Commentary On Revelation – Chapters 1-3

THE SEVEN CHURCHES OF REVELATION

The Seven churches of Asia are symbolic of the evolving spiritual experience and condition that the world wide church of all times have gone through. But it has a specific and particular application during the final seven years when God is perfecting His people (the final, end time church) for translation, bringing them to full maturity in preparation for the harvest.

Throughout the 66 books of the Cannon of Scripture the concept or idea of good and evil is expressly revealed. In the O.T. goodness was defined in terms of the law from Sinai. But when Christ came into the world, He revealed the existence of an inner law which works and functions within the very heart (mind) and spirit (emotions). Paul further defined this as the Law of the Spirit of Christ which sets us free from the Law of Sin and death. Rom. 8:1-3. In every culture there is a conditioning from birth to believe that there is both good and evil in the world and external manifestations of both. But in the book of Revelation this theme of good and evil is taken to a higher level of intensity as the final scenes of the Great Controversy are played out on the stages of our world which have become a Theater of the Universe to demonstrate both extremes of good and evil and the ultimate outcome and result of both.

In Rev 1:10 John tells us the day of the week when he had his vision. “I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet.” The only day John knew as the “Lord’s day” would be the 7th day Sabbath. In light of the fact that the final controversy between good and evil will include and center around which day truly is the Sabbath (i.e. the Lord’s day) I think it is critical to determine here in Rev 1:10 what John’s position was on this topic. Did he believe the “Lord’s Day” was Sunday, the first day of the week because Jesus had changed it after the resurrection? Or did John still believe that the Lord’s day was the 7th day Sabbath. The Commentary gives several good arguments in favor of the position that the Lord’s day is the 7th day Sabbath or Saturday. They point out that “The context (Rev 1:9, 10) implies that the term ‘Lord’s day’ refers to the time when John saw the vision, rather than the subject of the vision.” John is talking about the circumstances under which the vision itself was given to him which would include the time of the vision, including the day of the week. Furthermore, the Sabbath would be the perfect time of the week for John to receive this vision because he would not be at his usual hard labor in the quarry or mines. He would also no doubt be praying and in meditation which would be a favorable time for Christ to appear to him in vision. The last point I wish to make on chapter 1 is the description of the Son of God Himself. Rev 1:12-17. John saw Jesus standing “in the middle of the lampstands” which vs 20 says represents the seven churches. So, our Lord is with His people, as He promised that He would be. That is a most comforting thought. Now to His appearance. John says that He was “clothed in a robe reaching to the feet, and girded across His breast with a golden girdle. And His head and His hair were white like white wool, like snow; and His eyes were like a flame of fire; and His feet were like burnished bronze, when it has been caused to glow in a furnace, and His voice was like the sound of many waters. And in His right hand He held seven stars; and out of His mouth came a sharp two-edged sword; and His face was like the sun shining in its strength.” Now, I want to compare this description of Christ to Daniel’s description of the angel Gabriel or Gabrielle. “I lifted up my eyes and looked, and behold, there was a certain man (being) dressed in linen, whose waist was girded with a belt of pure gold of Uphaz. His body also was like beryl, his face had the appearance of lightning, his eyes were like flaming torches, his (her) arms and feet like the gleam of polished bronze, and the sound of his words like the sound of a tumult.” Dan 10:5, 6. Those of you who have studied Daniel will notice the close similarity and resemblance of this description of this angel to that of John’s word picture of Jesus in Rev 1 with two significant differences. 1. Daniel’s messenger has her golden band around her waist because she has breasts, whereas Jesus here has His about the chest (vs 15); 2. Gabrielle’s color is Beryl, a feminine color which is the same as the emerald around the throne in Rev 4, another feminine color. The Holy Spirit is in the feminine gender although the translators did not admit this. The Shekinah glory is admittedly the “feminine face of God.” When Noah released a dove to “see if the waters were abated from off the face of the ground; …the dove found no rest for the sole of HER foot, and she returned unto him into the ark…” Could we use the concept of the “Law of Primacy” or “First use” with this Dove? That is, the first time a word or phrase is used in the Scriptures, that is its true meaning in all future references when it is mentioned. The Lord just led me to a prophecy of the Messiah found in Isaiah 11:1, 2 which is very helpful. “And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and Branch shall grow out of his roots. And the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the Spirit of Wisdom (see Prov 8:1 where Wisdom is a female speaking) and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord.” Here the “Spirit of the Lord” is identified as Wisdom, which we know is a woman or female! In Matt 11:19 Jesus referred to Wisdom as a female. “But Wisdom is justified of her children.” We need to expand on this much more because Wisdom is a lady, yes, a most important and distinguished lady indeed, as we read in Proverbs 8, especially beginning in vs 22 to 31 where she identifies herself as working right beside the Creator Himself, even the Son of God, our Lord Jesus Christ, who is the Creator of all things. “When He established the heavens, there was I; when He inscribed a circle upon the face of the deep, when He made firm the skies from above, when the fountains of the deep were given their force, when He (Jesus) when He gave to the sea its bounds, that the waters should not transgress, His spoken word, then I was beside Him, a MASTER BUILDER, I was daily full of delight, rejoicing before Him (Christ) all the time, rejoicing in the habitable part of the earth, for my delight was with the sons of men.” Proverbs 8:27-31. Berkeley Version, 1945. The Amplified Version reads: “When He appointed the foundations of the earth-[Job 38:10, 11; Ps. 104:6-9; Jer 5:22] Then I [Wisdom] was beside Him as a master and director of the work; and I was daily His delight, rejoicing before Him always, [Matt. 3:17; John 1:2, 18.]

LAW OF PRIMACY. Based on the law of primacy, students retain information they learn for the first time longer than they retain information they must relearn. Unlearning incorrect procedures (or bad habits) is always more difficult than learning the correct procedures in the beginning. Therefore, the law of primacy plays an important role, for example, in Naval training. Navy training courses allow a limited amount of time for learning but do not include time for students to relearn improperly taught information. Therefore, the instructors must teach the correct information and procedures the first time by proceeding from the simple to the complex, the known to the unknown, clarifying misunderstandings and errors before moving on. This is important and especially is applicable in the spiritual realm. New material cannot be learned until the basics are mastered. There are seven levels of the character of God. I have not seen anyone move to level two who does not understand and accept level one. Nor can they understand level three until they master level two. This is especially true of level four. I have never seen anyone understand level five until they understood level four.

 

INTRODUCTION
FOREWORD
REVELATION 1-3 – Christ’s Seven Messages To His Seven Churches
REVELATION 4 – The Open Door That Leads To God’s Throne
REVELATION 5 – The Sealed Scroll Only Jesus Christ Could Open
REVELATION 6 – The Opening Of The Seals Begin & Four Horses Appear
REVELATION 7 – The Progressive Sealing Of The 144,000 From 12 Tribes
REVELATION 8 – The Beginning Of The First Four Trumpets After 30 Min. Of Silence
REVELATION 9 – 200 Million Righteous Soldiers Come From The Wave Sheaf Of The Dead
REVELATION 10 – The Angel With The Open Book In Its Hand
REVELATION 11 – The Death Of The Two Witnesses Who Preach For 3 1/2 Years
REVELATION 12 – The Birth Of The Man Child Who Is Translated Up To Heaven
REVELATION 13 – The Rise Of The Two Beasts And Their Enforced Bio Chip Mark
REVELATION 14 – The New Song Of The 144,000 And 3 Messages Which Acquit The Father
REVELATION 15-16 – Who Brings The Seven Last Plagues? God’s Wrath Defined And Explained
REVELATION 17 – How The Lamb Overcomes The Ten Wicked Kings Of The Earth
REVELATION 18 – The Fall Of Babylon Caused By The Glory Of The Angel Of Rev 18
REVELATION 19 – The Arranged Marriage And The Suzerain Treaty And The Divine Family
REVELATION 20 – The 1,000 Years Begin: Satan Bound And The Saints Sit On Thrones
REVELATION 21-22 – The Restoration Of All Things Explained In Symbolic Detail