Good evening and welcome to EBible Fellowship's Bible study in the Book of Revelation. Tonight is study #56 of Revelation, chapter 14 and we are continuing to look at Revelation 14:20:
And the winepress was trodden without the city, and blood came out of the winepress, even unto the horse bridles, by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs.
Last time we saw that the Bible does set precedent for understanding non-time-related words (such as branches, baskets, kine or stalks of corn) as “time,” even though these words have nothing outwardly to do with “time.” The context is very clear that it is speaking of Judgment Day and we know, from the Bible, that God has locked in May 21, 2011 as the beginning of the Day of Judgment. We also know that Judgment Day is a long period of time. To begin with, it is a spiritual judgment and it is being brought upon the world in terms of “days” (plural), according to Mark 13:24, which refers to “those days after that tribulation.” In Ecclesiastes 12, verses 1 and 2, it also speaks of “years,” so these are two clues that God gives us that the time of Judgment Day is a prolonged period of time that could last up to years. Then we find in our verse that it speaks of “1,600 furlongs” that the blood flows from the winepress unto the “horse bridles.” When we make the substitution of “days” for “furlongs,” which the Bible permits, we can ask the question, “Is it possible that God is indicating that the life of the wicked (‘the life is in the blood’) will continue for 1,600 days, the duration of the time they are under the wrath of God?”
So we start there; we know the beginning of Judgment day was May 21, 2011. That was the day the Great Tribulation concluded, after an exact 23 years. May 21, 2011 was the 8,400th day of the Great Tribulation period. Is it not interesting that God made it so well known, as we understood that the full 23 years of the Great Tribulation began on May 21, 1988 and concluded on May 21, 2011, and that it was an exact 8,400 days? And that number fits very well because the number “84” has much to do with tribulation, as we look at the types and figures God used to typify the Great Tribulation: the seventy years that Judah experienced tribulation from 609 BC when good King Josiah died until 539 BC when the Medes and the Persians conquered Babylon. That was seventy years and “70 x 12” is “840” or “10 x 84.” The number “10” points to “completeness” and “84” identifies with the Great Tribulation.
God also used another length of time to typify the Great Tribulation in the days of Joseph and that was the seven-year famine. We read in our last study about the dream Pharaoh had concerning the “seven kine” and the “seven stalks of corn.” There were the thin and ill-favored kine and the ill-favored stalks of corn that rose up and consumed the good. They were likened to seven years of famine and the famine is a picture of the Great Tribulation. The number “7” times the number “12” (for the months in a year) also equals “84” and, again, God is using the number “84” in relationship to the Great Tribulation. There are also tie-ins with that number, so when we saw that the Great Tribulation would be 8,400 days (to the very day) it was a confirming piece of Biblical evidence that God really had His finger on that date of May 21, 2011. It was the 8,400th day and the exact 23rd year of the Great Tribulation. In addition to that, it was exactly 7,000 years to the very day from the flood which occurred in 4990 BC. When you add 4990 and 2011 and then you subtract 1 (because there is no year “zero”), you get exactly 7,000 years and that very day, which was locked in due to the other evidence mentioned, had the underlying Hebrew calendar date of the “seventeenth day of the second month.” It was the 23rd year, the 8,400th day, exactly 7,000 years from the flood, which also had the “the seventeenth day of the second month” as the underlying date. Why is that incredible? It is because the flood (which typifies God’s judgment on the world) occurred on the “seventeenth day of the second month” of Noah’s calendar. That was the day God shut the door of the ark. Likewise, spiritually, exactly 7,000 years later, God let it be known that the Hebrew date was the equivalent date in the days of Noah when the “door” was shut. This was strong confirmation that this had to be the hand of God. I do not know anyone that smart. Mr. Camping was very smart, but he was not that smart. No one would be able to manipulate and force the timeline and these dates to fit like pieces of a puzzle. It is not possible. It was the hand of God. God was letting it be known that May 21, 2011 was the day.
One thing we had thought leading up to May 21, 2011 was that Judgment day would last “five months.” There was information that did seem to point to that, especially Revelation, chapter 9, which spoke of “five months.” Five months from May 21, 2011 was October 21, 2011 and that date was the last day of the Feast of Tabernacles. It was the 23rd day of the Hebrew seventh month and we knew that God must fulfill the Feast of Tabernacles. It seemed so certain and this was part of the “snare” and part of the testing program that only God could devise. It was so brilliant in how precise it seemed and how it appeared to be such an exact fit. We thought, “There it is – five months from May 21 to October 21 falls on the last day of the Feast of Tabernacles.” Now one problem was that the 153 days added to the 8,400 days did not add up to any significant spiritual number. The number “8,553” just does not break down into any significant numbers that might cause us to think that God was teaching through that number. There was nothing like that. It was just a “five months” reference and the fact that it was the last day of the Feast of Tabernacles that caused us to think that it must be the day. Then we thought we had the entire timeline worked out: May 21, 2011 was the beginning of Judgment Day, a prolonged period of time, and then five months later on October 21, 2011 would be the end.
It did not happen as we thought, but God brought to pass a spiritual judgment on May 21, 2011, causing us all to be confused as we did not know what the Lord was doing, but the true believers continued to search and we focused on October 21, 2011 during that “five months,” as we thought it must be a spiritual judgment, but then God would literally destroy the world on the last day of Tabernacles to spiritually fulfill that feast. But October 21, 2011 came and went and that was a huge additional test to those that were holding on to this information from the Bible. Now many of them were convinced it was all wrong and it was all error and they began to turn back.
Yet, God’s people continued to search the Bible because the Biblical calendar of history still locked in May 21, 2011. There was no budging there, but what about the date of October 21, 2011? That could not have been a “spiritual” end of the world. We had to be wrong about October 21, but what was our error? We have learned as we look at the Book of Revelation that all the time references are to be understood spiritually. Had the “five months” of Revelation 9 been literal, it would have been the lone exception, so to try to understand it literally was the error. It was a figurative time reference, just as “three and one half days,” or “1,260 days” or “a thousand years” were all figurative time periods that represented other actual time periods and, therefore, the “five months” represented the duration of Judgment Day, however long that would actually last. It was not to be understood literally, but God used it to set a trap in order to make it appear that October 21, 2011 must be the day because it was the last day of Tabernacles, the third and final feast that must be fulfilled.
But, lo, and behold, as we have continued to search the Bible, we have come to Revelation, chapter 14, and God gives us the number “1,600” that fits with May 21, 2011 because it also speaks of Judgment Day. That would be the day of harvest, which is the end of the world; that would be the day of the cup of the wrath of God transitioning from the churches to the world and it speaks of the “fall of Babylon” which would be the end of the historical seventy years, which typifies the end of the Tribulation. So all the information in this chapter points to Judgment Day beginning and in that context the Lord gives us this number of “1,600,” so we ask, “Is it possible that the 1,600 days will be the actual time period for the duration of Judgment Day, which began on May 21, 2011?” We have the number “1,600” and we have the “8,400” days of the Great Tribulation that brought us right to May 21, 2011. We look at these two numbers and, on one hand, we have the 8,400 days of judgment on the churches and, on the other hand, we have 1,600 days as the likely time period of judgment on the world. Of course, you do not have to be a mathematician to see how these numbers fit together. When you add “1,600” and “8,400” you get “10,000.” You do not get “9,999” and you do not get “10,046.” The possible numbers that would not total exactly “10,000” are infinite. It just goes on, and on, and on for the possibilities of a number God could have given that would not have added up to a perfect “10,000” and we would never have been able to put them together to form a complete “10,000 days” of the wrath of God.
So there are 10,000 days of judgment, which occurred first on the churches for 8,400 days (23 years) and then the cup of wrath transitioned to the world, as God had said to the world, “Shall ye be unpunished?” They must also drink of the cup, but as the Bible indicates there is greater wrath for those professed Christians that knew the will of God than for the people of the world that did not know the will of God, so the world’s drinking of the “cup” is less. The wrath of God is given to them for 1,600 days and, yet, it all comes under the umbrella of the wrath of God. It is God’s final judgment on mankind and it does fit together; the cup of wrath was given to the churches because judgment was to begin at the house of God and in that statement there is the implication that judgment must also be completed on the nations of the world and, therefore, the “10,000 days” is a number that completes that judgment.
In the Bible numbers are words and in order to understand the spiritual meaning of a number, we look up that word to see how it is used elsewhere in the Bible. For instance, it says in Matthew 25:1-2:
Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom. And five of them were wise, and five were foolish.
Here, God is speaking of ten virgins and that is the “completeness” of all those that responded to the Gospel call. We could say they are all “Christians” in name, but five of them are “foolish” and they would represent the professed Christians that were never truly saved, but five of them are “wise” and they are the true believers that God has saved. They are all included in the number “10” to represent the “completeness” of all professed believers.
It says in Luke 15:4-5:
What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it? And when he hath found it…
When he has found it, how many sheep does he have? He has “100,” or the complete number of sheep. In the same chapter, it says in Luke 15:8:
Either what woman having ten pieces of silver, if she lose one piece, doth not light a candle, and sweep the house, and seek diligently till she find it?
When she finds it, she has “10” again. Notice the similarity in these parables. In both cases, they lose one, but when it is found it forms the complete “100” or the complete “10.” We find when we look at the number “10” in the Bible that it maintains its spiritual meaning of “completeness” whether it is “10” or “100” or “1000.” For example, it says in Psalm 50:10:
For every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills.
Why does God say it this way? Why does He say that the cattle upon a thousand hills are His? He is the Maker and Creator of all and all creatures belong to God, so why would He limit it to the cattle upon a “thousand” hills? Is it not true that all the cattle upon all the hills in all the world are His? Yes, that is true, but in order to teach that truth, God makes the statement “the cattle upon a thousand hills,” are His and He means it as the “completeness” of what is in view. It is all the cattle upon all the hills in all the world belong to God.
When we read of the Lord Jesus Christ coming in judgment on Judgment Day, the Bible tells us that He comes with the saints and they will judge the world with Him. It says in Jude 1:14:
And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints,
Do you think that God is coming with only “ten thousands of his saints” or is He coming with all the saints that are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life? He is coming with the whole company of the elect, but it is represented by the phrase “ten thousands of his saints,” and there is proof of this in Zechariah 14:5:
And ye shall flee to the valley of the mountains; for the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Azal: yea, ye shall flee, like as ye fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah: and JEHOVAH my God shall come, and all the saints with thee.
Here, it does not say “ten thousands of his saints,” but it says, “all the saints.” If you read Zechariah 14:5 and then you read Jude, verse 14, they are both speaking of Christ coming in the Day of Judgment with His people and, yet, one says “ten thousands” and the other verse says, “all the saints.” This lets us know that when God uses the number “ten thousands” or “ten thousand” or “a thousand,” it is a figure of speech to represent the “completeness” of whatever is in view.
Let me just give one more example from Revelation, chapter 20, when the Lord Jesus bound Satan. It says in Revelation 20:2-3:
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.
Then it says in Revelation 20:7:
And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison,
Satan was bound at the cross in 33 AD, so was he loosed after a literal “thousand years” in 1033 AD? You better believe there were probably some people of God at that time that were “on their toes” and they were thinking, “This must be it.” That would have been understandable. Sometimes we can make the mistake of taking a number that is a time reference, especially in the Book of Revelation, and think it might be a literal time reference. Many people would have been on “high alert” in 1033 AD for Satan’s loosing, but then came 1034 AD, then 1035 AD and then 1100 AD and 1200 AD; it became obvious that it could not be a literal “thousand years.” Of course, due to error, there are theologians that write commentaries that churches adhere to and they think that this is some future time period in which Satan will be bound. They do not understand what Christ did on the cross and how the Bible affirms that it was the time of Satan’s binding. But when we understand that, we realize, once again, that the time reference in the Book of Revelation is to be understood spiritually and, therefore it represents the complete duration of his binding, which turned out to be 1,955 years, from the cross in 33AD to May 21, 1988, the end of the church age. He was then loosed and brought against the congregations of the world as a destroying weapon in God’s hand.
Again, the number “one thousand” represents completeness, as does the number “10,000,” the number “100” or the number “10.” So when we add 1,600 days to 8,400 days and it forms “10,000 days” of judgment, this points to the complete judgment of God. It is unnecessary to go any further. It would indicate that on that last day (and there is a strong likelihood that will be October 7, 2015) it would be the completion of the judgment of God. This is exactly what we have been searching for and trying to discover from the Word of God, the Bible: when will God complete the judgment that began on the churches and when will He finalize it? Everything points to October 7, 2015, which also happens to be the last day of the Feast of Tabernacles. That was the day that we thought would be October 21, 2011, the last Day of the Feast of Tabernacles, as we knew that feast had to be fulfilled. But do you see how God did the “sleight of hand” in order to set the trap and the snare to try all those that said they were His people? He allowed that day, October 21, 2011, to not be the day, but then He brought the timetable through a complete 1,600 days of Judgment Day and right back around to that selfsame day, the last day of Tabernacles.