Monday, September 9, 2013

God Thinking XXV - The Beggining Of Revelation 8

"In verse 8' V8 I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.
Christ reveals Himself as the Almighty, not that there was ever any question that Jesus is God, but to affirm John’s revelation, God chose to reveal, rather than hide who He is.

V9 I John, who also am your brother, and companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was in the isle that is called Patmos, for the Word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ.
V10 I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet.

When John said, “I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day”, the word Spirit is the same word spirit as used above.  It could have been translated like this, “I was in or among the seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, the seven hard breathes of fire, the Holy Spirit.”

V11 Saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last: and, What thou seest, write in a book, and send it unto the seven churches which are in Asia; unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamos, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea.

The messages to the seven Churches has a fourfold application.

1     The local Churches of the time

2     Admonition to all churches in all times to use as a sounding block to examine their faithfulness.

3     Personal, in the exhortations like “to him that hath an ear” and “to him that overcometh”.

4     Prophetic, in that each Church reflects one of seven phases that the church has gone through in history.

V12 And I turned to see the voice that spake with me.  And being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks;

V13 And in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle.

V14 His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and His eyes were as a flame of fire;

V15 And His feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and His voice as the sound of many waters.

V16 And He had in His right hand seven stars: and out of His mouth went a sharp two-edged sword: and His countenance was as the sun shineth in His strength.
V17 And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead.  And He laid His right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last:

V18 I am He that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.”

V19 Write the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter;

V20 The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks.  The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches; and the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches.

The seven stars are the seven angels (messengers)

The seven candlesticks are the seven churches

Everything to do with any heavenly vision is about light.

The seven Spirits - lamps of fire burning before the throne representing the Holy Spirit’s ministries.

The seven stars - Personages so bright that they look like stars.

Seven candlesticks - The Churches as a light in the darkness.

When John says, “And His countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength”...
 
Did you know that our sun is the smallest star in the known universe?  

Did you know that our sun is one million times larger than our earth?  At ninety three million miles away we cannot even look at the sun.  “His countenance was as the sun”...

And when John said, “And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead” - In the presence of the sun/Son, dead was the best John could do.  There were no words that could better describe his experience, than “he fell at His feet as dead.”

Chapter One sets the stage for what is about to be revealed.  So far we see that Jesus Christ reveals Himself.  John describes what God tells Him to.  Nothing left out and nothing added.  Jesus gets John ready to write the Word of God for the Church of God.

And that’s where we are going to leave off.  Now go and read the Book of Revelation at your own pace and draw from it the rich and rewarding truths that have been too long ignored by clergy and writers for profit. You will be blessed."
 
Excerpt from God thinking XXV - The Beginning Of Revelation by Keith C. Powell Copyright 2013
 

 

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