Sword Master Publications

430 Years of Slavery

2011-12-11T19:01:00.000-06:00

I have heard over the course of my years a number of preachers and individuals talk about the 430 years that the Israelites were in slavery in Egypt. There are two things that make this an incorrect assertion.

1. Galatians 3:16-17 - ¹⁶Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ.¹⁷And this I say, that the covenant, that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law*1, which was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul, that it should make the promise of none effect.

Paul is writing about the promise to Abraham concerning Christ. He then says the covenant (the promise to Abraham) that was confirmed in Christ could not be disannulled and made of no effect by the law (the Law of Moses) which came 430 years after. Paul quite plainly says that the law (of Moses) came 430 years after the promise to Abraham. This is quite simply a contradiction to the idea that the Israelites were in Egypt for over 4 centuries. The pure histories (which are based on this false assertion to a degree also) get it wrong.

*1As a side note, it is important once again to point out that Paul here refers to the Law of Moses simply as "the law" unmodified. He does this in every letter he wrote. It is a given in his letters that when we see the term "the law" he is speaking about the Law of Moses. Only when Paul modifies the phrase "the law" by something that we may understand it to be something else.

2. A more subtle approach to understanding why the Israelites could not have been in Egypt for 430 years is the lineage of Moses. From Genesis 46 (vs. 11 specifically) we learn that Jacob, with his entire family, moves to Egypt under Joseph's reign as Pharaoh's second. His son Levi has already had his own children, among whom is Kohath. In Exodus 6:18 we know that Kohath bears a son named Amram while in Egypt. Amram grows up and marries a woman of Levi named Jacobeth, who is his aunt*2, Kohath's sister (Ex. 6:20). Amram and Jacobeth bear Aaron and Moses.

Now, Kohath only lived 133 years and part of those years were before Egypt and part of those years were after he bore Amram. Amram lived to be 137 and part of those years were after he bore his younger son, Moses. Moses grew up in Egypt and fled when he was 40. He spent 40 years in the wilderness making him 80 when the Israelites left Egypt (and then another 40 in the wilderness, where he died just before they entered the promised land).

At most with these numbers we are looking at 350 years if you add up all the numbers. Since we know that is not the case, it is closer to 200 something years that the Israelites were in Egypt. Only three generations of Levites were in Egypt, considering their longer life spans. 450 years is waaaay too long a time and an incorrect statement to make. Please check your facts before stating things like this from a position of authority.

*2 Remember that it was not until during the 40 years of wandering, well after Moses was born to Jacobeth and Amram, that incest was condemned in scripture (which has to do with the flood, the loss of the 'waters above the heaven', and the genetic degradation caused by the bombardment of UV radiation). Leviticus 18 was more than 80 years after the marriage of Amram to his aunt and not sinful.

In Truth and Love,
Ernie

Romans 1

2011-07-20T10:33:00.000-05:00

Romans 1
1Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God,

Paul is the author. He is a servant of Jesus Christ as all faithful Christians are. He was called to be an Apostle by Jesus directly (Acts 9). Separated or made holy for the purpose of preaching
the good news from God.

2(Which he had promised afore by his prophets in the holy scriptures,)

This good news, what is commonly called the gospel or the teachings of the New Testament were promised by the OT prophets. This promise was recorded by them in the OT scriptures.

3Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh;

This good news is about God’s Son, Jesus Christ, who is the Lord of all Christians. Jesus was physically descended from king David of the Israelites.

4And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead:

Jesus Christ was declared to be the Son of God according to the prophecies when Christ was raised from the dead.

5By whom we have received grace and apostleship, for obedience to the faith among all nations, for his name:

Paul and others had received grace, the gospel message of Christ, and his office (an Apostle) so that among all nations there would be obedience to the faith.

6Among whom are ye also the called of Jesus Christ:

Christians are the “called” of Jesus Christ. We know of course that it is the gospel itself that does the calling (2 Thess. 2:14; Rom. 10:17).

7To all that be in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Paul is writing to the Christians in Rome and gives his general salutation.

8First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world.

Paul is thankful to God through Christ (noting how we should pray – no one prays TO Jesus, one prays THROUGH Jesus who is our only intercessor to God).

The faith of the Roman Christians was spoken of throughout the whole kosmos.

9For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers;

God knows that Paul always prays for the church at Rome.

10Making request, if by any means now at length I might have a prosperous journey by the will of God to come unto you.

His prayers include being able to come visit them.

11For I long to see you, that I may impart unto you some spiritual gift, to the end ye may be established;

An interesting verse. This church is already established. It contains faithful Christians. Yet they could not perform miracles (no direct indwelling of the Holy Spirit). Not only that, this congregation is obviously already founded, but still needed to be established. That is a necessary and essential distinction to make.

12That is, that I may be comforted together with you by the mutual faith both of you and me.

In establishing them he helps them grow so that they can comfort one another by the faith they would then share.

13Now I would not have you ignorant, brethren, that oftentimes I purposed to come unto you, (but was let hitherto,) that I might have some fruit among you also, even as among other Gentiles.

Paul has set in his mind to come to them before but was prevented from doing so. He wanted to come to them that he could have some success preaching the gospel like he’d had among other cities.

14I am debtor both to the Greeks, and to the Barbarians; both to the wise, and to the unwise.

Paul feels he owes both the learned (Greeks) and unlearned (Barbarians), those with wisdom and without it.

15So, as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also.

What he owes is the preaching of the gospel. Note that he is ready to preach the gospel to even those who are Christians who are at Rome, even though they’ve already heard enough of it to become Christians. There is more to the gospel than just becoming a Christian. A teacher must then teach them to observe ALL things that Christ commanded after they have been immersed into Christ (Matt. 28:19).

16For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.

Paul is not ashamed of the good news concerning Christ. It is God’s power UNTO salvation. This is an important phrase here. It would be silly for me to ask for directions unTO Austin if I am already in Austin. The gospel is powerful because it gives us directions on how to get to salvation. But only to those who believe it. If I don’t believe that the map is true, I’m not going to follow it. That is where faith comes in. I trust God’s Word. I trust the map He gave us.

Paul here makes the first of many references to the Jews and non-Jews (Greeks). This was the command from Jesus (Acts 1:8) and prophesied by Isaiah (Isa. 2:3). It’s interesting because earlier he referred to the Greeks as the learned (in contrast to Barbarians). Now he contrasts them to the Jews, implying that the Jews are unlearned. He’ll revisit this comparison later in the letter.

17For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.

The gospel reveals the righteousness of God. It is a revealed faith (the faith system, not the individual faith). Those who are just (righteous, law abiding) live according to that faith system (a phrase I will use to distinguish it from individual faith – don’t get all crazy on me here).

18For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness;

God’s wrath is revealed against those who do not live according to that faith system, who do evil things and who believe the truth but do not live by it.

We’ll see in a bit that Paul is referring still to the two classes, Jew and Gentile.

19Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them.

Anything that is possible and permissible to know about God is evident to them because God showed it to them.

20For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:

God showed the truth of Himself through His Creation (a typical argument by Creationists against the Atheist and against the argument about that lonely dude out in Africa or wherever that supposedly has never heard the gospel). Both God’s omnipotence and divinity are shown through Creation and none have any excuses why they haven’t sought God.

21Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.

God is speaking here of those who knew God (the Jews). They did not glorify God nor did they thank Him for what He did for them. They became vain in their imaginations, meaning that at one time they weren’t. This is parallel to the idea of becoming by nature children of wrath. Their foolish heart was darkened implies that at one time it had been full of light (knowledge/truth). This is those who had hold of the truth but did not obey it.

More on this as we progress through the letter.

22Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,

This is the self-righteousness of the Jew. Note that they became fools. Meaning that at one time they weren’t. Under righteous leaders like David and Solomon is an example of this.

23And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things.

How often do we see the Jews turning from Jehovah God to worship idols throughout the OT. If I can make something, I’m greater than that something. I would never be so foolish as to worship a thing I had made with my own hands. It is beyond me to understand how any human would do so.

24Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves:

God does not force obedience. He let the Jews choose their path.

25Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.

This is what I said above. How could any man worship a thing he made with his own hands. These men, the Jews, who had essentially direct communication with God, who had amazing, miraculous things done for them
time and again, still changed the truth of God into a lie. This implies, of course, that at one time they worshipped the True and Living God.

26For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature:

God allowed them to choose evil desires. As they turned from the true God to false gods, so they turned from the true purpose of themselves to unnatural uses.

27And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet.

Homosexuality is evil, sinful, unseemly, unnatural, erroneous, and so on. Homosexual advocates who claim to be Christians need to read these verses and get a clue.

28And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient;

Again, retaining God implies that He started there then they didn’t keep Him there. Rejecting God led to all other kinds of sin (things which are not “convenient”, fit, appropriate, right).

29Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers,
30Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents,
31Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful:

A list of sins which we will undoubtedly return to at some point in this study.

32Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.

These men know the judgment of God. They’d seen it against Egypt, against Babylon, the Medo-Persians, the Greeks, and every wicked nation they encountered on the way from Egypt to Palestine, and every wicked
nation they overthrew in the land God promised them. They knew! and still they rejected God and committed things worthy of death and had pleasure in doing them.

It is important to understand the foundation of Paul’s letter here in his introduction, to understand the foundation that is a discussion of Jews and Gentiles with relationship to the gospel.

In Truth and Love,

Ernie

Revelation Chapter 22

2011-05-26T21:52:00.000-05:00

Revelation 22

1And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb.

The water of life is of course the gospel (Isaiah 44:3; Jeremiah 2:13; Joel 3:18; Zechariah 13:1; Zechariah 14:8; John 4:5-14; Revelation 7:17).

2In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.

The water of life flows through the middle of the golden street of the city and on either side is the tree of life (as an orchard of the same type of tree, not one single plant). Read Psalm 46. The gospel is the center of the path Christians walk. The twelve fruits available each month shows the year-round results of Christian effort. The fruit itself harkens back to the garden of Eden in Genesis 1-3 and those who eat of the fruit of it may live for ever, or in a spiritual sense eternally.

That the leaves provide healing to the nations shows this cannot be Heaven at the end of the kosmos because there is no need of healing in Heaven.

Those that overcome were given to eat of the fruit of the tree of life, hence those that overcome, the first resurrection all relate to the victory of the church over the Jewish persecutors, not to the end of the kosmos and the literal Resurrection that will take place then.

3And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him:

No more curse is a phrase that speaks of a fulfillment and taking away of the Law of Moses (Matthew 25:41; Galatians 3:10; Galatians 3:13). God the Father and Son are in the church (John 14:23). Christians are called to live lives of service while on Earth (Romans 12:1), but are granted rest in Heaven (Hebrews 4).

4And they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads.

Just like Revelation 14:1, Christians have God forefront in their minds and are lead by His will rather than their own.

5And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever.

Christ is the Sun (King) now, the new heavens, and there is no more need of earthly light, no more need of earthly guidance for an earthly kingdom. Instead, Christians are led by the gospel, the Word of God. They (referring to the Christians) will reign for the rest of time (ever is a chronological term) over the rest of the world (1 Corinthians 4:8; 1 Corinthians 6:2; 2 Timothy 2:12; ) through their teaching and example. This is different than the reign of the martyrs, or the reign of the rest of the dead for the limited duration (symbolically and not even chronological in nature) of 1000 years.

6And he said unto me, These sayings are faithful and true: and the Lord God of the holy prophets sent his angel to shew unto his servants the things which must shortly be done.

Here at the close, the statements found at the beginning are reiterated. John’s vision is now ended and he is writing in more literal terms such as he did in chapter 1.

“the Lord God of the holy prophets” is another reminder of the need to look at the Old Testament to understand the vision that John has had. The God who inspired the prophets of Old has sent His messenger to show John and the rest of the church things which must shortly be done (come to pass 1:1). The imminent nature of the events in this book from John’s perspective is unquestionable. Willful ignorance (stupidity), selfishness, and the traditions of men alone have caused this book to be interpreted as a set of still future events from our time.

7Behold, I come quickly: blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book.

Christ is coming soon relative to the writing of the book of Revelation. It is selfish and erroneous to apply this phrase to the 21^st century or beyond. The person who understands the book of Revelation and uses it properly is truly blessed (and this does apply to our time in principle).

8And I John saw these things, and heard them. And when I had heard and seen, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel which shewed me these things.

This is the second time John attempts to worship a simple messenger from God because of the visions he has seen and heard.

9Then saith he unto me, See thou do it not: for I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of this book: worship God.

The messenger stops John and indicates that he is just another servant of God and that God (including the Lamb) alone is worthy of worship (Matthew 4:10).

10And he saith unto me, Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book: for the time is at hand.

The great contrast to Daniel 8:26; Daniel 9:24; Daniel 12:4,9. Daniel wrote of things that would happen more than 400 years later. John writes of things that are “at hand” or near. And as already shown, Ezekiel sets the time-frame to within five years (Ezekiel 12).

11He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still.

This relates to the speed at which these events were coming. There is (in a figurative way) no more time for conversion because the destruction is upon them.

12And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.

Jesus will come very soon (5 times in this chapter alone this and similar indications of time are used. How is it possible to miss the point so horribly!). He will reward every man according to his faith only... No, every human will be rewarded according to their work, whether good or ill.

13I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.

In Revelation 1:8; Revelation 1:11 God declares Himself as Alpha and Omega, the beginning and end. Here Christ is speaking claiming that property for Himself (as in Revelation 21:6) indicating once again His Divine nature.

14Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.

This verse has a number of important truths wrapped up together.

1. Matthew 7:21-23. Those that obey God (do His commandments) may enter through the gates into the city-state, may enter the church of Christ. Faith alone is not enough. Work, obedience, action is required to become a part of the body of the saved, the church.

2. The tree of life, representing eternal life here spiritually, is something accessed once someone is in the city. It is not a fruit one can eat in order to enter the city. Eternal life is not salvation is not Divine Saving Grace. Eternal life is one of the many blessings Christians have once they are within the walls of the city, once they are saved.

3. The city is pictured as still open and enterable, showing that this is not Heaven pictured, but the church.

15For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie.

This is a present tense statement that speaks of those outside the church as John is writing. These all represent the state of the Jews before their fall within this context.

1. Dogs - Deut. 23:18; 2 Sam. 16:9; Matt. 7:6; 15:26-27; Phil. 3:2.; 2 Pet. 2:22

2. Sorcerers – e.g. Acts 13:6

3. Whoremongers – existence implied in Ephesians 5:5; Hebrews 13:4

4. Murderers – Matt. 23

5. Idolater – throughout the history of the Jewish nation, but specifically in this time period those who turned to Caesar worship

6. Liars - John 8:44

16I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star.

Jesus redeclares Revelation 1:1. He then identifies Himself as the root of David, the Lamb (Revelation 5:5), and the bright and morning star (2 Peter 1:19; Revelation 2:28), the Sun, the King of the new heavens and the new earth.

17And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.

Whether this is the Holy Spirit or Christ or some earthly messenger, the point is the same. The bride is the church. The call here is the gospel call.

18For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: 19And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.

In specific, those Christians who alter this letter will suffer the same fate as the Jews.

More generally, the principle of not altering God’s Word is taught here and those that do so sin.

Especially important here is the idea that those who have their names written in the book of life can have it blotted out again (Revelation 3:5) and can be removed from the holy city, the new Jerusaelm (which further proves its not Heaven or some glorified version of the church since one cannot be removed from those). The concept of eternal security is destroyed in this one verse.

20He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.

Christ states one last time at the close that the events will take place soon. Opening and closing the apocalypse with that idea. Only a fool understands this book in any modern time frame.

John places his own desire at the end, pleading for Jesus to come soon even as Jesus has said.

21The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.

John closes with the salutation that Christ’s favor be with all who read the letter.

In Truth and Love,

Ernie

Revelation Chapter 21

2011-05-24T21:34:00.003-05:00

Revelation 21

1And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.

In Revelation 20:11 the old heaven and earth fled away from before Christ. Here they are declared as passed away. There is also no more sea. Here there is a new heaven and a new earth presented. These symbols have been covered in great volume through my blogs and should be familiar to the reader. 2 Peter 3:7-13 echoes this as does the book of Hebrews (which echoes this whole chapter, truly). The sea is the sea of separation between God and the Gentiles, the Islands are no longer Islands but are part of the New Earth.

2And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

John now sees the woman from chapter 12 that was in Heaven descending (as spoken of in Revelation 3:12). This vision is in contrast to the reality of 1 Corinthians 15:24 where the kingdom is pictured as being delivered up to Heaven and back to God. This woman, the new Jerusalem, is as a bride adorned for her husband, not a betrothed bride awaiting marriage, but the newlywed made beautiful for her husband for the wedding feast. Hebrews 12:22-23 explicitly identifies this image as the church of Christ. The church is also called the city of God which will further be described below. This new Jerusalem is the Jerusalem above in contrast to old physical Jerusalem as found in Galatians 4.

3And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.

Echoing John 14:23, God will come and dwell with His people who are the New Testament Temple of God. This is not the faithful going to dwell with Him in Heaven, but God coming to dwell in the faithful.

4And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.

Echoing Isaiah 65:19 the end to tears and death and sorry and all of this is a reference to the end of persecution at the hands of the Jews. That persecution, which was the most intense recorded in scripture, has passed away with the passing of the Jewish system of things.

5And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.

The old has vanished away (Heb. 8:13) and Christ has made all things new just as promised (2 Cor 5:17), just as prophesied.

6And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.

God, who is the beginning and end of all things, He who began the Israelite nation for their specific purpose, has now ended them. Those who seek after righteousness will find the gospel. I firmly believe this is a declaration of Divine Providence that any in the world who would obey the gospel are given exposure to it. The major lesson of Revelation for Christians is that God ALWAYS keeps His promises.

7He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.

The last admonition to overcome to those who would receive John’s letter is that they would inherit this new system as the children of God, the new Israel. Specifically this verse limits the extent of the epilogue, Revelation 21-22, to the time period presented in the rest of the book.

8But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.

Those who give in to seductions of the whore, those who fall prey to the earth beast’s false teachings, those wicked servants who bury their talent, all classes of people who persecuted the church will face the same fate, the end of their cause.

9And there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will shew thee the bride, the Lamb's wife.

One of the messengers then calls John to see the bride of Christ, Christ’s wife. This is the church of Christ.

10And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God,

In showing John the bride of Christ, John sees “the great city”. This is the final proof that the great city from before, the wicked whore called Babylon, is old Jerusalem. For now the new Jerusalem is the great city, the holy Jerusalem. John sees the holy, pure church in symbolic form.

11Having the glory of God: and her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal;

Harkening back to the scene in Revelation 4, the woman is adorned with the symbols of the King.

12And had a wall great and high, and had twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and names written thereon, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel: 13On the east three gates; on the north three gates; on the south three gates; and on the west three gates. 14And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.

The wall of the new Jerusalem, the church, provides ultimate protection from those who would do it harm. The wall has twelve symbolic gates. There are twelve messengers representing the twelve tribes. This wall is symbolic of the protection afforded by the gospel. The gates or the entry into the city represent the Old Testament, the teacher or school master, by which we can understand the New. It was the 1500 years of Jewish history that led man to understand Christ and from these twelve tribes Christ arose.

The foundation for entry into the city, though, rests on the teachings of the apostles, the gospel message. No matter where one is in relation to the city, the only way to enter is according to the gospel.

In total, this is parallel to the 24 elders from chapter 4. It represents all of God’s faithful both Old and New Testament, who have remained obedient to God, bringing about the full establishment of the church through their preaching, through their example. Their lessons, recorded in scripture, serve as a beacon of light, of hope, and a protective barrier to those who would enter her, sealing them with the assurance these have already realized.

15And he that talked with me had a golden reed to measure the city, and the gates thereof, and the wall thereof.

The golden reed is similar to that given to Ezekiel. It is a standard by which to measure the dimensions of the church, the gospel. In Ezekiel, the city was measured for destruction. Here, the city measures up to God’s standard and will stand in victory in spite of the enemies which now have been destroyed.

16And the city lieth foursquare, and the length is as large as the breadth: and he measured the city with the reed, twelve thousand furlongs. The length and the breadth and the height of it are equal.

The city is the new earth taking up enough space to fill the whole promised land (Palestine) the “earth”. This is because the church, the people of God, ARE the new earth. This is in fulfillment of the promise that the Christians would inherit the earth (Isaiah 11:9; Matthew 5:5).

17And he measured the wall thereof, an hundred and forty and four cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is, of the angel.

The 144 (12x12) cubits of thickness of the wall is a reiteration of the wall itself. The messenger that is a man is the work of Christians to preach the gospel to one another to keep the church sound (Eph. 5:19; Col. 3:16; etc.).

18And the building of the wall of it was of jasper: and the city was pure gold, like unto clear glass.

The city is adorned as the woman is adorned because they are one in the same. The gold is the richness and purity of the gospel.

19And the foundations of the wall of the city were garnished with all manner of precious stones. The first foundation was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, a chalcedony; the fourth, an emerald; 20The fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolyte; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, a topaz; the tenth, a chrysoprasus; the eleventh, a jacinth; the twelfth, an amethyst.

These harken back to the priests vestments in Exodus 28. The foundations of the walls, which are the apostles, are pictured in the vestments of the priests for they are the ones who brought man closer to God through their preaching.

21And the twelve gates were twelve pearls: every several gate was of one pearl: and the street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass.

The pearl is white representing purity and great value and is associated with the gospel (Matthew 7:6; Matthew 13:45-46). None can enter the city without first being purified by the gospel (James 1:21). The street of the city, the path Christians walk, is the path of light (1 John 1:7) and is the pure path of the gospel.

22And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it.

No more temple exists because the city/woman/body of Christ (the Lamb) are the Temple. No physical temple remains as it was destroyed, but the spiritual temple, the house not made with hands, now has God dwelling in it.

23And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.

The church has no earthly rulers as Israel did. The new heavens, the new ruling power, is Christ Himself, the King of Kings.

24And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it.

The Gentiles (nations) and (former) Jews (princes of the earth) who converted to Christianity bring their righteousness to it.

25And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day: for there shall be no night there. 26And they shall bring the glory and honour of the nations into it. 27And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb's book of life.

This last portion also indicates that this is the church here in the mortal realm rather than some “glorified” version of the church in Heaven. The gates are not shut allowing people to still enter the city/church (which won’t be true after the end of the kosmos). Only the pure, only those who have obeyed the gospel may enter having been written into the book of life upon their immersion into Christ.

In Truth and Love,

Ernie

Revelation Chapter 20

2011-05-24T21:34:00.001-05:00

Revelation 20

1And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.

This messenger is a servant of God, as all of them have been. He, like most, represents a human agent doing the will of God (either knowingly or ignorantly). The key is a form of authority and shows that God has given this messenger the power to do what God wills for him to do.

As in all scripture, this pit is a trap for beasts. It is bottomless, as said before, because of the magnitude of the beast it must trap. The consistent nature of the pit must be maintained. It has nothing to do with the end of the kosmos. The great chain further indicates trapping and binding a beast. In this case, the “dragon” of Revelation 12.

2And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years,

As already touched on (Revelation 12), the dragon is the Jewish persecuting powers.

Here is the one other exception to literal time use in the book of Revelation. Rather than a span of time, this signifies the extent of the binding of the dragon as a complete binding. The Jewish powers that sought to persecute the Christians were completely incapable of persecuting Christianity when Jerusalem was surrounded by the Roman army (Luke 21:20). The dragon could no longer hunt the woman of chapter 12.

3And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.

The Jews are contained completely in Jerusalem and unable to interact on any terms of trade, culture, or other (except in military defense from the army surrounding it). The pit or trap is the siege of Jerusalem itself. The little season where the dragon is loosed are some who escaped the destruction in the way that Zedekiah escaped in 2 Kings 25 and as prophesied in Jeremiah and Ezekiel. Refer back to Ezekiel 38-39 and Masada-Hamonah. Further ties to this will come in this chapter with the reference to Gog and Magog in verse 8.

This is a difficult figure for many commentators, but all one has to do is read the OT to find out its meaning. A pit is a trap for an animal. That it is bottomless shows that it is large enough to capture any sized animal, even a dragon. Note how many things come up out of the pit in Revelation. This is not oblivion or eternal damnation, but a place to trap and bind wild beasts. The Roman army (Gog’s army) was strong enough and vast enough to trap Jerusalem (who was not expecting an attack from the East).

The harlot who deceived the nations with her wealth, her acceptance of their cultures and religions and all the things the harlot did…these were taken from the Jews when Jerusalem was destroyed and her economy with her.

4And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.

More than most, this verse is the center of misinterpretation, and for many it is the beginning of interpretation of the book (instead of 1:1 where interpretation should begin).

A. I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them

This vision represents authority to judge by those who sit on the thrones. As there is only one throne of God, this does not represent judgment by God.

B. I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands;

Those on the thrones were the martyrs who had died preaching the gospel and who had not given in to the Caesar worship preached by the land beast.

It is important to note here that only those who had been beheaded as martyrs are being referred to here. It is their thrones, their life, their reign, not Christ’s that is being discussed. To attribute this to anything else is to completely ignore the object of this verse, the thing that John actually sees.

C. and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.

These that had been faithful unto death lived, not in the literal sense, but through their testimony. They reigned with Christ, ruling by example and showing others what it meant to serve Christ during this period of tribulation. They set the standard by which others who lived at that time would be judged. That they were willing to die for the cause of Christ prompted many more to convert to Christianity in the wake of the fall of Jerusalem and during the rest of the Jewish War. These martyrs showed that Christ’s cause was a cause worth dying for and their example went far to preserve the church during the last days.

The thousand years again is not the literal time span but the extent to which they lived and reigned with Christ. Their dominion was complete, perfect in nature.

5But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.

This is a reference to the cause of Christ in general. The cause itself, once thought dead, was resurrected when Judaism was ended. In the next verse we will connect the terms.

6Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.

Those who take part in the first resurrection will be priests of God and Christ and will reign with him a thousand years. Remember, these are not the specific martyrs of 20:4. These are the rest of the dead. This reign as priests was for a different thousand years, a different reign. The rest of the dead are not physically dead at all, they are representative of the cause of Christ itself as in Ezekiel 37. These are those adopted children of God who are kings and priests (1 Peter 2:9; Revelation 1:6; Revelation 5:10).

1. First resurrection = the rest of the dead living after the 1000 years were finished. (Rev. 20:5)

2. First resurrection = not hurt of the second death (Rev. 20:6)

3. Not hurt of the second death = those that overcometh (Rev. 2:11)

So those who take part in the first resurrection and are not hurt of the second death are those that overcometh.

Therefore:

4. First resurrection = eat of the tree of life in the midst of the paradise of God (Rev. 2:7)

5. First resurrection = are given to eat of the hidden mana, and a white stone with a new name (Rev. 2:17)

6. First resurrection = will be given power over the nations

7. First resurrection = the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels. (Rev. 3:5).

8. First resurrection = I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name

9. First resurrection = I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne

All of these tie in together echoing the parable of the talents. Those who were found faithful and productive when Christ returned were given greater responsibilities within the kingdom, to rule over the nations from the New Jerusalem, which is the church. This is not the end of the kosmos, but the end of the Jewish system of things and the full establishment of the church 40 years after its founding.

7And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison,

When the siege of Jerusalem ended. See verse 3 above.

8And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog, and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.

Gog, the king of locusts (according to the Septuagint – Amos 7:1) is the leader of the Roman forces just as discussed in Ezekiel 38-39. The deception of the nations is the Jews who manage to escape and evade Gog long enough to reach Hamonah (Ezekiel 39:16)[Historically – Masada] on the edge of the sea [of Galilee] (Ezekiel 39:11). They draw the armies there and bog them down in siege from a much more defensible position. Note that the dragon deceives the nations “which are in the four quarters of the earth”. The deception is against the nations represented in the Roman army who are in Palestine. The gathering of Gog and Magog to battle is not an authoritative gathering but a drawing in to a trap.

9And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them.

This is the last look at Jerusalem as God’s people, a sad testament to what they had been and what they could have been. It echoes these verses:

Matthew 3:12 Whose fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.

Matthew 7:19 Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.

Matthew 13:40 As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world (age).

Matthew 22:7 But when the king heard thereof, he was wroth: and he sent forth his armies, and destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city.

2 Thessalonians 1:8 In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Note that most of these verses are in Matthew, the gospel account written to the Hebrews. I encourage you to read the full context of these passages to get their complete meaning.

10And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.

The persecuting powers during the last days are stopped and destroyed including the Jews (the devil), the beast (Rome under the Caesar murdering Christians who would not worship him), the false prophet (who promoted Caesar worship during the Jewish Wars). The tormented day and night for ever and ever is a reference to the fact that these particular entities represented here, their cause was at an end with no hope of resurrection.

11And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.

The old heaven and old earth as seen in 2 Peter 3. This will be contrasted in the next chapter.

12And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. 13And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.

This is not Judgment Day at the end of the kosmos, but the judgment echoed in Matthew 25:31-46. It is a judgment of causes, of nations, not individuals.

14And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. 15And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.

Remember that Death was the 4^th horsemen of Revelation 6. He was followed by Hades. That these symbolic servants of God were tossed into the lake of fire to suffer the second death should indicate that this is not a literal reference to what most call “Hell”. Just as those who take part in the first resurrection do not take part in the second death, those who take part in the second death do not take part in the first resurrection. It is the death of causes. Death and Hades, the dragon and the other two beasts, all those who were not found in the book of life, these are all concepts related to the last days, to the end of Judaism. Death and Hades join those on the side of evil in the second death indicating that there is no more need for them in this context. The Jewish system from a Biblical perspective is utterly, completely, and finally ended with no possibility for resurrection. That which is old has finally vanished away (Heb. 8:13).

In Truth and Love,

Ernie

Revelation Chapter 19

2011-05-23T22:55:00.001-05:00

Revelation 19

1And after these things I heard a great voice of much people in heaven, saying, Alleluia; Salvation, and glory, and honour, and power, unto the Lord our God: 2For true and righteous are his judgments: for he hath judged the great whore, which did corrupt the earth with her fornication, and hath avenged the blood of his servants at her hand.

This is the numberless multitude from Revelation 7:9. The church is praising God for the end to persecution at the hands of the Jews. The pure bride is praising God for the triumph over the whore (Hebrews 13:4), the woman praising God for triumph over the dragon.

3And again they said, Alleluia And her smoke rose up for ever and ever.

The praise is given because the destruction of the persecutors is for all time, it is a complete destruction.

4And the four and twenty elders and the four beasts fell down and worshipped God that sat on the throne, saying, Amen; Alleluia.

The praise is given by the whole Kingdom, both Old and New Testament, for the fulfillment of God’s promises in both Testaments to bring about full salvation for all humans.

5And a voice came out of the throne, saying, Praise our God, all ye his servants, and ye that fear him, both small and great.

This is the voice of one of the angels, a herald with the authority of God calling all to praise Him. We know its not Christ because of verse 10.

6And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth.

This herald, with the authority of God (has a voice like that of God’s) praises Jehovah because the Lord God Almighty reigns and this is seen in the events of the keeping of the promises to fulfill them.

7Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready.

Praise God for the marriage of the Lamb and the bride has taken place and she has made herself ready for the marriage feast (gamos - what we might call the wedding reception as opposed to gameo – the actual marriage or wedding). Note that the church is already called the Lamb’s “wife” as opposed to “espoused” or “betrothed”.

8And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.

The purity of the bride is that of a virgin, clean of sin as the Christians are pure, washed in the blood of Christ. There is much to be said here of the righteousness of Christians, their purity, the contrast of sinner vs. saint.

9And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God.

Read Matthew 22:1-14; Matthew 25:1-13. The Jews in large part rejected the invitation and it was then given to the Gentiles who responded in much greater number.

10And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, See thou do it not: I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.

John attempts to worship the messenger, but the messenger says no, I’m a servant to Christ like you, one of your brothers. This visionary angel represents earthly Christian messengers that would take the prophecy out to the church at large. He tells John to worship God because this book, this testimony is the essence of Biblical prophecy. It is the climax of all Biblical prophecy.

11And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war.

Christ from Revelation 6:2; Revelation 3:14.

12His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself.

Christ from Revelation 1:14; Revelation 2:18. The many crowns are those cast before the throne Revelation 4:4; Revelation 4:10. They represent the authority Christ has over all those who have submitted to Him.

13And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God.

The priestly vesture of Christ is immersed in blood indicating His sacrifice as the Lamb. This verse is referred to by John later in John 1:1-3,14. Jesus is the Word. Jesus is God.

14And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean.

These are the Christians going out to conquer the world through the gospel. This is another reason to view the image in chapter 6 as a precursor to the fall of Jerusalem. The gospel was preached to the Jews and as many as could be converted were. The army of the rider of the white horse is distinct from that of the other riders which were the various Roman legions.

15And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.

A. out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations:

This is the gospel in its power to condemn all nations, both Jew and Gentile: Hebrews 4:12; Revelation 1:16; Revelation 2:12.

B. he shall rule them with a rod of iron

This is Christ ruling with the gospel (a scepter and a corrective rod used against sheep who have gone astray), which is the New Law, with which He rules all nations, both Jew and Gentile: Psalm 2; Isaiah 11:4; Revelation 2:27.

C. he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.

Christ is the one who has brought about the destruction just covered.

16And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.

I doubt any question this is Christ. It is nearly self evident and certainly a basic truth of the gospel.

17And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God; 18That ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great.

The messenger of Christ speaks and the message is interesting to me. All of the birds of heaven are called to the supper of the great God. Christ’s wedding feast is equated with the destruction of Jerusalem. The wedding reception or feast, a celebration of all that is new, is pictured as the end of all the old (Hebrews 8). I had never thought of this until typing this just now and it is, to borrow a word from a new friend of mine, profound!

19And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army.

This is essentially a recap or summary of what has gone before. Rome and Judah were set to make war against Christ and the church.

20And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.

They lost. The sea beast, the earth beast, were cast into the lake of fire. This is emblematic of a cessation of persecution (not an end to Rome or the Emporer worship). [Historically, when Nero died, Vespasian took focus away from persecution of Christians and instead he focused on consolidating the Empire and cooling the rebellions throughout it.]

21And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh.

There were none left that could harm the church which was fed and grew from the end of the persecutors.

In Truth and Love,

Ernie

Revelation Chapter 18

2011-05-23T22:54:00.000-05:00

Revelation 18

1And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory.

I believe this to be Michael himself declaring victory over the Jewish nation, the foremost persecutors of His church.

2And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.

A. he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen

Jerusalem, the great city of Revelation 11:8; Revelation 14:8 is spoken of as fallen. Past tense of a future event is used to show its inevitability.

B. is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.

Echoing verses such as Isaiah 13:21-22; Isaiah 18:6; Isaiah 34:14; Isaiah 43:20; Isaiah 56:9; Jeremiah 7:33; Jeremiah 15:3; Jeremiah 16:4; Zephaniah 2:15, indicate the utter desolation of the city after war. This abomination (that which abhorrent to God) is spoken of in Daniel as well (Daniel 9:25-27; Matthew 24:15).

3For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies.

The nations are the Gentiles with which the Jewish nation has committed fornication with. The Jewish leaders, a.k.a. kings of the earth (as opposed to the kings of the whole world - Revelation 16:14) and the Jewish merchants are responsible for this “fornication” with the Gentile nations and benefited from it.

4And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.

Since what has just been spoken of as having happened has not yet, in fact, happened, Christians (especially converted-Jews) are called out of Jerusalem (the main point of the Olivet Discourse and one of the main points of this letter) so they don’t become corrupted by and fall with the city.

5For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.

The very idea that God is remembering the sins of Babylon points to historical (Biblical) sins, that is the sins committed throughout the Bible. It is imperative that one keep things within Biblical context, the things that are important within the Biblical frame of reference. Without recourse to external sources, this points directly at the Jews.

6Reward her even as she rewarded you, and double unto her double according to her works: in the cup which she hath filled fill to her double.

As the Jews have persecuted the Christians, so the Jews who did not repent will be destroyed (Acts 2:40; Matthew 23).

7How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her: for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow.

While seeking after the riches of the world, the Jews were notorious for self-righteousness (Ezekiel 33:13; Romans 10:3). These combined have made the Jewish nation arrogant and fearing nothing just before she is utterly destroyed.

8Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her.

The idea of one day is the Day of the Lord that would come soon, quickly, and whose time was at hand. That destruction would be complete.

9And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication and lived deliciously with her, shall bewail her, and lament for her, when they shall see the smoke of her burning, 10Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come.

The kings of the earth, Herod and his family in specific, is in Rome, safe and sound as the Jewish nation falls (see Rev. 6:15). The fear of Jerusalem’s torment (Revelation 11:8; Revelation 14:8) in the Herods is because they are 1) Jews, 2) no longer king of anything.

11And the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her; for no man buyeth their merchandise any more:

Were these merchants of the other nations, they would simply sell to other markets. But these are merchants of the earth, Jewish merchants. No one buys their goods any more because the Jewish state is no longer producing anything because it no longer exists. Thus the cause of their mourning.

The reaction of mourning for one who has died just does not fit the businesses of any other nation. It would be annoying to find other markets, but not worthy of this level of emotional response to them.

12The merchandise of gold, and silver, and precious stones, and of pearls, and fine linen, and purple, and silk, and scarlet, and all thyine wood, and all manner vessels of ivory, and all manner vessels of most precious wood, and of brass, and iron, and marble, 13And cinnamon, and odours, and ointments, and frankincense, and wine, and oil, and fine flour, and wheat, and beasts, and sheep, and horses, and chariots, and slaves, and souls of men. 14And the fruits that thy soul lusted after are departed from thee, and all things which were dainty and goodly are departed from thee, and thou shalt find them no more at all.

Here are all the things traded in by the Jews. Note the reference to “the souls of men” especially. In “Babylon”, these things would be found no more at all because the Jewish state (as far as the Bible is concerned) was at an end.

15The merchants of these things, which were made rich by her, shall stand afar off for the fear of her torment, weeping and wailing,

Just like the king, many of the Jewish merchants were not in Jerusalem when it fell being mobile by nature. The fear and the mourning are for the fall of their nation, their capital city. This depth of reaction does not make sense (even symbolically) for Gentile merchants.

16And saying, Alas, alas that great city, that was clothed in fine linen, and purple, and scarlet, and decked with gold, and precious stones, and pearls! 17For in one hour so great riches is come to nought. And every shipmaster, and all the company in ships, and sailors, and as many as trade by sea, stood afar off,

The great city, Revelation 11:8; Revelation 14:8, is Jerusalem representative of the Jewish nation. While Jerusalem itself was not a port city, the Jewish state that she represents had a number of ports on the Mediterranean Sea so this applies to Jerusalem as well.

18And cried when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, What city is like unto this great city!

Smoke rising (Acts 2:19) is again representative of the destruction of the city. The great city is once more Jerusalem according to the near context of Revelation 11:8; Revelation 14:8.

19And they cast dust on their heads, and cried, weeping and wailing, saying, Alas, alas that great city, wherein were made rich all that had ships in the sea by reason of her costliness! for in one hour is she made desolate.

These actions are distinctly Jewish actions of mourning so the sea-faring merchants mourning the great city (Jerusalem - Revelation 11:8; Revelation 14:8) are indicated as being Jewish.

20Rejoice over her, thou heaven, and ye holy apostles and prophets; for God hath avenged you on her.

All those that Jesus said the Jewish nation killed (Matthew 23; Luke 11:49) would be avenged on the Jewish nation, represented by Jerusalem, its capital city.

21And a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone, and cast it into the sea, saying, Thus with violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down, and shall be found no more at all.

Read Matthew 18:6. This is a horrible, complete, thorough end. A watery grave from which there is no rising (in contrast to NT immersion). The great city, Babylon (Jerusalem - Revelation 11:8; Revelation 14:8) is cast down and will be found no more at all. Thus is described the end of the Jewish state as it existed according to scripture.

22And the voice of harpers, and musicians, and of pipers, and trumpeters, shall be heard no more at all in thee; and no craftsman, of whatsoever craft he be, shall be found any more in thee; and the sound of a millstone shall be heard no more at all in thee; 23And the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee: for thy merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy sorceries were all nations deceived.

No more Jewish culture, nor commerce, or anything Jewish will remain. Amidst this description we see that there will no more be heard the voice of the bridegroom and the bride (where all the others are plural and indefinite, these are definite and singular). This indicates the end of the preaching of the gospel to the Jews because the Jews preferred to listen to money and false religions rather than the Truth. The Christians fled and left Jerusalem to her doom.

24And in her was found the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth.

The slain upon the earth is again those slain by the Jewish nation throughout the years since Moses, but specifically in the last days according to Matthew 23, Acts, and most of the New Testament where the Jewish nation is portrayed as the foremost persecutor of the church.

In Truth and Love,

Ernie

Revelation Chapter 17

2011-05-20T23:42:00.002-05:00

Revelation 17

1And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters:

John herein will be shown the vision representing the judgment against this wicked city. This chapter is an echo of Jeremiah 51 wherein the literal Babylon was prophesied against for daring to make war against God’s chosen people of the Old Testament. That passage is a type, pointing to the eventual antitype of this city for persecuting God’s chose people of the New Testament. In this verse the city is referred to as 1) the great whore, 2) that sitteth on many waters. I assert, based on all the given information from scripture alone that the whore is Jerusalem, the capital of the Jewish nation, who persecuted the Christians all throughout the New Testament.

2With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication.

A. kings of the earth

These are the princes of the Jewish state. From the near context of the rest of the book of Revelation that identification is made clear:

Revelation 6:15 – leaders of the Jewish state that sided with Rome sought shelter in the surrounding nations.

Revelation 16:14 – the kings of the earth are contrasted with and brought to battle against the kings of the whole oikoumene (Empire).

B. With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication

The Jewish rulers such as Herod took part in the unfaithfulness to God by seeking alliances, protection, economic prosperity, and idolatry from other nations, specifically Rome.

C. the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication.

The Jewish people have been corrupted by the greed, the idolatry, and the reliance on Rome because of the choices of their leaders, a perfect parallel to what happened in the Old Testament time and time again.

3So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.

John is shown the image of a woman sitting on a beast.

A. woman – this is the whore the messenger told John that he would show him.

B. beast – this is Rome given the below properties:

1) scarlet (kokkinos) – this color is the color of royalty, not the color red (purrhos) like the rider in chapter 6 or the dragon in chapter 12.

2) full of names of blasphemy – the same beast as identified as the sea beast in Rev. 13:1

3) seven heads and ten horns – again, the same as the beast identified in Rev. 13:1. Though the dragon of chapter 12 has seven heads and ten horns, the dragon is not referred to as a beast, and it is of a different color

C. The woman sits on the beast, a distinct entity, but also associated with the beast. More on this below.

4And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication:

A. the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour

These are the colors of royalty as above. More importantly these clothes represent the association with the beast, i.e. the association of the Jewish rulers like Herod with the Roman Empire.

B. decked with gold and precious stones and pearls

The economic prosperity the Jewish nation had with by her associations with Rome that led to greed and dependence on Rome rather than God.

C. having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication

The abominations are the idolatry and the submission to the worship of Caesar.

5And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.

The mother of harlots especially is indicative of Jerusalem. Throughout the prophets of the Old Testament Jerusalem is called a harlot. In places like Hosea 2:5 and Ezekiel 16:44confirm this idea of as the capital city (Jerusalem) goes, so go the citizens (Jews).

The very image of harlotry is selling yourself for money or other similar concepts. That the Jewish nation sold themselves to nation after nation throughout their history, and finally under the authority of the Herods did the same, is unquestionable. Moreso, the idea of harlotry is someone with lesser power and position selling themselves to someone they perceive with more. Jerusalem perceived themselves as weaker and poorer than Rome and gave themselves over to the more powerful world empire, the empire of iron (Daniel 2), of the fourth terrible beast in Daniel 7 in exchange for material wealth. Instead of relying on God (their metaphorical husband) the Jews went after some other power they thought more capable. The draw of the economic and military strength led to the religious corruption and the worship of Roman idols and later the Caesars.

6And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration.

From scripture, no other group of people can be pictured here but the Jews. Again Matthew 23. Again read through the book of Acts. Read the epistles. All of them speak of the tribulation, the persecution the Christians faced at the hands of the Jews.

7And the angel said unto me, Wherefore didst thou marvel? I will tell thee the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carrieth her, which hath the seven heads and ten horns.

The messenger is going to explain the meaning of the symbols to John.

8The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is.

The beast is the sea beast that comes out the bottomless pit as in chapter 9 and 13 is Rome. Perdition is simply destruction, and associated with Apollyon/Abaddon which means destroyer.

The Jews would see the might of the Roman army as it marched through their land and it would awe them.

9And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth.

The seven heads of this beast are equated to seven mountains or dominions. Since the woman is figurative, the mountains on which she sits must be figurative as well so I do not see these as literal mountains whatsoever. However, I do acknowledge that the mountains/heads are part of the beast and therefore are connected to Rome.

The figure here is of Jerusalem (the woman) being cozy with the Roman Empire (the beast) and having Roman authority backing them. But the woman and the beast are separate entities. If the beast is Rome, the woman cannot be as is shown in a few verses.

10And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space.

The specific identity of these kings has been the matter of much argument from external sources. In the context of what John is writing, the seven kings are associated with the seven mountains (dominions), which are part of the beat (Rome). So it is understood that these are Caesars. I don’t believe that this verse should be used to prove the time of the writing of Revelation (which I’ve already covered extensively before this chapter). I believe it is the time of the writing of Revelation that proves which specific Caesars are in view here. John and those who lived at this time would know specifically. For our purposes, it is enough to know that they were Roman Caesars that lived in or around the lifetime of John.

11And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition.

Here is explained the idea of “was, is not” in verse 8. It is to the specific representation of one of the Caesars that this part refers, not to the general representation of the Empire or the army.

The beast (as a metaphor) is an eighth king and is of the seven kings mentioned in verse 10. He is the one that “goeth into destruction”. This basileus is the one that actually brings destruction to the Jews because of the fall of the sixth king and the need for the seventh king to become the next Caesar. This eighth basileus will in turn become king or Caesar of Rome.

12And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast.

The ten horns are similar to the ten horns of the dragon, they are provinces or domains of ten kings which are not independent, but receive their authority from Rome. Ten tributary kingdoms of Rome essentially.

13These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast.

These tributary kingdoms submitted their authority (power) and resources (strength) to Rome during the Jewish War.

14These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful.

Rome, with the help of the ten tributary kingdoms will seek to destroy the church, but Christ will triumph instead.

15And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.

The waters are here explained as peoples, multitudes, nations, and tongues. The waters are a metaphor for the prime location Jerusalem had at the crossroads of the Roman Empire through which all nations had to pass if going by land.

16And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire.

The ten tributary kingdoms of Rome are jealous of Jerusalem’s wealth and prestige and are happy to see her fall. With contributed troops and resources to the Roman army, the ten kingdoms see Jerusalem fall.

This is not the horns hating the beast and turning on the beast. This is the beast turning on the whore that rides upon the beast. They are two separate entities.

17For God hath put in their hearts to fulfil his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled.

God’s will is that the ten tributary nations give their authority to the beast (Rome) until God’s prophecies (concerning the final fall of the Jewish nation, the primary persecutor of the church) is fulfilled.

18And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth.

The final identity of the woman is the great city (Revelation 11:8; Revelation 11:13; Revelation 14:8; Revelation 16:19), spiritual Babylon (1 Peter 5:13), Sodom, and Egypt, physical Jerusalem. Which reigneth over the kings of the earth/land (not the kings of the whole oikoumene which is Rome), which is Judaea.

While there may be room to argue against any single verse or a small groups of verses on the identity of Babylon in Revelation, this identity is at least consistent and requires no external sources to establish the point. No other current interpretative model of Revelation can do that.

In Truth and Love,

Ernie

Revelation Chapter 16

2011-05-20T23:42:00.001-05:00

Revelation 16

1And I heard a great voice out of the temple saying to the seven angels, Go your ways, and pour out the vials of the wrath of God upon the earth.

God authorizes the beginning of the destruction of Judaism. These seven angels are again the Christian messengers from the beginning of the book. They aren’t the cause of the events they are associated with, they are the bearers of the news, the message about those events. These plagues are the fulfillment of the promise in Deuteronomy 28:59-60.

2And the first went, and poured out his vial upon the earth; and there fell a noisome and grievous sore upon the men which had the mark of the beast, and upon them which worshipped his image.

This is an interesting plague to me because it comes on the Jewish people, but does not indicate death. These are the Jewish people that listened to the earth beast with two lamb horns. Even though they side with Rome, they still suffer from the war, which is what this plague represents. Vespasian begins to lead the Romans into the land of Palestine.

3And the second angel poured out his vial upon the sea; and it became as the blood of a dead man: and every living soul died in the sea.

Romans died as the war began.

4And the third angel poured out his vial upon the rivers and fountains of waters; and they became blood.

Trade (in Palestine) died as the war began.

5And I heard the angel of the waters say, Thou art righteous, O Lord, which art, and wast, and shalt be, because thou hast judged thus.

The third messenger praises I AM, Jehovah God, for destroying the trade routes. Essentially this is a good tactical move to accomplish the ultimate goal. With trade dried up, and with all the other events that have happened to the land of Judah up to this point, the city will be ripe for destruction, unable to hold out long for lack of resources.

6For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink; for they are worthy.

The Jews are worthy of being destroyed in the war because they are those that killed the Christians and the prophets (Matthew 23:37).

7And I heard another out of the altar say, Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments.

The martyrs are also glorifying God for executing the promise to end the persecution by the Jews against the Christians, the persecution which resulted in their martyrdom.

8And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun; and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire.

The sun, or king of the Jews (Agrippa from Acts 23), feels the effect of the commencement of the war. This angel represents the fiery judgment coming against the nation at large.

9And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues: and they repented not to give him glory.

As the Romans advanced at the commencement of the war, the Jews continued to persecute Christians. Remember, blaspheming God in the context of Revelation (13:6) is associated with persecuting Christians, not general blasphemy.

10And the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the seat of the beast; and his kingdom was full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues for pain,

At the commencement of the war against the Jews, the throne of the Roman Empire suffers the death of Caesar and chaos ensued. The darkness, or lack of light, is the lack of leadership on the part of the king. [Historically Nero dies and Galba, Othos, and Vitellius rise up and start tearing the Empire apart.]

11And blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and repented not of their deeds.

The Romans persecute Christians, blaming the Christians for various things and did not stop just because Caesar died.

12And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared.

There is no barrier now to the Roman army, the four winds are no longer held back (Rev. 7), and the Roman generals (“kings” is from basileus which can mean “commander”) are allowed into the heart of Judah. [Historically this is both Vespasian and Titus with him.]

This is also another indication that the book of Revelation is about the fall of Jerusalem because the Euphrates has always been associated as a border of Palestine (Deuteronomy 1:7; Deuteronomy 11:24; Joshua 1:4; Jeremiah 13). This association with the Euphrates (along with Rev. 9) makes no sense with regard to any other interpretation of the book.

13And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet.

Pictured here are three unclean spirits that are like frogs. These spirits come out of the mouth of the dragon (the Jewish persecuting power), the beast (the sea beast, Rome), and the false prophet (the earth beast, the propagandist from chapter 13).

Unclean spirits are generally associated with Satan and are liars by nature. These frog-like spirits represents then a “plague” of lies, of misinformation all to draw the armies in the War together to the result of weakening Jerusalem.

14For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.

This verse especially is useful in showing the identity of and the distinction of the kings of the earth from the rest of the world. These “spirits of devils” using every means necessary, bring both the Jewish leadership and their armies and the leadership of the Roman (the oikoumene or world) armies and those armies for the battle that is here associated with “The great day of God Almighty” or “the Day of the Lord” and various other versions of the phrase used throughout scripture.

15Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.

Further association with the coming of Christ with the Day of the Lord is by associating it with the coming of the Lord as a thief in the night (Matthew 24:43; Luke 12:39; 1 Thessalonians 5:2; 1 Thessalonians 5:4; 2 Peter 3:10; Revelation 3:3). Those who are paying attention to the given signs, those who are watching and are prepared (see Matthew 24 and the fleeing from Jerusalem), won’t be caught with their pants down so to speak. They won’t be like the 5 foolish virgins of Matthew 25. The correlation to the entire Olivet Discourse (not just the first half of Matt. 24) is strongly evident here.

16And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon.

Mount Megiddo was the place in Jewish history where good king Josiah died (2 Kings 23:29). It is a place that represents great sadness for the Jewish people. In Zechariah 12:11 Zechariah associates the sadness of Megiddo directly to Jerusalem. The place called Armageddon is Jerusalem itself.

17And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done.

Once the army of Rome is gathered against the remnant army of the Jews at Jerusalem, the preface to the destruction is done. Jerusalem is so weak from famine, from disease, from fear, and from the many other things the city has had to endure from God’s machinations in the past few years, that it is ready to fall as the Romans arrive.

18And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great.

The greatest shake up of the Jewish nation was the siege of Jerusalem itself.

19And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath.

Again the great city, again the reference to Babylon, now associated with the Hebrew Armageddon, again associated with the wine of God’s wrath, all of these symbols are pointing directly to Jerusalem. The city is divided as described in Zechariah 14.

The cities of the nations falling represents the failing of the Roman strongholds of Christian persecution because the Romans considered Christianity a Jewish sect. With the destruction of Jerusalem, the Romans believe they have cut out the heart of Christianity and no longer focus on persecuting the Christians.

20And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found.

The smaller Gentile nations allied with Judah abandon the Jews to their fate and flee Palestine.

21And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven, every stone about the weight of a talent: and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail; for the plague thereof was exceeding great.

I’m inclined to understand this to be catapults (Ezekiel 4; Ezekiel 16). The harlot is being stoned for her adultery.

In Truth and Love,

Ernie

Revelation Chapter 15

2011-05-20T23:41:00.002-05:00

Revelation 15

1And I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvellous, seven angels having the seven last plagues; for in them is filled up the wrath of God.

Like the woman and the dragon and the recent messengers, John sees another great and marvelous sign. It is another sign in that it is a symbol representing the same things that have already been shown in previous signs.

This sign is seven messengers with seven “last plagues” which contain the full wrath of God. Plagues again bring to mind Egypt, again associating the events here (i.e. the destruction of Jerusalem) spiritually with Egypt. They are the last plagues because there will be nothing like this ever again (Matthew 24:21). Further below this connection will be further substantiated.

2And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire: and them that had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name, stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God.

A. I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire:

The sea of glass is that sea representing separation between Gentiles and Jews as seen in chapter 4. That separation is mixed with divine judgment.

B. and them that had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name, stand on the sea of glass

The faithful Jews are pictured as standing on this fiery sea. They are triumphing over the separation, bringing about its end.

C. having the harps of God

These harps are the voice or word of God, the gospel. This is the means by which the firstborn of the earth are bringing about the end of separation. They are preaching the gospel to the Gentile nations.

3And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints.

The song of Moses again brings us back to Exodus 15. They sing of freedom from bondage from “Egypt” and they sing the new song of Rev. 14:3 now identified as the song of the Lamb. This song indicates the Justness and Power of God in executing judgment against the Jews.

4Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name? for thou only art holy: for all nations shall come and worship before thee; for thy judgments are made manifest.

This and the last chapter are echoes of what we read in Matthew 25:31-46. God has the right to judge the universe and any and all nations in it.

5And after that I looked, and, behold, the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened:

There is still a temple, a representation of the Old Testament, a representation that Judaism still existed and the OT still was passing away (Hebrews 8:13). Part of that testimony is that of the prophets of the end of Judaism (all those books of prophecy I took the trouble to go through prior to this book). To say that there are only “similarities” between Revelation and the Old Testament prophecies is a disingenuous treatment of the Bible. They aren’t just similarities, John is indicating time and time again that the Old Testament is being fulfilled in the events described in Revelation. They are direct references, not just similarities.

6And the seven angels came out of the temple, having the seven plagues, clothed in pure and white linen, and having their breasts girded with golden girdles.

These seven messengers bringing the message associated with the Old Testament are dressed as priests (Exodus 28:15). Their message is the symbolic last plagues, the destructive end of the Jewish system.

7And one of the four beasts gave unto the seven angels seven golden vials full of the wrath of God, who liveth for ever and ever.

Essentially this is John saying there are more details to come in the image of the golden vials which represent the wrath of God.

8And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and from his power; and no man was able to enter into the temple, till the seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled.

The smoke is “from the glory of God”, a blazing, fiery glory in His wrath because of the prayers (smoke of inscense) of the Christians praying for an end to persecution. His wrath is so intense that until it is satisfied, none can approach God. This indicates that at this time, there is no more longsuffering, no more prayers accepted on behalf of the Jews. There is no more opportunity to repent. The end is come.

In Truth and Love,

Ernie

Revelation Chapter 14

2011-05-20T23:41:00.001-05:00

Revelation 14

1And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, and with him an hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father's name written in their foreheads.

The lamb is Christ. Mount Sion is the church (Hebrews 12:22-23). The 144,000 with the name of Jehovah written in their foreheads are the converted Jews.

2And I heard a voice from heaven, as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of a great thunder: and I heard the voice of harpers harping with their harps:

Read Jeremiah 10:13; Jeremiah 51:16; Ezekiel 1:24; Ezekiel 43:2; 2 Samuel 22:14; Job 37:4; Psalm 29:3; Psalm 77:18; . This is the voice of God. Please note that the water, the thunder, and the harps are all symbols, not literal [so this is not authorization for mechanical instruments in worship. The harps are used in worship to God here, even symbolically. The voice (singular) is associated with the harps (plural).]

3And they sung as it were a new song before the throne, and before the four beasts, and the elders: and no man could learn that song but the hundred and forty and four thousand, which were redeemed from the earth.

The original song is the song of Moses (Exodus 15) after coming out of Egyptian bondage. The new song is the song of the former Jews converted to Christianity. They have, in a figurative sense, come out of spiritual bondage to metaphorical Egypt (the Jewish nation). Redeemed from the earth is again a metaphor for being redeemed from among the Jewish people or nation.

4These are they which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins. These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were redeemed from among men, being the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb.

This is further identification of the 144,000 as Jews (and further evidence that metaphorical use of the term “earth” represents the Jewish people).

A. These are they which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins.

Neither adulterers nor given to harlotry in a spiritual sense. These former Jews do not participate in the activities taught by the earth beast and worship of the sea beast’s image. They are, spiritually speaking, as pure as virgins.

B. These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth.

They follow Christ even to the point of martyrdom.

C. These were redeemed from among men, being the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb.

The first converts to Christianity were all Jews (Acts 2-11).

5And in their mouth was found no guile: for they are without fault before the throne of God.

In contrast to the earth beast, there is no deceit in those former Jews who preach the gospel. They have no fault (sin) according to God’s Law because they are continually washed in the blood of Christ (1 John 1:7).

6And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people,

A. I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven

Another messenger doing the same as the one in Revelation 8:13.

B. having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people,

Has a different message than the woes the first messenger brought. This messenger has good news for the converted Jews both in Palestine and to the scattered tribes of Israel (144,000 was all 12 tribes, not just the 3 remaining) throughout the world.

7Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.

The messenger’s message is to give glory to God because He is now going to fulfill His promise to bring judgment against the Jewish nation who persecuted the church. They are reminded that God is Creator not of the physical universe (though this is a secondary effect), but of the governments, the Jewish nation, the Roman nation, and the trade sources (see Revelation 8:10) all being maneuvered during these events.

8And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.

Babylon.

A. there followed another angel

Following the previous messenger of verse 6, another messenger comes with a related message.

B. Babylon is fallen, is fallen

Certainly this is not literal as literal Babylon fell ages past. This is representative Babylon spoken of as fallen (an absolute assurance of what will happen). We must determine what Babylon represents.

C. that great city

That great city is a specific reference. The only “great city” John has written of in this entire book is Jerusalem. Therefore Babylon is Jerusalem.

D. because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.

The cause of the fall of Babylon/Jerusalem is because she made all nations to “drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication”.

1. Drink the wine – participate in.

2. The wrath – the wine represents the wrath (of God) because of the fornication, not the fornication itself.

3. Her fornication – this goes back to the information in chapter 13, the willing participation in the idolatry, economic benefits, and military dependence of Rome by the Jews.

9And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, 10The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb:

A third messenger follows the other two with a related message.

God will punish anyone who gives into the earth beast, the pressure to worship Caesar even if just to trade.

11And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.

The smoke again is indicative of the destruction of a wicked city just like Sodom and Gomorrah. In this case, the smoke is that of Jerusalem and indicates the complete destruction of any who would act as Jerusalem has acted. They would be destroyed along with Judaism.

12Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.

Again, that which the Christians had waited for had come and their patience had been rewarded.

13And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them.

John is told now to write that those who die for the cause of Christ are blessed. Their work is done, but their work continues to be effective. (Later this will give us an indication of how the martyrs/beheaded are said to rule for 1000 years.)

14And I looked, and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud one sat like unto the Son of man, having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle.

Christ/Michael/the rider on the white horse, coming to reap the great harvest (Read Matthew 13).

15And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to him that sat on the cloud, Thrust in thy sickle, and reap: for the time is come for thee to reap; for the harvest of the earth is ripe.

A. another angel came out of the temple

A messenger with the authority of God from the Old Testament, that is with a message based on the prophecies of the Old Testament.

B. crying with a loud voice to him that sat on the cloud

The messenger gives Christ a message. This isn’t an angel filling in ignorance on Christ’s part, this is akin to a messenger on the field delivering a report to a general.

C. Thrust in thy sickle, and reap: for the time is come for thee to reap; for the harvest of the earth is ripe.

The time according to prophecy has come to fulfill that prophecy (including Matt. 13).

16And he that sat on the cloud thrust in his sickle on the earth; and the earth was reaped.

The Romans attack the Jews as previously envisioned in the first half of Revelation harvesting both those who were wicked/ignorant (willingly or otherwise) of the impending events and the faithful Christians who were not taken by surprise (1 Thess 5:1-7).

17And another angel came out of the temple which is in heaven, he also having a sharp sickle. 18And another angel came out from the altar, which had power over fire; and cried with a loud cry to him that had the sharp sickle, saying, Thrust in thy sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth; for her grapes are fully ripe. 19And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of God. 20And the winepress was trodden without the city, and blood came out of the winepress, even unto the horse bridles, by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs.

This is simply a vivid metaphor for the Roman attack on Judah, the end result of God’s wrath for the Jews unfaithfulness to Him. The symbols are all familiar by now. The earth is the Jewish people, the city is Jerusalem, the wine is representative of the blood that flowed so freely throughout the land of Palestine. Even the vine or branch is an allusion to the vine branch of Romans 11, the Jewish people.

In Truth and Love,

Ernie

Revelation Chapter 13

2011-05-20T23:40:00.005-05:00

Revelation 13

1And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy. 2And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.

John stands on the shore of the Mediterranean and seas a beast rise up. This beast is similar in some ways to the dragon of Rev. 12, but it is also like to the 4^th beast of Daniel 7. In verse 2, this beast is further associated with the 4^th beast of Daniel 7 rather than the red dragon of Rev. 12 by referring to the other three beasts in Daniel 7. Clearly then this sea-beast is the Roman Empire and further verses concerning this beast must be interpreted in that light.

It is also important to note that, just like the dragon, the beast can be seen as both the kingdom and a particular ruler of it (one of the heads) interchangeably. So where the dragon was generally the persecuting Jews and specifically Herod Antipas II (of Acts 23f) the sea-beast can be Rome or a specific Caesar.

The dragon (the Jewish nation from chapter 12) gives the sea beast (Rome) its authority. It is extremely difficult for readers today to understand this is the Jews submitting to Rome because we think of Satan as so powerful and so literal in this passage. Satan would never submit, so this has to be Satan empowering the sea-beast much like God the Father gave Jesus all authority. This is wrong. Satan is used as a metaphor to describe the Jews and under the Herods, the Jews submitted to Roman authority (read – Pilate, Quirinius, Festus, etc.). This submission was almost total, hence “great authority”.

3And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast.

Heads are kings so this is one of the kings or Caesars of Rome. The beast in general here is pictured to receive a fatal wound in one of its heads (a Caesar dies and the Empire is thrown into chaos), but instead of dying, the beast recovers (the chaos is ended and order is restored). The readers of John’s book would not know and not need to know who this was exactly to understand the point made, only the general meaning. When it unfolded, then the specifics would be clear. Contextually, we can logically infer that it was the Caesar that was in power at the end of Acts that put Paul under house arrest for two years, then released him, and later (2 Tim. 4) executed him.

The word “world” here is the word “ge” which for consistency should be translated as earth or land. The might and grandeur of Rome intoxicated many of the Jews during the first century (though there were some hard core factions that hated them, hence the rebellion).

[Historically this is the death of Nero, the rise of the three Caesars: Galba, Othos, and Vitellius who nearly ripped the Empire apart before Vespasian returned to Rome and put down the chaos and became Caesar.]

4And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?

A. they

“They” are the Jews (earth) who wondered after Rome (sea-beast).

B. worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast

Many Jews praised the Herods for submitting to Rome and bringing in larger quantities of trade and relative peace and protection from other nations.

C. and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?

These particular Jews had no beef with Rome and submitted willingly. They are no doubt part of the “earth” that swallowed up the flood from the dragon’s mouth in chapter 12.

5And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months.

Him is the sea-beast, Rome. The great things, the blasphemies indicate some form of blasphemy against God for 3.5 years (not the same 3.5 years dealing with the Jewish War before or after the fall of Jerusalem).

[Historically Nero began persecuting Christians mid-Nov. 64AD and died June 8, 68AD, which is right at 42 months give a few weeks of desperate fleeing for his life with no time to persecute Christians any more.]

6And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven.

This Caesar would persecute Christians (the woman in Heaven).

7And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.

This Caesar would be allowed to persecute Christians. He was also given authority over the Jews within the Roman empire (kindreds = tribes).

8And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.

Non-converted Jews (dwell on the earth no written in the book of life) worshipped this Caesar figuratively in their awe of Rome and greed for its wealth and protection of Palestine [Historically this is literal worship of Nero Caesar as well.]

The Lamb slain from the beginning of the world is a phrase that speaks to God’s plan even before the fall of man. God loves humans and in His omniscience knew they would fall and already had a plan set to resolve that separation. How wonderful is our God!

9If any man have an ear, let him hear.

“Pay attention. Those who have the mindset to heed God need to understand this part properly.” Just as we saw in chapters 2-3.

10He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.

Read Psalm 68 (vs 18 esp); Ezekiel 16:53; Ephesians 4:8. This verse is in one sense a general statement of truth and historical fact. In every case where a nation took another by violence, especially Israel/Judah, that nation in turn faced violent overthrow.

However, in this context it is more specific than that. In all the books of prophecy where nations are spoken of by the prophets, the audience was God’s chosen, the Israelites/Jews. Those nations were God’s appeal again and again to His people to repent or face the same consequence. Those other nations were types pointing to the NT antitype, the final end of the Israelite/Jewish nation. They that imprisoned and killed Christians, who warred against God’s chose of the next age at the end of the Jewish age, were judged, taken captive, and killed themselves.

Here then is the patience, the perseverance of the saints both under the altar and still living. Here we see the result of all those letters from the NT saying stay faithful, the time will happen where this persecution will all be over.

11And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon.

Remember that beasts can represent nations or individual leaders. There are several properties of this beast that helps identify him.

1) This beast comes up out of the earth – he is someone who lives among the Jewish population, though not necessarily a Jew.
2) This beast has two horns – horns represent authority and in this case the horns are two in number indicating authority in/from two places or domains
3) This beast has two horns like a little sheep (lamb) – this authority was not all that great like a Caesar or a king
4) This beast has two horns like a little sheep (lamb) – sheep are ever a metaphorical reference to God’s people, OT and NT. Read Isaiah 53:6; Jeremiah 50:6. This beast is in many respects like the Jews he lives among.
5) This beast speaks as a dragon – indicating that he is in accord with the persecution of Christians.

13And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men,

A. he doeth great wonders

These great wonders are akin to the wonder generated in verse 3. They aren’t literal miracles, but powerful acts that awe those who behold them.

B. so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men,

Metaphorically this is judgment coming down from the place of authority on the people of Judah (specifically those who were in rebellion, though not all rebelled taking the side of Rome like Herod.)

14And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live.

This beast is able to deceive many of the Jewish people by the things he had the authority to do “in sight of the [sea] beast”. The authority given this man by Rome was significant enough to cower many of the Jewish people into submission and to do whatever he suggested.

One of those things was the building of and idol of Caesar to worship, which is emblematic of the worship of Caesar himself. Though a real idol was actually built historically in a number of places, including Jerusalem, this phrase here concerning the image is a symbol of that Caesar worship, not the actual idol.

15And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.

Further evidence that the image is a symbol rather than an actual idol is in this verse. The earth beast has the power to give life to the idol of the sea beast. This could not literally happen. The symbolism here is that the earth beast had the authority to spread Caesar worship. He does so by means of preaching (causing the beast to “speak”) and killing those who did not submit to Caesar worship (which is the main reason the Romans finally turned to persecuting Christians).

16And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:

This is not a literal mark, but a symbolic mark just like the seal in Revelation 7. This mark of the beast was in their actions (right hand) and in their thoughts and words (foreheads). The mark of the beast is in the hands and foreheads of those who serve the beast. It, like most of the things in Revelation is a SYMBOL representing something and is not literal. In this case, the mark indicates those who worship Nero as a god in their actions (hands) and in their minds (foreheads) in the Jewish empire. It is an anti-parallel to the phylacteries (or teffillin) the Jews wore during morning prayers. The hand and head phylacteries contained small scrolls with portions of the Torah or law written on them show their rememberence of God bringing them out of Egypt. The mark of the beast contrasts this by indicating allegience to Rome and Roman law, specifically the worship of Caesar.

17And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.

This is an economic pressure put on the Jews to indicate loyalty to Caesar. If a person was not demonstrating loyalty through action or at least through verbal acknowledgment of Caesar as divinity, they could not participate in legal trade. An example might be a person who is in the market must say something to the effect of “Praise Caesar my god.”

18Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.

In this verse John explicitly identifies the individual who is the specific use of the sea beast (the general being the Roman Empire). Those of John’s day had the necessary information to correctly calculate this from the number 666.

I do not believe it necessary for us to be able to calculate this individual Caesar given that the specific events have passed and this person is dead. It is enough for us to understand the meaning of this verse without doing the calculation. Therefore I will not being going into the well known external arguments of Hebrew numerology except to acknowledge that it was a common practice (Romans used it in their numbering MIX could be the word “mix” (if such a word existed in the Latin vocabulary) but it could also be the number 1009 (M = 1000; I = 1; X = 10; IX = 10-1 = 9). [Historically as supporting secondary evidence the numerology can fit Nero, but again, I don’t think this point is essential in interpreting Revelation.]

In Truth and Love,
Ernie

Revelation Chapter 12

2011-05-20T23:40:00.003-05:00

Revelation 12

1And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars:

A. there appeared a great wonder in heaven;

A wonder is a sign like the miracles. This is not a literal woman but a symbol representing something.

B. a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars:

This woman is clothed with some very specific raiment.

1) Sun is a symbol for kings. In this case Christ is the Sun of Righteousness (Mal. 4:2; Matt. 13:43; 17:2; Acts 26:13; 2 Peter 1:19; Rev. 1:16; 19:7; 21:23; 22:5, 16). She is essentially clothed in royalty of Christ as His bride.

2) The moon is a symbol of lesser authority. Here, the church has less authority than Christ, but still above “the earth”. Christians have a duty to judge the world (1 Cor. 6:2-3) and rule it spiritually through our message and our example (Rev. 12:11, 13).

3) Stars are always symbolic of authority figures that are subject to the king (the sun). In this case, the leaders are 12, i.e. the 12 apostles. More proof of this below.

2And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered.

The offspring of the church are always Christians (Gal. 4). That she travails in birth is the pain of persecution and the birth of this child is extremely difficult, a higher level of persecution.

3And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads.

A. there appeared another wonder in heaven;

Another symbol appears.

B. behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads.

The dragon has very specific descriptions:

1) This greatness is the real power that the Jews had fighting against the church. Had Christ not been her protector, the church would surely have been utterly destroyed by the Jews who hated her.

2) Fire represents judgment. In Rev. 12:10 the judgment of the Jews against the Christians is false but it is still fiery, that is prosecuted with great determination and destruction.

3) For consistency, red in apocalyptic literature is always a symbol for war (bloodshed). The war the Jews waged against the Christians was a bloody one, full of death. The red symbol is in line with the fiery symbol above.

4) Similar to the “dragon” beast of Daniel 7. Represents seven rulers of Judea, the Herods who had real power over their people.

5) Ten toparchs (regions) of Judea. Horns can represent individual leaders (Daniel 7) or ruling positions (Daniel 8).

6) The seven rulers were kings, royalty. Crowns don’t necessarily mean true authority (sea beast) but that they hold the position of royalty. Under the sea beast we see seven heads (actually guide the thoughts and actions of Rome, the beast) but ten crowns (adding three ineffectual kings/crowns to the seven heads we get ten kings. Three of these were ineffectual reflecting the three little horns of Daniel 7). [Historically this is Galba, Othos, and Vitellius.]

4And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born.

A. his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth:

These are the stars of the woman’s crown (the only ones in the immediate context. Essentially the dragon was able to kill 4 of the Apostles (Herod killed James – Acts 12:2), giving them over to the whims of the Jewish people – who the Herod’s wanted to please but didn’t not really associate with on a theological level. [Historically Peter, Matthew, and Philip were also all killed before Revelation was written.]

B. the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born.

This cannot be Christ because Herod was not aware of his birth till after the fact. This is the Jews who are aware of the church (Acts 2-5) and are ready to persecute it (Acts 7-9). They do so by killing a number of Christians led by Saul of Tarsus (Acts 9:1).

5And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne.

A. she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron:

I believe this represents Antipas (Rev. 2:13), who is representative of all Christan martyrs who died before AD 73. Note that it is “he that overcometh” in (Rev. 2:26-27) that will “rule with a rod of iron”. Here, overcometh can mean those who are faithful even to the point of death (Rev. 2:10). We see the martyrs [beheaded] “living and reigning with Christ for a thousand years” in Rev. 20:4.

If the child is Christ then we have one woman with two different husbands (God the Father and Christ the Son), the second (Christ) being the father of her later children. Not an acceptable picture, even if only metaphorical.

B. her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne.

This is a reference to the martyrs overcoming even in death because once they died, persecution could no longer touch them. They were in God’s hands now (Rev. 11:12).

6And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days.

A lot is made of a specific place for the woman to flee, but the Bible refers to the wilderness as simply the land outside of the promised land. I think it more consistent to say that the church at Jerusalem fled to the cities of the seven churches, which are prepared of God by this very letter from John. They are Gentile cities and so still considered the “wilderness” before the new heavens and new earth rearranged every consideration. The 1260 days is equal to 42 months is equal to 3.5 years. That is, the church fled Jerusalem before the Romans got there and were protected until Jerusalem was destroyed.

7And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels,

A. there was war in heaven:

This is Christ (Michael – Daniel 10-12) coming to the defense of His bride, the woman clothed with His royal garments. He has come to cause a change in authority, thus the war is in heaven, the sphere of authority.

B. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels,

Christians vs. Jews in spiritual combat. Their weapons were physical vs. spiritual, the sword of metal vs. the spiritual sword which is the Word of God.

8And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven.

The Jews would have no more place of authority as God’s people. The kingdom as a whole would be taken from them, along with the Jewish commonwealth, and given to the gentiles.

9And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.

The dragon is given more descriptors:

A. the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan

Jews of this time period are related to Satan, the serpent in the Garden of Eden, the Father of lies. We see this in their lying to the Gentiles (we are your friends and submit to your authority, here is our wealth to prove it), the Christians (Judaizers), and even to each other (Herod deceiving the nation of Judah into submitting to Rome). The Jews are compared to Satan already in Revelation and in other passages:

1) Revelation 2:9 - I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan

These are the Jews who claim to abide by the Law of God but are not. They are of the “synagogue” of Satan. That is they are of their father the devil (John 8:44). That synagogue (a Jewish term for a place of learning) is associated with Satan is a strong indicator that you are right associating the dragon with the Jews.

2) Revelation 2:10 – the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried

The Jews certainly did this to Christians all through the book of Acts. Even pursuing Paul through the Greek cities (Acts 13-21) and doing the same to the Greek Christians.

3) Revelation 2:13 - I know ... where thou [Pergamos] dwellest, even where Satan's seat is: and thou holdest fast my name, and hast not denied my faith, even in those days wherein Antipas was my faithful martyr, who was slain among you, where Satan dwelleth.

Here is where Antipas is associated with martyrdom. He was slain “where Satan dwelleth” or at “Satan’s seat”. This is a reference to the Jewish synagogue there where likely Christians (especially former Jews) were brought up on “trial” and carried out sentence there (Acts 22:19).

4) Revelation 2:24 - But unto you I say, and unto the rest in Thyatira, as many as have not this doctrine, and which have not known the depths of Satan, as they speak; I will put upon you none other burden.

In this context we read of Jezebel (who has the reputation as the most wicked woman in the Bible). She is representative of the Judaizing influence inside the church (Acts 15). Jezebel’s fornication is that of the whore in later chapters, her fascination with the other nations. Her chance given by God to repent is thrown away and so God destroys her as we see in chapters 18-19. Those that have not known the depths of Satan are those of the church of Thyatira who did not give in to the Judaizing influence returning to the worse, flawed Law of Moses (Heb. 8).

5) Revelation 3:9 - Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee.

Again we see the “synagogue of Satan” (see 2:9 above). The Jews will come to realize that the Christians are now God’s people and enjoy His love and the Jews have lost this status.

6) Allusion is also made to the Jews as Satan in Romans 16:20.

B. which deceiveth the whole world:

Continues lying motif, the word “world” is oikoumene, which is kingdom, realm, or domain, so the Herods deceived the kingdom of Judah into submitting to Rome for a while.

C. he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.

The dragon, the leadership of the persecuting powers of the Jews, looses the battle for authority and is made no more than the common people subject to the new power in heaven, Christ.

10And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.

A. And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ:

God declares Michael His Annointed the winner and the church fully established at the defeat of the dragon.

B. for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.

Relates to the fiery description above, a false judgment or accusing before the Judge of the Christians, the Jewish (and Judiazing) claim that the Christian faith was either false (Acts 5; etc.) or merely an extension of the Mosaical Law (Acts 15).

11And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.

Judaism was the lesser system and could not save. The superiority of Christianity won out because of what Christ did for mankind. That message, the word of their testimony, the gospel conquered through conversion or the fulfillment of prophecy (such as the Olivet Discourse). Overcoming is the same as found in Rev. 2-3. Christians were faithful even to the point of martyrdom, and this strength of conviction caused the church to flourish during persecution rather than die out.

12Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.

Here the church is pictured as already in existence with Christ as King. He has overthrown the spiritual authority of the Jews and now the physical end of Judaism is coming. The warning to the earth (Jews) and the sea (Rome) indicates the fall of the Herodian line where Herod Agrippa II is no longer considered royalty by the Jewish leadership, but went to Rome.

In the larger picture, the persecuting Jews (now without a king) are severely angry because they see their foretold destruction coming and as much as they wanted to deny it, couldn’t.

13And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child.

This goes back to chapter 11 that after Herod was gone and the War of the Jews truly started, the persecution of the church continued.

14And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent.

The eagles wings represent great endurance and perseverance (Isa. 40:31). The church at large was given the endurance and fortitude (by their hope in the gospel, specifically the eschatological parts. The times, time, and half a time are 3.5 years (times = 2 + time = 1 + half a time = .5) which is exactly equal to the 1260 days.

15And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood.

The flood is a symbol of a mass of people, usually an army. If the church is fleeing Jerusalem, then the Jews are still doing everything they can to eradicate it before Rome arrives. Even thinking they had destroyed the church as per chapter 11.

16And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth.

The earth here is the Jewish people, who inadvertently help the woman by engaging the Romans throughout the land of Palestine giving the Christians time and diversion to escape that region. Those who sought to hunt down the Christians could not find them as they were too busy dodging Romans.

17And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.

All that is left to the Jews is persecuting individual Christians throughout the rest of the world as they are able until the War is over and they loose all capacity to persecute the church.

In Truth and Love,

Ernie

Revelation Chapter 11

2011-05-20T23:40:00.001-05:00

Revelation 11

1And there was given me a reed like unto a rod: and the angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein.

John is given a measuring device and is told by Christ to measure three things:

1. The temple of God

2. The altar

3. The people that worship in the temple

The altar is of particular importance in this symbol because it represents the sacrificial system of the Old Testament. With Christ as the perfect sacrifice, there is no more sacrifice for sin and the altar is not needed. This is the first indicator that the people within the temple depicted here are the Jews.

More on the nature or the reason for the measuring below.

2But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months.

A. the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles:

That the outer court of the temple, the only place where Gentiles were allowed according to the Mosaical law is not measured. A contrast is made here between the people that worship in the temple and the Gentiles, further proving that this is a measurement of the Jewish system of things and the Jewish people.

B. the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months.

Even more potent is this phrase. No other city in scripture besides Jerusalem is referred to as “the holy city” (Nehemiah 11:1; Isaiah 52:1; Daniel 9:24; Matthew 4:5; Matthew 27:53). None. So Jerusalem then is the city that “they” (the Gentiles) would tread under foot for forty and two months.

The forty and two months is again a literal time period, as all specific time periods like this are in Revelation. (The 1000 years later is an exception to be dealt with in chapter 20). It is equal to the time, times, and half a time or 3.5 years as well as 1260 days. This is also the middle of Daniel’s 70^th seven (Daniel 9:27) in which he prophesied the sacrifice and the oblation to cease and the abomination of desolation that Jesus spoke of in Matthew 24:15 to take place, the completion of the covenant which is represented in the rainbow from chapter 10. The 1260 days, 42 months, 3.5 years is the intensifying of the Roman attack and the lead up to the destruction of Jerusalem in the Jewish Wars and is the essence of the second woe.

Again, with all of these signs pointing directly to the destruction of Jerusalem, it is utterly beyond me why anyone would consider any other interpretation!

3And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth.

The two witnesses are are clothed in sackcloth shows their state of mourning for the former people of God, their people, physical Israel whose end is come. Their prophesying for 1260 days in the clothes of morning indicates their restatement of the Old Testament prophecies concerning the events unfolding. They were bearing witness to God as a keeper of all His promises.

4These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth.

The candlesticks represent giving light (like the churches in Revelation 1). The olive trees represent a continuous supply of oil for the lights. Of course the allusion is back to Zechariah 4 and Zerubabbel the governor and Joshua the high priest during the building of the second temple and re-establishing the nation of Judah after captivity. These two men were types representing the civil government and the priesthood which eventually were combined in Christ. Specifically Joshua is connected to Christ in Zechariah 3:8.

These stand before God as duly appointed representatives to the people having authority from God to enact His will within the nation, just as in Zechariah.

5And if any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies: and if any man will hurt them, he must in this manner be killed. 6These have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy: and have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to smite the earth with all plagues, as often as they will.

The capacity of these two witnesses are here associated with Moses (plagues) and Elijah (drought), indicating that they are not literal individuals, but representative entities.

In these men (Zerubabel, Joshua, Moses, Elijah) we have represented the establishment of the nation of Israel (twice), the preaching to the people concerning the ramifications of the nation when wicked, and the witness of the true purpose of Judaism, which was to bring about the fulfillment of the promise to Abraham. The history of the Jews pointed directly at their purpose, but was completely lost on the Jews of the first century who thought the nation of Judah to be the end purpose in and of itself. God’s chose people, was the limit of their understanding, but not what they were chosen for.

Ultimately the two witness point to the cause of Christ and the establishment of the final temple (the church) and the new system of things.

7And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them.

This is the first that we see the beast that ascends out of the bottomless pit. It is not the same as the locusts from chapter 9. This beast is the persecuting power of the Jews against the Christians. The Jews have increased the intensity of their persecution, killing as many Christians as they can (in fulfillment of Revelation 6:11) to the point that they believe they have purged the city of Christians and cut off the head of the movement (which is the congregation of Jerusalem where most of the Apostles were – Acts 15).

8And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.

Here the city “where also our Lord was crucified” is without a doubt Jerusalem. To make it any other city the city where Jesus was crucified is 1) to ignore explicit teaching of all four gospel accounts, 2) to require external sources to supersede internal scriptural sources, 3) frankly Proverbs 12:1 (NKJV).

Jerusalem is the great city. Jerusalem is the city spiritually called Sodom and Egypt in the Old Testament (e.g. Isaiah 1; Isaiah 14).

The “dead bodies” of these two witnesses lying in the streets of the great city, represents the last martyrs killed by the Jews and the church leaving Jerusalem before its destruction. The Jews believing they had finally destroyed those which they hate so much, those that represent an end to the Old System and the rise of the New System to replace the Jews as God’s people.

9And they of the people and kindreds and tongues and nations shall see their dead bodies three days and an half, and shall not suffer their dead bodies to be put in graves.

A. they of the people and kindreds [tribes] and tongues and nations

These terms all describe the Jews scattered throughout the Roman empire (as opposed to being in Jerusalem).

B. shall see their dead bodies three days and an half, and shall not suffer their dead bodies to be put in graves.

The Jews will see the apparent defeat of the church and continue to laud their hollow victory by continuing to dishonor what they perceive to be the remnants of the movement they now think is dead. The surviving Christians were still hunted persecuted throughout Judaea by elements of the zealous Jewish leadership as they fled.

10And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them, and make merry, and shall send gifts one to another; because these two prophets tormented them that dwelt on the earth.

Thinking that Christianity is gone, the Jews celebrate elaborately. It is a false joy, a nervous joy when someone believes they have beaten down an enemy and left them for dead, but aren’t really sure because of what they know of that enemy.

11And after three days and an half the spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon them which saw them.

At the end of this short period of a few days God resurrects the cause represented in these two witnesses by bringing on the full siege of Jerusalem, vindicating all that Christianity has taught about such a thing thus far. The establishment of the New Temple, the New System that the Jews hated, happens anyway. That God stands behind the church and denies the Jews is evident not only to the scattered Jews who had been rejoicing with false joy, but is a show of God’s reality and power to the entire world.

12And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither. And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud; and their enemies beheld them.

The last of the martyrs from Jewish persecution have joined those under the altar (Revelation 6:11) and are now beyond persecution. The Jews begin to see the real effects their persecutions are having in spreading the church rather than crushing it. But because of the Roman incursion have no more capacity to do anything about it. They must now turn their full efforts to defense.

13And the same hour was there a great earthquake, and the tenth part of the city fell, and in the earthquake were slain of men seven thousand: and the remnant were affrighted, and gave glory to the God of heaven.

A. At the same hour.

~At the same time. While these events were going on, the beginning of the end happens. Jerusalem itself comes under siege.

B. was there a great earthquake, and the tenth part of the city fell, and in the earthquake were slain of men seven thousand:

The earthquake spoken of in Isaiah 29:6; Zechariah 14:5; Matthew 24:7; etc. In this earthquake, the number of those slain was seven thousand. Thousand representing divine completion and seven representing all that is in creation, heaven (3) and earth (4). This is a complete destruction of the old heavens and earth, the old system of things to give way to the new heavens and new earth.

14The second woe is past; and, behold, the third woe cometh quickly.

Again, keep in mind these trumpets, woes, etc. are topological, not chronological. The first woe was the initial foray of the Romans into Judah, the attempt to subdue and re-subjugate the Jews to Roman rule. The second woe is a stepping up of the intensity of the Roman attack, overwhelming the entire nation and attacking the heart of Judaism, the city of Jerusalem.

15And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.

Christ and the church are triumphant. The promise to Abraham that all nations would be blest through his seed has been fulfilled. The Gentiles are free to enter the church without hindrance from the Jews and the Judaizers.

16And the four and twenty elders, which sat before God on their seats, fell upon their faces, and worshipped God, 17Saying, We give thee thanks, O LORD God Almighty, which art, and wast, and art to come; because thou hast taken to thee thy great power, and hast reigned.

The kingdom entire giving praise to God for completing yet again a promise made.

18And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great; and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth.

Looking at Matthew 25 the nations are herein judged, the old nation of physical Israel and the new nation of spiritual Israel. This is, in apocalyptic terms, the Day of the Lord, the Judgment Day. The reward given to the prophets and the saints is survival and the knowledge that God has kept His promises to Abraham, through the prophets, and those Christ gave during His earthly ministry.

To destroy those that destroy the earth is as seen in the OT prophets, where the leadership of the Jews is assigned responsibility for leading the entire nation astray. God, in this third and final woe, destroys the Jewish leadership for the corruption of the entire nation.

The third and final woe is the end of Jerusalem proper and the destruction of the old temple, the harshest of the woes for Jerusalem.

19And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament: and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail.

This is the new temple, the full establishment of the church with the end of the old system accomplished. The ark of the covenant here is a representation of the new covenant.

The lightnings and all the rest are a preparation to reveal the second series of visions which is a repeat of the first series in different symbols.

In Truth and Love,

Ernie

Revelation Chapter 10

2011-05-20T23:38:00.000-05:00

Revelation 10

1And I saw another mighty angel come down from heaven, clothed with a cloud: and a rainbow was upon his head, and his face was as it were the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire:

This is Christ. The cloud represents judgment. The rainbow represents covenant/promise (Genesis 9:13-16; Ezekiel 1:28; Daniel 9:27). The covenant of destruction first promised in Lev. 26 and Deut. 32 and prophesied in Daniel 9 is being confirmed, fulfilled. The face as the sun and feet of fire (burnished brass) is the same image as Rev. 1 and Ezekiel and Daniel.

2And he had in his hand a little book open: and he set his right foot upon the sea, and his left foot on the earth,

This little book is the same scroll from chapter 5. Instead of being sealed (a mystery), it is open for those who would read it to do so. Herein we see the oft passages of Christians not being taken unaware as a thief in the night. They understood from Christ’s discourse and this letter, in conjunction with many other writings in the NT what was going to happen, what would herald its coming, and when it would happen. At Olivet the book was still sealed. Now it is not because the event is that close.

The sea represents the separation of the Gentiles and the earth is the Jews. That Christ stands on both shows that in him both are united. At this point, however, there is still in some sense, two different categories. After the fall of Jerusalem, even this distinction doesn’t exist Biblically because there is no more sea, no more separation.

To be clear, the Gentiles were brought into the church spiritually at the cross, practically with Cornelius onward. But because there were still prophecies concerning the Jewish nation left unfulfilled at this time and because the Judaizers were still having such a powerful influence because the Temple still stood, some distinction still remained at least in the minds of the non-Christian Jews. After the end of Judaism, any and all forms of separation/distinction were completely gone.

3And cried with a loud voice, as when a lion roareth: and when he had cried, seven thunders uttered their voices.

Christ, the lion of Judah, utters something accompanied by the voice of seven thunders. This thunder is, as in Revelation 6:1, is the voice of God pronouncing judgment or the way things must be (as from Mount Sinai).

4And when the seven thunders had uttered their voices, I was about to write: and I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Seal up those things which the seven thunders uttered, and write them not.

This passage is not so much that God teases man with a certain mystery and then does not reveal the nature of the mystery. The mode of Revelation is symbols, so the meaning here is that the pronounced judgment is that which is unspeakable (even though John and those reading the letter know what the judgment is). Compare to Joel 2:11; Matthew 13:35; 2 Corinthians 12:4. It is (symbolically) to much for mortal man to bear so terrible is the judgment.

5And the angel which I saw stand upon the sea and upon the earth lifted up his hand to heaven,

Christ here appeals to His Father, the source of ultimate authority for what He is about to do.

6And sware by him that liveth for ever and ever, who created heaven, and the things that therein are, and the earth, and the things that therein are, and the sea, and the things which are therein, that there should be time no longer:

Christ is calling upon His Father as witness, that according to His Divine Will there should be no more delay in the imminent punishment about to be meted out on the Jews. The answer to the martyr’s cry of “how long?” from Rev. 6:9-10 is given.

7But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets.

Read Ephesians 1:9-10. The mystery is solved. The dispensation of the fullness of time is come.

The final woe is pronounced, the mystery of God is finished according to that which the prophets of the OT prophesied. An end to Judaism and the full blessing on all nations, including the Gentiles must be. The final, full establishment of the new, spiritual Israel as superior to the old, physical Israel is come. There is no more division between Jew and Gentile because the former does not exist any more and the latter have become the antitype of the former in that they have become Christians, the adopted children of God.

In this verse we have the tying in of all the Old Testament prophets to what John is seeing. It is conclusive (as it should already be) from this verse that what was prophesied in the OT matters to the interpretation of Revelation, that what was prophesied in the OT (the end of Judaism and the establishment of the church) is in view. Verses like these are why it is beyond me that any other interpretation is even possible or considered.

8And the voice which I heard from heaven spake unto me again, and said, Go and take the little book which is open in the hand of the angel which standeth upon the sea and upon the earth.

John is told to take the book from Christ.

9And I went unto the angel, and said unto him, Give me the little book. And he said unto me, Take it, and eat it up; and it shall make thy belly bitter, but it shall be in thy mouth sweet as honey.

John takes the book. Jesus tells John to eat the book. This verse is parallel to Ezekiel 3:1-3, 14.

10And I took the little book out of the angel's hand, and ate it up; and it was in my mouth sweet as honey: and as soon as I had eaten it, my belly was bitter.

When John takes the book (representing the Revelation he was writing to the seven churches about the end of Judaism) the information is at first great to hear, but as it settles in, the information is not as great as it first sounded. John herein is hearing the message of the triumph of the church over its greatest enemy, the Jews. Their destruction assures the survival of the church just as God promised. But in that destruction, John and many other former Jews, see the end of their nation, their people, a people who rejected God and are eternally lost.

This is what Ezekiel sees in his vision as well: the punishment of the wicked, and even the redemption of the Jews from captivity, but ultimately their end.

11And he said unto me, Thou must prophesy again before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings.

John will leave Patmos and, with the churches of the province of Asia, prophesy to many. Easier to do the younger you are.

In Truth and Love,

Ernie

Revelation Chapter 9

2011-05-16T22:15:00.001-05:00

Revelation 9

1And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth: and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit.

It is absolutely essential that the reader keep in mind that these are all symbols and not literal objects or events stated else the interpretation of this book is arbitrary and can mean anything.

A. The fifth angel sounded...

The fifth herald announces the next series of events. In understanding these seven messengers to correspond to the seven stars or messengers from Rev. 1:20, it is important to understand that they all bore the same message, including what was given to the other six. But just as each messenger also carries a specific message to a specific congregation (Rev. 2-3), each messenger also represents heralding a specific set of events.

B. I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth:

This solitary star is a leader of some sort who falls from power.

C. to him was given the key of the bottomless pit.

To the star, not to the 5^th herald, was given the key to the bottomless pit. To understand this phrase, it is important to understand first the nature of the abyss or the bottomless pit from scripture. Then it is possible to discuss the key, which then makes it possible to discuss further the identity of the star that fell.

The bottomless pit – Read Psalm 9:15; Psalm 30:3; Psalm 35:7; Psalm 40:2; Proverbs 22:14; Proverbs 28:10; Isaiah 14:15; Isaiah 24:17; Isaiah 24:18; Isaiah 24:22; Isaiah 38:17; Jeremiah 18:20; Jeremiah 18:22; Jeremiah 48:43; Jeremiah 48:44; Ezekiel 19:4; Ezekiel 19:8; Ezekiel 26:20; Ezekiel 28:8. It is true that in a number of cases the pit is referred to as Sheol/Hades/the grave. But this is an example of the greater overall meaning of the pit. The basic idea of the pit is the snare or trap for beasts or men. It is important to note that in many cases (including Revelation) the pit is something that can be entered and exited! It is not necessarily a permanent trap. The bottomless nature of the pit is the nature of its size rather than its function. It is bottomless because it has to hold something(s) very, very big.

The key – represents the authority to open the pit and unleash what is contained therein. That the star is given this key implies that someone had the authority to give that key. Essentially this represents God’s machinations, causing a leader to do His will. God gives Nero the key, the authority, to send the Roman army, just as all kingly authority derives from God, and just as we see throughout the Old Testament with kings such as Nebuchadnezzar working God’s will.

The star – I believe this to be the Caesar [historically Nero] who unleashes the Roman army on the land of Judah. This Caesar unleashes the Roman army but falls from power individually. His fall and his opening of the pit are not necessarily in order.

2And he opened the bottomless pit; and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit.

A. he opened the bottomless pit;

This star/leader, opens the bottomless pit and releases what is contained therein.

B. there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace;

Read Genesis 19:28; Joshua 8:20-21; Judges 20:38-40; 2 Samuel 22; Psalm 18; Psalm 37:20; Isaiah 9:18; Isaiah 14:31; Isaiah 34:10; Hosea 13:3; Joel 2:30; Nahum 2:13; Acts 2:19. The prophetic idea of smoke is tied to judgment against a nation. In some cases the smoke is associated with the great cloud that follows a large army, which I believe to be the case here. In other cases, such as with Sodom and Gomorrah the smoke is that of the city conquered rising up after the city is destroyed, which does not fit here. The furnace, or great heat coming from the pit and associated with the smoke, is the fires of judgment coming in the form of this army.

C. the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit.

The sun is darkened – the king of the Jews looses his power because of the army approaching (Herod Agrippa before whom Paul defend himself in Acts 25-26.) [Historically Agrippa, the 7^th and final King Herod of the line, fled to Rome after being rejected by the Jews at the beginning of the Jewish war with Rome.]

The air is darkened – the air or heaven is the realm of Jewish authority. The prince of the power of the air is at this time Satan, who works in the children of disobedience, the Jews (Ephesians 2:2). The air darkening is a weakening of the authority of the Jewish leadership over the land of Judah as the Roman army moves forward and begins conquering the cities of the land. Eventually their authority is reduced to Jerusalem, and then destroyed altogether.

3And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth: and unto them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power.

A. there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth:

This is a great visual representation of the approach of a great army. First you see the smoke, then you see the fire, or in this case, the army seems to appear out of the smoke. This army is symbolically associated as locusts. This symbol points, in some sense, to the plague against Egypt (Exodus 10:4-19), but it is more than just that. Read Jeremiah 51:14; Jeremiah 51:27; Joel 1:4 and especially Ezekiel 38-39. The concept of locusts is of vast destruction, generally associated with an army. Consider the nature of such an army that moves through a land, pillaging supplies in a slash and burn style leaving nothing behind them just like a swarm of locusts.

We'll touch on Gog and Magog later and connect it to this.

B. and unto them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power.

The Roman army had a capacity similar to the Jewish partisans who fought against them, negating that power.

4And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree; but only those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads.

This army was commanded to not “hurt” the Jewish commoners as a whole, but specifically the leaders (men) of the Jews in revolt against Rome. This was a precise mission with a precise goal that left the majority of the people of Judah alone.

5And to them it was given that they should not kill them, but that they should be tormented five months: and their torment was as the torment of a scorpion, when he striketh a man.

This is further identification of this army’s mission not to destroy but to harass and hurt (symbolically) their target. The Roman army coming in was to subjugate the leaders of the Jewish revolt and leave a lasting debilitation. [Historically this happened with Cestius Gallus who spent five months at the beginning of the Jewish Wars coming at Jerusalem, but he was unsuccessful in taking the Temple Mount.]

It is also important to note at this point, that in every case where a specific time is mentioned, it is literal. There is no basis on which to take it as anything but in any apocalyptic context, especially within the context of the book of Revelation itself.

6And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them.

The horrors of war come on the heels of the four horsemen, especially that last three, and those who are commoners, those who are poor already will suffer even more.

7And the shapes of the locusts were like unto horses prepared unto battle; and on their heads were as it were crowns like gold, and their faces were as the faces of men.

The interpretation of the locust swarm is given partly here. The swarm of locusts is really an army of men astride horses, coming for battle. The crowns on their heads are the symbol of kingly authority given to them to carry out their mission. This army is representative of the king whom they serve.

8And they had hair as the hair of women, and their teeth were as the teeth of lions.

A. they had hair as the hair of women

Men in this army have marched long, fast, and hard to achieve their mission and have not had opportunity or reason to shear their hair (nor shave).

B. their teeth were as the teeth of lions.

Read Psalm 58.

9And they had breastplates, as it were breastplates of iron; and the sound of their wings was as the sound of chariots of many horses running to battle.

A. they had breastplates, as it were breastplates of iron;

Again identifying this as the Roman army. In Daniel 2, the Roman Empire is represented by iron. It is a fulfillment of the promise in Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 32 “And I will break the pride of your power; and I will make your heaven as iron, and your earth as brass:”.

B. the sound of their wings was as the sound of chariots of many horses running to battle.

The buzzing drone of the locusts that John hears is compared to the thundering sound of the chariots and horses of the army.

10And they had tails like unto scorpions, and there were stings in their tails: and their power was to hurt men five months.

Reiterating the idea of scorpions as part of the army, these are at the “tail” of the locusts, the back of the army. This is the sting of arrows from archer companies within the legion. Above the scorpions were balanced against the scorpions of the earth, the archers of the Romans matched the archers of the Jews

11And they had a king over them, which is the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon.

This verse identifies the fallen star as a king. This king has the name “Destroyer” in both the Hebrew and Greek tongues. What is surely significant here is the need for a reference to the Hebrew tongue. ONLY in the pre-Jerusalem interpretation does this even matter. After the Jews fell, what importance is there to the Hebrew language (as it relates to scripture especially)? Here then we have another key to when Revelation was written.

12One woe is past; and, behold, there come two woes more hereafter.

The sounding of the fifth trumpet releases the first woe (the first military incursion). The Jews see this woe and realize there is much worse to come.

13And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God,

The voice is from the altar, the symbol of communication between God and men from the OT. It’s where sacrifices were made, prayers were offered by the priests, and so on. The idea here is that the command comes from God, but it is also significant in that it represents that the Jewish Temple is still standing. More on this in later chapters.

14Saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, Loose the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates.

These four messengers are those from Revelation 7:1 holding back the four winds. The sixth herald is to loose them, not because they are imprisoned, but because they are holding back, awaiting command.

The great river Euphrates on the northern border of Israel is a symbol of the border and even barrier to northern nations. Read Deuteronomy 11:24; 2 Samuel 8:3; Jeremiah 13; Jeremiah 46:10; Revelation 16:12. To cross that river indicated invasion into the land of Judah by a powerful army.

15And the four angels were loosed, which were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, for to slay the third part of men.

These four messengers, representing the larger invasion force of the Roman army, had been prepared for some time. This “third part of men” is the first third to be slain of the Jewish nation and it represents those killed or captured and taken out of active capacity for the Jewish cause. The other two will follow.

16And the number of the army of the horsemen were two hundred thousand thousand: and I heard the number of them.

This is another look at the Roman army in its vastness. 200 million is certainly not a real number [as there were only around 300 million humans on the whole planet at that time], but like a locust swarm, John indicates here that the army was big…really big.

17And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and them that sat on them, having breastplates of fire, and of jacinth, and brimstone: and the heads of the horses were as the heads of lions; and out of their mouths issued fire and smoke and brimstone.

Basically these are like the original foray into Judah. The breastplates are not iron any more, but loaded with the symbols of judgment (shining like fire, blood red hyacinth boarding on black, and the yellow of sulphur/brimstone). This larger army was not on a limited mission but was out for full destruction.

18By these three was the third part of men killed, by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their mouths.

Full judgment is brought against the Jews now, not just the limited foray for the five months.

19For their power is in their mouth, and in their tails: for their tails were like unto serpents, and had heads, and with them they do hurt.

Descriptors of the Roman army as it advanced.

20And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship devils, and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood: which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk: 21Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts.

Again the reference to the locusts as a plague (or plagues) associating the defenders with Egypt. The Jews remaining did not repent of their multitude of sins past nor present.

In Truth and Love,

Ernie

Revelation Chapter 8

2011-05-14T22:15:00.001-05:00

Revelation 8

1And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour.

The final seal is opened and there is a pause. Given the nature of the other six seals this pause represents the opportunity for Christians to flee Jerusalem (see Matthew 24:15-20).

2And I saw the seven angels which stood before God; and to them were given seven trumpets.

These are the seven stars/messengers of Rev. 1:20. The seven trumpets they are given are the heralding of the arrival of the King. These trumpets are the proclamations of the coming of the Lord these messengers brought to the churches. The message describes what it will look like when He comes, thus when the events actually transpire, it will be like a clarion call of “okay, here He is!” for the churches.

3And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given unto him much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne.

This symbolizes the increase in prayers as the persecution by the Jews increases right before the end. We see this happen throughout Acts. The persecution is a rising action all through the history of the church up to this point. The prayers then calling for the Lord to come increase proportionally.

4And the smoke of the incense, which came with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel's hand.

God hears the prayers...

5And the angel took the censer, and filled it with fire of the altar, and cast it into the earth: and there were voices, and thunderings, and lightnings, and an earthquake.

...and acts. The fire is God’s judgment upon the Jews (earth). The voices, thunderings, lightnings, and earthquake are the activities of God to bring about this judgment to shake up the Jewish system.

6And the seven angels which had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound.

The seven messengers to the seven churches bring the letter of John’s revelation after the gospel message has been spread (white horse), war, famine, and death have softened up the Jews making them ripe for attack, after all those of the Jews who would convert, do so. This puts us pretty close to, but not during the Jewish wars, the final seven of Daniel’s seventy sevens [Historically 67-73 AD] and gives us a pretty firm idea of when Revelation was written.

These seven trumpets echo the pronouncement of the fall of Jericho (Josh. 6:13-21).

7The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up.

The war begins. There is hail (Isaiah 28:2; Isaiah 28:17), fire mingled with blood (Isaiah 9:5; Ezekiel 21:32; Joel 2:30; Acts 2:19) cast upon the land of Judah (earth) and a symbolic third of the Jewish families [possibly families of the leaders?] (trees) and the common people (grass) are killed (or enslaved) in the opening salvos.

8And the second angel sounded, and as it were a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea: and the third part of the sea became blood; 9And the third part of the creatures which were in the sea, and had life, died; and the third part of the ships were destroyed.

“Mountain” is the symbol for kingdom (Isaiah 2:2; Jeremiah 51:25; Daniel 2:35). This great mountain burning with fire is undoubtedly the Roman Empire coming to bring judgment (fire). This sea is representative here of Judah’s trade capacity. Read my discourse on Isaiah 19. The Jewish capacity for trade was severely diminished during the war, probably due in part to blockades by the Roman navy.

10And the third angel sounded, and there fell a great star from heaven, burning as it were a lamp, and it fell upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of waters; 11And the name of the star is called Wormwood: and the third part of the waters became wormwood; and many men died of the waters, because they were made bitter.

A great star falling from heaven is of course a powerful leader falling from power (Isaiah 14). The effect of the fall of this leader affects the “rivers and fountains”, the means of internal trade within Judah. The star, called Wormwood (which means bitterness) falls and makes the waters bitter and many die from it. Judah, already weakened by famine and inflation, now has a severe shortage of foodstuffs and necessary goods. That which is left makes people sick because of its rotted, putrid, bitter nature. This powerful leader within the Jewish hierarchy is likely some sort of trade minister or someone handling the logistics for the nation of Judah.

12And the fourth angel sounded, and the third part of the sun was smitten, and the third part of the moon, and the third part of the stars; so as the third part of them was darkened, and the day shone not for a third part of it, and the night likewise.

The sun, moon, and stars are the Jewish leadership just as in Matthew 24, Acts 2, Joel 2, and elsewhere. This shows the dimming of their power over the Jewish nation.

13And I beheld, and heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabiters of the earth by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels, which are yet to sound!

Again, an angel is simply a messenger (or possibly the message carried by the messenger). Heaven here can either represent Heaven or the realm of leadership. This messenger is speaking a message to the Jews (the inhabiters of the earth) based on what they see coming (the events portrayed by the three remaining trumpets).

The Jewish leadership is frantic. Their land, their people are already feeling the extreme tribulation from the Roman march through Judaea. They cannot put a good face on it anymore, but have to present a realistic picture to their people in order to better prepare them for the worse things to come that they see.

In Truth and Love,

Ernie

Revelation Chapter 7

2011-05-14T22:13:00.000-05:00

Revelation 7

1And after these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree.

A. And after these things...

John has seen a vision of the four horsemen that God calls to judgment against Jerusalem. They appear, but have not yet acted.

B. I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth...

We see these four angels in Zechariah 6. These are the four horsemen ready to wage war against the earth (land), which is Judaea.

C. holding the four winds of the earth...

The four winds are representative of the machinations of God within the kingdoms of the world. In Ezekiel 37:9 they blow and resurrect the cause of righteousness in the valley of dry bones. In Daniel 7:2 they blow and cause the four great empires to rise up and later in Daniel 8:8; and Daniel 11:4 further maneuver the four empires. In Jeremiah 49:36 Elam is scattered by the four winds to the four winds, meaning throughout those empires.

The vision here then is that the machinations of God read about and prophesied about with regard to the world empires associated with Judah are coming to fruition. The whole world stands ready to come against Jerusalem. This is the Roman army which is comprised of every nation in the world.

D. that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree...

Though they stand ready, they are not released yet against the Jews (earth), the Gentiles (sea), or any families/genealogies/lineages (trees: Isaiah 7:2; Isaiah 10:19; Isaiah 14:8; Isaiah 41:19; Isaiah 44:14; Isaiah 44:23; Isaiah 60:13; Isaiah 61:3; Ezekiel 17:22-24). Essentially nobody in the land of Judaea, regardless of race or nationality, was to be hurt by these machinations yet.

2And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God: and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea,

This is again Christ, not as Lamb or Conqueror, but as Evangelist. Compare to Matthew 24:27; Luke 1:78. The seal is the seal of the Holy Spirit through the gospel in the hearts of Christians of that time in this context (Mark 4:15; 2 Corinthians 1:22; Ephesians 1:13; Ephesians 4:30; Colossians 3:16; 2 Timothy 2:19; Hebrews 8:10; Hebrews 10:16).

3Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads.

The four horsemen are not to begin until the gospel had reached and been acted on by all those who were going to act on it. Herein we see the providence of God reaching all of those who would obey the gospel.

In modern times, we can apply this to the question of “what about person x in location y who has never heard the gospel?” If such a person actually exists and if they would respond to the gospel appropriately, then I firmly believe God’s providence will preach the gospel to them, even if it requires the wicked to do so (e.g. the Catholics through the Dark Ages preached the Bible to everyone and it was everyone’s responsibility to reason through the tradition and understand the Truth only by that which was actually written in scripture).

4And I heard the number of them which were sealed: and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel. 5Of the tribe of Juda were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Reuben were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Gad were sealed twelve thousand. 6Of the tribe of Aser were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Nephthalim were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Manasses were sealed twelve thousand. 7Of the tribe of Simeon were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Levi were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Issachar were sealed twelve thousand. 8Of the tribe of Zabulon were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Joseph were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Benjamin were sealed twelve thousand.

The 144,000 of the tribe of Israel here is:

1) Those of the descendants of Jacob who are converted.

2) This relates to the membership of the church at that time. This has no other future application except to John’s time. The sealing spoken of took place in John’s timeframe, the first century before the destruction of Jerusalem. It has nothing whatsoever to do with anything outside of that time frame or the church today.

In essence, John is saying that he hears a symbolic census of every Jew who was going to become a part of the church before the fall of Judah was given the time and opportunity to do so. It is a symbolic number, not a literal one. 12 squared for the number of tribes and 1000 to show that it would be a complete listing of all of them.

Some important things to note:

1) Dan is not listed -- Dan is not listed because of the prophecy in Amos 8:14.

2) Joseph is listed for Ephraim -- Joseph was the son of Jacob who was faithful to God, but the tribe of Ephraim named after one of his two sons did not remain so. Joseph then is honored and Ephraim (who is referred to continually in lieu of the northern tribes and associated with their wickedness) is not.

3) Levi (who had no physical inheritance in the promised-land) is listed -- They have an inheritance in the new earth.

9After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands;

John then sees a numberless group. It was a multitude of such magnitude it could not be numbered. This multitude is not just the 144,000 converted Jews, but the people that would be converted to Christianity before the events described in John’s book would come from every nation, tribe, race, and language. The 144,000 = converted Jews before the fall of Jerusalem. The multitude includes the 144,000 but is all Christians to be converted before the destruction of Jerusalem.

These faithful servants stand before the throne figuratively. These are not the dead martyrs for the cause of Christ (who are under the altar), but the living faithful who still serve in the physical realm at that time. They have white robes (they are faithful and pure of sin because of the blood of Christ), and palms in their hands (pay homage to Christ - John 12:13).

10And cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb.

These faithful acknowledge that Jehovah is the source of salvation through Christ (Jonah 2:9).

11And all the angels stood round about the throne, and about the elders and the four beasts, and fell before the throne on their faces, and worshipped God, 12Saying, Amen: Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honour, and power, and might, be unto our God for ever and ever. Amen.

So the sealing ends and all who are of the church praise God for what He has done and what He is about to do.

13And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came they? 14And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

This is of course the explanation again of the 144,000 and the numberless multitude dressed in white. They are not all members of the church of all time. They are those who survived great tribulation (Matthew 24:21; Matthew 24:29; Revelation 1:9) still faithful to God! To assign it to any other/larger group is to ignore the very plain explanation given right within the immediate context. And it is very important to understand that these are not the martyrs, not dead at all, but those who are still living after the tribulation.

15Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple: and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them.

Once again, let me reiterate. These people are the very specific group of people who survived the great tribulation with their lives and faith intact. They serve God “in His temple” meaning they serve God being a part of the church, which is the Temple. God comes to dwell among them (John 14:23).

16They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat. 17For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.

Pay attention now. These faithful, who are still alive after the tribulation, from that moment on would not hunger, or thirst, or feel the heat, nor shed tears any more. This is NOT Heaven nor the end of the kosmos. This is the living faithful after the tribulation. It is echoed in chapter 21. The hungering and thirsting is after the Truth. Christ provides the gospel and addresses those needs. They need no sun (Jewish king) because the new heavens have a new Sun (Christ - Revelation 21:23; Revelation 22:5).

The wiping away of tears is of special interest because of what so many incorrectly associate it with. Read Isaiah 25:8; Isaiah 65:19; and then forward to Revelation 21:4. This wiping away of tears/crying is not in Heaven, but an end to the persecution and trouble from a given context.

In Truth and Love,

Ernie

Revelation Chapter 6

2011-05-11T21:10:00.001-05:00

Revelation 6

1And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, Come and see.

As Christ opens the seals, John begins to see the vision of the things which must shortly come to pass. The noise of thunder represents the voice of God announcing judgment (1 Samuel 2:10; 1 Samuel 7:10; Isaiah 29:6). The first of the four beasts, with the face of a lion representing rule and strength, announces the breaking of the first seal.

2And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer.

Thus begins the vision of the four horsemen. These horsemen are servants of God and represent His judgment on the target nation of this prophecy. The horsemen are like those from Zechariah 1 and 6. Let’s examine each in turn.

A. behold a white horse...

White of course is the symbol of purity throughout the Bible. This rider is pure in nature. It is none other than Christ, pictured here not as sacrificial Lamb but Conqueror.

B. he that sat on him had a bow...

The bow is an implement of war, specifically a weapon with long reach and devastating precision in a skilled hand.

C. a crown was given unto him...

This emblem represents the authority given to Christ by the Father to be King over the Kingdom of God. It echoes the images from chapter 5.

D. and he went forth conquering, and to conquer...

This is Christ as pictured in Luke 19:12 going off to make war against the enemies of His Kingdom converting them to Christianity (“to receive for himself a kingdom”).

3And when he had opened the second seal, I heard the second beast say, Come and see.

The second seal is opened. A second component of judgment is released. Please keep in mind these are not chronological but typological. John is seeing layers or pieces of a whole, building the context of the judgment. The second beast is the one with the face of the ox representing endurance.

4And there went out another horse that was red: and power was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another: and there was given unto him a great sword.

A. there went out another horse that was red...

As in Zechariah, the red horse represents war and bloodshed. His very meaning is described in this verse.

B. power was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another: and there was given unto him a great sword.

Authority is given to this rider, likely embodied in the general of the army that destroyed Jerusalem [Historically Vespasian]. He is to take peace from the earth (land), the land of Palestine. Note here that it says after the rider takes peace from “the earth” John then writes “they should kill one another”. They refers back to “the earth (land)” indicating quite clearly that the earth represents the people who dwell there, the Jews. The Jews would turn on and kill one another during this time of war. The great sword represents the great word (or command) given to this rider (see Rev 1). His commission was to end the Jewish nation.

5And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand.

The third seal is broken and the third beast with the face like a man, representing wisdom shows John the third rider on a black horse which in this context represents famine. Balances were used in market places to measure out trade weights and coins. This rider is a representation of the scarcity of food to come during the events that must shortly come to pass.

6And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine.

As the rider rides forth, a voice cries out the prices of basic foods and luxury foods like a hawker in the market. A penny, according to Matthew 20 is the wages for a days worth of work. The idea here is that the famine has made food so scarce that a man has to work all day just to buy the food he needs to live. The admonition not to hurt (Grk. adikeo) oil and wine is an admonition not to use them unjustly. So they were to use the oil and wine sparingly because of their scarcity.

7And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see.

The fourth beast calls John to see the fourth rider. This beast is that with the face of the eagle, representing swiftness, power, and omniscience.

8And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth.

The pale horse is the pale grey of the dappled bay like in Zechariah 6. Here it carries personified death. Hades, the realm of the souls of the dead, is also personified and follows after Death. But Death was conquered by Christ and is now under His command. Death here serves God just as the other horsemen to bring judgment against the enemies of Christ.

Death uses the power of the other riders, the sword and famine, along with different forms of death and even wild beasts (seen throughout the Old Testament prophesies) to take out a representative portion of the Jews.

All of these horsemen in service to God were sent to weaken the land of the Jews in preparation for the fall of Jerusalem and Judaism. The preaching of the gospel took from their numbers by converting them to Christians. War, famine, and all manner of death reduced their numbers and weakened Judah’s infrastructure further.

9And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held:

These are the martyrs for the cause of Christ that were slain by the hands of the Jews. This is a pivotal point here. It is vital that the Bible be given eminent, and I would argue sole, capacity for providing the interpretation of this, else the meaning and much else gets distorted.

Read through the entire New Testament. Read specifically through Acts for history. ONLY the Jews persecuted the Christians in scripture. In fact, what little we read of the Romans was them becoming annoyed with (or in Pilate’s case, fearful of) the Jews. One Jew was beat for annoying a Gentile leader (Acts 18:17). The Jews were kicked out of Rome by Claudius for being annoying (Acts 18:2).

10And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?

These martyrs cry out to Christ to judge and avenge their blood on “them that dwell on the earth” a.k.a. the Jews.

11And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellowservants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled.

A. white robes were given unto every one of them...

These martyrs received white robes, symbols of the purity they maintained while alive, remaining faithful even to the point of their deaths at the hands of the Jews.

B. it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellowservants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled.

These martyrs are told to rest (cease their demands) for a little season. This indicates once again that the events envisioned here would happen within a short amount of time.

They are to wait until the Jews had “filled up the measure of their fathers” (Matthew 23).

12And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood;

At the breaking of the sixth seal there are a number of things that are envisioned. These images are taken straight out of Isaiah. Isaiah 13:10; Ezekiel 32:7; Daniel 8:10; Joel 2:10; Joel 3:15; etc.

A. there was a great earthquake...

The shaking up of the people of Judaea. This symbol is found throughout the OT prophets.

B. the sun became black as sackcloth of hair...

The king of the Jews (Herod) would loose his authority.

C. the moon became as blood...

The high priest pictured here is the second highest authority in the land. He is pictured as covered in blood, a vivid picture of his part in the hunting down and killing of the Christians just mentioned above, his part in the filling up of the iniquity of the Jews.

13And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind.

A continuation of the events with the opening of the sixth seal.

D. the stars of heaven fell unto the earth...

The other rulers of the Jews (e.g. the Sanhedrin Council) would fall from power.

E. even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind.

The fig tree is an emblem of the kingdom of Judah in scripture: Isaiah 34:4; Jeremiah 8:13; Hosea 9:10; Joel 1:7; Matthew 21:19-21; Matthew 24:32; etc.

14And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.

Read Isaiah 34:4. The judgment against Judah shifted the political structure of all the surrounding domains (mountains) and of all the Gentiles (islands).

15And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; 16And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb:

Similar to the judgment found in Hosea 10:8. The leaders of the Jews (e.g. Herod) would seek safety in the domains (mountains) of other nations as Judah is destroyed. [Historically Herod sought safety in Rome while the upheaval in Judaea took place.]

17For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?

This is the day of the Lord like that spoken of throughout the Old Testament, a day of judgment against a wicked nation, in this case Judah. It is the day of the Lord Christ Himself spoke of in Matthew 24:36; Acts 2:20; 1 Thessalonians 5:2; 2 Peter 3:10, etc.

In Truth and Love,

Ernie

Revelation Chapter 5

2011-05-11T21:10:00.000-05:00

Revelation 5

1And I saw in the right hand of him that sat on the throne a book written within and on the backside, sealed with seven seals.

The vision here is a continuation of chapter 4. God the Father sits on the throne. Next to that throne is a scroll written on both sides. It is sealed with seven seals. This image only sets up the rest of the metaphors so there is little interpretation that needs to be done at this time except perhaps with regard to the seals.

In the book of Daniel, Daniel asks the question concerning the end of his people. He is then told to seal up the prophecy for the time is not yet (Daniel 12:4; Daniel 12:9). Now is the time of the fulfillment of that prophecy, which from Daniel 9 we know to be the 70^th seven. I believe that the seven seals are related to this 70th seven, not chronologically but typologically. It represents an unsealing of what Daniel saw that he was not allowed to show in his book.

2And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, Who is worthy to open the book, and to loose the seals thereof?

The strong messenger here represents all the mightiest of those around the throne who could not open the seals. No mere angel (celestial or otherwise) is worthy (has the authority) to unseal what Jehovah God has commanded sealed.

3And no man in heaven, nor in earth, neither under the earth, was able to open the book, neither to look thereon.

Very simply, there were none found up to this point with the authority to open the scroll and read its contents.

4And I wept much, because no man was found worthy to open and to read the book, neither to look thereon.

John weeps because none had the authority to open the book. The import to a former Jew concerning the end of his people, whom he still loves, sealed in the time of Daniel, appears as if (for the moment) it will remain forever a mystery.

5And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof.

John is consoled by one of the visionary elders. A new figure is described by the elder by titles we know to be Christ:

A. the Lion of the tribe of Judah…

Throughout the Old Testament prophecies the lions are representative of kings (e.g. Ezekiel 19:1-9). This king of Judah is none other than the “King of the Jews” (Matthew 27:37) Jesus, who is in reality King of Spiritual Israel.

B. the Root of David…

(Read: Isaiah 11:1; Isaiah 11:10; Isaiah 53:2; Romans 15:12). There is no doubt that this is Christ. The “root” is really that which springs from the root, the progeny.

C. hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof…

Christ has the strength/power/authority to break the seals and bring about the end Daniel asked about, that Jehovah had commanded him to seal up.

6And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth.

In the last verse, one of the elders states that the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David has the authority to open the book. When John finally sees this Lion/Shoot it is a Lamb.

A. stood a Lamb as it had been slain,...

The lamb of God (John 1:29) which was slain on our behalf.

B. having seven horns...

Horns represent leadership roles such as kingships. (Daniel 7)

C. and seven eyes,...

From Zechariah 4:10.

D. which are the seven Spirits of God...

The horns and the eyes are both connected to the seven spirits of God here. Again, the capitalization is wrong. God only has one Spirit, not seven. The seven spirits are the lamp stands (4:5) which are the seven churches (1:20). So the horns and the eyes are parts of the body of Christ tied to the seven churches of Asia in this book.

E. sent forth into all the earth...

Specifically John is seeing here a vision of the coming leadership role and the providence of Christ working through the seven churches of Asia in preparation for the fall of Jerusalem. These seven spirits are the Christians bringing John’s warning to the church in Palestine (the earth) of what is about to come.

7And he came and took the book out of the right hand of him that sat upon the throne.

Only Jesus has the authority to come and take something from His Father. This is the image of the passing of authority from Father to Son. The book represents Daniel’s vision of the end of the Jews over which God the Father formerly ruled until they rejected Him (1 Samuel 8:7). Now Christ is bringing about that end to establish the new, spiritual Israel over which He rules.

8And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints.

A. And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb,...

Only God is worthy of worship. As Jesus takes the book, the four beasts and twenty four elders bow to worship Him, acknowledging that He is God and worthy of worship.

B. having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints.

These twenty eight worshippers are pictured with both harps and golden vials of incense. It is imperative that we remember that this is a metaphor, a book of symbols. The harps and the vials represent the prayers of the saints. The emblem here is that all the church of God worships Christ, specifically praying through Christ to God the Father.

9And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation;

A. And they sung a new song, saying,...

This new song is a song of praise to Christ. Again, singing is an act of worship. They honor Christ with their worship, once again showing Him to be God.

B. Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof:...

The song praises Christ for being God, for having the authority to take the book and open it.

C. for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood

He has this authority now because of what He did on the cross. Note specifically that these that worship God in John’s vision are saying “you have redeemed “us”, further denoting these as representative of the church, the body of the saved.

D. out of every kindred [tribe], and tongue, and people, and nation;...

Salvation was to the Jew first then to the Gentile. The great mystery of the gospel was the salvation of the Gentiles. The church is comprised of all kinds of people of all nations, not just the Hebrews.

10And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.

Christians are of royal heritage as the adopted children of God through the blood of Christ. By Him we are all made priests, able to communicate to God without need of a human go between such as the Levitical priests.

Read (1 Corinthians 4:8; 2 Timothy 2:12). These verses will come into play more and more through the book of Revelation as we understand the nature of the reign over the earth by Christians. This is a looking forward to the reign after the events of Revelation come to completion.

11And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne and the beasts and the elders: and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands;

John hears all those who are for the cause of Christ around the throne. Everyone on God’s side is represented here.

12Saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing.

They all praise Christ as the one with the right to be given the authority (Matthew 28:18) and all the rest with regard to the next verse. This praise is given not in a literal, active voice by individuals, but because all who are doing the worshipping are following the part given to them to play, moved by God as the ultimate chess player, just like in Ezekiel.

13And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever.

A. And every creature...

This is the creature of Romans 8:19-23, the human being.

B. which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them,...

Rulers, the people they rule, the dead, and even the Gentiles...

C. Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever...

Worship is given to God the Father and God the Son for what they are about to do to change the world forever.

14And the four beasts said, Amen. And the four and twenty elders fell down and worshipped him that liveth for ever and ever.

More worship for the great I AM.

In Truth and Love,

Ernie