Tag Archives: prophets

Vision Of The Exalted Christ Part 1

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.

Lesson 15 Of The Series – Josephus’ Witness Of The Destruction of Jerusalem

The Abomination Of Desolation

It was “morally imperative” that Jesus’ prediction of the destruction of Jerusalem be fulfilled within that generation. He said: Matthew 24:15: “When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:) … (33-34) “So likewise ye, when ye see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors. Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass till all these things be fulfilled.”

The “abomination of desolation” was the slaughter of their own countrymen, the sedition against authority, the warring factions of those Jews who raised their armies in order to be named the High Priest by Rome. This “abomination” was carried into the Holy of Holies:

“Those men made the temple of God a stronghold for them, and a place whither they might resort, in order to avoid the troubles they feared from the people; the sanctuary was now become a refuge, and a shop of tyranny, (Josephus’ Wars 4.3.6-7)”

The High Priest, Ananus, said: “Certainly it would have been good for me to die before I had seen the house of God full of so many abominations, or these sacred places that ought not to be trodden on at random, filled with the feet of these blood-shedding villains” (Wars 4.3.9).

“Great slaughter was made on both sides, and a great number were wounded. As for the dead bodies of the people, their relations carried them out to their own houses; but when any of the zealots were wounded, he went up into the temple and defiled that sacred floor with his blood, insomuch that one may say it was their blood alone that polluted our sanctuary.” (Wars 4.3.11)

“And now the outer temple was all of it overflowed with blood; and that day … saw eight thousand five hundred dead bodies there, (Wars 4.5.1-2).

Josephus’ Witness Of God’s Vengeance For Innocent Blood

Even Josephus knew that there was a penalty to pay for shedding innocent blood. He describes the murder of the high priest Jonathan who dared to oppose the Roman appointed Felix:

“They slew Jonathan, and as his murder was never avenged, the robbers went up with the greatest security at the festivals after this time; and having weapons concealed in like manner as before, and mingling themselves among the multitude, they slew certain of their own enemies, and were subservient to other men for money; and slew others not only in remote parts of the city, but in the temple itself also; for they had the boldness to murder men there, without thinking of the impiety of which they were guilty. And this seems to me to have been the reason why God, out of his hatred to these men’s wickedness, rejected our city; and as for the temple, he no longer esteemed it sufficiently pure for him to inhabit therein, but brought the Romans upon us, and threw a fire upon the city to purge it; and brought upon us, our wives, and children, slavery, – as desirous to make us wiser by our calamities,” (Antiquities 20.8.5).

Josephus Refers To The Ancient Prophets

“And who is there that does not know what the writings of the ancient prophets contain in them, – and particularly that oracle which is just now going to be fulfilled upon this miserable city? – for they foretold that this city should be then taken when somebody shall begin the slaughter of his own countrymen! And are not both the city and the entire temple now full of the dead bodies of your countrymen? It is God therefore, it is God himself who is bringing on this fire, to purge the city and temple by means of the Romans, and is going to pluck up this city, which is full of your pollutions,” (Wars, 6.2.l).

Thus the moral imperative of Revelation 1:1, “things which must shortly come to pass” was fully accomplished in the fall of Jerusalem and the fleshly nation, Israel.

Next Lesson: Some False Teachings