2025년 1월 23일 목요일

The white horse spiritually means the tribe of Israel, and the one who sat on the white horse is leading force that holds sway over the destinies of the people of Israel.

Revelation 6:1-2

[1] Then I saw when the Lamb broke one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures saying as with a voice of thunder, "Come."
[2] I looked, and behold, a white horse, and he who sat on it had a bow; and a crown was given to him, and he went out conquering and to conquer.


Dear brothers and sisters in Christ.

From Chapter 6 comes the prophecy about the 7 Year Great Tribulation.

After those who are saved by believing in the Lord are caught up into the air with the Lord, the 7 Year Great Tribulation will take place in this earth.

The 7 Year Great Tribulation will be the unprecedented tribulation that is characterized by warfare and natural disasters.

In the chapter 6 of Revelation is a prelude to the 3rd World War that will drive the whole world into war.

It is 'the end of the age (or world)' mentioned in the bible.

In Matthew 24:3, the disciples of the Lord says to Jesus, "Tell us, when will these things happen, and what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?"

Then, Jesus says in the verse 6, "You will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not frightened, for those things must take place, but that is not yet the end."

Here, 'wars' don't just refer to 'conflicts' limited to a country or a region. It rather refers to warfare that affects the whole world.

Therefore, 'wars' here indicates the 1st and the 2nd World Wars.

But, Jesus says, "Those things must take place, but that is not yet the end."

He is giving us a hint that an incident such as those wars will take place again at the end of the age.

And it will become such a terrible incident that everybody will say, "It is truly the end of the world.'

And the 'incident' that will take place at the end of the world is the 3rd World War.

As the Lord breaks the seven seals, the whole world will stand in a tense situation that cannot but lead to a world war.

Tonight's scripture, verses 1 & 2 say, "Then I saw when the Lamb broke one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures saying as with a voice of thunder, "Come." I looked, and behold, a white horse, and he who sat on it had a bow; and a crown was given to him, and he went out conquering and to conquer."

As written, the signs of disasters finally make an appearance only when the Lamb, the Lord breaks the seals. It means all the incidents such as the 3rd World War during the 7 Year Great Tribulation will take place under the supervision of the Lord.

In addition, he says, "When the Lord broke one of the seven seals, I heard one of the four living creatures saying as with a voice of thunder."

The fact that the 4 living creatures that carry out direct orders of God are involved like this means that all the things are accomplished in the will and the providence of God under His permission.

But it doesn't mean that God Himself brings the disasters of the 7 Year Great Tribulation to this earth.

It means that even though the terrible wars and natural disasters are unavoidable according to the law of justice, all of those are accomplished in the providence of God who foreknows everything and preplans everything according to His foreknowledge.

The fact that the 4 Living Creatures are speaking like a voice of thunder means that they have very great power and authority.

One of such 4 living creatures says to Apostle John, "Come," and it means that it will show Apostle John how events will take place.

When Apostle John looked, there was 'a white horse.'

The color of white means 'the light,' 'purity,' and 'sanctification.' And in a spiritual sense, it belongs to God.

'A horse' means 'authority and dignity,' as well as 'a war.'

In the past, horses played an important role in a war.

And he saw some one who sat on the white horse. He is the one who can make use of the given authority and dignity; he is an envoy who carries out things in the name of the Lord.

Apostle John says that this man had a bow.

'A bow' means 'strife and fighting.'

A bow is used to shoot an arrow at a target or a goal. In the process of accomplishing a goal, bitter rivalry and disputes will arise.

Therefore, the fact that an envoy of the Lord had a bow means that peace will be broken due to the discord.

Now, the fact that a crown was given to him means that he is guaranteed by God.

It means he becomes a leader, and he is given wealth, honor and authority.

And at the same time, a crown means 'pride' and 'arrogance.'

Then, who is it that the explanationcorresponds to so far?

It is the people of Israel.

The white horse spiritually means the tribe of Israel, and the one who sat on the white horse is leading force that holds sway over the destinies of the people of Israel.

I told you that the color of white means that it belongs to God, and a horse means 'authority and dignity' as well as 'a war.'

The people of Israel are the God-chosen people, and many wars have broken out due to this nation of people through out history.

'Having a bow' means 'breaking peace to achieve a goal.' As I will tell you later, Israel has always caused conflicts with its neighbors in order to achieve its goals.

Despite all these, the people of Israel are enjoying wealth, honor, and authority in many parts of the world under the protection of God.

And because of this, they are proud of themselves and arrogant.

It is the arrogance that they have is in being the God-chosen people, and that they always win victory in God's protection.

This is illustrated as 'a crown is given to him.'

I'll give you more detailed explanation about the people of Israel so that you understand what I've told you so far.

Dear brothers and sisters.

John 19:23-24 says, "Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took His outer garments and made four parts, a part to every soldier and also the tunic; now the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece. So they said to one another, "Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it, to decide whose it shall be". This was to fulfill the Scripture saying, "They divided My outer garments among them, and for My clothing they cast lots.""

I already explained the spiritual meaning of these verses in 'The Message of the Cross' lecture.

Briefly speaking, the garment of the Lord means the people of Israel.

Making His garments into four parts means in a physical sense that the people will break up and be scattered.

But the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece so that the soldiers didn't tear it. It means that the inner heart of the people of Israel will not break up.

As written, in the year of our Lord 70, Jerusalem was completely destroyed by a Roman General, Titus, and the country, Israel itself disappeared.

Survivors were scattered around the world, and Jewish people are still scattered and living in many parts of the world.

However, despite the fact that their country was destroyed and they are still scattered, the inner heart for God cannot be taken away or destroyed by anybody.

There were a couple of attempts to destroy Jewish people at the root, but they overcame them. They rather set up their own independent country in May 14, 1948.

There are no other people in the history of the world than the people of Israel who re-established their independent nation and government 2,000 years after the country was completely destroyed and disappeared.

It is the Jewish, the people of Israel, that made it possible.

It was made possible only because for the many long years their inner heart for God has never been altered. They achieve this huge goal with an earnest desire that they would take back the land of promise that God gave to them.

Because of this, the pride of the people of Israel has become increasingly greater.

The idea that they are God's chosen people and that they are superior to any other people is still in their heart.

But this idea turned into arrogance and selfishness, and it made peaceful coexistence with other neighboring countries impossible.

There is still tension between Israel and other Middle East countries. And since their independence, Israel lives in a perpetual situation of war.

They continually have small conflicts, battles and major wars.

However, just as the verse 2 says, "he went out conquering and to conquer," Israel has won those battles and wars.

Dear brothers and sisters.

As I told you, 2,000 years after the people of Israel lost their country and territory, they came back to their old land and set up their independent country.

How was it possible that those who had lived in that land for the last 2,000 years welcomed them back?

From a common sense standpoint, it's hard to believe that they had to turn over their lands to the people of Israel as a territory of Israel.

Of course, those many Arab countries that located near the old territory of Israel wouldn't welcome Israel.

When Israel declared its independence on May 14, 1948, the very next day, May 15, the allied Arab countries attacked Israel.

It is so called, "Arab-Israeli War," and it was the 1st Arab-Israeli War.

At that time, the Israeli army was small in scale, and not well-armed. But their united strength brought them a great victory.

And the 2nd Arab-Israeli War, called "Suez Crisis" broke out in October, 1956, and again, Israel achieved victory.

The 3rd Arab-Israeli War which broke out in June 5, 1967 is well-known as the Six-Day War.

Allied Arab nations attacked Israel, but the Israeli Army defeated them in 6 days.

Moreover, after this Six-Day War, Israel gained control of the Gaza Strip, the Sinai Peninsula, the West Bank, and the Golan Heights.

Israel also gained the control of eastern Jerusalem, and enjoyed great prosperity afterwards.

There is a famous anecdote. In a council of war, a general who was leading the Israeli Army prayed with his baton lifted, "God, please make this war finished in 6 days so that we can keep the Sabbath."

Later, the 4th Arab-Israeli War, called "Yom Kippur War or Ramadan War" broke out, and Israel also won this war.

Other than these, there were many large and small conflicts and battles between Arab nations and Israel, and Israel won victory every time.

Dear brothers and sisters.

In the 20th chapter of 2 Chronicles, the allied forces of Moabites and Ammonites and some of Meunites came to make war against Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah.

Then, the Spirit of the LORD came upon Jahaziel, and the word of God was spoken to the Israelites.

2 Chronicles 20:15 says, "And he said, "Listen, all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem and King Jehoshaphat: thus says the LORD to you, 'Do not fear or be dismayed because of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours but God's."

As written, the battle is God's.

Not only battle, but the life and death, and fortune and misfortune of life, and the history of the world are under the supervision of God.

Therefore, even though the people of Israelites seemed physically weak and poor, when they pleased God and lived by the word of God, God was always with them and they always won victories.

But, no matter how much they possessed in a fleshly sense, when they left God and didn't live by the word of God, they were attacked by their neighboring countries and they had to suffer from the defeat in those battles.

But the independence of the people of Israel was already prophesied in the Old Testaments by God, and it was fulfilled in His providence.

For illustration, Ezekiel 38:8-9 says, "After many days you will be summoned; in the latter years you will come into the land that is restored from the sword, whose inhabitants have been gathered from many nations to the mountains of Israel which had been a continual waste; but its people were brought out from the nations, and they are living securely, all of them. You will go up, you will come like a storm; you will be like a cloud covering the land, you and all your troops, and many peoples with you."

How precisely is this word being fulfilled?

In the wars that Arab nations brought about to destroy Israel, God naturally took the side for Israel and cause the people of Israel to gain victories in those wars.

God guarantees what He said, and eventually He is accomplishing His work in His providence through the people of Israel.

By the way, tonight's scripture says, "he went out conquering and to conquer." It means that they haven't finished conquering.

In other words, the war is still in progress, and they cannot say that they have won the complete victory.

That's because there is another great war left; that is the 3rd World War.

Actually, the people of Israel were also greatly involved in the out break of the 1st and the 2nd World Wars. And they will be closely connected with 3rd World War in the future

The land where Israel and its neighboring countries is now located was the starting point where God began the process of human cultivation.

And the end of His human cultivation will also take place in this area.

Israel is in the center of it, and the 3rd World War will break out due to the war between Arab nations and Israel, and it will lead to the destruction of mankind.

Like this, Israel will play the important role in the history of mankind, and all the situations are formed so that things cannot but take place as they are supposed to be.

By the way, in this kind of situation with Israel in its center, we can find how faithfully God fulfills what He says through the country of Egypt.

After Israel won all the 4 Arab-Israeli Wars, Israel and Egypt signed the Peace Treaty in 1978 by the arbitration of the US.

Many in the Arab community were outraged at Egypt's peace with Israel, but Israel withdrew its troops and settlers from the Sinai Peninsula.

But all these incidents were not by chance. These all took place in the will of God according to word of God written in the bible.

As written in Genesis 47:7-12, thanks to Joseph who became the ruler of Egypt, Jacob and his entire household could escape from severe famine, and moved to Egypt.

And there is a scene of Jacob standing before Pharaoh and blessing him.

Pharaoh showed his kindness to Jacob and his family, and gave land for them to settle down.

Genesis 47:11-12 says, "So Joseph settled his father and his brothers and gave them a possession in the land of Egypt, in the best of the land, in the land of Rameses, as Pharaoh had ordered. Joseph provided his father and his brothers and all his father's household with food, according to their little ones."

Likewise, Jacob and his family, the beginning of the people of Israel, are greatly indebted to Egypt.

That's why Deuteronomy 23:7 says, "you shall not detest an Egyptian, because you were an alien in his land."

Furthermore, since Jacob, the origin of Israel blessed Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, Israel and Egypt could sign the Peace Treaty that appeared impossible in a fleshly sense.

Because of this Peace Treaty, not only these days but also during the great war in the future, unlike other Arab nations, Egypt will be able to escape from terrible disasters.

However, in the end, Israel and its neighboring countries will be brought into a war during the 3rd World War, and face terrible disasters.

In the beginning, it will start as a war between Arab nations and Israel. But the complex chemistry between countries who try to take the control over oil, and the matter of relations between the US and Israel will bring all the forces of the world into struggle against each other.

As it will be explained later, a huge war will break out with the huge number of armies, which will count "two hundred million" as written in Revelation 9:16.

This is the peak situation during the 3rd World War.

Tonight's scripture verses 1 & 2 contain incredible meaning.

In the next lecture, I will explain about the meaning of 'a red horse' and 'a black horse,' and the situation where the whole world cannot but get involved in full scale warfare.

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ.

The great wars between Arab nations and Israel, and the World War are the incidents that will take place on the earth where the saved children of God no longer remain.

However, just as told, all the things that will take place at the end of the world will not occur in an instant.

These are the incidents resulting from the things that have taken place for the past several thousand years according to the justice.

Everything has been precisely accomplished within the will and providence of God, and the result of them will also turn out according to the word of God without the slightest error.

The same applies to the will and providence of God toward this church.

God chose this church long ago to accomplish His great will at the end time of the world. He has intervened in every detail so far.

To allow us to accomplish such invaluable missions as the construction of the Grand Sanctuary and World Evangelization at the conclusion of human cultivation, God has refined us again and again, and allowed us to meet the qualifications according to (the laws of spiritual) justice.

Therefore, knowing the trend of world history through this lecture on Revelation is, of course, important. But at the same time, I hope that you will believe in your heart that God's will and providence have been accomplished precisely, and receive strength from it.

And please also believe in your spiritual faith that Father God's will and providence toward this church, me, and you will also be accomplished.

Just as God said "I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after My heart, who will do all My will," may all the will of God be accomplished through you who are after Father God's heart, in the name of the Lord, Jesus Christ, I pray!



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2025년 1월 22일 수요일

Now then, what is this red horse specifically referring to? The red horse refers to Russia.


 Revelation 6:3-6

[3] When He broke the second seal, I heard the second living creature saying, "Come."
[4] And another, a red horse, went out; and to him who sat on it, it was granted to take peace from the earth, and that men would slay one another; and a great sword was given to him.
[5] When He broke the third seal, I heard the third living creature saying, "Come." I looked, and behold, a black horse; and he who sat on it had a pair of scales in his hand.
[6] And I heard something like a voice in the center of the four living creatures saying, "A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius; and do not damage the oil and the wine."


Dear brothers and sisters in Christ.

As I told you in the last lecture, the white horse refers to the people of Israel.

And he who sat on it is the leading force of the people of Israel and he who holds sway over their fate

As the God-chosen people, the people of Israel will remain in the providence of God until the last day of this world.

God allowed the providence for the people of Israel to be recorded in many parts of the Bible.

And the history of the people of Israel is progressing just as He said it would.

2,000 years ago, nobody could even imagine that the nation of Israel, which was completely erased from this earth, would come back to their old territory and re-establish the lost country again.

But, the Bible had prophesied long ago about such history of Israel.

Deuteronomy 4:30 says, "When you are in distress and all these things have come upon you, in the latter days you will return to the LORD your God and listen to His voice."

Also Ezekiel 36:8-10 says, "But you, O mountains of Israel, you will put forth your branches and bear your fruit for My people Israel; for they will soon come. For, behold, I am for you, and I will turn to you, and you will be cultivated and sown. I will multiply men on you, all the house of Israel, all of it; and the cities will be inhabited and the waste places will be rebuilt."

It is saying that the people of Israel will come back to the devastated land of Israel and live in it again.

Also, Ezekiel 36:19-20 says, "Also I scattered them among the nations and they were dispersed throughout the lands. According to their ways and their deeds I judged them. When they came to the nations where they went, they profaned My holy name, because it was said of them, 'These are the people of the LORD; yet they have come out of His land.'"

It says that the people of Israel will be scattered among the nations and dispersed throughout the lands.

And, the verse 24 of the same chapter, it says, "For I will take you from the nations, gather you from all the lands and bring you into your own land."

And it says in the verse 28, "You will live in the land that I gave to your forefathers; so you will be My people, and I will be your God."

It says that the people of Israel that are scattered throughout the nations will come back to the land which God gave to their fathers.

In addition, Ezekiel 36:34-36 says, "The desolate land will be cultivated instead of being a desolation in the sight of everyone who passes by. They will say, 'This desolate land has become like the garden of Eden; and the waste, desolate and ruined cities are fortified and inhabited.' Then the nations that are left round about you will know that I, the LORD, have rebuilt the ruined places and planted that which was desolate; I, the LORD, have spoken and will do it."

When the people of Israel came back to the land where their ancestors used to live, the land was desolate and devastated.

While the people of Israel were dispersed throughout the nations, the land was abandoned and there was little rain, and thus it had become a parched wasteland and desert.

Even the trees and grass that remained in mountains were also cut by people and never re-planted. Obviously dust and ground were carried down away, and only rocks and stones were left in the land.

The mid coastal area became a desert of sand hills, the southern area became the Negev desert region. It rains only once or twice a year, and the temperature goes up to 40 in Celsius (110+ Fahrenheit) so that it couldn't become an inhabited area.

No matter how deep a well was dug, not even a drop of water gushed out.

But these places were changed by the people of Israel now. There are green trees and grass, and the land produces various fruits.

The water that is pumped out from the Sea of Galilee is sent to the far corners of Israel through water pipes, and used for irrigation.

This way, desolate land became fields for growing oranges. It became fertile and fruitful. It now became a land that grows beautiful trees.

Just as God says "I, the LORD, have spoken and will do it," whatever God has spoken is accomplished without fail.

But it doesn't mean that everything is accomplished while people remain still doing nothing only because God has spoken.

You must remember that Ezekiel 36:37 says, "Thus says the LORD God, "This also I will let the house of Israel ask Me to do for them."

Even though the people of Israel had been scattered throughout the world for about 2,000 years, no matter where they were, they believed that they would go back to their original land when the time came, they prayed, and they made efforts.

Of course, it was not something that could be accomplished just when people made efforts, however, since they believed and prayed and made efforts like that, when the time came, God allowed His word written in the Bible to be accomplished.

And, since Israel is in the providence of God like this, even though neighboring Arab nations made war several times against the newly established Israel, Israel won the wars each time.

There are still large and small conflicts, but Israel is holding a dominant position over others.

When the 7 Year Great Tribulation comes, there will be another war between Arab nations and Israel, which will detonate yet another World War.

In the days of the 7 Year Great Tribulation, other than this Arab-Israeli War, wars will break out in many parts of the world.

And all these wars will interact with each other, and there will be the 3rd World War.

Through tonight's scripture, we will continue to look into this situation.

It says in the verses 3-4, "When He broke the second seal, I heard the second living creature saying, "Come." And another, a red horse, went out; and to him who sat on it, it was granted to take peace from the earth, and that men would slay one another; and a great sword was given to him."

When the Lord broke the second seal, a red horse came out.

The color 'red' means 'shedding of blood.' 'A red horse went out' therefore means there will be 'great shedding of blood.'

Just as it says, "to him who sat on it, it was granted to take peace from the earth, and that men would slay one another," by the red horse and the one who sat on it, there will be a war of great blood shed.

Now then, what is this red horse specifically referring to?

The red horse refers to Russia.

In 1991, the Soviet Union which consisted of 15 socialist republics, collapsed.

But among them, Russia still has great power and influence.

Russia seemed to go downhill after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. However, just as I prophesied before, Russia is getting back its power.

And it is trying to expand its influential power over other neighboring countries.

But, as the Soviet Union collapsed, which was held in socialism, those republics which used to be a part of the Soviet Union wanted to exercise their own independent sovereignty based on their national origins and religions.

They refuse to be interfered with by Russia any longer.

In fact, the Soviet Union always had problems because of racial conflicts.

The multi-national Soviet Union had to suffer from various conflicts between republics which demanded their own independence and self-government.

There were also many conflicts between races and nations.

In a period of from January 1987 till mid 1988 alone, there were about 300 ethnic conflicts.

In large scale gatherings of several tens of thousands there were disputes over nationalism resulting in bloodshed and many causalities.

The Nagorno-Karabakh War that broke out in 1988 was an ethnic conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia, and it was put down by the input of the regular army of the Soviet Union.

Likewise, even before the collapse, ethnic conflicts didn't stop in many places of the Union.

Now, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, as the power of Russia is becoming greater and greater and as it practices extending its influence over neighboring countries, it is also becoming an apple of discord.

In the 7 Year Great Tribulation, these kinds of discords will become wars between nations and states.

IN the meantime, people will kill each other, and there will be great blood shed, and peace will be taken away.

Furthermore, just as it says, "a great sword was given to him," this war will not be easily put out. Instead, the war will expand in size.

By the way, all of these will be "granted" to take place

It means there must be God's permission. But you must not misunderstand it that God makes a war break out, and people die.

God governs everything in world history, but still everything takes place according to justice.

When evil is rampant and it crosses the line, it becomes a war; people kill people due to their own evil, and they are destroyed by themselves.

God doesn't ignore justice; God doesn't make a war break out or overthrow people as He pleases.

When the Israelites escaped from Egypt and conquered the land of Canaan, God didn't give the land of Canaan to Israelites unconditionally.

God told Abraham that He would bring the Israelites out of Egypt where they would become slaves into the land of promise. And He says in Genesis 15:16, "Then in the fourth generation they will return here, for the iniquity of the Amorite is not yet complete."

In other words, the descendants of Abraham would have to wait until the iniquity of the Amorites, who then lived in the land of Canaan, is complete, and then He would give the land to the Israelites.

Only when the sin and evil of the Amorites crossed the line, which was set within justice, would God allow the Israelites to destroy them and to take the land of Canaan according to justice.

If God drives away the Amorites and allows the Israelites to take the land of Canaan even before the iniquity of the Amorites reaches the full measure, then it will be against the law of justice.

Like this, even though God governs everything in the world history, God surely makes things work precisely according to the law of justice.

Therefore, even though all the things of the 7 Year Great Tribulation will take place only when God permits under His Sovereignty, they are all actually the results of their evil piling up and crossing the limit of justice.

According to the law of justice, "Reap as you sow," what people have sowed in their evil will come out in the days of the 7 Year Great Tribulation, and the natural environment of this earth will also cross the limit; therefore there will be great tribulations such as wars and natural disasters.

Back to the scripture, there will be ethnic conflicts between Russia and its neighboring nations. And Russia will also intervene in the Arab-Israeli War, and it will eventually develop into the 3 World War.

There was long-lasting history of dissension between Russia and Israel, and there will be hostile situations between both of them. About this, I will explain it to you later using the contents of the 38th chapter of Ezekiel.

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ.

Now, the verses 5-6 reads, "When He broke the third seal, I heard the third living creature saying, "Come." I looked, and behold, a black horse; and he who sat on it had a pair of scales in his hand. And I heard something like a voice in the center of the four living creatures saying, "A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius; and do not damage the oil and the wine.""

It says when the Lord broke the third seal, a black horse came out, and he who sat on it had a pair of scales in his hand.

Here, the black horse has two meanings.

First, the color of black means 'sin.' 'A black horse' refers to the things that will take place by Satan which governs sin.

And 'he who sat on it' refers to the one who measures sin and evil. It may be the enemy devil and Satan, or anyone who is used as an instrument by the enemy devil and Satan.

Just as it says, "he who sat on it had a pair of scales in his hand," the enemy devil and Satan finds what kind of sin someone has, and measures how far his sin reaches.

When the sin crosses the line, the enemy devil and Satan bring about trials, afflictions, and problems to him, and there will be judgment for the sin.

This can sometimes be accomplished through people that the enemy devil and Satan manage.

During the 7 Year Great Tribulation, all the sin and evil of the people who are left in this earth will be precisely measured.

And depending on the level of the sin and evil, the afflictions and tribulations that come upon may vary.

Some are killed before others, and some others are killed later.

Even in the same tribulations and afflictions, some will suffer more, but some others will suffer less.

By the measure of the one who has a pair of scales in his hand, the price of sin and evil will be decided according to justice.

Secondly, 'a black horse' contains the meaning of huge typhoon and violent storm.

Huge typhoons and violent storms will come, but they will not become worse than they are supposed to be.

In other words, the typhoons and storms will be strong only by the limit that God allows and sets according to the measure of the scales.

The natural disasters will become worse, but in the days of the 7 Year Great Tribulation, there will be terrible calamities caused by huge typhoons and storms.

Of course, the natural disasters are getting worse and worse even these days. But during the 7 Year Great Tribulation, the calamity will reach its peak.

In addition, by the instigation of Satan, people will make conflicts and disputes and wars out of their evil.

And because of all these, just as it says, "A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius," there will be serious inflation.

In order to understand how serious it will be, we must convert the measure into that of today's value.

First of all, a denarius was a Roman currency. The daily wage for a laborer was 1 denarius

Therefore, a denarius can be worth of about 50 to 70 US dollars in today's currency.

Since a quart is almost equivalent to a liter dry measure. It may be safe to say one quart is about one liter.

Nowadays wheat usually costs about a dollar per kilogram (which is 'a dry liter').

Of course there is much more expensive wheat, but I'm talking about regular wheat.

Therefore, a quart of wheat costs about 1 dollar.

But, tonight's scripture says the price of a quart of wheat is a denarius. It means the price will be more than 50 dollars for a quart of wheat.

Compared to these days, it is more than 50 times today's price.

Obviously, it doesn't fix that the price of wheat to be exactly 50 dollars per a quart.

The price may be somewhat higher than that, or lower than that.

Also, the price of barley may be different from today when compared. (Currently, the price of barley is 23 dollars for 20 kilograms, and wheat is 16 dollars for 20 kilograms.)

Therefore, the meaning of the scripture is that the price of grain will be skyrocketing during the 7 Year Great Tribulation.

The price of grain will be expensive, and thus many people will starve. The situation will be so miserable that even if they have money, they won't be able to purchase goods.

Now, it says, "Do not damage the oil and the wine." It also has two meanings.

First, 'the oil and the wine' refers to the place which produces the oil and the wine.

It includes Israel and Middle East, and parts of Europe.

Therefore, "Do not damage the oil and the wine" means that such places will be protected even in the midst of huge typhoons and storms.

Secondly, 'the oil and the wine' refers to both the people of Israel and those who are left in the 7 Year Great Tribulation even though they said they believed in the Lord.

Since there will be the people who will be saved through 'Gleaning Salvation,' God doesn't allow them to be killed, but to reach salvation through martyrdom when the time comes.

That's why it says not to 'damage them; the people of Israel and those who are left in the world even though they said they believed in the Lord.'

It doesn't mean that all of them will be protected. Since there will be severe persecution in the midst, God will lessen all the situation until the actual martyrdom takes place.

I will explain about this oil and the wine in greater detail in the next lecture.

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ.

The world has now become so insecure and dangerous that you have no idea what you will encounter, or where and when you will encounter it, unless God protects you.

But if you are God's children who are live in the word of God, there will be no need for you to worry.

God will protect you. Even if your spirit and soul are called by God, you will go to heaven. So, what is it that you might worry about?

But in the 7 Year Great Tribulation, the Holy Spirit will disappear from this earth, and those who are left in the earth even though they said they believed in the Lord will live everyday in horror and fear.

It's not only fear of death, but also fear of hell which is eternal death!

But the fear will be great only in the beginning. As time goes by, many among them will have their hearts dulled, and they will fall into the world just like the people of the world.

And thus, at the moment of martyrdom, only the minimum number of them who are left in this world will be saved through 'Gleaning Salvation.'

Now, what is the best way?

That's right. It is to be caught up into the air when the Lord comes to take us back.

I hope that all of you who are listening to this lecture on Revelation will awaken, and live a diligent believing life so that the 7 Year Great Tribulation will have nothing to do with you.

May all of you enjoy the 7 Year Wedding Banquet with the Lord in the air, in the name of the Lord, Jesus Christ, I pray!


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Lecture on 1 John(1) - Lecture on 1 John (1)

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