Green: God/Jesus Yellow: People/ Scripture Orange: Unbelief / sin / death Blue: Hebrew thought
Revelation 1: The revelation of Jesus Christ - His return - and His message that He is sending to 7 churches
1:7 Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him,
even they who pierced Him.
And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him.
Even so, Amen.
1:10 I [John] was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day, [Yom Teruah / Rosh ha Shanah]
and I heard behind me a loud voice, as of a trumpet ...
He was given a message for the 7 churches which John tells us are the 'seven candlesticks / lampstands': in Greek: luchnia: likened to an eye, i.e. which shows the body which way to move and turn...
Ephesus: permitted [to send through / be sent]
Smyrna: myrrh / martyrs [incense] as a perfume / or to smoke out the enemy
Pergamos: height / elevation [Satan's throne] / Balaam / immorality
Thyatira: odor of affliction [great tribulation] / Jezebel / adultery
Sardis: red ones [carnal / fleshly] / Hebrew 'odem' / Edom, as Esau
Philadelphia: brotherly love [obedient]
Laodicea: justice of the people [lukewarm] / blind and naked
Revelation 2: God is speaking to the 'churches' - the 'saved' - NOT the unsaved. These churches are in what is now known as Turkey, also known as Anatolia: which means east or sun rise. Hebraically, east indicates 'the eternal'. The churches are known for their 'knowledge, their works, knowing their identity ( holding fast to the Name), their service, faith and love - - -BUT - - God can not allow 'a church' with immorality, carnality and pride:
Ephesus hates evil, tests those who say they are apostles, persevered, didn't weary - - BUT
Ephesus: sent through left your first love / repent or have lampstand* removed
like an eye that tells body which
way to turn or move
overcome and eat from tree of life
Smyrna - the persecuted church - faithful unto death
Smyrna: myrrh / martyrs faithful / endure tribulation
won't be hurt by second death
receive the crown of life
Pergamos - 'holds fast to My name' - BUT holds the doctrine of Balaam
Pergamos: height / elevation immoral / compromised by doctrine of Balaam
allows seduction of immorality
repent or God will fight against you
with sword (Word of God) of mouth
receive a white stone with new name
Thyatira has service, works, love faith, patience - - and more works - - BUT
Thyatira: odor of affliction adulterous / corrupt; commits immorality / adultery
repent or be cast into tribulation
I will give power over the nations
Sardis has a name that they are alive, and works are not perfect - - BUT
Sardis: red ones carnal / dead (sold birthright) overcome so
name not blotted out of Book of Life
I will come upon you as a thief
I will confess name before My Father
Philadelphia is faithful, has little strength, have kept My word, and have not denied My name.
Philadelphia: brotherly love [obedient] / faithful; kept command to persevere
I will keep you from hour of trial
I will write on him name of My God
and the name of the city of My God,
the New Jerusalem
Laodicea has works - - BUT
Laodicea: justice of the people [wretched; / lukewarm; blind, naked, miserable
poor quality] I will vomit you out of My mouth
repent; be tried by fire, white, [like
ripened wheat]; anoint your eyes
To him who overcomes I will grant to
sit with Me on My throne, as I also
overcame and sat down with My
Father on His throne.
In [Revelation 1:9] John
relates that he is 'a brother and companion in tribulation, and that he
is on the island of Patmos [my killing] for the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ. Just as before, when Peter, James and John saw Jesus transfigured before them, He now reveals that He was in the Spirit on the 'Day of the Lord'.
1:10 I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day [Day of the Lord],
and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet,
In Revelation 4 John again mentions 'Immediately, I was in the Spirit', this after seeing an door standing open in heaven. It is to the church of Philadelphia, the obedient church, the church of brotherly love that God sets before them, 'an open door'.
4:1 After these things I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven.
And the first voice which I heard was like a trumpet speaking with me,
saying, “Come up here, and I will show you things which must take place AFTER this.”
4:2 Immediately I was in the Spirit; and behold, a throne set in heaven, and One sat on the throne.
John is being shown things that must take place AFTER this.
1. John views God's throne (seat). And from the throne proceeded lightnings, thunderings, and voices.
Before the throne there is a sea of glass, like crystal. And in the midst of the throne, and around the
throne, were four living creatures, full of eyes [ophthalmos:sight, faculty of knowing]
in front and back.
2. John also sees 24 thrones (seats) on which the 24 elders clothed in white robes, with crowns, sit.
3. There are 7 lamps [lampas (as a flame fed with oil) as compared to the 'luchnia' lampstand /
candlestick (as an 'eye' to tell you which way to turn) of Revelation 2]. These 'lamps' are the
'seven Spirits of God', which Revelation 5:6 identifies as 'the "seven eyes" of the Lamb' and
Isaiah11:2 defines as (1) Spirit of the LORD, (2) Spirit of wisdom, (3) Spirit of understanding,
(4) Spirit of counsel, (5) Spirit of power, (6) Spirit of knowledge, (7) Spirit of the fear of the Lord.
Whatever the 7 Spirits are, John states they are "sent out into all the earth."
4. John describes the 4 living creatures, their appearances as a
1. lion: leon (leh-ohn') a root word
1) a lion 2) a brave and mighty hero - - indicating great strength
2. calf: moschos (mos'-khos)
1) a tender juicy shoot 1a) a sprout, of a plant or tree 2) offspring
2a) of men: a boy or a girl, especially if fresh and delicate
2b) of animals: a young one 3) a calf, a bullock, a heifer
3. man: anthropos (anth'-ro-pos)
(the countenance, man-faced, i.e. a human being
1) a human being, whether male or female 1a) generically,
to include all human individuals
1b) to distinguish man from beings of a different race or order
1b1) of animals and plants 1b2) of from God and Christ 1b3) of the angels
1c) with the added notion of weakness,
by which man is led into a mistake or prompted to sin
1d) with the adjunct notion of contempt or disdainful pity
1e) with reference to two fold nature of man, body and soul
1f) with reference to the two fold nature of man,
the corrupt and the truly Christian man,
conformed to the nature of God
1g) with reference to sex, a male 2) indefinitely, someone, a man, one
3) in the plural, people 4) joined with other words, merchantman
4. flying eagle: aetos (ah-et-os')
1) an eagle: since eagles do not usually go in quest of carrion,
this may refer to a vulture that resembles an eagle
2) an eagle as a standard (Roman Military)
To be pondered in the description of the above: Jesus is coming as the 'Lion' of Judah. In Hebrew thought the lion is known on the physical level for the 'spirit of murder', but in truth as the 'fear of the Lord'. If Christ had only one attribute it would be 'the fear of the Lord.
As a 'calf', he was the tender shoot [Isaiah 53:2], the root and offspring of David [Revelation 22:16].
As a 'man', he became flesh and dwelt among us [John 1:14], in the express image of God
[Hebrews 1:1-3]. Pilate said, [John 19:5] 'Behold the man'.
When God delivered Israel from Egypt [Exodus 19:4]: You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to Myself - - the word nesher (neh'-sher) from an unused root meaning to lacerate is described as 1) eagle, vulture, griffon-vulture of which is the characterization of 'spiritual Egypt (distress / those who 'feed on flesh')' [Revelation 11:8]
All activity 'in in heaven' and is directed toward the worship of God.
Revelation 5 then reveals a scroll, written front and back sealed with seven seals.
Revelation 6 details the first 6 seals - the BEGINNING of sorrows as well as tribulation events: wars, conflict that takes peace from the earth, 'balances': bondages, troublesome laws, a fourth of the world suffers death, and then the voice of the martyrs is heard.
Revelation 6 events signal 'Rosh ha Shanah' which means 'head or beginning' - -definitely 'the BEGINNING OF SORROWS'.
In embarking on Revelation 6 and the first seal - the 'white horse', keep in mind:
Revelation 19:11
Now I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse.
And He who sat on him was called Faithful and True,
and in righteousness He judges and makes war.
Revelation 6:2
And I looked, and behold, a white horse.
He who sat on it had a bow; and a crown was given to him,
and he went out conquering and to conquer.
Zechariah 9:13
For I have bent Judah, My bow, fitted the bow with Ephraim [double ash-heap]*, and raised up your sons,
O Zion, against your sons, O Greece, and made you like the sword of a mighty man.
Isaiah 28:1-6
Woe to the crown of pride, to the drunkards of Ephraim,
Whose glorious beauty is a fading flower
Which is at the head of the verdant valleys,
To those who are overcome with wine!
Behold, the
Lord has a mighty and strong one,
Like a tempest of hail and a destroying storm,
Like a flood of mighty waters overflowing,
Who will bring them down to the earth with His hand.
The crown of pride, the drunkards of Ephraim,
Will be trampled underfoot;
And the glorious beauty is a fading flower
Which is at the head of the verdant valley,
Like the first fruit before the summer,
Which an observer sees;
He eats it up while it is still in his hand.
In that day the Lord of hosts will be
For a crown of glory and a diadem of beauty
To the remnant of His people,
For a spirit of justice to him who sits in judgment,
And for strength to those who turn back the battle at the
gate.
* Considering Ephraim whose name is translated 'double ash-heap' but also 'to be doubly fruitful', one does have to consider the double destruction (ash-heaps) of both temples (by Babylon 586BC and by Rome 70AD). Has God now taken his bow - Judah - and fitted it with 'Ephraim' as He goes out to conquer? The second seal indicates that 'peace is taken from the earth. When Christ was here he stated:
Matthew 10:34-36
Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword. For I have come to ‘set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law’; and ‘a man’s enemies will be those of his own household.’
The 'sword of the spirit, the Word of God' - - will bring the division among flesh that He intends for it to bring, but it appears this takes on 'the form He gives it'.
One last thought. When Jacob blessed Joseph's son Ephraim and Manasseh, Ephraim was
blessed as the 'firstborn' [Deuteronomy 33:17; Jeremiah 31:9]. It was
on the 9th of AV that King Manasseh erected an idol in the temple. Tuesday, the 25th of June / 17th Tammuz we entered the period historically known as the 'Dire Straits'. This time period chronicles the sin of the golden calf, the sin of the spies giving the bad report on the land, ending on the 9AV (this year on 16 July 2013) when both temples were destroyed (586 BC / 70AD) and Manasseh erected his blasphemous idol.
So next - -Revelation 6
Selah,
Shalom
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