[Darris McNeely] Here at Ambassador Bible College, I teach a class called World News and Prophecy. In
that class, we go through the books of Daniel and Revelation. And I seek to help our students
understand not only the books of Daniel and Revelation, and those prophetic elements,
which are many in those books, but also an application to our world today. To be able to
discern our times, to be able to understand where we are in the flow of Bible prophecy. What we can
learn from the books of Daniel and Revelation that apply to our world, geopolitical situation,
world events. And where we may be in the formation of powers in a final world order that is called
Babylon. And in this, we go through all of the beasts of Daniel 7. And I drill into my students
that the four beasts of Daniel 7 are Babylon, Persia, Greece, and Rome, and subsequent
developments of Rome, that Revelation and Daniel also tell us about, beasts, and heads, and horns.
And all this vast, dramatic imagery of those books,
you know, they capture your mind. They're important to understand. And sometimes they
can be difficult to, kind of, keep in line. And my job is to help students do that.
I told them the other day, as we come to the book of Revelation 17 and 18. And in chapter 19,
the culminating event of really the book of Revelation, and so many other prophecies, the
second coming of Jesus Christ, the heavens open. John here's a voice in heaven saying, "Hallelujah.
Salvation, glory and honor and power belong to the Lord our God." This is Revelation 19:1.
And again, they said in verse 3, "Hallelujah, her smoke rises up
forever and ever," speaking of this Babylon that comes to a collapse. "And the 24 elders and the
four living creatures fell down and worshipped God, who sat on the throne saying, 'Amen,
Hallelujah.' And a voice came from the throne, saying, 'Praise our God,
all you His servants, and those who fear Him, both small and great.' And I heard as it were,
the voice of a great multitude, as the sound of many waters and the sound of mighty thunderings,
saying, 'Hallelujah, for the Lord God, omnipotent reigns.
Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory for the marriage of the Lamb has come,
and his wife has made herself ready. Hallelujah. Amen.'" So be it. Praise, glory, all turn to God,
through this multitude of a sound like waters and thunderings, coming out of heaven.
And I told the students, really, that's what we should focus on as our number one priority
throughout the book of Revelation as we study that, that we get an image in our mind of the
throne of God, the glory of that throne, the vast powers of the angelic realm that are there and the
spirit realm of the throne of God. And what then is issued and comes forth from that,
as told in the pages of the book of Revelation, culminating in this appearance of Jesus Christ,
the sound of the trumpet at the very end of this human age, and Christ appearing on a white horse.
But the glory, the praise, the honor, the focus, and the attention
that John is drawn and inspired to make to what is coming from heaven.
As I told the students, of all the other imagery of the book of Revelation,
of beasts and the mark of the beast, and everything else,
important as it is, getting our mind framed around the power and the glory of God,
the Father, and His Son, Jesus Christ, coming from heaven, that's most important, and to let
that move us and to motivate us, like the sound of many thunderings and the sounds of water.
When we approach everything else in prophecy or Scripture, for that matter, from that perspective,
we will have in the right framework of God, His power, and His glory to guide
us in understanding and commitment. And then we will understand, I think the most important
aspects without a prophecy but specifically the book of Revelation. Something to think about.
That's BT Daily. Join us next time.