The End Times // SO8E02

Revelation. Last book of the Bible. Most often associated with the End Times. And while this is true, Revelation is just the culmination of many other Biblical passages about this time. In a way, weaving them together. In this episode we introduce you to the upcoming series titled, same as the episode, Road to Revelation. In this series, we will not try to explain and perfectly interpret every bit of prophecy, because we can’t fully know everything now. But we will do our best to provide Godly encouragement, wisdom, and insight wherever and whenever possible through this study of the book of Revelation.

Verses from Road to Revelation:

2 Timothy 2:15, Esther 4:14, Romans 5:8, Zephaniah 3:17, Titus 2:11, Acts 1:8, Romans 12:12, Hebrews 11:1

Biblical References to the end times:

New Testament: Matthew 13, Matthew 24, Mark 13, Luke 17, Luke 21, Matthew 25, 11 Corinthians 15, 2 Corinthians 5, 1Thessalonians 4-5, 2 Thessalonians 1, 2 Thessalonians 2, 2 Timothy 3, 2 Timothy 4, 2 Peter 3, Revelation 5-22
Old Testament: Leviticus 26,
Deuteronomy 32,
Psalm 2, 14, 24, 45-48, 50, 53, 58, 67, 68, 72, 75, 79-80, 83, 85, 87, 93, 96, 99, 102, 110, 118, 147, 149,
Isaiah 2, 4, 5, 9,11-14,18-19,21, 24-35, 41-44, 47-49, 53, 56, 59, 61-66,
Jeremiah 30, 31, 33,
Ezekiel 5, 11, 20, 34, 36, 37-39, 40-48,
Daniel 2, 7, 8, 9, 11-12,
Hosea 1-3, 5:15-6:3, 14, Joel 2-3, Amos 8-9, Micah 2, 4-5, 7,
Nahum 1, Habakkuk 2-3, Zephaniah 1-3,
Zachariah  2-6, 8-10, 12-14, Malachi 3-4

“Go out there and be used, you know, that’s been put on your heart for a reason. That’s a righteous care. That’s love, to not want to see people perish.”

Michelle Watson, The Pantry Podcast, Road to Revelation

 “Y’all, we’re on a mission. The things that are going to go on in this world, the things that go on in this world can definitely drag us into those things. And we forget exactly what we’re supposed to be doing.”

Shea Watson, The Pantry Podcast, Road to Revelation

Annotated Transcript:

Shea:  You have to make sure that we’re doing this rightly that when we’re looking at the Bible, we’re not just looking at it like, oh, and try to dig so deep in the weeds that we just don’t get it, or that we start, watch this, putting our own influence into the Word.  

Michelle: We aren’t trying to define every prophetic utterance that’s in Revelation, but more so what you said in 2 Timothy, the discernment, the ability to rightly divide the truth from lies, godliness and righteousness from wickedness and depravity.  

Shea: You’re listening to the pantry podcast, part of the spark podcast network. Now playing on the Edify app. Hey, I’m Shea  

Michelle: I’m Michelle, and this is the Pantry Podcast, season eight, Road to Revelation.  

Shea: We’re here to help you crave a healthier spiritual diet by teaching you to ask the right questions, seek the right answers in the right place. God’s word and break free of the junk food. The world wants to shove down your throat.

Michelle: We live in a broken world. We can fall down in despair or rise up for our wedding day. This season, we’re looking at what it really means to be the bride of Christ in the end times. And the many things we can learn from the book of Revelation that will guide us today, tomorrow, and to the end on times

Shea: Join us and fellow listeners in 47 states and 66 countries. As we marinate on the word of God, clear the junk from our pantries and feast on real everlasting  

Michelle:  Support the show by sharing this episode with two friends that need a godly snack and becoming a partner at patreon.com/thepantrypodcast for as low as $5 a month.  

Shea: And now let’s dig into the meal. 

Hey, what’s up pantry fam.  

Michelle:  Hello, Hello. Awesome. This is the end of the year and the beginning of a season. So whoo hoo!  

Shea: Well officially not the beginning because our first episode had the guest of all guests. What’d you call it?

Michelle: The best guest.

Shea:  Best guest. Y’all little Calia came out and she slayed it. I’m just going to be real. Two and a half years old. And she’s like, Baba, I want to do a podcast. So we just sat her down. I was like, okay, let’s do this. Reached out, ask people questions. And we got to hear that last week. So if you didn’t catch that, go back, listen to it, fact, share it with your friends. It’s the cutest little thing you’ll ever hear. And we really enjoy doing it with her.  

Michelle:  Yeah. Yeah, it was, it was amazing. And just a quick plug. We are having our hundredth episode during the season and you can go to the pantry podcast.com/100. If you want to join us on zoom or get the details. And it’s also part AMA, ask us anything or ask me anything. So if you want to ask us a question, we won’t answer it as cute as Calia did, but feel free to submit your question right from there as well. Just quick plug.  

Shea: Well, I mean, I think you’re cute. 

Michelle: Thanks!

Shea: Well… Married… Anyways. Hey, this is that time. I, man, I wish I had that little button. It would make noises. Do-do do-do do-do We got the shout out section. We got shout out tonight. We’re shouting out Steve Lopez from Color Meets Scripture. He’s on Instagram and he follows us. We follow him. He says a lot of things. Michelle will know a lot more than I do

Michelle: I handle the Instagram and just FYI we’re way behind on Instagram. Y’all I never caught up from COVID because I have all these big dreams. So we will be like, going hardcore daily content in January, get excited. It’s gonna be, it’s gonna be really cool. But he is such a trooper. Steve hits us up in our stories all the time with fire emojis and applause. And he does great principals and stuff for kids, Bible based. So it’s, it’s just a wealth of little kids activities and  

Shea:  I scrolled the page and  I’m like, wow, like…  

Michelle:   He does it all himself. It’s incredibly high quality. So go check out, color me scripture on Instagram.  

Shea:  All right, that’s the Instagram. There you go. But Road to Revelation. So first official episode, like we’re, we’re really gonna start digging in really getting away from you know, the cutes of the holidays, which man, I love the holidays. Now it’s a whole story behind that, but we’re going to get into the meat, the meat of the Road to Revelation. This is a trajectory that we’re on. This is something that we can’t change it. We are going in that direction. It’s like, okay, this is where I’m headed. And  when I think about Road to Revelation, I think we can’t just stay in one book. You know, everybody always thinks about Revelation , Revelation , but you know, we gotta look at the 66 other books in the Bible. You know, you got the lodge and this is a Deuteronomy old Testament narrative, Joshua to Esther, wisdom, literature, Job to Song of Solomon, major prophets, Isaiah to Daniel, minor prophets, Hosea to Malachi new Testament, narrative Matthew to Acts, Pauline epistles, Romans to Philemon, general epistles. Hebrews to Jude. And of course the apocalyptic epistle: Revelation.  

Michelle: Yeah. Revelation. I mean you, if you’ve been following us a long time, you know this, but Revelation  is the book that I read and then I came to Christ, but what’s amazing is I read an annotated version because I just knew I didn’t have the holy spirit yet. I had no idea.  I knew that I needed help. And so I found one we’ll link it in the show notes.  But they pulled in all these verses from throughout the entire Bible. And a lot of people, they don’t realize that when they’re learning about Revelation, you’re actually learning from the entire Bible. They’re like, people are pulling in like this verse alludes to this verse and this verse alludes to this whole principle over here. And so reading it in an annotated style showed me how interlinked and interwoven all of the books of the Bible were. So I think it’s really cool that you’re going to be diving into that. 

Shea: We’re definitely looking at something where it’s prophetic. Everything that Jesus would say would reflect biblically the whole, the whole Bible, right? It’s like he quoted the old Testament all the time because there were some important prophecies that had to be mentioned. There were some important directions that had to be said, and you know, it’s still Revelation is not the most prominent, but you know, it’s maybe the most prominent by name, but it’s definitely not the only book that talks about the end times. Right. Cause that is what we’re going to talk about. And there are hundreds of references to the end times,  if you look at new Testament, Matthew 13, Matthew 24, Mark 13, Luke 17, Luke 21, Matthew 25, 1 Corinthians 15. Now hear me out on this when I’m reading these chapters too, this is where like 50% or more of that chapter is talking about end times. Okay.  2 Corinthians 5, 2 Thessalonians 4-5, 2 Thessalonians 1, 2 Thessalonians 2, 2 Timothy, 3, 2 Timothy 4, 2 Peter 3, Revelation 5 through 22. That’s just the New Testament. Then you get into the Old Testament. This is the, this is what I like. I like it. I like digging into the old Testament because it’s like that prophetic utterance. And, and I think somebody said this once. They’re like, if you were to fill Texas up with like two feet of quarters.  And you get an airplane and you drop out somewhere. Right. And just don’t know where it’s at, 

Michelle: like a colored color quarter.

Shea: Right. Dented corner or something that signifies that for one quarter and a guy jumping out airplane and landing right on that quarter. That is how accurate it has been for the prophecies.  And so when you look at this and you look at it end times, you look at like Leviticus 26, Deuteronomy 32, I’m reading a lot. Y’all Psalms 2, 14, 24, Psalms 45 through 48, 50, 53, 58, 67, 68, 72, 75, 79 through 80, 83, 85, 87, 93, 96, 99, 102, 110, 118, 147, 149. You get where I’m going here. Isaiah 2, 4, 5, 9, 11 through 14, 18 through 19, 21, 24 through 35, 41 through 44, 47 through 49, 53, 56, 59, 61 through 66. Jeremiah 30, 31, 33. Ezekiel 5, 11, 20, 34, 36, 37 through 39, 40 through 48, Daniel 2, 7, 8, 9, and 11. Which of course Daniel 11. Right? Most detailed chapter, prophecy in the Bible. And then 12. Hosea, 1-3, 5, 15 through 6, 3, and 14. Joel 2 and 3. Amos 8 and 9. Micah, 2, 4, 5, 7 Nahum 1. Habakkuk 2-3, Zephaniah 1-3, Zachariah 2-6, 8-10, 12-14. Malachi, 3, 4…

Michelle: Take a break.

Shea: And I read that now, know what I’m saying? Look, study this.  

Michelle: It’ll be in the show notes. So if you were like, yo, I cannot listen to it even one time. The speed, like, no, it’s okay. We’re making a point. The overwhelm is also one of great joy that you’ve read more of the, I’ll say it like this. You’ve read more Revelation  than you think about the book of Revelation , because it’s not all there. I think that the book of Revelation  is actually like the reinforcement, the tying with a bow, the proof in the pudding, aside from it literally happening later on, you know,  like in even our future, but like it’s the proof in the pudding. Like all those things that were brought up through the whole Bible, here’s a nice big picture painting for you, of all of that. And even that isn’t the most clear, but it almost encourages. It’s like an engagement tool to go back into all the other places and, and get that clarity, that Revelation of this and what it actually means for humanity.  

Shea:  And I’ll say, why did I, why did I say read this? Because we need to be in it. Yeah. I mean the say in it to win it, in it to win it. I mean, we’ve already won. Victory is already ours. Y’all this is not about like, we’re learning how to be victorious. No, we are victorious. And we’re just seeing this roadmap into where we’re going.  2 Timothy 2:15, it says study to show yourself approved unto God, a Workman that needeth not to be ashamed, listen to this. Rightly dividing the word of truth. That right there to me is a huge catalyst, I guess, or, you know, like you have to make sure that we’re doing this rightly, that when we’re looking at the Bible, we’re not just looking at it like, oh, and try to dig so deep in the weeds that we just don’t get it, or that we start watch this, putting our own influence into the word. Now there was some cool things that Michelle can pulled out out of Revelation  and I’ve heard them. And they’re pretty cool. I tell you to be here, but we won’t be here whenever. I mean, will we know, will we not know whether it be robots will there not be big robots,  

Michelle: Holograms, projections, et cetera. I mean, I have fun thinking about that and to kind of give you guys an assurance and also a direction for where the season’s going. We aren’t trying to define every prophetic utterance that’s in Revelation, but more so what you said in 2 Timothy, the discernment, the ability to rightly divide the truth from lies, godliness and righteousness from wickedness and depravity. That is the thing that is relevant in the end times, like you said in time started with the Ascension of Christ, right? Like then it was onto the next show where the church age is in full swing and a lot happens. But you’re in the end times. And, and again end times does not mean after this it’s all over and there’s no more period. You know, there is more after this, when we’re talking about the end times it’s more the end time of suffering of the saints. The end times of death, in the sense of after the second death, for those who don’t believe there’s no more death, that’s like, that’s it of that. And when there’s no death, when there’s forever life and health and joy and peace and love, and you’re in the presence of the Lord forever, time, right? The end of time, but not the end of existence, kind of that, that concept. And it’s important to remember that because thinking about the end can make a lot of us sad, and that’s the other reason we’re doing this season is because this is a very chaotic time. Whether or not we’re really close, it’s a chaotic time. And it’s, it’s affecting people on a lot of levels in a lot of negative ways, also positive, but it can be easy to get into even just anger and despair, but also righteous anger and despair. But there’s also the joy that we’re commanded to have and the purpose we’re committed to have. And so this season is helping you with your discernment and then giving you encouragement and reassurance like, okay, I have this clarity of why I’m here, what I can do, what I’m capable of through Christ that can be done in a time, even such as this. 

Shea:  Right. I like that. Cause you know, as we lead in on that, it’s like stay on mission because we have to stay on mission.  We can study whatever you want to study. You can dig in as deep as you want to dig in. But at the end of the day, we have a mission Acts 1 says, but you will receive power when the holy spirit has come up on you. Okay. Listen as a believer in Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirits on me, hello, I love it. So what does that do? I receive power through this holy spirit and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth, we’re on task. Y’all, we’re on a mission. The things that are going to go on in this world, the things that go on in this world can definitely drag us into those things. And we forget exactly what we’re supposed to be doing. And that is the mission. And I really like in Esther.  when, you know, Esther had to stay on mission y’all you want a story?  Stick around, cool stuff coming up on this one. But Esther stayed on mission. You know, when you look at Esther 4:14, and I’m just going to go to the last part of the, see where it says yet, who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this, listen to me, we have been put here in this time, in this moment for this particular season. Now, are we throwing in lemons and limes and making it sour? Are we seasoning it up to be something great for God? And I think that that’s where we need to be. And really, so what she was saying is when we’re breaking into, in the into Revelation, in the end times and all this stuff, we’re not getting into the weeds, man, we’re going to sit here and stick on mission and just give you encouragement and ways to move forward in this time as believers in Christ.  And I think that’s the most important thing because it’s not hopeless. It’s, you know, it’s not hopeless. Yeah. It’s hopeful. You know, and if you don’t believe me, believe the Bible, Romans 12:12, rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer, rejoice in hope. And then it’s followed by it. Be patient and tribulation. I mean, look, that’s where we’re going.  Hebrews 11:1. Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for the conviction of things not seen. See, you can sit here and call me a fatalist all day long for sitting there and saying, okay, well, the end is coming now. Granted my grandpa, my great grandpa, my grandma, my great grandma said they would see Jesus coming rapture. And well, we haven’t, we haven’t,  which kind of tells where we stand, as, as our belief is pre-trib.  And, and that, that could be a whole nother episode by itself. So we’re just not getting it that, but that’s where a lot of this is going to come from looking towards Jesus, coming back for his saints and knowing, knowing that no matter what we go through, no matter what we go through right back to that verse, that says what power through the holy spirit, why? Because I’ve been sealed and I am saved, which means Christ cares about me.  

Michelle: Yeah. And I’m glad that you brought up the pre-trip thing because you know, it’s technically the first book of the Bible I really engaged with. So I’ve made, I’ve been around pre-trib since the beginning, but also we both are not the kind to just take a viewpoint for granted. And so we’ve done repetitive due diligence, and learned and listened to people. And we’re not saying that if you don’t know which you are pre, post, mid, a millennialist, there’s so many we could get into. If you’re not with us, I would encourage you to still listen to this season because we’re not getting in the pre-trib. We might bring up the rapture. You might not believe the rapture. You might think it happens later. We’re pre-trib you might think that, you know, we’re in the millennial age now, but at the end of all of this, the thing that I want to challenge every listener for is that we’re going to be focusing on the big ticket items that we glean out of Revelation, but it comes down to this.  You have a purpose. And like we say, in the intro, you know, you have a choice to be in despair and just twiddling your thumbs and desperately awaiting Christ to come to the point of paralysis and hiding and running. Or you can be that eager bride. That’s awaiting with eagerness, right? You want him to come? You want to be closer to him at all times, which means deepening your relationship. Now you want to be able to see him face to face. You have that hope, but it means that you’re listening and you’re doing, and you’re about the father’s business and not in this place, this escapist place, this mentality. And I think that that’s one of the biggest critiques people have of people who do believe in the rapture and do believe pre-trib, they’re like, well, they’re hoping that they just get out of here.  And so they’re not going to really work on things, getting better because they think they’re going to just leave. And if that is you, if you’re, if that is like guilty as charged, if that is you, I would encourage you. The great commission says nothing about just sitting there, idly waiting, you know? And so even if you’re like, oh, I don’t know where I land on these things. We encourage you to go, really pursue to read all of these verses. But at the end of the day, like Shea said, getting in the weeds is for another, for another day because the overarching themes, the relationship with Christ, the relationship with the holy spirit, the relationship with the father relationship, with all of these things, with the body, that is key. And he guides us all. He’s faithful to finish the work in us. So it’s important for us to, rather than obsess over weeds, that he will faithfully work out in us to focus on these things that unite us all as the church, you know, cause this isn’t one of those make or break things that, that tears us in a, in a direction.  

Shea: No, no. That in fact that is so we’re not here to tear, bro. We’re not here to tear that, that we are not, but I was just want points, biblical points to come across, the important points God’s love, right? God’s love. I mean, come on. Y’all God shows his love for us that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us, Romans 5:8, this, he loves us. And I think that when we start to battle one another, we  fall out of love because that is not God, God is not. You know, he has battles. He’s been to battles. He’s, he’s done battles. He’s put battles in front of people.  But one thing that he has in once amongst his people is the love.  We got to look at the grace of God, as well as we look through all this, these are some things as you go through the Bible, you want to look at the love of God, the grace of God, my wife came to Revelation, seeing the grace and the love of God in Revelation . That’s amazing. No, I mean, it’s amazing because like most people avoid Revelation  until they really started getting into study. And then it’s like, okay, well, yeah. After chapter four. Well then of course I go again with a pre-trib mentality. After chapter four, it have a Revelation . Well, you know, the, the, the wording changes from his church to the people anyways, anyways, it’s it’s so there’s a lot of study that we have done in this.  I like eschatology.. 

Michelle: I mean seven or eight years of pursuing

Shea:  I’ve just really dug into this because I mean, I wanted to know too. But my viewpoint is not here to push my viewpoint onto you. The only thing I want you to know is that we need to be on mission. We need to be in the love of God. We need to be in the grace of God. Yeah. And from that point forward, it’s like, okay, we can do anything. I can do anything. Yeah. Through Christ who’s in me. Right. These are hopeful messages. It’s not a fatalistic mentality. It is a loving mentality, a knowledgeable mentality. To know that one day, this will end, no matter what position you stand in, this will end. All of the camera I’m talking into right now, the iPad I’m reading off of the microphone. I’m speaking into the headset, we’ll end on this earth and it’ll be us and God. And that is the encouragement I think we want to get across in this season.

Michelle: Yeah. Yeah. You know, and it also, it lights a fire under you because you’re like, well, it, it doesn’t, maybe it doesn’t necessarily make you happy because you’re thinking of all the people who don’t have the happy eternal ending. And I then challenge you, then get out there and do something about it. Be used by God.  we could get, we could, we could go again into like another long conversation, predestination versus free will.  Honestly we see it as it’s both, depending on which vantage point you’re looking at it from, but, but go out there and be used, you know, that’s been put on your heart for a reason. That’s a righteous care. That’s love, to not want to see people perish. And so in that moment, it’s like, it’s a joy because this method of life, this constant drudgery, where there’s, there’s in certainty of, of where like, is this spirit talking to me or is this a bad whisper? Is it my own idea? You know, is it a good intention? God intention? I don’t know. You know, like we’ve gone through this, you know, like warship, we’re at war, you know, there’s this war going on the warmest one day end, you know, like that’s, that’s a joy that the war finally is, you know, there needs to be a finality to the current struggles so that there can finally be that rest. You know, that like there, the God made the world, not in seven, that’s a tricky, like, you know, you think seven days, right? You’re like, God made the world in seven days. He made it in six, right? What did he do on the seventh? He rested. And so there’s a rest and it does it. It’s not just this idea of, you know, this, that in our current situation, the rest of just being, knowing your site, you’re saved and that you’re being used despite your, your shortcomings, but there’s an ultimate rest.  And it doesn’t mean that you’re out there in nothingness. That doesn’t mean you’re sitting there just playing a harp all day. There’s purpose. There is a place for you. But it’s outside of all the things we use to measure time, the pain, the aging, the crazy chaotic world events. And instead there’s a stability. And so I’m walking through this, I would say, have courage. Don’t get discouraged, trust. It’s the first book I read. And,  some of my friends were like, well, you’re kind of a nerd, like, duh like, you know, but I’m telling you, you don’t have to be intimidated by it because it’s going to actually guide you back into cross-reference constantly. And so you’re going to get into books you’re more familiar with, and you learn the character of God.  Like you said, it’s, I saw God’s love and grace, but throughout it, because I saw, I thought it was like, okay, everybody that’s good gets to go to heaven. And everyone left behind just gets ransacked like repeatedly. And there’s a lot of seals and bowls and trumpets and stuff, a lot of stuff I don’t want to see from the ground, you know?  But there’s chance after chance as I was reading it, I was like, he says, blessed are you who don’t need signs and wonders. And yet those who instill, could be saved through signs and wonders of things, crashing and people disappearing and all this stuff. He’s like, you still count, you know, it’s going to be rough for you, but you, I still see you. And that’s just amazing to me.  

Shea: Absolutely. Absolutely. Yeah. It’s going to be a good season. Y’all  great guests. We got some lineups and, you know, God willing, but then again, if I rapture, I love y’all. I hope you got Jesus as I just say like that, but, but no, but I think what wraps that up and we’ll finish it on this is that, you know, what you just said from the book of Revelation, it says for the grace of God has appeared bringing salvation for all people. And it’s Titus 2:11 Titus 2:11. And,  when we look at that, we have to understand something that we do have a loving God. We have a gracious God and you know what, turn to him. And if you’re listening to this right now, and you’ve never,  had that experience of that relationship with God, look, call out, say, Hey, show yourself, show me.  And, you know what? He will, he will, if you’re lost right now, like I was for years, just call out to Christ call out to God, land on that rock of salvation. And then just look up, look up and look forward because we need to move. There’s people out there that just, you know, what they need the hope. You know, sometimes I think we live in the most wicked city, which, you know, other people be like that saying “no I live in the wickedest city.” But you know, what’s cool is when you’re out there with holding the free prayer sign, the people who you thought were wicked. Cause you know, you put your own personal touch and twist everything and it’s just not right, by the way. They walked by and they put a thumbs up or they walk over and they pray for you and you know, just are, are being available and being out there for people. And they’re bringing in that light, also multiplies this hope and shows people, Hey, look, it’s still okay. So, Hey, it’s going to be cause season  

Michelle: Gonna be a really good season. And we have a special gift for y’all to close out the year. There will be a bonus episode coming out on Friday because, granted, Calia is adorable, but we weren’t really touching on one of these topics. So the next time you get to listen to us is on New Year’s Eve, if you want. And it’ll be a nice juicy, full length episode. And then we’ll just go back to our regularly scheduled Wednesdays. So until Friday. Bye

Shea: Bye. 

Michelle: Thanks for listening to the pantry podcast. Subscribe to the show, wherever you listen and check out other great shows on the Edify app and Eternity Ready Radio.