In this sermon, the preacher focuses on Revelation chapter 7. He explains that this chapter is meant to explain certain things to the listeners. The preacher mentions that the four angels standing on the four corners of the earth holding the four winds of the earth are symbolic figures. He states that these winds represent God's coming judgment on the entire earth. The preacher also discusses the sealing of the 144,000 servants of God from the tribes of Israel, emphasizing that this is a literal number and not to be spiritualized.

And we're at chapter ten, and going through very carefully the first eight verses. Revelation, chapter seven, verses one to eight. Now I wonder can we grasp quickly the gist of the other six chapters that we have been through. Do you remember them? The first three chapters, one, two, and three, we see the church of Jesus Christ on earth. The Lord was in the midst of the churches, and so we see the church on earth and the Lord in the midst of the local churches. Then in chapters four and five, we saw the church in heaven, because the great company was singing, Thou hast redeemed us by thy blood, now who would that be but the church. So the simple way of looking at it is in chapters one, two, and three, the church is on earth, and the Lord is in the midst of the churches. In chapters four and five, the church is in heaven, and the Lamb is in the midst of the floor. Now we dealt very carefully with chapter six. Our Lord had taken the book out of the hand of God, and I've called him more than once the executor of God's will. What God has willed for the adjustment of this earth and the nations upon it were all written in the book, and the book was sealed, the seven seals. And we noticed the seals being opened. The first one, you remember, the white horse, it was all delusion. And the second one brought desolation when civil war came to this old planet of ours. And the third one brought starvation, great famine. And the fourth one brought destruction, because a fourth part of all alive on the earth was slain. And last week we looked at the persecution that came through these witnesses that God will most surely get in place to work for him in the great tribulation. And we finished the chapter when the sixth seal was opened, and the whole world was standing in consternation, afraid of the judgment of God. But let's think carefully before we move. The book is in the hands of the Lord. He has opened six seals. There's another one to go. Well, it doesn't speak about the other one in the chapter we're in just now. We saw the sixth seal being opened in chapter 6 and verse 12, and I beheld John when he had opened the sixth seal. Now, right down through chapter 7 there's no mention of the seventh seal. But when you come to chapter 8, it opens like this. And when he had opened the seventh seal. So it's quite easy to see that this is a parenthesical portion. It's just a parenthesis chapter. Sometimes when I'm writing out the notes for our secretary here, I just put a wee thing in hyphens. It's just a wee explanatory mark there. And we'll just stop looking at the opening of the seals now, because God is going to give us a parenthetical portion. He's explaining something to us before we go on with the job. So the whole second chapter is the parenthetical chapter. Now we can stop, can't we? We're at chapter 7. And remember, God's just giving us this chapter to explain. To explain two or three things. This one. And after these things I saw. John is speaking, and John is saying, after. After the delusion. And after the desolation. And after the persecution. And after the consternation. John says, after these things. I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth. There are two things, if you might stop this. The four corners of the earth. The four winds of the earth. These are just figures of speech. And they'll be brought out very clearly for us when we get into chapter 8. I'll tell you what they mean now, and then I'll take time to prove it afterwards. These four winds are just telling us that God is going to come against this whole earth, this whole planet. In all the true force of His fury. When He's readjusting it. And the true force is going to come from every corner. From the four corners. Just let us go through chapter 8 for one moment. I won't steal anything out of it. I just want to point this out. In verse 1, As when He, the Lord Jesus, had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour. An old friend of mine, a great old expositor that I used to work with, who taught me many things. One night we were reading together, and we happened to be reading this. And he was reading. We preached together, I was the wee fellow, he was the man. And he used to read to me every night and point me things out. And he was reading this. He read like this, There was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour. And he looked at me and he said, Willie, do not be a woman in heaven. And I said, why James? He said, they couldn't keep their moisture for half an hour. Well, he was only having fun. But do you know this? This silence in heaven tells us that all heaven is conscious that God is going to do something desperate. And when this seventh seal was opened, He is with John, sir. I saw the seven angels which stood before God, and to them were given seven trumpets. So out of the seventh seal, come the seven trumpets. And we're going to start looking at them, you see. Now, what's the first one? See, verse seven. Chapter eight, verse seven. The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood. And they were cast upon the earth. Make no mistakes about it, arias. And the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass. My, this island will look a mess. It's the Emerald Isle, you know. And we depend more on grass than on anything else. And the day that a third part of the trees are burnt, and all the green grass, it will be a rough hour for Ireland. Rough hour for the world. So you see that the strong force of the blast of the fury of God, it's going to come from all quarters. And that's what John sees in chapter seven. Now let's go back so you see this. Chapter seven, verse one. After these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree. And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God. And he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea, saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees. You see, God had commanded these angels, and they were just waiting for the last words of command. And from there they would move forward to hurt the earth and the sea and the trees. And this angel is coming to shout aloud to these four. Seems to be a higher order than either of the four. And he's shouting, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their forms. You see, I'd call this little bit the angelical ministry. I don't think that we are conscious enough about the ministry of angels. I'm very sure we're not. And I want to take just a moment or two to let you see something about the ministry of angels. Let's go to Hebrews chapter 1, please. Letter to the Hebrews, chapter 1. And verse 5, talking about God, it says, For unto which of the angels said God at any time, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee. Hebrews 1 and 5. And again, verse 6, When he bringeth in the first begotten into the world, he says, Let all the angels of God worship him. You see, he's pointing out that Christ is absolutely a ways far above the angels. He's the Son of God. Actually, he made the angels, and the angels bow and worship him. Now, when it comes to the end of the chapter, it says this, verse 13, But to which of the angels said God at any time, Sit on my right hand until I make thine enemies thy footstool. He only said that to Christ. Then he gives us this little bit. Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation? You see, I think you would agree with me that our God knows everything. And he certainly knows all the elect. All those who will place their trust in Christ. Those who shall be heirs of salvation. And from their babyhood days, I'm thinking about the wee ones in the cotton house. There are angels that minister unto them. Sometimes I think we don't get this properly. This is something that I believe with all my heart, that God has sent forth the angels to minister to them that shall be heirs of salvation, a way even before the saints. Don't Spurgeon believe this? He believed that the angels were always the bountiful. And once he was crossing the street in London and slipped and fell and a great big London bus just came and then the brakes squealed and the wheel just stopped at his head. And somebody listening here knew him, said, Mr. Spurgeon, it was a near thing. And he calmly said, Sir, the angels do their work well. Because sometimes the driver of the bus might think it's all his story. But maybe it's not, you know. And over the heads once at 70 miles an hour an old fool came out on me and I saved his life but nearly took my own. And I broke the telegraph pole as I went through and then fumbled three or four times over but never left the seat. And the black mark on me. I had no belt on, you can blame me for that. But somebody saved me. The angels do their work well. Once, when I was unsaved, I was only 17 at the time. It was a winter time and the frost had come and the high dam as we know it, high edge of your nose where the high dam is down at Newton Islands. It was frozen. And they were all escaping but there was a part out towards the middle where it went cracking and all and people kept away from that. But I was drunk and went up to the high dam. It's not a place to go when you're drunk. And acting a fool, I went away out and heard it cracking, you know. And everybody gasped and then I went out a bit more and then I went down through it. Right down through it. And I can remember this, at this moment, gurgling the water and going on down but I'm touching the bottom and it's 20 feet deep. And I came straight up and through the same hole again, which is a miracle. Held on for bits and broke it and held on again until I got a bit that let me in there. Oh, I don't think that I did all that on my own. I think the angels were around. I wasn't conscious of that. But God knew that I was one of the heirs of salvation. He had something for me to do in my stupidity. He sent me many times before I ever knew him. I don't think we are conscious enough of this. Let's go to Matthew's gospel, chapter 18. Matthew, chapter 18. Well, it's something that all of you with children should pay a good deal of attention to. Verse 1. At the same time came the disciples unto Jesus saying, Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? Disciples sometimes ask questions they should never ask. And Jesus called a little child unto him. Let's get that little phrase, a little child unto him. You can see that although he was a little child, he was able to toddle all right, or maybe a little bit bigger. Jesus called a little child unto him and sat him in the midst of them and said, Verily I say unto you, except ye be converted and become of little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Whosoever therefore shall humble himself of this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoso shall receive one such little child in my name receiveth me. But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me. There's a great text for the child evangelists. Because little children can believe in Christ. Whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me. You know Sunday night passed when the whole meeting had gone out. This is just Sunday past. Our treasurer and some of our deacons were counting the money and putting everything square. And some of the other deacons and workers were lifting books. And one of the little girls was standing waiting on her gunny. It was Charles' little girl, the fellow in the middle in the back seat. And I came along and I said, hello. He says, hello. I said, what age are you now? He says, I'm seven. He says, yes. Your two brothers are saved, they're older than you. They're both saved, aren't they? He says, yes. But you know pastor, I'm saved. I says, are you now? He says, yes. She's just seven, you know, and she's a little bit frightened of me. No wonder. She says, it's just one time ago that I'm saved. She was sure she was saved. And I was sure she was saved too. And I called auditions around her and I said, just listen to that. I said, she's only seven, you know. And she's a little bit scared of me, but she's not afraid to say I'm saved, pastor. Saved. And when I was talking to her, you know, my old mind was going over this very chapter. You see, verse 10. Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones. And that's the very phrase that was coming to me. And I bother keeping the tears back, you know, and I don't like to do this. But this was coming to me. Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones. For I say unto you that in heaven there are angels who always behold the face of my power. That was quite clear to me, this wee thing. She's saved. She knows she's saved. And she's not afraid to say she's saved. And I felt that I was just lost to heaven. Just the terror of how afraid I was. And I knew that there was an angel looking after her. She got that. Because that's tremendous, you know. You see, the angels have a special ministry. They have a ministry that's universal to all the saints. Of course, you know that they have a special ministry for the servants of God. You remember the angel that came to the Virgin Mary. And then you remember the angel that came to Gethsemane. And then you remember the angel that was there on resurrection morning. And you remember the angel that was there when Christ ascended. You remember the angel that came into the prison when Peter was released. Oh, there's a whole lot of ministry, you know. I don't think we know them properly. There's this special ministry to the servants. I would say they're heaven's helpers to the servants. And then there's this universal ministry that I would call the master's messengers. And then there's this ministry that they're going to have in the tribulation. You see, God has committed certain things to them. So we see these four angels standing, ready to pour out, as it were, the full fury of the wrath of God against this whole world when God starts to readjust the world. I think that you can see this quite clearly. That not only have we angelic ministry here, but you can see a clear picture of the final storm. You see, it's not so bad the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth. Verse 3 says, the angel said to the other four, Hath not the earth? The word earth there is a very special one. There are many Greek words that are translated earth. But this is the one word, G-E-S, pronounced guess. It's the word in the Greek that means the ungodly earth, the unholy earth, it's sometimes put. You see, there is going to come a storm against this national ungodly world of ours. That's the myth of man, the earth. Of course, you can see that the fury of this storm is also coming against the sea. And I think that's the commercial world. You know, when we get into chapter 8, have another look at it, turn the page. When the second angel sounded, you see verse 8, And the second angel sounded, and as it were a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea. And the third part of the sea became blood, and the third part of the keepers which were in the sea, and their life died. And the third part of the ships. Oh, I'm not going to expand that for you tonight, I'm only pointing it out. You see, the storm is coming against the national world. The storm is coming against the commercial world. Why don't we destroy the third part of all ships tonight? Put commerce into a bit of a fix. Oh, it's coming, all right. And you can see that this final storm that's coming, it's coming against the earth, and it's coming against the sea, and it's coming against the trees. And when we get to chapter 8, it's also the green grass, it's the vegetable world. You know, God is going to put this old world of ours into a fix, as he comes against the national world, and the commercial world, and the vegetable world. There's a storm coming. It's the final storm, because God is going to readjust things. Now, not only have we this angelical ministry here, and the final storm, but the great part of this portion is these national witnesses. Because as the four angels stood ready, the other one came, saying, Search not the earth, neither the sea nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in the forest. And I read the number of them which were sealed, and there were sealed a hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel. Now, we've got to get that very clear. Is this a literal figure? Yes. We'll be very sure about this, because they tried to spiritualize this one hundred and forty four thousand with all the greatest nonsense you ever heard. Is this a literal figure? Are these actual people a hundred and forty four thousand? Yes. Who are they? I don't know if you can read this easily. A hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel. I don't know how you read anything else into it. Because if I take the same phrase right through the book, all the tribes of the children of Israel, I think you've got in the books a whole lot of phrases the same. And every time you have to say it, the children of Israel, you wouldn't say, what's the words? Let's go back to Genesis just for to see. Genesis chapter forty nine. Now, this is a great chapter, and I wouldn't like to get started on it too much. But I must do a little bit of it for you. Genesis forty nine, verse one, and Jacob, that's old Jacob, you know, he was blind at this time, called on to his sons. Are these really his sons? Why isn't it terrible that the teacher has to stop and ask questions like this? Because they try to make the book say things it's not saying at all, and that is blasphemy. Jacob called on to his sons and said, gather yourselves together, that I may tell you that which shall befall you in the last days. And you'll notice the phrase, in the last days. Gather yourselves together and hear ye sons of Jacob embark on to Israel your father. Then he begins with Reuben. That was his firstborn. Verse five, he talks to Siloam and Levi. In verse eight, he talks to Judah. In verse thirteen, to Zebulun. Fourteen to Issachar. Sixteen to Don. Nineteen to God. Twenty to Usher. Twenty-one to Nauzerai. Twenty-two to Joseph. Twenty-seven to Benjamin. In the twelve now. Verse twenty-eight says, all these are the twelve tribes of Israel. Is this true? Are these the heads and the fathers and the progenitors of the tribes? You wouldn't like to tell me that these were Russelites, would you? Because I would think you'd gone completely mad. These are the twelve tribes of Israel. You'd no bother looking there. And they would be afraid to change it there, wouldn't they? Let's go from there to the book of Numbers. And the book of Numbers is the book where they number the tribes. That's why it's called Numbers. Chapter one, please. And the Lord is speaking to Moses and saying, verse two, is he the son of all the congregation of the children of Israel? When he talks about all the congregation of the children of Israel, is he talking about Russelites or Jehovah's Witnesses? Ah, Baloney, we never dreamed about a way back there. He's talking about the tribes of Israel. I don't think I should be something at all like that, but sometimes you have to do it. He says, take the son. Verse three, from twenty years old and upward, all that are able to go forth to war. He's got to count all the warriors. And they didn't send the kids to war before they were twenty. Had to be twenty years old and upwards. Verse four, and with you there shall be a man of every tribe. Needed to be a man out of the tribe to see it was well done. Every one head of the house of his father. And these are the names of the men that shall stand with you. Of the tribe of Reuben he gives the name of the man. Of Simeon he gives the name of the man. Of Judah. I think it's quite plain that these are the tribes of Israel. You see verse eighteen. And they assembled all the congregation together on the first day of the second month and they declared their pedigrees after their families by the house of their fathers according to the number of the names from twenty years old and upwards by their cause. And the children of Reuben, verse twenty, Israel's eldest son, by their generations, after their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names by their cause, every meal from twenty years old and upwards. What a wee bit put in there. You see they shouldn't let the kids go to war until they were twenty. And they never let the girls go at all. Putting girls into the army is not God's idea. Just males he counted. Just males. Why doesn't the devil pull the hook? Send the kids out now. And put the women out. And you have more sin than ever. That's not how God did it. Dear God never wanted you in the army if you've got that idea in your head. That's not what I'm supposed to be after. You know they numbered all these. And then a way down the chapter after they'd numbered them, it says this in verse forty-four. We are those that were numbered, which Moses and Adam numbered. The princes of Israel being twelve men, each one was from the house of his father. So were all those that were numbered of the children of Israel. Wouldn't you read that? Who do you think he's talking about? Russell White? Ah, baloney. There's no man with any sense ever read Russell White's introduction. Why do they read it in chapter seven of Revelation? They're a book from the biblical course. Reading something into it is not best. Every time you get in a book from Genesis writes loose, you'll know exactly who God's talking about. The children of Israel, the twelve tribes. He hasn't any doubt of it at all. You know they've come round with this old idea. That some of the tribes were lost. Of course, this British Israelism erroneous doctrine, isn't it? They say, you know, there were two tribes lost. And they turned up later in history. One's America and the other's Britain. Not on your life, it's not. Let's see if they were lost. They'll come to the book. They say, you know, when they were taken away down in Caesarea, they were two lost. They never got back and nobody seen them until Columbus, you know, went to America. Let's go to the Acts of the Apostles, chapter 26, shall we see? The Acts of the Apostles, chapter 26. Acts 26. And Paul's giving his testimony here before Agrippa. And Agrippa said unto Paul, thou art permitted to speak for thyself. And so Paul's starting to talk to him. You see verse 6. He says, and now I stand and am judged for the hope of the promise made of God unto our fathers. Unto which promised all twelve tribes instantly serving God they and my people to come. They weren't lost there, were they? Because he happens to say all twelve tribes instantly serving God. He told them they were lost. Well, I can tell you when Paul was before Agrippa, the twelve were there. You know, I talked to somebody once somewhere and they started to talk to me, you know, about these tribes being lost. And I started at Luke's Gospel. I started Luke's Gospel, chapter 1. I'm doing my best, mind you, to save the time. Luke's chapter 1, and at verse 5 it says, There was in the days of Herod the king of Judea, a certain priest named Zechariah off the coast of Abel. His wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. Now she's descended from Aaron. Actually she's a Levite and so is he. That's why he was ministering in the priest's office. And there's no trouble at all of identifying her with the daughters of Aaron. She's a Levite. So I said to this fellow then, they knew the Levites in that day. Now let's come into chapter 2 for the moment. Verse 1, And it came to pass in those days that there was not a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed. Caesar Augustus was the Roman emperor. And he's thrown his weight about here. He's going to tax the whole world because Rome was ruling the world at that time. And this taxing was first made when Silenius was governor of Syria. And all went to be taxed. Everyone into his own city. Joseph also went up from Galilee out of the city of Nazareth into Judea onto the city of David which is called Bethlehem because he was of the house and lineage of David. He happened to know what tribe he belonged to. And so did Mary too. They belonged to the tribe of Judah. So they could identify the tribe quite easily. Now watch this again. Do you see 2 and 36? You know this is the time when the young child was brought into the temple. And there was one Anna Apophides. She was an old woman. The daughter of Samuel of the tribe of Asherah. She had no bother identifying what tribe she was from. So that you can see some knew they were from Edah. Some knew they were from Judah. Some knew that they were from Asher. Do you remember Paul giving his testimony of the tribe of Benjamin he said. And he happened to know that. So I began to take this old fellow through the book and let him see that folks knew exactly what tribes they were of. Ah this is great belonging you know talking about these lost tribes. Then you come to the Acts of the Apostle Barnabas who was a Levite it says. Sold his possession. And you can start and go into that on your own and you'll find quite a lot of detail there. Let's go back to chapter 7. You'll find that there's 144,000 sealed off here of all the tribes of the children of Israel. Verse 5 says of the tribe of Judah, 12,000. Of the tribe of Reuben, 12,000. Of the tribe of God, 12,000. Now there are three tribes in that verse. Of the tribe of Asherah, 12,000. Of the tribe of Nephilim or Naphtali, 12,000. Of the tribe of Manasseh, 12,000. Three more there, we're six down. Of the tribe of Simeon, 12,000. Of the tribe of Levi, 12,000. Of the tribe of Ithaca, there are nine. Of the tribe of Babylon. Of the tribe of Joseph. Of the tribe of Benjamin. There's the 12 tribes. 12,000 out of each tribe. 144,000 Jews. Not Rosalites, Jews. I've said this many times, but for the sake of young ones, I'll say it again. The doorbell rang and I went to the door. One says, young girl, they're selling books. One eye saw the books. They were Rosalite books. I can see them in my little eye. I said, could I interest you in these books? I said, who do you belong to dear? She said, the 144,000. I said, God bless us, I didn't think I would be here when they were running around. I said, you were meaning the 144,000 in the book of Revelation chapter 7. She said, yes. I said, what side do you belong to? She said, Dan. Now she couldn't have picked the worst one. I think God was on my side this day. Because we're in Dan. She didn't know that. She just thought Dan was one of the tribes of Israel and so Dan is. But God has 12 tribes here and he hasn't Dan at all. That's the gist of this picture. So I thought I would go on to help her. I said, you couldn't possibly be Dan because there's not one out of the tribe of Dan, dear. Oh, she says it herself, how she knows. That's a Bible below your arm. Take it out and show me and I'll be persuaded. Quickly, you know, she knew she had it and turned to the chapter. So she goes down it, you see, and I read it. And she went down it again and she went down it again. I said, you better count them, count them. Start at verse 5 and we'll count them together. So we counted the 3 in verse 5 and the 3 in verse 6 and the 3 in verse 7 and the 3 in verse 8. I said, that's the 12. Where's Dan? Where's Dan? I said, you know, you're only a wee fool running around. And somebody's taken a harm of it. And you're swallowing everything you hear or everything you read and you're not comparing it with your Bible at all. And you're telling folks to scrap the nonsense, you know. It's a pity of you. I'm not discourting you. It's a pity of you, of course. And the more I give her a dressing down and let her see where she was wrong, she just put the books below her arm, shut all the gates, locked at the door, next door. She's starting over again. I'm just wasting the time. So help them now. As I say, I'm only wasting the time. They don't want truth. But we go finding that out. She should have asked herself a lot of questions and still instead of going on the silly nonsense. Now, why did God leave Dan out is what we need to get down to. Why did God leave Dan out? Well, I'll show you why. Okay. Let's go back to Genesis 49 again. You know, old Joseph is saying some wonderful things to these lads. And in saying wonderful things, he used some animal metaphors. You know what I mean by animal metaphors. Do you see verse 8? He's talking to Judah. He says in verse 9, Judah is on lion's throat. From the prey, my son, thou art drawn up. He stooped down, he couched as a lion. And there's an old lion who shall rouse him up. He's speaking the metaphor of the lion. And quite likely so, because this tribe became the royal tribe. It was from the tribe of Judah that our Lord Jesus came and he's called the lion of the tribe of Judah. Because the lion stands for majesty. And this was the royal tribe. When he goes down the chapter a little bit, you can see that when he talks to Benjamin, see verse 27, he says, Benjamin shall lay them at a roof. And you'll find that all the Benjamites, as you go through the book, when the first king of Israel, Saul, was a Benjamite. And you know, he came upon the priests of God one day because they befriended David, and he tore them apart. In fact, he destroyed the whole flock of priests. Of course, Saul of Tartus was a Benjamite, and when you see him first in this book, he's going down the Damascus road, breathing out slaughter against the church. He's a wolf, devouring the flock. And if you go through all that Jacob said to his sons, you'll get some mighty animal metaphors. But if you look carefully at this one, do you see verse 16? Dan shall judge his people, as one of the tribes of Israel. Dan shall be outsmarted by the way. Now, if all Jacob was led to use the lion for Judah, and the wolf for Benjamin, and the ass for Ithaca that I didn't touch, and the female deer, the hind, for Naphtali, he was very definitely led to use the serpent for Dan. This tribe became the first tribe in Israel to set up idols. Let's go to the book of Judges. Chapter 18 it is. Judges 18. I think I need to read a lot here just to get you the truth. Verse 1. Judges 18, verse 1. In those days there was no king in Israel. And in those days the tribe of the Danites sought them an inheritance to dwell in. Well, they didn't need to seek an inheritance. God had given them an inheritance. But they hadn't obtained it. For unto that day all their inheritance hath not fallen unto them. They hadn't gone in and possessed their inheritance. They want something easier than that. And the children of Dan sent off their family, five men from their coast, men of valor, from Zorah and from Ashtor, to spy out the land and to search it. And they said unto them, Go, search the land. For when they came to Mount Ethel, you can see they're going north, to the house of Micah they lodged there. When they were by the house of Micah, they knew the voice of the young man, the Levite. One of God's priests was there. And they turned unto him and said unto him, Who brought thee hither? And gott makest thou in this place, and gott hast thou here? And he said unto them, Thus and thus dealeth Micah with me, and hath hired me, and I am his priest. This man Micah was hiring this priest, and this priest was working for this man just for money. And they said unto him, Ask counsel, we pray thee, of God, that we may know whether our way which we go shall be prosperous. And the priest said unto them, Go in peace, for the Lord is your way wherein ye go. Then the five men departed and came to Laish. Now they've gone completely north now. This place called Laish was right on the very borders of Palestine as it stood then. Almost on the very edge of the Syrian desert. They're away north now. And when they came there, it says in verse 7, And saw the people that were therein, how they dwelt careless after the manner of the Sidonians, quiet and secure, and there was no magistrate from the land that might put them to shame in anything. And they were far from the Sidonians, had them no business with any man. And they came unto their brethren. They came back home to Thora and Eshtio. And their brethren said unto them, What say ye? And they said, Arise, that we may go up against them, for we have seen the land. Behold, it is very good. And are ye still? Be not slothful to go and to enter to possess the land. When ye go, ye shall come unto a secure people, unto a large land. For God hath given it into your hands. How easy to say God gives you things. A place where there is no want of anything that is in the earth. And there went from thence of the family of the Darnites, out of Thora and out of Eshtio, six hundred men appointed with weapons of war. And they went up and pitched in Kergeth-Jerim and Judah. Wherefore they called that place Mahani-dan unto this day. Behold, it is behind Kergeth-Jerim. And they passed thence to Mount Ephraim and came unto the house of Micah again. Then answered the five men that went to spy out the country of Lash. He said unto the brethren, Do ye know that there is in these houses an ephod? And a tent of him. And a graven image and a mortal image. See, this priest that was just working for money, he had a lot of images of his own. Now, Ethel, consider what ye have to do. And they turned to the Lord and came to the house of the young man, the Levite, even unto the house of Micah, and saluted him. And the six hundred men appointed with their weapons of war, which were of the children of Dan, stood by the entering of the gate. And the five men that went to spy out the land went up and came in hither and took the graven image from the ephod, and the perephin, and the mortal image. And the priest stood in the entering of the gate with the six hundred men that were appointed with weapons of war. And these went into Micah's house and fetched the carved image, the ephod, the perephin, and the mortal image. Then said the priest unto them, What do ye? And they said unto him, Hold thy peace. Lay thy hand upon my mouth, and do with us, and be to us a father and a priest. And that might be the place where this phrase really began to work in this world, a father and a priest. These people have no right to ordain anybody. They were going to set up a wee thing of their own. Never mind, let's read on. Is it better for thee to be a priest unto the house of one man, or that thou be a priest unto a tribe and a family in Israel? And the priest's heart was glad. It was a new job, more money. He took the ephod, and the perephin, and the graven image, and went in the midst of the people. So they turned and departed, and put the little ones, and the cattle, and the carriage before them. And the rest of the story is that Micah came after them. He could do nothing about it. Except this, verse 27. And they took the things which Micah had made, and the priests which he had, and came unto Laish, into a people that were at quiet and secure. And they smote them with the edge of the swords, and burnt the city with fire. For there was no deliverer, because it was far from the Sidon, and they had no business with any man. And it was in the valley that Liath by death rehoved. And they built the city, and built therein. And they called the name of the city Dan. After the name of Dan their father, who was born unto Israel. Howbeit the name of the city was Laish at the first, and the children of Dan set up the graven image. And Jonathan, the son of Gershon, the son of Manasseh, he and his sons were priests. This Manassehite had no right to be a priest. The priest was only Levi, and the Levites, they were priests to the tribe of Dan until the day of the captivity of the man. And they set them up Micah's graven image, which he made. All the time that the house of God was in China. You see, Dan is the serpent here right enough. Because the first tribe in Israel to set up a graven image. And to worship it contrary to the law of God. And to ordain a Manassehite as a priest and a father unto them. This was bringing idolatry to Israel. This God took no time. Let me show you something quickly in 1 Chronicles, beginning at the first chapter. 1 Chronicles, and I'll try to do it quickly. Now the reason, of course, that the book is called Chronicles, it's just the chronicle of all the names of the children of Israel. See chapter 2, 1 Chronicles, chapter 2. These are the sons of Israel. There they are, Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Epictetus, Babylon, Dan, Joseph, Benjamin, Naphtali, Ganesha. Then it gives you the sons of Judah. It gives you all the names. You can go down through that whole chapter. All chapter 2. And then all chapter 3. They're all names. And then all chapter 4. These are all the names of the children of Judah. Now when you come to chapter 4, verse 24, you begin with the sons of Simeon. And it goes on down through that chapter. And chapter 5 begins with the sons of Reuben. And at verse 11, it begins with the children of God. And at verse 23, the children of the harsh tribe of Manasseh. Then when you come to chapter 6, you get all the sons of Levi. And they go right through that long chapter and right on down to chapter 7. And at chapter 7, you get the sons of Issachar, all their names. At verse 13, you get the sons of Naphtali. At verse 20, you get the sons of Ephraim. At verse 30, you get the sons of Asher. And at chapter 8, you get the sons of Benjamin. Now there are 8 chapters, 8 long chapters, difficult chapters. Chapter 9 begins, so all Israel were reckoned by the genealogies. You get all the genealogies of the tribes and they're very important. Sometimes the big names puzzle us and we don't read them the way we should. But there's great information there, but I'll tell you this. There are 8 full chapters and all the names of all the sons of all the tribes and there's not one name of anybody belonging to God. God is floating down out. Slowly beginning to float down out. And in several passages in the book, you'll find that God talks about all the children of this tribe and that tribe and the other tribe. No Danite mention. When you come to chapter 7 of Revelation, you get 12 tribes and Dan is out again. Somebody said to me once, how can God have 12 in one house? That's quite simple. You see, when Reuben sins, he lost the birthright. And the birthright became Joseph's. And he gets a double portion. So his two sons are brought in among the tribes. That would make 13. Only God took Levi out and didn't number him with the tribes. He became the priestly family and he was never numbered with the tribes. But you see, when we come to the tribulation and God is going to seal his servants in the tribulation to stand up for him, there will be no Jewish priesthood, you know. Levi will come back in. Oh, but Dan will go out. And God is still 12. Now why is God dealing like this? Most of you were here when we went through the book of Daniel. In chapter 8, do you remember this? I'm just saying time, I would have taken you through this, only for time. You remember the lamb and the he-goats. You remember that when Alexander the Great came against Medo-Persia, that he overthrew them. And then Alexander died young. And out of his great world empire arose four empires. You remember that Crete was right on the east, Macedonia was right in the west, Egypt was right in the south, and Syria was right in the north. And then we found that the Antichrist was coming out of one of them. And we will find that the Antichrist will come out of Syria. Now this city that Dan founded, it is in Syria tonight. It is further north. And it is the land of Palestine that always made it from Dan to Beersheba. The most marvelous, most sovereign land. If the Antichrist is going to get support from the Jews, he will need to be a Jew. I'm saying to you tonight that he will be a Danite. I'm positively sure that he will be a Danite. He will be a non-Orthodox Jew from the Danites. And God so saw this, and in the great tribulation, not one of the Danites will be called to stand for God. Perhaps. That's very wonderful. You could bypass that easily and you would not be blamed for doing so. Now that gives us an idea of the 144,000. But next Tuesday there's a greater number that we'll need to attend to. Now I have saved about ten minutes and I've had to go to do it. Let's bow together tonight. Lord, we thank thee for this people coming to set up our future here at our work. And we thank thee for thy holy words. And we thank thee for all the great truths that are here. And the more that we study it, and the more that we ponder it, the more we are sure that this is the infallible, unchangeable word of the living God. Let us be cherished. Now, Lord, as we separate, take our friends home in safety tonight. And let thy hand be upon every member of this class. For thy men's sake. Amen. I want to say a big thank you to you for coming to the class. I appreciate this very much indeed. God bless you.