The Book of Revelation - Chapters 12-13 - Two Great Signs in Heaven & The Beast Kingdom

The day is coming and drawing so near. The prophet's words are being fulfilled. The times and seasons are at hand for the glorious arrival of the Son of Man. As lightning flashes from the east to the west, the earth will endure the Lord's test. You're saved by his name while he can be found — seek his face before the trumpet sounds.

The day of the Lord comes as a thief in the night. Before that day, keep your lamp trimmed. The day of the Lord is full of wrath. In that day, who can endure? Oh Lord, who can endure?

Peace and safety, then sudden destruction — his labor pains upon a pregnant woman. The powers of heaven will shake the earth, rattling everything under the Lord's judgment. The day is gloomy and full of darkness; the sun and moon will lose their brightness. Nations, prepare for the Lord's sacrifice — his sickle is coming, the harvest is ripe.

It is the day of vengeance, the redemption story. The Lord is arriving with power and glory. The fig tree is blooming and has started to bud, for the King of Kings to pierce the heavens above. Sons of the light and sons of the day — be sober and watchful, walk in his way. The Lord is zealous and will roar like a lion; he will sit on David's throne, dwelling in Zion.

Hide me in your secret place. Shelter me under the shadow of your wings. Come with me in the day of trouble — I will be your holy ark to the end. Shine like the stars of heaven. I believe the secret place shelters me, the shadow of your wings in the coming day of trouble. I will be your holy ark. Shine so bright, so bright.

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Shalom, friends. My name is Chadwick Harvey, and you have reached Faithful Performance. Thank you so much for joining us tonight as we continue our series on the Book of Revelation, covering chapters 12 and 13. We will be discovering the two great signs in heaven in chapter 12, as well as the beast kingdom in chapter 13 — a subject we have discussed many times in other videos. I hope everyone has had a great Shabbat and a great weekend. We will be going through some very important information tonight.

After the teaching, we will also take a quick look at the Middle East to examine some current events that I believe are very important, as they closely align with what we will be studying tonight when we consider the beast kingdom coming together in that region — just as the prophet Daniel said, and just as John said as well. Both of those men saw the same thing. We are going to align their visions and examine how the beast kingdom is beginning to take shape, exactly as those two great prophets foretold. We will also look at the great signs in heaven, the false prophet, and all of the material covered in chapter 13. Thank you again for joining us. I have a slight respiratory issue tonight, so bear with me — I will do my best to get through this smoothly, and I appreciate your grace with that.

Let us begin with a brief summary of everything we have covered so far in the Book of Revelation, for anyone joining us for the first time. The first chapter served as an introduction. It is the revelation of Yeshua — the book is named the revelation of the Messiah. It opens with his first-coming events as seen through the Torah and the prophets, including Isaiah 11. It then shifts to the second-coming events in Revelation 1: Daniel 7, the coming in the clouds, and all things associated with his return. The chapter moves through Passover and First Fruits, and what he accomplished for all of us through those appointed times.

Then we arrive at Revelation 2 and 3, which address the seven churches. The compromised church, the faithful church, the lukewarm church, the dead church, the persecuted church — they are all there. I believe those seven churches are deeply prophetic, representing two thousand years of assemblies. The question for each of us is which church we will be part of. The faithful one? The dead one? The lukewarm one? This is a warning spanning two thousand years of church history.

From there we moved into Revelation 4 and 5, which depict a courts-of-heaven scene with Yeshua. John saw him as the Lamb, as though he had been slain. John was in the spirit on the Day of the Lord — and that should ring bells for everyone, because that corresponds to the Feast of Trumpets. John saw the Feast of Trumpets door opening in Revelation 4. Most people are familiar with John 10 and the Passover door — Yeshua is the door to Passover, with all the symbolism of Exodus 12. He is the Passover door that opens to the first-coming events in the gospel accounts. In the same way, the Feast of Trumpets opens up the second-coming events. When I say the second-coming events, I mean it opens the seven-year tribulation period and closes it at the Day of the Lord. It is critical to understand how the Lord operates on his calendar and through his appointed days.

The Book of Revelation will not make sense to any of us unless we understand the calendar and the feast days and the timing in which these things are to occur. Why does that matter? It matters enormously — because of the debate over the pre-tribulation, mid-tribulation, and post-tribulation rapture, and so that we are not caught off guard like a thief in the night. Unfortunately, much of Christianity does not have access to this information. As a result, many people look at the second coming as a single event on a single day, and that is simply not accurate according to the Bible. According to Scripture, this is a process: a seven-year process, then a ten-day process from the Feast of Trumpets to Yom Kippur, and then a five-day process to the Feast of Tabernacles, where the millennial kingdom will begin and be instituted. It is important to follow that trajectory — a word we use often — the trajectory of the Lord through the prophets, the calendar, the feast days, and the covenants.

We have to understand what is going on in the Middle East with Israel, with the Jewish people, with the Arab nations. God is at work within that region. It is very important to him. He loves that land. He loves Israel. He loves Jerusalem — that is where he placed his name. Abraham came out of Iraq, out of Babylon, and God loves the fertile crescent and the whole of the promised land. This is where civilization itself began, and the inhabitants of the Middle East are about to go through the worst time in all of human history. We must understand theology and eschatology and how all of it fits together, so we are not caught like a thief in the night, so we can prepare, and so we can understand the trajectory that the Middle East is on according to the prophet Daniel, the Book of Revelation, the feast days, the calendar, blood moons, solar eclipses — all of these things are very important when piecing together where we are on his prophetic calendar.

I am not saying we need to pin down specific dates. I am saying we need to know the season we are in. Know the season the Middle East is in. Understand the timeline from Adam to Yeshua. Understand 1948. Understand 1967. Understand all the things he wants us to grasp so that we are in alignment with him. So many people are not in alignment with him — and I am not claiming to be in total alignment either, but I am working toward it. We need at least a basic understanding of the calendar, the feast days, and the prophets to understand what is unfolding. Many of the things happening right now would be better navigated if both Jewish people and Christians understood these things. As the prophet Hosea says, and as Solomon the wise affirms, my people perish for lack of knowledge. We need knowledge, wisdom, and discernment — and as a body of believers, as Jews and Christians together, we are lacking in those things. We must become more discerning in the times we are living in, rather than getting caught up in political noise. We must focus on what is going down in the Bible — what the prophets are saying, what Moses, Yeshua, and the Revelator are pointing to. The time is getting short.

There is a great deal of hardship right now. There is a tremendous amount of death in the Middle East and North Africa. Look at Russia and Ukraine. We are seeing more death than we have witnessed in a very long time. My friends, this is just the beginning of the birth pains, and we must understand where we are on that timeline.

The Feast of Trumpets door that opens in Revelation 4 and 5 initiates the seven-year tribulation period. That seven-year period will begin on the Feast of Trumpets, because Yeshua is coming back on the Feast of Trumpets — seven exact years, the time of Jacob's trouble. Please remember: the time of Jacob's trouble is seven years, not three and a half. Jacob worked seven extra years for Rachel, and that period is called the time of Jacob's trouble for a reason. Go back to the patriarch — he worked an additional seven years for Rachel. We must recognize it as a seven-year period. The Antichrist's reign is only three and a half years. These are two entirely different conversations. There is the seven-year Shemitah cycle, and then within it, the Antichrist beast kingdom lasting three and a half years — 1,260 days — with a preceding three and a half years before that as well. We must hold these distinct and keep the trajectory of the Lord in view.

Revelation 4 opens all of this up. From Revelation 4 through Revelation 14, in my view, covers the seven-year tribulation period. From Revelation 14 onward covers the seven bowls, which fall within the ten Days of Awe and conclude at Yom Kippur. We will discuss that in much greater detail when we arrive at those chapters.