don't think that you shall receive anything of the Lord. You know, we need to make sure that our hearts are clean, that we're serving the Lord. But you know, if that all that's taken care of, you take an inventory and everything's taken care of. There's no reason, no reason for God not to miraculous to provide for your needs. And don't try to think of how is he going to do it? How is he going to do it during this economic crisis? How is he going to do it with my situation? I don't know. That's up to him. Don't ask me. I'm not God. I'm not, don't have his imagination. I don't have his power and his ability. I'm just this child and I'm just telling him that this is what I need. And guess what? He already knew that I needed that before I even asked him. So I'm just going to pray believing and go about my day and just wait for it to come. You know, I know there's people in here who have needs and you know what, maybe you just haven't prayed that. You spent too much time worrying. You spent too much time in unbelief and not believing and lacking faith and reasoning God away. You need to just shut your mind up and say, Lord, this is what I need. I know you'll provide for it. Let me go win someone a Christ today. Seek the kingdom of God and his righteousness and these things shall be added unto you, right? So believe in God away. Go into the wilderness. God has a place prepared for you there and he's going to nourish you. Don't doubt that. Amen? Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Father, we thank you so much for your word and Lord, thank you for just being a great God and Lord, you said that your eyes go to and fro, you know, and you're always looking to show yourself strong on the behalf of them whose heart is perfect with you and Lord help not this crisis. You know, the unsaved wicked world, they're using this crisis for their agenda. Help us to use this crisis to increase our faith in you. Help us to recognize our need and help us to pray more, to increase our faith because faith is so important to have faith in you and know that you'll provide for us and just not waver, not doubt. That's a powerful tool in the hand of a Christian because at that point we're unstoppable. We know that you'll provide for us every single day. We just need to keep serving you. We need to keep our hearts right. We need to focus on your word. We need to become better Christians and read the Bible and pray and win souls and keep our hearts perfect with you. We know that you'll provide for every single one of our needs and Lord, as this symbolic woman, help us to just flee into the wilderness because that's the place where we can see the great and mighty works that you can do where you'll just drop manna from heaven. You'll provide the resources miraculously and that increases our faith a lot and I pray God that you'd help us to do so. Bless our evening and in Jesus' name we pray, Amen.