THE SYMBOLISM IN BOOK OF REVELATION
While most everyone recognizes Revelation as symbolic, some folks argue it as
being actual and non-symbolic, to the point of one man proposing that an actual
red dragon with seven heads lurks in outer space! (It's true!). However, it's
an indictment against modern Christianity's lack of biblical study to not
immediately recognize the myriad of symbols in the Revelation that were taken
from other internal biblical references.
THE BIBLE INTERPRETS ITSELF
The symbols CAN NEVER be haphazardly concocted. The interpretation is NOT UP
FOR GRABS! It is filled with references to Hebrew customs, noted in the
same Bible, which I will endeavour to show in a limited fashion here.
But one should be suspicious of futuristic slants on the book immediately upon
considering what impression the futurist interpretation puts upon its
adherents. What, in their mind, is stressed in the Revelation?
The answer to that question is never what the Revelation actually stresses, in
my opinion.
As a former futurist, and other honest futurists must admit, I was conscious of
the Revelation being about "The end of the world." It was about evil
rising up. It was about horror coming. And I later realized it was precisely
the opposite arena as to what the book said of it's own self! It reads
that it is a Revelation of Jesus Christ. But that is nothing like the
impression I was getting from futurist teaching, and the impression I was
GIVING people when I taught with a futuristic approach.
Think of it. What is the MESSAGE'S POINT in the futurist sermon from
Revelation? What is their main point of emphasis that you arrive at when you
hear their message? In my opinion, and I know they will argue against it, the
futurist message leaves you focused on anything other the revelation of Jesus
Christ!
This book shows how Christ is Lord over everything! When I started preaching
from the perspective of the REVELATION OF JESUS aspect, people began coming to
me by the numbers saying how they really are suddenly BLESSED by reading the
book, just as 1:3 says we should be -- if we read it with the thoughts of
verses 1-3 in mind! And they WANTED to read it, rather than cast it aside as
futurism has led so many to do, making them think the book is not AS important
as the rest. And they were NOT AFRAID to read it any more. THAT was the most
common reaction. They were amazed at the referencing through the rest of the
Bible that is found in Revelation.
I hope I can share part of my own amazement and wonder in this thread by
showing the referencing made.
A GNOSTIC OR SECRET CODE?
The key to interpreting the Revelation is, for the most
part, the Old Testament. Period.
And you apply these symbols used in Revelation that were taken from the Old
Testament to the life of Jesus and the early church. You find the stories of
the Old Testament, from which Revelation takes references, actually PARALLEL
Jesus and the early church!
I guarantee, that if you were to start recognizing this, you would wonder in
absolute glory at the wisdom of God in ending the Bible with this book! (And I
might add you would chuckle at the literal interpretation). You would!
First of all, Revelation begins using
And what was NORTH? THE TABLE OF SHEWBREAD!
John was truly FEASTING in the Spirit on the bread and wine!
Revelation tells us that the spirit of prophecy is the TESTIMONY OF JESUS. What
is the testimony of Jesus? Why, none other than the DEATH, BURIAL AND
RESURRECTION, and His ascendant glory!
Revelation is speaking about THAT. Its NOT the end of the world that is in
mind. Its a REVELATION of Jesus, and HIS COVENANT!
Now, how is a two hundred million membered army from
What about a computer chip?
THE FATE OF ISRAEL is throughout Revelation. If we can see this covenantal
aspect in the book, showing how the cross ended Law in a spiritual and internal
manner, and how God THEN dealt with externally removing every OLD COVENANT
ASPECTS, which we rendered empty and futile at the cross, we would bound forth
a million mile in progress in studying this book.
No greater change took place on earth since Adam was cast out of
One more VERY important note we must see. REVELATION PARALLELS EZEKIEL PERFECTLY!
Ezekiel is the Old Testament version of Revelation. You start in Ezekiel with
the chariot of Cherubims, and Christ seated atop on a sapphire throne. Christ
is seen as golden or amber from his loins upward, and fire from his loins
downward (see last few verses of Ezek. 1). And this is Christ all over again in
Rev 1, where he is girt about the paps with gold and his legs like brass
burning in a furnace!
And the throne of Rev 4 is identical to the throne He sits upon in Ezekiel. A
rainbow is around it.
And even the sealed book is noted in EZEKIEL 3! Written within and on the
backside. And Ezekiel is told to eat the ROLL, while John eats the unsealed
book in Revelation 10!
The book of Ezekiel follows Revelation all the way through... AND DEALS WITH
I do not have time to note every single parallel. The two books identify with
each other all the way through! Even to Ezekiel 5 where the city is divided
three ways by representation of Ezekiel's HAIR that is 1/3 burnt, 1/3 cast to
the wind and 1/3 part smitten with a knife. Ever read of a CITY divided into
THREE PARTS during an earthquake in Revelation? HINT HINT.
Ezekiel ends with a HUGE TEMPLE with a river coming out of it, with trees on
either side whose leaves are medicine for the nations and the fruit comes forth
in her months. (Read Ezekiel 47). Revelation has ONE TREE, with leaves and
fruit in the precise same manner.
And the City in Revelation is ONE HUGE MOST HOLY PLACE. It is a cube, just as
the ORACLE, or most holy place was in 1 Kings 6:20. And the river is there with
the tree of life and the fruit.
Why many trees in Ezekiel 47, and only one tree in Rev 22:1? Because it is
Christ. The tree has many branches. ,Psalm 1:3 speaks about saints as trees
planted BY THE WATER (the river of life in Rev 22), whose leaf does not
whither, and fruit is always there. Note that leaves and fruit were distinctly
noted in Rev 22:1 and Ezek 47:12?
Its Christ and the church. Isaiah calls us trees of righteousness. This is
analogous to John 15's Vine and branches.
Someone pointed this out to me:
Awesome!
EZEKIEL AND REVELATION PARALLEL
1. THRONE VISION - (Rev 4./Ezek 1).
2. THE BOOK (Rev 5/Ezek 2-3)
3. THE PLAGUES (Rev 6:1-8/Ezek 5).
4. Slain Beneath the Altar (Rev. 6:9-11/Ezek. 6)
5. WRATH OF GOD (Rev 6:12-17/Ezek 7).
6. SEAL ON SAINTS' FOREHEADS (Rev 7/Ezek 9)
7. COALS FROM ALTAR (Rev. 8/Ezek 10).
8. NO MORE DELAY (Rev. 10:1-7/Ezek 12).
9. EATING THE BOOK (Rev 10:8-11/Ezek. 2)
11. MEASURING THE
11.
12. CUP OF WRATH (Rev. 14/Ezek. 23).
13. VINE OF THE LAND (Rev. 14:18-20/Ezek 15)
14. GREAT HARLOT (Rev 17-18/Ezek. 16, 23).
15. LAMENT OVER THE CITY (Rev. 18/Ezek 27)
16. SCAVENGER'S FEAST (Rev. 19/Ezek 39)
17. FIRST RESURRECTION (Rev 20:4-6/Ezek 37).
18 BATTLE WITH GOG AND MAGOG (Rev. 20:7-9/Ezek 38-39)
19. NEW JERUSALEM (Rev 21/Ezek 40-48)
20.
A DOOMSDAY EMPHASIS?
I learned that there were pagan apocalyptist “preachers” in the
second century who would concoct all sorts of nonsensically vague symbols, that
they really did not even intend to be understood. And they always proposed doom
and gloom. They proposed evil ruled the day and God would sit back until the
end and intervene. These guys would go wild in their speculations! There was
nothing they said that would give people an answer of what to do. Just bear the
evil until the end. This is identical to the emphasis we find as the resulting
feeling saints are given by futurist teachings.
But Revelation is
totally different. It is ROOTED FIRMLY in the Old Testament. People who do not
understand it’s symbols simply do not know the Bible quite well. Do we
think we know the bible today? What were phylacteries? The early church knew
more of the entire bible more than most believers know one book of the bible
today. So the symbols in Revelation are not even recognized as biblical
symbols!
Instead of there
being evil ruling, we read of God’s people overcoming the devil by the
blood of the lamb! Where do you hear that stressed in futurism? For the most
part, a fear to get out of this world in a pre-trib rapture is what is
stressed, before an end-time tribulation comes.
John was not given
this information to simply satisfy our curiosity as to what will happen later
on. He told us these things to get to work and do the Lord’s will and
OVERCOME THE DEVIL! REVEAL JESUS!
Imagine reading the
bible to see if you can find the latest reported technology of today hinted at
in there, rather than reading it to get stirred as to what you should be doing
for the kingdom!
It’s about
Jesus. And if you do not get that impression, you are reading it through
stained glasses tinted with false doctrine.
Prophecy in the
bible is not just predicting the future. It is a message to God’s people
that is always written in a covenant form. For example, Isaiah spoke of the people
of
Isa 51:16 And I have put my words in thy mouth, and I have covered
thee in the shadow of mine hand, that I may plant the heavens, and lay the
foundations of the earth, and say unto Zion, Thou art my people.
Even cultural
issues in their day were used to figuratively give a message to the people in
VERY plain terms. That is why familiar references were made! It was not
Gnostic! It was not secret messages! It was plain references that were VERY
familiar to the people to whom it was written. Since the early church was
comprised of people who very much were familiar with the Old Covenant, for
example, there abounds references to the Old Testament writings that were borrowed
and used as allegories of the message for the people of the New Testament early
church.
Do we believe God
makes the Christian today lie down in green pastures in a very literal sense?
Of course not! Psalms abound with literary figures of speech. It is the style
of writing used in such books. Acts is a history book for the most part.
Revelation is not future history. It is written in the STYLE of the Psalms and
other such books. David wrote of God being seen riding wings of the wind coming
in thick clouds of darkness in wrath Against David’s enemies. Revelation
is written in PRECISELY THE SAME MANNER.
It’s POETIC!
All the prophets
always spoke in this way! There are images of creation in Genesis that were
referenced repeatedly by the prophets. Rev 1:1 said the book was written in
SIGNIFYING manner. Symbolic. Just like Psalm 23. But what mockers always and
consistently throw their heads beneath the sand to avoid seeing, is that these
symbols are TAKEN FROM THE BIBLE ITSELF. That is a far cry from one brother who
takes Daniel’s references to a Leopard kingdom from a
"confirmation" in a newspaper where
We get the symbols
from the Bible itself!
John never made up
the images. And we cannot interpret them using our own ingenuity. They are
carefully taken from the rest of the Bible. Christ is a Lamb because a LAMB was
sacrificed in Exodus’ Passover , and not because Lambs are gentle, loving
creatures.
REVELATION IF FILLED WITH OLD TESTAMENT REFERENCES
One man studied and found 348 allusions (not illusions, Light) in Revelation
from the Old Testament. You see the similarity in wording and the context
mirrored in Revelation and the particular Old Testament story, and immediately
can recognize the reference source! That’s, IF you know the bible well
enough to even notice that.
95 of the 348 plain references used in Revelation as taken from the Old
Testament are repeated in Revelation. That makes about 250 Old Testament
passages are cited. How many chapters are in Revelation? 22. That makes about
TEN OLD TESTAMENT REFERENCES FOR EVERY CHAPTER!
One man saw 235 references in Revelation from the writings of the Prophets.
57 from the Pentateuch.
56 from historical and poetic books of the Bible.
So anyone can see that Revelation is founded upon the Old Testament more than
any other New Testament book! God is not going to give visions to His people
using unknown references and symbols. The whole point is REVELATION! It is
REVEALING!
FUTURISM MAKES REVELATION IRRELEVANT FOR THE FIRST 2,000 YEARS OF THE CHURCH AGE
Futurism contends that the church could never know what Revelation’s mark
of the beast really was until thousands of years after it was written, when we
now have computer technology. Think about it! What relevance did the book have
to the early church to whom it was first given? NONE, if futurism is right! Not
only that, but NOTHING in Revelation was of any value to the early church,
because none of those events listed would ever take place in their lifetimes,
nor for the lifetimes of the next 2000 years of believers.
However, John wrote to the very people who were in persecution beneath
Rev 1:9 I John, who also am your brother, and
companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was
in the isle that is called
This is a book written about a time of tribulation when the church will never
be on this earth, according to pretrib futurists, and is introduced by a man
who writes of being COMPANION in tribulation that his readers were also
experiencing every day of their lives! That first chapter flies in the face of
the entire pretrib rapture theory!
The gospel was
first preached to Jews and gentiles who were proselytes to Judaism. The very
seven churches of
Acts 2:9 speaks of
Jewish people from
John mostly
preached to Jews as well.
Gal 2:9 And when James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be
pillars, perceived the grace that was given unto me, they gave to me and
Barnabas the right hands of fellowship; that we should go unto the heathen, and
they unto the circumcision.
So it would be
clear that the seven churches of
The churches in
that day who did not even have Hebrew members, always used Old Testament
scriptures in teaching and in worship.
EVERYONE WANTS TO KNOW ABOUT "THE MARK"
Think of the seals and marks that Revelation mentions as being put on people.
Revelation 7 has the 144,000 sealed on their foreheads. Revelation 9:4 mentions
the seal and mark of God. Rev 14 mentions the 144,000 with the Father’s
name on their foreheads. Rev 22:4 notes God’s name on the foreheads of
the people of the New Jerusalem.
Revelation 13 mentions
the mark of the beast on forehead and hand.
Forget the tripe of
sensational interpretation. Think about what you would have thought, had you
known the bible backwards and forwards, and were living in the early church who
first received this book.
Forehead….?
Hmmm…..
Adam would sweat in
his brow due to a curse. The high priest had a plate on his forehead reading
HOLINESS UNTO THE LORD. Deut 6:6-8 and Ezekiel 9:4-6 mentions God sealing
people in their foreheads and being blessed and protected. PHYLACTERIES (Mat
23:5) were the scriptures actually put in little boxes and strapped to the
foreheads of the people in Deut 6:6-8, and the term actually means DEFENSES and
PROTECTIONS.
Notice the seal in
Rev 7 PROTECTED the 144,000 from the destruction of the “four
winds”!!
In every case, the
positive SEAL (while here was a bad one, as in Adam’s forehead bearing
sweat), on the forehead in the Old Testament scriptures denoted an OWNERSHIP of
God and His provided protection because of it. This is identical to the use in
Revelation 7!!! And the devil’s OWNERSHIP of a person would obviously be
indicated by a similar, and counterfeit, seal. This is not haphazardly
concocting interpretations. It is looking at the CONTEXT of the similar
references in the Old Testament, and noticing a COMMON THREAD OF THOUGHT! THAT
is how you interpret the symbols in Revelation!!
Gnosticism? What a
hoot! It's obvious symbolism, or else symbols taken from the Old Testament
writings!
Song of Solomon is clearly
a story showing the relationship of the church with Jesus Christ, the
Bridegroom. Is it gnostic to say that? Does someone needs a secret code to
interpret Song of Solomon? Of course not! Yet this is exactly how I propose we
interpret Revelation. Everyone who preaches that Song of Solomon is symbolic of
the church knows that we are not literally in a sexual relationship with God,
about which the book speaks in abundance!!!! (William Branham might think that
way, though). But the intimate relationship that is found in Song of Solomon
represents the spiritual union of the church and Jesus.
What about
Jesus’ words concerning a man with a BEAM – a piece of wood the
size of a tree trunk – stuck in his eye? Is that realistic? Of course
not. It stresses a message.
Symbols in
Revelation are never isolated symbols. They are part of an entire system of
symbolism in the entire bible that is there in plain view. There’s
nothing Gnostic about this idea, any more than its Gnostic to say that Jesus
never intended us to look for actual trees in people’s eyes who are
critical of others. In other words, if someone accuses this of Gnostic
spiritualization of Revelation, then, by necessity, such critics must say that
Jesus was a GNOSTIC, if they do not believe Jesus spoke in metaphors at times.
SIGNIFIED
More on the term SIGNIFIED:
John wrote Revelation, and the term SIGNIFIED in Rev 1:1, meaning to symbolize,
is found in John's Gospel as well, giving the same sense.
quote:
Joh 12:30-33 Jesus answered and said, This voice came not because of me, but
for your sakes. (31) Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of
this world be cast out. (32) And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw
all men unto me. (33) This he said, signifying what death he should die.
(The next verse refers to the above one.)
Joh 18:32 That the saying of Jesus might be fulfilled, which he spake, signifying
what death he should die.
Joh 21:18-19 Verily, verily, I say unto thee, When thou wast young, thou
girdedst thyself, and walkedst whither thou wouldest: but when thou shalt be
old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and carry
thee whither thou wouldest not. (19) This spake he, signifying by what death
he should glorify God. And when he had spoken this, he saith unto him,
Follow me.
In each case, Jesus did not speak plainly about death, but SIGNIFIED death
using poetic language.
One man wrote that Rev 1:1 makes it clear that God is not showing photographs
of Heaven in this book!
If Revelation were
written about a day 2000 years later – today – then John would have
been no less than a mocker who spoke to Christians suffering in his day in this
letter to the seven churches of
One man wrote that Rev 1:1 makes it clear that God is not showing photographs
of Heaven in this book.
Jesus is seen coming in clouds in Rev 1. This is not the coming for the church
in resurrection. Coming in clouds was a judgmental picture, commonly used in
the Old Testament.
Gen 15:17; Ex 13:21-22; 14:19-20, 24; 19:9, 16-19; Ps. 18:8-14; 104:3; Isa
19:1; Ezek. 32:7-8; Matt 24:30; Mark 14:62; Acts 2:19.
He comes in this cloud to protect His people and destroy the enemies.
Nah 1:2-8 God is jealous, and the LORD revengeth;
the LORD revengeth, and is furious; the LORD will take vengeance on his
adversaries, and he reserveth wrath for his enemies. (3) The LORD is slow to
anger, and great in power, and will not at all acquit the wicked: the
LORD hath his way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the
dust of his feet. (4) He rebuketh the sea, and maketh it dry, and
drieth up all the rivers: Bashan languisheth, and
Notice that He comes in clouds bringing wrath and deliverance.
RAINBOW ROUND ABOUT THE THRONE
The rainbow is
wonderful. Its very significant.
Green means life, in the Word. And a rainbow was first given to show that God
would not more destroy by a flood. And floods always spoke of death, so we can
say NO MORE DEATH. LIFE is the opposite of DEATH!
When the lamb went to the throne in Revelation 5, that throne had the emerald
rainbow round about it. The place of the rainbow was across the sea of glass as
well, that formed a watery barrier, much like Noah's flood.
Noah's ark had to come and land on Ararat. Imagine Ararat when the waters first
started receding. It would have looked like an island. And it was there on that
"island" that Noah arrived and God gave a covenant, and showed the
rainbow.
Well, John saw the throne as a sort of island across the sea of glass. And He
saw the Lord walk on water over there, as a lamb, like the ark, and took the
sealed covenant book. And there was where the rainbow stood as well!
Jesus is our ark!
We have to get to the rainbow! We do it IN CHRIST.
And because Jesus was seen as a lamb as though it had been slain, and was
standing, we see RESURRECTION. He crossed the flood of DEATH and made it to the
other side where the rainbow covenant was. And that covenant represented NO
MORE FLOODS. NO MORE DEATH.
We are baptized into Christ's death, and therefore are resurrected with Him,
and IN HIM, as He went to the throne and the rainbow covenant.
And THAT is the reason that although the LAMB PREVAILED to be able to open the
covenant, we read that the believers were made kings and priests.
Part of God's covenant to Noah was to have dominion over the earth, much like
He told Adam to multiply, subdue and replenish the earth.
Jesus told the Laodicaeans that if they would overcome AS HE DID, then they
would sit on His throne with Him as HE OVERCAME and sat down.
We read how He overcame in Rev 5! But why do we read that HE overcame and the
believers are kings (obviously sitting on a throne)? Because HIS OVERCOMING is
reckoned to us by FAITH that we died with Him.
He overcame by His death and resurrection. Since He died AS US, then we
overcame the way he did, more perfectly than mere imitation of His victory!
Its all the RAINBOW COVENANT!
Christ went to the throne AS US. Just as He died and arose again AS US.
if we can get this revelation, WE WILL REIGN AS KINGS IN THE EARTH AS WELL!
What can overcome us if we are seated with Him in heavenly places?!
IS REVELATION TOTALLY SPIRITUAL
WITH NOTHING TO DO WITH NATURAL ISSUES?
I do not at all look at Revelation as simply natural consequences that result
from spiritual violations. I think that is PART of it, though. But its more a
mopping up and removal of leftover insistences on sticking to the ritual from
the old covenant after Christ finished it on the cross.
But it is also a
picture of how Satan, in futility, had attempted to beat down and out the
church using God's former bride turned whore with the devil. And the Revelation
shows such irony as
The Pharisees and
religious leaders became the worst enemies of the New spiritual Generation of
the church.
And it is the
church's conquest and successful overcoming to haul down every opponent, using
the faith that overcomes the world that is centred upon the blood of the lamb
and their union testimony derived from that lamb's death. And that will ever be
the church's manner to overcome anything in our day and the days to come.
Since the church's first
greatest battle was with
Its the
establishment of the spiritual temple and
It is a HUGE issue
to see changeover from Law to Grace. It occurred on the cross, (BILL!), but
confirmed in
Change from Law to
Grace is a MAJOR issue in the entire New testament teaching.
Some more Old
Testament references of Revelation: (garnered from research).
John was in the spirit on the Lord's Day.
THe original Hebrew language for "cool of the day," in Genesis 3,
when God's voice was heard, actually is "spirit of the day". And this
was a day of judgment for Adam!
The reason Adam HID in the Garden when he heard that VOICE, is because it was
not just a sound of talking. It was THUNDEROUS! The Hebrew is rendered NOISE.
Ezekiel 1 tells us what the noise of the Lord sounded like. Rushing waters,
thunder, an host. No wonder Adam hid! And the picture we see that the Garden
entrance of cherubims and a flaming sword is again what Ezekiel saw -- God's
glory cloud with cheurbims and his throne above. Fire enfolded in the midst.
Anyway, Adam was judged on this day of the Lord -- that spirit of the day.
And John hears His voice like a trumpet blasting, just as Adam would have heard
it that day. There are scores of references in Revelation from Genesis first
three chapters.
The sword from Jesus mouth is a common reference from Isaiah. Isa 11:4; 2:16.
Christ appears with white hair, gold chest wrapping, brazen legs burning in a
furnace, eyes of fire. Its like Christ is a flaming glorious presence. The high
priest wore reds, and blues and whites and golds, which would be the very
appearance of fiery flames.
John falls down as if he is dead. And the Lord touches him with his right hand,
telling him not to fear. Daniel experienced the same thing in 10:9-11.
When God appeared in a glory cloud in the Exodus, the Egyptians were getting
the brunt of judgment, while
John is resurrected, as it were, when the Lord touches Him, because John fell
like a dead man!
And Jesus holds seven stars in his right hand -- the same hand that touched
John and "resurrected" him, although John did not actually die. The
idea of resurrection life is there.
The stars always symbolized governing powers. That is why flags, to this day,
use stars and suns and moons on them. Genesis' 4th day had the sun and moon
called RULERS. The stars are the angels of the churches because they RULE and
GOVERN the churches.
These stars are responsible for the church's actions.
It is interesting that John writes to seven churches.
Paul wrote to exactly seven churches in the New Testament, named after regions.
ROMANS, CORINTHIANS, GALATIANS, EPHESIANS, PHILIPPIANS, COLOSSIANS,
THESSALONIANS.
PATTERN OF OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY IN LETTERS TO SEVEN CHURCHES
And the seven churches and their letters show a parallel to the entire Old
Testament period. So we see how the Old was a shadow of the New.
This is the GARDEN PICTURE.
Jesus is in the midst of the candlesticks as in the Garden trees. And The angel
is commended for guarding the church against error, as Adam was to guard or
keep the Garden. But the angel left his first love, as Adam had fallen. And the
candlestick would be removed, as Adam was removed from the Garden, if they did
not repent. And the Garden remains open to theovercomer, as Jesus tells
the overcomers that they may eat of the fruit of life.
This is the period following the Garden when the Patriarchs lived. Abraham,
Isaac, Jacob, Joseph up to Moses.
Isaac and Joseph both experienced a sort of death come to life again. Isaac was
resurrected in a sense from the altar, since Abraham fully intended to slay him
and have God resurrect him to fulfill the promise of having seed from
Isaac. Josephwas left as dead, in Jacob's mind, when the boys sold him,
and he "arose" to rule in
PERGAMOS
Wilderness journey from
The wilderness is likened to an abode of devils, just as Pergamos' believers
were where satan's seat was. During the Exodus, Balaam and Balak were
resisting, just as is mentioned to this church. The angel of the Lord stood
ready to smite Balaam with a sword. Balaam was slain with the sword by
Phinehas the priest in Numbers 31. The enemies of this church would be
smitten with the sword of God's mouth. And the overcomers are the ones who go
into the most holy place to eat the hidden manna from the ark inside there!!
THYATIRA
This corresponds to the age after the exodus when
Jesus calls himself Son of God, as is parallel in David (Read Psalm 2:7, and
many more Psalms, where David speaks of himself in foreshadow of Son of God).
The church tolerated Jezebel, a wicked queen in the time of the monarchs of
End of the monarchy in
The people of God were defeated and taken captive into
Return from Exile in Babylon with Ezra and Nehemiah.
They rebuilt the temple, which is noted in this letter to this church. But
there is a synagogue of satan. False Jews fought Ezra and Nehemiah in Ezra 4
and Neh. 4, 6 and 13. An hour of testing would come paralleled by Antiochus
Epiphanes who came after the old testament period as prophesied in Dan 8 and
11, witnessed by the historical, but uninspired, book called Maccabees. New
Jerusalem was the reward of the overcomers... a new temple!
LAODICAEA
Last Days from time of Jesus when Pharisees and scribes ruled. They bragged of
self-sufficiency. They were naked and poor! Jesus said they bwoulde
spewed out, just as God wowouldmash
In the letter to
the church at
quote:
Rev 2:5 Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.
Now, we know that
this would not be THE second coming. But its like many other references to His
coming. He said He'd come AGAINST THEM. He'd remove the candlestick from its
place.
Similarly the
coming of the Lord in Matthew 24 is not the great second coming. It is a coming
against
In Rev 4, we read a
series of sights which parallel perfectly the sights Moses saw, and made
pattern after for the tabernacle.
Moses was told the following:
quote:
Exo 24:12 And the LORD said unto Moses, Come up to me into the mount, and be there: and I will give thee tables of stone, and a law, and commandments which I have written; that thou mayest teach them.
John was told something very similar:
quote:
Rev 4:1 After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter.
Not only that, but look at the events of the day Moses would see these things:
quote:
Exo
19:11 And be ready against the third day: for the third day the LORD will come
down in the sight of all the people upon mount Sinai.
Exo 19:16-19 And it came to pass on the third day in the morning, that there
were thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud upon the mount, and the voice
of the trumpet exceeding loud; so that all the people that was in the camp
trembled. (17) And Moses brought forth the people out of the camp to meet with
God; and they stood at the nether part of the mount. (18) And mount Sinai
was altogether on a smoke, because the LORD descended upon it in fire: and the
smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount quaked
greatly. (19) And when the voice of the trumpet sounded long, and waxed
louder and louder, Moses spake, and God answered him by a voice.
It was the THIRD DAY!!! John saw this:
quote:
Rev 4:5 And out of the throne proceeded lightnings and thunderings and voices: and there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God.
Then John saw a series of sights that Moses spoke about in type:
(1)
The first thing Moses was told to make was an ARK OF THE COVENANT. This is
God's throne.
quote:
Exo 25:10 And they shall make an ark of shittim wood: two cubits and a half shall be the length thereof, and a cubit and a half the breadth thereof, and a cubit and a half the height thereof.
What did John see first?
quote:
Rev 4:2 And immediately I was in the spirit: and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne.
(2)
Then Moses was told make the table of shewbread:
quote:
Exo 25:23 Thou shalt also make a table of shittim wood: two cubits shall be the length thereof, and a cubit the breadth thereof, and a cubit and a half the height thereof.
John then saw...
quote:
Rev 4:4 And round about the throne were four and twenty seats: and upon the seats I saw four and twenty elders sitting, clothed in white raiment; and they had on their heads crowns of gold.
Moses
saw the table and John saw the chairs!
(3)
Then Moses was told...
quote:
Exo 25:31 And thou shalt make a candlestick of pure gold: of beaten work shall the candlestick be made: his shaft, and his branches, his bowls, his knops, and his flowers, shall be of the same.
John saw...
quote:
Rev 4:5 And out of the throne proceeded lightnings and thunderings and voices: and there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God.
(4)
Then Moses heard:
quote:
Exo
26:1 Moreover thou shalt make the tabernacle with ten curtains of fine
twined linen, and blue, and purple, and scarlet: with cherubims of cunning work
shalt thou make them.
Exo 26:31 And thou shalt make a vail of blue, and purple, and scarlet,
and fine twined linen of cunning work: with cherubims shall it be made:
John saw a barrier of sorts as similar to the curtains and veil.
quote:
Rev 4:6 And before the throne there was a sea of glass like unto crystal: and in the midst of the throne, and round about the throne, were four beasts full of eyes before and behind.
It's interesting that the veil had cherubims sewn into it. John saw the four beasts/cherubims associated with the sea barrier.
quote:
Rev 4:7 And the first beast was like a lion, and the second beast like a calf, and the third beast had a face as a man, and the fourth beast was like a flying eagle.
Then Revelation 5 comes into play. The sealed book is written on the front and
backside. JUST LIKE MOSES' TABLES.
quote:
Exo
32:15 And Moses turned, and went down from the mount, and the two tables of the
testimony were in his hand: the tables were written on both their sides; on
the one side and on the other were they written.
Rev 5:1 And 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.
I noted earlier that Moses saw all of this ON A THIRD DAY, and John saw the same sensational sights. Well, it must have spiritually been the third day of Christ's resurrection, because we read:
quote:
Rev 5:6 And 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.
Jesus
is standing after having been slain! Resurrection occurred on the third day!
God showed John what transpired in heaven the day Christ resurrected!
The NEW COVENANT was presented before John's eyes in the form of the sealed
book, the mystery hidden from ages, just as Moses was given the tables written
on both sides, the Old Testament.
12 POINTS THAT REFUTE FUTURISM
The following points seal the issue, in my opinion.
(1) The disciples
equate the SIGN OF HIS COMING in Matthew 24 with
the SIGN WHEN THESE THINGS (temple destruction)
come to pass in Mark and Luke.
(2) Jesus speaks to
"this generation", meaning the period
of time in which the people of His day would live, in both Matthew 23:36, and
Matthew 24:33-34.
(3) Jesus said Jerusalem was guilty of all blood shed on earth in Mat
23:35, and the whore had all the blood shed on earth in her in Rev 18:24. more
than one party cannot be guilty of all blood.
(4) Jesus said
(4) The same generation that would see the temple destroyed, which
occurred in 70 AD, would see all the other signs listed in Matthew 24.
(Matt 24:33-34). You cannot split up the chapter into 70 AD fulfillment, plus
our future fulfillment. Jesus said ALL the events would occur in one
generation.
(5) Rev 11:2 says
(6) Jesus said the
events of tribulation and wrath against
(7) Jesus said people standing before Him would NOT TASTE OF DEATH before
they see Him coming in Matthew 16:28. This cannot refer to the next
chapter and the transfiguration, because that was only a week later! The only
way that would make sense for Him to speak about the following week, is if the
people were so old it would be some who would barely survive the week, or so
sick they would barely make the week. The stress was upon some still being
alive when that occurred - shall not taste death. This cannot refer to saints
being dead and yet in a state of life thousands of years later, as if the
coming was thousands of years later, because Jesus said the High Priest would
also see that coming - Mat 26:63-64. He would not be in a state of spiritual
life thousands of years later!
(8) Jesus said the
very followers He spoke to would not be able to cover
(9) Since Matthew
24:2's sign of His coming is the sign when the temple would be destroyed in
Mark and Luke, the context restricts the sun and moon changing appearance to
that time period. And research into Old Testament references of the same
picture show this to have been fulfilled many times, showing us it is
figurative of a kingdom collapsing. It was said to have
happened when
(10) The Greek term
translated as WORLD in "end of the world" of Matthew 24:3, is AION,
from whence we derive the term EON, meaning an AGE
-- not the planet.
(11) The greek term
for WORLD in Matthew 24:14, "this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all
nations; and then shall the end come," is oikoumene, meaning
LAND, or the
quote:
Col 1:5-6 For the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, whereof ye heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel; (6) Which is come unto you, as it is in all the world; and bringeth forth fruit, as it doth also in you, since the day ye heard of it, and knew the grace of God in truth:
(12) Some say Luke
21 speaks of both 70 AD and our future. Luke's own words deny that.
quote:
Luk
21:31-32 So likewise ye, when ye see these things come to pass, know ye that
the
You have to go clear back to Luke 21:6 to know what
"THESE THINGS" involves. And they would all occur in one generation.
It is not a spiritual generation, as though the entire church age is one
generation. Jesus distinguished the generation of
Matthew rendered
the same words as, "So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things,
know that it is near, even at the doors. Verily I say unto you, This generation
shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled." Same conversation --
same intention -- same references.
Just my opinion.
Can people who disagree at least see WHY I interpret the scriptures in this
fashion?
This manner
interprets Revelation BY JESUS' OWN WORDS.
What
could be worse than Jesus' own Bride,
The work of the
cross is the CENTRAL POINT of it all! Even all prophecy!
THE TEMPLE
Revelation 5 shows Jesus as High Priest and sacrifice, BOTH, as a lamb carrying
His own blood to the throne. The ark's mercyseat depicted this throne. And the
four beasts were about the throne as they were on the mercyseat, covering it.
They're the seraphim of Isa. 6.
And Heaven, that
John saw, was the true
The veil covering
the most holy place had cherubims embroidered into it, just as the entrance the
Garden was blocked by cherubims and a flaming sword. We know the flaming sword
was by the veil in the tabernacle and temple, because Lev. 10 shows Nadab and
Abihu trying to enter and fire slaying them.
And the lamb
appears BETWEEN THE THRONE AND THE FOUR BEASTS.
quote:
Rev 5:6 And 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.
If the
four beasts, cherubims, were positioned as guardians here, in the same manner
that they were in theGarden, then standing BETWEEN the throne and the
cherubims would be like STANDING INSIDE THE GARDEN, that nobody could enter!
The Lord sat on the
Throne with a the book in his right hand. Just like the tree of life with the
fruit of life in its branches.
And John is told to
eat the book in Revelation 10, as though we now have access back into the
Garden again! The LAMB OPENED THE WAY! WE CAN EAT THE FRUIT OF LIFE, which is
THE GOSPEL WORD OF SALVATION! Acts 2:38!