48. VISIONS OF GOD

48. VISIONS OF GOD

Read: Revelation 1:12-20. Visions of God: “I saw.”*

     In last week's lesson we read that John was instructed to "Write what you see." This week we understand what it was that he saw, that is, Visions of God. A study of these visions as well as the background visions of the Old Testament is one of the most beautiful and inspiring studies in the Bible. How did John "see" these visions? They were given as manifestations of Light.

Seeing requires light. Light, in the Scriptures, is of a threefold nature: First, the literal light which gives sight to the eyes, revealing natural things; secondly, the light of understanding; thirdly, the light of spiritual revelation. By the light of the eyes man is oriented to his natural surroundings; by the light of understanding he may know abstractions such as truth and beauty; by the light of spiritual revelation, he may know God. What John saw was through spiritual revelation.

Literal light requires natural eyesight; the light of understanding requires access to the means of illumination usually by the aid of a teacher; spiritual light requires the mediation of the Holy Ghost Who will "lead you into all truth." Literal meaning may be received by any capable of communication; understanding and perception of truth may be received by those capable of translating symbols; but spiritual revelation comes only through a peculiar and particular relationship and orientation between God and Man.

Mankind ever complains as did Job that God is hidden, but it is not because God chooses to be hidden. It is rather that Man has strayed from his appointed place and therefore cannot see, for the manifestation of God's light requires a peculiar orientation just as the appearance of the rainbow or the northern lights require certain conditions of orientation between the elements of the phenomena and the viewer. The revelation of the glory of God, the Light Most Precious, is the supreme experience of Beauty.

The Book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ describes the manifestation of the Light Most Precious. He is manifest in Light as God is also ever manifest in Light. Jesus is The Light of the World, and we, His people, are the bearers of His Light, the most awesome privilege possible.

The symbols of the Revelation of Jesus Christ must therefore be understood as symbols of Light, and not, as has often been supposed, grotesque caricatures of strange creatures. The symbols are those of the natural lights of the starry heavens: the sun, moon, stars, planets and constellations. Every earthly symbol is too poor to reveal Christ in His glory, and even the symbols of the starry heavens cannot fully reveal Him, for they, too, are at best only symbols, the penultimate but not the ultimate, for:

Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered the heart of Man the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him. But God hath revealed them unto us by His Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God, (1Corinthians 2:9).

We must now see Christ in symbols for we are under the veil, which is our flesh. 

For now we see through a glass darkly, but then face to face: now, I know in part, but then shall I know even as also I am known, (1Corinthians 13:12).

Even as the flesh is a veil to us, so also is the heavens a veil in the sense of being the clothing of God: "Who coverest thyself with light as with a garment: who stretchest out the heavens like a curtain," (Psalm 104:2). God is clothed with light and the heavens are His garment, or curtain. On this view, then, the most logical way to "unveil" Christ is through this "curtain" and the unveiling is the display of that dazzling heavenly Light, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Although in the symbol the lights are those of the veil, in the reality of the Spirit the veil is removed.

Images

In receiving the Vision, or 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 and the written Word.)

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 His garment.  Repeatedly we are told that no man hath seen God.  Moses prayed: "I beseech thee, shew me thy glory," (Exodus 33:18), for he was afraid that to see God meant certain death. How marvelous it is when God breaks through the veil of our doubting flesh to shew us His glory. This is what we see in the Revelation, for Christ 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 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 8:2 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."

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.

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 cherubim or living creatures are not hairy animals but rather are "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, The Almighty, the Pantokrator.

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.

*(For other visions of God see also Exodus 13:21-2; 14:19, 24; 33:9-10, 20-23; 24:10-11; Psalm 78:14; 105:39; Isaiah 6:1-13; Ezekiel 1; 26-28; 8:2; Daniel 7:9-10; Acts 22:6-11; 1John 1:1-2.)
 This lesson is an edited excerpt from my book Revelation In Context.

My Book is available at the Living Word Bookstore in Shawnee, Oklahoma and is also available online at www.amazon.com  or www.xulonpress.com.

 Free downloads are available at www.revelationincontext.sermon.net .

47. WRITE WHAT YOU SEE

47. WRITE WHAT YOU SEE

Revelation 1:11. Write: "Write what you see.” (RSV)

The fact that the Book of Revelation was written was very important in the New Testament era. The written Word of God was distinguished from the so-called "Oral Law" of the Pharisees. Indeed all of the authoritative Scriptures were written, as opposed to the traditions of the Pharisees who claimed that the Law given to Moses at Sinai was in two parts, one of which he wrote and the other which he handed down orally. They believed that this so-called "oral law" was of equal authority with the written law. However, Jesus refuted the authority of their "oral law," also often referred to as their "traditions," Matthew 15: 2, 3, and 6.  These "traditions" were what Jesus referred to when He said "Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time ...," (Matthew 5:21-48). But Jesus repeatedly used the written scriptures to refute the scribes and Pharisees and even against the devil, (Matthew 4:4, 7, 10).

The other New Testament writers also quoted the written Scriptures as authoritative by saying: "It is written," (Romans 11:8; 1Corinthians 1:31; 2Corinthians 4:13; Colossians 2:8; Galatians 1:14, etc.). They used these written Old Testament Scriptures to prove their doctrinal points. For example in Romans 11:8 Paul begins to cite the written Scriptures to prove that God had not forsaken His people Israel, but a faithful remnant had obtained the election of God: "According as it is written...."

Indeed, it is recorded that God Himself also wrote, Exodus 31:18; Deuteronomy 9:10. Although many of the prophecies given to Old Testament prophets were first given to be proclaimed orally to the people, they were afterwards written down, Jeremiah 1:17; 7:27; 13:12; Ezekiel 2:7; etc. 

It is of utmost importance to the understanding of the New Testament to realize that the Pharisees were making converts throughout the Roman world by teaching their so-called "oral law." Jesus said of their teachings:"Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves," Matthew 23:15.

"Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition. Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying, This people draweth nigh me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men," Matthew 15: 6b-9.

It is of vital importance to us to realize that the doctrines of this "oral law" are extant today in the Babylonian Talmud and are still considered to be the authoritative scriptures of the religion called "Judaism" today. One of their leading Rabbis has said: "The Talmud is, then, the written form of that which in the time of Jesus, was called the Traditions of the Elders."— Rabbi Michael L. Rodkinson
and
"The Jewish religion as it is today traces its descent, without a break, through all the centuries, from the Pharisees." — Universal Jewish Encyclopedia.
For the full text of the Talmud see www.comeandhear.com. 
May you be informed and blessed by this lesson, in Jesus' Name. Amen.

46. BEING TURNED

46. BEING TURNED

Revelation 1:10: Voice Like a Trumpet: “And heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet.”

          The voice of the Lord is a most awesome experience as witnessed by the children of Israel at Sinai, Exodus 19:16-19, and cited in Hebrews 12:19-26 as well as in Psalm 29. This voice foreshadows the Seven Trumpets that are sounded later in the Book.

     The voice was like a trumpet, symbolic of the voice of God. The trumpet calls represented certain occasions. 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 jubilee and was used for proclaiming the Jubilee year. It indicated the sense of marking a definite point in an endless stream of time.  

          It is significant that the voice was behind him. John would have been praying toward Jerusalem from the isle of Patmos according to their customs. He would therefore have been facing a southerly direction. The voice behind him would have been coming from the north. And John turned. This was very significant.

1:12. Being Turned:“Being turned I saw seven golden candlesticks.”

          John was exiled to the Isle of Patmos.  The Jews in exile were taught that they should pray toward Jerusalem according as Solomon had prayed at the dedication of the temple:

28. Yet have thou respect unto the prayer of thy servant, and to his supplication, O LORD my God, to hearken unto the cry and to the prayer, which thy servant prayeth before thee to day: 29 That thine eyes may be open toward this house night and day, [even] toward the place of which thou hast said, My name shall be there: that thou mayest hearken unto the prayer which thy servant shall make toward this place.  30 And hearken thou to the supplication of thy servant, and of thy people Israel, when they shall pray toward this place: and hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place: and when thou hearest, forgive, (1Kings 8).

We know that Daniel followed this tradition while Israel was captive in Babylon:

Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house; and his windows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime, (Daniel 6:10).

          We can understand then that John, while on Patmos, was praying toward Jerusalem and the Temple. From the Isle of Patmos, he would have been facing in a southerly direction. Upon hearing the Voice, John turned. He would then have been facing north. It was as he was facing north that he saw the seven golden candlesticks, (KJV), or lampstands, (RSV). John’s turning, then, symbolized turning away from the old Judaism to the Church of Jesus Christ, visually represented by the north polar constellations, sometimes known in Hebrew culture as the Menorah, or seven-branched candelabra of the Temple.

          The "seven candlesticks are the seven churches of Asia,” Revelation 1:20. These same seven “are the seven Spirits of God,” Revelation 4:5. These seven Spirits are the “seven eyes” of the Lamb, Revelation 5:6.

          In Revelation 1:20 the seven stars are the fire upon the top of the lampstands; these are the seven angels of the churches. These angels are spirits, Psalm 104:4 and Hebrews 1:7, 14. Therefore, in this writing, these are all synonymous and interchangeable to some degree: Lampstands, Churches, Spirits, Eyes of the Lamb, Angels, and Stars.

          It is probably helpful to understand that there is a natural reality that corresponds to, or is analogous to, the spiritual reality. The spiritual creation is understood by analogy to the natural creation, Romans 1:20. For example, the Angels of the seven churches of Asia are spiritual entities that inhabit the natural pastors or leaders of the earthly churches. However, the earthly churches are merely the counterpart of a heavenly reality, the Eyes of the Lamb and the Seven Spirits of God. As in all use of analogy, the analogy only holds for certain parts of the entities represented. The two figures are not identical in every respect.

          Think about and meditate upon this awesome experience: The Voice of God, the revelation of the mystery of the Churches.

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45. DAY OF THE LORD

45. DAY OF THE LORD

1:10. Day of the Lord: "I was in the Spirit on the Lord's Day."

The Book of Revelation is divided into four great visions, each of which is introduced by the phrase in the Spirit. Here we are introduced to the second of the four visions.

The term the Lord's Day does not necessarily mean the Sabbath. The Lord's Day is equivalent to "the Day of the Lord." The "Day of the Lord" was a time that had been appointed from many centuries before. Several of the prophets had foretold it, both in the Old and New Testament.[i] It is the day of the Lord's vengeance; a day of judgment.

What John saw and experienced was the events of the Day of the Lord, as foretold by the prophets. We may understand that it was literally the Day of the Lord and that he saw what was happening in Jerusalem at that particular time in the Spirit, although he was physically in the isle of Patmos. Or, we may understand that he was in the Spirit and saw the events of The Lord's Day as something about to happen immediately.[ii] The latter case seems to fit the writing more precisely. He wrote as one who is recording something seen while in an altered state of consciousness, such as a dream, but in his case, a vision. He is saying: "In my vision, (while in the Spirit), it was that Day of the Lord which was foreseen by the holy prophets."

It is possible that John saw, through this spiritual vision, the events that were taking place in Judea and Jerusalem at the time of, or very near the time of, their occurrence. The precedent for this experience is found in Ezekiel. As Ezekiel was with the captives in Babylon, about 500 miles away, the Word of the Lord came to him and he saw and told the people that Jerusalem was being destroyed, (chapter 24). He was stricken dumb and remained so until a fugitive from Jerusalem arrived, about three years later, to report the news of the fall of the city, (Ezek. 24:27; 33:21-2). John, too, although a captive on the isle of Patmos, may have seen the destruction through the Spirit. There is an immediacy to his message that suggests an eyewitness account, as in Ezekiel.

Like Ezekiel, too, there is a great personal, emotional involvement with the events witnessed. There is probably no more traumatic experience than seeing the institutions, ceremonies and sacraments that represent the outward expression of one's faith fall into perversion and disgrace. Ezekiel suffered this trauma in his personal life as a symbol for the people. As a sign of the death of God's beloved wife, Israel, Ezekiel's wife died. She had been "the delight of his eyes," but God commanded him not to grieve openly, for it was, as the symbol of Israel, the certain result of sin.

Like Ezekiel's, John's message was not directed to the literal Jerusalem, for it was too late for her to repent. John's message of warning as well as of hope was to the faithful remnant, the universal Church. They were not to boast in themselves, for even though they were the golden lampstands in the very presence of Christ in the heavens, (Revelation 1:20), they too could fall and their light be removed, as was happening to the literal Jerusalem. In context, the message to the Churches has the force of pointing to what happened to the literal Jerusalem as an example of what will happen to them also if they fail to repent. The natural Israel, the wife of God, the delight of His eyes, had fallen into an adulterous relationship with the fleshly, (beastly), nations and was suffering the consequences of her sins.

A referent for the phrase "in the Spirit" is found in John 16:13:

Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, [that] shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.

John was seeing things that were about to happen.

Jesus had foretold that the Spirit would lead into "all truth" which is equivalent to "revelation." So here is John's guide, his Paraclete, “one who walks alongside,” his melits, an interpreter. Jesus had also said that the Spirit would speak, (i.e. interpret), what He heard, as one who hears one language and interprets into another language. Throughout the Book of Revelation we see the Spirit, in the person of the Angel, interpreting the symbols and walking alongside John.

In the passage John 16:7-15 Jesus had foretold that the Spirit would reprove the world, that is, convince or convict, of sin and also of righteousness, i.e. what is right, and of God's judgment. He would convince them through the revelation and glorification of Christ: failure to believe on Him is the essence of sin, and God's righteous judgment is upon sin. It is this work of the Spirit that we see in the Book of Revelation.

In John 16:14-15 Jesus says that the Spirit was to "receive of mine" and "all things are mine," therefore, "he shall take of mine and shall show it unto you." In the book of Revelation we see the Spirit taking the things, the words, attributes and deeds of Christ and showing them. Each of the messages to the seven churches closes with the admonition to "hear" what the Spirit, the interpreter, is saying to them.

In Revelation 1:10 and 4:2 it is expressly stated that John was "in the Spirit."  In 17:3 the Spirit carries him away to show him the harlot Babylon. In 21:10 he shows him the New Jerusalem the Bride of the Lamb. The Spirit guides and interprets throughout the Book.

Some of the referents for the term the Lord's Day, or Day of the Lord, are to be found in the Old Testament Psalms which celebrate the pageantry and feasts of the enthronement of the King. Jesus announced that it was "the acceptable year of the Lord," that is, the year of jubilee. In the oriental cultures the enthronement of the king was re-enacted each new year celebration. There was a recitation of the mighty deeds of the king according to the days of the year past, which is the his-story of the year. In this sense, the chronicles of the days verified the accuracy of the calendar and served as a verification of the heavens' "amen."

The great Day of the Lord was the day when the books were opened and recompense for deeds was meted out. It was a day of rewards for the faithful but a day of vengeance and wrath for the enemies of the King. Jesus had foretold that the day of His coming would be joyous for believers, but a day of vengeance for His enemies, Luke 21:22. Isaiah had also foretold that the day of the Lord would be a comfort to the righteous but a day of vengeance for the wicked, Isaiah 13:9; 34:8; 61:2; 63:4.

Jeremiah had prophesied of the day of wrath and vengeance, Jeremiah 46:10; 50:15, 28.  Zephaniah had also seen the Great Day, Zephaniah 1:14-16. Paul had fully understood the nature of the Great Day as foretold by the prophets, Rom. 2:5-10.

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[i] The following Scripture references will serve to set the stage for the idea of the "Day of the Lord:"

Isaiah 2:12, 17; 13:6, 9, 13; 28:5; 34:8; 61:2; 63:4; Jeremiah 46:10; Ezek. 7:19; 13:5; Joel 1:15; 2:1, 2, 11. 31; Amos 5:18, 20; Obad. 15; Zeph. 1:7-16; Mal. 4:5.  Romans 2:5, 16; 1Thess.. 5:2-4; 1 Pet. 2:12; 1John 4:17; Jude 6.

   The Book of Enoch 92.2 also says: "Let not your spirit be troubled on account of the times; For the Holy and Great One has appointed days for all things." (Charles, Enoch, 129.) The "Day of the Lord" may be thought of as one of the appointed days.

[ii] ZPBD, page 720 divides the Book of Revelation into four great visions, each of which is introduced by the phrase “in the Spirit.” These are: 1:10; 4:2; 17:3; 21:10.