Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Is anyone interested in looking at the Book of Revelation in its CONTEXT and in its historical setting? All positions welcome--as long as true Bible study is your goal!
Is anyone interested in looking at the Book of Revelation in its CONTEXT and in its historical setting? All positions welcome--as long as true Bible study is your goal!
How does one go about studying the Revealing of Christ's Spirit to John, without Christ first revealing Himself to the person who is trying to interpret it? It would be like finding a needle in a million haystacks throughout the world. Are there people to whom this honor has been given? I am sure there have, but how does one go about testing this, without first understanding the test? I know it says that if anyone takes away from, or adds to it, they are cursed above all and are removed from eating the Tree of Life or are given the plagues written in it. Rev 19-20
It says "Blessed are those who reads and those who HEAR the Words of the prophesy, and heed the things which are written in it: For the TIME IS NEAR.
Near for whom, if you have had the revealing of Christ?
How does one go about studying the Revealing of Christ's Spirit to John, without Christ first revealing Himself to the person who is trying to interpret it? It would be like finding a needle in a million haystacks throughout the world. Are there people to whom this honor has been given? I am sure there have, but how does one go about testing this, without first understanding the test? I know it says that if anyone takes away from, or adds to it, they are cursed above all and are removed from eating the Tree of Life or are given the plagues written in it. Rev 19-20
It says "Blessed are those who reads and those who HEAR the Words of the prophesy, and heed the things which are written in it: For the TIME IS NEAR.
Near for whom, if you have had the revealing of Christ?
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, who bore witness to the word of God, and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, to all things that he saw. Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written in it; for the time is near."
Whose revelation is it? It is the revelation of Christ. Who gave it to Him? God the Father gave it to Him. Why was it given to Him? To show His servants things which were to shortly take place. To whom and by whom did Christ send the revelation? To John by His angel. What did John do? He bore witness to all things that he saw. What is the time frame of what he was shown? The time was then near in his day!
THE BONDSLAVES OF JESUS CHRIST
"The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto Him, to show unto His servants things which must shortly come to pass..." (Rev. 1:1).
Quote:
During the historical period in which the King James Version of the Bible was translated, the word servant carried the same meaning as our word slave does today. The Greek word doulos, rendered servant is better translated slave or bondslave. In olden times a household servant was chattel. He was like a horse or cow in the sense that he was owned "lock, stock, and barrel" by his lord and master. He could not determine his destiny in this world any more than a Southern slave before the Civil War. Douloi were the property of their masters and their calling was to obey the will of the one who owned them.
It is remarkable to notice the frequency with which the New Testament writers insist on the use of that word "bondslave" as describing their relationship to Jesus Christ! It is the favorite designation of the apostle Paul who began a number of his epistles with these words, "Paul an apostle and bondslave of Jesus Christ..." He even gloried in wearing the bondmarks of the slavery of Jesus! The apostle Peter describes himself in the very same terms. And the book of Revelation rings with the word, touched by heavenly light, transfigured and glorified! This wondrous book is prepared for bondslaves — they are the ones for whom is reserved the unveiling of Jesus Christ! The bondslaves are the ones who are shown "the things which must shortly come to pass!" They are the ones sealed in the forehead with the Father’s name! They are the ones who receive the rewards! They see God’s face! Heaven takes our most dreaded terms, and makes them sparkle in its own celestial light, till what had seemed the synonym of terror becomes the goal of our fondest hopes in the kingdom of God! The bondslaves of the royal house of Christ are the kings and priests upon God’s throne! That is what the book of Revelation reveals. Oh, the mystery of it! Oh, the wonder of it!
]In that old Hebrew world which lies so far back in the dim twilight of the past, there is one custom given to the people by Yahweh Himself which claims our attention and scintillates beneath the light of the Spirit’s words as the snow upon the mountains when smitten by the rising sun. God made provision that if an Israelite, through the disaster of bad fortunes and disappointing harvests, were to fall into deep debt to some rich neighboring creditor — so much so that he owed him more than even the land of his inheritance was worth — he was permitted to deed his property over to his creditor until the year of Jubilee. But, in addition, if the debt were larger still, he could deliver even himself up to his creditor to be his servant, his slave, so as to work off his debt. In such a case he was required to serve his master for six years. He was to go free in the seventh year.
It must have been a painful and heart breaking thing for that land owner to say farewell to his cherished homestead and beloved possessions, upon which his forefathers had bestowed their diligent labor, to go away into servitude to another. Tearful and heart touching must have been the farewell walk around his beloved home, which he and his might not ever claim again during his lifetime. But yet there was blessing out of the sorrow — freedom from anxiety and foreboding, no more struggling to make ends meet and to keep their heads above water, no more fear of the creditor breathing down his neck each year, confronting his inability to pay. All responsibility for food, clothing, shelter, and the welfare of himself and his wife and children was now transferred to the shoulders of another.
So the appointed years passed away. When the debt was satisfied, the master would call the slave into his presence, to give him his release. But a wonderful provision was made if the man feared to again try to make it on his own — if he truly loved his master, if he enjoyed the labor he had done, if he was pleased with the master’s provision for him and his wife and children. He could at that moment bind himself to that master’s service forever! If he decided to leave, he could only take what belonged to him before he became a slave. Whatever was given to him by his master stayed behind. If he was married when he became a slave, his wife went out with him when he left. However, if his master had given him a wife and she had given birth to sons or daughters, they could not accompany him.
"But if the slave shall plainly say, I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free..." (Ex. 21:5). And if his master was also pleased, they could call for the elders of the city, and there solemnly before the judges, his master bored his ear through with an awl to the doorpost, creating the mark upon the slave that sealed his relationship to his master forever (Ex. 21:6). From the moment that the ear of the slave was pierced he was a marked man! The ornament which was usually inserted in the hole of the lobe of his ear bore testimony that he was the slave of another by his own choice, and, furthermore, that he had a desirable master! It declared that his owner took better care of him than he could of himself. His pierced ear was a way of saying that his lord had his ear, which meant that he willingly chose to obey his master’s voice! From henceforth he no longer served his master to pay off any debt — he served him willingly out of a heart of love! He had stood meekly and voluntarily at his master’s door, and gave himself in love to serve him forever! And from that day forward he was no longer merely a slave — he was a bondslave, a loveslave!
Taken from J Preston Eby's Kingdom Bible Studies, Revelation Series
I think the prophesies in Revelation are two-fold. Many times events in the bible forshadow other coming events. I think they did have a fulfillment for that time period, but there is more to come.
The common thread in the bible is the establishment of God's kingdom which would restore God's original purpose for the heavens and the earth. In Matthew 24:14 Jesus preached that this good news of the kingdom will be preached throughout the entire inhabited earth and then the end would come. According to Revelation, this kingdom will put an end to Satan...I don't think that has happened yet.
What if the Revelation of Jesus the Christ to John was a book, written in such a way to enable followers, well, bond-servants that is, to become what it is that Jesus is seeking. Reading the letters to the 7 churches, and looking at the "overcomer", and one can easily see what the rewards are. But at the same time, there is much to do before that day of revealing of Christ to each and every one of us. Look at the types, and anti-types written in the book. For each of the True Christ, there is the "Anti-Christ". It almost seems like a road map to what God wants for each of His Believers, and the necessary steps for achieving this. Look at this for a sec, as we can see the Truth, and the lies contrary to this Truth.
1. The Judge — not the judgments!
2. The Lamb — not the dragon!
3. The Seven Spirits of God — not the spirits of devils!
4. The Rider on the White Horse who has Four Names — not the four horses!
5. The Throne of God — not the seat of the beast!
6. The Lion of the Tribe of Judah — not the beast out of the sea!
7. The Faithful and True Witness — not the false prophet!
8. The 144,000 Sons of God on Mount Zion — not the beast out of the earth!
9. Those who have the Father’s name on their forehead — not the mark of the beast!
10. The New Jerusalem — not Mystery Babylon!
11. The Bride of the Lamb — not the harlot!
12. The Manchild on the Throne — not the dragon cast out of heaven!
13. The Glory of God — not the darkness that covers the earth!
14. The Overcomers — not the churches whose candlesticks are removed!
15. The Unveiling of Jesus Christ — not the antichrist!
According to Revelation, this kingdom will put an end to Satan...I don't think that has happened yet.
Exactly. We often try to put God in a box and frame everything out to be according to our understanding, our timeframe. "The time is near" who's time? Man's time, or is it God's time? For the two can be very different.
Scripture states faith is calling that which is not as if it is, believing that which has yet to come as if it has. The answers to our prayers are already in given in Heaven before we even finish praying, however, we don't always see the answer immediately. In fact, sometimes the answer takes years for us to see, if we even get to see it in our lifetime.
Take for example a parent that prays consistently that their adult child comes to know the Lord, to accept Him as Lord and Savior, however, it is not until after the parent passes away that the adult child comes to know the Lord. Was the prayer not answered? Yes it was, just not in the lifetime of the parent, perhaps it was even through the parent's passing that the child came to see their need for the Lord.
God's time is not our own, though His timing is perfect.
For years and years Christians have been daily looking forward to the return of Jesus and the end of satan. I think every generation has believed "the time is near" to mean that Christ return and all the prophecies of Revelation would be in their lifetime, yet it has not been. I am sure many in my own generation think "the time is near" means this will occur in our lifetime, but if it will or will not, is not up to us to decide. It is in God's time.
I don't believe that the events depicted in the book of Revelation have already occured. Jesus stated it was things to come. It is a book of prophecy, not of history. While I believe that we have seen some signs and wonders that point in the direction of the prophecies depicted in the book of Revelation, the book clearly tells us that "noone" knows the day of Christ's return.
I mean, I am no scholar, but I don't believe that all the prophecies the book of Revelation gives were fulfilled by 70AD. Besides, the book of Revelation also holds the promises of the rewards for the believers who standfast in their faith. If all these things occured already in 70AD, a time when I was yet to be born, where would my hope of these rewards, which apparently would have already been given out, lay. Personally, I don't believe satan is done away with, though I do look forward with great hope and expectation to the day he is done away with.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
