Taking a closer look

Tags

apocalypse, Craig, grace, Jesus, peace, seven, spirits, throne

I want to take a closer look at this greeting.

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.

Please note the order of who is blessing with Grace and Peace.  The one who is, who was, and who is to come…  We have always associated that with Jesus or at least I have always associated that with Jesus but then why does the next verse list Jesus by NAME?

That first person is The Father!  So then it is the Father and the next person is the Holy Spirit, in His represented form as the Seven Spirits before the Throne.  In Isaiah 11 we find this: 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.

If you look at the list you plainly see the Seven Spirits or what is also called the Seven Fold anointing that is upon Jesus who is the afore-mentioned shoot.

I would also like to introduce the Study Called Apocalypse by Dr Mary Craig on audio and will be embedding or linking to these audios shortly.

Advertisement

Seal Two

Tags

birth pains, destabilize, economy, peace, politics, red horse, rest, revelation, war

Rev 6:3  And when he opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature saying, Come. 

Rev 6:4  And another horse came forth, a red horse: and to him that sat thereon it was given to take peace from the earth, and that they should slay one another: and there was given unto him a great sword. 

Now we see why the first Rider needed no ammunition.  The second rider was going to be waging the war for  him!  Now in the ends times Jesus tells us the birth pangs are wars and rumors of war.(Matt 24:6) Nations and races rising up against one another.  In the 20th and now 21st centuries war has increased until now it is everywhere.   Still peace might be seen to be on the earth.  But when this rider is loosed his is the ability to “Take Peace” from the planet.  Now we envision neighbor slaying neighbor in a frenzied bloodbath right?  Perhaps but perhaps not, actually this word peace has broader implications. Strongs Greek #1515 eirēnē Probably from a primary verb eirō (to join); peace (literally or figuratively); by implication prosperity: – one, peace, quietness, rest, + set at one again.

By implication… prosperity.  Now we can understand the next rider…  this is not necessarily only about war.  Because war is already being waged.  Nations and races are on the battlefields in increasing number with increasing frequency but now if we take away the PROSPERITY of the world then we might well be talking ECONOMICS.  Consider this in light of the third rider whose impact is on prices of goods and, by way of extension, services.  War destabilizes governments and destabilized governments undergo economic impact that is negative and that effects all the fields from agriculture to ecology to production and industry, medicine et al.

If we destabilize a nation and its economy begins to come apart where, for those whose reliance is on the economy, what happens to their “peace” their “rest” their “prosperity” and sense of balance and well being?  It vanishes.  If the nation being destabilized is hit with ecological disasters or it is taken over (the ultimate destabilization, subjugation) then you have the refugees fleeing to “get out”.  Now what about the nations surrounding who are now inundated with refugees who need to stretch resources to come to the aid of the refugees?  Destabilization and economic strain.

Now where is the peace of those whose reliance is on the economy?

But we have more … unrest.

Unrest eventually leads to violence and mob rule as the masses attempt to reset the crashing economy to get the process back down to enrich their piece of the economic pie.  Like a messy spill it just keeps spreading.  This is the “Peace” the red horse rider is taking away.  But he has authority to remove it.   The rest of the sentence “that they should slay one another” is the unrest and riot and violence and rebellion as the destabilization of the nation increases.  Looting and mob rule happen in natural disasters when expected aid doesn’t come and morality begins to break down into survival and every man for himself.  One of things we need to realize here is that along with the destabilization is a breakdown in morality.  The first rider is connected to lawlessness as we have seen. This rider will capitalize on the first.  If lawlessness is now the tendency and iniquity is the rule then it is not hard to press buttons and light the fires into fuller flame.  But with destabilization and a rising criminal element come consequences.

Now let’s look at the last image here.  The sword.  Great is as one would expect Megas or large, great, big etc.  Sword however is a surprise.  I would have thought it to be just a weapon but it is so much more than that. The word here is Strongs Greek #3162 machaira Probably feminine of a presumed derivative of (Strongs Greek # 3163; machē From (Strongs Greek #3164  machomai  Middle voice of an apparently primary verb; to war, that is, (figuratively) to quarrel, dispute: – fight, strive. . ); a battle, that is, (figuratively) controversy: – fighting, strive, striving)  a knife, that is, dirk; figuratively war, judicial punishment: – sword.

Now yes it is a weapon on the one hand but since we are looking at images then we also need to pay attention to the figurative. SO we have quarrel, dispute, fighting, striving, judicial punishment, controversy; all the elements for open war.  All this comes of factions, mistrust, greed et al.  This is the sword that eventually pits communities against one another in desperate bids to survive.  But this isn’t a simple blade but a great blade, which translates into national controversies and POLITICAL AGENDAS.  Right here the conspiracy theorist should be singing and gloating; for there would be a basis for the thought, that there was a power behind the politics driving the whole world into one direction.  And there is …  a red horse rider who is empowered by someone to cause the peace to be removed.  Sometimes it’s not what one does to add to the situation but what one removes to permit the situation to escalate on its own.  But let’s now follow the chain of events to its conclusion.