******* Continuing our prophecy study-- Please GO back and READ the study from the beginning to gain full understanding of where we are if you haven't been following this study daily. We are 59 studies in. Thank you :) God bless you! ******
Rev 1:2 Who bare record of the word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all things that he saw.
Rev 1:3 Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.
(We already studied verses 2 and 3 a few days ago so we won't study them again here. Once more I am picking up with the Revelation study I did in my blog in Aug. 2009/11. I will be revising as the Spirit leads- all by God's amazing grace.)
Rev 1:4 John to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace be unto you, and peace, from him which is, and which was, and which is to come; and from the seven Spirits which are before his throne;
Rev 1:5 And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood,
Rev 1:6 And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen
John to the seven churches
Seven churches. Biblically the number seven is used many, many times. It was used in the beginning of the Bible- God made the world and all that was in it- in seven days. God made the seventh day a memorial for eternity. Our lives are still influenced by the seven day week and will be forever.
'The first pages of the Bible explain how God created the world in six days and rested on the seventh. This seventh day became the Jewish day of rest, the Sabbath, Saturday.
Extra-biblical locations sometimes mentioned as the birthplace of the 7-day week include: Babylon, Persia, and several others. The week was known in Rome before the advent of Christianity.' http://www.webexhibits.org/calendars/week.html#anchor-origin
With seven denoting a sense of completeness - of perfection- it truly is perfect for indicating the beginning and the end of the prophecy. And these seven churches not only represent churches in existence when John wrote the prophecies, but they serve yet another purpose - that of representing the time from John's existence right on down until Christ comes again. This is a familiar setup, isn't it? It is, because we just studied Daniel and in the book of Daniel more than once a vision was given and that vision extended from the time of Daniel down until the end of time at Christ's second coming. We are no stranger to this sort of prophecy, not at all. Now let's look at Sevens in the Bible.
Seven days of creation. Genesis 1
Seven days for Noah to fill the Ark. Genesis 7:4-10
Seven years Jacob serves for each wife. Genesis 28:18-20; 29:27-30
Seven plentiful years and seven famine years in Egypt. Genesis 41
Seven days the waters turn to blood. Exodus 7:25
Seven lamps of the Menorah. Exodus 25:37
Seven feasts of Israel. Leviticus 23
Seven years to the sabbatical year. Leviticus 25:4
Seven times seven to the jubilee year. Leviticus 25:8
Seven priests with seven trumpets circle Jericho seven times. Joshua 6
Solomon spent seven years building the temple. 1 Kings 6:38
Daniel’s seventy sevens prophecy. Daniel 9:24-27
Seventy years in Babylonian exile. Jeremiah 25:11-12
Seven loaves fed the 4,000, seven baskets are leftover. Matthew 15:32-39
Seven deacons in the early church. Acts 6:5
Seven miracles in the gospel of John. John
Seven discourses in the gospel of John. John
Seven “I am” statements in the gospel of John. John
Paul sent letters to seven different churches. Paul’s epistles
Seven churches in Revelation. Revelation 2,3
Seven promises, seals, trumpets, angels, plagues, bowls... Revelation
Seven promises to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Genesis
Seven miracles on the Sabbath. Gospels
Seven sayings of Jesus from the cross. Gospels
Seven appearances of angels. Gospels and Acts
Seven elements of the armor of God. Ephesians 6:14-18
Yes, the number seven is a number of completeness and we can easily understand that while Christ chose to give God's Revelation through His angel to John to go to seven churches it would be a message for all time as well. The fullness of history from that point on. Seriously, the revelation would be complete and that means a revelation for all of God's servants through time. The blessing given to all who read, hear, and keep the words within are for all- for you and for me. The blessings were for those living in that time as well. Knowing this- we have to read these words and pray for a clear understanding to be blessed with all that we need to hear and keep.
Rev. 1:4… 'John to the seven churches…'
Churches- a church Biblically is what? A building? No. The church essentially denotes God's people, period. It's not a building erected and named. God's people in each of these places are being addressed. We could also say, God's people in each of these times are being addressed. God's people- His church throughout all time are being called to attention.
Rev. 1:4 '...which are in Asia Grace be unto you and peace from him which is and which was and which is to come…'
Grace and peace- this is all God has ever wanted for us, His people, isn't it? His grace to cover our sins, His peace which isn't of this world but a peace in knowing Him and Him knowing us.
John {14:27} 'Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you'
Grace and peace from HIM which is, which was, and which is to come. God.
John {17:1} 'These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee'
John {17:9} 'I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine. {17:10} And all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them.'
We are all God's.
We are God's- Jesus even said so.
Rev1:4 '...and from the seven Spirits which are before his throne'
From the perfect Spirit- seven the perfect completeness of the Spirit.
Seven churches- the complete church.
Seven Spirits- the complete Spirit.
Rev. 1:5 'And from Jesus Christ who is the faithful witness and the first begotten of the dead and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood
And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever.'
From Jesus Christ. The faithful witness. The first begotten of the dead- the first begotten- Jesus was the first begotten of His kind wasn't He? Think about it. The Son of God. There was no other Son of God that took on humanity. Jesus was the first begotten in the manner He was begotten and yes- the first begotten and the only one by whom the dead - those promised death through sin- will live again. The dead will find life in the first begotten. Jesus truly is the first begotten of the dead- we only find life in Christ.
'The prince of the kings of the earth.' Jesus is the ultimate prince of all the kings. There is no other prince of the kings of the earth but Jesus- He reigns.
'Unto him that loved us.' No other has ever loved us like Jesus- no other!
'and washed us from our sins in his own blood.' Only Jesus the innocent Son of God could cleanse us from our sins by His amazing sacrifice. By His blood we are freed from sin.
'And hath made us kings and priests unto God' We are to serve God as His kings, his priests-- we are God's through Jesus!
'And His Father! To him be the Glory! And dominion!
Forever and ever!
Amen!
*******
Introduction-
Rev 1:1 The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John:
Rev 1:2 Who bare record of the word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all things that he saw.
Rev 1:3 Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.
Rev 1:4 John to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace be unto you, and peace, from him which is, and which was, and which is to come; and from the seven Spirits which are before his throne;
Rev 1:5 And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood,
Rev 1:6 And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.
I reach out to you and in my hand is a scroll, a very old scroll. I tell you to take it, to open it, to read it because inside this scroll is a message from God to you.
You take the scroll and unroll it and begin to read-
'The Revelation of Jesus Christ.' You pause as that sinks in. What you are reading, what you are holding in your hand contains the Revelation of Jesus Christ. A revealing of Jesus Christ, the SAVIOR, your SAVIOR! But how can you be sure it is a true revealing of Jesus Christ? You know this book, this scroll has been found placed with other scrolls of the same nature- Godly revelations, Godly truths. This scroll contains the revelation of Jesus Christ! You read further- 'which God gave unto him'. God the Father gave Jesus Christ the only begotten Son the revelation! God the Father along with God the Son, revealed. And you quickly read more- 'to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass'. This scroll of revealing Christ was given to Jesus by the Father to show us His servants! Specifically God's people, God's servants were to have this revelation of Jesus Christ! And it would show these servants THINGS that would take place!
Are you a servant of God? Are you a servant of Jesus Christ? I'm a servant of God, of Jesus Christ and I want to know all about the things that will take place.
You continue reading this amazing scroll, scarcely believing you are being given something so amazing!
'…and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John: Who bare record of the word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all things that he saw. ' The one writing this amazing scroll was a servant named John, and an angel of the Savior, of God gave John the information to record. John who wrote the word of God, who wrote of the testimony of Jesus Christ, who wrote of ALL things that he saw! He was given visions, the ability to see all of what was to be revealed.
You read on, 'Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.' Such words! You will be BLESSED if you read, hear, and keep all the revelation of Jesus Christ! Do you want to be blessed? Of course you want to be blessed! You read more….
'John to the seven churches which are in Asia:'
First John was to see a broad picture not just for all of God's servants at the time of the writing, but for all throughout time. He wasn't given a message for single group of Christians as a whole, but as Christians, as Christ's servants in several groups throughout the land. A different message for seven different groups comprised of Christ servants. But there were many more groups spread out all over the surrounding territories, why weren't they all included? Why these seven churches? Seven- a number of completeness, of wholeness. Seven messages - one complete message for all time, for all servants, for all who would read.
'Grace be unto you, and peace, from him which is, and which was, and which is to come; and from the seven Spirits which are before his throne and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.
Grace and peace from JESUS CHRIST our LORD and SAVIOR! He along with God the Father are those who are, who were, and who will be, but not just those two also the complete SPIRIT, the Holy Spirit, - seven Spirits before His throne! God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit want us to have GRACE and PEACE! Glory be to our Gods! Our Savior- the faithful witness! Our Savior- the first begotten of the dead, the first of His kind to ever be! Our Savior- the prince of the kings of earth! Our Savior- who LOVED US. Our Savior- who washed us from our sins in his own blood! Our Savior- who has made us kings, and priests unto God. To His Father, to Him be the glory and dominion for ever and ever!
Do we believe?! We have to believe if we claim to be the servants of God. Can we be servants of God and not believe these words? How amazingly exciting to truly comprehend the privilege of being given this book of Revelation, and a Revelation of Jesus Christ at that! What servant would not want to know more of their beloved Master? A beloved Master who died so we could live! Truly we are blessed in that realization alone! And there is so much more to come!
May God truly bless us!
Rev 1:2 Who bare record of the word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all things that he saw.
Rev 1:3 Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.
(We already studied verses 2 and 3 a few days ago so we won't study them again here. Once more I am picking up with the Revelation study I did in my blog in Aug. 2009/11. I will be revising as the Spirit leads- all by God's amazing grace.)
Rev 1:4 John to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace be unto you, and peace, from him which is, and which was, and which is to come; and from the seven Spirits which are before his throne;
Rev 1:5 And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood,
Rev 1:6 And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen
John to the seven churches
Seven churches. Biblically the number seven is used many, many times. It was used in the beginning of the Bible- God made the world and all that was in it- in seven days. God made the seventh day a memorial for eternity. Our lives are still influenced by the seven day week and will be forever.
'The first pages of the Bible explain how God created the world in six days and rested on the seventh. This seventh day became the Jewish day of rest, the Sabbath, Saturday.
Extra-biblical locations sometimes mentioned as the birthplace of the 7-day week include: Babylon, Persia, and several others. The week was known in Rome before the advent of Christianity.' http://www.webexhibits.org/calendars/week.html#anchor-origin
With seven denoting a sense of completeness - of perfection- it truly is perfect for indicating the beginning and the end of the prophecy. And these seven churches not only represent churches in existence when John wrote the prophecies, but they serve yet another purpose - that of representing the time from John's existence right on down until Christ comes again. This is a familiar setup, isn't it? It is, because we just studied Daniel and in the book of Daniel more than once a vision was given and that vision extended from the time of Daniel down until the end of time at Christ's second coming. We are no stranger to this sort of prophecy, not at all. Now let's look at Sevens in the Bible.
Seven days of creation. Genesis 1
Seven days for Noah to fill the Ark. Genesis 7:4-10
Seven years Jacob serves for each wife. Genesis 28:18-20; 29:27-30
Seven plentiful years and seven famine years in Egypt. Genesis 41
Seven days the waters turn to blood. Exodus 7:25
Seven lamps of the Menorah. Exodus 25:37
Seven feasts of Israel. Leviticus 23
Seven years to the sabbatical year. Leviticus 25:4
Seven times seven to the jubilee year. Leviticus 25:8
Seven priests with seven trumpets circle Jericho seven times. Joshua 6
Solomon spent seven years building the temple. 1 Kings 6:38
Daniel’s seventy sevens prophecy. Daniel 9:24-27
Seventy years in Babylonian exile. Jeremiah 25:11-12
Seven loaves fed the 4,000, seven baskets are leftover. Matthew 15:32-39
Seven deacons in the early church. Acts 6:5
Seven miracles in the gospel of John. John
Seven discourses in the gospel of John. John
Seven “I am” statements in the gospel of John. John
Paul sent letters to seven different churches. Paul’s epistles
Seven churches in Revelation. Revelation 2,3
Seven promises, seals, trumpets, angels, plagues, bowls... Revelation
Seven promises to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Genesis
Seven miracles on the Sabbath. Gospels
Seven sayings of Jesus from the cross. Gospels
Seven appearances of angels. Gospels and Acts
Seven elements of the armor of God. Ephesians 6:14-18
Yes, the number seven is a number of completeness and we can easily understand that while Christ chose to give God's Revelation through His angel to John to go to seven churches it would be a message for all time as well. The fullness of history from that point on. Seriously, the revelation would be complete and that means a revelation for all of God's servants through time. The blessing given to all who read, hear, and keep the words within are for all- for you and for me. The blessings were for those living in that time as well. Knowing this- we have to read these words and pray for a clear understanding to be blessed with all that we need to hear and keep.
Rev. 1:4… 'John to the seven churches…'
Churches- a church Biblically is what? A building? No. The church essentially denotes God's people, period. It's not a building erected and named. God's people in each of these places are being addressed. We could also say, God's people in each of these times are being addressed. God's people- His church throughout all time are being called to attention.
Rev. 1:4 '...which are in Asia Grace be unto you and peace from him which is and which was and which is to come…'
Grace and peace- this is all God has ever wanted for us, His people, isn't it? His grace to cover our sins, His peace which isn't of this world but a peace in knowing Him and Him knowing us.
John {14:27} 'Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you'
Grace and peace from HIM which is, which was, and which is to come. God.
John {17:1} 'These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee'
John {17:9} 'I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine. {17:10} And all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them.'
We are all God's.
We are God's- Jesus even said so.
Rev1:4 '...and from the seven Spirits which are before his throne'
From the perfect Spirit- seven the perfect completeness of the Spirit.
Seven churches- the complete church.
Seven Spirits- the complete Spirit.
Rev. 1:5 'And from Jesus Christ who is the faithful witness and the first begotten of the dead and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood
And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever.'
From Jesus Christ. The faithful witness. The first begotten of the dead- the first begotten- Jesus was the first begotten of His kind wasn't He? Think about it. The Son of God. There was no other Son of God that took on humanity. Jesus was the first begotten in the manner He was begotten and yes- the first begotten and the only one by whom the dead - those promised death through sin- will live again. The dead will find life in the first begotten. Jesus truly is the first begotten of the dead- we only find life in Christ.
'The prince of the kings of the earth.' Jesus is the ultimate prince of all the kings. There is no other prince of the kings of the earth but Jesus- He reigns.
'Unto him that loved us.' No other has ever loved us like Jesus- no other!
'and washed us from our sins in his own blood.' Only Jesus the innocent Son of God could cleanse us from our sins by His amazing sacrifice. By His blood we are freed from sin.
'And hath made us kings and priests unto God' We are to serve God as His kings, his priests-- we are God's through Jesus!
'And His Father! To him be the Glory! And dominion!
Forever and ever!
Amen!
*******
Introduction-
Rev 1:1 The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John:
Rev 1:2 Who bare record of the word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all things that he saw.
Rev 1:3 Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.
Rev 1:4 John to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace be unto you, and peace, from him which is, and which was, and which is to come; and from the seven Spirits which are before his throne;
Rev 1:5 And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood,
Rev 1:6 And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.
I reach out to you and in my hand is a scroll, a very old scroll. I tell you to take it, to open it, to read it because inside this scroll is a message from God to you.
You take the scroll and unroll it and begin to read-
'The Revelation of Jesus Christ.' You pause as that sinks in. What you are reading, what you are holding in your hand contains the Revelation of Jesus Christ. A revealing of Jesus Christ, the SAVIOR, your SAVIOR! But how can you be sure it is a true revealing of Jesus Christ? You know this book, this scroll has been found placed with other scrolls of the same nature- Godly revelations, Godly truths. This scroll contains the revelation of Jesus Christ! You read further- 'which God gave unto him'. God the Father gave Jesus Christ the only begotten Son the revelation! God the Father along with God the Son, revealed. And you quickly read more- 'to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass'. This scroll of revealing Christ was given to Jesus by the Father to show us His servants! Specifically God's people, God's servants were to have this revelation of Jesus Christ! And it would show these servants THINGS that would take place!
Are you a servant of God? Are you a servant of Jesus Christ? I'm a servant of God, of Jesus Christ and I want to know all about the things that will take place.
You continue reading this amazing scroll, scarcely believing you are being given something so amazing!
'…and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John: Who bare record of the word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all things that he saw. ' The one writing this amazing scroll was a servant named John, and an angel of the Savior, of God gave John the information to record. John who wrote the word of God, who wrote of the testimony of Jesus Christ, who wrote of ALL things that he saw! He was given visions, the ability to see all of what was to be revealed.
You read on, 'Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.' Such words! You will be BLESSED if you read, hear, and keep all the revelation of Jesus Christ! Do you want to be blessed? Of course you want to be blessed! You read more….
'John to the seven churches which are in Asia:'
First John was to see a broad picture not just for all of God's servants at the time of the writing, but for all throughout time. He wasn't given a message for single group of Christians as a whole, but as Christians, as Christ's servants in several groups throughout the land. A different message for seven different groups comprised of Christ servants. But there were many more groups spread out all over the surrounding territories, why weren't they all included? Why these seven churches? Seven- a number of completeness, of wholeness. Seven messages - one complete message for all time, for all servants, for all who would read.
'Grace be unto you, and peace, from him which is, and which was, and which is to come; and from the seven Spirits which are before his throne and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.
Grace and peace from JESUS CHRIST our LORD and SAVIOR! He along with God the Father are those who are, who were, and who will be, but not just those two also the complete SPIRIT, the Holy Spirit, - seven Spirits before His throne! God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit want us to have GRACE and PEACE! Glory be to our Gods! Our Savior- the faithful witness! Our Savior- the first begotten of the dead, the first of His kind to ever be! Our Savior- the prince of the kings of earth! Our Savior- who LOVED US. Our Savior- who washed us from our sins in his own blood! Our Savior- who has made us kings, and priests unto God. To His Father, to Him be the glory and dominion for ever and ever!
Do we believe?! We have to believe if we claim to be the servants of God. Can we be servants of God and not believe these words? How amazingly exciting to truly comprehend the privilege of being given this book of Revelation, and a Revelation of Jesus Christ at that! What servant would not want to know more of their beloved Master? A beloved Master who died so we could live! Truly we are blessed in that realization alone! And there is so much more to come!
May God truly bless us!
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