Visions of the Exalted Christ Part 3

Revelation Commentary, , , , ,

Revelation 1:11-20

Light Comes Down From Heaven

We should point out that these visions of the “glory” or Light of God were from heaven; they were high and lifted up. In Ezekiel’s vision, for example, he gives a full description of the cherubim, the chariots, wheels, and turning fire, giving a feeling of swift and powerful motion. These “living creatures” are rather “moving things,” i.e. the constellations of the stars and their movements in the starry heavens. The wheel itself is the great turning sky, and the wheel-in-the-middle-of-the-wheel is the Lord Jesus Christ, symbolized by the polar circle upon which the apparent movement of the whole universe is turned.

In all these visions, we see that the highest symbols possible to be used in describing God are the symbols of the starry heavens. It is these same symbols which are used in the book of Revelation of Jesus Christ.

Other Manifestations of God in Light:

In two other glorious manifestations of Light, God revealed Himself in the Old Testament to Israel: namely, the Shekinah glory and that mysterious oracle called Urim ve Thummim.

The Shekinah:
At Sinai when Moses had gone up into the Mount to receive the Law, the people departed from the will of God by creating for themselves a visual image to worship to which they attributed the miracle of their deliverance from Egypt. God was so displeased with their idolatrous act that He proposed to Moses that He should destroy them and make Moses and his seed the heirs of the promises. But Moses interceded for the people and begged forgiveness. In granting this forgiveness, God gave them a visible manifestation of Himself to go with them.

This was not a concrete image such as an idol could have; not the works of men’s hands, but an image of light, the pillar of the cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night. This manifestation was called the “Shekinah” and offered tangible proof of God’s presence while providing physical guidance for the nation. But this presence was necessarily also a spiritual presence, for when Israel strayed from God morally, His visible presence would remove from their midst until they were again so oriented as to behold the revelation of His glory.

Christ, The Shekinah

In the time of Christ the faithful in Israel had longed for the return of the Shekinah which had been missing since the days of the destruction of the first temple. The literal interpretation of Shekinah is “He dwells with us.” When Christ became manifest in Light, the event represents the return of the Shekinah glory. The message to the faithful is: “Behold Him! The Shekinah glory” thereby reversing the curse of “Ichabod” which literally means “the glory is departed.” Christ as “Immanuel” is God-with-us; the glory has returned.

Next: Visions of God Part 4

This lesson is an edited excerpt from my book, Revelation in Context, available locally at the Living Word Bookstore in Shawnee, Oklahoma or www.Amazon.com, or www.XulonPress.com.
Free downloads are also available at www.revelationincontext.sermon.net.

Visions of The Exalted Christ Part 2

Revelation Commentary, , , ,

Revelaton 1:11-20

IMAGES

In receiving the Visions of the Book of Revelation, we must be cautioned against concrete images of God for these were forbidden by the second commandment. There was ever, in the writings of the Old Testament, a care taken not to give the manifestation of God a form which could be taken for an idol. The fact cannot be overemphasized that God is a Spirit and therefore cannot be confined to any form. When God revealed Himself in a visible form, according to the Scriptures, He revealed Himself in mediums of Light which, while visible, could never be taken as an idol-form neither could it be made by the works of men’s hands. We may safely say that God is always revealed in some form of light and there is no other visible form in which He has revealed Himself.

Those revelations of light included color, reflections, and luminous displays such as that of fire, smoke, or shaped light such as the rainbow or the shining of precious jewels or the glow of precious metals. This manifestation of light in which God shewed Himself was His visible “glory.” (His glory, however, was also manifest in other than visible forms, for example, the audible Voice.)

Before sin brought about the necessity of the veil, God walked with Adam in an open way, but afterwards He only revealed His Light, or His “glory,” which might also be interpreted as His garment. Repeatedly we are told that no man hath seen God. Moses prayed: “I beseech thee, shew me thy glory,” (Exodus. 34:18), for he was afraid to ‘see God’ for it meant certain death. How marvelous it is when God breaks through the veil of our doubting flesh to shew us His glory. This Christ did in the Revelation, for He is “the brightness of His glory, and the express image of His person.” (Hebrews 1:3)

Appearances of God in Light:

When God appeared to the seventy elders of Israel along with Moses, Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, they “saw the God of heaven” but amazingly, He is not described! Rather, the surrounding light is described: “There was under his feet as it were a paved work of a sapphire stone, and as it were the body of heaven in his clearness.” (Exodus 24:10)

Again, when Isaiah saw his wonderful vision, he, too, hesitates to describe the Lord Himself. He says:
“In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. Above it stood the seraphim: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet and with twain he did fly. And one cried unto another and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory…for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.” (Isaiah 6:1-3, 5d)

We marvel that the prophet evades the central subject of the vision and describes the surrounding scene instead!

Ezekiel’s Visions

Ezekiel also says: “As I was among the captives by the river of Chebar, …the heavens were opened and I saw visions of God.” (Ezekiel 1:1) He gives a lengthy description of the scene but when he describes the central figure it is in terms of light:
“And above the firmament over their heads there was the likeness of a throne, in appearance like sapphire, and seated above the likeness of a throne was a likeness as it were of a human form. And upward from what had the appearance of his loins I saw as it were gleaming bronze, like the appearance of fire enclosed round about; and downward from what had the appearance of his loins I saw as it were the appearance of fire, and there was brightness round about him. Like the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud on the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness round about. Such was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. And when I saw it, I fell upon my face, and I heard the voice of one speaking.” (Ezekiel 1:26-28, RSV)

In Ezekiel 8 he again describes the vision of God:
“A likeness as the appearance of fire: from the appearance of his loins even downward, fire: from the appearance of his loins even upward, as the appearance of brightness, as the colour of amber.”

Then in chapter 40 he simply states that: “Behold, there was a Man, whose appearance was like the appearance of brass.” Brass is known for its glow.

Daniel’s Vision of God

When Daniel saw the Ancient of Days, he could but describe the light and colour:
“Whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure wool: his throne was like the fiery flame, and his wheels as burning fire. A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him:” (Daniel 7:9-10)

Here the only thing not described as pure light is that his hair was like the pure wool. Although we might visualize the texture of the wool or its warmth, the writer here, in this context, no doubt had the whiteness of wool in mind, the colour or glow.

Next: Visions of God Part 3

This lesson is an edited excerpt from my book, Revelation in Context, available locally at the Living Word Bookstore in Shawnee, Oklahoma or www.Amazon.com, or www.XulonPress.com.
Free downloads are also available at www.revelationincontext.sermon.net.

Vision Of The Exalted Christ Part 1

Revelation Commentary, , , ,

Read Revelation 1:11-20.

As John turned facing the north, he saw the beautiful Seven-Star Constellation that appears to be the center of the universal heavens, orbiting the pole star. In the midst of this constellation was “one like unto the Son of Man”. This is so breath-taking a picture that we can hardly imagine it. Yet it is even more magnificent when we see that it had been prophesied by the prophets hundreds of years earlier.

Read Isaiah chapters 11-13.

This appearance of Christ in His majestic position in the height of the heavens is a fulfillment of the promise of Isaiah 11:1: “And there shall come forth a Rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots.”

This “Rod” is to stand as an Ensign of the people, (Isaiah 11:10). The Ensign was the Banner that served to signal the people to gather. The signal was to be observed and obeyed by the Gentiles of the whole universe. In Isaiah 12, this gathered Host of the Lord is the true Zion, as it worships and praises Him. Christ is the Holy One of the New Israel in the midst of Zion, His regathered people.

We see this “Banner” again in Isaiah 13:2:

“Lift ye up a banner upon the high mountain, exalt the voice unto them, shake the hand, that they may go into the gates of the nobles.”

The “high mountain” was that of the heavens. These who gathered to this “Banner” were the sanctified ones, those who rejoice in the righteousness of the Lord. They are a mighty army. They are about to witness the destruction of “Babylon”, (Isaiah 13:1); for it is the “Day of the Lord”.

Christ Fulfilling Isaiah 11, 12 and 13: The Ensign, Banner, Diadem:

Revelation 1:11-20 shows Christ in His position in the heavens of the exalted Banner of God. The Hebrew word for ‘ensign’, ‘banner’, ‘diadem’, is nâçaç II, ‘To lift up, to exalt’; whence a form of the word is found in Zechariah 9:16: “They shall be as stones of a diadem, (RSV: “Jewels of a Crown”), lifting themselves up in his land,” (RSV “They shall shine on”). A related word, nêzer, that is, (1), the diadem or token by which anyone is separated from the people at large, (2) consecration…the consecrated head.’ We also see these jewels again shining in the New Jerusalem of Revelation 21:18-21.

As this exalted Banner, Christ is also described by another closely related word nêç: “something lifted up, a token to be seen far off, specially, (1) a banner, such as went up on high mountains, esp. in case of an invasion, when it showed the people where to assemble, as in Isaiah 5:26; 11:12; 18:3; 62:10; Jeremiah 4:6, 21; Psalms 60:6, (vs. 4 KJV),….(2) a standard, or flag, as of a ship… (3) a column or lofty pole, as in Numbers 21:8,9, (4) Metaphorically, a sign by which anyone is warned, as in Number 26:10.”

Christ also fulfills the active participle form, nəçibâh, meaning “bringing about the guidance of God.” This ‘Ensign, Banner, Diadem’ was the guiding Light of God when the Christians were called out of Jerusalem as foretold by Isaiah 52:11, 12: “And the God of Israel will be your gathering place,” (or “glory of the Lord shall be thy gathering place.”) Then verse 13: “Thy servant… he shall be exalted and extolled and be very high.”

The outcasts of Israel were to be gathered to this Banner, (Isaiah 10:12), Christ.

John’s vision sees Christ, exalted to the heavens, fulfilling all of the majesty, beauty, and power of the visions of the prophets.

This lesson is an edited excerpt from my book, Revelation in Context, available locally at the Living Word Bookstore in Shawnee, Oklahoma or www.Amazon.com, orwww.XulonPress.com.
Free downloads are also available at www.revelationincontext.sermon.net.

Created For Stewardship – Not Tyranny

Teaching, ,

Every member of the human race is confronted with the question of their relationship to the other living creatures upon this earth that we commonly inhabit. As for this and all other questions of our ultimate purpose and responsibilities, we find the answer in the Holy Bible, the Word of the Living God.

Genesis Chapter 1 – Creation

In the creation account in Genesis chapter 1, we find the awesome account of the original creation. In verses 20 through 25 we have the account of the creation of the living creatures:
“And God said, ‘Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creatures that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven. 21 And God create great whales and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good. 22 And God blessed them, saying, ‘Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth. 23 And the evening and the morning were the fifth day. 24 And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so. 25 And God made the beast of the earth after his kind: and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good.”

Creation of Mankind – His Mandate

Next we have the account of the creation of Mankind: “26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. (27) So God created man in His own image, in the image of God created He him; male and female created He them. (28) And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth,” Genesis 1:26-28.
Then we have the statement of God’s will for their food, verses 29-31:
29 “And God said, ‘Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed, to you it shall be for meat. 30 And to every beast of the earth and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so. 31 And God saw every thing that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.”

To Sum It Up

Revelation 4:11 sums it up: “Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.”

And to this I say, “Amen.”

Note two things from this account:
1. We know from this creation story that the animals and all other living creatures are not in the same class as people; neither are people in the same class as animals, for Mankind was created in the image of God. Since God created Mankind in His image and for His pleasure we know that it is His pleasure for us to exercise the dominion for which we were created: we are to be stewards of the creation and shepherds of the beasts.
2. At this point God gave Mankind the herbs bearing seed, and the fruit of trees yielding seed for food. For the beasts, the fowls and the creeping things, He gave the green herbs for food.

Genesis Chapter 2: Creation of Adam – The Breath of Life

Here we have the full account of the creation of the first man, Adam, and his wife, Eve, and the beautiful garden of Eden. God created this Man by forming him from the dust of the earth, then breathing into his nostrils the Breath of Life, making him a living soul. This ‘Breath of Life’ is the Holy Spirit of God, [Hebrew ruah], which gave Man the image of God Who is a Spirit. This clearly places Mankind in a separate class from the animals. He is not brought forth by the earth nor by the sea as was the animals, but was uniquely created by God.

The Garden of Eden And Man’s Free Will

God planted the garden of Eden and made it to grow. Verse 16: “And the Lord God commanded the Man, saying, ‘Of every tree of the garden thou mayest eat: 17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.’” Here we see the origin of Mankind’s prerogative to obey or not to obey God, his free will.

Chapter 2 continues with the account of the creation of Eve and the marriage of Adam and Eve.

Genesis Chapter 3: Temptation, Sin, and Death

This gives the account of the temptation by the serpent and their sin of disobedience by eating of the forbidden tree and the awful consequences of expulsion from the garden. It is this original sin that brought about death, not only of Mankind, but also of the rest of the natural world, the necessity for bringing forth more children to replenish the earth, and hard labor to bring forth food.

Chapters 4 Through 8 – The Consequences of Sin

In Chapters 4 through 8 we read of the awful consequences of Adam’s sin and the death that it brought. Sin and death prevailed even unto the time when the whole earth was filled with such violence that God, Himself, was greatly grieved. He saw that He must destroy the whole family of Mankind, as well as the creatures.

Genesis 6:8: “But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.” And God directed him to build an ark, so that he and his family could survive the flood that was coming upon the whole earth to destroy it. They also were to take two of every creature into the ark to preserve the lives of the creatures.

Chapter 9: After the flood – Meat Is Permitted

“And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, Be fruitful and multiply, and replenish the earth. 2 And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth, and upon every fowl of the air, upon all that moveth upon the earth, and upon all the fishes of the sea; into your hand are they delivered. 3 Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you; even as the green herb have I given you all things. 4 But flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall ye not eat.”

In this account, we find that God not only reiterated His commission that Mankind should take dominion over the creatures, but also that now He could use them for food, with the prohibition that they should not eat them with the blood thereof.

The Privileges And Responsibilities of Dominion

How, then, are we to exercise this amazing divine directive to take dominion over all of the living creatures? God is the Great Shepherd, Who sets the example for us. We can best understand our privileges and responsibilities to the creatures by observing how our Father, God, in Whose image we are created, relates to us in body, soul and spirit. It is not a relationship of a tyrant over his slaves and subjects, but the relationship of loving care and companionship.

God is the Father of our Spirits, Hebrews 12:5-11. As a loving Father, He disciplines us for our good, chastening us in order to develop us in the ways of His righteous and peaceful Kingdom. Being in His image, He wills that we should, in turn, discipline, chasten, and teach our children for their good.

He is the Saviour of our bodies, Ephesians 5.23 and I Timothy 4:10. We are to be good stewards also of our own bodies, also training our children to respect and cherish their bodies. After all, our bodies are flesh and must be ruled by our spirit.

He is the Shepherd of our souls. As the Great Shepherd, He teaches us and models the role of how we are to exercise our dominion over the living creatures. It does not allow for neglect or abuse, but rather for nutrition, shelter, and good management. Psalm 23 gives us the perfect picture of the life of the animal under the care of a Good Shepherd; they are ‘pets.’ In this relationship, the shepherd’s fold is a sanctuary.

Jesus describes His own role as the Good Shepherd in John 10:11-18. This is one of the greatest descriptions of the love relationship between a shepherd and his sheep. The Good Shepherd gives His life for the sheep. The Good Shepherd is contrasted with the hireling, one who cares for the animals only for what he can profit from it. The hireling can neglect or abuse the animals, but a good shepherd will risk his own life to save His sheep.

This clearly teaches what our attitude should be to the animals: “A righteous man regardeth the life of a beast: but the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel,” Proverbs 12:10.

A Symbiotic Relationship

In the Biblical record, the relationship is symbiotic; that is, it is advantageous and necessary for both the man and the animal. The animal receives good and proper sustenance, protection from predators and weather, treatment for diseases, parasites and injuries, and careful breeding. The man receives food, shelter, clothing and companionship.

The Lord is our Good Shepherd. Let us submit willingly to His tender care and joyfully to our ability to bring blessings and joy to Him.

Voice Like A Trumpet Saying ‘Write’

Revelation Commentary, , , ,

Voice Like a Trumpet

Revelation 1:10; 4:1: “A loud voice like a trumpet,” RSV.

This voice seems to be the same voice in both Revelation 1:10 and 4:1. It identifies the speaker as “Alpha and Omega,” which we know from verse 8 is the Lord Jesus.

This voice foreshadows the Seven Trumpets that are sounded later in the book.
The voice of the Lord is a most awesome experience as witnessed by the children of Israel at Sinai, Exodus 19:6, 16-19, and cited in Hebrews 12:19-26.*

The trumpet used for proclamations was the shofar. The trumpet used for proclaiming the new moon, changing of times, etc., was the yowbel. This word carries the connotation of being borne along as with a stream. It is the source of the word translated “jubilee,” and was used for proclaiming the jubilee year. It indicated the sense of marking a definite point in an endless stream of time.

Revelation 1:11 “Write what you see.”

Here in verse 11, the Voice commands John to write what he sees to the Seven Churches. In verse 11, the words “which are in Asia,” are inserted at the translators privilege and are not in the original Greek text. However, In verse 4, the words “which are in Asia,” are in the original Greek. This may be significant, as I explain in my Commentary on verse 4, (which see).

God-Given Scriptures Were Written

The authoritative Scriptures were written, as opposed to the traditions of the Jews who claimed that the Law given to Moses at Sinai was in two parts, one of which was written and the other was handed down orally. The Pharisees taught that the “oral law” was of equal authority with the written law. However, Jesus used the written Scriptures to refute the scribes and Pharisees, (Matt. 5:21-48; John 10:34, etc.), and also against the devil, (Matt. 4:4, 6, 7).

The other New Testament writers also quoted the Scriptures as authoritative by saying: “It is written,” (Rom. 11:8; 1Cor. 1:31; 2 Cor. 4:13, etc.).

Indeed, it is recorded that God Himself also wrote, Exodus 31:18; Deuteronomy 9:19. Many of the prophecies given to Old Testament prophets were first given orally to be proclaimed orally to the people. They were first told to “speak”, (Jer. 1:17; 7:27; 13:12; Ezekiel 2:7; etc.) But afterwards their words were written down.

The apocalyptic genre of literature is identified by being written rather than spoken.

*See Part 2 of my Book, Revelation In Context, “Bible Referents”, Revelation 1:10 for further references to the experience of hearing the voice of the Lord.

This lesson is an edited excerpt from my book, Revelation in Context, available locally at the Living Word Bookstore in Shawnee, Oklahoma or www.Amazon.com, orwww.XulonPress.com.
Free downloads are also available at www.revelationincontext.sermon.net.