Taught by Keeley Chorn

I. Introduction

Illustration. A 12-year-old girl read the book of Revelation for the first time. When she finished, a teacher her asked her if she understood it. She said, "I think so. It's kind of like a fantasy, except I knew it was true." Years later, when the teacher retold this story, an adult student came up to the same teacher and said "I felt like that 12-year-old girl. I remember reading it when I was around that age and thinking I understood it, but now I understand it less and less!" (adapted from Poythress, The Returning King).

As we dive into the visions, symbolism, and imagery of Revelation over the next three weeks, let's try not to overanalyze the book, but to read it like a 12-year-old, and view it from an imaginative, creative point-of-view, where it reads like a fantasy, except we know it is true.

Apocalyptic Genre.
Revelation reads like a fantasy because it is in the genre of "apocalypse." Apocalypse isn't a genre most of us are familiar with, like we might be with the gospels, or letters, or historical books of the Bible. But, knowing the genre helps us know how to read and interpret better the section of the Bible that we are dealing with.

So what does it mean that Revelation is in the genre of "apocalypse"? During the time between 200BC and AD400 (surrounding the time of Christ), there was a huge influx of writings in this genre. We know of at least 12 writings in this style, and in the Bible, there are examples in parts of books and more fully in the books of Daniel, Ezekiel, and Revelation.

An "apocalypse" was a particular style of Jewish writing that had several key features. Apocalypses were known for revealing "secret things" of God, which are normally not accessible to humans; for speaking of a great catastrophic event that will establish God's rule; for bizarre and wild symbols that tell us about historical movements or events; for visions of things in heaven; and for a concern about the end times. In John's day, readers of this book would have recognized this type of genre and would not have thought it to be as wild and fantastical as we think it is. The use of complex symbolism was "in the air" during the time this book was written. Revelation is not presenting "new" ideas, but is repeating a lot of the themes and ideas found elsewhere in the NT, but in symbolic form. The visions given to John add color and expression to things that our minds couldn't otherwise grasp.

As a reminder, Ashley and I are teaching from the perspective that is called amillennialism, which is the belief that we currently live in the end times where Christ reigns now over the earth from a throne in heaven (and not from a future throne on earth). Even within the "amillennial" perspective, there are still many ways of understanding the symbolism of Revelation.

For your reference, I want to give you an outline of what we're going to cover tonight. We're going to divide tonight's (long) reading into 3 sections 1) Chs. 4-5: The Throne Room, 2) Chs. 6-8:1: The 7 Seals, then 3) Chs. 8:2 through the end of Ch. 11: The 7 Trumpets.

I. Rev 4-5: God and Christ at the Center of the Throne Room
The first section of our outline is chapters 4-5: The focus of these chaptersis on the throne room of heaven with God and Christ at the center of it all, ruling from the throne. These chapters will be the anchor for the rest of the book... John's vision starts with him being taken up "in Spirit" to the throne room. God's place at the center will give spiritual security to his people(they can't be harmed or lost spiritually)and it will give his people, us, confidence to live out our faith day to day.

Chapter 4
In Chapter 4, we see God is worthy as Creator. There's an angelic court surrounding him. There are 24 elders, who are seen to represent the entire church from OT and NT times, 12 from each (the 12 tribes of Israel and the 12 apostles are sometimes suggested). There are 7 lamps shining which are the spirits of God (Rev 1 spoke of the 7-fold spirit of God). Then there are the 4 living creatures. In them, we can see a reflection of the things God has created on earth: a great and fierce lion, a strong ox, a majestic eagle, and a ruler in man. These animals show us meaning, but also humbly remind us that we can't fully understand God right now. Another noteworthy part of this scene is the praise all the angelic beings are offering to God. He is holy, Almighty, God of the past/present/future; he is "worthy" "to receive glory and honor and power, for [he] created all things" (v. 11). There is a focus here on God as the Creator. The point of the book of Revelation is to show us God, not to tell us the future, but to show us God, who will bring all things to pass in his time and in his way (Poythress, The Returning King). Revelation is about God and his greatness. Keep this in mind as we journey through the rest of the book.

Chapter 5
In Chapter 5, we see that the slain lamb, Christ, also is worthy. As chapter 5 opens, we are introduced to a scroll held in God's hand. Only Jesus, "the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David" is able to open it. Only he has triumphed, says the elder, triumphed over death and the grave in his resurrection. He is the only access point we have to God and to understanding the things to be described in the scroll. Again, notice the praise that is offered to Christ in verses 9-10 and 12-13. "By his blood he purchased men for God." In verse 13, he too receives "praise and honor and glory and power." In this chapter, Christ also stands at the center with God the Father. God was praised for his act of creation and now for his act of redemption, which allows men and women access to God through Christ's death.

Chapters 4-5 show us God the Father, the Son, even the Spirit, at the center of all things. God is on the throne, he is ruling now, he has power and might. Knowing God is at the center of all things gives us confidence.

II. Rev 6-8:1: The 7 Seals
The second section of our outline is Chapters 6-8:1. As look into this section, I want to draw your attention to the structure we're going to be seeing throughout the book. Be sure and hear what follows: it's important for helping us conceptually understand what's going on in the book.

Cycles of 7
So, the structure that I want you to keep in mind as we read through Revelation is what we'll call "The Cycles of 7." The cycles provide an important literary device for helping us understand the book. You'll notice that we have the 7 seals in this section of our outline then the 7 trumpets in the next.

What these "cycles of 7" are going to show us is different perspectives on the same group of events. Each cycle will recapitulate, or restate in a new form, the same events. We're going to see the cycles lay out in the book of Revelation sequentially (one after the other), but they represent all the same events. (Imagine stacking them.) They explain and elaborate over and over again the same complex of events leading up to the 2^nd coming. They are not listed in order that they will happen, as if Rev is meant to be a detailed, step-by-step guide to the end times.

(If you're interested in going deeper, I highly recommend these two excellent books: Revelation by Michael Wilcock and The Returning King by Vern Poythress. Both these books are pretty easy to follow and have very accessible language.)

Illustration. So to try and better understand the concept of what I mean by these cycles of 7 giving different perspectives on the same event, I want you to think of how we sometimes need many different sides of a story to understand all of its pieces...Maybe some friends went to a conference and you want to find out what the main speaker had to say. One friend will describe certain aspects of the talk and will leave others out. They will say what they got from it, but they won't remember everything. If you ask another friend, you might see some overlap in what they say, but will also learn different parts of the same event. The more people you ask, the fuller picture you will get of what the speaker actually said. The difference here in Revelation is that the perspectives are all coming from one person, John, who is in the Spirit. John needs to receive these different perspectives of the same series of events to see a fuller picture of the whole, just as we need it.

The cycles of 7 are going to show us events that are happening now in our day (and in the past in John's day), events that are still future, even events associated with the 2^nd coming of Christ. In the gospels, Jesus tells us what the end times will be like in Matt 24 and its parallels (Mark 13, and Luke 21). We'll use his depiction of things as a guiding control for the cycles of 7. The cycles will increase in intensity, the further we move through Revelation, the more intense they will be and the more they will tell us about the 2^nd coming.

Chapter 6
With this "cycles of 7" structure in mind, we're going to look in brief at the cycle that is the 7 seals on the scroll that Christ is to open. In Ch. 6 the first 6 seals are opened, then Ch. 7 will provide an interlude (or break from the action for a specific purpose), and verse 8:1 will describe the opening of the 7^th seal. (This pattern will also repeat in the third section of our outline. We'll encounter the first 6, have an interlude, and then see the 7^th.)

In the first 4 seals, we see 4 riders coming to bring judgment on the earth. They bring 1) conquest of earthly warfare and fighting, 2) violent conflict and mass killing, 3) famine and great economic difficulty, and 4) death. In Jesus' account in Matt 24:6-8, he says,
"⁶ You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. ⁷ Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. ⁸ All these are the beginning of birth pains."
These events happen today, they have happened in the past, and they will happen in the future.

In the fifth seal, we see the cry of the martyrs or the suffering of God's people. The lesson for us, is that we in the church are not immune from these physical disasters that are happening. We will suffer for our faith, and we may come to physical harm just because we live on this fallen earth. This passage applies to all believers who suffer for Christ's sake and desire true justice to come on earth. Jesus said in Matt 24:9-11:
⁹ "Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. ¹⁰ At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, ¹¹ and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people."
These events too are happening now, and happened in John's day as we saw in the letters to Smyrna and Philadelphia (persecution) and Thytira (false teachers-Jezebel). We can expect them to continue in the future.

In the 6^th seal, we see the events that will immediate precede the 2^nd coming. The vision is of a great earthquake, the darkening of the sun and moon, and stars falling from the sky. Verses 16-17 say it is the "great day of the wrath" and it "has come." Jesus in Matt 24:29-30 describes it, saying:
"²⁹ "Immediately after the distress of those days [what's occurred in the previous 5 seals]
"‘the sun will be darkened,
and the moon will not give its light;
the stars will fall from the sky,
and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.'
³⁰ "At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all the nations of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory."
So the 6^th seal describes events immediately preceding the 2^nd coming, and not necessarily things that are happening in the past and present.

How do these events/seals help us understand what's going on right now in our world?
We can have confidence that it's according to plan. Not be scared about what we hear. Know that God is with us in the midst of our suffering, and that these disasters will affect believers too, because we live in a fallen world.

Chapter 7
After the opening of the 6 seals, we expect to see the opening of the 7^th seal, but we have to wait an entire chapter as we see what's going on in Ch. 7, before it's opened. Chapter 7 is an interlude in the action of opening the seals, and it is there for a specific purpose-to give comfort to Christians about their spiritual security in Christ in the midst of all these events.

Chapter 7 begins by saying he saw this after the first 6 seals, but it doesn't say this happened after. We're going to read this section as an interlude in the action, one that describes something in time that happens distinct from the cycles (the seals in this case). So what happens? The sealing of God's people: his 144,000. Like the rest of numbers in Revelation, we'll see it as symbolic. Ezekiel 9 speaks of God's faithful receiving a mark on their forehead, and Eph 1:13 speaks of believers being "sealed with the Holy Spirit." Believers are sealed with the Holy Spirit at the moment when they believe. We don't need to wait to receive a distinctive mark on our foreheads; we've already been sealed when we first believed. From God's perspective, we are all God's people and part of Israel, the tribes listed; God knows and numbers his people.

In verses 9-17, John sees a great multitude of people. In verses 1-8, John hears the number of 144,000 who are sealed, and now he sees the people, it is a crowd so large that it cannot be counted. These two groups are meant to represent one in the same, they are the people of God, who God knows by number and yet John cannot count them, they are so large. They are both listed as God's servants (v. 3, 15) and so the first group can't be exclusively Jewish, as some believe. In seeing the crowd, it says in(v. 9) that John sees people from every nation, tribe, people and language standing before the throne. God's people come from every race, every nation, and every different language group.

What does this multi-cultural aspect of God's people tell us about how we should live among people who are different from us?
Most of God's people will not be like us. They will not speak our language, but they might live among us-especially as our cities become more multi-cultural; we have to love them for whom they are, including the color of their skin and the language they speak. God's people, like our cities, are truly multi-cultural.

The purpose of Chapter 7, as an interlude, is meant to be a comfort and security to Christians. They have been sealed. Spiritually no harm can come to them, though physically, it says that there will be martyrs and we will suffer. Knowing we are eternally, spiritually secure, gives us the confidence to live out our faith day to day.

Chapter 8
In Ch. 8, verse 1, we come to the opening of the 7^th seal, and it says "there was silence in heaven for about half an hour," it says. The cycles of 7 all move to the 2^nd coming, but here, it's like "oh, that's it..." But what we see here is a picture of silence and peace and completeness. Christ is not yet ready to reveal what the 2^nd coming will be like, but we will see it as we continue to move through the book, and we'll see it most fully in Rev 21-22, which we'll study in 2 weeks. Now we just have an anticipation of the peace it will bring. And this finishes our first cycle of 7, our first perspective of history.

So far, we've seen in Section 1 (Chs. 4-5) andSection 2 of our outline(6-8:1) that knowing God is at the center of all things and his people are spiritually secure gives us confidence to live out our faith day to day.

III. Rev 8:2-11:19- The 7 Trumpets
The third and final section of the outline, 8:2-the end of 11, presents another perspective or view on past, current, and future history. Another cycle of 7 begins, complete with an interlude, and moving toward a picture of the 2^nd coming.

In chapter 8, we are now introduced to 7 angels holding 7 trumpets. Their message will be similar, but more intense than the message of the 7 seals. The first 4 trumpets affect 4 parts of the natural world They are not sequential events but aspects of history that are true at any time period. So, the first 4 trumpets strike 4 parts of creation: 1) the dry land (environment), 2) sea (commerce- shipping imp. in ancient world), 3) fresh water (our resources), and 4) sky (our vision). The instruments of destruction in this cycle of 7 are symbols of any kind of destruction which at any time damages the earth on which man lives. These cycles retell aspects of the same events, and they're meant to remind us of the plagues of Egypt. Then in verse 13, an eagle comes to announce that the next 3 trumpets will be woes to the inhabitants of the earth, or nonbelievers.

Chapter 9
Chapter 9 begins with the 5^th trumpet announcing a swarm of locusts that stays for 5 months torturing and tormenting nonbelievers (we know it's nonbelievers, because verse 4 says they could only torment only those that did not have the seal of God on their foreheads). We do not need to imagine that real locusts looking just like this are to come to earth, but remember them as symbols. Let's not ask the question "How does this happen?" but "Why does this happen?"

The 6^th trumpet and 2^nd woe is the last warning (in this cycle) for the inhabitants of the earth, bringing destruction. By the time of the 7^th trumpet, it will be too late to repent. The armies here, like the rest of the images, are not to be taken literally. The point is that many nonbelievers will see death all around them, but they will still be unrepentant; they continue to not see God in the midst of their struggles, continued to not hear God's voice. Verse 20-21 says, "they did not repent the work of their hands; they did not stop worshiping demons...and idols..." These events foreshadow the 2^nd coming when there will not be another opportunity to repent, this is why they are woes to nonbelievers. The answer to why this happens is that they are unrepentant. It's are a wake-up call, meant to draw people to God's mercy, but to show his justice as well.

How must we be careful in interpreting when bad events happen? How have you seen people in the church misusing them?
Ex. People said that the earthquake in Haiti was God's judgment on the country for allowing voodoo and false worship there for so many centuries. A lot of the time, what people are saying is going to have to do with their theology-the 4 millennial positions we talked about the first week in Rev 1. We also can't just say that if something bad happens, then they were all unbelievers and it was God's judgment-remember that the seals happened to believers too.

Chapter 10
Chapters 10-11 form another interlude in this "cycle of 7." In chapter 10, an angel holding a little scroll appears. The angel announces in verse 6 that "there will be no more delay!" The 7^th trumpet is coming and the mystery of God will be accomplished at the 2^nd coming (the 7^th trumpet). What is that mystery? Rom 16:25-27 says that it's just the gospel, that Christ came to redeem men and women and to reconcile them to God (also Eph 3, 5; Col 1, 2, 4). So the gospel age, that mystery, will end with the 2^nd coming.

Next, John is told to eat the scroll, one that tastes sweet going down, but that turns his stomach sour. After eating the scroll, he is told to prophesy. John's prophesying is a model for the church's witness to the world before the 2^nd coming, we are to digest the words of God and speak them. The gospel is sweet in the ears of those God has drawn to him, but bitter and sour to those who do not want to hear what God has done and is doing in the world.

Chapter 11
In Chapter 11, the 2^nd part of the interlude, John goes and measures the temple of God. We should not expect this to be a literal temple rebuilt on the old site in Jerusalem, like your tour guide will tell you, if you've ever been there. This is because Christ has told us already that we, his church, are the temple of God (Eph 2:19-22); he's already been building it. This chapter describes, rather graphically, what happens to the two witnesses of God. Again, they are a symbol of the witness the church has. The two witnesses are called lamps, just as Christians are called lights in the world in Phil 2:15, witnessing to Christ. This interlude again reassures Christians that they have spiritual security in the midst of these tribulations and trials as they witness to their faith.

Finally, we come to the 7^th trumpet in Ch. 11, verse 15. And now in this trumpet we get a beginning picture of what the 2^nd coming will look like. We see the last judgment occurring (v. 18), and God's rule being established (vv. 15, 17). We see the opening of the temple and the viewing of the ark, which symbolizes God fully revealing his glory. This trumpet is the third woe for those who do not know Christ because there's not more time for them, not more opportunity for repentance. God's kingdom has fully become the kingdom of the world, just like we pray in the Lord's Prayer: "your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven." It will be complete in his 2^nd coming.

For now, we've finished looking at two cycles of 7 within Revelation. We know that God stands in the center of it all. We know that we are spiritually secure: we can't be lost; God knows us and numbers us. This confidence and security are what move us to witness to who God is, to live out our faith.

IV. Application and Conclusion
Illustration. As we think application, I want to remind you of an illustration I gave a few weeks ago in our study of 1 Samuel. I spoke of people wanting to know the minimum they have to do to follow Christ and not fall off the symbolic ledge of the circle of faith/Christianity. I then said how we shouldn't be looking backwards, but should be looking inwards to how we move toward the center, toward God. The vision of his throne room give us just that: a picture of what the center looks like, of what it is that we are meant to be moving towards: God and Christ, ruling this earth. We move closer to God's glory and to understanding God's death for us, so we can know his mercy and forgiveness better. This is a picture of what he looks like in the center.

How do we apply these lessons, this story, these symbols to our day to day life? How does knowing God is at the center of all things and his people are spiritually secure give us confidence to live out our faith in the day to day? This is the hard part, and I want us to talk about it in our small groups...I want you to work through it together.

The thought to take with you into your groups and into your week is: knowing that God is at the center of all things and his people are spiritually secure gives us confidence to live out our faith day to day.

Questions for Discussion and Application:

1. Does the vision of God at the center of the throne room help you view your life situation differently? How?
2. What keeps you from witnessing to your faith or living it out daily (this is more than just sharing the gospel with someone...)?

Taught by Ashley Boone

So we are in the book of Revelation and we have learned that it was given to John on the island of Patmos to “unveil” what is to come. It was given as a picture book not as a puzzle. So it wasn’t given to us to decode it like the Davinci Code, but more to give us a picture of what is to come. Jesus himself gave John the revelation to send to 7 churches in his day, and in chapters 2 and 3 we have been studying the letters Jesus had John write to accompany the revelation. Each letter follows the same structure (handout) and basically offers three things:

1. Jesus tells them how they are doing, whether good or bad
2. He urges them to either repent and change their ways, or stay faithful under persecution and struggles
3. He gives them a promise for those who overcome what they are facing

Tonight we are going to look at one letter, the letter written to the church in Thyatira. So go ahead and turn to Revelation 2 starting in verse 18 and we are going to be studying this letter verse by verse tonight.

The Letter To Thyatira

In each letter, Jesus begins with a description of Himself, and we should all know by now that the description He chooses for each church is directly related to who they are and what they are facing. So to Thyatira He describes Himself as,

“the Son of God, whose eyes are like blazing fire and whose feet are like burnished bronze.”

If you look at the full description of Jesus by John in Revelation 1:14-15 the exact same description. Look at those verses… 

“…his eyes were like blazing fire.  15 His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace…”  

And in the book of Daniel, which is also a book containing end times prophesy, it uses a similar description of Jesus, Daniel 10:6…. 

6 “… his eyes like flaming torches, his arms and legs like the gleam of burnished bronze...”  

Eyes Like Blazing Fire

The first description of Jesus’ eyes being like blazing fire might be a little easier to understand. If you look at little later in this letter, in verse 23, Jesus describes Himself to Thyatira as, “he who searches hearts and minds.” So Jesus’ eyes are different than ours, we can only see what is on the outside, but Jesus can see what is on the inside. What is in our hearts and what is in our minds. His eyes of blazing fire can see our true motives and the true state of our hearts.

Feet Like Burnished Bronze

The second description is of His feet. It says they are like burnished bronze. Burnished means highly polished, so they are shiny. And in Revelation 1 they are described as bronze glowing in the furnace. If we look at descriptions of the feet of God and what the represent in other passages in the Bible we find that they stand for God’s judgment. In Isaiah 63 we read a description of God judging those who did not look to Him as God – in this description those who do not trust in Him are grapes in a winepress, and God carries out His judgment and wrath on them by trampling on the grapes. It is a very sobering picture of the truth of God’s judgment and wrath. By reminding those in Thyatira of His bronze feet He is reminding them of His judgment that is sure to come to those who turn away from Him and walk in wickedness.

He goes on from here to commend them for what they have done well.

19 “I know your deeds, your love and faith, your service and perseverance, and that you are now doing more than you did at first.”  

This list is amazing, look at all they have done well in their church….

• Deeds – they serve God in their actions and good deeds
• Love – the opposite of Ephesus who had lost their first love, they have not lost their first love, instead their love for God and love for others is evident
• Faith – they continue to have faith in God, trusting Him in their lives and looking to Him as God
• Service – they are reaching out to those in need and serving the less fortunate
• Perseverance – they are holding on to their faith even in the face of trials and hardships
• Doing more than they did at first – this is probably the best compliment of all. They are growing! Imagine if Jesus said this to you how encouraging it would be – to know that you are making progress in your walk with Christ.

If someone came to you and gave you a review, like a year end review with your boss, on how you were doing as a Christian and this is how it began – you would probably not imagine that any flaw or weakness of yours could be all that big in light of how well you were doing. But that is not the case here, what Jesus says to them next is truly devastating. The harsh words He uses let’s us know it is no minor problem. He is basically going to tell them their faith is incomplete because of this one issue and it could destroy everything they have been doing well.

 Look at verse 20. In this verse Jesus tells the church what He has against them. What have they done wrong? What is their problem?

  “I have this against you: You tolerate that woman Jezebel…”

Their problem is first and foremost, not what has come because of Jezebel in their midst, but Jesus says what He holds against them is their toleration of her. Think about this. Let this sink in. Jesus is telling them that their greatest blindspot in their faith is toleration of another person’s sins in their church.

Let’s talk about this. How might this be shocking or offensive to someone in our culture today?

• We live in a time when a person’s individual rights and freedom to live however they choose is emphasized
• If someone is doing something that you don’t agree with you don’t have a “right” to impose your views or belief system on them.
• And this view has even infiltrated the church. Many in the church today do not believe that anyone in the church has a right to call out someone for their sins. But clearly, Jesus is saying the opposite to the church here. Let’s keep reading as we unfold this…

Looking at verses 20-21, what do we learn about this person Jezebel? What has she done wrong?

• She calls herself a “prophetess” – this means that whatever she is teaching to others in the church, she is claiming is from God, that it what she is teaching is truth.

Look at verse 24, it calls her teaching “Satan’s so-called deep secrets.” So in her teaching she is implying that there is more for us to know than what God has revealed to us. Like there is more to God’s truth.

• By her teaching she is leading followers of Christ in the church into sexual immorality and idolatry – she is leading them into sin. (eating food sacrificed to idols was a form of idolatry)
• In verse 21 we are told that she has been given time to repent but is unwilling. The literal translation simply says “she does not want to.”

Understanding what Jezebel has been doing that they have been tolerating helps us even more to understand why it was wrong for them to tolerate her. The Definition of “Tolerate” is “to allow and not interfere with the existence, occurrence, or practice of something that one does not necessarily like or agree with.” 

Our culture tells us toleration is a virtue. But as Christians we live by a different belief system, toleration is not just good, but at times it can be bad, very bad. So, first, when is toleration a good thing?

• when it involves bearing with someone who is different than you in personality, background, interests, appearance, etc….
• Basically, when it doesn’t involved false teaching or sin 

When is toleration a bad thing as a Christian?

Toleration for a Christian is bad when it means we are:

• Unwilling to recognize sin as sin based on God’s truth
• Indifferent towards sin and the way it destroys not only that person but also those around them.
• Unwilling to deal with sin in another’s life and root it out as God’s Word commands us to do
• When we only focus on the good and ignore/tolerate the bad in order to live at peace and be “P.C.” 

God’s Word is very clear on what is sin and how we are to deal with sin. His Word even instructs us on what to do when someone in the church is living in sin and even leading others into sin. Never does God give us any reason to not deal with sin in the church or to tolerate it. So by allowing someone to teach something that does not line up with God’s Word and is even leading people in the church into sin, they are being disobedient to God’s commands to deal with sin and to discipline those in their church who are living in that way. The church in Ephesus, the first letter in Revelation 2:2, is commended for not tolerating sin in the church – Jesus said to them, “I know that you cannot tolerate wicked men, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false.” But unfortunately this is the blindspot for the church in Thyatira, since they have tolerated wicked men, and sadly Jesus is telling them it could destroy everything they have.

Jezebel

Let’s talk a little about Jezebel. Across the board, scholars agree that Jesus here is not referring to an actual woman in the church in Thyatira named Jezebel. But that He is referencing the Jezebel of the Old Testament as a picture of what is going on in Thyatira. Everyone there would have been very familiar with Jezebel in the Old Testament and would take very seriously the accusation that they have tolerated a Jezebel-like person and her sins in their church.

Let me give you a picture of who Jezebel is in the Old Testament:

• 1 Kings 16:29-33 – We are introduced to her first in 1 Kings 16 where it tells us that the most wicked king who ever ruled over Israel, Ahab, married Jezebel. She was the daughter of a Baal worshipping, pagan king And she influenced Ahab to also worship Baal. So the king of God’s people is now leading the people of God into worshipping a false God all because of the influence of his wife, Jezebel.
• 1 Kings 18:4 – Then a couple chapters later we learn that Jezebel is not only now leading God’s people into worshipping a false God, but she is also having the prophets of God killed. Not good.
• 1 Kings 19:1-2 – In the midst of this we meet God’s prophet Elijah and he proves to all the people of Israel and all the worshipers of Baal that their god is false and YHWH is real. When Jezebel hears about this she is infuriated and sends a message to Elijah saying that she will have him killed within 24 hours.
• 1 Kings 21 – Then in chapter 21 we learn that after a man refuses to sell his property to King Ahab, Jezebel derives a plot to have the man killed and make it look like a freak event, so then the king can have the man’s land. Elijah announces God’s judgment on both Ahab & Jezebel, and while Ahab repents, Jezebel refuses to.

So Jezebel is a real classy lady. Her life is characterized by not just the worship of false gods, but also false teaching and leading others into sin and idolatry, murdering anyone who disagrees with her, and especially murdering anyone who stands for God’s truth. In 1 Kings 21:25 Elijah prophesies about Ahab and Jezebel and how they will die, and he makes it clear that the evil Ahab did was incited by Jezebel. So Jezebel is guilty of leading God’s people into sin through her seductive and deceptive ways, and being unrepentant of her actions. But, what we can’t fail to see is how God’s people responded. They didn’t fight her, but instead they tolerated her and allowed her to influence them which slowly turned them away from God and towards a false belief system with false gods.

Jezebel in Thyatira

So taking that understanding of Jezebel back to Revelation 2:20, we can assume that what’s going on in the church in Thyatira is that someone is teaching those in the church things that are contrary to God’s Word, but claiming that what they have to teach is truth. Remember verse 24, this person claims to know some deeper and secret truths about God and the world. Through her deceptive teaching she has misled other believers into somehow thinking it is ok to engage in some sort of sexual immorality and idolatry. And while this person appeared to be enlightened, to understand things that others didn’t, the truth was they probably didn’t truly know or worship God. And like the Israelites in 1 Kings, the people in this church tolerated and let it go on to the point that they began to believe what she was teaching and allow it to turn them away from God and to a different belief system.

Jesus’ Response

So what does Jesus say He is going to do about this woman who has misled believers in the church and about their toleration of it?

22 “So I will cast her on a bed of suffering, and I will make those who commit adultery with her suffer intensely…. 23 I will strike her children dead. …and I will repay each of you according to your deeds.” 

1.     First, God will judge Jezebel for what she has done. In contrast to the bed where she found temporary sexual pleasure on earth, He says she will find a bed of suffering in eternity.

2.     Second, He will judge those who have followed her ways, who have joined in her spiritual adultery by turning from God and His truth. Remember the Bible often uses marriage as an illustration of our relationship with God, so when we turn away from Him to other beliefs and false gods it is likened to adultery.

3.     Third, He will strike her children dead. This is not referring to her actual children, but to her followers. Those who choose to follow her instead of God will also be judged as she is.

Jesus’ explanation of the judgment that is to come shows them the seriousness of sin and what has been going on in their church. If they can understand how serious sin is and even more the judgment that is sure to come because of it – then they will surely not tolerate or ignore it anymore. Yes, God is love, but we can’t just pick and choose what we want to focus on about God. The full picture of God includes his justice, His wrath, and His hatred and judgment of sin and evil. The culture around us is trying to tell us that toleration is love. But God’s Word shows us that what is truly loving is to intervene in the lives of those who are headed towards eternal judgment and speak truth and light into their lives. Why? Because there is hope…

Look at verse 22. What hope is offered to those who are living in sin and have been misled by false teaching? 

“…unless they repent of her ways.” 

If those who have listened to Jezebel and engaged in sexual immorality, or idol worship, repent – then they will not face eternal judgment. In the midst of this horrible revelation of the sin in their church, Jesus offers them hope, mercy, forgiveness. 

And then in verses 26-28 He gives them not just hope, but an incentive and a vision of what will be theirs if they repent of their sins, hold on to God’s truth, overcome this major obstacle in their church, and do His will. 

Authority

First, Jesus says he will…

26 “give [them] authority over the nations…27  just as [He has] received authority from [His] Father.”

One day the truth of God will be revealed to all and they will all know that all authority lies in the gospel. So those who follow God will share in God’s authority over the nations as they bear the truth. He quotes there this same promise found in Psalm 2:9 and says this promise will be fulfilled in the end. The truth of God will dash to pieces the lies of Satan in the end and those who held to them. The truth will be revealed. 

Morning Star

Second, in verse 28 He tells them they will be given the morning star. Does anyone know what the morning star is literally? It is Venus, the last and brightest star in the night sky. It appears just before daybreak and is an indicator that the night is coming to an end and a new day is about to dawn. Who is our morning star figuratively? Who is our sign and hope that a new day is about to dawn? Jesus.

In Revelation 22:16 Jesus says,

“I am the Root and the Offspring of David, and the bright Morning Star.”

To those who overcome, who repent, who persevere and follow God. They will receive Jesus for the forgiveness of their sins and the right to enter into eternity with God.

Are we like Thyatira?

Anytime we study the scriptures we need to ask ourselves how it applies or relates to us today. This is a hard passage to do that with. But last week was too. I talked to a few of the small group discussion leaders last week after Bible study and we all agreed it was a little like pulling teeth trying to think of ways we had been persecuted for our faith. And the very difficult and challenging thought I want to leave you with tonight is: Maybe that is because we are more like Thyatira than we think.

The belief system that infiltrated the Israelites and also infiltrated the church in Thyatira is very different from those we see today. Baal worship involved performing sexual acts in the temple with prostitutes as a form of worship and drawing near to the gods. They sacrificed food to idols and ate it as a sign of their faith. But today the false beliefs that infiltrate our church look very different. 

Can anyone give an example of some beliefs in the world today, that are counter-Biblical, but have subtly infiltrated some churches today?(then answer for each how it affects the faith and lives of believers.)

• All roads lead to God – keeps us from living out our faith publicly, sharing our faith with others, and challenging the beliefs of others. We say instead, you have your faith and I have mine. Or even worse, we believe it.
• Eat Pray Love – this is the message in the book. If you read the book then you know that she claims Christianity as her faith of choice but also acknowledges that there are a lot of very valid options out there, just choose one.
• My Aunt was married to a Methodist priest and after he died she told me that because of her travels around the world, spending time with people of different cultures and faiths, that she now “understood” that there wasn’t just one way to God.
• Issues of Homosexuality – Christians who choose to believe that God made gay people that way and that it is ok in the eyes of God to live a gay lifestyle, completely ignore the many passages in the Bible that say the opposite. I know people who because of this issue have decided that the Bible has flaws and human errors. When we give an inch, it will always lead to much more.

When the non-Biblical world-view begins to infiltrate the church the result is a desire to blend with the world rather than stand-apart. It also results in us not sharing our faith with a lost and dying world….seeking to be P.C. and accepting of others’ more than desiring that they know truth and have eternal life. Do you see how so easily the faith systems of the world can infiltrate the church over time if we tolerate them, and how it leads us to decisions, beliefs, and actions that are the opposite of how God calls us to live.

The definition of compromise is “to weaken a principle by accepting standards that are lower than is desirable.” The question we really need to be asking ourselves after looking at this passage is: Have I allowed my faith to be weakened by accepting standards/beliefs that are not God’s?

Look at Jesus’ encouragement to us as we face the challenge of not allowing the views of the world to infiltrate our faith in verse 25…

25 “Only hold on to what you have until I come.”

Questions for Discussion & Application…

• On a scale of 1 to 10, how seriously do you take sin in your life? (after everyone has answered) If you saw sin as God saw it how would that affect your life and behavior?
• How do you see the views of the world today infiltrating YOUR Christian beliefs? (another way to say this is: How have you compromised your faith in order to blend in with the world around you?) 

Taught by Ashley Boone

Here’s a quick overview of the role of the 7 letters in the book of Revelation and where we are at in this study….The book of Revelation was given to John on the island of Patmos to “unveil” what is to come. It was given as a picture book not as a puzzle. So it wasn’t given to us to decode it like the Davinci Code, but more to give us a picture of what is to come. Jesus himself gave John the revelation to send to 7 churches in his day, and in chapters 2 and 3 we read the letters Jesus had John write to accompany the revelation. Each letter follows the same structure (handout) and basically offers three things: First, Jesus tells them how they are doing, whether good or bad. Second, He urges them to either repent and change their ways, or stay faithful under persecution and struggles. And Third, He gives them a promise for those who overcome what they are facing.

Tonight we are going to look at two letters. The letter to Smyrna and the letter to Philadelphia. And these letters have everything in common. They have a common struggle and they both need great encouragement as they continue to persevere and stay faithful to Christ. So we are going to be looking at both letters tonight.

The ProbleM

So the first thing I want us to understand here is who they were and what their common struggle was. Smyrna was one of the largest and most thriving Roman cities. Today we know it as Izmir in modern day Turkey. While Philadelphia was not as prominent of a city as Smyrna, it was also under Roman rule. What is most important for us to know about the history in order to understand this passage is the political climate of the day. Being under the rule of Rome meant they were required to do things such as calling Caesar lord, sprinkling incense on a fire which burned for the emperor, and worshiping in the temple erected to the goddess of Rome, and so on. For those who refused to do this they faced the possibility of being accused of treachery and even being killed for it.

In light of that, it is surprising to learn that the greatest threat for the Christians in both cities originated from the Jews. The Jews had received political asylum by Rome and were exempt from emperor worship. What we learn from history and the scriptures is that the Jews hated those who had put their faith in Christ and believed he was the Messiah. The persecuted Christians even to the point of death. We see this in the death of Jesus, the persecution of Paul and other apostles, and even the martyrdom of apostles, missionaries, and believers by the hands of Jews. So we can only imagine what life was like for the Christians in Smyrna and Philadelphia living amongst large numbers of Jews.

 In verses 9 of both letters we read Christ’s description of the Jews in their cities:

To Smyrna Jesus says “I know your afflictions and your poverty… I know the slander of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan.”

Then to Philadelphia he also describes the Jews there as“…the synagogue of Satan, who claim to be Jews though they are not, but are liars…”

Jesus himself calls them a “Synagogue of Satan” and liars…they call themselves Jews but Jesus says they are not. Why? Why such a harsh description and why aren’t they really Jews?

Why are they not Jews? Because, they have rejected the son of God, Jesus. Everything that God had been telling the Jews since the beginning of time was leading them to Jesus, God’s tool to save mankind from sin. So being a Jew was actually about anticipating the Messiah, Jesus. So to reject Jesus meant to reject what they believed as Jews.

Secondly, why such a harsh description? In John 8 Jesus is talking to the Jews and He explains to them the point I just made, that if they are really Jews then they would believe in the one God sent. And he tells them, the reason you do not understand that is because,

44 You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies. … 47 He who belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God.”

So Jesus says, those who do not serve God are actually serving the desires and will of the devil. And truly the Jews proved this in their actions. They persecuted the Christians in their cities by turning them into Rome, hindering the growth of the Church of Christ, and rejecting Christians in society and business and marketplace.

So we read in the letter to Smyrna, in verse 9 that the result of this persecution is that they are afflicted and poor and that they are facing slander. We can only imagine for the Christians in Smyrna & Philadelphia what their persecution probably looked like and the results of it. Their reputations were most likely greatly impacted, they were probably not able to be prosperous in business, and because of it they probably felt the afflictions of this daily. In verse 10 we read that the persecution at times even resulted in imprisonment and death.

Last night in the TV show “The Good Wife,” the main character actually said to her daughter “Christians aren’t a threatened minority group” – and this speaks to the truth today that, we live in a very different day and age where Christianity is very accepted and we are able to live and work alongside many different religions. So the ways we are persecuted and suffer because of our faith in Christ looks different than it did for those in Smyrna & Philadelphia. Can you think of ways that we suffer because of our faith? How does this look today for Christians in the United States? How have you suffered when you acted on your Christian beliefs?

At times we are questioned and ridiculed for obeying God’s Word. Some examples of this is when we resolve to not having sex before marriage, to only date believers, to practice self-control rather than just letting loose and indulging in sensual pleasures (which the Bible calls debauchery), or to be faithful in a difficult marriage. If you make any kind of stand for Christ that looks “different” then often you are labeled a religious fanatic or called irrelevant. Dishonesty and selfish gain is obviously still a large part of the market place today so if a Christian resolves to be honest and forthright in business then she risks his job and ability to succeed and prosper. Our outward life may suffer if we choose to put others before ourselves – which is very counter-cultural in a world that says to take care of yourself first

Example

I have struggled with my family ever since I became a believer when I was 14. I can honestly tell you that often my family treats me with an undeserved hatred, they have been outright malicious towards me at times. And I have struggled to understand what I have done to deserve the things they do to me and the ways they slander me. But it wasn’t until recently that I realized just how much of that is because of my faith in Christ. When I thought of persecution I thought of what the people faced in the past, being told to renounce their faith or die. So as I looked at the way my family treated me I didn’t think it was persecution because they never verbalized that their hurtful behavior towards me was because I was a Christian. But now as I look at the strange way they treat me as opposed to those who are not believers, I realize that there is something very spiritual behind their behavior and feelings towards me, and the only explanation is that their treatment of me is a result of my faith in Christ.

What Scripture teaches us is that the world lives in darkness, and Christ is the light….but darkness hates the light and wants nothing to do with it. For those who live in darkness, if when they are exposed to the light of Christ they don’t turn to Him then they will hate the light and anyone who lives in it. When Paul writes his second letter to Timothy he explains to him what those living in darkness will look like, 2 Timothy 3:2-5 says,

2 People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy,  3 without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good,  4 treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God—  5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them.

Sounds a lot like the world we live in today. And not only does Paul tell Timothy not to have anything to do with it, but look at what he tells him in verse 12 to know that,

12 … everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted”

Jesus himself said in the Sermon on the Mount (Matt 5:11) that

“…people [will] insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of [Him]”

And then in John 15:20,

“Remember the words I spoke to you: ‘No servant is greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also...”

We must be aware that as we choose to live according to God’s Word, as we speak the truth of Christ to the world, as Paul said to Timothy if we want to live a godly life in Christ Jesus – we will face persecution. Jesus tells us that for those who truly live for Him it is inevitable, just as the world persecuted Him they will persecute His followers. But we need to also recognize that in our day and culture the persecution is going to be more subtle and passive, it’s going to look different than it did back then, but the message is the same. The way we are to respond to the suffering we face because of our faith is the same as it was then.

CHRIST’S COMFORT AND ENCOURAGEMENT

So how does Christ tell the believers in Smyrna and Philadelphia to respond to the persecution and suffering they are facing? What comfort and encouragement does He offer? Three things…

1.     He reminds them of who He is.

To Smyrna He describes Himself in verse 9 as:

“…him who is the First and the Last, who died and came to life again.”

If you lived in Smyrna and were facing potential martyrdom for your faith, how might this description of Christ give you comfort and encouragement? Describing Himself as the first and the last is the same as saying in Rev. 1:8 that He is the Alpha and the Omega. It means He is eternal, He is God. To remember that Christ died and rose again reminds us that He conquered death for us, that He is victorious over death. So, just as Christ died and then lived, we too will die and then receive life, eternal life. So we should not fear death because through it we will have eternal life.

 To Philadelphia He gives them a two-fold description of Himself in verse 7:

“…him who is holy and true, who holds the key of David. What he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open.”

So in the face of persecution and suffering because of their faith, Jesus reminds them first that He is God, holy. That what they believe and are suffering for is truth. When we suffer we are tempted to doubt our faith and beliefs, and we read in verse 8 that they were weak, so He strengthens their resolve reminding them that their faith is real and He is God.

Second, He says He holds the key of David and what he opens no one can shut and what He shuts no one can open. This refers to a prophesy in Isaiah 22:22 which says “…the key to the house of David; [will be given to Eliakim and] what he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open.” And what this is, is a picture of being given the right and authority to speak with the same authority of the King. The one who holds the keys to the kingdom has all authority and has the right to open or close the door. 

So when Jesus says to Philadelphia that He holds the keys of David, He is saying He has all authority and no one can reverse what he does. He holds the keys to the kingdom, to heaven just as we read in Rev 1:18 that He also holds the keys to death and Hell. So because He is the only one who holds the keys and because He has all authority – Only Christ can give salvation and ensure eternal life. In Matt 23:13 we are actually told that the Jews “shut the kingdom of heaven in men’s faces.” So they tried to tell people that they held the keys to heaven and they would not let others in. But then Jesus told Peter in Matt 16:19 that the keys to the kingdom have been given to them so that men could enter heaven through Christ. So through this description He is remind them that ultimately no man has control over our destiny, only Christ does, and they can know that what He does for them no man can reverse. The Jews cannot keep them from God, because Jesus holds the keys and has opened the door for them.

He also reminds Philadelphia of who He is in verse 9, how does what He says in verse 9 remind the Philadelphians of who He is? He says “I will make…” which reminds them that He is sovereign over all, even over evil people. He is reminding them that He is the judge and He will judge all people in the end! And when they are judged they will know that the Christians they persecuted were the children of God living in His truth.

Cling to who Christ is

So the first way we are shown her to stay strong in the midst of persecution and suffering is by reminding ourselves and one another of who Jesus is. If you are being faced with a decision in which you know that if you obey God’s Word you will face persecution or suffering from those around you – then get in God’s Word and be reminded of who He is. Remember that the worst thing that could happen to us on this earth is to be killed – but that because of Christ we know that we will have eternal life after our physical death. Remind yourself that He is God and that He is truth. That only He has ultimate authority over your destiny and future. And all the other things we learn about God and Christ in the scriptures. And cling to those truths as you choose to live out your faith.

 2.   He reminds them that He knows

To Smyrna He says…

9 “I know your afflictions and your poverty…I know the slander”

Then to Philadelphia He says…

8 “I know your deeds…I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name… 10 you have kept my command to endure patiently”

How many times when you are suffering do you just want to know that others know you are suffering? And even to know the ways you are obedient and faithful during that hard time? Just the fact that someone knows helps us to not feel so alone and to continue enduring and moving forward.

Here Jesus tells them that He knows. He sees it all….their struggles, the unfair treatment of them, their great needs, and even their perseverance and faith in the midst of it. And by telling them this He gives them comfort and encouragement knowing they are not alone, their lives are not going unnoticed even though they are unimportant in the eyes of the world. They are important enough for the creator of the world to care and notice. He is communicating to them that they are never alone or unseen. And He tells Smyrna in verse 10 that He even knows what is to come, He knows their future.

Example

In my twenties I was single, making below poverty level doing youth ministry, and feeling very alone since I did not have a family to lean on and help provide for me. When I was in Rockport doing Young Life, I was very alone, for two years my closest friend was my dog and I experienced many lonely nights and weekends. Doing ministry you face lots of persecution and spiritual warfare. And I remember one of the things that gave me the greatest comfort was knowing that God was there with me every step of the way. That He knew when I was treated unfairly, He knew when I was lonely for a friend, He knew the ways I had been faithful and obedient, and He knew what my future held. And at times it was that knowledge that gave me strength and confidence to keep going.

When you are struggling and feeling isolated because of your faith, remember that God knows, He is with you, you are not out of His sight.

3.    He reminded them of what is theirs through Him

In the letter to Smyrna, in verse 9, Jesus says although they are poor, they are rich. Why did Jesus say they were rich? Because they have what is of the greatest value – life in Christ. James 2:5 says that those who are poor in the world can still be rich in the faith and heirs of the kingdom of God. As Paul says in 2 Corinthians 4:17 our eternal glory far outweighs anything we could gain on earth. The riches we have in Christ far outweigh any riches on earth.

In Revelation 21 we find the description of heaven, which is ours in Christ, and what is to come for those to believe. And in the midst of this description God says to John in verse 7,

“He who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be his God and he will be my son.”

In each of these 7 letters, Jesus describes a piece of what is ours through faith in Christ. And with each letter He chooses something that speaks directly to what they are struggling with, just as He did with His description of Himself.

Smyrna – Eternal Life

First, in the letter to Smyrna, He says, to those who overcome the struggles of this world through faith in Christ…He says in verse 10, they will receive the crown of life. And then in verse 11 He says they will not be hurt by the second death.

What do the crown of life and the second death represent? What do they refer to? To heaven and hell. 

Crown of Life…

James 1:12   says, “Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.”The crown of life is the reward to those who are faithful. Eternal life. Heaven.

In their day crowns were given to the victors of sports events who endured physical hardships. Our crown for enduring spiritually is that much greater than the accolades that can be won on earth for earthly achievements. 

The Second Death…

Rev. 20:6 says, “Blessed and holy are those who have part in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a thousand years.”

And Rev. 20:14 says, “Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death.”

Rev. 21:8 says, “But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death." 

The second death refers to hell. Our first death is physical and we will all experience that. But the second death is spiritual, and only those who lack faith in Christ will face that.

So for those in Smyrna, who may face death for their faith in Christ, Jesus reminds them that it is not then end – after that they have eternal life! The crown of life. And they have nothing to fear because they will not face the second death. 

Philadelphia – Eternal Security

To those suffering in Philadelphia who overcome through faith in Christ, He tells them three things in verse 12…

1.     They will be a pillar in the temple of God

2.     Never again will He leave

3.     He will write on them God’s name, the name of the city of God, and Jesus’ new name

To these believers who are so weak and shakey, who have struggled with fearing that the Jews can take what is theirs in Christ – Jesus affirms them of the security that is theirs in eternity. He tells them that not only will they be in the temple of God in heaven, but that they will be a permanent part of the structure. Then He tells them Jesus will never leave the temple, so they will be with Jesus for eternity. And finally, they will not just be with Jesus, they will bear His name, His Father’s name, and the name of the city of God. They will belong. Bearing those names is a sign of ownership, family, and protection….everything they were lacking on earth. Jesus was reminding them that true security is only to be had after this life in eternity, and what they had waiting for them could never be taken away. 

Can you imagine how sweet these words were for those in Smyrna and Philadelphia to hear? Do you realize too that these words aren’t just true for them, but they are true for us. The promises that He makes to all 7 churches for those who overcome in Christ are ours as well. So when you are struggling with obedience to Christ in this world, thinking about compromising your faith and beliefs….remember what is yours in Christ. Keep in mind the things of eternity so that they will outweigh the things of this world and help you to live for Christ.

Our Response

In response to all of this Jesus urges these believers to not be afraid (2:10), to be faithful even to the point of death (2:10), and to hold on to what they have (3:11). Yes, even in the light of having our very lives threatened Jesus Christ tells us to not be afraid, to walk in our faith, and to cling to the future hope we have in Him.

No matter what you are facing or how your faith is being tested and challenged, this is God’s call to you. If you are faced with an ethical situation at work, or you are celebrating someone’s bachelorette party in Vegas, or you are tempted to have sex with the man you love who isn’t your husband yet, or your friends are encouraging you to leave a tough marriage, or you are tempted to date someone who isn’t a believer…Whatever it is that puts you in a situation where you can either choose to walk in God’s ways or in the ways of the world, stop and hear these words from Christ. Remember the bigger picture. Remember who He is, remember that He knows your struggle, and remember what is yours through faith in Him. Do not be afraid, be faithful, and hold on to what is yours in Christ.

And if you aren’t struggling in the world today, if you don’t face any persecution or isolation because of your faith – then maybe you need to stop and evaluate the way you live. Do you live for Christ in every area of your life making decisions that may not be accepted by those around you? Do you make the hard decisions that result in the world knowing your faith in Christ…or do you compromise your beliefs in order to blend in to the world around you? Are you going out into the darkness of this world and sharing the light of Christ or do you dilute the gospel to make it more PC and not offensive? Jesus tells the disciples repeatedly that they will suffer when they live out their faith so we can know that the same will be true in our lives, even in a culture where persecution looks different.

Revelation 2-3

Taught by Keeley Chorn

I’m sure many of you have had the experience where you’re taking a nice, hot, refreshing shower, when all of a sudden, the hot water goes out.  Maybe you just lathered your hair with shampoo or put the shaving cream on your second leg.  As soon as the hot water is gone, we start making quick decisions for how to get out of there as fast as possible.  Maybe I can just rinse my hair and wash it better tomorrow.  I’ll just wear jeans and nobody will notice my legs.  While the water may not be ice cold, it’s no longer hot though, and it’s uncomfortable.  Nobody wants to be in that shower anymore.  This gross, lukewarm temperature is not what we want in a good shower.  The lukewarm water will need a new fire under it to turn back to hot water. 

Christ uses this image of lukewarm water to describe the faith and passion of the church at Laodicea.  They are not cold or hot.  The church is not dead, but it’s not thriving.  No one would want to be a part of the lukewarm church.  The message Christ gives the Laodiceans and us in our passage tonight in Rev 3 is that lukewarm Christians need to hear Christ’s rebuke to gain a faith that is hot.  Christ calls the church of Laodicea out of mediocrity, out of its lukewarm faith, and into a faith that it hot.  Lukewarm Christians need to hear Christ’s rebuke to gain a faith that is hot. 

Tonight’s lesson begins our look at the 7 letters to the churches in Revelation.  We won’t have time to look at each one in depth, so Ashley and I have chosen the ones we think have the most content or can cause the most confusion, and those will be the ones we will focus on over the next 3 weeks.

As we read through these letters, I want to remind you that the lessons and events had meaning in the 1^st Century/John’s time, they have meaning to the current church in whatever time they are read, and they have meaning for the future times which are still to come.  Note that the repeated phrase/exhortation to each letter (see handout) is “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”  Each letter is written to “the churches” (plural).  The words of each letter are important for all churches in all times to hear God’s message. 

Loss of Love- Ephesus

The letters we had you read in preparation for tonight were Ephesus and Laodicea.  Both letters speak of a loss that the church has experienced, it’s a theme of the two.  Ephesus has lost its love and Laodicea has lost its passion. 

Ephesus is accused of losing their first love, of falling from the height they used to know.  They are praised for their deeds, their endurance, and their orthodoxy (they are great defenders of the faith from attack), but along the way they have lost their love.  People wonder: did they lose love for God or for each other?  Well, probably both.  Just as Jesus summarized the law, we are to love the Lord our God and then love our neighbor as ourselves, the two are bound together and if you lose one, the other will certainly go as well.  So Christ rebukes them, calling them to remember their first love, to repent, and to resume their previous deeds.  When they do, they will experience full life, in the presence of the one who is LOVE himself…  This is a quick summary of the letter to the Ephesians.  We’re not going to focus on this letter tonight, so if you had more questions when you were reading it, please feel free to come and ask Ashley or me about them. 

Loss of Passion- Laodicea

We are going to spend the rest of the evening focusing on the church in Laodicea and what it means that they have lost their passion, their fire. 

Background

What do we know about the church at Laodicea?  Laodicea is mentioned several times in the book of Colossians.  In his closing to the Colossians, Paul writes that his coworker Epaphras is working hard for Laodicea and Hierapolis and that after his letter is read to the Colossians, it should be read to the Laodiceans, and then the letter to the Laodiceans should be read to the Colossians.  You may be thinking, um, my Bible doesn’t have a letter to the Laodiceans.  You’re right.  Unfortunately, the letter to the Laodiceans has not be preserved, so we don’t know what it says, although we do know that this church would be familiar with the letter to the Colossians and Paul’s teaching about Jesus. 

2 things about its background that are important for understanding this letter are: its water source and industries.

1)  Water: From archeology, we know that the city of Laodicea didn’t have its own water source.  Aqueducts have been found traveling both from Hierapolis, a town 10 miles to the North with hot springs, to Laodicea, and from Colossae, which was 6 miles east and had cold springs, to Laodicea.  They had to import water from other cities.  The sources of their water were both hot and cold, but unfortunately, by the time it reached Laodicea, it was only lukewarm at best.  The aqueducts and water system will provide the context for Christ’s rebuke to this church. 

2) Industry: Laodicea was wealthy.  They were the wealthiest city in the region.  (Think Highland Park in Dallas…) We know that they had several successful industries.  Three in particular are important for understanding this letter.  1- Finance - they were a banking center in the region. 2- Garment Industry- The fertile lands around Laodicea were good for sheep grazing, and the city was known for successfully producing black wool from their sheep to make clothes with. 3- Medicine- in particular, Laodicea was a center for the study of the eyes, and they had produced a powder, a salve, that could be put on the eyes to heal them of diseases.  The industries of Laodicea will provide the context for Christ’s call to change for this church.

So, the things for us to keep in mind as we go through this letter are that 1) they didn’t have a good water source and 2) they had great wealth from their different industries.

Christ’s Rebuke

As the letter begins, Christ jumps right into condemning their faith.  This is the only letter that has no praises at all for the church.  The rebuke starts in verses 15-16.  As we read these verses, it’s clear that when Christ calls them neither cold nor hot, but lukewarm, he’s using the temperature of their imported water to speak to the temperature of their spiritual life. 

Lukewarm Christians

What are some ways that we can be “lukewarm” in our faith? What does it mean to be lukewarm spiritually?  We can be: complacent, self-satisfied, self-reliant, pretending, putting on a show, pride, indifference, absorbed with the culture, being proud of our money, our clothes, our accomplishments, etc.

Yeah, so these are great examples of what faith that is lukewarm looks like.  Notice that Christ wishes they were either hot or cold: even cold would be better than where they are.  Cold faith would basically be no faith or nominal faith; there would be no recognizable difference between them and the world/the culture. 

I once met a man who told me he doesn’t go to church because it’s full of hypocrites.  I said, sure it is, that’s the point.  We may mess up, but we go to church to learn how to grow and change and receive forgiveness from Christ when we do slip up.  The point of the gospel is that we have new life, now, in Christ, we have forgiveness and restoration.  But, unfortunately, some people don’t go to church to change; there are many Christians that are content living lives that are hypocritical: that are out of sync with their faith.  But we shouldn’t knowingly continue to live opposite to the life that Christ calls us to, so we have to know what he calls us to. 

So Christ says he would rather we have no faith than be lukewarm.  And lukewarm faith actually disgusts Christ: in verse 16, he says he is about to spit (or spew) them out of his mouth.  The “faith” of lukewarm Christians nauseates Christ.  He wants so much more from us, but what? 

A Faith that is Hot

What does a faith that is hot look like then?  On first thought, we think of a hot faith, being one that is “on fire,” characterized by passion for Christ, passion for faith, passionate to serve God and carry out his desires and will on earth.  Hot faith is excited faith, fresh faith.  It represents a change in your life.

Two weeks ago, a woman had a prayer request that she would feel good all week, like she does when she leaves Bible Study.  Her request is a great example of how being in God’s word, being in community, being in prayer helps us grow and develop a faith that is desirable, passionate.

Further Rebuke

Next, Christ uses the second aspect of their context: their industry to further rebuke them and to call for change. 

Let’s look first at verse 14 and the description of Christ as: “the Amen, the faithful and true witness.”  This description of Christ, like all the descriptions of Christ in the 7 letters (top row of chart), was also found in Rev 1, which we talked about several weeks ago.  Because Christ is faithful and true, his observation of their spiritual state is faithful and true. 

In verse 17, Christ points out the difference in how the Laodiceans view themselves and how they really are.  They say, “we are rich; we have gained wealth; we do not need a thing.  But Christ says they don’t realize that they are “wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked.”  They can’t see their true spiritual state because they’re blinded by their physical state; they can’t see their spiritual poverty because their physical riches get in the way. 

Their Industry

Christ then speaks to their true need, to their true spiritual state, by calling them to change.  He tells them to buy from him.  What does he tell them they need from him?: Refined gold (versus their own banking), white clothes (versus their black wool), and eye salve from him (versus the eye powder from their medical schools).  Christ gets to the heart of their condition.  They are lukewarm because they place their value and their worth and their identity in the things of their own city.  The church has become proud and boasts in the very things that the city is known for.  There is no real difference in the city and the church.  Their wealth, their clothes and their medicine has blinded them to their true selves.  They have the physical, but not the spiritual. 

What are the industries found in Dallas?  What do we pride ourselves on as a city?  Things like: fashion, shopping, arts, banking, technology, etc. How are we tempted by these things?  Do we trust in the money we make, where we live, with being in and near such a successful city like Highland Park?  Do we worry about what clothes we own, spend large amounts of time shopping to look the part?  Do we trust in our accomplishments, in our renown for what we can do for the community?

For Laodicea, their true spiritual condition was one of poverty, nakedness, and blindness.  Christ’s rebuke to them is harsh: these would be hard words for them to hear because they saw themselves as so self-sufficient, but Christ means to awaken them, to open their eyes, so that they can move from being lukewarm to having a faith that is full of passion, one that is hot. 

Christ’s Call to Change

How do we get a hot faith?  Well, we have to hear the rebuke of Christ and recognize our true spiritual state.  Christ lists 3 things (in verse 18) that we need for change:

1) We have to turn to him for gold, to get from him gold, refined in the fire.  In Isa 55:1, God says to “come, buy from me, you who have no money, come and buy without money and without cost” (paraphrase).  He is just saying, come to me and receive from me my free gift of mercy that I offer.  He offers us gold, but refined gold that has gone through the fire to remove the dross, the impurities.  It’s a process of taking off the bad to be left with a more beautiful and precious substance.  It may hurt to go through the fire, through trials, but the end result is a more beautiful version of you—when you turn to Christ in that trial. 

2) We have to turn to him for our clothes.  He counsels them to buy his white clothes.  Elsewhere in Revelation, like in the letter to Sardis, we see that there are a few who have not soiled their clothes and who wear white because they are worthy in God’s eyes.  The 24 elders of Rev 4 who sit around God’s throne are dressed in white.  In Rev 7, the people who have come out of the tribulation are before God’s throne serving him day and night.  Their clothes/robes have been washed in the blood of the lamb and thus made white…  It’s hard for us to imagine how washing something in blood can make it white, yet this is the very image of purity God uses to show us what we have through his son, through his death and resurrection.  It’s counterintuitive…So, people shouldn’t be dazzled by our amazing fashion sense and ability to put together a great outfit, but by our faith; our faith and love are what people should notice about us.

3)  We have to turn to Christ for salve (an ointment or medicine) to put on our eyes so that we can see.  Laodicea may be known for curing eye problems with their powder, but their true spiritual condition is one of blindness.  They base their fame on their ability to make others see, and yet they cannot even see themselves.  They need to come to him to open their eyes.

Christ goes after everything that they have based their worth and identity on and shows its falseness.  He shows their real need for him.  They may think they have physical wealth and are so safe from judgment, but God shows them that they have no spiritual wealth and calls them to change.  We have to recognize how much we need him—each day.

A Level of Suffering

I want to point out how being refined in the fire, wearing blood-soaked clothes, and having spiritually open eyes involves a level of pain, of suffering.  Next week, we’re going to look at two churches that suffered a lot and were praised for it.  We shouldn’t be afraid of growing through suffering. 

So, Christ rebukes lukewarm Christians so that they can gain a faith that is hot, full of true passion. But they have to go to him for the source of change.  He calls them, and he enables them.

Gaining a Faith that is Hot

Where do we go from here then?  We may want to have a faith that is hot, we don’t want to be lukewarm, but how do we get it? 

First, think about where you are.  Do you feel like you’re just drifting through, giving the bare minimum engagement with your faith?  Are you lukewarm?  If Christ were to look at your life, would he see evidence of growth and fruit in your life.  The first step is for you to examine yourselves.

Second, stop doing the things that are holding you back in your faith.  You probably know already what they are.  Pray for Christ to give you the strength to stop.  That he will give you the courage to stand up for what you know he wants you to do.  Prayer and self-reflection are important parts of learning to stop doing the things that make you lukewarm in your faith.

Third, hear Christ’s rebuke: repent where you stray, humble your hearts, listen to Christ as he speaks to you.  Listen to the Holy Spirit.  Lukewarm Christians need to hear Christ’s rebuke to gain a faith that is hot.  Notice in verse 19 that Christ says “those whom I love I rebuke and discipline.” It really is out of his love for us, that Christ rebukes us and challenges us to wake up/open our eyes.  He wants us to live truly meaningful lives.

Fourth, we need to hold onto the promises of God and his call for change.  We have to go to the source of true change: Christ himself.  His promises to us are also, gold, white clothes, open eyes.  We have to come to him daily to ask for it; to ask for his transformation in our lives.  

Christ also promises that those who hear his message, who are earnest and repent and want to have a true faith, those will have the right to sit with him on his throne (verse 21), just as Christ overcame and sat on the throne with his father.  This is a promise that we can hold onto now, because Christ is already reigning, but we just don’t see it fully yet.  We can be his good agents of change in the world, though.  So hold onto the promises of God, grasp them, and make them real in your life. 

Fifth, involve the Holy Spirit in your changed behavior.  Ask him to move you, to change you, to refine you, to turn your heart, to open your eyes.  Ask for that passionate faith, for a faith that is hot.

Walk yourself through all these steps. Examine where you are lukewarm, make a commitment to change and to stop doing what’s keeping you lukewarm, hear Christ’s rebuke and repent, hold onto his promises, and finally, involve the Holy Spirit, who is the only lasting agent of change—and change IS possible through the Holy Spirit—and don’t forget that this is a refining process, it will be difficult.

Conclusion

In conclusion, we’ve seen tonight, how lukewarm Christians need to hear Christ’s rebuke to gain a faith that is hot.

Questions for Discussion & Application…

• ·      What are you passionate about? How does your faith factor into this?
• ·      What is the state of your current spiritual life? Cold, lukewarm, or hot, and why?

Revelation 1

Taught by Keeley Chorn

Helpful Handouts:

1. Handout that went along with the lesson

2. Another handout explaining different views on how to read Revelation and also views on the Millenium

3. A brief outline of Revelation

A couple of months ago, I bought a book I’d wanted to read for a while: Dante’s Inferno. The book is an epic poem about Dante’s descent into the rings of hell where he encounters various men and women from the past and from his own time period. As I started, I saw a lot of ornate language, symbolism, rich description, and images of intense suffering. I felt like I couldn’t understand its content and I was afraid it was too complex for me. I set it down on my bedside table to collect dust. I just wasn’t up for the challenge or intensity that would come with reading Inferno… but this book is a classic, and I felt like I was going to continue wanting to read it until I was able to finish it. To do this, I was going to have to see Dante as less remote.

Over the Christmas break, I finally decided to dust it off and give Dante another shot. As I started, I realized it wasn’t as difficult as I thought. The language was descriptive, but it flowed. The images were scary and other-worldly, but believable. My fears about the complexity, strangeness, and obscurity were dispelled. What dispelled these fears? Well, starting the book did; picking it up and reading. I realized that it wasn’t as remote as I thought. It wasn’t too hard to read. Now, I did consult a few notes on the background of the story, so that I understood his context, but other than that, I found the writing to be accessible.

Our study of Revelation is meant to show you, that this last book of the Bible, is also accessible. Through God’s Holy Spirit and our knowledge of the rest of his Bible, we can read and understand Revelation. Our goal in this study is to introduce you to the book, to show you how important it is for Christian living, and to encourage you to pick it up and start to read it; to see that it too is accessible.

Introduction to book of Revelation

To help us study Revelation, let me give a little background. Revelation was written by John. Tradition has it that this is the same John that wrote the gospel of John and the 3 NT letters by the name of John. The book was actually a circular letter written to 7 churches that are in modern-day Turkey. By circular letter, I mean that it was written to all 7, and was meant to be passed between them, read, and understood. We know from Ch. 1, verse 9 that the writer John was on the island of Patmos (a Greek island located about 100 miles SW, as the crow flies, of the city of Smyrna, modern-day Izmir). John was on the island because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ. He says he is the believers’ companion in suffering and patient endurance. The book was written to speak to real needs that the church was suffering. The book was to be an encouragement for those under great pressure and suffering pointing them to Christ, and it’s a challenge to combat the forces of evil all around them (even within them).

Their form of persecution might have been different than ours today. Today we are told to leave our faith at home, in private, to not bring it into the workplace. We can end up scared to say anything, because someone might think less of us. It might hurt our chance for promotion. But the encouragement, the focus on Christ, and the challenge to resist evil are still relevant to us and should cause us to pause and think about how we live.

Four millennial views

Because Revelation deals with many heavenly and future things, it has been interpreted in many ways. I’ve put together a handout for you of the four major variations of interpretation of the book and end times. The sheet is meant to be a quick reference for you, if you ever need it… Why are there different views, you might be thinking? Well, basically Christians disagree over how to interpret the end times. All the views wrestle with the Scriptures, but come to different conclusions. This isn’t that different than why we have different denominations. Christians agree on the major points of faith, but disagree on how it plays out in the day-to-day life of the church.

What is a millennium? A period of 1,000 years. To help us understand the meaning of “millennium,” I want you to remember the year 2000. People were worried that it was going to be the end of the world. All the computers were going to malfunction, cause widespread chaos, potentially damage, and perhaps even the end of the world as we knew it… People were afraid of the uncertainty, of what might happen. Besides fears about the unknown, it was also 2000 years after the birth of Christ. It was the beginning of a new millennium, and many predicted that it was going to usher in the return of Christ and the final judgment. I tell you this, so that you can see how having a specific end-times view can cause you to interpret our current times. Having this view shows one of the interpretations…

Looking at our handout, we see that there are shared beliefs that Christians have about the end times. The difference is that Christians disagree on the order in which these events will take place. A lot of the differences stem from an interpretation of Revelation 20 which refers to a thousand-year period in which Christ reigns and Satan is bound.

1. The first view says that Christ will come the second time, a literal 1000 years will follow in which Christ literally and bodily reigns on earth, and at the end of this “millennium” the last judgment will occur. This view gets its name from the fact that Christ returns prior to the millennium, or premillennium. Holders of this view are called premillennialists. Some famous premillennialists are some of the early church fathers, Fuller Seminary, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School.
2. The second view is really a sub-category of the first. They insert a period of 7 years between the 2^nd coming and the millennium calling these 7-years the time of tribulation. The period of tribulation is to gather in more Christians, and then Christ will come the 2^nd time (again) to start his earthly 1000-year rule. Holders to this view are often just called Dispensationalists. Famous dispensationalists are the authors of the Left Behind series, Dallas Theological Seminary. This view is often seen in association with Bible churches throughout the evangelical movement.
3. The third major interpretation of the millennium, or the 1000 years, is that we will continue living as we currently do, and at some point in the future, the millennium will begin. We will recognize it because the gospel will win more people, nations will become Christian, laws will all become Christ, and evil grow less, more and more during this time. This view gets its name from the fact that Christ returns after the millennium, or post-millennium. Holders of this view are called posmillennialists. I struggled to find some famous postmillennialists that I thought you would know. It’s not as widespread in American churches as it was in other time periods. (A few theologians who hold to this view are Greg Bahnsen and Kenneth Gentry.)
4. The fourth major interpretation of the millennium, says that we currently live in the millennium. Christ has already triumphed over death and Satan on the cross, and ever since then, he has been reigning over the earth. He will still return at some point in the future. The 1000 years are seen as symbolic, because they appear in apocalyptic visions in a symbolic book. Holders of this view are called amillennialists, because they don’t distinguish a millennium from our current circumstances. Proponents of this view are Episcopalians, Catholics, and many Reformed people, including Presbyterians, specifically PCPC, and most people at Westminster and Redeemer Seminaries.

Whew! That’s a lot to cover in 5-10 minutes! You might be thinking, what does it matter? Do I have to choose one of these beliefs to be a Christian? No, you don’t have to choose one of these views to be a Christian or even to come to this Bible Study. Ashley and I hope that by at least introducing you to them, you’ll be better able to understand why people interpret the end times and Revelation so differently. The next time you encounter the words rapture or tribulation or millennium, you’ll know that these words are associated with how people read the book of Revelation (and other end times prophecy statements).

Revelation 1: What is “revealed” about Jesus?

Okay, let’s dive into Ch. 1 of Revelation now. I’ve already given you a little background on the book. Now, I want to look at its content. When I think of “apocalypse,” I think of end times, maybe the great battle of Armegeddon, the end of the world, a great disaster, or some sci-fi movie, even Mel Gibson’s Apocalypto about the Mayan end of calendar in 2012. There are many things that come to mind.

The word “apocalypse” actually comes from the Greek language (apokalypsis) and is the same word as the English “Revelation.” An alternate title for the book of Revelation has traditionally been “Apocalypse.” So, the word apocalypse (or revelation) means an “unveiling,” a lifting of the veil, a revealing of something. It’s supposed to be a disclosure of something hidden. That’s what we have here in the book of Revelation. Ch. 1 reveals or makes known the risen Christ, as God, to us. In the first verse of the book, we learn, even though the book was written by John and he received the vision while he was in the Spirit, that this is “the revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave to show his servants [that includes us!] what must soon take place.” It’s this message and testimony of what John’s seen that has landed him in exile (verse 9). He stood up for what he heard and believed, and he suffered for it. Right off, we know that as Christians when we live out our faith, life is not necessarily going to be easy for us; it’s going to be a struggle.…

This vision of Christ in heaven, after his resurrection, helps shape the way we view our future, what heaven will be like (or a vision to share with a loved one who is dying), but it even more importantly shapes the way we view our present day and life (this vision should change the way we view God and the resurrected Christ). To give you a quick and short outline, this chapter can be divided into two main parts: one, the Prologue in verses 1-8, and two, the son of man and his message, in verses 9-20.

The Prologue

The Prologue, in verses 1-8, goes through a lot of the important background information I’ve already talked about. For now, I’m just going to focus on some of the details about Christ that are shared with us in this section. Revelation 1 is revealing Christ to us.

Think of the way when you look through the lens of a camera, you can adjust and focus your view on the world. Reading Revelation is like further focusing our view on God and on Christ. It allows us to see him in a bigger and more magnified way. The more we study and read and learn about him, the greater our picture of him is and the better we will know him and how much he loves us. The more powerful our lens and the more we use it, the better prepared we will be to face the struggles of life, because we will know God better and we’ll be able to understand better what he’s doing.

About Christ, it is revealed, in verse 5, that Jesus is the faithful witness, he’s the firstborn from the dead—this means that he was the first to be resurrected to eternal life, he’s the first of many more to come—, and he’s the ruler of the kings of the earth. Christ is now already the ruler of the kings of the earth. Verse 6 tells us what he has done for us: he’s loved us—you and me—he’s freed us from our sins by his death and blood, and he’s made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve God, the Father. In verses 7-8, we see that the urgency of the letter is because Christ is coming again; the NT often describes him as returning with the clouds.

As his servants, you and I have an important role and mission for our lives. We are to show his kingdom to the world and to serve him, either through our words or our actions. We do this by living out our faith at work, at home, in our relationships. We must honor our employers and their time; our spouses or significant others, our friends. We may be called to speak up about our faith or leave a situation that’s not in accord with our beliefs. These are further ways that sharpening our focus on Christ helps us live more consistently with our beliefs.

The Son of Man

Let’s move to the second part of this chapter in verses 9-20. In these verses we learn a lot about what the risen Christ looks like. We didn’t get descriptions like these of Jesus when he was on earth, after the resurrection. This is after he has ascended to heaven and where he reigns over the earth now. These descriptions add depth to our understanding of who Christ is. They help us focus our lens.

These verses reveal Christ even more to us as God. In verse 10, we are introduced to the voice of, which verse 13 reveals is, one “like a son of man.” He is described as having a voice like a trumpet and like the sound of rushing waters. His feet are glowing. His head and hair are white like wool and snow. His eyes are blazing; his face is like the sun in all its brilliance. He is radiating! This is a picture of the glory that he has now that he is resurrected. Out of his mouth comes a sharp, double-edged sword. At first I thought, oh, that’s a bad sign, someone’s going to get cut, but in the context of the rest of the Bible, specifically Hebrews 4:12, we see that a double-edged sword is used to describe the word of God. So Hebrews 4:12 says,

“For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”

So, I think we can safely say that what he holds in his mouth is the word of God, which is able to penetrate our hearts, souls, and thoughts.

What is the reason John refers to Christ as “one like a son of man?” Why does the text call Christ this? How can we be