Sid: I want everyone everywhere to understand the book of Revelation. I have Perry Stone on the telephone. Perry why is it so important especially now that people understand the book of Revelation?
Perry: Because I believe with all of the signs and the restoration of Israel, the restoration of the city of Jerusalem; the Jews returning. Which are the end time signs that the prophet saw that when you come to that timeframe that we are now in the nations are aligning for the war of Gog Magog Ezekiel 38 and 39 when you come to that time you’re coming to what the prophets call the time of the end. And if we’re in the time of the end we have to understand and need to understand what the Lord has predicted for the earth and what is about to happen. It’s not just about keeping us informed Sid; it’s the fact that a lot of unsaved people; family members of people who are listening to your program right now don’t know Christ. And maybe have no interest in following Him; they don’t understand the redemptive covenant. But when they understand “Hey, the Bible has predicted things that are happening.” A lot of times you can get an unsaved person someone without a covenant with the Lord to listen in to that type of teaching. Just real quick Sid I know that within our own ministry we have had a number of and I would never name them but well known Jewish business people; from the North Eastern part of the United States that have come to know the Lord because of prophecy teaching. They saw the Bible is real it is true and it is happening. Israel is in prophecy and the Holy Spirit opened up their understanding to believe. And so it’s not just about us knowing but it’s about you know he wrote… look the whole book is written to look 7 churches in Asia. He wanted the churches to understand something so he gave a message to those 7 churches. Surely today we as the church we should understand what he is saying.
Sid: Well, how about this, do you really want to understand what the mark of the beast is? Do you really want to understand what the 666 means? Do you want to understand about the 2 witnesses? Do you want to understand about the rapture? Give me a break if they don’t understand about these basics they flat don’t understand anything. Now there is a teaching I have to ask you about Perry Stone it’s called Kingdom Now. And it means a number of things, that the church replaces Israel. Takes over and hands the Kingdom to Jesus on a silver platter. And that things are not getting worse; they’re actually getting better. Do you think these people are on some kind of drugs Perry? (Laughing)
Perry: Well, if this is getting better I’d like to see it when it gets bad you know. But let me go back and talk about this. This was the same mistake that the Pharisees made. When Christ came the first time the Pharisees were looking for a political leader with a religious slant who could overpower Rome. Even the disciples with crisis go back to Heaven; what’s the last question that they asked Him. “Will you at this time restore the Kingdom to Israel?” See they knew based on the Old Testament Prophecies they knew that Israel was going to become a Premier nation. The King Messiah was ruling over Israel. That Jerusalem would be the city of the nations and so they knew that Christ was Mashiach; they knew He was the Messiah. So there curiosity was “Okay, what’s Your plan now? You’re raised from the dead, you conquered death, hell and the grave surely now was the time to set up the Kingdom.” But the idea was political Kingdom. Now there is according to the New Testament the Kingdom of God which is on Earth now working through the believer. Working through the ecclesia which is the called out ones; which is the true church. And here’s the difference though it is not a political kingdom; it’s a spiritual kingdom. And this is where they missed it in Jesus first coming. He came the first time as a Lamb to suffer to introduce a spiritual kingdom but when He returns back to Earth He comes as the Lion of the Tribe of Judah which is the political kingship of the ruler ship of the planet.
Sid: So they’re missing both up is what’s going on.
Perry: Exactly, exactly when they think of the Kingdom. Here is what the Bible says about the Kingdom. The Kingdom of God is righteousness; peace and joy in the Holy Ghost, that’s for the individual believer. Also the Kingdom of God is the Spirit of God on the earth working through the individual believer to see people healed, to see people delivered; to see people set free from demonic activity. So the Kingdom that we’re participating in is a spiritual Kingdom of redemption to bring people into a redemptive covenant so that they can be a part of the Kingdom of Heaven. And when Mashiach returns become a part of His Kingdom on earth; which Revelation 20 says He rules 1000 years from the City of Jerusalem. The Prophet Ezekiel says King David will be the head of Jerusalem and he’ll be over the tribes of Israel but the land will be divided up among the 12 tribes again. The saints of God will rule from the holy city will be kings and priests and rulers. And so just like the Pharisees in their day they got it mixed up; they looked for a political king who could conquer the enemies of Israel. And instead they ended up getting a suffering lamb dying on the cross forgiving sins. They got it mixed up; people today have got it totally turned around because they’re saying “The church is going to grow to the point to where we’re going to take over the government and we’re going to take over the leadership, and we’re going to take over the House and the Senate.” Let me give you an example; I want to step over to politics for just a moment. But let’s take the issue of abortion; one of these days we’re going to…
Sid: That’s not politics that’s pure Bible but go ahead.
Perry: It is but in the political realm we had 3 presidents who were actually in power for over 20 some years that said abortion as wrong and it never changed in the law of the nation. So somehow we think and I wish it would raise up an army of people to get in there to overturn it and maybe that would happen and that would be great. But the Kingdom of God has an influence on the earth through the Spiritual power of the Holy Spirit and through our prayers and through our giving and through all we do to spread the message of the gospel. Because the sign of the end is “This gospel shall be preached into all the world as a witness to all nations and then the end will come.” Our assignment now is not to try to get inside of the political change and make a change that way. Because here’s the bottom line Jesus knows the only way of changing a person’s thinking is to change their heart. And the only way of changing their heart is a spiritual heart transformation or spiritual heart surgery where He comes in and changes the stony hard heart of a person and gives them a heart of life and a spiritual heart through the word of God and through a redemptive covenant. So the Kingdom right now is to preach the Kingdom message of the gospel of Christ to all the nations of the world. To see people delivered from the hand of Satan and the power of death, hell and the kingdom of darkness that’s working against them bringing them into the Kingdom of God. Then the King Himself in Revelation 19 at the end of a 7 year tribulation returns with the armies of heaven to set up an actual physical, and I can say it, geopolitical Kingdom on the planet. And that’s when they say “He rules with a rod of Iron.” And the nations have to come up and celebrate the feasts of Tabernacles. The prophet Zechariah said “If they don’t there will be no rain on their land their land will become cursed. That’s when the King will rule and reign. So basically in a summary; the dominion theology or kingdom now basically say “Church has replaced Israel” and they take all the scriptures designated only for Israel and apply them for the church. And that the Christian has replaced the Jew. And they take any promise to the Jew and they apply it to the church. However, it’s very clear in the Bible; if there’s anything that’s clear and that is you have to keep the text in the context. You have to read the verse to see who it’s addressed to. The Bible prophecies are either addressed to Israel, the actual nation Israel. To the Hebrew people as individuals or as a unit, or as a church in the New Testament the church; or to the Gentile nations. Now there are other prophecies addressed to other individuals of course but the end time prophecies are either going to be addressed to the church; Israel, or the Gentile nations. So when people read it you cannot cross over a scripture for Israel. You know if we make… look this is hilarious if we say that the church has replaced Israel then Paul says in Roman’s that the church is blind in part. And so we have to change that to the church is blind in part and then all Israel shall be saved;
Sid: I sure hope the church is saved. (Laughing)
Perry: You have to go through the whole New Testament and change all those verses of Israel to the church. And you’re really stepping really dangerous ground because you’re tampering with the word of God.
Sid: Well, now wait a second what about the book of Revelation where it ends “Your name is literally going to be taken out of the book of life if you tamper with it.” To me tampering with God’s understanding for the Jew and Israel is tampering with God. And I don’t know how far I can say this but I believe the dividing line of the false church and the true church in the last days will be a proper understanding of the Jew in Israel.
Perry: Oh, I’m totally in agreement with it. You know one of the things and I was on a great network recently Daystar. I don’t know if you’re familiar with it Marcus. But I did a teaching and Israel is called God’s son and God’s firstborn in the book of Exodus, they’re called God’s son. God said to Pharaoh let my son go. And to be the firstborn or the first son means that they were the first nation raised by the Lord with a covenant. Now you can find where God’s people made covenant with other nations, sometimes it was the wrong covenant. You could see where David would make covenant; Solomon made covenants but as far as an individual nations and this is what people don’t understand a lot of times. That there is no nation of the face of the earth; and now our founding fathers made covenant with God giving the country to Him asking His blessing; believing it was a country of divine providence. And you can study early documents and early writers and early founders to see that. But Israel was the only nation on the planet and the only nation that there ever will be that will be divinely appointed by God to be His firstborn nation. Sid I did a message the other day in which I talked about the language of God and what is the original language in Heaven that God speaks. And to make a long story short it’s some form of Hebrew. God spoke to Paul out of Heaven in the book of Acts. And even at the tower of Babel where men were one language it was the language Adam to Noah to all the way to the tower.
Sid: But you know what we’re running out of time but I want to keep hearing this teaching…
