Revelation 6:1,2 - The God who is in control

The seals now start to be opened, and it does not make comfortable reading. If you come to Revelation looking for some nice easy solution to life's problems or the world's problems then you are going to be disappointed, or you are going to have to utterly misinterpret what it says.

There is a sequence of sevens in Revelation, and within the seven there is a further structure. The first four are about what is happening on the earth, then the next two deal with what happens in heaven, and the final one kind of leads into the next series of visions.

The Lamb opened the first seal and one of the living creatures cried out "come". The first seal released a white horse. He held a bow and a crown and his purpose was to conquer and be a conqueror. As with most things in Revelation there are several lines of interpretation, most of them wrong. Some see this horse as Christ, others as the anti-Christ. Both of these are wrong and do not fit what is happening at all. A third line sees it as a spirit of conquest. 

We need to see the vision as a whole, and to see the book as a whole. One of the messages is that all the mayhem and conquest that we see in the world is actually under God's control. Modern man spends a lot of time trying to absolve God of responsibility for various things. This is a most unbiblical approach. If you read the Bible you see that it attributes all sorts of things to God, this is especially evident in the Old Testament. The message is that all the machinations we see going on are actually under God's control and part of His decree.

Now this causes some people a problem. How can a loving God decree wars and famine? Well first of all we need to ask is God Almighty? Answer, yes. If wars and famine are outwith His control then He is not Almighty. So this must be within His control. God has a purpose in all things, Now this does not mean that men do not have responsibility. We are guilty for all our acts of sin. 

If we look for a nice neat explanation of how things work out we will be disappointed. How God's decree, man's free will, sin, and God's grace all work together is well beyond our understanding. But we can be certain that God is in full control at all times.

Revelation 5:5-14 - The One who is Worthy

John is told not to weep. All had seemed hopeless, but there was indeed one who could open the seals. Just as the situation the church was in at the time might have seemed hopeless with no escape, and as the circumstances in our own lives might at times seem hopeless, but there is hope for there is One who is worthy to sort things out. This One is the Lion of the tribe of Judah. This is referring back to Genesis 49:8-10. There it speaks of Judah as a lion cub, and of the one to who the sceptre belongs coming. And it says that the nations will obey Him. The root of David is perhaps a reference to Isaiah (Is 11:1,10). The One whom all of the OT looks forward to is the One who is worthy. Notice that it says He has triumphed. On the cross victory was won and assured. 

Then John see one looking like a lamb that has been slain. Now we need to remember the situation. The church was small and despised by society. They worshipped a man who had been crucified. This vision is reassuring them that this Christ is the One who has all power and authority. He is the One who holds history in His hands. The One we worship is the One who is worthy. The seven horns and eyes signify that His power is complete, and His awareness of all that is happening is complete. When we are in the midst of trouble we doubt that God knows what is going on or that He is doing anything about it. This is a reminder that this is not so.

The Lamb then took the scroll from the One who sat on the throne. Then the four living creatures and the elders all worshipped the Lamb. This is a clear indication of the divinity of Jesus. 

The bowls contained the prayers of saints. Now consider what a prayer seems like on earth. To the one uttering the prayer it can seem so weak and futile. To those inflicting harm on others the prayer is just a sign of their power over the weak and the pitiful state that the victim is in. But here we see the true value of prayer. These prayers are highly esteemed in heaven, where power really lies.

The Lamb is worthy to open the scroll, and He had earned the right to do this because of His blood. He had purchased people from every tribe and tongue for the Lord. 

See than that these people will reign on the earth. We need to realise that God's destiny for us is that we reign on the earth. Realise how at odds with the situation this would seem to the people.

Then myriads of angels came and worshipped the Lamb. The Lamb is the One who is worthy to receive honour, glory and power. We need to remember that Christ is at the centre of it all.

This was followed by all the creatures on the earth worshipping the Lamb. Jesus is the One who receives all the glory.

Revelation 5:1-4 - Is the future hidden from view forever?

It is the Father who is seated on the throne, and a scroll was on his right hand. The scroll was sealed with seven seals. Seven represents completeness so the presence of seven seals means there was no round about way of opening the scroll. 

A mighty angel asked of all creation if anyone was worthy to open the scroll. In order to do so they would need to break the seals. But no one could be found, no matter where the angel looked. No one was worthy.

Man does not know the future and cannot tell the future. We do well to remember that when men make bold or proud predictions or declarations.

John wept. The Greek implies a loud wailing. John wanted to know what was going to happen, to understand the times and the unfolding of history. In the previous chapter he had been promised that he would see, but now it seemed as though this would not happen.

Revelation 4 - The Lord of All

Now begins what most people think of when they think of Revelation, the series of visions of judgement. However, as indicated in the preceding posts Revelation is actually a book designed to equip God's people to go through tribulation, to overcome in the midst of trials.

So we start with a vision of the throne in heaven. Worldly kingdoms of all sorts claim to have power, seek to exert authority. Indeed we see this today even in the west with governments' attempts to crush opposition to same-sex marriage. We need to know who is really in charge.

John is invited to enter into heaven to see what is really happening and what will happen.

John saw a great vision of the throne in heaven. John is rather reticent about describing who is on the throne, but it is Jesus and He is covered in glory.

Surrounding the throne were twenty four elders, each with a crown and dressed in white. Lightning and thunder came from the throne and seven lamps were blazing.  It says these were the "seven spirits of God", or the "sevenfold spirit". Various interpretations have been given for the sea of glass.

The vision seems similar to what Ezekiel saw (Ezek 1:6,10).

The living creatures praised the Lord day and night. Th elders fell down and gave glory to the Lord.

Verse 11 sums up what we need to know. The Lord is the only One who is worthy to receive glory and honour. And why is He the only One who is worthy? Because He is the One who created all things, and He is the One who sustains all things.

Revelation 2,3 - Review of the Letters to the Seven Churches

Let's review the letters to the seven churches. The attributes of Jesus given in them are:

1. He holds the seven stars and walks amongst the lamp stands. Ie it is Jesus who is head of the church.
2. He is the First and the Last, and died and came to life again.
3. He has the sharp double edged sword.
4. His eyes are like fire and His feet are like burnished bronze. 
5. He holds the sevenfold spirit and the seven stars.
6. He is holy and true, He holds the key of David, and what He opens cannot be shut.
7. He is the faithful and true witness, and is the ruler of God's creation.

Now let's look at the rewards for those who overcome:

1. The right to eat from the tree of life.
2. Will not be hurt by the second death.
3. Will be given hidden manna and a new name
4. Authority over the nations
5. Will be dressed in white, Jesus will acknowledge their names before the Father
6. Will be pillars in the temple
7. Will have the right to sit with Jesus on His throne.

These letters, along with the various commendations, rebukes and instructions are a reminder of who is really Lord, and what the eternal rewards will be. We especially need to be reminded of these things when we go through times of trouble, and all the more so when the world persecutes the church. This is what was happening at the time Revelation was given, and is what the rest of the book is about.

Some see the book just as a record of the wrath that will come upon the world. This is a foolish view. It is a book to equip us to overcome in times of trial and tribulation, not a book about escaping tribulation, as the silly pre-tribulation rapture teaching would have us believe.
We should also bear in mind that the book starts with the state of the seven churches, what was right about them, what they needed to correct. In considering the state of the world our priority should always be to ensure that we, as individuals and as churches, are being faithful and true to Christ.

Revelation 3:14-21 - Laodicea

This is perhaps the most famous of the seven letters, and verse 20 the most famous verse. Verse 20 is often used in an evangelistic context, but we should remember that this letter is addressed to a church.

Laodicea was the richest of the cities, well established in banking, medicine and textiles. The one weakness was the lack of a good water supply. The city had a colony of about 7 000 Jews who had been given the right to practise their own religion.  Colossians 4:16 makes mention of a letter Paul sent to them, though this is now lost. Sadly the church was clearly in severe decline.

The attributes of Christ are His faithfulness, the fact that He is a true witness, and that He is ruler over God's creation, In a rich and prosperous society these things are often forgotten. Think of our own culture. Our whole ethos is now totally neglectful of the fact that Christ is Lord and that He is the truth,

The church was neither hot nor cold. This could be a reference to water, which if cold can refresh, if hot it can heal. The church was neither. Tje church thought they were rich, probably implies they were proud of their material wealth and so-called wisdom. Yet their true condition was quite the opposite. Spiritually they were naked and blind. 

Jesus commands them to get true wealth the true wisdom and healing. Again, this should put us on our guard against health and wealth preaching. Jesus does heal and does look after us, but our spiritual health is important above all. 

Jesus said all this to them because He loved them. He rebukes those whom He loves. We are so averse to criticising anyone or anything, but God does rebuke in order to lead us to true life. 

Jesus speaks to the world , and if anyone listens to Him then He will come and dwell with them. The greatest prize is to have Christ dwelling with us. 

Although this church received the severest rebuke, and no praise at all, it receives the greatest promise. To those who overcome He gives the right to sit on His throne with Him. All of us need to repent and believe.
Merry Christmas!

Christmas thoughts

The miracle of Christmas is that God came to dwell amongst us. He came not as some sort of superbeing or an angel, but He came as a man.

Why did He do this? Because He had created us in His image. We are the high point of God’s creation, a wonderful and treasured possession.

But we decided we didn’t need God, we decided that we could decide for ourselves what was right and what was wrong. We decided we didn’t need our Creator and we have been paying the price of our folly ever since.

Yet God loves us so much that He was prepared to dwell among us as a man. He loves us so much that He was prepared to go to the cross to die to take the judgement that should be ours.

Jesus came to call us back to Himself. So often we are reluctant to admit our need of God, to admit the failings and sins in our own life, reluctant to humble ourselves. But Jesus was prepared to humble Himself so that we might have life.

Realise how precious you are, realise how much you mean to God, and return to Him, the only one who can give you life.

Revelation 3:7-13 - Philadelphia

Philadelphia was known as the gateway to Asia. It was a centre for the worship of the god Dionysus, but had a fair collection of temples to other gods as well. It was in an earthquake zone, and had suffered one in 17 BC. It bears some similarities to Smyrna in that it received no criticism and one of the problems was the Jews, with reference again to the synagogue of the Satan.

Jesus is described as the one who is holy and holds the key of David. This latter part is perhaps significant because of the Jewish opposition. Jesus is the true son of David. The attempts of the Jews would be futile in seeking to stop the church. Jesus had opened the door to salvation and no one could shut it. 

The church was weak in human terms, but their faithfulness more than counteracted this. We need to remain true to the gospel.

The so-called Jews were not true Jews, because they had not recognised Jesus Christ. In the end it is they who would bow down to the church, not the other way about.

Jesus then promises to keep them from the hour of trial. The precise meaning of this is not clear. Then He encourages them to continue in their faithfulness. Jesus would make them pillars in the temple, there could be another reference to the Jews here. The church would be part of the true temple. Indeed the subsequent promises seem to indicate this. They are part of the true Israel.

Revelation 3:1-6 - Sardis

Sardis was a very wealthy city, and because of this tended to be complacent. Cyrus the Persian (549 BC) and Antiochus (218 BC) had both conquered the city, helped by this complacency. The city had excellent natural defences so on both these occasions had not placed any guards, so had lost. It seems that the church was prone to this slackness as well, God warning them that though they had a reputation for being alive they were actually dead. It seems that the church was not subject to much in the way of persecution or opposition.

In this letter Jesus is attributed with holding the "seven spirits" and the seven stars. The "seven spirits" maybe the sevenfold spirit and may point to the Holy Spirit being the one who bears witness to Christ. Whatever the case, the point of emphasis is that it is Jesus who is in charge of the church. The opinion of others is worthless in the light of this. We need to be very wary of being flattered by the praise of others.

The warning from Jesus is dire. They are on the verge of death, but there is still time to do something if they shake themselves up and get on with it. Notice the nature of the words in these letters, how many of them are very serious warnings. If prophetic words are always "nice" it is a likely indicator that they are not truly prophetic.

They are to remember what they first heard. Clearly they had not really followed through on the gospel. They need to repent. Coming to Christ is not a vague commitment, but a dedication of our whole life.

However, there were some who had not soiled themselves. See again how serious the lack of proper commitment to Christ is treated. Those who overcome will be dressed in white and never have their names blotted out of the book of life. Again see the seriousness of all this. Note also that this is entirely consistent with Jesus' own teaching.

Revelation 2:18-29 - Thyatira

Thyatira gets the longest letter, it is also the least important of the towns and cities that received letters. Man's assessment of what is of greatest importance often differs from God's view. Not that much is know about Thyatira except that it was a notable trading centre, indeed Lydia came from there (Acts 16:14). There were various trade guilds and one really had to be a member of a trade guild in order to run a business. Now these guilds would often have meetings that involved eating food offered to idols and would too easily descend into debauchery of various kinds. This is the backdrop to the letter.

This is the only place in Revelation where Jesus is referred to as the Son of God. He has eyes like fire and feet like burnished bronze. This emphasises that He sees everything and that He will be quick to act. We need to know that all that we do is done under His gaze.

First, the church receives praise. They are making progress, maturing and developing, as shown in their faith, love, service and perseverance.

However, they were also getting things wrong. There was a prophet Jezebel who was influencing the church. Now Charismatic preachers love nothing better than to preach on, or rather preach against, the Jezebel spirit! So what are we to make of this. Jezebel was the wife of Ahab, one of the worst kings of Israel (which took some doing). Jezebel was the real power behind the throne, promoting all kinds of evil. Jezebel is used as a representative name here (it is most unlikely that anyone was actually called Jezebel). So the concept of "Jezebel spirit" is not without foundation. She also called herself a prophet. We need to be sure that just because someone claims to be a prophet or an apostle, it does not make them so. Again, those of us in charismatic churches most need to heed this warning. The first question to ask is always "is what is being said consistent with the Bible and is it bringing glory to Christ". 

Her teaching was leading to sexual immorality and eating food offered to idols. Sexual immorality is a most serious sin and always has most serious consequences. That is why the Bible mentions it frequently. Some say the church focused too much on sexual immorality. It does not, and if you say that it does you are wrong. We should focus on it as much as the Bible focuses on it, and follow the Bible's teaching.

Food offered to idols arose at various times, and is mentioned in Paul in Romans 14 and 1 Cor 8. The advice can seem contradictory. The people would need to be part of a guild to trade, so would have to go to some meetings. That would be OK, but if they then got involved in idol worship and immorality that was definitely wrong. Daniel gives us the best example to follow.

Jezebel would be judged, and severely so. Severe judgement of sin is as much part of the New Testament as it is of the Old, in fact more so.

However, there were those who were not taken in by supposedly clever teachings. 

To those who overcame Jesus would give authority over nations. Jesus said many who are last will be first. 

Revelation 2:12-17 - Pergamum

Pergamum was a very important city. It had a vast library of over 200 000 scrolls and the word parchment is derived from Pergamum. It was the centre of emperor worship, even more so than Ephesus and Smyrna, and had even gained the title neokoros or temple-sweeper because of this. It built three temples to the emperor. It also went in for pagan worship in a big way too.

So this is why the letter says "where Satan has his throne". Now this does not mean that the place was had an actual throne to Satan, just that Satanic influence was great. See how John uses the word Satan. He had referred to the synagogue of Satan and here the temple of Satan. When we think of Satanic influence we are too readily influenced by horror movie portrayals. His influence is much more pervasive and much more mundane. 

See that God places a church in the midst of darkness (see Isaiah 60). We should not be surprised if we find ourselves in such circumstances. God praises them for remaining true to Him in the midst of such circumstances. 

At the same time there were some things they were getting wrong. Just because a church is enduring persecution does not mean it is getting everything right. Likewise, an individual who is enduring trials can still be getting things wrong and may need correction. 

The Nicolaitans seem to be at the heart of this error again, and are likened to Balaam. Balaam failed to destroy Israel by direct means, but then managed to lead them astray by his advice to Balak. Pergamum faced the same risk. Idol worship and sexual immorality were great dangers. Sexual immorality is a great danger today, and one which the church needs to wake up to.

The church needed to repent.

The hidden manna may be mentioned here in contrast to eating food offered to idols. There are numerous suggestions as to what the white stone means. It could signify entrance to the heavenly banquet. The name is significant as well. God is forming our character, which is signified by the new name. We do not see yet what we will finally be like, but we know it will be glorious.

Revelation 2:8-11 - Smyrna

Smyrna was also a major city, vying with Ephesus for being"first" city of Asia. It had led the way in emperor worship, and during the reign of Tiberius erected a temple to him. Smyrna was very loyal to Rome.

The attribute of Jesus that is mentioned at the outset is that He is the first and the last, and that He died but came to life again. As with Ephesus, this is very pertinent to the situation. Jesus, not the Roman emperor, has all power, He is the first and last, not some human dictator in Rome. The fact that Jesus conquered death is also crucial, for their very lives would be in danger. Note that there is no protection from death, but the promise that they will overcome death, they will rise again.

Jesus then says that He knows their tribulations and poverty. The church suffered greatly. Their religion was not recognised by the state, and it is believed that part of the persecution was at the hand of the Jews. This would also have contributed to their poverty. 

The Greek word used for poverty here implies extreme poverty. This should really put a nail in the coffin of the so-called prosperity gospel. This church was in material poverty. When Jesus declares that they are rich He is in no way implying that they will have material wealth. The whole tenor of this letter is to give them strength to get through the trial, not to avoid it.

The Jews who slandered them would claim to be acting on God's behalf, but Jesus says quite bluntly that these Jews are of the synagogue of Satan, they were in no way representing God.

Jesus tells them that they will indeed go through a time of severe persecution. Some would be imprisoned, and they needed to be prepared to resist to the point of death, hence the reminder that Jesus had risen from the dead. 

They are to be faithful and will receive the crown of life. The word for crown refers to the wreath or garland given to the victorious at the games, for which Smyrna was famous.

Finally, the promise is that we will not be hurt by the second death. There is no promise about the first death. Tribulations are real and we may have to go through them, but final victory is assured.

Revelation 2:1-7 - To Ephesus

The first letter goes to the church at Ephesus. Ephesus was a major city in the region and one gathers from the letter (and indeed mentions of Ephesus in Acts and the letter to the Ephesians) that the church was important, and perhaps considered itself to be important. The words at the outset remind the church that it is Christ who is at the centre, and He is at the centre of all the churches and walks amongst them. One church is not better nor more important than any of the others.

The church was truly dedicated to Christ and to the truth of the gospel. They were assiduous in resisting false teaching and evil people. They had endured persecution and were zealous in their commitment to Christ and the gospel. But there is a great danger in all this. We can get so focused on resisting error that we forget our first love. The first commandment is to love the Lord with all that we have, and the second is to love each other. Now we are to resist error as well, but it so easy to focus on resisting false doctrine that we forget our first love. Theologically "sound" churches are at greatest risk from this error. 

We see how serious this failing is in verse 5, the threat is that the church will be removed. Love for God and love for each other is supreme above all. This is in no way an excuse for tolerating error, but we love Christ and maintain sound teaching. Indeed the importance of maintaining sound teaching is shown in the very next verse. The Nicolaitans were a sect that sought to mix Christianity with pagan practices, and so had idolatry and immoral practices.

The letter closes with a promise to those who overcome. We will receive the right to eat from the tree of life. Remember that the tree of life was one of the trees in the Garden of Eden. Life is a battle, but it is a battle we need to win. Note also that even in the letters where the church is severely criticised and warned there is always a promise. The Lord speaks to get a response from us, a response of repentance, of turning back to Him.

Revelation 2 - Letters to the Churches

There are some who do not take these letters as genuine, rather they see the named churches as just a literary device. Amongst those who take such a view some see the letters as describing general situations that churches face throughout the ages. Then there are those who see the seven churches as representing various periods in church history. With this view a typical scheme is (as outlined by Morris, TNTC):

• Ephesus - 1st century
• Smyrna - period of persecution
• Pergammum - age of Constantine
• Thyatira - the Middle Ages
• Sardis - the Reformation
• Philadelphia - modern missionary age
• Laodicea - apostasy in the last days

Of the first view, it is certainly true that the letters do describe situations and features that are found in churches across the world and across time. But then the same can be said about all the letters in the New Testament, which is precisely why they are so valuable to us! 

Of the second view I consider it to be complete and utter rubbish ( as does Morris). There are no exegetical grounds for such an interpretation, and it is simply reading things back into the text that aren't there. 

The letters were actual letters sent to actual churches, but the lessons that can be learnt are timeless (OK, they won't apply after Jesus returns, but up until that point!).

The fact that the letters were bundled together shows that all churches of the time had something to learn from the others. Clearly the letter specifically directed to that church was most relevant to it, but the others contained lessons as well. Moreover, the fact that the churches are in a rough geographical circle could also be seen as indicative of them applying to all churches. As does the number seven, which represents completeness.

So the letters were real letters. They share a common structure:

• Greeting
• Attribute of Christ
• An "I know ..." section
• Comment on the state of the church. Criticism in most cases, praise for Smyrna and Philadelphia
• Warning
• Exhortation and promise

Exhortation and promise occur in various orders.

There is also a pattern in the letters as a whole. The 1st and 7th receive severe warnings, the 2nd and 6th receive praise, the middle three get a mixture.

Revelation 1:12-20 - Vision of Christ

This vision has some similarities to Zechariah 4. In this case we are told plainly in v20 that the stars are the angels (or messengers) to the churches, and that the lampstands are the churches.

The "son of man" term is probably meant to be understood in the sense that it is used in Daniel 7:13,14. This character is clearly Jesus Christ. The key point of all this is that it is Jesus who is at the centre of the church. 

We make mistakes in churches when we forget this, which we do in two main ways. On the one hand we think we are in charge and that the church belongs to us. We see the results of this sort of error all around us, for example when churches think they can neglect God's teaching on sexual morality. The other way in which we forget this is when we become full of fear. This second danger is the one that is most pertinent here. It is true that the church was facing great opposition, but they needed to know that Jesus is the Head of the Church. They were not alone, and were not at the mercy of the forces that opposed them. In a time when secularisation is rampant in the West we should not fear, but remember who is Head of the church.

John fell as though dead. This was not a position of reverence , but one of having fallen like that because of the shear awesomeness of what he was seeing. Jesus then touched him and told him not to be afraid. John would have heard this several times from Jesus during His time on earth. 

Jesus had conquered death and holds the keys to death and Hades. Hades here is the world of the dead, not the place of eternal torment. Death would not defeat them. Remember that Jesus said that the gates of Hades would not overcome the church (Matt 16:18).

So John is again instructed to write down what he sees. The message the churches would be receiving is a message direct from the Lord.

Revelation 1:9-11 - A fellow disciple

This section continues to set the scene for the rest of the book. We have just been told that Jesus is the one who has set us free from sin by His blood and is the one who has all power.

John does not write as someone with a superior attitude, but as their brother and companion, ie someone who stands alongside them. We should all bear this in mind as we serve. We are never to Lord it over others, but to serve them as fellow disciples of Christ. John joins them in suffering and endurance. So understanding the times, and living in the times, will require patience and endurance. Indeed it says this explicitly on a couple of occasions in Revelation (Rev 13:10; 14:12). 

John's fellowship with them is emphasised by the fact that he was suffering for Christ on Patmos, a small island. 

"On the Lord's day". This is the first reference to Sunday in this way, though Acts speaks of them meeting on Sunday. He was in the Spirit, so the revelation was a vision, not a dream. 

John is ordered to write down what he was about to see, and it was to be sent to the seven churches. The churches are then listed, and these are the ones who will receive individual letters in chapters 2 and 3.

Again, we need to realise that Revelation is earthed. It is not a weird book given by some other worldly mystic.

Revelation 1:5b-8 - On the winning side

The second part of verse 5 contains vital truths that we always remember, but especially when we are going through trials. Jesus loves us and has freed us from our sins by His blood. When we are going through stuff we doubt that God loves us, but perhaps more importantly we often feel that it is as a result of our sin, that we are suffering because we deserve it, and because of this there is no hope of rescue by God. We deserve to be abandoned. Now it is true that we do sometimes bring trouble upon ourselves, but we need to understand that we have been set free from sin. We are no longer under condemnation. 

More than that, He has made us to be a kingdom and priesthood to serve God the Father. The devil tries to make us feel unworthy, but Jesus has made us righteous, He has justified us, and we have a purpose in life. And the glory belongs to God, not to anyone else, and not to the circumstances.

And this Lord will return and every eye will see. At the moment most do not recognise Christ, people think we are stupid to believe in Him. But one day everyone will see Him in all His glory. This will include those who pierced Him, and now includes those who reject Him.

The Lord is the alpha and omega. He is eternal, and He is Almighty. We are on the winning side.

Revelation 1:4-5a - Just a normal 1st century letter

The introduction makes it clear that this is in some sense a normal letter. Indeed, the style is similar to that found in other letters in the New Testament. It is addressed to the seven churches in Asia. The seven churches, who will shortly receive individual letters, actually form a circle.

As in Paul's letters, John blesses the recipients with grace and peace.

"From Him who is, and who was, and is to come" is a reference to God. Then there is reference to Jesus as the faithful witness. Remember that in John's gospel Jesus emphasises that He has come from heaven and is the one who has been sent. He tells of what He has seen the Father do and say. In Revelation Jesus will continue to tell of what He the Father has given Him. By the way, this reinforces the view that this was actually written by John the apostle. The "seven spirits" is an unusual reference. It could be translated "sevenfold spirit", which would make it more likely that it is a reference to the Holy Spirit. This is most likely as we then have a clear trinitarian triplet here. 

Seven is a favourite number of John in Revelation. Seven represents completeness, so he is stressing the completeness of the Spirit here.

Jesus is further attributed with being the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. This last reference is central to the whole message of Revelation. All the powers we see at work in the world are ultimately subject to the Lord Jesus Christ.

Revelation 1:1-3 - Introduction

The introduction is often overlooked when considering Revelation, but it is vital to understanding the book and remaining firmly grounded. 

First we are told that this is a revelation from Jesus Christ. Revelation is the same as apocalypse. We tend to associate apocalypse with dramatic and disastrous events, but its actual meaning is "unveiling". So we have a revelation from Jesus Christ, and this revelation was given to Him by the Father so that His servants would know what would soon take place. Soon in God's terms has a rather different meaning than we tend to associate with it, but in comparison with eternity any time is soon. Note that we are servants of the Lord.

So how was John to know what this revelation was? An angel was sent to him to give him the revelation. Zechariah also received his visions from an angel.

John testifies to what he saw and to the testimony he received from Jesus Christ.

Then we are told that we are blessed if we read the words of this prophecy aloud, and if we hear it and take it to heart because the time is near. Revelation is to be read and is to be heard, it is not meant to be a hidden or obscure book. Nor is it weird. And we need to hear it in order to understand the times we live in.

Revelation - Introduction (2)

There are essentially four major views of Revelation:

Preterist

This views the book as applying purely to the immediate historical situation.

Historicist

This sees Revelation as predicting the course of human history, in particular the church,

Idealist

This sees Revelation as having no direct relation to actual history, but rather giving a general picture of the battle between good and evil.

Futurist

The sees Revelation as speaking of the very end times.

So which is right? Well it seems that any sensible approach will adopt all four of them (with some reservations about historicist). The book was written initially for the late first century church and clearly has relevance for that time, but if we seek to say everything was fulfilled in the first century we run into enormous problems. 

The historicist view is OK if it is restricted to a very general portrayal of history, ie more an idealist perspective. Otherwise we end up doing eisegesis rather than exegesis. Ie we try to read things in to the text that just aren't there. 

The idealist view gives part of the purpose of Revelation, in that it portrays many general features of the battle between good and evil. For instance, Nazi Germany clearly was not the anti-christ, but one can see many anti-Christ features in Nazi Germany (as can one in Stalin's Russia). 

Then it undoubtedly does speak of the very end of time. 

So we take something from all four views, and indeed they feed of each other.
In order to have a proper, and enriching, appreciation of Revelation it is absolutely vital to understand the situation the people were in and things they were going through, namely oppression and persecution by a seemingly overwhelming power. Revelation reveals what is really going on.

Revelation - Introduction 1

Well here we are about to embark on the last book of the Bible, and so this blog will have covered every book in the Bible. I do have plans for what comes next, but that will be revealed once we have completed Revelation.

Revelation is perhaps the most difficult book in the Bible to make sense of, largely because of its heavy use of imagery. It is also probably fair to say that it is the book in the Bible about which more nonsense is talked than any other book. So anything said about Revelation must be considered with caution, and that includes what I will write! I would strongly advise you to read the book itself, and indeed the whole Bible, to consider whether what I say makes any Biblical sense or not. In fact one of the keys to understanding Revelation is to realise how much it draws from the Old Testament, in particular Daniel, Isaiah, Ezekiel, Jeremiah, Zechariah and others.

For anything I say I am greatly indebted to Leon Morris's commentary on Revelation (IVP), also my NIV study bible.

The books is traditionally accredited to John the apostle, and that is the line I will take. The early church fathers said that he was the author, and the book itself says that John was the author. However, Dionysius in the fourth century claimed that the linguistic differences between Revelation and the John's gospel and letters were so great that it must have been written by someone else. He hypothesised that it had been written by "John the Presbyter", though quite who this mythical person is is not known. Most modern scholarship follows this line. However, it presents at least as many problems as it supposedly solves. Moreover, it seems to neglect the fact that Revelation is a radically different book to the gospels and letters. So we will stick with John the Apostle.

The most likely date is the late first century, near the end of the reign of Domitian. This was a time when emperor worship was established and there was significant persecution of Christians. Soon after Nero has also been suggested by some, but late first century seems more likely.

Malachi 3:13-4:6 - Fear the Lord

Next the people are charged with speaking arrogantly against the Lord. The people were saying that it was a waste of time worshipping the Lord, seeking to follow His commands. Instead it seemed that the arrogant were the ones who were blessed. Why did they say this? Probably because the redemption they had hoped for had not yet come. They were blaming God for this and the redemption had indeed not come. But why was this? The previous parts of Malachi make it clear that it the people were not following the Lord. So they were blaming God for something that was their fault. This is a well known human trait.

But not all had turned away from the Lord. Those who still feared Him met together to encourage one another. We should always meet with those of faith. Then we get a glimpse of what goes on in heaven. God notices what we do and say and it is noted down. They will have a special place on God's plans. The Lord will have compassion on them, He will love them as a father loves a son, and they will see the Lord's salvation and His righteousness on the earth.

Part of the promise of salvation is that a day of judgement is coming when the wicked will be burnt up. Also on the day there will be healing and joy for those who fear the Lord. The righteous will then rule over the wicked.

Then we get the promise of Elijah. People will be presented with a choice. Sadly when Jesus came Israel chose to reject Him and so destruction did indeed come in AD66-70. The whole earth has the same choice.

Malachi 3:6-12 - Tithing - the joy of giving

Israel was a proud nation, but the only reason they continued to exist was because the Lord does not change. The call of "return to me and I will return to you" still applied. And it still applies. The only reason Israel continues to exist is the Lord's promise, and peace will only come when they return to the Lord.

God then makes the "return" specific. There is a general call to all of us to repent, but in each one of us there will be a specific area or areas that epitomises our rebellion and so will epitomise our return. In the time of Malachi it was the failure to offer tithes. The people thought they had to look after themselves and so could not afford to pay the tithes. The same could probably be applied to many in the church today. Nothing could be further from the truth. If only they brought the whole tithe to the Lord then they would find they had everything they needed, and much more. They would also be protected from various pests and disasters. It is the Lord who provides, and our giving is a symbol of our trust in Him.

There are debates today about whether tithing is still applicable. Many of these debates are silly, and behind much of it is the attitude "I don't want to give that much", ie the same attitude of the Israel of Malachi's day. Tithing is no longer a "legal" requirement, but the more Christlike we are the more we will give. Tithing is an excellent place to start and we should increase our giving from there. 

At the same time we need to beware a "giving so God will give to us" attitude which is often promoted by those who advocate tithing. This is equally legalistic and equally wrong. We are in a relationship with the Lord. I provide for my children because I love them, not because they give. But because I love them I want them to be generously minded. We need to grasp that giving is part of kingdom living, it is a joy and privilege. 

Malachi 3:1-5 - The Lord will come to judge

The Lord has given his judgement upon the nation. Now He talks about the action He will take. He will send a messenger to prepare the way. We now know that this was John the Baptist. After this the Lord would come. See that it says the Lord will come, and that He is the messenger of the covenant. Jesus is the centre of the new covenant.

This could be a reference to both the first and second coming. For even in the first coming Jesus came as a refiner's fire. He had many clashes with the religious establishment and had many words of judgement against them, exposing the hypocrisy and poverty of the religious leaders. Only once there has been purification will the offerings be acceptable.

There will be judgement against all sorts of sinners. Sorcerers, adulterers, perjurers, exploiters of labour, oppressors of the poor, racists are all mentioned. See the wide range, So often we focus either on overtly demonic stuff, or on sexual sins, or on social sins, ignoring the others. The Lord will judge all sins.

Malachi 2:10-17 - Remaining faithful

Notice the way the logic flows in verse 10. It is because we were all created by the one Lord that being unfaithful to each other is breaking the covenant. Once a people abandon God it is not long before we start being inhuman to one another. Our humanity derives solely from the Lord. This applies both to the physical, for we were all created by Him and are completely dependent upon Him for our very existence, and spiritually. He alone is the source of life.

Marrying people who worshipped foreign gods was detestable. The same applies today in Christians marrying non-Christians. Now if we are already married to an unbeliever and then get saved the situation is different, as Paul tell us, we should remain in that marriage if at all possible. But it is a sin for a believer to marry a non-Christian. One might say that the believer might bring the unbeliever faith, but it is far more likely that the unbeliever will drag the believer away from God. When two people get married they become one, so if one is worshipping God and the other is not, they will be pulling in different directions. 

Finally in this section we learn that God hates divorce. We should always love the wife of our youth. It is the Lord who joins two people in marriage, and does so for the bringing up of godly children. 

Sometimes divorce is the least worst option, but divorce always involves two things: sin and pain.
We weary the Lord when we despair. It is never useless to serve the Lord, never useless to seek to do what is right.

Malachi 2:1-9 - Warning to leaders

The priests now get further warnings. Now everyone is responsible for their own life. No matter whatever anyone else does, I have the responsibility to live my life for God, but leaders have a special responsibility. 

The priests are called on to honour God with a warning of judgement if they do not do so. Indeed the judgement is already coming upon them. We need to honour God. Verse 3 expresses this in no uncertain terms, and in most churches if a preacher or prophet spoke like this we would be greatly offended! 

Notice what it then says in verse 4. The purpose of this warning is so that covenant may continue. And the covenant is a covenant if life and peace. God's plan for our life is life and peace, but to receive this we need to honour and fear the Lord. Now all this talk of Levi being absolutely wonderful seems odd, because Levi was not perfect. But Jesus is our perfect high priest.

The role of a priest (and we can apply this to all leaders) is to "preserve knowledge", that is knowledge of God. We are sent to give the Lord's instruction. We meant to help people follow Christ. But the priests of Malachi's day, and many leaders today, had instead caused people to stumble, to disobey God. If we do this then we will be humiliated by God.

Malachi 1:6-14 - The Lord who is to be feared

The people were not honouring God. This was despite their society acknowledging that sons should honour fathers, and slaves should honour masters. Any society that wishes to succeed must have honour and respect as part of its system. 

To make matters worse it was the priests that led the way in dishonouring God, in showing contempt for His name. Sadly this is a pattern that continues in many parts of the church today. In their case they showed this by offering defiled food. They offered diseased or lame animals to God, something that was forbidden by the Law. They treated God in a way they would treat no-one else. We need to be careful here, for we can so easily do the same. We don't devote enough time in prayer, or read the word half-heartedly.

So God declares that he will banish them from His temple. We so easily lose sight of the fact that it is only God who has the right to decide how He is approached, how He is worshipped. The Lord is lord of all the earth, acceptable offerings would be made to Him throughout the earth. This is looking forward to what would happen as the gospel was spread.

The people considered worship of God to be a burden. We need to remember who the Lord is. He is the great king and His name is to be feared.

Malachi 1:1-5 - Jacob I loved, Esau I hated

The people have returned from exile for sometime now. Some rebuilding has been completed, including the temple, but the hearts of the people have not really returned to God. In this prophecy God addresses the hearts of the people, the attitudes that they have and that they need to correct.

As mentioned in the introduction, Malachi means "my messenger", or even "my angel" (angel means messenger).

The first prophecy makes Israel aware that God is God of all the world. "Great is the Lord - even beyond the borders of Israel". Israel was surrounded by various nations, most of them hostile (nothing changes). We too can think like this, we do so whenever we think "God is Lord, but He cannot deal with this problem that I am facing". We might not phrase like it that, but that is often what we think.

The people doubted that God loved them. So what does God use as an example of His love? The judgement upon Edom. Edom grew out of Esau. God made a choice, He chose to bless Jacob (ie Israel) but Esau came under judgement. Edom was apparently making loud claims to be rebuilding her ruins. God declares that she would not succeed. Israel would see the judgement upon Edom (and where is Edom today?).

God has chosen one people and not another.

Malachi - Introduction

Well here we are on the last book of the Old Testament, and the last book of the Old Testament in this Bible blog. Just one book to go, Revelation.

The name Malachi means "my messenger". Some have thought that this was purely a title and not the actual name of the prophet, but it seems best to treat it as a name as all other prophet books were by a named prophet, and names had much more meaning then than they do now.

Malachi was probably a contemporary of Nehemiah and Ezra. Zerubbabel had completed the temple in 516 BC. Nehemiah had returned to Jerusalem in 444 BC to oversee the rebuilding of the walls. He also taught the Law, focusing on helping the poor, avoiding mixed marriages, keeping the Sabbath, bringing tithes and offerings.  In 433BC Nehemiah returned to Persia but then returned again only to find that Jerusalem had once again fallen in to sin. Tithes, intermarriage and the sabbath were all being abused. Malachi addresses many of these concerns. So we see again that prophets were not otherworldly mystics, but were closely related to current events.

The central theme of the book is that the Lord will return both in judgement and with blessing. There is instruction for people to repent and to obey the Lord, and of encouragement for those who remained faithful.

He addresses a time when there was little faith and much disobedience. In such times it can be very difficult to be a faithful follower of the Lord as things can seem very discouraging at times. Malachi provides vital teaching for those living in such times.

Esther 9:20-10:3 - Defeat turned to victory

The festival of Purim was now established. It was a time when utter defeat was turned into complete victory, sorrow was turned into joy. Probably, like me, you find the vengeance and blood shed hard to take, but we should not let this blind us to the way that God has worked. For His work in all our lives is to transform situations, and to transform us. There were plots against the Jews, but these were turned upon their enemies instead. Many today make plots against the Jews, but they will ultimately fail. The enemy makes plots against us, but he too will fail.

Mordecai was then promoted to high office in the kingdom, just as Joseph and Daniel before him had been.

Esther 8-9:19 - Vengeance

Esther and Mordecai now gain from the death of Haman, Esther receiving  his estate and Mordecai the signet ring.

The matter of the decree to kill all the Jews had not yet been dealt with, so Esther pleads with the king to rescind that decree. So Mordecai was given the right to override the earlier instruction to kill the Jews. In fact it went somewhat further than this, giving the Jews the right to defend themselves and to attack their enemies.

So the Jews rejoiced and many people became Jews as well (8:17). The emphasis in chapter 9 is on how there was a complete reversal of what looked like happening. In our own lives we need to be careful of thinking we can predict the future, for so often we do, and it is usually a bad future that we predict. Instead we should live our lives in ever increasing trust in the Lord.

In the midst of this many enemies were killed. This is actually a final fulfilment of the command given in Exodus to destroy the Amalekites (Ex 17:14), but note also the refusal to take any plunder from them.

Things get increasingly bloodthirsty in v 13. In v16 many enemies were killed.

Esther 7 - Hoisted by his own petard

Worse was yet to come for Haman. This was some banquet, "as they were drinking on the second day". Then the king asked Esther what her request was. 

Esther then asks the king to spare her life, and that of all her people. Note how she phrases the question in an intelligent way, putting herself first, knowing she had favour with the king, then mentioning her people. Jesus said we are to be as innocent as doves and and as wise as a serpent (Matt 10:16). Being a Christian does not mean being stupid.

The king then wants to know who caused this to happen, and Haman is now well and truly hoisted on his own petard.

Haman pleaded with Esther for mercy but only succeeded in getting himself in more trouble. So he was impaled on the device he had erected to kill Mordecai.