'If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter into life maimed, rather than having two hands, to go to hell, into the fire that shall never be quenched'. ( Mark 9:43 )
I believe that it is rather clear that Jesus is not advocating bodily disfigurement here ( indeed; I believe that He forbids it, in another place ). The covenantal context, which I've spoken of previously, tells us, as in the case of circumcision, that it was for an external sign of what had been done internally. We have seen that, even though God commanded His son, Israel, to circumcise the foreskins of his progeny, this was only an outward sign of obedience to the spirit of His command, which, as we see in Deuteronomy 10:16, was 'circumcise the foreskin of your heart, and be stiff-necked no longer', while, a bit later, in Deuteronomy 30:6, Moses also told them, 'the LORD your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants, to love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live'.
Many Christians have gotten the Gnostic notion that God's commands to His people were based in physicality, that human flesh had become so corrupt that God must needs destroy this humanity and form a whole new body, one more in conformity to His glorious Body, and in His image. Circumcision, to this manner of reasoning, was a sign that God had stripped away, or would strip away this dead humanity, separating the old man from the new.................wait.........................
The verse above, Mark 9:43 ( and I'm sure someone will notice right away that I didn't quote verse 44, as well ) seems to state that we should cut off a hand or gouge out an eye if they cause us to sin. First of all; I believe that we all, if we're honest with ourselves and Scripture, know that our disobedience, or sin, does not come from our biological members, but rather from our perverted 'heart', our inmost desires, from our own naturally rebellious will! Secondly, even if one were to argue that our wrongful desires do come from a certain part ( such as the 'hand', or 'eye' ), which is clearly not what Jesus is saying, then even if we do gouge out an eye or cut off a hand; what about the other hand? What about the other eye? ( what about the penis? ) We would end up killing ourselves because of all the body parts that we were cutting off, and we would most likely still have those wrong desires: we may not be able to actually carry out those desires, but is that what Jesus taught?
Paul wrote to the Church at Corinth that, 'the weapons of our warfare [ are ] not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled.' ( II Corinthians 10:4-6 ). They were not to, just as we are not to, wage war against our foe, whether it be inside or outside influence, using the same weapons that created the problem in the first place. We read, in Romans 8:3, that 'what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God [ did ] by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh'. First, mote that God did not condemn 'flesh'; He 'condemned sin in the flesh': He did not even condemn the weakness of the flesh that He had made good, just the sin, or disobedience that comes through the wrongful desires made possible by selfishly seeking our own wants and desires, rather than His Kingdom!
Now; to be fair; I have heard that separating oneself from a certain body part ( and I think we all know what body part that is! ) will remove the physical desire to use that body part wrongfully. I am not a scientist, and I will not claim to know the 'ins and outs' of the biological make-up of the human body, to say nothing of it's natural chemistry. I can say with certainty though, that our physical chemistry is not the problem; it is our will, our free choice to obey or disobey God's commands!
Are we really to think, though, that by cutting of a hand or gouging out an eye ( or removing some other perturbing body part ), that we will thus enter the Kingdom of Heaven, or rather, that they would? We know, in the covenantal and historical context of Scripture, that things like circumcision were merely foreshadowing the reality that came to Light in the Christ. 'Circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing, but keeping the commandments of God [ is what matters ]'. Paul wrote these words, also to the Corinthian Church ( I Corinthians 7:19 ) to combat this very idea. It was not whether one had removed his foreskin or not, whether he was a Jew or a Gentile, but whether or not he had 'circumcised' his rebellious 'heart', deciding to live according to God's Law, rather than his own!
You may note, that in the passage from which the earlier quote comes, Mark 9:43-48, that Jesus uses a form of 'biblical parallelism', in which He relays the same idea three different times, in three different ways: now, without going into a lengthy exegesis of this passage, and why he mentions first the hand, then the foot ( or feet ), and finally the eye, suffice it to say that He was not advocating dismemberment, but rather making a point. As we progress in this short study; we may note what that point was!
'It is better for you to enter into life maimed, rather than having two hands, to go to hell, into the fire that shall never be quenched-where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched.[d]'
It is interesting to note here, several things about this whole passage. In the more ancient manuscripts, upon which the NU-text ( Nestle'/Aland/United Bible Society ) is largely based, verses 44, the latter part of verse 45, and all of verse 46 do not appear. In verse 48, we can see that Jesus is quoting, as He so often did, from the Hebrew Scriptures, in this case, the prophecy of Isaiah, chapter 66, verse 24. As this passage is descriptive of the New Heavens and New Earth, or the New Jerusalem, it should be plain to see, that Isaiah was prophesying that those outside the city, and perishing in the hellish fires of the valley of Hinnom, or Gehenna would be an unpleasant reminder to the daily worshipers of God, of what had happened to those who refused to give God His due!
It should be fairly clear, I believe, that when Jesus referenced Isaiah's prophecy; he was referring, not to the place of fire and brimstone that we have traditionally known as 'hell', but was speaking of the grave, 'where their worm does not die'( because the worms feed on the dead flesh ), and combining that with a reference to the ever-burning fires of Jerusalem's garbage-dump, the Valley of Hinnom. probably better known to us as 'Gehenna'. His was a warning to those present that if they continued in the old traditional ways, circumcising their flesh, but not their 'hearts', they would safer the same fate as those bodies that were placed in the grave, or consigned to the fires of Gehenna!
I was reminded this weekend, that the Old English word 'hell' means basically 'to cover' Jesus was not referring to the Greek vision that we have come to know and fear as 'Hell'; He was simply using very familiar and hyperbolic language to warn them of their fate, if they continued on the course they were presently on, not just the grave, but, using Gehenna as a metaphor, of the torment they would receive in the coming conflagration!
Another place we should look for clues to the meaning of this enigmatic ( though traditionally plain ) passage, besides, of course, the historical context of Jesus' words, is the immediate context. Remembering that the chapter divisions were not there in the beginning, let's take a look at several of the event that happened immediately before and after. After the vision of the Transfiguration that Mark recorded, the first thing that Jesus did was to heal a young boy of epilepsy. This physical malady was seen to be an outward representation of what was really wrong with the boy: he had a demon, which Jesus immediately cast out! Just prior to the passage in question; Jesus, when He perceived that His disciples were arguing among themselves about who would be greatest, or first, uttered these famous words, 'If anyone desires to be first, he shall be last of all and servant of all', and then, 'Whoever receives one of these little children in My name receives Me; and whoever receives Me, receives not Me but Him who sent Me'. His point, I think we can all agree, especially in the latter statement, is not that we must necessarily shelter little children ( though this includes little children ) in order to receive Him, but that we must be willing to be a servant to all, if we would enter His Kingdom: it is not your status before men that God honors, but rather your status in His Son!
Again, remembering the chapter divisions; Mark next records the episode where the Pharisees questioned Jesus about divorce. They were hoping, somehow, to trap the Son of God, but Jesus, perceiving their wicked intent, reminded them that it was because of the hardness of their 'hearts' that Moses had made this concession for them. They were concerned only with the outward appearance, as with circumcision; if their wives did not do exactly what they required, they were allowed to divorce them. Jesus reminded them, 'from the beginning of the creation, God ‘made them male and female.’[a] ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’;[b] so then they are no longer two, but one flesh'. As Matthew recorded it, 'He said to them, Moses, because of the hardness of your hearts, permitted you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so.' ( Matthew 19:8 ).
'What do marriage and divorce have to do with circumcision or 'hell'?', you might ask. Well, since the Pharisees were so focused on the physical aspects of life; I believe that Jesus was giving them another example, showing them that the physical aspects, as the 'letter of the law', were not as important as the spiritual truth behind it, like Jesus told them, 'because of the hardness of your hearts' they were permitted to divorce their wives, and not just for any reason, but only for sexual impurity ( an outward sign of an inward problem ) or for adultery ( also an outward manifestation of an inner desire ). 'Hell' and marriage? I'm just not gonna go there, except to say that, like Jesus said above, it is instituted by God, and when entered into with 'both eyes open', can be a most blissful and glorious state!
Confident in Him,
Charles Haddon Shank
Monday, October 10, 2011
Tuesday, October 04, 2011
The Resurrection of the Body; Corporate Versus Individual, Spiritual Versus Natural
The first thing that many Christians think of when someone brings up the topic of the resurrection, is biological bodies being re-animated and rising out of the dust of the earth. Some will even go so far as to say that, even if one is cremated ( which is frowned upon in most circles ) God is still able to take every particle of ash, from as far as it may have been scattered, and reassemble, re-animate that biological body that once was!
I have written on this subject before, so I might just refer you there, but the subject of the resurrection has become very prevalent of late, so we'll just give it another go-round!:) The gist of the subject at hand, as we saw above, is whether or not individual, biological bodies will be raised ( 'anastasis' ), or whether the biblical resurrection was a metaphor for the corporate redemption of the Body of Israel, which occurred in the first century, with the advent of Jesus, who was the Christ. Even though this event did occur in the first century ( Jesus said 'the hour is coming, and now is' ( John 5:25 ), it is an on-going reality, in a sense, because, as the people of God ( 'The Israel of God' ( Galatians 6:16 ) are awakened to His eternal Presence, a resurrection takes place. I remarked previously that, 'as the corporate Body of Israel, or Christ, is made up of individual human beings, a resurrection of the body ( individual ) was expected'. We are individuals, and as such, our individual bodies have been, in a sense, resurrected. 'How', you say? Well, as we have also explored previously, our physical bodies have been metaphorically awakened; we have had our eyes opened, which has stirred us, in many cases, to take action, action which may be contrary to previous actions, or even inaction!
In my latest article on the resurrection, we saw that the resurrection prophesied in the Hebrew Scriptures and looked forward to by faithful Israel, was not that of individual bodies, and not even of biologically dead bodies, for that matter, but was, as Simeon exulted, at the advent of the Son of God, 'Your salvation which You have prepared before the face of all peoples, a light to [ bring ] revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of Your people Israel' ( Luke 2:29-32 ( Isaiah 42:6, 49:6 ). Zacharias, the father of the fore-runner of Jesus, 'Elijah who is to come' ( Matthew 11:14 ), prophesied in these words, concerning the Christ, 'Blessed [ is ] the Lord God of Israel, for He has visited and redeemed His people, and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of His servant David' ( Luke 1:68 & 69 ) No wonder Nicodemus was confused when Jesus told him 'You must be born again' ( John 3:7 )! He must have thought, as was the tendency by then, with the physically-minded Pharisees, mixing with the Greek thinking of the day, that Jesus was speaking of biological bodies being birthed again after they were already mature. His question said as much! As Jesus assured him, though, He was not speaking of physical bodies being born ( again ) of water ( amniotic fluid ), or naturally, but of the corporate Body of Israel being re-birthed, or resurrected, to the standing of the communion with God which they had previously, of the birth, or anastasis, from above!
We are individuals, there can be no denying that fact, and as such, we have been raised with Christ; we have, in that sense, individually taken part in His death, burial and resurrection. As Paul wrote to the Roman Christians, who were obviously having somewhat the same problem as Nicodemus, even though they were 'individually members', they were all part of 'one body in Christ'. It is not just 'me and Jesus', or even between 'me and God'! Whether you like to use the term 'metaphorical' or not; we are all one Body! Though we are individuals, each with our own different gifts and talents ( indeed; thank God for diversity in the Body of Christ! ); we are not alone: we are to be concerned with the welfare of our brothers and sisters in Christ, to raise them up before the throne of God, in loving prayer, to raise them up from the dung-heap if they have fallen, and to hold them accountable when they stray from communion, the communion of the saints!
Getting back to the subject; it is is recorded in Matthew 1:21 that 'He will save His people from their sins', speaking, of course, of Jesus. Note well that Joseph was not told that 'He will save you from your sins', or even that He will save Mary from her sins'. Nope, not John the Baptist or Nicodemus either. No mention even, of the apostles there, not even His own family! Gabriel told Joseph that Jesus would save His people, all of them, from their sins; as a whole, not just as individuals. All of the above mentioned individuals, or at least, most of them can be included in 'His people', but as His people, as His Body; it is not just us; we are all part of One Body!
So; resurrection, anastasis. We have explored, though not fully, the fact that Israel after the flesh, those who had apostatized from the covenant, had become a dead body. We saw, in Ezekiel 37, that the prophet was given a vision of the future, where God showed him that the dead, or useless, body of Israel would be raised up, and given new life; reborn, you might say. In this vision, we see that it was not body by body that was re-covered ( with sinew, flesh ); it was not individual bodies that received 'the breath of life', but that the prophet was instructed to call 'to the breath', and to say 'Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live'; not each individual body, not some, and not others, but 'these slain'; all of them, together!
One last note to consider; we saw that, besides referring to 'a raising up'; anastasis also indicates 'removal' ( Hebrews 12:27 ). This removal was, as we have seen, the taking away of our sins, the sins of the people of God, and of the curtain, or veil that separated them from His holy and enduring Presence. This removal was begun in the first century, with, among other things, the ripping of the veil of the Temple, upon the words of Jesus, 'It is finished', and was decisively accomplished in AD70, with the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple, removing the last vestiges of that Old Covenant economy, or system of worship; now the people of God were free, free to worship 'in spirit and truth'!
In the Spirit of anastasis,
Charles Haddon Shank
I have written on this subject before, so I might just refer you there, but the subject of the resurrection has become very prevalent of late, so we'll just give it another go-round!:) The gist of the subject at hand, as we saw above, is whether or not individual, biological bodies will be raised ( 'anastasis' ), or whether the biblical resurrection was a metaphor for the corporate redemption of the Body of Israel, which occurred in the first century, with the advent of Jesus, who was the Christ. Even though this event did occur in the first century ( Jesus said 'the hour is coming, and now is' ( John 5:25 ), it is an on-going reality, in a sense, because, as the people of God ( 'The Israel of God' ( Galatians 6:16 ) are awakened to His eternal Presence, a resurrection takes place. I remarked previously that, 'as the corporate Body of Israel, or Christ, is made up of individual human beings, a resurrection of the body ( individual ) was expected'. We are individuals, and as such, our individual bodies have been, in a sense, resurrected. 'How', you say? Well, as we have also explored previously, our physical bodies have been metaphorically awakened; we have had our eyes opened, which has stirred us, in many cases, to take action, action which may be contrary to previous actions, or even inaction!
In my latest article on the resurrection, we saw that the resurrection prophesied in the Hebrew Scriptures and looked forward to by faithful Israel, was not that of individual bodies, and not even of biologically dead bodies, for that matter, but was, as Simeon exulted, at the advent of the Son of God, 'Your salvation which You have prepared before the face of all peoples, a light to [ bring ] revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of Your people Israel' ( Luke 2:29-32 ( Isaiah 42:6, 49:6 ). Zacharias, the father of the fore-runner of Jesus, 'Elijah who is to come' ( Matthew 11:14 ), prophesied in these words, concerning the Christ, 'Blessed [ is ] the Lord God of Israel, for He has visited and redeemed His people, and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of His servant David' ( Luke 1:68 & 69 ) No wonder Nicodemus was confused when Jesus told him 'You must be born again' ( John 3:7 )! He must have thought, as was the tendency by then, with the physically-minded Pharisees, mixing with the Greek thinking of the day, that Jesus was speaking of biological bodies being birthed again after they were already mature. His question said as much! As Jesus assured him, though, He was not speaking of physical bodies being born ( again ) of water ( amniotic fluid ), or naturally, but of the corporate Body of Israel being re-birthed, or resurrected, to the standing of the communion with God which they had previously, of the birth, or anastasis, from above!
We are individuals, there can be no denying that fact, and as such, we have been raised with Christ; we have, in that sense, individually taken part in His death, burial and resurrection. As Paul wrote to the Roman Christians, who were obviously having somewhat the same problem as Nicodemus, even though they were 'individually members', they were all part of 'one body in Christ'. It is not just 'me and Jesus', or even between 'me and God'! Whether you like to use the term 'metaphorical' or not; we are all one Body! Though we are individuals, each with our own different gifts and talents ( indeed; thank God for diversity in the Body of Christ! ); we are not alone: we are to be concerned with the welfare of our brothers and sisters in Christ, to raise them up before the throne of God, in loving prayer, to raise them up from the dung-heap if they have fallen, and to hold them accountable when they stray from communion, the communion of the saints!
Getting back to the subject; it is is recorded in Matthew 1:21 that 'He will save His people from their sins', speaking, of course, of Jesus. Note well that Joseph was not told that 'He will save you from your sins', or even that He will save Mary from her sins'. Nope, not John the Baptist or Nicodemus either. No mention even, of the apostles there, not even His own family! Gabriel told Joseph that Jesus would save His people, all of them, from their sins; as a whole, not just as individuals. All of the above mentioned individuals, or at least, most of them can be included in 'His people', but as His people, as His Body; it is not just us; we are all part of One Body!
So; resurrection, anastasis. We have explored, though not fully, the fact that Israel after the flesh, those who had apostatized from the covenant, had become a dead body. We saw, in Ezekiel 37, that the prophet was given a vision of the future, where God showed him that the dead, or useless, body of Israel would be raised up, and given new life; reborn, you might say. In this vision, we see that it was not body by body that was re-covered ( with sinew, flesh ); it was not individual bodies that received 'the breath of life', but that the prophet was instructed to call 'to the breath', and to say 'Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live'; not each individual body, not some, and not others, but 'these slain'; all of them, together!
One last note to consider; we saw that, besides referring to 'a raising up'; anastasis also indicates 'removal' ( Hebrews 12:27 ). This removal was, as we have seen, the taking away of our sins, the sins of the people of God, and of the curtain, or veil that separated them from His holy and enduring Presence. This removal was begun in the first century, with, among other things, the ripping of the veil of the Temple, upon the words of Jesus, 'It is finished', and was decisively accomplished in AD70, with the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple, removing the last vestiges of that Old Covenant economy, or system of worship; now the people of God were free, free to worship 'in spirit and truth'!
In the Spirit of anastasis,
Charles Haddon Shank
Saturday, October 01, 2011
Anastasis-The Resurrection of the Dead ( Ones )
Let me first say that, to the 1st century Jewish mind, the resurrection of the dead was not a new concept. The first place, probably, that one would have thought of, when referencing the resurrection of the dead ( and this is the Jewish mindset ), is Ezekiel's prophecy of 'the dry bones' in Ezekiel 37. In verse 11 of this passage; it is recorded that the house of Israel complained that 'Our bones are dry, our hope is lost, and we ourselves are cut off!' This was not a situation speaking of physical death, as is the notion of many when thinking of the term 'resurrection', but, as the house of Israel complained; 'we............are cut off', in essence, looking back at the historical context of Ezekiel's vision, they felt that they had been cut off from the Presence of God, and the blessings of His Covenant. By being sent out of the land, and away from His Temple, much as Adam and Eve were removed from the Garden, they had symbolically been cut off, as had been promised before, for covenant unfaithfulness ( Genesis 17:14, Exodus 12:15, 31:14, Leviticus 7:27, 20:5, 22:3, Numbers 9:13, 15:31, etc. )
The Greek word transliterated 'anastasis' simply means, 'a raising up, removal.', or, 'to stand up', from my understanding. In the passage above; we read that, after God had covered these bones with flesh and sinew again, in essence, recreating, or re-forming them, and symbolically breathed into them 'the breath of life' ( Genesis 2:7 ); 'they lived, and stood upon their feet'.
Many Christians, and this, I believe, is the accepted orthodox position, believe that because Christ's biological Body was physically brought back to life, this necessarily means that ours, as individual believers, will too. Besides the fact that this 'individualism' is one of the problems that plagues the modern Church, this idea of physical, individual bodies being raised from the dead was almost unknown to the Jewish mind. Sure; as the corporate Body of Israel, or Christ, is made up of individual human beings, a resurrection of the body ( individual ) was expected, hoped for, but the main hope of Israel in the first century was a hope of, a looking forward to, the corporate resurrection of Israel, from the dead body of Moses ( old covenant ), into the living Body of Christ ( the New Covenant ).
I believe that Christ's physical, bodily resurrection was, first of all, a sign for those who sought after a sign, the unbelieving Jews, that He had actually defeated death, that the grave itself could not hold, or keep Him. Secondly, but even more importantly, His was a physical, bodily rising again, to show that we, as His Body, have been raised to New Life. As I have been saying; while this includes individual Christians, even in the 21st century, and beyond; it is primarily the corporate Body of Christ that has experienced a resurrection 'from dead works to serve the living God' ( Hebrews 9:14 ), and, as Ezekiel saw, the whole house of Israel, the covenant people of God, who were given a new hope, and symbolically brought back into the Land of covenant blessing, and the Presence of God!
Ezekiel's is not the only passage in the Hebrew Scriptures where the promise of a resurrection of the dead is given. There are several pictures given of this 'anastasis', rising again. There is the example of the widow's son, in I Kings 17, where this child was brought back to life, through the ministrations of Elijah. An example in the Greek Scriptures, of course, and one which is probably most familiar to us, is the resurrection of Lazarus, as recorded in John 11. These examples all came about before the bodily resurrection of Jesus, yet Jesus is referred to by Paul as 'the firstborn from the dead' ( Colossians 1:18 ( Revelation 1:5 ): why do you suppose this could be? Could it be that the resurrection of Jesus was not merely a physical return from biological death, as most have viewed it? That Jesus' resurrection was truly the first, a restoring of covenant Life ( John 11:26 ), of enjoying the Presence of God ( John 14:23 )? Remember that, as the Body of Christ; we do enjoy the blessings of the Presence of God, because of the renewed Covenant!
The prophet Amos, lamenting over the coming desolation of the Northern Kingdom, spoke these words, 'The virgin of Israel has fallen; she will rise no more. She lies forsaken on her land; [ there is ] no one to raise her up'. Note that this is prior to the destruction of the Northern Kingdom, indeed, at the height of their physical prowess, and financial prosperity, but, as Homer Hailey once wrote, their 'religious decay and apostasy', as well. This was how they had fallen, to rise no more. There would be no resurrection for them! This was served as as a picture, as well, of the continuing apostasy and subsequent destruction of the typical old covenant people of God, in AD70!
Although it can be easily argued, and has been proven; that much of the language, and even the events that we have witnessed in Scripture do indeed seem to point to the physicality of the resurrection of biologically dead bodies; an honest and in-depth study ( which this is not; in-depth, I tried to be as honest as I could:) will show that this resurrection of the dead was not a rising of individual bodies, merely to biological life, but a return of the corporate body of Israel, God's people, to the blessings of Covenant Life, to communion with our Creator!
In Scriptural usage, as we have seen, the Greek 'anastasis' means resurrection, or rising again ( from the dead ). As we have also seen; it need not ( necessarily ) refer to biological bodies returning to physical life, but most often referred, especially in the Hebrew Scriptures, but in the Greek as well, to a return to covenant faithfulness, and a return to the blessings of the Covenant, including the Presence of God!
As those who now benefit from the resurrection of the dead, and indeed we do partake of it in a limited sense; we have the advantage, through covenant faithfulness, of having been born into that Life, never having experienced the death of Adam, never having lived under the old covenant ( 'ministration of death' ), so in that sense, the resurrection that Scripture prophesied of is in the past, though, in a limited sense, it continues today, as God's people are freed from bondage ( I'll let my readers ruminate on what form that bondage might take, or by whom it may be administered )!
Short, though it may be; I pray that this study will be a blessing to those who read it, and may it cause its readers to be Bereans, to see for themselves if these things are so!
Charles Haddon Shank
The Greek word transliterated 'anastasis' simply means, 'a raising up, removal.', or, 'to stand up', from my understanding. In the passage above; we read that, after God had covered these bones with flesh and sinew again, in essence, recreating, or re-forming them, and symbolically breathed into them 'the breath of life' ( Genesis 2:7 ); 'they lived, and stood upon their feet'.
Many Christians, and this, I believe, is the accepted orthodox position, believe that because Christ's biological Body was physically brought back to life, this necessarily means that ours, as individual believers, will too. Besides the fact that this 'individualism' is one of the problems that plagues the modern Church, this idea of physical, individual bodies being raised from the dead was almost unknown to the Jewish mind. Sure; as the corporate Body of Israel, or Christ, is made up of individual human beings, a resurrection of the body ( individual ) was expected, hoped for, but the main hope of Israel in the first century was a hope of, a looking forward to, the corporate resurrection of Israel, from the dead body of Moses ( old covenant ), into the living Body of Christ ( the New Covenant ).
I believe that Christ's physical, bodily resurrection was, first of all, a sign for those who sought after a sign, the unbelieving Jews, that He had actually defeated death, that the grave itself could not hold, or keep Him. Secondly, but even more importantly, His was a physical, bodily rising again, to show that we, as His Body, have been raised to New Life. As I have been saying; while this includes individual Christians, even in the 21st century, and beyond; it is primarily the corporate Body of Christ that has experienced a resurrection 'from dead works to serve the living God' ( Hebrews 9:14 ), and, as Ezekiel saw, the whole house of Israel, the covenant people of God, who were given a new hope, and symbolically brought back into the Land of covenant blessing, and the Presence of God!
Ezekiel's is not the only passage in the Hebrew Scriptures where the promise of a resurrection of the dead is given. There are several pictures given of this 'anastasis', rising again. There is the example of the widow's son, in I Kings 17, where this child was brought back to life, through the ministrations of Elijah. An example in the Greek Scriptures, of course, and one which is probably most familiar to us, is the resurrection of Lazarus, as recorded in John 11. These examples all came about before the bodily resurrection of Jesus, yet Jesus is referred to by Paul as 'the firstborn from the dead' ( Colossians 1:18 ( Revelation 1:5 ): why do you suppose this could be? Could it be that the resurrection of Jesus was not merely a physical return from biological death, as most have viewed it? That Jesus' resurrection was truly the first, a restoring of covenant Life ( John 11:26 ), of enjoying the Presence of God ( John 14:23 )? Remember that, as the Body of Christ; we do enjoy the blessings of the Presence of God, because of the renewed Covenant!
The prophet Amos, lamenting over the coming desolation of the Northern Kingdom, spoke these words, 'The virgin of Israel has fallen; she will rise no more. She lies forsaken on her land; [ there is ] no one to raise her up'. Note that this is prior to the destruction of the Northern Kingdom, indeed, at the height of their physical prowess, and financial prosperity, but, as Homer Hailey once wrote, their 'religious decay and apostasy', as well. This was how they had fallen, to rise no more. There would be no resurrection for them! This was served as as a picture, as well, of the continuing apostasy and subsequent destruction of the typical old covenant people of God, in AD70!
Although it can be easily argued, and has been proven; that much of the language, and even the events that we have witnessed in Scripture do indeed seem to point to the physicality of the resurrection of biologically dead bodies; an honest and in-depth study ( which this is not; in-depth, I tried to be as honest as I could:) will show that this resurrection of the dead was not a rising of individual bodies, merely to biological life, but a return of the corporate body of Israel, God's people, to the blessings of Covenant Life, to communion with our Creator!
In Scriptural usage, as we have seen, the Greek 'anastasis' means resurrection, or rising again ( from the dead ). As we have also seen; it need not ( necessarily ) refer to biological bodies returning to physical life, but most often referred, especially in the Hebrew Scriptures, but in the Greek as well, to a return to covenant faithfulness, and a return to the blessings of the Covenant, including the Presence of God!
As those who now benefit from the resurrection of the dead, and indeed we do partake of it in a limited sense; we have the advantage, through covenant faithfulness, of having been born into that Life, never having experienced the death of Adam, never having lived under the old covenant ( 'ministration of death' ), so in that sense, the resurrection that Scripture prophesied of is in the past, though, in a limited sense, it continues today, as God's people are freed from bondage ( I'll let my readers ruminate on what form that bondage might take, or by whom it may be administered )!
Short, though it may be; I pray that this study will be a blessing to those who read it, and may it cause its readers to be Bereans, to see for themselves if these things are so!
Charles Haddon Shank
Monday, September 26, 2011
Stand Up, Christian Soldiers!
Christians are cowards!
This may seem like a pretty strong, and for the most part, untrue statement, but American Christianity, for the most part, has become so lackadaisical, that it's about time to 'warm up the paddles'! For one thing, it usually takes some pretty strong medicine to cure such a terrible sickness. Many Christians out there, whether individually ( usually ) or as a whole, have bowed to the demands of their government, and seemingly forgetting who the Ruler of this world is; have said, 'we have no king but Caesar'!
Christians today, many of them, anyway, are like politicians, those who take the Name of God in vain, anyway, and will say things like, 'I have a very deep and personal relationship with Jesus Christ, but I will in no way allow that to influence my policy-making decisions'! A friend of mine remarked that 'at least he didn't really perjure himself and something like 'Jesus is Lord'! The Federal Government ( FG ) likes these kinds of people; well, they'd rather you didn't even acknowledge the Name, but if you keep your 'faith' 'behind your eyes and between your ears', you can believe anything you want, just don't be religious about it: don't act on it! It is when God's people act on their faith, that the words of Thomas Jefferson are proven true: 'When governments fear the people, there is liberty. When the people fear the government, there is tyranny.' This is where much of so-called 'American Christianity' has relegated itself. By bowing to, by fearing the federal ( even state ) government that vaunts itself against God, and His Law; we as Christians, have proven ourselves to be the worst kind of cowards. We have freely given up some of our most important liberties, and have, wittingly or unwittingly, ushered in something that is dangerously close to being out and out tyranny! ( Many would take issue with this statement, saying, 'we're already there!' )
'What the hell kind of Christianity is that?'
That's a good question. When most Christians read what Paul wrote, 'Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free' ( Galatians 5:1 ); they seem to forget the whole lesson that Paul was teaching, and that he next said 'and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage'. Sure; in context, Paul was referring to the ordinances of man as opposed to God's Law.........wait........................that sounds like what we're facing today in America! This country, as a whole, still, praises be to God, has more freedoms than many other nations, to be sure, but as a famous singer once said 'we're losing control by the hour' ( maybe that should be 'loosing' ); that's the 'problem' in a nut-shell; American Christians, for whatever reason, and long ago ( way before our time ) began either to lose or loose control, and have given over to a bunch of unbelieving reprobates, and worse yet, 'Christian' reprobates, control of this great nation of ours!
I believe that much of this 'problem' can be laid at the feet of one lone enemy: this enemy can be called by several different names, 'apathy' being one of them, but probably the worst enemy that American Christianity faces, is pure, unadulterated ( or maybe that should be 'adulterous' ) laziness.We, as a culture, have become so lazy, that we have made it 'easy pickins' for politicians to swoop in and 'take care of all our problems for us', and then we complain when they foist another whole set of different but related problems on us. When will we learn to look to God, and not the Federal Government, for our salvation! When the government begins to fear the people, when Christians begin to grow a backbone, and stand up for their God-given rights, and say, 'Jesus is my Lord; you are not'; then true freedom will reign, but until then, until Christians begin to resurrect, to take a stand for their true Lord, all we have to look forward to is tyranny! How bad do things have to get before this happens?
When American Christians begin to live what they believe, not hiding behind their faith, but acting upon it; we can begin to take this country back. We seem to forget, often, that 'This is Our Father's World': He made it, and He rules it, but He has given us the dominion of it! We just need to stand up and redeem what we have lost, with the knowledge that He has willed His Truth to triumph through us, that the battle is already won: we just need to step up to the plate, and with the strength the God has given us, to fight the good fight!
When we begin to realize that true faith is a lived out faith, not just something between 'me and Jesus', then things will begin to turn around in this country, and God will honor our faith, just as He honored 'the faith of our fathers'!
Prayerfully,
Charles Haddon Shank
This may seem like a pretty strong, and for the most part, untrue statement, but American Christianity, for the most part, has become so lackadaisical, that it's about time to 'warm up the paddles'! For one thing, it usually takes some pretty strong medicine to cure such a terrible sickness. Many Christians out there, whether individually ( usually ) or as a whole, have bowed to the demands of their government, and seemingly forgetting who the Ruler of this world is; have said, 'we have no king but Caesar'!
Christians today, many of them, anyway, are like politicians, those who take the Name of God in vain, anyway, and will say things like, 'I have a very deep and personal relationship with Jesus Christ, but I will in no way allow that to influence my policy-making decisions'! A friend of mine remarked that 'at least he didn't really perjure himself and something like 'Jesus is Lord'! The Federal Government ( FG ) likes these kinds of people; well, they'd rather you didn't even acknowledge the Name, but if you keep your 'faith' 'behind your eyes and between your ears', you can believe anything you want, just don't be religious about it: don't act on it! It is when God's people act on their faith, that the words of Thomas Jefferson are proven true: 'When governments fear the people, there is liberty. When the people fear the government, there is tyranny.' This is where much of so-called 'American Christianity' has relegated itself. By bowing to, by fearing the federal ( even state ) government that vaunts itself against God, and His Law; we as Christians, have proven ourselves to be the worst kind of cowards. We have freely given up some of our most important liberties, and have, wittingly or unwittingly, ushered in something that is dangerously close to being out and out tyranny! ( Many would take issue with this statement, saying, 'we're already there!' )
'What the hell kind of Christianity is that?'
That's a good question. When most Christians read what Paul wrote, 'Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free' ( Galatians 5:1 ); they seem to forget the whole lesson that Paul was teaching, and that he next said 'and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage'. Sure; in context, Paul was referring to the ordinances of man as opposed to God's Law.........wait........................that sounds like what we're facing today in America! This country, as a whole, still, praises be to God, has more freedoms than many other nations, to be sure, but as a famous singer once said 'we're losing control by the hour' ( maybe that should be 'loosing' ); that's the 'problem' in a nut-shell; American Christians, for whatever reason, and long ago ( way before our time ) began either to lose or loose control, and have given over to a bunch of unbelieving reprobates, and worse yet, 'Christian' reprobates, control of this great nation of ours!
I believe that much of this 'problem' can be laid at the feet of one lone enemy: this enemy can be called by several different names, 'apathy' being one of them, but probably the worst enemy that American Christianity faces, is pure, unadulterated ( or maybe that should be 'adulterous' ) laziness.We, as a culture, have become so lazy, that we have made it 'easy pickins' for politicians to swoop in and 'take care of all our problems for us', and then we complain when they foist another whole set of different but related problems on us. When will we learn to look to God, and not the Federal Government, for our salvation! When the government begins to fear the people, when Christians begin to grow a backbone, and stand up for their God-given rights, and say, 'Jesus is my Lord; you are not'; then true freedom will reign, but until then, until Christians begin to resurrect, to take a stand for their true Lord, all we have to look forward to is tyranny! How bad do things have to get before this happens?
When American Christians begin to live what they believe, not hiding behind their faith, but acting upon it; we can begin to take this country back. We seem to forget, often, that 'This is Our Father's World': He made it, and He rules it, but He has given us the dominion of it! We just need to stand up and redeem what we have lost, with the knowledge that He has willed His Truth to triumph through us, that the battle is already won: we just need to step up to the plate, and with the strength the God has given us, to fight the good fight!
When we begin to realize that true faith is a lived out faith, not just something between 'me and Jesus', then things will begin to turn around in this country, and God will honor our faith, just as He honored 'the faith of our fathers'!
Prayerfully,
Charles Haddon Shank
Friday, September 23, 2011
The Great Divorce
Having just experienced the pain of separation; I can personally attest to the fact that, no matter the reason for separation ( which God hates ), no matter how much you might feel relief for being freed from the situation: it hurts, it is not right, and it is not the answer!
In too many instances today, and for the past 50 years or so; divorce has become almost as common-place in the Church ( not just the institutional church ) as in the 'world' around us! If a husband or wife, for whatever reason, cannot 'get along', then divorce, rather than reconciliation, has become one of the first options that we naturally think of. The Church, the Body of Christ, has, for the most part, remained silent, and permitted this to go on. One of the reasons for this, I believe, is that a good understanding of covenant is lacking. To be sure; there are some out there who have begun to explore the whole concept of God's holy Covenant, and, applying it to every aspect of life, including marriage, are seeing the actuality of the reconciliation that the Christ gained for us, in their own lives and the lives of those around them. These have implemented the blessings of the Covenant, and these blessings, although not always correctly understood ( if they're really comprehended at all ) are flowing through them, and as I have often pointed out from Revelation 22, are healing the 'nations' around them, although this 'healing' is not always appreciated!
A good friend of mine ( Timothy P Martin @ truthinliving.org ) has recently begun a sermon series on the book of Hosea, and reading through the book; one can see many similarities between the adultery, harlotry, and idolatry for which God had symbolically put away ( divorced? ) His typical old covenant people, His 'wife' of old, Israel 'after the flesh', and His new covenant people, the Church. Now before I dig myself into a hole, here; let me just remind myself and you, my readers, that, as the Christ finalized and fulfilled that 'first' covenant, His people have been 'changed' ( I Corinthians 15:52 ), and transferred into His Kingdom ( Colossians 1:13 ). This all occurred, as can be ascertained from an honest reading of Scripture, in the first century AD, so 'why', you may ask, 'should we worry about the Church today?'
Well; first of all, we shouldn't worry about the Church ( or 'church' )! We need to be actively concerned, yes, and to do what we can to correct the situation, to begin to root out, to expose ( even mock ) the idolatry, and downright spiritual harlotry which has become so prevalent among those who claim the name of Christ!
We read, in the book of Hosea, what happened to the old covenant people of God when they committed such adulterous acts; can we, as the new covenant people of God, expect any better treatment at the 'hands' of a holy and sovereign God? Praise God; we can! Although God is immutable, and is jealous for His Wife, as we too should be concerned ( horrified ) with the spiritual harlotry and adultery of His people; because of the New Covenant in Christ, His people no longer linger under the 'sword of Damocles', under the threat ( promise ) of eternal separation from God! Should we then do nothing; allowing our brothers and sisters in Christ to suffer the natural consequences of their actions, or inaction, since we need not fear the eternal consequences, as did those 'under' the 'first' covenant? Won't they just learn their lesson the hard way, and come out stronger Christians for it? They may, and sometimes this is what has to happen, when because of their stubbornness or just plain refusal to hear good counsel, they do find out the hard way that God's way is best, but do we really, if we can at all convince them to change their headlong course into 'hell' ( on earth ), wish to see them go through this 'hell'? Do we really want to ( re ) present the Christ ( God ) as a 'whore'?
Secondly, and I believe I just covered, in part, the main reason that we should concern ourselves with the wickedness going around today among many of those who claim the Name of Christ; we must realize, as ambassadors of God, indeed the very Body of Christ Himself, that as we remain silent about, or even partake, to whatever extent, in the harlotrous idolatry that is all around us, we show those that have not yet accepted the invitation to 'Come', and 'Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely' ( Revelation 22:17 ), that we are no different than they are, that Christ is nothing but an idolatrous whore, who, rather than reconciling as He claimed in the Revelation of God's Word, divorces at the drop of a hat!
Speaking of eternal consequences; I shouldn't say that there are no 'eternal consequences' for the people of God, those who name the Name, who do misrepresent the Good name of Christ, because if they do so continually, despite being reminded of their unfaithfulness to the Covenant, if they do continue in their adultery ( spiritual or otherwise ); I believe that they will, as long as they live in their biological bodies on this earth, suffer the natural consequences of their actions, or lack thereof!
We read, in Paul's second letter to the Corinthians that 'This punishment which [ was inflicted ] by the majority is sufficient for such a man, so that, on the contrary, you [ ought ] rather to forgive and comfort [ him ], lest perhaps such a one be swallowed up with too much sorrow.' ( II Corinthians 2:6 & 7 ). Paul recognized that, while consequences are necessary, the purpose of punishment is not to cause separation forever, but rather through that punishment to bring about reconciliation, to bring back into communion one who had strayed from the Body. Paul has much to say on the subject of the marriage covenant, though not, maybe, in so many words, in I Corinthians 7:1-16. Although, again, not in so many words, he reveals the idea, or purpose, of separation ( for a time, even within the marriage ); it is so that they may come together again, reconciling to each other after taking a step back, so to speak, to prayerfully re-examine their commitment, both to God and to each other.
As I mentioned earlier; I believe that one cause of this 'Great Divorce' within even the Body of Christ, is the fact that we have, as a covenant people, lost touch with the reality of covenant, and too often failed to realize the implications of 'Christ in us'. One of these implications, which many have 'grasped', rather loosely, is something I mentioned before, in passing, you might say. We, because of 'Christ in us', not only ( re ) present Christ to a 'lost and dying wold'; we, for all intents and purposes ( not discounting the absolutely necessary work of the Spirit of God ) ARE Christ to them. Aside from a supernatural intervention; we are the only Christ they'll ever physically witness, so we had better start acting like it! ( I say this to myself more than to anybody else! ) If we truly understood the concept of covenant, in particular, the Covenant that God instituted and established with His people, that of 'Christ in us' ( I'm not claiming to understand or live it perfectly ); I believe that a physical reformation would begin within the Body of Christ, one that could not help but have an even greater impact on the 'nations' around us!
Covenant Context: The Meta-Narrative
As I wrote above; I believe that, in large part, maybe primarily, the reason that the Church is in the straits she is, is because she has, either knowingly or ignorantly 'divorced' herself from the bigger picture of Scripture. Since some teach, for instance, 'Replacement Theology', that the Church has replaced Israel as the covenant people of God, then one might end up thinking that the Church is a plan B of sorts, since, because Israel didn't work out; God divorced them and married the Church. After all, as my friend pointed out recently; that is what we read in the book of Hosea, that God is a divorcee! On the other hand; if you believe and teach that the Church is plan B, and that we are a parenthesis ( 'till the fulness of the Gentiles comes in' ), and that national, physical Israel is still God's wife, then you have God being a polygamist, or worse!
If however, you thoughtfully and truthfully take into consideration the covenant context of Scripture; you may begin to realize and understand that God's Plan from the beginning was to foreshadow His Church through His Old Covenant 'children'; in fact, that the Church is true Israel! Paul wrote as much to the Church in Galatia ( 6:16 ) referring to the 'Israel of God'. As we've noted in previous articles, the name 'Israel' has traditionally meant 'ruler with God': maybe that's the problem with much of the Church today; she doesn't see herself as ruling with God, but as waiting for Jesus to come back!?
One big problem that some have noted, and we believe this to be of grave importance, is that translators of the Scriptures, for whatever reason, have seen fit to insert that nearly blank page in the center of our Bible, separating what is referred to as 'The Old Testament' from what is commonly called 'The New Testament'. This action puts the wall of division, the separating curtain, if you will, in place again; only the names are changed. On one side, we have the Hebrew Scriptures that have to do with Israel, and on this side of the veil we have God's dealings with the Church. But it doesn't end there; according to this futurist paradigm, at least, in some circles, God has yet to deal, once again, with His Old Covenant people, physical, national Israel, who will resume relations with God, along with the Church: this is where God's polygamy rears it's ugly head! ( not really ) As of now though; God is only courting, or engaged to the Church, and Israel is just waiting in the background to resume her place as the wife of God. If, according to this paradigm, particularly the dispensational version, the Church, at the end of this age, will be wedded to God, I mean Christ, then at some point; Israel will resume her marriage relationship with God. Whew; no polygamy there! Wait: aren't Christ and God One and the same'?
Too many gaps........
Another problem that we have noticed, and maybe you've noticed this as well, is all the unnecessary, and un-called-for, 'gaps' that have been created in the Scriptures. The problem that was mentioned above is a glaring example of this. When it comes to the realm of 'Fulfilled Eschatology', and the fact that believers in this paradigm are viewed as heretics, and most often 'divorced' from 'the communion of the saints' because of it; we must go to Daniel's prophecy of 'The Seventy Weeks' in Daniel 9. Most reviewers of this passage will readily admit that those 'seventy weeks' have seen their fulfillment, at least as far as the 69th week, the so-called 'first advent' of Christ, including His crucifixion! The 'problem' is, that Daniel's heavenly apocalyptic gives no indication of any kind of a 'gap' between the 69th and 70th week!
Gabriel told Daniel that 'He shall confirm a covenant with many for one week' ( remember; this is after the 69 ( 7+62 ) have been fulfilled, and Messiah 'cut off, but not for Himself' ), but that, 'in the middle of the week He shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering'. I don't see a gap there; do you?! In fact; I see what Jesus described in Matthew 24:22, 'unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s sake those days will be shortened'. Looking at Josephus' 'Wars of the Jews', you may well note, as I seem to remember, that there was a certain leader, whether inside or outside, that did make a covenant for a short time, with the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and that in the midst of that short period of time, he did bring an end to the normal Temple routines, and reneged on that covenant, or agreement, but ultimately, I believe, we have to admit that it was God Himself who brought an end to these useless sacrifices that did nothing but cause a stench in His 'nostrils'!
This 'gap' has caused an even wider 'gap' ( usually on the part, sadly, of the 'gap theorist' ) between believing Christians. Because the Church has been unwilling, especially of late ( past couple hundred years or so, at leas ), to realize, to admit that Christ actually meant what He said in place like Matthew 24:34; a 'divorce' of sorts, has happened, and seems to have spread quite far, between much of God's Church, and their Head! As I mentioned before though, I believe; there are those out there who truly follow their Master despite their eschatological 'leanings', and simply 'love the brethren', as they are commanded. Of late; it seems that this, sadly, is not as often the case, as believers of 'Fulfilled Eschatology' are being presented with more and more 'speedbumps'!
Another such 'gap', is supposedly found between verses 27 & 28 of Matthew 16. Jesus told His disciples, in verse 27 'For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works', and continuing in the same theme in verse 28, 'Assuredly, I say to you, there are some standing here who shall not taste death till they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom'. Again; no gap, except what man, in his finite 'wisdom', has placed there!
Inserting such 'gaps' serves only to separate the Body of Christ, not only from each other, but in many, if not most cases, from their Head, since they are still waiting for Him to descend and be united ( except in Spirit ) with His waiting Bride, the Church! I think all would readily agree that God dwells with His people, that Jesus lives in our 'hearts' ( John 14:23 ) through His Holy Spirit, but that at some point; Jesus is going to return to this humble existence on earth, set up an earthly reign, and rule on a physical throne from an earthly Jerusalem ( this varies a bit, I believe, from 'gap theorist' to 'gap theorist' ). At this point, as the story goes, physical tears, sickness, and yes, even biological death itself will cease to exist. Where animals, who are natural enemies of certain domesticated animals, will feed, even lie down together, children will play around the dens of poisonous snakes without fear of harm, and God will walk, in the cool of the evening with Adam & Eve: all will be at peace! Wait...................
Matthew 24:3, holds, according to some, the same sort of 'gap'. When the disciples asked Jesus, in their usual manner, 'Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?', according to these futurist speculators, they were asking two, maybe three different questions. First, 'when will these things be?' To satisfactorily answer this question; we don't have to look very far. At least; it would seem that way, but look at the preceding chapter, remembering that these chapter divisions are man-made, and not inspired. After pronouncing His 'woes' against the scribes and Pharisees; Jesus tells them 'Assuredly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation'. The disciples, no doubt, having just heard this; when commenting on the beauty of the earth tabernacle, or Temple, realized that when Jesus said 'Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place'; He meant that the same 'generation', or group of people, against who He had just levied His judgment, was the same 'generation' that would not 'pass away', or die off, until all the things He had mentioned had taken place.
Secondly, when they asked 'what will be the sign of Your coming'; Jesus answered, first of all, 'Take heed that no one deceives you', and after warning them about false 'messiahs' to come and signs in the heaven and in the earth; He finally told them 'Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory' ( Matthew 24:30 ). You can see that these are very much like His words in Matthew 16:28 ( remember what was said about the chapter divisions? ).
Thirdly, and this is almost so ridiculous by now, that it hardly bears worth mentioning, but I think this needs to be pointed out, 'and of the end of the age?' If one knows anything at all about sentence structure, you know that one must have, at the very basis, a subject and a verb. You might see a subject there ( okay, I'm a bit rusty ), 'the end of the age', but that is hardly a question in and of itself. It only makes sense if you combine it with the first subject, and 'what will be the sign'. Secondly, and thusly; if the coming ( Parousia ) of Christ has not occurred yet, then neither has the end of the age! What age? Certainly not the New Covenant age, for that age, this age, which we are presently in, will admittedly never end! The disciples knew this, and unquestionably referred to the 'age' ( aion ) in which they currently were living, under the administration of the old covenant economy, or system!
Me, Me, Me............
No; I'm not warming up to sing an operetta, or aria; we are taking a look at yet another problem that has plagued the Body of Christ for the past hundred years or so. It's name is 'individualism'! You may have noticed in many of the newer hymns especially, but even back as far as several hundred years or so, this individualistic attitude of 'it's me and Jesus'. Songs like 'No One Ever Cared for Me Like Jesus', 'O, How I Love Jesus', 'When I can Read My Title Clear', and 'I Want To Be Like Jesus', to name just a few, are indicative of this lack of covenantal understanding that I mentioned at the beginning of this article. Now don't get me wrong; we are, each one, individuals, but as members of the corporate Body of Christ ( Paul put it like this, 'Now you are the body of Christ, and members individually' ( I Corinthians 12:27 ); it is not just 'me and Jesus'. Jesus did not come to save Charles Shank from his sins; He came to save His people from their sins. Did Jesus save me from my sins? Yes, of course! But it was not 'for me He died' as one newer song expresses. Even good old hymns like 'Amazing Grace' betray this 'individualism', with lines like ''I once was lost, but now am found, was blind , but now I see'. True enough, but where is the rest of the Body, without which we cannot live?! I must say though, that the fifth verse, 'when we've been there ten thousand years', somewhat redeems itself, though I cannot agree with its presumption still.
This separation, about which we have been reading, is loosely, if not largely, based on God's Word to His people, in II Corinthians 6:17, where Paul quotes from the Septuagint, 'Come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord'. There are times when the believer must separate himself from others, as when they are going down the wrong path, doing that which is against the Law of God, and not in accordance with the Law of Love. When Paul quoted the words of God above, he had in mind a different kind of separation than we seem to focus on today. Paul was not telling believers to separate from other believers, just because they believed differently on certain minor matters. Paul's issue was doctrinal, yes, but it was a major, THE major doctrine, that Jesus was the Son of God.
Were there other issues that Paul had in mind, issues that we might be facing today?
Most certainly!
I will, however, let my readers think, and act, on these, though!
Charles Haddon Shank
In too many instances today, and for the past 50 years or so; divorce has become almost as common-place in the Church ( not just the institutional church ) as in the 'world' around us! If a husband or wife, for whatever reason, cannot 'get along', then divorce, rather than reconciliation, has become one of the first options that we naturally think of. The Church, the Body of Christ, has, for the most part, remained silent, and permitted this to go on. One of the reasons for this, I believe, is that a good understanding of covenant is lacking. To be sure; there are some out there who have begun to explore the whole concept of God's holy Covenant, and, applying it to every aspect of life, including marriage, are seeing the actuality of the reconciliation that the Christ gained for us, in their own lives and the lives of those around them. These have implemented the blessings of the Covenant, and these blessings, although not always correctly understood ( if they're really comprehended at all ) are flowing through them, and as I have often pointed out from Revelation 22, are healing the 'nations' around them, although this 'healing' is not always appreciated!
A good friend of mine ( Timothy P Martin @ truthinliving.org ) has recently begun a sermon series on the book of Hosea, and reading through the book; one can see many similarities between the adultery, harlotry, and idolatry for which God had symbolically put away ( divorced? ) His typical old covenant people, His 'wife' of old, Israel 'after the flesh', and His new covenant people, the Church. Now before I dig myself into a hole, here; let me just remind myself and you, my readers, that, as the Christ finalized and fulfilled that 'first' covenant, His people have been 'changed' ( I Corinthians 15:52 ), and transferred into His Kingdom ( Colossians 1:13 ). This all occurred, as can be ascertained from an honest reading of Scripture, in the first century AD, so 'why', you may ask, 'should we worry about the Church today?'
Well; first of all, we shouldn't worry about the Church ( or 'church' )! We need to be actively concerned, yes, and to do what we can to correct the situation, to begin to root out, to expose ( even mock ) the idolatry, and downright spiritual harlotry which has become so prevalent among those who claim the name of Christ!
We read, in the book of Hosea, what happened to the old covenant people of God when they committed such adulterous acts; can we, as the new covenant people of God, expect any better treatment at the 'hands' of a holy and sovereign God? Praise God; we can! Although God is immutable, and is jealous for His Wife, as we too should be concerned ( horrified ) with the spiritual harlotry and adultery of His people; because of the New Covenant in Christ, His people no longer linger under the 'sword of Damocles', under the threat ( promise ) of eternal separation from God! Should we then do nothing; allowing our brothers and sisters in Christ to suffer the natural consequences of their actions, or inaction, since we need not fear the eternal consequences, as did those 'under' the 'first' covenant? Won't they just learn their lesson the hard way, and come out stronger Christians for it? They may, and sometimes this is what has to happen, when because of their stubbornness or just plain refusal to hear good counsel, they do find out the hard way that God's way is best, but do we really, if we can at all convince them to change their headlong course into 'hell' ( on earth ), wish to see them go through this 'hell'? Do we really want to ( re ) present the Christ ( God ) as a 'whore'?
Secondly, and I believe I just covered, in part, the main reason that we should concern ourselves with the wickedness going around today among many of those who claim the Name of Christ; we must realize, as ambassadors of God, indeed the very Body of Christ Himself, that as we remain silent about, or even partake, to whatever extent, in the harlotrous idolatry that is all around us, we show those that have not yet accepted the invitation to 'Come', and 'Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely' ( Revelation 22:17 ), that we are no different than they are, that Christ is nothing but an idolatrous whore, who, rather than reconciling as He claimed in the Revelation of God's Word, divorces at the drop of a hat!
Speaking of eternal consequences; I shouldn't say that there are no 'eternal consequences' for the people of God, those who name the Name, who do misrepresent the Good name of Christ, because if they do so continually, despite being reminded of their unfaithfulness to the Covenant, if they do continue in their adultery ( spiritual or otherwise ); I believe that they will, as long as they live in their biological bodies on this earth, suffer the natural consequences of their actions, or lack thereof!
We read, in Paul's second letter to the Corinthians that 'This punishment which [ was inflicted ] by the majority is sufficient for such a man, so that, on the contrary, you [ ought ] rather to forgive and comfort [ him ], lest perhaps such a one be swallowed up with too much sorrow.' ( II Corinthians 2:6 & 7 ). Paul recognized that, while consequences are necessary, the purpose of punishment is not to cause separation forever, but rather through that punishment to bring about reconciliation, to bring back into communion one who had strayed from the Body. Paul has much to say on the subject of the marriage covenant, though not, maybe, in so many words, in I Corinthians 7:1-16. Although, again, not in so many words, he reveals the idea, or purpose, of separation ( for a time, even within the marriage ); it is so that they may come together again, reconciling to each other after taking a step back, so to speak, to prayerfully re-examine their commitment, both to God and to each other.
As I mentioned earlier; I believe that one cause of this 'Great Divorce' within even the Body of Christ, is the fact that we have, as a covenant people, lost touch with the reality of covenant, and too often failed to realize the implications of 'Christ in us'. One of these implications, which many have 'grasped', rather loosely, is something I mentioned before, in passing, you might say. We, because of 'Christ in us', not only ( re ) present Christ to a 'lost and dying wold'; we, for all intents and purposes ( not discounting the absolutely necessary work of the Spirit of God ) ARE Christ to them. Aside from a supernatural intervention; we are the only Christ they'll ever physically witness, so we had better start acting like it! ( I say this to myself more than to anybody else! ) If we truly understood the concept of covenant, in particular, the Covenant that God instituted and established with His people, that of 'Christ in us' ( I'm not claiming to understand or live it perfectly ); I believe that a physical reformation would begin within the Body of Christ, one that could not help but have an even greater impact on the 'nations' around us!
Covenant Context: The Meta-Narrative
As I wrote above; I believe that, in large part, maybe primarily, the reason that the Church is in the straits she is, is because she has, either knowingly or ignorantly 'divorced' herself from the bigger picture of Scripture. Since some teach, for instance, 'Replacement Theology', that the Church has replaced Israel as the covenant people of God, then one might end up thinking that the Church is a plan B of sorts, since, because Israel didn't work out; God divorced them and married the Church. After all, as my friend pointed out recently; that is what we read in the book of Hosea, that God is a divorcee! On the other hand; if you believe and teach that the Church is plan B, and that we are a parenthesis ( 'till the fulness of the Gentiles comes in' ), and that national, physical Israel is still God's wife, then you have God being a polygamist, or worse!
If however, you thoughtfully and truthfully take into consideration the covenant context of Scripture; you may begin to realize and understand that God's Plan from the beginning was to foreshadow His Church through His Old Covenant 'children'; in fact, that the Church is true Israel! Paul wrote as much to the Church in Galatia ( 6:16 ) referring to the 'Israel of God'. As we've noted in previous articles, the name 'Israel' has traditionally meant 'ruler with God': maybe that's the problem with much of the Church today; she doesn't see herself as ruling with God, but as waiting for Jesus to come back!?
One big problem that some have noted, and we believe this to be of grave importance, is that translators of the Scriptures, for whatever reason, have seen fit to insert that nearly blank page in the center of our Bible, separating what is referred to as 'The Old Testament' from what is commonly called 'The New Testament'. This action puts the wall of division, the separating curtain, if you will, in place again; only the names are changed. On one side, we have the Hebrew Scriptures that have to do with Israel, and on this side of the veil we have God's dealings with the Church. But it doesn't end there; according to this futurist paradigm, at least, in some circles, God has yet to deal, once again, with His Old Covenant people, physical, national Israel, who will resume relations with God, along with the Church: this is where God's polygamy rears it's ugly head! ( not really ) As of now though; God is only courting, or engaged to the Church, and Israel is just waiting in the background to resume her place as the wife of God. If, according to this paradigm, particularly the dispensational version, the Church, at the end of this age, will be wedded to God, I mean Christ, then at some point; Israel will resume her marriage relationship with God. Whew; no polygamy there! Wait: aren't Christ and God One and the same'?
Too many gaps........
Another problem that we have noticed, and maybe you've noticed this as well, is all the unnecessary, and un-called-for, 'gaps' that have been created in the Scriptures. The problem that was mentioned above is a glaring example of this. When it comes to the realm of 'Fulfilled Eschatology', and the fact that believers in this paradigm are viewed as heretics, and most often 'divorced' from 'the communion of the saints' because of it; we must go to Daniel's prophecy of 'The Seventy Weeks' in Daniel 9. Most reviewers of this passage will readily admit that those 'seventy weeks' have seen their fulfillment, at least as far as the 69th week, the so-called 'first advent' of Christ, including His crucifixion! The 'problem' is, that Daniel's heavenly apocalyptic gives no indication of any kind of a 'gap' between the 69th and 70th week!
Gabriel told Daniel that 'He shall confirm a covenant with many for one week' ( remember; this is after the 69 ( 7+62 ) have been fulfilled, and Messiah 'cut off, but not for Himself' ), but that, 'in the middle of the week He shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering'. I don't see a gap there; do you?! In fact; I see what Jesus described in Matthew 24:22, 'unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s sake those days will be shortened'. Looking at Josephus' 'Wars of the Jews', you may well note, as I seem to remember, that there was a certain leader, whether inside or outside, that did make a covenant for a short time, with the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and that in the midst of that short period of time, he did bring an end to the normal Temple routines, and reneged on that covenant, or agreement, but ultimately, I believe, we have to admit that it was God Himself who brought an end to these useless sacrifices that did nothing but cause a stench in His 'nostrils'!
This 'gap' has caused an even wider 'gap' ( usually on the part, sadly, of the 'gap theorist' ) between believing Christians. Because the Church has been unwilling, especially of late ( past couple hundred years or so, at leas ), to realize, to admit that Christ actually meant what He said in place like Matthew 24:34; a 'divorce' of sorts, has happened, and seems to have spread quite far, between much of God's Church, and their Head! As I mentioned before though, I believe; there are those out there who truly follow their Master despite their eschatological 'leanings', and simply 'love the brethren', as they are commanded. Of late; it seems that this, sadly, is not as often the case, as believers of 'Fulfilled Eschatology' are being presented with more and more 'speedbumps'!
Another such 'gap', is supposedly found between verses 27 & 28 of Matthew 16. Jesus told His disciples, in verse 27 'For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works', and continuing in the same theme in verse 28, 'Assuredly, I say to you, there are some standing here who shall not taste death till they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom'. Again; no gap, except what man, in his finite 'wisdom', has placed there!
Inserting such 'gaps' serves only to separate the Body of Christ, not only from each other, but in many, if not most cases, from their Head, since they are still waiting for Him to descend and be united ( except in Spirit ) with His waiting Bride, the Church! I think all would readily agree that God dwells with His people, that Jesus lives in our 'hearts' ( John 14:23 ) through His Holy Spirit, but that at some point; Jesus is going to return to this humble existence on earth, set up an earthly reign, and rule on a physical throne from an earthly Jerusalem ( this varies a bit, I believe, from 'gap theorist' to 'gap theorist' ). At this point, as the story goes, physical tears, sickness, and yes, even biological death itself will cease to exist. Where animals, who are natural enemies of certain domesticated animals, will feed, even lie down together, children will play around the dens of poisonous snakes without fear of harm, and God will walk, in the cool of the evening with Adam & Eve: all will be at peace! Wait...................
Matthew 24:3, holds, according to some, the same sort of 'gap'. When the disciples asked Jesus, in their usual manner, 'Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?', according to these futurist speculators, they were asking two, maybe three different questions. First, 'when will these things be?' To satisfactorily answer this question; we don't have to look very far. At least; it would seem that way, but look at the preceding chapter, remembering that these chapter divisions are man-made, and not inspired. After pronouncing His 'woes' against the scribes and Pharisees; Jesus tells them 'Assuredly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation'. The disciples, no doubt, having just heard this; when commenting on the beauty of the earth tabernacle, or Temple, realized that when Jesus said 'Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place'; He meant that the same 'generation', or group of people, against who He had just levied His judgment, was the same 'generation' that would not 'pass away', or die off, until all the things He had mentioned had taken place.
Secondly, when they asked 'what will be the sign of Your coming'; Jesus answered, first of all, 'Take heed that no one deceives you', and after warning them about false 'messiahs' to come and signs in the heaven and in the earth; He finally told them 'Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory' ( Matthew 24:30 ). You can see that these are very much like His words in Matthew 16:28 ( remember what was said about the chapter divisions? ).
Thirdly, and this is almost so ridiculous by now, that it hardly bears worth mentioning, but I think this needs to be pointed out, 'and of the end of the age?' If one knows anything at all about sentence structure, you know that one must have, at the very basis, a subject and a verb. You might see a subject there ( okay, I'm a bit rusty ), 'the end of the age', but that is hardly a question in and of itself. It only makes sense if you combine it with the first subject, and 'what will be the sign'. Secondly, and thusly; if the coming ( Parousia ) of Christ has not occurred yet, then neither has the end of the age! What age? Certainly not the New Covenant age, for that age, this age, which we are presently in, will admittedly never end! The disciples knew this, and unquestionably referred to the 'age' ( aion ) in which they currently were living, under the administration of the old covenant economy, or system!
Me, Me, Me............
No; I'm not warming up to sing an operetta, or aria; we are taking a look at yet another problem that has plagued the Body of Christ for the past hundred years or so. It's name is 'individualism'! You may have noticed in many of the newer hymns especially, but even back as far as several hundred years or so, this individualistic attitude of 'it's me and Jesus'. Songs like 'No One Ever Cared for Me Like Jesus', 'O, How I Love Jesus', 'When I can Read My Title Clear', and 'I Want To Be Like Jesus', to name just a few, are indicative of this lack of covenantal understanding that I mentioned at the beginning of this article. Now don't get me wrong; we are, each one, individuals, but as members of the corporate Body of Christ ( Paul put it like this, 'Now you are the body of Christ, and members individually' ( I Corinthians 12:27 ); it is not just 'me and Jesus'. Jesus did not come to save Charles Shank from his sins; He came to save His people from their sins. Did Jesus save me from my sins? Yes, of course! But it was not 'for me He died' as one newer song expresses. Even good old hymns like 'Amazing Grace' betray this 'individualism', with lines like ''I once was lost, but now am found, was blind , but now I see'. True enough, but where is the rest of the Body, without which we cannot live?! I must say though, that the fifth verse, 'when we've been there ten thousand years', somewhat redeems itself, though I cannot agree with its presumption still.
This separation, about which we have been reading, is loosely, if not largely, based on God's Word to His people, in II Corinthians 6:17, where Paul quotes from the Septuagint, 'Come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord'. There are times when the believer must separate himself from others, as when they are going down the wrong path, doing that which is against the Law of God, and not in accordance with the Law of Love. When Paul quoted the words of God above, he had in mind a different kind of separation than we seem to focus on today. Paul was not telling believers to separate from other believers, just because they believed differently on certain minor matters. Paul's issue was doctrinal, yes, but it was a major, THE major doctrine, that Jesus was the Son of God.
Were there other issues that Paul had in mind, issues that we might be facing today?
Most certainly!
I will, however, let my readers think, and act, on these, though!
Charles Haddon Shank
Sunday, September 18, 2011
Studies in the Book of the Revelation of Jesus the Christ the Son of God ( the visions ( the second ( Renewed ) Adam ) Pt 19
Keys to Understanding the Book of Revelation
Lest we forget, when reading this fantastic and mysterious book; it is, first and foremost, about Jesus Christ, it is His Revelation. Only secondarily, and due to His Revelation as the Son of God, as He told Caiaphas in Matthew 26:64. 'Nevertheless, I say to you, hereafter you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power, and coming on the clouds of heaven.', is it a record, in sign and metaphor, of the annihilation of the apostate 'children' of Israel, after the flesh. When Jesus had spoken the words above; the high priest tore his robe, because, in his hearing, Jesus had blasphemed; God was the only one in his knowledge that came, or rode ( Deuteronomy 33:26, Psalm 68:4 ) 'on the clouds of heaven'. Jesus told Caiaphas, in other words, that He was God Himself, and now revealed to His people, His servants in the Great Tribulation, that He is Who He said He was, very God of very God!
This Book was written for the consolation of His servants who were going through the Great Tribulation, and as I said before, being first and foremost THE Revelation of Jesus as the Christ; it is this fact which was of greatest consolation to the saints, the 'souls under the altar'. As His 'coming on the clouds' was in judgment upon their adversary, first-century apostate Judaism, this was also of great relief to them, even, for those who heeded Jesus' words in Matthew 24:16, Mark 13:14, and Luke 21:21, it also meant their physical salvation ( Romans 13:11 ), for they escaped the siege of the earthly Jerusalem.
And he showed me a pure[a] river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the middle of its street, and on either side of the river, [ was ] the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits, each [ tree ] yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree [ were ] for the healing of the nations.
Some study has been made, I believe, concerning these 'fruits', and how they might be matched up with the 'fruits of the Spirit', mentioned in passages such as Galatians 5:22 & 23 and Ephesians 5:9 ( see also I Corinthians 13 and II Peter 1:5-7 ) , and although a correlation can certainly be found there, I believe that to try to make too much of it is to blur the point; the point being, that John, in a vision, was being gently reminded of what Jesus had said a bit earlier, and which John himself had recorded in the Gospel which bears his name. As recorded in John 15:5; Jesus had said, 'I am the vine, you [ are ] the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing'. Jesus was revealing to His servant, and through him, to His servants, that this was the phenomena of which He had spoken, that through the power flowing through them from the Tree, they would be His Hands for the healing of the nations. Not only would His servants partake of the 'Tree of Life', they would take part in His ministry, doing even greater things than He did while He walked this earth.
'Now a river went out of Eden to water the garden, and from there it parted and became four riverheads.' ( Genesis 2:10 )
'Then he brought me back to the door of the temple; and there was water, flowing from under the threshold of the temple toward the east, for the front of the temple faced east; the water was flowing from under the right side of the temple, south of the altar.' ( Ezekiel 47:1 )
'When I returned, there, along the bank of the river, [ were ] very many trees on one side and the other. Then he said to me: “This water flows toward the eastern region, goes down into the valley, and enters the sea. [ When it ] reaches the sea, [ its ] waters are healed. And it shall be [ that ] every living thing that moves, wherever the rivers go, will live. There will be a very great multitude of fish, because these waters go there; for they will be healed, and everything will live wherever the river goes.' ( Ezekiel 47:7-9 )
Throughout this study; we have seen how heavily John drew upon the Hebrew Scriptures to describe what was happening before his 'eyes': there's good reason for this, for John was seeing in fulfillment, exactly what the prophets of old had merely glimpsed. As Ezekiel had seen this river of life flowing from under the Temple, and remember Ezekiel's was a vision, as well; so John saw the reality of what this 'Temple' truly stood for, and recognized in the metaphor that God had presented to Ezekiel, that the 'fish' represented the nations. No wonder that the early followers of the Christ chose the fish as their 'secret' symbol!
As we noted also of the light of the 'city', the holy, or heavenly Jerusalem, and of its wall, and even the city itself, in the last study, this river was 'clear as crystal'. As this signified the purity of the 'city', so it now stands to signify the purity of the river which flows from the city. Not to apply too much physicality here, but we might even think of the river as being the juice of the fruits; think on that!
And there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall serve Him. They shall see His face, and His name [ shall be ] on their foreheads. There shall be no night there: They need no lamp nor light of the sun, for the Lord God gives them light. And they shall reign forever and ever.
To correctly understand this first statement; we need to have a correct understanding of what the 'curse itself was. Was the curse merely, or even primarily physical, with biological consequences, such as physical death? The 'curse' definitely could, and often did, lead to physical exhaustion and expiration, but as with death itself; I believe that John's 'staple' diet, the Hebrew Scriptures, show us that all of the curses pronounced upon the apostate 'children' of Israel, as in Deuteronomy 28, while they certainly had physical consequences, were the result of a 'cursed' conscience, which God had, as Paul wrote, in other words, 'given over to a debased mind'.
We all joke about flies, mosquitoes, weeds, etc. as being 'part of the curse; but are they really, or are they a part of Gods good creation that He USES as a curse? Think of the way that God used them when He sent His plagues on Egypt. and I doubt if many people view frogs as 'part of the curse', but I'll bet the Egyptians were thinking that when God 'loosed' them on the Egyptians!
'But it shall come to pass, if you do not obey the voice of the LORD your God, to observe carefully all His commandments and His statutes which I command you today, that all these curses will come upon you and overtake you: '( Deuteronomy 28:15 )
What follows God's warning here, is a list, an expansion really, of what this curse would involve. All the things that would happen to this people as a result of this disastrous curse are very physical, with life-threatening consequences, but, as we have seen with everything chronicled in a physical manner in the Hebrew Scriptures, it is usually not too hard to find a deeper spiritual meaning that it represented, or foreshadowed, in the Greek Scriptures.
Another clue to what might be meant by this 'curse' is found in the next part of the sentence; 'but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it'. This should tell us that the lack of God's presence was the 'curse'! Now we know, again, in a foreshadow, or physical picture of a greater spiritual reality, that God was symbolically present in the tabernacle of meeting, with the 'children' of Israel in the wilderness, when He alit, in the form of a cloud upon the tabernacle; He was said to 'rest' on the mercy seat, which was atop the ark of the covenant. ( Leviticus 16:2, Exodus 40:34-36 ) We read, in Exodus 13:20 & 21, of how God led His people through the wilderness, with the physical manifestation of 'a pillar of cloud', by day, and 'a pillar of fire' by night. As we'll see in a bit; God promised that 'There shall be no night there'.
'It shall be one day which is known to the LORD-neither day nor night. But at evening time it shall happen [ that ] it will be light.' ( Zechariah 14:7 )
Catching a glimpse of The Day of the Lord', and the introduction of the New Jerusalem, with 'living waters' flowing from it ( think Garden of Eden ); Zechariah prophesied of this phenomenon, of this 'city' with no night. We might also be reminded, again, of the ninth plague that God visited upon Egypt, the darkness which enveloped them, but 'all the children of Israel had light in their dwellings'; we can read about this in Exodus 10:21-23.
Reading this phrase through the 'eyes' of the covenant context, too, we might note that 'night' often referred to the old, or 'first' covenant, whereas 'day' referred to the New Covenant, as Christ was called by Peter, the 'morning star' ( II Peter 1:19 ). Remember how Paul wrote to the Church at Thessalonica that, 'You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness' ( I Thessalonians 5:5 ).
Then he said to me, “These words [ are ] faithful and true.” And the Lord God of the holy[b] prophets sent His angel to show His servants the things which must shortly take place. “Behold, I am coming quickly! Blessed [ is ] he who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book.”
'So they said to Jeremiah, “Let the LORD be a true and faithful witness between us, if we do not do according to everything which the LORD your God sends us by you.' ( Jeremiah 42:5 )
Before Israel forsook the land and fled to Egypt, even though God had promised to save them if they obeyed; whether feigned or real, the leaders of Israel came to the prophet Jeremiah with this petition, that he would pray God for them, after the manner of Baalam. Worse than Baalam, though, for Jeremiah even, saw their hypocrisy, they had already decided to flee to the land of Egypt, to seek safety from the hand of man, rather than from the hand of their God. As Israel then committed this idolatry, and spiritual harlotry; so old covenant Israel of Jesus day had committed the same harlotry, and were about to be judged according to their deeds.
Tradition tells us that the Christians of Jerusalem ( and the surrounding environs, I'm sure ) escaped to the mountains of Pella, heeding Jesus' warning ( Matthew 24:15 & 16 ), and thus, from certain accounts, were 'saved' from the destruction which overwhelmed their brethren after the flesh. Though these Christians were the ones who fled, and the apostate Jews the ones who stayed in their 'land' ( though technically, the Christians were still within the confines of the land ); I believe that they understood that the promises were not of a physical, geographical location, but referred to a return to Edenic conditions, to the enduring presence of God.
As we have noted several times already in the course of these studies; Jesus told His servants twice in the passage above about the imminence of His coming and judgment. 'Behold, I am coming quickly', and 'things which must shortly take place', both of which are statements that He had made before, in other words maybe, to His servant John. You may have heard the rather weak argument that, when Jesus said 'quickly'; He actually may have meant 'speedily'; while it is true that different prepositional use of the root word translated from the Greek here have been used to denote a speediness, or hastiness, the contextual use of word like 'soon' and 'near' prohibit this passage from simply telling us that 'when He comes; He'll come quickly, or with speed'. The Greek word that Jesus used above also carries the connotation of 'without delay', further bolstering the fact that Jesus was revealing to His servant, and thus to His servants, that He was about to come upon their enemies like a flood!.
'The angel whom I saw standing on the sea and on the land raised up his hand[c] to heaven and swore by Him who lives forever and ever, who created heaven and the things that are in it, the earth and the things that are in it, and the sea and the things that are in it, that there should be delay no longer, but in the days of the sounding of the seventh angel, when he is about to sound, the mystery of God would be finished, as He declared to His servants the prophets.' ( Revelation 10:6 )
Now I, John, saw and heard[c] these things. And when I heard and saw, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel who showed me these things. Then he said to me, “See [ that you do ] not [ do that ]. For[d] I am your fellow servant, and of your brethren the prophets, and of those who keep the words of this book. Worship God.”
Here John again attests to his truthfulness. He again makes clear that he really saw all these things. When he saw all this glory; he prostrated himself before this representative, this angel, who reminded him that he was only a messenger, the bearer of good news, and not the One who alone was worthy of his worship. A brother of mine quite a few years ago, preached a series of sermons on the Revelation, and I was privileged, not long ago, to listen to these sermons. When he got to this juncture; he commented that this 'angel' was telling John, in other words, 'I am no longer your superior'.
'What is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of man that You visit him? For You have made him a little lower than the angels,[b] and You have crowned him with glory and honor.' ( Psalm 8:4 & 5 )
'Do you not know that we shall judge angels? How much more, things that pertain to this life?' ( I Corinthians 6:3 )
'So Jesus said to them, “Assuredly I say to you, that in the regeneration, when the Son of Man sits on the throne of His glory, you who have followed Me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.' ( Matthew 19:28 )
We must remember that John was seeing a vision of, at that time, 'the age to come', of which Jesus had often spoken. Depending on which version you're reading; Jesus told the Sadducees that, in the resurrection, or 'the age to come', His people would be 'like ( or 'as' ) the angels in heaven', and in fact; Young's Literal Translation reads 'for in the rising again they do not marry, nor are they given in marriage, but are as messengers of God in heaven'. With the understanding that 'angel' simply means 'messenger', and not some ethereal being, as has been traditionally taught for centuries, even for millenia, and with the understanding that Jesus spoke these words in the context of the judgment of old covenant Israel ( after the flesh; it should be fairly clear that He was not saying that they would become ethereal, but, as in Matthew's Gospel, quoted above, they would judge those that formerly held rule over them.
And he said to me, “Do not seal the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is at hand. He who is unjust, let him be unjust still; he who is filthy, let him be filthy still; he who is righteous, let him be righteous[e] still; he who is holy, let him be holy still.”
'But you, Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book until the time of the end; many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase.' ( Daniel 12:4 )
Reading further in chapter 12 of Daniel; we see that 'Many shall be purified, made white, and refined, but the wicked shall do wickedly; and none of the wicked shall understand, but the wise shall understand.' Jesus told John, through His messenger, not to seal the book, whereas He had told Daniel a long time before ( about 600 years? ) to seal his prophecy of judgment because that time was far off in the future from Daniel's day. God revealed to John the loosing of those seals that Daniel was told to 'seal............until the time of the end'.
As we have noted throughout this study ( and many others have noted this, as well ); John was showing us, was writing nothing new: we have only to return to the Hebrew Scriptures to see this! The Israelites had become 'as an unclean thing' ( Isaiah 30:22 ), their righteousness 'like filthy rags' ( Isaiah 64:6 ), so God 'pronounced them unclean' ( Ezekiel 20:36 ), because of their ritual harlotry. The Hebrew Scriptures are also full of examples, especially in the 'major prophets', of the lack of justice meted out by those who were to judge God's people fairly, and were themselves judged for this crime.
National physical Israel had been given man chances, throughout her long history, to repent of her whorish and idolatrous ways, to do justly, to love righteousness, and for a time, she would. She always, though, turned back to her idols of wood silver and stone, and usually did more evil than even the nations around her, to whom she was to shine the light of the Gospel. At last, the fulness of time had come, for God to judge His typical old covenant people, and reveal His true people, the 'Israel of God', in His Son Jesus, who came as the Christ! John saw this revealed glory, and so worshiped.
And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward [ is ] with Me, to give to every one according to his work. I am the Alpha and the Omega, [ the ] Beginning and [ the ] End, the First and the Last.
Again we see that He was coming quickly. Some have tried to infer that Jesus was simply saying that when He came, it would happen quickly, speedily, and indeed, the Greek adverb ταχύ, transliterated 'tachy', does carry the meaning of 'speedily', but with it, the sense of 'without delay, as in 'right away' ( Matthew 5:25, 28:7, Mark 9:39, 16:8, John 11:29 ).
'The Lord is not slack concerning [ His ] promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us,[b] not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.' ( II Peter 3:9 )
Peter found the need to remind his readers, his brethren, that though Jesus had promised to come within their own generation, and even quickly, and soon, that just because it wasn't on their time-table, and not in the haste that they would have preferred; Jesus would return in judgment when He said, and how He said: 'quickly'! In Peter's use of the word βραδύνω, or 'slack', as it is translated here; he called to their minds what the prophet Habakkuk prophesied, and which the writer to the Hebrews quoted, when he said, of the Lord, ''For yet a little while, and He[j] who is coming will come and will not tarry' ( Hebrews 10:37 ( Habakkuk 2:3 ). The 'cup of wrath' of apostate old covenant Israel was full to overflowing, and as the Messenger of God said, in Revelation 10:6, there would be 'delay no longer'!
'For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works.' ( Matthew 16:27 )
'Now Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these men also, saying, 'Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of His saints, to execute judgment on all, to convict all who are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have committed in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.' ( Jude 14 & 15 )
Many Christians try to insert a gap between Matthew 16:27, which I've quoted above, and the next verse, in which Jesus says, 'there are some standing here who shall not taste death till they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom'. This is just one of the many problems with our English translations; they, when they broke these wonderful passages up into verses, put the 'breaks' where they often really didn't belong, and thus gave rise to such 'gap theories'.
As with the quotation from the prophet Jude, however; we must realize, we must recognize the historical and covenant context of both Jesus' and Jude's words. When Jesus spoke these words, it was soon after He had warned His disciples of the 'leaven', or false and misleading doctrines of the Pharisees. We must remember also that Jude's warning, as well, was in the context of covenant judgment.
Once again; Jesus reminds His readers, through His servant John, that He is none other than God Himself, the Beginning and End, or fulfillment of His Covenant Creation!
Blessed [ are ] those who do His commandments,[g] that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city.
A dear friend of mine has rightly pointed out the 'Beatitudes' of the Revelation, and, as so much of the book hinges on the number '7', so it is here; there are 7 'beatitudes', or blessings ( Revelation 1:3, 14:13, 16:15, 19:19, 20:6, 22:7, 22:14 ). As in the 'Sermon on the Mount' in Matthew 5, which is most usually associated with 'The Beatitudes'; the blessings here are for those 'who do His commandments'. When Jesus gave His 'blessings' in the sermon on the mount; He told His followers that if they practiced these principles, they would reap the covenant blessings, theirs, He said, was 'the kingdom of heaven', they would 'be comforted' ( Revelation 6:9-11 ), they would 'inherit the earth', they would 'be filled', they would 'obtain mercy', they would 'see God', they would 'be called sons of God', if when persecuted, they did not act in kind, or take vengeance, they would inherit 'the kingdom of heaven', and Jesus ends by telling them that through their obedience to the covenant, they would have great 'reward in heaven'.
'Then the LORD God said, 'Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil. And now, lest he put out his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever'_ therefore the LORD God sent him out of the garden of Eden to till the ground from which he was taken.' ( Genesis 3:22 & 23 )
Jesus' words in Revelation 22, above, should be noted as in direct reference to God's denial of the right of Adam & Eve to the Tree of Life. When Adam and Eve sinned by disobeying God's only command to them, they were consequently thrust out of the garden, and away from the figurative tree of life, although, as a friend of mine pointed out several years ago, they were not totally cut off from the Presence of God. It being His plan for them to leave the Garden one day that the Good News might permeate the earth; God's Presence followed them on their mission. Although our first parents suffered the consequences of their disobedience, and did not reap the blessings of the covenant, God was still with them as hey labored in His Kingdom, the world!
But[h] outside [ are ] dogs and sorcerers and sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and whoever loves and practices a lie.
'Do not prostitute your daughter, to cause her to be a harlot, lest the land fall into harlotry, and the land become full of wickedness.' ( Leviticus 19:29 )
'I have seen your adulteries and your [ lustful ] neighings, the lewdness of your harlotry, your abominations on the hills in the fields. Woe to you, O Jerusalem! Will you still not be made clean?' ( Jeremiah 13:27 )
'For they shall eat, but not have enough; they shall commit harlotry, but not increase; because they have ceased obeying the LORD.' ( Hosea 4:10 )
I believe that we have noted before, in this study, how that this harlotry that Israel was guilty of was not necessarily the physical act, although this was certainly 'in view', but that covenantal unfaithfulness, spiritual harlotry was the reason that God put her away. We have seen, as well, how national Israel, as a whole ( God still had His Remnant ) had become almost indistinguishable from the nations around them; hence, God called their leaders, through the prophet Isaiah, 'dumb', and 'greedy dogs' ( 56:10 & 11 ). Rather than being the watchmen, and righteous spiritual leaders they should have been; they had become as corrupt, and in many cases, more wicked than the Gentiles whom they called 'dogs'!
These, as we have seen, were simply 'outside' the city, apparently still existent, but with the blessings of the Covenant and the enduring Presence of God!
I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things in the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the Bright and Morning Star.
'The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show His servants-things which must shortly take place. And He sent and signified [ it ] by His angel to His servant John.' ( Revelation 1:1 )
Jesus finally assures his audience that this message is actually from Him. This also serves to show, again, that this is ONE Revelation, that it was given to 'the seven churches which are in Asia', and that the warnings in this book, though no doubt applicable, in some way, for us today, were for these 'seven' ( number of perfection or completeness, wholeness ) churches. These churches, we know from history, actually existed in the ancient Near East, in what is now modern-day Turkey. As a friend has recently pointed out, these churches, over time, failed to heed these warnings, and as warned, their 'candlestick', or 'lampstand' was removed.
'And in that day there shall be a Root of Jesse, who shall stand as a banner to the people; for the Gentiles shall seek Him, and His resting place shall be glorious.' ( Isaiah 11:10 )
From the genealogies given in Matthew 1 and Luke 3, we can ascertain that, according to the flesh; Jesus was indeed from the line of David. Paul, in his letter to the Romans ( 1:3 ), declared that Jesus was 'born of the seed of David according to the flesh'. That Jesus was a descendant of David, according to His human heritage, is a well-established fact! More importantly, though this fact is encompassed by it; Jesus was the 'Root' that we see prophesied throughout the Hebrew Scriptures, but mainly in the prophesy of Isaiah, and in the Psalms. Jesus was the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end of the Covenant that God made with His people, and which He Himself upheld and strengthened when He sent His beloved Son as the Foundation of the salvation of His people!
'I see Him, but not now; I behold Him, but not near; a Star shall come out of Jacob; a Scepter shall rise out of Israel, and batter the brow of Moab, and destroy all the sons of tumult.' ( Numbers 24:1 )
This prophecy of Balaam's was, of course, of David, who did finally defeat Moab ( II Samuel 8:2 ), but it was David's Great Anti-type of whom Balaam ignorantly and primarily prophesied, Jesus the Messiah, or Christ, who would defeat in finality, the enemies of God's people, the death that Adam had brought upon his progeny: covenantal separation from God!
'And so we have the prophetic word confirmed,[a] which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.' ( II Peter 1:19 )
The rising of this 'Star' was not a new concept, as Peter reminded his audience. This rising had been prophesied, as well, throughout the Hebrew Scriptures, though maybe in other words. We must remember too, that the birth of Jesus was heralded by a star that rose out of the East.
'And he who overcomes, and keeps My works until the end, to him I will give power over the nations-'He shall rule them with a rod of iron; they shall be dashed to pieces like the potter’s vessels’[j]- as I also have received from My Father; and I will give him the morning star.' ( Revelation 2:26-28 )
In Jesus promise to the overcoming Church, He quotes Psalm 2:9, revealing His Oneness with them, and advising them that just as He ruled, so would they, because He would present Himself to them, to us!
And the Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let him who hears say, “Come!” And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely.
'God [ is ] Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.' ( John 4:24 )
'For [ as ] a young man marries a virgin, [ so ] shall your sons marry you; and [ as ] the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, [ so ] shall your God rejoice over you.' ( Isaiah 62:5 )
When Paul wrote to the Church at Ephesus concerning marriage; he told them, 'I speak concerning Christ and the church.' ( 5:22 ). It is a well-established fact that we, as the Church, are the Bride of Christ, the Body of Christ; so here John takes note that it is not only God, but His Bride, as well, who gives the invitation. We, as the Church, and 'members individually' ( I Corinthians 12:27 ), being one with Christ, have taken part in the ministry that He began during His period on earth. Jesus actually told His followers, in John 14:12, that 'Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater [ works ] than these he will do, because I go to My Father'. This sounds almost unbelievable, but it's really not! Because of the indwelling of the Spirit of God; we are doing greater works, continuing the work of redemption and reconciliation that He began! When we invite others to 'Come'; we are doing His work!
A passage from the Hebrew Scriptures that comes to mind in relation to the verse above, from Revelation 22, is the incidence in the wilderness of Israel being watered by 'that spiritual Rock that followed them' ( I Corinthians 10:14 ). The passage I referred to above is Numbers chapter 20, verses 1-13, where Moses was told to 'Speak to the rock before their eyes'. Of course, we know from history that Moses instead struck the rock, about which Paul said 'that Rock was Christ', and so was symbolically refused entry to God's Rest, or the Land of Promise. This water was offered freely, but rather than following God's instructions, doing it His way, as so many times we ourselves fail to do, Moses, for whatever reason failed to do as he was told, and though he got results, he also paid a high price for it!
For[i] I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds to these things, God will add[j] to him the plagues that are written in this book; and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away[k] his part from the Book[l] of Life, from the holy city, and [ from ] the things which are written in this book.
Many that I have spoken to about this passage will rip it from it's context, and warningly say that God thus has told us that if we take away one 'jot or tittle', one iota, one word, from the Bible, that God will curse us by removing our name from His 'Book of Life'. Firstly; who are we to say which is the correct version of the Bible? Usually, I believe; those who make statements like this are some kind of King James Version Only advocates, who believe that one certain version is the true Word of God, and all other versions are just that, versions, and flawed versions at that, because they omit, or just, true to the Greek or Hebrew text, don't include the words that are often not there in the first place. Secondly, and more to the point; the 'book' that Jesus is talking about here is not the whole of Scripture, although the could be included in this warning; He is, more importantly, talking about the letter that He has just revealed to His servant John, what we call the Revelation.
Having said all that; let me now say that the Scriptures, to be sure, ARE one revelation, from beginning to end! Much of the problem that we have within the Body of Christ today, or the Church, can be traced to the division of the greater story of Scripture, the meta-narrative, as a good friend of mine rightly calls it. Long ago, someone saw fit to divide the Scriptures, by putting an almost blank page in between Malachi and Matthew, thus lending credence to the idea that God was dealing with national physical Israel under the old covenant, in what is called the old testament, but turned to deal with the Church under the New Covenant, and will at some point, under the futurist paradigm, return to deal, once again, with national physical Israel, where He will reign from a physical throne, in a physical Jerusalem.
Clearly; God is plainly warning the churches, yet again, that if they do not heed His warnings in the earlier part of this letter, or book; He would remove their 'lampstand'. In immediate context of His words; he is giving this warning to the churches in the first century. Covenantally; I believe that we, as the modern-day Body of Christ must also take note of these warnings and realize our responsibility to do the things that He commended these churches for, and not do the things that He waned them about. If we, as His Church, His Body, across the ages, do not practice the things tat some of these churches practiced, and lost their standing, their place, for, then we will continue to live out our lives within the City of God, and eat from the Tree of Life, but if we do not continue in His ways; we too, will cease to grow, and be cut off, burned, as a useless and dead branch!
He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming quickly.” Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus! The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ [ be ] with you all.[m] Amen.
All hope is not lost! Jesus again tells His servant, in words plain and true, 'I am coming quickly'! As we saw earlier; this word has been bandied around, and the connotation made to fit the theory of a future coming of Christ. This clearly, and especially in the context of His words, is not so! Jesus was warning those who were disobedient to His word that He would soon appear, and if things were not 'ship-shape', which, as we saw, they were not, that He would give their place to another, another who would heed His word, who would bear good fruit. He also gave these as words of comfort, comfort to those who were oppressed by the unrighteousness of the Judaizers, and those like them, who sought to suppress their Righteousness!
As I finish up this study of the book of the Revelation; my prayer is that, in some way, God might use my weakness to further His Kingdom, to take some of the mystery out of the book, or what has heretofore been viewed by many as enigmatic! We need not read it apprehensively, unless, of course, we are found guilty of the sins pointed out here, and we may take great comfort in the fact that it has been fulfilled, and that we are residents of this holy city, the New Jerusalem! In several of the articles that I have recently, within the pat several years, written on this subject; I have explored, though not in great detail, the blessedness of this glorious fact. I hope, as well, as with this study, that my words,both here and there and of course, the Holy Spirit of God; will open the eyes of many that have been blinded to this glorious fact!
In the service of the King and His Kingdom,
Charles Haddon Shank
Lest we forget, when reading this fantastic and mysterious book; it is, first and foremost, about Jesus Christ, it is His Revelation. Only secondarily, and due to His Revelation as the Son of God, as He told Caiaphas in Matthew 26:64. 'Nevertheless, I say to you, hereafter you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power, and coming on the clouds of heaven.', is it a record, in sign and metaphor, of the annihilation of the apostate 'children' of Israel, after the flesh. When Jesus had spoken the words above; the high priest tore his robe, because, in his hearing, Jesus had blasphemed; God was the only one in his knowledge that came, or rode ( Deuteronomy 33:26, Psalm 68:4 ) 'on the clouds of heaven'. Jesus told Caiaphas, in other words, that He was God Himself, and now revealed to His people, His servants in the Great Tribulation, that He is Who He said He was, very God of very God!
This Book was written for the consolation of His servants who were going through the Great Tribulation, and as I said before, being first and foremost THE Revelation of Jesus as the Christ; it is this fact which was of greatest consolation to the saints, the 'souls under the altar'. As His 'coming on the clouds' was in judgment upon their adversary, first-century apostate Judaism, this was also of great relief to them, even, for those who heeded Jesus' words in Matthew 24:16, Mark 13:14, and Luke 21:21, it also meant their physical salvation ( Romans 13:11 ), for they escaped the siege of the earthly Jerusalem.
And he showed me a pure[a] river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the middle of its street, and on either side of the river, [ was ] the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits, each [ tree ] yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree [ were ] for the healing of the nations.
Some study has been made, I believe, concerning these 'fruits', and how they might be matched up with the 'fruits of the Spirit', mentioned in passages such as Galatians 5:22 & 23 and Ephesians 5:9 ( see also I Corinthians 13 and II Peter 1:5-7 ) , and although a correlation can certainly be found there, I believe that to try to make too much of it is to blur the point; the point being, that John, in a vision, was being gently reminded of what Jesus had said a bit earlier, and which John himself had recorded in the Gospel which bears his name. As recorded in John 15:5; Jesus had said, 'I am the vine, you [ are ] the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing'. Jesus was revealing to His servant, and through him, to His servants, that this was the phenomena of which He had spoken, that through the power flowing through them from the Tree, they would be His Hands for the healing of the nations. Not only would His servants partake of the 'Tree of Life', they would take part in His ministry, doing even greater things than He did while He walked this earth.
'Now a river went out of Eden to water the garden, and from there it parted and became four riverheads.' ( Genesis 2:10 )
'Then he brought me back to the door of the temple; and there was water, flowing from under the threshold of the temple toward the east, for the front of the temple faced east; the water was flowing from under the right side of the temple, south of the altar.' ( Ezekiel 47:1 )
'When I returned, there, along the bank of the river, [ were ] very many trees on one side and the other. Then he said to me: “This water flows toward the eastern region, goes down into the valley, and enters the sea. [ When it ] reaches the sea, [ its ] waters are healed. And it shall be [ that ] every living thing that moves, wherever the rivers go, will live. There will be a very great multitude of fish, because these waters go there; for they will be healed, and everything will live wherever the river goes.' ( Ezekiel 47:7-9 )
Throughout this study; we have seen how heavily John drew upon the Hebrew Scriptures to describe what was happening before his 'eyes': there's good reason for this, for John was seeing in fulfillment, exactly what the prophets of old had merely glimpsed. As Ezekiel had seen this river of life flowing from under the Temple, and remember Ezekiel's was a vision, as well; so John saw the reality of what this 'Temple' truly stood for, and recognized in the metaphor that God had presented to Ezekiel, that the 'fish' represented the nations. No wonder that the early followers of the Christ chose the fish as their 'secret' symbol!
As we noted also of the light of the 'city', the holy, or heavenly Jerusalem, and of its wall, and even the city itself, in the last study, this river was 'clear as crystal'. As this signified the purity of the 'city', so it now stands to signify the purity of the river which flows from the city. Not to apply too much physicality here, but we might even think of the river as being the juice of the fruits; think on that!
And there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall serve Him. They shall see His face, and His name [ shall be ] on their foreheads. There shall be no night there: They need no lamp nor light of the sun, for the Lord God gives them light. And they shall reign forever and ever.
To correctly understand this first statement; we need to have a correct understanding of what the 'curse itself was. Was the curse merely, or even primarily physical, with biological consequences, such as physical death? The 'curse' definitely could, and often did, lead to physical exhaustion and expiration, but as with death itself; I believe that John's 'staple' diet, the Hebrew Scriptures, show us that all of the curses pronounced upon the apostate 'children' of Israel, as in Deuteronomy 28, while they certainly had physical consequences, were the result of a 'cursed' conscience, which God had, as Paul wrote, in other words, 'given over to a debased mind'.
We all joke about flies, mosquitoes, weeds, etc. as being 'part of the curse; but are they really, or are they a part of Gods good creation that He USES as a curse? Think of the way that God used them when He sent His plagues on Egypt. and I doubt if many people view frogs as 'part of the curse', but I'll bet the Egyptians were thinking that when God 'loosed' them on the Egyptians!
'But it shall come to pass, if you do not obey the voice of the LORD your God, to observe carefully all His commandments and His statutes which I command you today, that all these curses will come upon you and overtake you: '( Deuteronomy 28:15 )
What follows God's warning here, is a list, an expansion really, of what this curse would involve. All the things that would happen to this people as a result of this disastrous curse are very physical, with life-threatening consequences, but, as we have seen with everything chronicled in a physical manner in the Hebrew Scriptures, it is usually not too hard to find a deeper spiritual meaning that it represented, or foreshadowed, in the Greek Scriptures.
Another clue to what might be meant by this 'curse' is found in the next part of the sentence; 'but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it'. This should tell us that the lack of God's presence was the 'curse'! Now we know, again, in a foreshadow, or physical picture of a greater spiritual reality, that God was symbolically present in the tabernacle of meeting, with the 'children' of Israel in the wilderness, when He alit, in the form of a cloud upon the tabernacle; He was said to 'rest' on the mercy seat, which was atop the ark of the covenant. ( Leviticus 16:2, Exodus 40:34-36 ) We read, in Exodus 13:20 & 21, of how God led His people through the wilderness, with the physical manifestation of 'a pillar of cloud', by day, and 'a pillar of fire' by night. As we'll see in a bit; God promised that 'There shall be no night there'.
'It shall be one day which is known to the LORD-neither day nor night. But at evening time it shall happen [ that ] it will be light.' ( Zechariah 14:7 )
Catching a glimpse of The Day of the Lord', and the introduction of the New Jerusalem, with 'living waters' flowing from it ( think Garden of Eden ); Zechariah prophesied of this phenomenon, of this 'city' with no night. We might also be reminded, again, of the ninth plague that God visited upon Egypt, the darkness which enveloped them, but 'all the children of Israel had light in their dwellings'; we can read about this in Exodus 10:21-23.
Reading this phrase through the 'eyes' of the covenant context, too, we might note that 'night' often referred to the old, or 'first' covenant, whereas 'day' referred to the New Covenant, as Christ was called by Peter, the 'morning star' ( II Peter 1:19 ). Remember how Paul wrote to the Church at Thessalonica that, 'You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness' ( I Thessalonians 5:5 ).
Then he said to me, “These words [ are ] faithful and true.” And the Lord God of the holy[b] prophets sent His angel to show His servants the things which must shortly take place. “Behold, I am coming quickly! Blessed [ is ] he who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book.”
'So they said to Jeremiah, “Let the LORD be a true and faithful witness between us, if we do not do according to everything which the LORD your God sends us by you.' ( Jeremiah 42:5 )
Before Israel forsook the land and fled to Egypt, even though God had promised to save them if they obeyed; whether feigned or real, the leaders of Israel came to the prophet Jeremiah with this petition, that he would pray God for them, after the manner of Baalam. Worse than Baalam, though, for Jeremiah even, saw their hypocrisy, they had already decided to flee to the land of Egypt, to seek safety from the hand of man, rather than from the hand of their God. As Israel then committed this idolatry, and spiritual harlotry; so old covenant Israel of Jesus day had committed the same harlotry, and were about to be judged according to their deeds.
Tradition tells us that the Christians of Jerusalem ( and the surrounding environs, I'm sure ) escaped to the mountains of Pella, heeding Jesus' warning ( Matthew 24:15 & 16 ), and thus, from certain accounts, were 'saved' from the destruction which overwhelmed their brethren after the flesh. Though these Christians were the ones who fled, and the apostate Jews the ones who stayed in their 'land' ( though technically, the Christians were still within the confines of the land ); I believe that they understood that the promises were not of a physical, geographical location, but referred to a return to Edenic conditions, to the enduring presence of God.
As we have noted several times already in the course of these studies; Jesus told His servants twice in the passage above about the imminence of His coming and judgment. 'Behold, I am coming quickly', and 'things which must shortly take place', both of which are statements that He had made before, in other words maybe, to His servant John. You may have heard the rather weak argument that, when Jesus said 'quickly'; He actually may have meant 'speedily'; while it is true that different prepositional use of the root word translated from the Greek here have been used to denote a speediness, or hastiness, the contextual use of word like 'soon' and 'near' prohibit this passage from simply telling us that 'when He comes; He'll come quickly, or with speed'. The Greek word that Jesus used above also carries the connotation of 'without delay', further bolstering the fact that Jesus was revealing to His servant, and thus to His servants, that He was about to come upon their enemies like a flood!.
'The angel whom I saw standing on the sea and on the land raised up his hand[c] to heaven and swore by Him who lives forever and ever, who created heaven and the things that are in it, the earth and the things that are in it, and the sea and the things that are in it, that there should be delay no longer, but in the days of the sounding of the seventh angel, when he is about to sound, the mystery of God would be finished, as He declared to His servants the prophets.' ( Revelation 10:6 )
Now I, John, saw and heard[c] these things. And when I heard and saw, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel who showed me these things. Then he said to me, “See [ that you do ] not [ do that ]. For[d] I am your fellow servant, and of your brethren the prophets, and of those who keep the words of this book. Worship God.”
Here John again attests to his truthfulness. He again makes clear that he really saw all these things. When he saw all this glory; he prostrated himself before this representative, this angel, who reminded him that he was only a messenger, the bearer of good news, and not the One who alone was worthy of his worship. A brother of mine quite a few years ago, preached a series of sermons on the Revelation, and I was privileged, not long ago, to listen to these sermons. When he got to this juncture; he commented that this 'angel' was telling John, in other words, 'I am no longer your superior'.
'What is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of man that You visit him? For You have made him a little lower than the angels,[b] and You have crowned him with glory and honor.' ( Psalm 8:4 & 5 )
'Do you not know that we shall judge angels? How much more, things that pertain to this life?' ( I Corinthians 6:3 )
'So Jesus said to them, “Assuredly I say to you, that in the regeneration, when the Son of Man sits on the throne of His glory, you who have followed Me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.' ( Matthew 19:28 )
We must remember that John was seeing a vision of, at that time, 'the age to come', of which Jesus had often spoken. Depending on which version you're reading; Jesus told the Sadducees that, in the resurrection, or 'the age to come', His people would be 'like ( or 'as' ) the angels in heaven', and in fact; Young's Literal Translation reads 'for in the rising again they do not marry, nor are they given in marriage, but are as messengers of God in heaven'. With the understanding that 'angel' simply means 'messenger', and not some ethereal being, as has been traditionally taught for centuries, even for millenia, and with the understanding that Jesus spoke these words in the context of the judgment of old covenant Israel ( after the flesh; it should be fairly clear that He was not saying that they would become ethereal, but, as in Matthew's Gospel, quoted above, they would judge those that formerly held rule over them.
And he said to me, “Do not seal the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is at hand. He who is unjust, let him be unjust still; he who is filthy, let him be filthy still; he who is righteous, let him be righteous[e] still; he who is holy, let him be holy still.”
'But you, Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book until the time of the end; many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase.' ( Daniel 12:4 )
Reading further in chapter 12 of Daniel; we see that 'Many shall be purified, made white, and refined, but the wicked shall do wickedly; and none of the wicked shall understand, but the wise shall understand.' Jesus told John, through His messenger, not to seal the book, whereas He had told Daniel a long time before ( about 600 years? ) to seal his prophecy of judgment because that time was far off in the future from Daniel's day. God revealed to John the loosing of those seals that Daniel was told to 'seal............until the time of the end'.
As we have noted throughout this study ( and many others have noted this, as well ); John was showing us, was writing nothing new: we have only to return to the Hebrew Scriptures to see this! The Israelites had become 'as an unclean thing' ( Isaiah 30:22 ), their righteousness 'like filthy rags' ( Isaiah 64:6 ), so God 'pronounced them unclean' ( Ezekiel 20:36 ), because of their ritual harlotry. The Hebrew Scriptures are also full of examples, especially in the 'major prophets', of the lack of justice meted out by those who were to judge God's people fairly, and were themselves judged for this crime.
National physical Israel had been given man chances, throughout her long history, to repent of her whorish and idolatrous ways, to do justly, to love righteousness, and for a time, she would. She always, though, turned back to her idols of wood silver and stone, and usually did more evil than even the nations around her, to whom she was to shine the light of the Gospel. At last, the fulness of time had come, for God to judge His typical old covenant people, and reveal His true people, the 'Israel of God', in His Son Jesus, who came as the Christ! John saw this revealed glory, and so worshiped.
And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward [ is ] with Me, to give to every one according to his work. I am the Alpha and the Omega, [ the ] Beginning and [ the ] End, the First and the Last.
Again we see that He was coming quickly. Some have tried to infer that Jesus was simply saying that when He came, it would happen quickly, speedily, and indeed, the Greek adverb ταχύ, transliterated 'tachy', does carry the meaning of 'speedily', but with it, the sense of 'without delay, as in 'right away' ( Matthew 5:25, 28:7, Mark 9:39, 16:8, John 11:29 ).
'The Lord is not slack concerning [ His ] promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us,[b] not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.' ( II Peter 3:9 )
Peter found the need to remind his readers, his brethren, that though Jesus had promised to come within their own generation, and even quickly, and soon, that just because it wasn't on their time-table, and not in the haste that they would have preferred; Jesus would return in judgment when He said, and how He said: 'quickly'! In Peter's use of the word βραδύνω, or 'slack', as it is translated here; he called to their minds what the prophet Habakkuk prophesied, and which the writer to the Hebrews quoted, when he said, of the Lord, ''For yet a little while, and He[j] who is coming will come and will not tarry' ( Hebrews 10:37 ( Habakkuk 2:3 ). The 'cup of wrath' of apostate old covenant Israel was full to overflowing, and as the Messenger of God said, in Revelation 10:6, there would be 'delay no longer'!
'For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works.' ( Matthew 16:27 )
'Now Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these men also, saying, 'Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of His saints, to execute judgment on all, to convict all who are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have committed in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.' ( Jude 14 & 15 )
Many Christians try to insert a gap between Matthew 16:27, which I've quoted above, and the next verse, in which Jesus says, 'there are some standing here who shall not taste death till they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom'. This is just one of the many problems with our English translations; they, when they broke these wonderful passages up into verses, put the 'breaks' where they often really didn't belong, and thus gave rise to such 'gap theories'.
As with the quotation from the prophet Jude, however; we must realize, we must recognize the historical and covenant context of both Jesus' and Jude's words. When Jesus spoke these words, it was soon after He had warned His disciples of the 'leaven', or false and misleading doctrines of the Pharisees. We must remember also that Jude's warning, as well, was in the context of covenant judgment.
Once again; Jesus reminds His readers, through His servant John, that He is none other than God Himself, the Beginning and End, or fulfillment of His Covenant Creation!
Blessed [ are ] those who do His commandments,[g] that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city.
A dear friend of mine has rightly pointed out the 'Beatitudes' of the Revelation, and, as so much of the book hinges on the number '7', so it is here; there are 7 'beatitudes', or blessings ( Revelation 1:3, 14:13, 16:15, 19:19, 20:6, 22:7, 22:14 ). As in the 'Sermon on the Mount' in Matthew 5, which is most usually associated with 'The Beatitudes'; the blessings here are for those 'who do His commandments'. When Jesus gave His 'blessings' in the sermon on the mount; He told His followers that if they practiced these principles, they would reap the covenant blessings, theirs, He said, was 'the kingdom of heaven', they would 'be comforted' ( Revelation 6:9-11 ), they would 'inherit the earth', they would 'be filled', they would 'obtain mercy', they would 'see God', they would 'be called sons of God', if when persecuted, they did not act in kind, or take vengeance, they would inherit 'the kingdom of heaven', and Jesus ends by telling them that through their obedience to the covenant, they would have great 'reward in heaven'.
'Then the LORD God said, 'Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil. And now, lest he put out his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever'_ therefore the LORD God sent him out of the garden of Eden to till the ground from which he was taken.' ( Genesis 3:22 & 23 )
Jesus' words in Revelation 22, above, should be noted as in direct reference to God's denial of the right of Adam & Eve to the Tree of Life. When Adam and Eve sinned by disobeying God's only command to them, they were consequently thrust out of the garden, and away from the figurative tree of life, although, as a friend of mine pointed out several years ago, they were not totally cut off from the Presence of God. It being His plan for them to leave the Garden one day that the Good News might permeate the earth; God's Presence followed them on their mission. Although our first parents suffered the consequences of their disobedience, and did not reap the blessings of the covenant, God was still with them as hey labored in His Kingdom, the world!
But[h] outside [ are ] dogs and sorcerers and sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and whoever loves and practices a lie.
'Do not prostitute your daughter, to cause her to be a harlot, lest the land fall into harlotry, and the land become full of wickedness.' ( Leviticus 19:29 )
'I have seen your adulteries and your [ lustful ] neighings, the lewdness of your harlotry, your abominations on the hills in the fields. Woe to you, O Jerusalem! Will you still not be made clean?' ( Jeremiah 13:27 )
'For they shall eat, but not have enough; they shall commit harlotry, but not increase; because they have ceased obeying the LORD.' ( Hosea 4:10 )
I believe that we have noted before, in this study, how that this harlotry that Israel was guilty of was not necessarily the physical act, although this was certainly 'in view', but that covenantal unfaithfulness, spiritual harlotry was the reason that God put her away. We have seen, as well, how national Israel, as a whole ( God still had His Remnant ) had become almost indistinguishable from the nations around them; hence, God called their leaders, through the prophet Isaiah, 'dumb', and 'greedy dogs' ( 56:10 & 11 ). Rather than being the watchmen, and righteous spiritual leaders they should have been; they had become as corrupt, and in many cases, more wicked than the Gentiles whom they called 'dogs'!
These, as we have seen, were simply 'outside' the city, apparently still existent, but with the blessings of the Covenant and the enduring Presence of God!
I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things in the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the Bright and Morning Star.
'The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show His servants-things which must shortly take place. And He sent and signified [ it ] by His angel to His servant John.' ( Revelation 1:1 )
Jesus finally assures his audience that this message is actually from Him. This also serves to show, again, that this is ONE Revelation, that it was given to 'the seven churches which are in Asia', and that the warnings in this book, though no doubt applicable, in some way, for us today, were for these 'seven' ( number of perfection or completeness, wholeness ) churches. These churches, we know from history, actually existed in the ancient Near East, in what is now modern-day Turkey. As a friend has recently pointed out, these churches, over time, failed to heed these warnings, and as warned, their 'candlestick', or 'lampstand' was removed.
'And in that day there shall be a Root of Jesse, who shall stand as a banner to the people; for the Gentiles shall seek Him, and His resting place shall be glorious.' ( Isaiah 11:10 )
From the genealogies given in Matthew 1 and Luke 3, we can ascertain that, according to the flesh; Jesus was indeed from the line of David. Paul, in his letter to the Romans ( 1:3 ), declared that Jesus was 'born of the seed of David according to the flesh'. That Jesus was a descendant of David, according to His human heritage, is a well-established fact! More importantly, though this fact is encompassed by it; Jesus was the 'Root' that we see prophesied throughout the Hebrew Scriptures, but mainly in the prophesy of Isaiah, and in the Psalms. Jesus was the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end of the Covenant that God made with His people, and which He Himself upheld and strengthened when He sent His beloved Son as the Foundation of the salvation of His people!
'I see Him, but not now; I behold Him, but not near; a Star shall come out of Jacob; a Scepter shall rise out of Israel, and batter the brow of Moab, and destroy all the sons of tumult.' ( Numbers 24:1 )
This prophecy of Balaam's was, of course, of David, who did finally defeat Moab ( II Samuel 8:2 ), but it was David's Great Anti-type of whom Balaam ignorantly and primarily prophesied, Jesus the Messiah, or Christ, who would defeat in finality, the enemies of God's people, the death that Adam had brought upon his progeny: covenantal separation from God!
'And so we have the prophetic word confirmed,[a] which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.' ( II Peter 1:19 )
The rising of this 'Star' was not a new concept, as Peter reminded his audience. This rising had been prophesied, as well, throughout the Hebrew Scriptures, though maybe in other words. We must remember too, that the birth of Jesus was heralded by a star that rose out of the East.
'And he who overcomes, and keeps My works until the end, to him I will give power over the nations-'He shall rule them with a rod of iron; they shall be dashed to pieces like the potter’s vessels’[j]- as I also have received from My Father; and I will give him the morning star.' ( Revelation 2:26-28 )
In Jesus promise to the overcoming Church, He quotes Psalm 2:9, revealing His Oneness with them, and advising them that just as He ruled, so would they, because He would present Himself to them, to us!
And the Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let him who hears say, “Come!” And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely.
'God [ is ] Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.' ( John 4:24 )
'For [ as ] a young man marries a virgin, [ so ] shall your sons marry you; and [ as ] the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, [ so ] shall your God rejoice over you.' ( Isaiah 62:5 )
When Paul wrote to the Church at Ephesus concerning marriage; he told them, 'I speak concerning Christ and the church.' ( 5:22 ). It is a well-established fact that we, as the Church, are the Bride of Christ, the Body of Christ; so here John takes note that it is not only God, but His Bride, as well, who gives the invitation. We, as the Church, and 'members individually' ( I Corinthians 12:27 ), being one with Christ, have taken part in the ministry that He began during His period on earth. Jesus actually told His followers, in John 14:12, that 'Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater [ works ] than these he will do, because I go to My Father'. This sounds almost unbelievable, but it's really not! Because of the indwelling of the Spirit of God; we are doing greater works, continuing the work of redemption and reconciliation that He began! When we invite others to 'Come'; we are doing His work!
A passage from the Hebrew Scriptures that comes to mind in relation to the verse above, from Revelation 22, is the incidence in the wilderness of Israel being watered by 'that spiritual Rock that followed them' ( I Corinthians 10:14 ). The passage I referred to above is Numbers chapter 20, verses 1-13, where Moses was told to 'Speak to the rock before their eyes'. Of course, we know from history that Moses instead struck the rock, about which Paul said 'that Rock was Christ', and so was symbolically refused entry to God's Rest, or the Land of Promise. This water was offered freely, but rather than following God's instructions, doing it His way, as so many times we ourselves fail to do, Moses, for whatever reason failed to do as he was told, and though he got results, he also paid a high price for it!
For[i] I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds to these things, God will add[j] to him the plagues that are written in this book; and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away[k] his part from the Book[l] of Life, from the holy city, and [ from ] the things which are written in this book.
Many that I have spoken to about this passage will rip it from it's context, and warningly say that God thus has told us that if we take away one 'jot or tittle', one iota, one word, from the Bible, that God will curse us by removing our name from His 'Book of Life'. Firstly; who are we to say which is the correct version of the Bible? Usually, I believe; those who make statements like this are some kind of King James Version Only advocates, who believe that one certain version is the true Word of God, and all other versions are just that, versions, and flawed versions at that, because they omit, or just, true to the Greek or Hebrew text, don't include the words that are often not there in the first place. Secondly, and more to the point; the 'book' that Jesus is talking about here is not the whole of Scripture, although the could be included in this warning; He is, more importantly, talking about the letter that He has just revealed to His servant John, what we call the Revelation.
Having said all that; let me now say that the Scriptures, to be sure, ARE one revelation, from beginning to end! Much of the problem that we have within the Body of Christ today, or the Church, can be traced to the division of the greater story of Scripture, the meta-narrative, as a good friend of mine rightly calls it. Long ago, someone saw fit to divide the Scriptures, by putting an almost blank page in between Malachi and Matthew, thus lending credence to the idea that God was dealing with national physical Israel under the old covenant, in what is called the old testament, but turned to deal with the Church under the New Covenant, and will at some point, under the futurist paradigm, return to deal, once again, with national physical Israel, where He will reign from a physical throne, in a physical Jerusalem.
Clearly; God is plainly warning the churches, yet again, that if they do not heed His warnings in the earlier part of this letter, or book; He would remove their 'lampstand'. In immediate context of His words; he is giving this warning to the churches in the first century. Covenantally; I believe that we, as the modern-day Body of Christ must also take note of these warnings and realize our responsibility to do the things that He commended these churches for, and not do the things that He waned them about. If we, as His Church, His Body, across the ages, do not practice the things tat some of these churches practiced, and lost their standing, their place, for, then we will continue to live out our lives within the City of God, and eat from the Tree of Life, but if we do not continue in His ways; we too, will cease to grow, and be cut off, burned, as a useless and dead branch!
He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming quickly.” Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus! The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ [ be ] with you all.[m] Amen.
All hope is not lost! Jesus again tells His servant, in words plain and true, 'I am coming quickly'! As we saw earlier; this word has been bandied around, and the connotation made to fit the theory of a future coming of Christ. This clearly, and especially in the context of His words, is not so! Jesus was warning those who were disobedient to His word that He would soon appear, and if things were not 'ship-shape', which, as we saw, they were not, that He would give their place to another, another who would heed His word, who would bear good fruit. He also gave these as words of comfort, comfort to those who were oppressed by the unrighteousness of the Judaizers, and those like them, who sought to suppress their Righteousness!
As I finish up this study of the book of the Revelation; my prayer is that, in some way, God might use my weakness to further His Kingdom, to take some of the mystery out of the book, or what has heretofore been viewed by many as enigmatic! We need not read it apprehensively, unless, of course, we are found guilty of the sins pointed out here, and we may take great comfort in the fact that it has been fulfilled, and that we are residents of this holy city, the New Jerusalem! In several of the articles that I have recently, within the pat several years, written on this subject; I have explored, though not in great detail, the blessedness of this glorious fact. I hope, as well, as with this study, that my words,both here and there and of course, the Holy Spirit of God; will open the eyes of many that have been blinded to this glorious fact!
In the service of the King and His Kingdom,
Charles Haddon Shank
Thursday, September 08, 2011
The Face of God
Recently; I have been reminded that to live 'coram Deo', or before the Face of God, is to live a life in obedience to His commands, the imperatives of the Covenant that He has made with us through Jesus Christ. We, as Christians, or followers of Jesus the Christ, have willingly and knowingly entered into the bonds of this Covenant, and based upon our obedience or disobedience to that Covenant, reap the benefits, the just deserts of that Covenant, either the blessings or the curses. You can find these laid out most famously in Deuteronomy 28.
As in the original 'Garden', as recorded in Genesis 2; we all seek to live 'coram Deo', or at least we should! Too many of us, and maybe especially in America ( though other countries are not immune ), do not live as before the Face, or in the Presence of God. We have allowed, and in some cases, joined in, the murder of millions of helpless innocents! The statistics are horrifyingly astounding; The Guttmacher Institute, in a study completed in August of 2011, according to Pro-Life Action League, found that 'Since the legalization of abortion in 1973, there have been approximately 50 million abortions performed in the United States.' And through it all, we, as American Christians, expect God to bless us with His Presence, and to shine His Face upon this once-Christian nation. According to this same study, over 18,000 babies are murdered yearly, even after they have reached and in many cases, passed their 21st week! And we expect the blessings of the Covenant when we allow such atrocity to persevere?!
God told the Edomites, who were persecuting His people; 'Because you have had an ancient hatred, and have shed [ the blood of ] the children of Israel by the power of the sword at the time of their calamity, [ when ] their iniquity [ came to an ] end, therefore, [ as ] I live,” says the Lord GOD, “I will prepare you for blood, and blood shall pursue you; since you have not hated blood, therefore blood shall pursue you.' Although our situation is arguably somewhat different; I believe that the principle stands true; we, as a nation, have not repented of, and turned from the shedding of this blood, and I believe that it is overly evident that bloodshed has pursued this nation, much as this nation has herself, pursued bloodshed!
Abortion is not the only area in which this nation has not shied away from bloodshed. The hijacking of several different airliners, and the subsequent crashing of two of them into the Trade Towers in New York City on September 11th, 2001 is without doubt, probably the most memorable, and memorialized, events to happen within our borders, in recent history. In this tragic scenario; thousands of 'innocents', including the passengers of the planes ( not to mention the sequential event in Washington, DC ) lost their lives, and many more were tragically altered forever when rescuers attempted, to varying degrees of success, to 'rescue the perishing', to save what they could out of this horrible mess! Without launching into a tirade, here, about what might have prompted such a terrorist action, or even who may have been involved; let me just suggest that it might have been avoided.
Not long after these horrible events transpired; our illustrious ( and 'Christian' ) president, at the time, took it upon himself to embroil our nation and its valuable resources in the supposed 'War on Terror'; a police action which has shed the blood of countless Americans, as well as those of other nationalities, and has cost, besides those lives which could have been better spent protecting our own borders, millions, and likely even billions of dollars!
With all this blood on our hands, can we, should we really expect God to bless us? If you are at all familiar with the writings of Scripture; you know that such a scenario is entirely possible, even promised, but there is only one way that judgment can be turned from an adverse one, one of cursing ( more bloodshed ) into one of blessing. God told us, in II Chronicles 7:14; 'If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land'. This, you can be dead certain of, is THE ONLY way that this disaster may be averted; national repentance! If this nation, as a whole, turns from the murder of innocent babies, and repents of many of their wicked and detestable policies, both foreign and domestic, which have led to the loss of, not only many innocent, but many righteous lives, then maybe we can expect God to shine His fair face on our beloved country, once again.
Let us begin to live 'coram Deo', and honoring God and His Covenant; lead tthis nation back from the brink of disaster!
Charles Haddon Shank
As in the original 'Garden', as recorded in Genesis 2; we all seek to live 'coram Deo', or at least we should! Too many of us, and maybe especially in America ( though other countries are not immune ), do not live as before the Face, or in the Presence of God. We have allowed, and in some cases, joined in, the murder of millions of helpless innocents! The statistics are horrifyingly astounding; The Guttmacher Institute, in a study completed in August of 2011, according to Pro-Life Action League, found that 'Since the legalization of abortion in 1973, there have been approximately 50 million abortions performed in the United States.' And through it all, we, as American Christians, expect God to bless us with His Presence, and to shine His Face upon this once-Christian nation. According to this same study, over 18,000 babies are murdered yearly, even after they have reached and in many cases, passed their 21st week! And we expect the blessings of the Covenant when we allow such atrocity to persevere?!
God told the Edomites, who were persecuting His people; 'Because you have had an ancient hatred, and have shed [ the blood of ] the children of Israel by the power of the sword at the time of their calamity, [ when ] their iniquity [ came to an ] end, therefore, [ as ] I live,” says the Lord GOD, “I will prepare you for blood, and blood shall pursue you; since you have not hated blood, therefore blood shall pursue you.' Although our situation is arguably somewhat different; I believe that the principle stands true; we, as a nation, have not repented of, and turned from the shedding of this blood, and I believe that it is overly evident that bloodshed has pursued this nation, much as this nation has herself, pursued bloodshed!
Abortion is not the only area in which this nation has not shied away from bloodshed. The hijacking of several different airliners, and the subsequent crashing of two of them into the Trade Towers in New York City on September 11th, 2001 is without doubt, probably the most memorable, and memorialized, events to happen within our borders, in recent history. In this tragic scenario; thousands of 'innocents', including the passengers of the planes ( not to mention the sequential event in Washington, DC ) lost their lives, and many more were tragically altered forever when rescuers attempted, to varying degrees of success, to 'rescue the perishing', to save what they could out of this horrible mess! Without launching into a tirade, here, about what might have prompted such a terrorist action, or even who may have been involved; let me just suggest that it might have been avoided.
Not long after these horrible events transpired; our illustrious ( and 'Christian' ) president, at the time, took it upon himself to embroil our nation and its valuable resources in the supposed 'War on Terror'; a police action which has shed the blood of countless Americans, as well as those of other nationalities, and has cost, besides those lives which could have been better spent protecting our own borders, millions, and likely even billions of dollars!
With all this blood on our hands, can we, should we really expect God to bless us? If you are at all familiar with the writings of Scripture; you know that such a scenario is entirely possible, even promised, but there is only one way that judgment can be turned from an adverse one, one of cursing ( more bloodshed ) into one of blessing. God told us, in II Chronicles 7:14; 'If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land'. This, you can be dead certain of, is THE ONLY way that this disaster may be averted; national repentance! If this nation, as a whole, turns from the murder of innocent babies, and repents of many of their wicked and detestable policies, both foreign and domestic, which have led to the loss of, not only many innocent, but many righteous lives, then maybe we can expect God to shine His fair face on our beloved country, once again.
Let us begin to live 'coram Deo', and honoring God and His Covenant; lead tthis nation back from the brink of disaster!
Charles Haddon Shank
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)