Revelation - Lesson 4

My Darling has Forsaken Me

Prayer: God as we study today about Ephesus help us to learn from this powerful church, both from her successes & her failures.  Help us to be discerning and yet never failing in love.  Help us to do this as individuals, as a church body, and in the true Church - the body of believers in the world.  Amen!

This morning we start into the letters to the 7 churches, if you remember from last week when we looked at Revelation 1:19 you'll know we're entering the 2nd section of this book.  We've already covered what John wrote about what he had seen - the first and shortest section of Revelation being only 1 chapter long, now we're in the "what is now" section which is comprised of the letters to 7 churches of John's day.

It's interesting that though the letters were applicable to the 7 churches of that day there are additional levels of application.  Remember that this is a book of Prophecy - we were told that in Revelation 1:3, and it is common - even expected - for Prophecy to have multiple levels of fulfillment.  We have a God who is more complex, more amazing, than we can even begin to imagine - I don't think it's possible to give God more credit for complexity than He has.

Levels of Application for the letters to the churches:

1 - An Individual Church: the specified church of John's day to address a specific problem in that church at that time.

2 - All Churches: the 7 churches who received letters, and extending to all churches throughout the church age: each letter includes a statement about hearing what the Spirit has to say to the "churches" (plural).

3 - Personal: each has an admonition for all believers to "hear" what is being said and a promise to those who "overcome".

4 - Prophetic: the 7 letters outline a profile of church history from the Upper Room until the church joins Jesus in the Upper Air. (This is seen by some as controversial)

The letters contain 7 design elements, constituting a type of "Report Card" for that church: 

1 - Name of the City - the meaning of the name of the city has significance.

2 - Title of Christ - each is a title already seen in chapter 1, each title has significance regarding the message that is being given to the church.

3 - Commendation - what they are doing well (2 churches don't get this).

4 - Concern - what they are doing wrong (2 churches don't get this).

5 - Exhortation - a call to action (or to continued action).

6 - Promise to the Overcomer - blessing for those who overcome.

7 - Closing Statement - "He who has an ear let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches."

One commentator stated that all 7 recipients were surprised.  Those who thought they were doing well weren't, those who thought they weren't doing well were.

Before we move on lets take a closer look at that Closing Statement "He who has an ear let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches".  In addition to what I've already said regarding this I'd like you to notice a couple things.  It says "He who has an ear" - that means those who are willing to listen & spiritually able to listen.  God never forces anyone to listen to Him, and only those who have the Holy Spirit empowering them are able to hear Him.  It says "what the Spirit says to the churches", the Holy Spirit is already at work in these churches and is speaking to these churches.  I thought it was interesting that in chapter 1 we saw the 7 Spirits or 7-Fold Spirit of God, and here the Spirit is speaking to 7 churches with 7 messages.

I'd also like to point out a word that occurs in all 7 letters that I found interesting - the word for "overcome".  It is "nikao" and means to overcome, conquer, or triumph - and the word in the Greek implies a continuous action: continue to overcome, conquer, triumph.  I heard mentioned that the brand Nike may have gotten its name from this root.  Each of the letters calls the hearer to overcome some trial, and in overcoming to receive a blessing.  When you are facing trials how do you pray?  Do you pray to be freed from your trials or for God to give you the strength to overcome?  Beth Moore put it something like this:  "How do you overcome if you never underwent?"

Finally I want you to notice that each letter is addressed to the "angel of the church" of its city - some again think this is an angelic being watching over the church, others a pastor of the church.  We went over this a bit in our last lesson... and who knows, perhaps it's a bit of each, but it is interesting that the letter is directed in this way rather than simply to the church as a whole.

So our first church is the church in Ephesus, and I want to just give you a brief taste of the 1st century city of Ephesus - if you're interested in knowing more I'll let you do that on your own.

Ephesus was the capital of the Roman province of Asia, located "where East met West" it was an important crossroads area with a pleasant climate (similar to Southern California) and fertile land.  It was a religious and commercial center and influenced peoples of both East (Asia) and West (Europe).  It was the largest city in the province of Asia having an estimated population at that time of somewhere between 250,000 - 500,000 people (approximately the population of Minneapolis), one source I read claimed that at times there were as many as 1 - 2 million people gathered in that city.  At one time it was a key Naval port with a nice harbor; however, at the time of the writing of Revelation the harbor had already begun to have problems with silt - and today the city is about 6 miles away from the coast.

It was a beautiful and wealthy city, constructed primarily of white marble with stunning well developed architecture.  Within the city were:

• Library with over 12,000 volumes (before printing)
• Renown Marketplace, 360' square with shops 40' deep along all 4 sides.
• Theater 495' in diameter which could seat as many as 25,000 people.
• A very long "Way" (road) made of marble, 7' wide running through the city and to the harbor.
• It had gymnasiums and brothels and various temples all the other accouterment of large cities of its day.  Apparently from the Library there was an underground tunnel leading to the brothels in case you wanted to keep your matters private.
• A distinctive feature was the Temple of Diana, one of the 7 wonders of the ancient world which is said to have been very beautiful both of form and material.  It was the largest Greek temple ever built and was 4 times the size of the Parthenon at Athens.  The goddess Diana was a fertility goddess, both male and female temple prostitutes were in residence at the temple.  J Vernon McGee describes it this way: "Around the temple of Diana were performed the grossest forms of immorality... The worshipers indulged in the basest religious rites of sensuality and the wildest bacchanalian orgies that were excessive and vicious."  This temple also served as a bank (may have been the first bank) which was run by the temple priests, and it was an art gallery with an extensive collection.

The gospel brought many changes to Ephesus.  It had been the center for the study of arts & magic, but became the center for missionary operations throughout the province of Asia.  Out of Ephesus many other churches had been founded and in John's day it was a large strong church.  Acts 19:19 records an incident in which the magic scrolls, valued at 50,000 drachma's (1 drachma = 1 day's wage), were burned out of a fear of the Lord.  4 Great Pillars were placed at the entrance to the harbor, each bearing a cross, with 1 each being dedicated to Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.  Pagan temples were turned into churches.

The Letter to Ephesus: read Revelation 2:1-7

Name of the city: Ephesus, meaning Desired One or Darling

Title of Christ: He that holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands.  Jesus title is a reminder to them of His position and power, that He is the one who is in control, He is the one who is dwelling in the midst of the churches.

Commendation: Jesus knows of their works & perseverance - they were strongly focused upon and insistent upon doctrinal purity.  They weeded out heresy & clung to sound doctrine, and "hated the practices of the Nicolaitans".

Who are the Nicolaitans?  We have no way of knowing for sure, but here are a couple possibilities that are widely acknowledged:

• A Gnostic sect - much later a group of Gnostics that rejected John's teachings took this name on themselves (to spite John?).  But earlier there was a Gnostic sect (name may have been Nicolaitans) which taught that to understand sin you must first indulge in it.  They believed that flesh & spirit were separate to the point that sins of the flesh could not hinder the spirit.  This is obviously counter to scripture in so many ways that I don't think I need to discuss this farther.
• Nicolaitans may be a word simply made up from the words "nikao" (overcome - discussed earlier) and "laos" which means "the people".  So the Nicolaitans may have been an early incident of clergy attempting to rule over the laity, and in several places in scripture this is discouraged (see John 13:14-16; Matthew 20:24-28).

Concerns: They have forsaken their first love. 

The word for "first" in Greek is "protos" which implies a priority, you could think of their "first love" as their "primary directive" - what is our primary directive as believers?  read Matthew 22:35-40

The Ephesian church had been warned (by Paul and others) about 35 years before this letter that heresies would try to enter in, and they had taken the warning seriously.  However, what seems to have happened is that they've gotten so busy at the business of the King that they've forgotten to give time to the King.  When I heard this I had to stop right there and get on my knees and repent because I tend to make this mistake and must guard myself.  God prefers Devotion to Doctrine, lets not get these mixed up!!  Jesus prefers the actions of a "Mary" to a "Martha" (see Luke 10:38-42).

The Ephesians had discernment but not love, this kind of combination pushes people away and can kill a church. We need discernment, but there must always also be love.  It's interesting that it says they had "forsaken" their first love, this is the Greek word "aphiemi" which means "send forth, send away, let go from oneself".  We might use the term "wander" in the same manner, indicating that someone is either in active rebellion or in passive rebellion has simply gotten out of habit of following the good ways they once had.

Exhortation: Remember & Repent.  Remember the great love we have in God, return to that place of loving adoration.

Closing Statement: "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches"

Promise to the Overcomer: The right to eat from the Tree of Life which is in the paradise of God.

The word paradise here is from a Persian word that means "pleasure garden".  For the one who overcomes the Tree of Life, which could no longer be accessed by man in the Garden of Eden after the fall is now available again to man in God's pleasure garden. 

How is your life like the life of the church of Ephesus?  Are you diligent concerning doctrine?  What do you do when faced with heretical teaching?  How's your devotional life?  Are you making it a priority to keep your "first love" strong & lively?

How is our church like the church of Ephesus?  Is our church based upon and standing up for sound doctrine?  How does our church deal with heretical teaching?  Does our church encourage times of devotion (prayer / meditation)?  Is our church as a whole making it a priority to demonstrate and grow in love?

Prayer:  God, how easy it is to get so busy doing that we forget to stop and simply spend time your presence.  Help us Lord to be a people and a church of listening ears, a people and a church that are marked by Love while clinging to sound doctrine, help us to be a people and a church that are overcomers - receiving as many of your blessings as possible.

Revelation - Lesson 3

Look Who's Talking

Prayer: God help us to be like John, to be testifying about you, to be willing to be exiled or even killed for the sake of your marvelous word.  Thank You for giving us your word through John.  Help us to take in this message, to marvel at it, to meditate on it, and to learn from it.  Amen!

We are continuing to work our way through the first chapter of the book of Revelation, for any who may have missed either of the last two lessons I'd encourage you to go to the blog and read - you will probably want to pick up what you've missed.

To bring us back into perspective before we start examining things closely we're going to read all of Revelation chapter 1.

v9-10: John introduces himself and the circumstances under which all of these wonderful things are occurring.  He is a fellow believer, dealing with the suffering common to believers and the patient endurance required of all who walk in faith.  He was on the isle of Patmos, in exile specifically because he was testifying to his faith.  Historically we know he was exiled by Domitian, an Emperor of Rome.  Domitian was one of 3 Emperors that wanted to be worshiped as a god while living, in general the Romans held that Emperors we deity once dead.  It is rumored though not known as historical fact that Domitian tried to have John killed but John couldn't be killed, so he sent John away.  This places the timing of the writing of Revelation at approximately 100 years after the birth of Christ.  After Domitian dies John gets released and returns to Ephesus and continues his work for the Lord with the churches, and he does eventually die of natural causes. 

The following is from Fox's Book of Martyrs:

John was "in the Spirit" - we don't know exactly what he meant but we can presume that he may have been in prayer and meditation, in communion and submission to the Holy Spirit.  It's possible he was in a trance- or dream-like state, such as Peter was in Acts 10:9-16, or as described by Paul in 2 Corinthians 12:2.  In any case John was purposefully in the act of worshiping God.

"On the Lord's Day" - there are various opinions.  Some say the Sabbath, others say Sunday, and there are even those who think it is "The Day Of The Lord" though the original language doesn't support this 3rd view.

He heard a voice "like a trumpet" - more accurately it should read "like a shofar" - the horn used to gather the people of Israel or the armies of God.  A powerful voice!

v11: In many of our translations we're missing something here, and I don't know why it has been omitted.  In the Greek this verse starts with another "I Am", this time saying "I Am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last".  Perhaps most translations don't include it because this is already stated in verse 8, or because this will be stated again in verse 17, I don't know - but it clearly points out that the speaker is God.

The following is from The Interlinear Bible, published by Sovereign Grace Publishers:

God is telling John to write down what he is seeing, and to send it to seven churches.  John has been a faithful witness of what he has seen in the past, he has testified to the life & impact of Jesus, now he is being asked to testify once again to the things of God.   The seven churches listed are seven real churches that existed in John's day, and as I pointed out when back in verse 4 the word for church is indicating a local gathering of believers.  The thing that might give you goosebumps is that there are those who point out that the letters also outline church history through the ages since the death of Christ, and if they were in any other order this wouldn't hold true.

The seven churches are Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea.  If you peek ahead and look at chapters 2 & 3 you'll notice that the letters specifically written to these 7 churches are in the order listed in this verse.  If you look at a map of the locations of these cities you'll notice that the order is given starting at Ephesus and going in a clockwise manner.

The following is from Tyndale Handbook of Bible Charts & Maps:

v12-16:  John turns to see, and who does he see?  He sees the one who's favorite title for Himself in the gospels is "Son Of Man", this title is used more than 80 times, this is none other than Jesus!  If you aren't sure of his identity hang on, because we're going to see this more clearly a little later in this chapter.  Daniel 7:13 -14 gives us another picture of this one that is "like a son of man".  He is described as wearing this long robe with a golden sash, and I can't help but think of this as His High Priestly garments because we know that He now acts as our High Priest interceding for us (Hebrews 7:23-28).

We start to get into some of that symbolic language now when it comes to Jesus description, it's kinda nice that we were warned about this in verse 1 (check out Lesson 1 if you don't recall this).  This description sounds a bit strange, perhaps even a little grotesque, but God is not grotesque - He is beautiful beyond the description of human words!  With that in mind one thing to look for when you're reading text that may be symbolic are the words "like" and "as" - these words tell us that we're getting symbols and/or figures of speech.  His hair was white "like" wool or "as white as" snow, His eyes were "like" blazing fire.  If we think about His eyes being like fire we could think of them as being penetrating - like when Jesus looked at Peter in Luke 22:60-62.

His feet were "like" fine brass glowing in a furnace - if you're someone who likes a challenge I'm going to suggest you do a word study on "brass" (or bronze depending on your translation).  You'll find an odd incident in Numbers 21 dealing with a bronze serpent... I'll leave it at that and let you discover the significance of this on your own.  His voice, previously described "like" the shofar is now described "as" the sound of rushing waters - and I couldn't help but think of the thundering of a large waterfall like Niagara - a deep rumble, if you're standing nearby it's hard to speak to the person beside you.  He's holding 7 stars in his right hand, that doesn't sound too freaky and we'll find out in a couple verses what those are.  

Out of His mouth is coming a sharp double-edged sword... ok, time to back up a a bit and look at some other scriptures as well, because this sounds really weird.  Back in verses 8 & 11 He said He was the "Alpha" & "Omega" - the first and last letters of the alphabet that John was using.  John 1:1 & 14 - Jesus is the Word, in Greek that would be the Logos, so it's only fitting that the Word would mean the whole Word, everything revealed by God from A-Z, we've got the same author here (John) who wrote John 21:25 - there is something very significant about Jesus being the Word.  What is this two-edged sword, it may very well be the active word of God as described in Hebrews 4:12-13.  We get the sense because of the symbol used that Judgement will be ushering forth from His mouth - and in later chapters we will see that happening.  One commentator I've been listening to mentioned that Jesus mouth is a weapon that cannot be disobeyed - when He speaks people do as He says whether or not they want to Isaiah 45:23 & Philippians 2:9-11, when the time comes He will need no other weapon to defeat rebellious mankind (Ephesians 6:17).

v17-18:  Nobody knows Jesus like John did, yet what does John do when faced with Jesus in His glory?  He falls down on his face as if he were dead!  Isaiah also had an interesting reaction in similar circumstances (Isaiah 6:1-5).  Jesus doesn't leave John on his face, He touches him and reassures him - there's an amazing parallel to a similar account involving Jesus & John in Matthew 16:28-17:9.  At the transfiguration John got a glimpse of the glory of Jesus, this time John sees Jesus in full glory.  It's interesting to note that Jesus prophetic words in Matthew 16:28 were fulfilled partially at the transfiguration, and fully in the events of the book of Revelation.  That John was specifically set aside for this purpose may be hinted at in another place in scripture  (John 21:20-24).

Jesus tells John "do not be afraid", these same words are echoed many times in scripture, each time followed by a special commissioning by God - this is no exception.  God, Jesus in this case, has a specific job for John, the recording of His revelation.  Jesus claims to be the "I Am" (two words in Greek - see Lesson 2), the First and the Last.  We know it's Jesus by what is said in verse 18 - He is the Living One, he was dead and now He is alive.  He holds the keys of Death & Hades - He is victorious over death (1 Corinthians 15:50-57).

Has anyone of you ever had a J.W. come to your door?  These verses, 17 & 18, in their favorite book of the Bible, is one of the best arguments you can present to prove to them that Jesus is God (they believe Jesus is a "g" god).  He makes multiple claims to his deity here but they would be likely to discount most - what they won't discount is this: "the First and the Last" is always the one they call Jehovah God.  Then all you need to do is ask them "when did Jehovah die?"... verse 18 specifically says "I was dead" - that can be no other than our Lord Jesus Christ!!

A full list of verses (this will be on the blog) to show to a J.W. would be as follows, each time asking "who is the First and the Last?" or "who is the Alpha and the Omega?": Isaiah 41:4, 44:6, 48:12; Revelation 1:8, 1:11 (in a version that has the I Am statement), 1:17-18, 2:8 (which also speaks about Him dying and coming to life again), 22:13.

The following is from The Interlinear Bible, published by Sovereign Grace Publishers:

v19: This verse actually gives us God's outline of the Revelation:

Chapter 1 - what you have seen

Chapters 2-3 - what is now

Chapters 4-22 - what will take place later

John is instructed to write these things down for all to see.

v20: Jesus specifically interprets some of the images John has seen: 

7 Stars: Angels of the 7 churches - the term for Angels as used in Revelation is exclusively used to mean Angelic beings, though some interpret the Greek word (Angel = Messenger) to indicate the pastor/elders of the churches.  I disagree with the pastor/elder view for the following reasons: angels & elders are both called out later in the book (Revelation 7:11) & if Jesus meant elder here He could have used that specific word but He didn't, stars are frequently used figuratively to represent angelic beings and this is not true of pastor/elders.  I believe that angelic beings minister to God's people (Hebrews 1:14, Matthew 18:10) and it is not a stretch that angelic beings might also minister to individual churches.

7 Lampstands: 7 churches, which we should conclude are the 7 previously mentioned churches.  It's interesting that if we glance back up at verse 13 we see that Jesus is among the seven lampstands - He is in the midst of His churches, inspecting His churches, and working on their behalf (Matthew 18:18-20). Each church, like each believer, has an appointed mission to bear light to the world.  That was also the appointed mission of Israel - this may be why her official symbol is a Menorah (not a Star Of David), though Israel appears at this time to have failed in this mission she still has a future light-bearing mission that we will see later in Revelation chapter 7.

Are we as a church fulfilling God's mission?  Are we shining light into the world?  Or have we become like Israel was in Jesus day, inwardly focused and paying little attention to the unsaved world around us?  This is something we should carefully consider!

Prayer:  Lord, there's so much in this first chapter yet we have so much more yet to come.  Help our understanding of this passage, help us each to testify as John has testified, help us as a church to be a lampstand that shines brightly for the world to see.  Amen!

Revelation - Lesson 2

Gaining Perspective & Momentum

Prayer: God, help us as we consider this magnificent book of prophecy.  Help us to understand it in light of the whole of scripture, and help us to understand it on its own.  Help us to have and keep a healthy perspective while studying, with minds open to what you have to teach us.  Amen!

Last week we got through a whole whopping 3 verses, this week I'm going to attempt to get us through a second portion of chapter 1.  I say attempt because in order to go forward I felt as if it were important to take a step back... let me elaborate.  

Humor me for a moment and imagine you're standing on a rocky beach on the North Shore, and imagine how you might describe the rocks below your feet to a friend.  You might simply continue to stand, and remark about the variety of colors & shapes, and stop there at your explanation - but that wouldn't really do justice to the rocks there.  You might stoop down and take a closer look, picking up individual rocks and noting the various types & their crystalline forms, you might mention agates in particular - doing this would give a friend a better understanding.  You might also give an overview of the topography of the area, how it was shaped & formed (glaciers) - and doing that would provide a friend with an even better understanding.  You could look at the rocks under a high-powered microscope, or attempt to describe the scene as viewed from space - but those descriptions might be more than your friend wants to know.

So what I'm going to try to do is this:  Like your description standing there looking down at the rocks we're going to read the chapter & take it in at face value.  Like your description involving the topography, how things were shaped & formed, I'm going to attempt to do a brief overview of the Bible & Revelation in general.  And like stooping down and examining the rocks I'm going to spend some time picking up and looking at individual verses.  I'm going to try to keep from getting too hung up in minutia, and I'm going to try to keep from backing away so far that you can't see what we're studying.

First, lets simply read this entire chapter out loud, to give ourselves the general picture of what we're studying.  (Rev chapter 1)

Now to some basic things I want you to know about the Bible.  The word Bible simply means Library, what we call our Bible is a library of sorts containing 66 individual books by over 40 different human authors, but acting as a single whole integrated message.  

Central Themes:

Old Testament - account of a nation, Israel.

New Testament - account of a man, the God-man Jesus.

The New is in the Old concealed, the Old is in the new revealed.

Central Character: Jesus!

Jesus as Creator (John 1:1-3) - the Creator becomes a man, His appearance is central not only to the Bible but to all human history (whether or not people acknowledge Him).

Jesus as Redeemer - He died to purchase our lives, to pay the price for our sins.

Jesus as Sanctifier - He continues to intercede on our behalf, to draw believers into more intimate fellowship with Him.

Jesus as King - Jesus is the Prince of Peace & King of Kings, He reigns in heaven & I believe He will have a literal 1000 year reign on earth from David's throne.

In the Old Testament there are 1845 references to Christ's (Messiah's) rule on the earth, 17 Old Testament books give prominence to that issue.  The Jews were so fixated on the ruling aspect of Messiah that they failed to recognize Him when He came (a warning to us).  The Jews knew the passages about Messiah being a Suffering Servant, such as Isaiah 52:13-53:12, but they didn't think one Messiah could fulfill both rolls (they expected 2 Messiahs), and they didn't expect that Messiah would be God Incarnate (God come in the flesh).

In the New Testament there are 318 references to Jesus 2nd coming, mentioned in 23 of the 27 New Testament books.  For every prophecy of Jesus 1st coming (which were fulfilled literally) there are 7-8 regarding His 2nd coming.

Overview of the Bible as it pertains to Christ:

  Old Testament- Christ in Prophecy - He comes.

  Gospels - Christ in History - He dies.

  Acts - Christ in the Church - He lives.

  Epistles - Christ in Experience - He saves.

  Revelation - Christ in Glory - He reigns.

Just to hint at how integrated this message system we call the Bible is I'm going to mention the book of Joshua.  Joshua, or more accurately Y'Shua, is the Hebrew name that is the same name as Jesus (which is an Anglicized version of the Greek name).  That should be a hint to us to pay attention to that book... it involves some very odd behavior on the part of the people of Israel, especially as involves the battle of Jericho.  If you want to challenge yourself take another look at the book of Joshua again in comparison to Revelation, you'll find there are many strange and interesting parallels.

Back to the Bible as a whole... since it is one message we would expect that things which started at the beginning of the scriptures (specifically in Genesis) would come to a conclusion at the end of the scriptures (in Revelation) - and they do.

The following is from the book The Revelation Record by Dr. Henry M. Morris:

Now on to some overview items/thoughts about Revelation.

Some things that are currently out-of-place are put in place in Revelation (this is not a complete list):

Israel as a nation finally inhabits the whole of the promised land.

The Church, the body of believers, is in heaven.

The Lamb is on His own Throne.

Satan is bound & eventually destroyed.

I want to stop for a second and say something that I'm going to tell you is my opinion, but that I think the scriptures back up.  Take it as simply opinion.  I believe that Israel (faithful Jews) and the Church have different destinies, different purposes.  Though Israel & the Church share a common God and a History they obviously are different.  In fact I think that the Saints, the true believers in God, fall into 3 categories:

Old Testament Saints - faithful Jews of the Old Testament times (perhaps some current & future as well - this is for God to know), Israel is in scripture equated with the Wife of God (at times unfaithful - see Hosea).

New Testament Saints - faithful believers in Christ, the true Church, a.k.a. the Bride of Christ.

Tribulation Saints - those who come to faith during the Tribulation (the Holy Spirit may not be available to them).

That said, it's my opinion and not something to get hung up about.

Revelation - a brief outline:

Chapters 1-3: The Church Age

Chapters 4-19: Period of Judgement - Tribulation, split into two halves:

4-11 - first half, 12-19 - second half

Chapter 20: Kingdom Age, 1000 years, Millennium

Chapters 21-22: Eternal Age

Some people point to the fact that the Church is never mentioned after chapter 3 as proof of a Pre-Tribulation rapture of the Church - most who interpret the scriptures with a literal bent follow this line of thinking.  One of the commentators I like to listen to says we'll be "watching from the Mezzanine".

Something you'll come to recognize very quickly is that the number 7 occurs frequently in Revelation.   The number 7 typically represents fullness or completion.

The following is from the book The Revelation Record by Dr. Henry M. Morris:

Something to make you think: why do most cultures throughout the world & throughout history use a 7 day week?  It's not astronomical or physiological.... something to ponder.

In Revelation the 7s are even more interesting when you realize that some major events come in 7s with the 7th event in the series ushering in the next series of 7s:

7 Seals, the 7th of which ushers in...

7 Trumpets, the 7th of which ushers in...

7 Bowls...

It is called a Heptadic (seven-fold) structure.

Lets start looking at the individual stones...

We've already done a lesson on verses 1-3, so we won't be repeating those (see Lesson #1).

v4-6: John - he needs no further introduction, those who initially received this letter would have known him by this singular name.  This is the disciple John, the one called "the beloved", one of the two "Sons of Thunder", a former fisherman in Zebedee's (Dad's) fishing business, business partners with his brother & fellow disciple James, also business partners with the brothers & disciples Peter & Andrew.  John was an early disciple of John the Baptist, later called to follow Jesus.  He was well connected & knew the High Priest & Nicodemus (Israel's most revered teacher).  He was one of Jesus' inner circle which included James & Peter (and on at least one occasion Andrew) who had been given extra exposure to Jesus & His miracles & teachings.  John is the only disciple who visited Jesus while He was on the cross, and was the disciple to whom the care of Jesus' mother was assigned - historical accounts indicate he took this assignment seriously & it is believed that the book of 2 John may have been written specifically to Mary.  He is the writer of the Gospel of John, I-II-III John, and Revelation.

John reaches further back than any other Bible writer to before creation (John chapter 1), and further forward than any other Bible writer (Revelation chapter 22).

I had pointed out to me by a commentator that John was likely the youngest of Jesus 12 disciples, the "baby" of the group & perhaps only a teen when walking with our Lord.  That he was the youngest was indicated by the fact that he leaned against Jesus at the last supper & asked Jesus questions.  In traditional Jewish families at Passover the youngest got to lean against the Father and ask questions.

To the seven churches - in this case "churches" would have a similar meaning to today's use - the gatherings of believers.

Province of Asia: a Roman province, we might call this Asia Minor, today this area is part of the country of Turkey.

Grace & Peace: Charis - typical Greek greeting & Shalom - typical Hebrew greeting, both with much more meaning in the minds of believers.

Who sends Grace & Peace - none other than God the Father (who was & is & is to come), the Holy Spirit (7 Spirits or 7-fold Spirit), and Jesus Christ - all three persons of the Trinity.  Some might argue that the "7 Spirits" are Angels - but the context doesn't bear that out.  In Isaiah 11:2 we get a 7-fold description of the Holy Spirit, or 7-fold may simply be speaking to the fullness/completion of the Holy Spirit.

Normally we read the Trinity in the order: Father, Son, Holy Spirit... but this time the Son is mentioned last, probably to allow for the more expansive description that follows:

Faithful Witness: fulfilled perfectly the Father's will while walking the earth.

Firstborn From The Dead: first to be resurrected. 

Ruler of the Kings Of The Earth - this during His millennial reign.

His titles deal with 3 tenses - His job as Witness is past, completed at the cross.  His job as the Firstborn is present, His current state.  His future role is to be the Ruler from David's throne - in the millennium.

We also see these tenses in the description of the Father, and we see these tenses in the actions that Christ does for us:

Loved us - died for our sakes, and continues to love us.

Frees us from our sins - this is continuous.

Made us to be a kingdom & priests - our future role in service to the Father.

Don't be surprised to see other examples that fit the "tenses" of past / present / future within this book.

Notice that when it says we are a kingdom of priests its to serve His Father - it's interesting that it's worded this way, and it points to the difference in His relationship to His father (only begotten son) and ours (adopted sons).

v7-8: He is returning just as He said He would - Matthew 24:30 & 26:64.  He will be seen by all the peoples of the earth, even those who pierced Him (Jews), and they will mourn - Zechariah 12:10.  That He was pierced is recorded in John 19:34, with a partial fulfillment of Zechariah's prophecy noted in John 19:37. 

The first of 7 "I Am" statements is given in verse 8, the Alpha & the Omega.  It's interesting that I had pointed out to me by one commentator that "I Am" as we would use it in casual speech is only one of the two words that gets translated into "I Am", that the two words combined give special emphasis not in casual speech.  It would be more like "I, I Am" or "I Am who I Am", perhaps we might write it "I Am the Self-Existent One".

The following is from The Interlinear Bible, published by Sovereign Grace Publishers:

(to be continued…)

Prayer: Lord God thank you for giving us the ability to look at your word in a variety of ways, and help us as we seek to gain understanding to not get a viewpoint that is either too expansive or too narrow.  Lord for each that is studying this passage help them to come away with something new that they have learned, a precious stone of knowledge they can carry with them.  Amen!

Revelation - Lesson 1

A Singularly Magnificent Revelation

Prayer: God you are magnificent, and yet even that word doesn't start to express your majesty, you are wonderful and have created a universe filled with wonders, a universe that is phenomenally complex on both a grand and a minute scale.  We are puny and insignificant, in the words of the David (Psalm 8:4) "What is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them?" - yet, you invest yourself if mankind, you reach out to these puny rebellious creatures with love and compassion beyond understanding.  Help us God to grapple with this Revelation that you have given to us as a precious gift, help us to treat it as a precious gift, help us to not be frustrated or confused by this Revelation, help us instead to respond to it with awe and wonder.

As I was sitting to prepare today's lesson I approached this lesson with more than a little caution.  The book of Revelation gives us a glimpse beyond the veil, a glimpse into the future as well as a glimpse into the throne room; but it does much more than that, it gives us a glimpse of the mind of Almighty God.

If we approach this book expecting to come away with a completely clear understanding of it, then we approach it with arrogance.  I don't want to be arrogant, that's not what God wants me to be!  Don't get me wrong, God wants us to study this book, God wants us to understand and know what He is communicating, but sometimes our very ability to think and reason can get in our way.

As I was pondering all this, and praying, I glanced at my cat Oreo.  I thought about how she trusts me and loves me and wants to be near me even though she doesn't understand a word I say; even so, she loves it when I talk to her.  I thought Oreo could probably understand God much better than I do, she simply trusts and loves, and that's how we should approach God.  As we approach this particularly special book of the Bible we need to approach is with simple trust, seeking to know God better and love Him more because He cared to talk to us and tell us these marvelous things - things we aren't likely to completely understand.

Before we even crack open the book of Revelation there are a couple other passages we need to look at first.

James 3:1 - a warning to teachers - my prayer is that nothing I teach would confuse or mislead or be against God in any way, I take this warning seriously.

Acts 17:11 - the Bereans - I want you to make sure you don't simply believe everything Annette teaches, I want you to prayerfully and carefully examine the scriptures for yourself.

I was reading a commentary by J Vernon McGee and he called out two reasons why he was approaching doing a commentary on Revelation with caution.

First - he felt that to understand Revelation you must first have a firm grasp on the other 65 books of the Bible.

Second - he felt that he was in the midst of dark, evil days - and that was in 1975.

I find I disagree with McGee in this: I think Revelation has something to teach every believer no matter how well they know the remainder of scripture; however, the better grasp you have of scripture as a whole the better you'll be able to understand it.   Because general Bible knowledge is needed for a better understanding there will be times when I will sidetrack us to other portions of scripture, which shouldn't be a surprise to those who have been attending this class.

I agree with McGee that the times we live in are evil, we live in a time when the light of God is becoming more and more obscured - some from forces outside the organized church, some from within the organized church.  

Mark 4:30-32 - mustard seed - the mustard seed was the smallest seed known & used commonly throughout Israel, they are very tiny.  When Jesus spoke of the kingdom of God here He was speaking of the Church, His Church, the True Church which is the collection of His believers throughout the ages.  His Church is now humongous, there have been millions if not billions of believers throughout the ages.  His Church can be found among multiple human denominations, and you might think of these "branches" in the parable as a denomination or particular theological viewpoint.  Some of these branches have become a place for birds to perch - what does this mean?  Birds are symbolic in scripture of evil spirits, in fact in an earlier parable in Mark 4 they are specifically associated with Satan.  Satan and his minions are busy at work not just to attack the church from the outside but to attack it from within as well.  So the light of God in this world is obscured, the True Church is under attack, and believers are becoming more and more ineffective.  God's light hasn't changed it is still there but not clearly seen.  

My Dad's best friend is named Terry, his wife's name is Mary.  When I was a kid we did a lot of camping, when Terry & Mary were dating they came on a camping trip with my family and some other families we were friends with.  Mary was from L.A., she'd grown up there & lived there all her life, she'd really never been far from L.A.  The camping trip in question was in a remote area in the Desert.  At night, at some point, she was away from the campfire and the lights & looked up at the night sky, and was completely terrified... she thought the sky had exploded!  The city of L.A. is so bright with city lights she'd never seen the stars well, and the Desert is so dark and such a wide expanse and so dry that it makes just about the best place to view stars with the naked eye.  The sky hadn't changed, the stars had been there all along, Mary had just never seen anything like the starlight she saw in the Desert that night, once she knew everything was OK she was in awe.  My prayer for each of us as we study this marvelous Revelation is that we would be astonished by the light it brings, that we would come away with a deeper awe and reverence for God.

What is the title of this book?  Not Revelations, but Revelation - one singular marvelous revelation.  In the Greek the word is Apocalypsis, but it doesn't mean something terrible it means: an uncovering, an unveiling, a disclosure, something that is revealed to us.

Revelation 1:1: Whose revelation is it?  God the Father gave it to Jesus who gave it to His Angel who gave it to John (the beloved).  The Revelation is God's (the Father's), it was given to Jesus by the Father in some form of communication that is completely foreign to us.  Jesus somehow managed to communicate this Revelation to His Angel, an Angel specifically chosen to serve Him in this manner.  The Angel then communicated it to John.  Some translations are clearer in the meaning of a portion of this verse which indicate that Jesus sent and signified it by His Angel to John, this wording is important as it tells us that Jesus had to interpret the revelation for the Angel in order for the Angel understand and transmit the message to John.  Right away we are being told that symbols and figures are needed to communicate this message since the communication that went from the Father to the Son is more than even this Angel could understand.  Finally John communicates it to you and I, one thing you will recognize is that there are things in this book that John struggles to attempt to put  into human language, so word-pictures & figures are needed.  The particular greek word for signified means to give a sign, to indicate, to make known - this indicates that there are symbol-codes or figurative representations, symbolic language.

This brings us to our first hurdle in the study of Revelation - the various positions regarding the events in this book.  Some of these differences are because of the symbolic language... that doesn't mean that the entire book is nothing but symbols though there are some that hold that position.

Positions:  There are 3 major positions: Amillennial, Post-Millennial, and Premillennial.

Amillennial - there is no literal 1000 year reign of Christ (a.k.a. Millennium).

Post-Millennial - we are already in the Millennium or it has already occurred - i.e. we are within or living after the 1000 year reign of Christ.

Some Amillennial and Post-Millennial viewpoints:

These views are held by some liberal and orthodox churches:

Preterist - applied to the problems and persecutions of the early church, intended to encourage the church throughout its trials under Rome at that time, and written in a way to prevent the book from being understood by unbelievers.

Idealist - the entire book is simply allegorical - its a series of parables designed to encourage troubled believers to trust in the ultimate triumph of good over evil, of Christ over Satan.

These views are/were held by many protestant churches, which consider Roman Catholicism to be an evil force in this world.

Historical - the events symbolically represent a sequence of events from the time of the writing of the book until the coming of Christ. 

Cyclic - similar to Historical, but in a repetitive & cyclical manner.

Most who are of the Amillennial or Post-Millennial positions don't bother to study most of Revelation because it honestly isn't something they're concerned about.  Either they don't think it involves real events or they think the real events are mostly or fully in the past (exceptions between the viewpoints start at about chapter 20).  I'm going to just state up front that I'm not going to keep these two viewpoints in mind as we study.  That said lets stop here and be very clear, we must not be divisive if we have differences of opinions with our brothers & sisters in Christ, let us be gracious and agree to disagree.

Premillennial - literal future fulfillment.  This is the position I take, not because it is the position of the Baptist church in general, but because a simple straightforward reading of the passage leads me to believe this.  Among those who are Premillennial there are 3 major positions: Pre-Tribulation, Mid-Tribulation, Post-Tribulation.  This has to do with the timing of the resurrection of the saints - whether it's before (Pre) in the middle (Mid) or after (Post) a 7 year period of trouble described in Revelation which we call the Tribulation.  Those among the Premillennial who take things more symbolically tend to lean toward Post-Tribulation, those who are more literal tend to lean toward Pre-Tribulation.  Personally I've heard very good arguments for all 3 positions and the philosophy I take on it is this: I'm hoping for Pre & preparing for Post.

Revelation 1:2: This verse points out that the John in question that is given the Revelation is the John who testified to Jesus Christ, the John who was called the beloved (the one the Jesus loved), one of Jesus inner circle, one of the pair of brothers known as the "Sons of Thunder" - a nickname given to them by Jesus.  We'll talk a bit more about John when we get to verse 9.

  

Revelation 1:3: Why should we study this book of Revelation?  It is the only book of the Bible that promises a blessing to those who read or hear it and take it to heart.  If you read this book, if you study this book, you will be blessed - this is a promise of God and His promises can't be broken!  It also tells us the time is near - near in our terms, it's hard to know, but near in God's terms - in other words it is imminent, it will come to pass.  I want to point out something else in this verse, it proclaims this is a book of Prophecy.

Revelation 1:1-3 (re-read): God, right up front, is telling us what the purpose of this book is - it is His revelation given to us, given to us to bless us, given to us so that we will know what will take place.  God very specifically sent this revelation for our sakes, and did some pretty remarkable things to get the message to us, that alone should get our attention & create in us a hunger to understand the message He is sending.

Before I close us in prayer are there any questions?

Closing Prayer:  Lord God we've just barely scratched the surface, yet already we've learned that you have a blessing in store for us.  Thank you for this very special message that you revealed to us.  Amen.

Sorry about that… for those on a "feed"...

Sorry about all the new posts that occurred today, I was having to re-organize the way I was using this blog and there just wasn't any way around creating a bunch of new posts to replace some content that had previously been available in another form.

Thanks for your understanding,

  Annette

Life Of David - Lesson 16

Saul's Bitter End & David's Bitter Grief - 1 Samuel 28 - 29

Prayer: Lord God, you know physical death is difficult for us to grapple with, our perspective is earthly while Earth is our home.  Though we know there is an eternity ahead we struggle with the painful circumstances of this temporary physical realm.  It's even harder Lord when the death is that of one who is not of Your faithful... there is a part of us that cries out for that person to have one more chance, so as we grapple with death help us Lord to trust you to be the one who is completely competent and fair to Judge those who have passed from this life into eternity.

We've come to a bitter & tragic passage this week, Saul & his forces are facing horrendous odds against a much larger & more powerful foe - the Philistines, and this time God is not on Saul's side.

1 Samuel 31 v1-10 (NIV), compare to 1 Chronicles 10 v1-10 (NIV): 

What additional detail does Chronicles give?  Saul's head hung in the temple of Dagon.

What a tragic end for Israel's first king.  Remember how he started?  He was a bit timid but trying to do what God had asked of him.  But how did he end?  He sought out a medium, an act that is in defiance of God, he refused to bow his will to God's, and in his last moments refused to turn to God and trust his life in God's hands - instead he did what he'd habitually done, took matters into his own hands, sought to control the situation instead of submit, and took his own life.  Saul wanted control, Saul wanted to decide his own fate, and Saul got a fate I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy - an eternity separated from God and all that is good.

Lets look at what else we learn from this passage: 

v2: Jonathan, David's best friend & Saul's son, dies at the hand of the Philistines. 

v3: Saul was critically wounded.

v4: Saul asks his armor bearer to kill him, he wouldn't so Saul killed himself.  Note: a common practice of the day was to humiliate and mutilate prize victims - the Philistines had done so previously to Samson during the time of the Judges (Judges 16:21-25).

v5: The armor bearer, seeing Saul is dead, takes his own life.

v7: Israelites living in the area flee & the Philistines take over their towns.

v9: Saul's head is cut off, messages of victory are spread throughout the Philistine territory - giving honor to their gods.

v10: Saul's armor is hung as a trophy in the temple of the Ashtoreths, Saul's body is fastened to the wall of the city of Beth Shan (likely the outer wall of the city, displayed as a sign of strength & victory), and Saul's head (1 Chronicles) is fastened in the temple of Dagon.

1 Samuel 31 v11-13 & 1 Chronicles 10 v11-12: A group of valiant Israelite men from Jabesh Gilead put themselves at great personal risk to travel to the city of Beth Shan to retrieve the bodies of Saul & his Sons - apparently the sons were also fastened to the city wall.  It doesn't mention them going into the temples (which would have been a suicide mission) so I can't help but conclude that they didn't recover the armor, and that they didn't recover Saul's head.  They burned the bodies, this was not common practice in that day - it's believed this was done to prevent the bodies from being further abused by the Philistines should they be captured & the bodies recovered.  The bones were taken back to Jabesh (in Israel) and buried, and a time of fasting & mourning occurred.

Why would this group of Israelites risk their lives to spare Saul's body from further humiliation?  Hadn't Saul been a harsh & cruel leader?  The answer to this takes us back to 1 Samuel chapter 11, when Saul was still young and useful to God - it records that the Spirit of God came upon Saul and he was empowered to save the people of the city of Jabesh Giliead, and kept them from being mutilated by the Philistines. (1 Samuel 11:1-11)

1 Chronicles 10 v13-14: Saul's death marks the tragic end of a life that refused to submit to God, and Saul's death will result in something Saul desperately tried to prevent: David's rise to be King over Israel... but we're not there quite yet.

2 Samuel 1 v1-3: David and his men have returned from rescuing their people and getting plunder from the Amalekites who had raided Ziklag while they were away.  Its now two days later and a bedragled messenger arrives to bring David the news about the Philistine war against Israel.  That this messenger isn't exactly a friend, despite the fact that he bows down before David, can probably be seen in his statement in verse 3 that he "escaped the Israelite camp".

v4: David wants more details, so he presses this man for information, only to learn that his old nemesis Saul, and his best friend Jonathan, have fallen in battle; additionally, he learns that Israel has suffered great losses.

v5-10: David wants the details, so he continues his inquiry.  We find out some interesting things here:

v6: According to the messenger Saul was wounded but alive when he arrived.

v8: The messenger is an Amalekite - this is the same people group that David has just defeated in battle.

v9: According to the messenger Saul asked this man to finish him off.

v10: According to the messenger he killed Saul, and took his crown & arm band to bring to David.

I say "According to the messenger" because there are some problems with this guy's story.  He was an Amalekite hanging around a war between the Philistines & Israel, this raises interesting questions all alone.  He claims to have been the one asked to finish off Saul, but that was the armor bearer.  He claims to have come upon Saul alive & killed him presumably as an act of mercy, but it is more likely that he was there as a scavenger to loot the bodies.  He doesn't appear to know that David has just come back from defeating other Amalekites.  He does have the crown and arm band, its possible that he thought he could win favor with David & perhaps be rewarded.  

v11-12: David and his men respond properly to the news of the demise of Saul, Jonathan, the Israelite army and the Israelite people.  They tear their clothes, mourn, weep, and fast.

v13-16: The messenger is still hanging around hoping to profit from his actions, but he couldn't have been more wrong.  He didn't understand that the King he had looted & claimed to have killed was God's anointed, and he didn't understand how David would react to anyone acting against God's anointed.  The messenger's miscalculation & misunderstanding of God's people & God's ways cost him his life.

v17-18: David composed a Lament, a poem/song of grieving to remember this time, and ordered that his men be taught this lament of the bow - the bow was the most common weapon of Israel, it's possible that as part of the training in use of the bow the men would be taught this song.  The text indicates that the song, or perhaps the order regarding the song (or both), were recorded in the Book of Jashar.  We don't have this book as part of our scriptures, I don't know much about this book except that it's no longer known to be in existence, a later book by the same name is a known forgery.  This book is also mentioned in Joshua 10:13 and from these references it is presumed to be a book of hymns and/or poems that form an account of Israel's early battles.

v19-20: David laments the fall of the mighty ones of Israel, he doesn't want the news spread that would cause Israel's enemies to rejoice.

v21: David desires that this place of defeat, where the mighty were defiled, become a place that is put to shame by being unable to be fruitful.  

v22-23: David speaks respectfully of these two mighty warriors, Saul & Jonathan, father & son, who he knows would have fought valiantly & not turned away from battle.

v24: David laments for Israel, the loss of Saul & his men would be a loss for Israel as a whole - we know from the previous chapter they had already lost many fighting men as well as many cities.

v25-26: David laments his best friend Jonathan, a friend he dearly loved & missed.

v27: Israel's army is defeated, its leaders are dead, thus ends David's lament.

Closing Prayer:  Lord, dealing with death of any kind is painful for us.  Help us Lord to look at death with an eternal perspective.  Help us to find joy in the fact that a believer's death is an eternal promotion to a life lived in paradise with you, but help us to never forget that death for an unbeliever is an eternity of torment - and let this knowledge spur us on to sharing your truths with the unbelievers in our lives.  Amen! 

Next week we will switch things up and start working through the book of Revelation for a while, so I thought I'd end this lesson a little differently and have us reflect back on what we've learned from the study of David so far:

1. What have you found interesting about David as a person?

2. What good qualities do you see in David?

3. Which of David's good qualities would you like to see in yourself?

4. What bad qualities do you see in Saul?

5. Which of these bad qualities do you see in yourself?

6. What have you learned about God through studying David's life?

7. What does studying about God through the lives of David & Saul teach you about how God would have you live?