Rev 22:6 And he said unto me, These words are faithful and true: and the Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, sent his angels to show unto his servants the things which must shortly come to pass.
Rev 22:7 And behold, I come quickly. Blessed is he that keepeth the words of the prophecy of this book.
To keep these words, to keep them within Holy Writ is one aspect and to obey them is another. In the letters to the churches there is much said about spiritual conditions and what He expects of His own. It is also keeping to read this book and to pray about its content regularly especially in light of things as they are today.
Rev 22:8 And I John am he that heard and saw these things. And when I heard and saw, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel that showed me these things.
Rev 22:9 And he saith unto me, See thou do it not: I am a fellow-servant with thee and with thy brethren the prophets, and with them that keep the words of this book: worship God.
Rev 22:10 And he saith unto me, Seal not up the words of the prophecy of this book; for the time is at hand.
Rev 22:11 He that is unrighteous, let him do unrighteousness still: and he that is filthy, let him be made filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him do righteousness still: and he that is holy, let him be made holy still.
In Daniel we read at the end of it these words.
Dan 12:4 But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.
Now we read that John is NOT to seal this book. We have through this study seen the intertwining of both Daniel and Revelation. We also know that time is different between us and God.
2Pe 3:8 But forget not this one thing, beloved, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.
2Pe 3:9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some count slackness; but is longsuffering to you-ward, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
He may perhaps come on the Third Day but for us from the time of His ascension it would pass as at least three thousand years. In this time the growth of souls added to the church has been great but here at the twenty first century the great falling away has been in some swing for some time. For indeed you cannot love the “world system” and love the LAMB. They are incompatible.
Rev 22:12 Behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to render to each man according as his work is.
This statement is the benchmark of God’s thought. In the Old and New Testaments He says this.
Isa 59:18 According to their deeds, accordingly he will repay, wrath to his adversaries, recompense to his enemies; to the islands he will repay recompense.
Jer 25:14 For many nations and great kings shall make bondmen of them, even of them; and I will recompense them according to their deeds, and according to the work of their hands.
In the New Testament He says:
Rom 2:6 who will render to every man according to his works:
Rom 2:7 to them that by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and incorruption, eternal life:
Rom 2:8 but unto them that are factious, and obey not the truth, but obey unrighteousness, shall be wrath and indignation,
Rom 2:9 tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that worketh evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Greek;
Rom 2:10 but glory and honor and peace to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Greek:
Rom 2:11 for there is no respect of persons with God.
In light of this statement we all ought to be considering our ways and whether or not we have put Christ and His Kingdom and righteousness first and lived in accordance with His will or not. Now is the hour to make things right.
Rev 22:13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.
Rev 22:14 Blessed are they that wash their robes, that they may have the right to come to the tree of life, and may enter in by the gates into the city.
This washing of the robes is not only in martyrdom but in the Blood of Jesus in salvation and obedience to His will and trusting for the end redemption of the body and the life.
Rev 22:15 Without are the dogs, and the sorcerers, and the fornicators, and the murderers, and the idolaters, and every one that loveth and maketh a lie.
Notice that the presence of sin has not left. But we are in the city and they are not and are not allowed. Now I have no answer for this. However we see that He removes us from the dominion of sin and removes from us the ravages and stains of sins, in our hearts and minds that have been renewed by the washing of water with the Word and finally our bodies are redeemed and we are removed from the presence of sin entirely. But without that place where God chooses to have a sinless environ, sin remains, or so it would seem.
Rev 22:16 I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things for the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, the bright, the morning star.
All through this book we have seen the various aspects of Who Jesus is. This is a direct correlation to Isaiah. Isa 11:10 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the root of Jesse, that standeth for an ensign of the peoples, unto him shall the nations seek; and his resting-place shall be glorious.
Rev 22:17 And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And he that heareth, let him say, Come. And he that is athirst, let him come: he that will, let him take the water of life freely.
Rev 22:18 I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, if any man shall add unto them, God shall add unto him the plagues which are written in this book:
Rev 22:19 and if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the tree of life, and out of the holy city, which are written in this book.
This is a warning to the scribes. In this time letters like these were copied over and over again and this solemn warning ensures the entirety of the document and its contents. But in keeping to this, I am doing my best to cover the whole book in these blogs. I would recommend others that take on this book observe to do so as well.
Rev 22:20 He who testifieth these things saith, Yea: I come quickly. Amen: come, Lord Jesus.
Rev 22:21 The grace of the Lord Jesus be with the saints. Amen.
Now I had decided it best to finish in this manner by wrapping around from the closing of the book back to its opening. Because we see Jesus and who He is in both parts.
Rev 1:1 The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show unto his servants, even the things which must shortly come to pass: and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John;
Rev 1:2 who bare witness of the word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, even of all things that he saw.
Rev 1:3 Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of the prophecy, and keep the things that are written therein: for the time is at hand.
Here again is the blessing conferred to those who read and keep what is written as in keeping in mind that this is the last chapter and the culmination of how we come into our inheritance. In the Gospels so much was said about the inheritance of the Kingdom and we who serve being good servants that we might enter into the Joy of our LORD. In writing that the time was “at hand” many over the years have considered that the events would take place in a very short few years. Unfortunately we have missed the point that it is from God’s perspective and not ours that this “time is at hand”. When Christ entered into time and space as the Word made flesh the End Days countdown began. Now which is the exact moment of time where in God the Father sets the start point is not known. It is not to be known for the whole point is the attitudinal change of the heart, and the idea of consistency for the whole of the life lived on this Earth. Because we do NOT know the exact day we must stay vigilant. We do understand that like a thief in the night the time of these events will suddenly come. Right now this writer is facing financial distresses that have her quite perplexed even somewhat upset. But if I for one moment think this is bad, I must concede that the events to come are far worse than I could ever imagine and people are still alive even in the midst of all that! But we are to be found serving in obedience to whatever the Lord has us at task doing. Consider that a thief in the night is not announcing or calling ahead but is sneaking in subtly and quietly with no fanfare. So then vigilance to watch in the dark is needed if one suspects a thief may come. Moreover as I have mentioned earlier what is but one day to God is one thousand years to us. So for God shortly is just that… shortly, but for us the generations drag on by. We lose sight of it and should long for the day of our inheritance to come. This is the blessing of reading this book. It reminds us that He will come again and He will remember us and the PROMISE of the Glorification of the body and resurrection of the dead will come. The blessing is the strengthening of hope and the relighting of a fire to do His will while we yet live.
Rev 1:4 John to the seven churches that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace, from him who is and who was and who is to come; and from the seven Spirits that are before his throne;
Rev 1:5 and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loveth us, and loosed us from our sins by his blood;
Rev 1:6 and he made us to be a kingdom, to be priests unto his God and Father; to him be the glory and the dominion for ever and ever. Amen.
Rev 1:7 Behold, he cometh with the clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they that pierced him; and all the tribes of the earth shall mourn over him. Even so, Amen.
Here we see evidence of the Trinity. The Seven Spirits before God are also spoken of in Isaiah by name.
Isa 11:2 And the Spirit of Jehovah shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of Jehovah.
Each of these is the aspect of the Holy Spirit who is apparently seen as seven spirits before God. We know that things in heaven are not the same as on Earth.
We have the mention of the Father whose priests the Son has made us to be. Also we see in this book what Paul talked about in His epistles that Jesus would come again with the clouds.
1Th 4:16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven, with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first;
1Th 4:17 then we that are alive, that are left, shall together with them be caught up in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
Rev 1:8 I am the Alpha and the Omega, saith the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.
Rev 1:9 I John, your brother and partaker with you in tribulation and kingdom and patience which are in Jesus, was in the isle that is called Patmos, for the word of God and the testimony of Jesus.
Here is the story as it unfolds as to how John the Apostle acquires the vision. Note that this is the only vision that is actually accepted in the New Testament as part of the Canon of Scripture. Based on the long standing understanding of the works of the Prophets of the Old Testament this book was allowed to remain within canon to this day.
Rev 1:10 I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and I heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet
Note that it came in the time of worship. John was in worship …. In the Spirit on the Day the Lord set aside for worship.
Rev 1:11 saying, What thou seest, write in a book and send it to the seven churches: unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamum, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea.
Rev 1:12 And I turned to see the voice that spake with me. And having turned I saw seven golden candlesticks;
Rev 1:13 and in the midst of the candlesticks one like unto a son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about at the breasts with a golden girdle.
Rev 1:14 And his head and his hair were white as white wool, white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire;
Rev 1:15 and his feet like unto burnished brass, as if it had been refined in a furnace; and his voice as the voice of many waters.
(This is still talking about one person and that is Jesus.)
Rev 1:16 And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth proceeded a sharp two-edged sword: and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength.
Rev 1:17 And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as one dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying, Fear not; I am the first and the last,
Rev 1:18 and the Living one; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive for evermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades.
Rev 1:19 Write therefore the things which thou sawest, and the things which are, and the things which shall come to pass hereafter;
Rev 1:20 the mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches: and the seven candlesticks are seven churches.
This is the revelation of Jesus as He is now. In all this time He is still in this manner and we find evidence of it in Daniel. But this may not be the same person.
Dan 7:9 I beheld till thrones were placed, and one that was ancient of days did sit: his raiment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like pure wool; his throne was fiery flames, and the wheels thereof burning fire.
Dan 7:10 A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him: thousands of thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him: the judgment was set, and the books were opened.
This is not Jesus but The Father. This is the great white throne judgment of the dead in sin. We found this in the twentieth chapter of Revelation.
But this is the LAMB
Dan 7:13 I saw in the night-visions, and, behold, there came with the clouds of heaven one like unto a son of man, and he came even to the ancient of days, and they brought him near before him.
Dan 7:14 And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all the peoples, nations, and languages should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.
I am struck by that the Ancient of Days in Daniel has the same look as the “one like unto a son of man” does in John’s revelation.
How is this possible? I am immediately drawn to Jesus and Hebrews.
When asked to see the Father what did Jesus say? Joh 14:9 Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and dost thou not know me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; how sayest thou, Show us the Father?
In Hebrews of Jesus it says: Heb 1:3 who being the effulgence of his glory, and the very image of his substance, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had made purification of sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;
In this book we see the Revelation of Jesus as Lord of the Church as Lord of Lords as the King of the Kings of the Earth. He who will come and repay the evil that has been done to His own, Himself. We see the pattern through which it will take place. We see that He is control of every part of this and should in our personal lives, as this writer is struggling to do right now, that He is ultimately in control of our lives as we yield to and listen to and obey Him, He will lead us. We will live and not die.
Looking At The Last Book Of The Bible 