December 28: Revelation 1-5

December 28, Revelation 1-5

Revelation intro from the ESV Bible: ““The revelation of Jesus Christ” (1:1) was probably written by the apostle John while in exile on the island of Patmos, off the coast of present-day Turkey. It was addressed to seven actual churches. Revelation begins with letters from Christ himself to these churches, letters that include commendation, criticism, and comfort. Then comes a long series of visions of judgment on the wicked, all in highly symbolic language. The church is depicted under great distress but is assured of the final triumph of Jesus as “King of kings and Lord of lords” (19:16), bringing to an end the rebellion of humanity and ushering in “a new heaven and a new earth” (21:1), where God himself will reign forever and ever (11:15). Revelation was probably written a.d. 95–96.”

The entire summary/commentary of Revelation is from my wife Dana Parriera!

• “I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot!  So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth.  For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked.  I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see. Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent.  Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.  The one who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I also conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’ ”

Revelation 1 Revelation 1:1-3 just lets us know that the book you are about to read, Revelation, is about the Revelations of Jesus Christ through John.

This whole book is a prophetic look at the world during the end of days.

Have you ever wondered what would happen at the end of the world? Well, you get a front row seat, as John takes us through what the Lord Jesus shows him and he writes it all down for us to read. John tells us that we are blessed if we read it. We might not understand it all, but we are still blessed for reading it and understanding that it is Jesus who writes the pages of History and who writes the pages of the Future. 

Revelation 1:4-20 tells us that this whole book of Revelations was given to John and he was suppose to send it to other churches. John tells the end from the beginning and starts off with that Jesus is coming on the clouds (vs. 7) and that the Holy Spirit is the 7 Spirits of Jesus. Which 7 represents the perfection of God. Then John gets to the story. He is in prayer and the Lord visits him and tells him to write down everything that he is going to see, and that he also has to send it to certain churches. We then get to see a picture of Jesus in His glory. No more is He a baby. No more is He a human. Instead John sees Jesus as God, and can only use the word ‘like’ so many times. Noting that what John is seeing, isn’t anything he can describe. Jesus in His glory is like nothing we can attain through our language, as He is Indescribable. 

Revelation 2-3 Jesus then picks 7 churches to write to and write about. What is interesting about this, is that these aren’t well known churches. These are not major churches. Instead, these are little, sporadic churches. Why would Jesus want John to write to these churches? Because there is more then what we can’t see. Remember, during the letters to the Churches - Jesus is constantly saying ‘He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches.” Why does He say this? Because not only were these physical churches of the time. But they are also the spiritual timeline of Church History. And we are in the last group...

Revelation 4 Then John is taken to heaven and sees the glory of Yahweh. Again, notice the word ‘like’ as John can only describe what it is like, as the words of what Heaven really looks like is indescribable. We see the beings that the Lord is surrounded Himself with and how we have nothing like that on earth. And all day long, they praise His Great Name. 

Revelation 5 Then John sees part of the Future as if a scroll. The only one who has authority and can make the Future happen is Jesus, so He grabs the scroll and starts being worshipped as God, since He is God. The only one who has the authority of the Future is Jesus, who is God. The Scrolls are (I think) literal. As Heaven holds different rules then the Earth. Things are spiritual and things are representative. But I believe these are literal things that the Lord will use. Just as others who have ascended to Heaven have seen things in Heaven, that we have mimicked on Earth. Such as the Temple of God, the Alter, etc. I think that these things are done in Heaven are literal and have Spiritual effects. It is like they happen up in Heaven Spiritually, then they manifest Physically on Earth. Although, we might only see the earthly and physical, we must know that something Spiritual is happening as well.

If you want to watch a great Revelation Study, there is one on Youtube that is fantastic. It is from Fuel Project. Here is the link... 

One thing that Fuel Project states that is great, is that it might seem like the Church is missing from Revelation. But it isn’t. Instead, the focus is back onto the Jews and Israel, like it was in the beginning. So keep that in mind.

To sum it all up: 

• The book of Revalation has caused many a debate! I do not believe that that was the intention. Those who read this book are blessed. 
• There are many key themes throughout this book & one of the main ones is to hear what the Lord is saying through his Spirit.
• The ultimate and game result is that Jesus Christ is coming back and we need to REPENT! We are called over and over again to repent. When you fall short, repent - when you fail, repent! Martin Luther's is quotes as saying something along the lines of "a lifestyle of a believer is marked with repentance" - I agree. granted, with Christ we are Saints and not sinners, but we are not perfect. So when we fall short and sin against a Holy God - REPENT!