8. WHAT MUST SHORTLY BE DONE? (2) VINDICATE THE PROPHETS

8. WHAT MUST SHORTLY BE DONE? (2) VINDICATE THE PROPHETS

Revelation 1.1 states that the message to "His Servants" is about "Things which must shortly come to pass." The word must indicates that it is morally necessary. It was morally necessary that God vindicate the Prophets and their messages, including Jesus.

(2) To Vindicate the Old Testament Prophets

            In all Bible prophecy, there is the immediate literal fulfillment that proves the inspiration of the prophet. Then there is the general reference, or universal principle that is involved because God does not change, because He is no respecter of person, and because His Word is eternal. Then there is the eschatological reference which involves the ultimate end of the fulfillment.

            Many years before, God had spoken through Jeremiah, (chapter 25), to serve up the wine cup of wrath first to Jerusalem, then to all the nations of the earth. Some of these nations are called by name, while others are grouped in large headings, or, as in verse 26: "All the kings of the north, far and near...and all the kingdoms of the world, which are upon the face of the earth.

            Note that the immediate fulfillment of judgment upon Jerusalem, as foretold by Jeremiah, was the destruction of the city followed by a seventy-year Babylonian captivity.  This was literally fulfilled.[1]

            After the nations are called by name, (Jeremiah 25), it is said: "...the king of Sheshach shall drink the cup of wrath after them," (v. 26).  Sheshach is a code name, or cipher, for symbolic Babylon; that is, any city that fills the same role as Babylon did in that day.[2]  For example, Babylon had "served themselves" of God's people: They had slain them, made them captives and had otherwise persecuted them. Babylon had worshiped and served idols and indulged in astrology and had infected Israel and Judah with this sin. The term Sheshach represents the pattern, symbol, or name, of all who do these sins, (the general reference or universal principle involved). So in Jeremiah's prophecy the pattern was set by which the whole world would be judged. That is, the universal principle was declared and demonstrated.  Verse 29 states: 

For lo I begin to bring evil on the City which is called by my name, and should you be utterly unpunished?  Ye shall not be unpunished: for I will call for a sword upon all the inhabitants of the earth, saith the Lord of hosts.[3]

            The destruction of Jerusalem in Jeremiah's day was the beginning of the pattern of God's wrath poured out upon a people who have had the full revelation knowledge of Him and have turned from Him. By the time of Christ, Jerusalem had moved into this role of symbolic or Mystery Babylon. She had served herself of God's people, the Christians, (the true Israel), and had worshiped idols of Mammon and of military power. She had even rejected and crucified the Christ.[4]  So it became morally imperative that God's vengeance for His saints and His wrath against sin be fulfilled. The book of Revelation declares that "the time has come” and it "must shortly come to pass".

This lesson is taken from the book Revelation in Context, pages 77-78. Revelation in Context is available at Amazon.com  or XulonPress.com or locally at the Living Word Bookstore in Shawnee, Oklahoma. Free downloads are available at www.revelationincontext.sermon.net. 

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[1] See 2 Kings 24:1-25:30; 2 Chronicles 36:15-21; Dan.1:1-2; 9:1-19. 

[2] The immediate reference is the literal Babylon; however, the general reference applies to any city that fills the role of Babylon.  It can therefore refer to the literal Jerusalem when she has fallen into the same spiritual conditions that afflicted ancient Babylon.  See also Jeremiah 51:11, where another cipher or code name, (leb qamai), is used for Babylon.

[3] The word here translated earth is the same word translated elsewhere as land.  Therefore it would be equally accurate to translate "all the land," or "all the earth."  Indeed, it is most accurate to see that the judgment upon "all the land" of Palestine was only the immediate, literal reference and serves as a pattern or example of the ultimate fulfillment upon "all the earth."

[4] Josephus records that there was an "oracle ... (which) foretold that this city (Jerusalem) should be then taken when somebody shall begin the slaughter of his own countrymen!" (Wars 6.2.1).  The crucifixion of Christ began this slaughter.

7. WHERE ARE THE "TEN LOST TRIBES OF ISRAEL?"

WHERE ARE THE “TEN LOST TRIBES OF ISRAEL”?

By Irene Belyeu

            Biblical history gives us the answer to this question. It is often said that the Bible is a book of prophecy. However, the truth of a prophecy is only proven when it comes to pass, Deuteronomy 18.22. The fulfillment of a true prophecy then becomes history. The Bible is a book of the history of fulfilled prophecies.  For example, God promised to give the land of Palestine to Abraham and his Seed, Genesis 15:18. This promise was fulfilled as recorded in Joshua 21:43-45:

(43) And the Lord gave unto Israel all the land which he sware to give unto their fathers and they possessed it and dwelt therein…. (45)There failed not ought of any good thing which the Lord had spoken unto the house of Israel; all came to pass.

            All of the promises to Moses were fulfilled according to I Kings 8.56:

(56) Blessed be the Lord, that hath given rest unto his people Israel, according to all his good promise, which he promised by the hand of Moses his servant.

            We know from the history recorded in the books of Kings and Chronicles that the twelve tribes separated and became two nations after the reign of King Solomon. The ten-tribe nation took the name “Israel” to distinguish it from the two-tribe nation called “Judah.” This did not mean that the two-tribes of Judah ceased to be a part of the original twelve-tribe nation. They were still Israel so far as their identity as descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

            The ten-tribe nation called “Israel” went into idolatry from its first king, Jeroboam, and the Lord allowed it to continue for many years, sending prophets to warn them of the consequences of their sins and pleading with them to repent and turn from their wickedness. For a full account see Isaiah chapters 24 through 32. The prophet Amos was also sent to them with the word of the Lord, Amos chapters 5-9. Hosea and Micah also prophesied to “Israel” during these years. They were fully warned that they must repent or be destroyed, yet they went on in their wickedness until they were attacked and captured by the king of Assyria. Their capital city, Samaria, fell in 722-721 BC. Many were taken captive to Assyria and there assimilated racially. Some were left in their land and Assyrians were brought in to mix with them racially and they became known as the “Samaritans.” The ten-tribe nation lost its racial identity.

            The prophet Amos said: “The virgin of Israel is fallen; she shall no more rise: she is forsaken upon her land; there is none to raise her up,” (5.2). And again in Amos 8.2: “The end is come upon my people of Israel; I will not again pass by them any more.” See also Amos 7.8 and 8.14. The ten-tribe nation called “Israel” never existed again as a racially identifiable group, and never will, never.

            The prophet Micah also saw the destruction of “Israel” because of all their abominable sins. But he also saw the glorious hope of a spiritual restoration in Jesus Christ, the Messiah, chapter four.

            The Biblical history of the fall and destruction of “Israel” is also recorded in II Kings 17:

(18) Therefore the Lord was very angry with Israel, and removed them out of his sight; there was none left but the tribe of Judah only. (19) Also Judah kept not the commandments of the Lord their God, but walked in the statutes of Israel which they made. (20) And the Lord rejected all the seed of Israel, and afflicted them, and delivered them into the hand of spoilers, until he had cast them out of his sight…. (22) Until the Lord removed Israel out of his sight, as he had said by all his servants the prophets. So was Israel carried away out of their own land to Assyria unto this day.

Those who claim to have found the “ten lost tribes of Israel” in Ethiopia or anywhere else in the world today are either deceived or deliberately deceiving others.

After “Israel” fell to Assyria, the nation called “Judah” continued for more than a hundred years and is sometimes referred to as “Israel,” for they were the only remaining remnant of the original twelve tribes. But they also fell into idolatry. II Kings takes up the history of “Judah” at chapter 18 and continues through chapter 25, where it is recorded that Judah fell to Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon in about 605 BC. Their fall had also been foretold by the prophets. Jeremiah had clearly warned them to turn from their sins, but they did not heed. Jeremiah had also foretold that their captivity in Babylon would be for seventy years and then a remnant would return. This promise of return is often quoted out of context as referring to a return in the twentieth century, but this prophecy was fulfilled and became Biblical history as recorded in the II Chronicles, Ezra and Nehemiah. There was no promise of return to the land after that. The promises of a later regathering were and are to be fulfilled in Jesus Christ, the Messiah.

Through all of the years of their idolatry and rebellion against God, there were a few that heeded the messages of the prophets and remained faithful to the Covenant with God. For these faithful few, often referred to as “the Remnant,” God fulfilled His Covenant promises of blessings, and recognized them as His people. Throughout this time, the good promises of God were for “the Remnant.” There were promises of restoration, deliverance and salvation, to be ultimately fulfilled in the coming of their Messiah, Jesus Christ. In the New Testament, that faithful Remnant were those who accepted Christ, for they recognized Him as the fulfillment of God’s promises, Romans 11.5-7.

The glorious Good News is that all who will accept the atoning and redemptive life of Christ and enter into His Body are the true Israel of God, the Church. The invitation is to “whosoever will.” God is no respecter of person. His Covenant is now with Jesus Christ and those in Him are the Covenant People, the Israel of God.

6. WHAT MUST SHORTLY BE DONE? (1) THE PROMISED BLESSINGS AND CURSINGS

READ: Revelation 1.1. "Things which must shortly come to pass." READ ALSO: Deuteronomy chapters 29 and 30 for the context of the Covenant promises.

     At the time of the writing of the Book of Revelation, 68 AD, the probation period that God had announced through Daniel, that is, seventy weeks of years and a time, times and dividing of time, had been completed and the time was up for the judgment to begin. Also, the time had come that Christ's prophecies that all these judgments upon Jerusalem would be fulfilled in that generation. 

(1) Blessings and Cursings:[1] 

     (1) First, a moral God cannot lie.  The promised blessings had been fulfilled many times over,[2] but God had delayed his ultimate wrath because of his longsuffering and mercy.  When the people sinned in the Wilderness, He had threatened to destroy the entire people and make of Moses His nation, but Moses interceded and they were spared. 

     The moral dilemma was that the entire fleshly race of Mankind had been infected by Sin and was therefore corrupt and subject to death,[3] but the Covenant required holiness as a condition of the eternal promises. It was therefore impossible that a fleshly people could inherit eternal promises. The eternal aspect of the Covenant required that there be an eternal Heir, which could not be if the sinful fleshly nation were all destroyed because of sin. This had provided a false sense of security for the descendants of Abraham, for they thought their fleshly nation was indestructible because of God's promise.  However, they had not reckoned with God's power to raise the dead. 

      Although the entire nation had gone astray, in the resurrection Christ became the eternal Heir to the promises because of His unending life, and so the promises continue in effect through Him.  From the moment of the resurrection onward, there was no necessity for any other fleshly heir in order to fulfill the promises.  Because His flesh was descended from Abraham, the promises to the fleshly seed became eternally effective in Christ in His resurrected body It was therefore possible for God to bring the promised curses upon the entire remainder of the fleshly lineage of Abraham as necessary to fulfill His word.

     Delayed fulfillment of the cursing was not to be taken as permissiveness, nor slackness, but rather as a token of mercy and grace in order to bring men to repentance.  God rebukes and chastens the sons whom He loves, but when corrective measures are unheeded, the wrath of His judgment is sure, for God cannot lie.  For the Jewish nation in the time of John the Revelator the time was up and they were due for repentance or judgment.

     Romans 2:2-11 sets forth the rationale for God's righteous judgment against the Jews.  In verses 2-3 we see that it rightly falls upon those who do these evil things, in order to deter sin lest sinners should hope to escape, and lest God's purposes should be misunderstood, (verse 4).  It is God's nature as a holy God to bless the righteous and to condemn the wicked, (verses 5-8).  He shows no partiality in judgment, (verses 6 and 11).  

            Since salvation was to the Jew first, then to the Gentiles, (Rom. 1:16), it is also just that God's righteous wrath be revealed first against the Jews, but also against the unrepentant Gentiles in their time.  This order, "the Jew first," does not reflect any respect of persons in judgment, nor a superior position in grace.  It simply shows God's sovereign choice of method in revealing Himself and His salvation to the world.  He chose to use the Jews as an example, a pattern, and as a type and shadow.   Having had the privilege of receiving God's revelation in the Law, the Covenant and the Prophets, they were held accountable for recognizing Jesus Christ as the fulfillment of all that was previously foretold and promised.  By the same token, after Gentiles receive the Gospel, they too are equally responsible.          

     The life, works, death and resurrection of Christ had been fully revealed to the entire Jewish world in the period prior to 70 A.D, (Col. 1:5-6).[5] It was therefore morally imperative that they be brought to account.  Romans 1:18-32 declares that God's wrath is being revealed against those "who hold the truth in unrighteousness"; at that time, this applied specifically only to the Jewish nation.  It was they who were without excuse, (v.20), because they had been fully exposed to the knowledge of God, (v. 21), had had the truth of God, (v. 25), and knew about the promised judgments of God, (v. 32).

            To those Jews Paul declared that "...the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles through you." (Rom. 2:24).  It was morally imperative that God defend His Name against blasphemy.

            Indeed, the name "Jew" itself was being misused by these unbelievers, for Paul shows that true Jewish identity depends upon faith, not upon circumcision of the flesh, but that of the heart, "...in the spirit, and not in the letter", (Rom. 2:28-29.  See also Deuteronomy 30:6; Jeremiah 32:29.)  In fact this passage in Romans 2 from verse 17, "Behold, thou art called a Jew", through verse 29 furnishes a definition of the kinds of people "who call themselves Jews and are not, but do lie," as mentioned in Revelation 2:9 and 3:9.

            In Romans 3:5-6, Paul chides those "Jews" for suggesting that God might be unjust to take vengeance upon them for their sins.  Then he says: "God forbid, for then how shall God judge the world?"  This clearly indicates that judgment and vengeance against these "Jews" was a prerequisite, and was morally imperative if God was to judge the entire Gentile world later for these same sins.[6]

            Therefore, this word must, (Revelation 1:1), indicating a moral imperative, foreshadows what is about to be revealed to John.  It was fulfilled in the destruction of Jerusalem.  God's righteous wrath upon the unbelieving wicked is described symbolically as the destruction of "Mystery Babylon," (Rev. 17 and 18).

      This lesson is from the book Revelation in Context, pages 75-77.  To get the full truth of this lesson, please read and meditate the Scriptures.

     Revelation in Context is available at Amazon.com, and www.XulonPress.com, and locally at the Living Word Bookstore in Shawnee, Oklahoma. Free downloads are available at www.revelationincontext.sermon.net

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[1] Christian love requires that we understand both the goodness and the severity of God.  The only hope of salvation for any and every soul is the atoning blood of Jesus Christ.  It must be clearly understood that the way of salvation in Christ is open today to all, even those who follow the doctrines of the ancient Pharisees and therefore call themselves "Jews."  However, unless they repent and turn from their evil doctrine, they too will suffer the wrath of God, just as did the "Jews" in the time of John the Revelator.  The issue of Christian love, therefore, is to try at all costs to give them the Gospel message and pray for their souls.

   It must be clearly understood, also, that Christian sympathy and pity cannot deter God from His purposes.  God's will must prevail in the earth as it does in heaven and His Word is clear that there must be judgment against sin.  If men, of any race or creed, refuse to accept the atonement in Christ, they will be destroyed without remedy.  Either they will be slain "by the sword which goeth forth from the mouth" of the Son of God, the Gospel, or they will be slain by God's wrath.

[2] Contrary to popular teaching, the promise of the land had been fulfilled according to Joshua 21:43-45 and 23:14.

[3] It is evident that there were none left, even of the Jews, who could claim that they had satisfied God's requirement that they keep the covenant: Romans 3:21-23; 11:32; Isaiah 53:6.  It is equally evident that Christ came for the express purpose of making atonement for sinners: Isaiah 53:6-12.

[4] See also Joshua 23:15-16.

[5] There were approximately forty years, after the rejection of the Messiah, (about AD 30) to the destruction of the nation, (about AD 70).  This period was comparable in some respects to that of Num. 14:34.  This analogy is confirmed by Heb. 3:7-4:11 and 1 Cor. 10:1-11.  This was the period of time in which the gospel was preached throughout the Roman Empire to all the Jews, Colossians 1:5-6, 23.  (The twelve tribes are sometimes called 'nations' Gen. 35:11; Exod. 19:6; Acts 2:5.  The Roman Empire is called "all the world" in Luke 2:1.)

[6] See my Commentary at 6:10 "Judgment".

5. TO SHOW THINGS WHICH MUST SHORTLY COME TO PASS

     Revelation 1.1: "To show unto His servants things which must shortly come to pass," (KJV). "To show to his servants what must soon take place," (RSV). Let us look carefully at three of these words: "show," "things," and "must."

     "To show," not "to hide." The immediate purpose of the Book was to call the Christians out of Jerusalem before its destruction. The tone of the Book is urgent: "must shortly come to pass," (1.1); "the time is at hand," (1.3); "there shall be no more delay," (10:6); "behold I am coming soon," (22.20); "must shortly be done," (22.6). All of these references make it impossible to think that the Book of Revelation is about something going to happen in some distant time.

     The word translated "things" reflects the Hebrew word dabar, which in the Hebrew means "words, deeds and material objects," whereas in English it usually refers only to material objects. So, the "things" about to be revealed could also be translated "words which must shortly come to pass," which could indicate that it will show the words of the Lord through the prophets that are coming to pass.
     The word must here in Revelation 1.1 is very important for it indicates that it is morally necessary that these things come to pass soon. Ray Summers in his book Worthy is the Lamb says:

"The aorist tense of the infinitive 'to come to pass' adds to the truth that immediate action is necessary. The prepositional phrase translated 'shortly' means just what it says - shortly, quickly, hastily."

     Many take this moral necessity to mean the fall of the Roman Empire. However, that was not done quickly, immediately, nor soon after the writing of the Book of Revelation. It did not happen soon.The Empire fell during the fourth and fifth centuries AD, hundreds of years after the writing of the Book. The moral necessity, therefore was the fall of the nation of Israel, Jerusalem and the people as predicted by Daniel, 9:24-27; 12:7-13, and Jesus, Matthew 24.34, "this generation shall not pass until all these things be fulfilled."  By 68-70 AD, the generation that heard Jesus was fast passing away. This did happen soon, quickly, and hastily after the writing of the Book of Revelation.

     These four things, at least, were morally imperative in the context of the times:
(1) God must fulfill the blessings and cursing promised in the Covenant as recorded in Deuteronomy chapters 28-30.
(2) He must vindicate the words of the Old Testament prophets, specifically the "seventy weeks of years" and the "Time, times and dividing of times," as given by Daniel.
(3) He must fulfill the predictions made by Christ in order to vindicate Him as (a)Prophet, (b) Judge, and (c) Messiah.
(4) He must fulfill the vengeance promised in behalf of His Covenant People who had become martyrs: (a) Because of His covenant; (b) As their God and Kinsman-Redeemer; and (c) To cleanse the land of the defilement of innocent blood.

     We will look at these four moral necessities further in the next lesson. Do read and meditate these Scriptures. For further study and discussion of this lesson see Revelation in Context, pages 74-94.

     Revelation in Context is available at Amazon.com or XulonPress.com or locally at the Living Word Bookstore in Shawnee, Oklahoma. Free downloads are available at www.revelationincontext.sermon.net

4. JESUS CHRIST, THE REVEALER

     Let us stay with verse one until we have gathered the significant information that it furnishes.

     Since this is the "Revelation of Jesus Christ" and in verse two it is called the "testimony of Jesus Christ," let us pause to look at that Name. The very name Jesus Christ proclaims Him Savior and Anointed One.

       The word Jesus is from the Hebrew word Yeshua, meaning "Savior." The word Christ is from the Greek word "Christos," translating the Hebrew word Messiah, meaning "the anointed one." In Daniel 9:25 the word is translated "Prince," (KJV). It means "the anointed of Jehovah," a title given to the kings of Israel as being consecrated to God by the anointing and therefore holy. It was revealed to Daniel that the Messiah would come before the final end of the Jewish nation and city of Jerusalem, (Daniel 9:24-27). The fact that the Messiah, Jesus Christ, had come revealed that it was the "time of the end" for the fleshly nation.


     Zondervan's Pictorial Bible Dictionary [ZPBD] says: "The title [Revelation 1.1] which the book itself assumes may mean either 'the revelation which Christ possesses and imparts,' or 'the unveiling of the person of Christ.' Grammatically, the former is preferable, for this text states that God gave this disclosure to Christ that He might impart it to His servants." (ZPBD pp. 716-17)

     His Revelation, then, is that which He reveals of the hidden wisdom, that which can only be known by spiritual insight, I Corinthians 2.10. This secret wisdom is also mentioned in Colossians 2.2b-3: "To have all the riches of assured understanding and the knowledge of God's mystery, of Christ, in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. (RSV)

      Paul's letter to the Ephesians also speaks of this wisdom which is hidden in Christ: "For He has made known to us in all wisdom and insight the mystery of his will, according to his purpose which he set forth in Christ," (1.9 RSV).

     That Jesus is the source of a hidden wisdom is attested also in I Corinthians 2:7-8: "But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glorification. None of the rulers of this age understood this; for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory." (RSV)

     The revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ is to reveal these hidden things: I Corinthians 4:5: "Therefore do not pronounce judgment before the time, before the Lord comes, [is revealed] who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart. (RSV)

     Indeed, the gospel was preached to Abraham and the prophets in a hidden or esoteric form, (Galatians 3:8 and Romans 1:1-4). The Promised Seed through Isaac was Christ, hidden within the fleshly lineage until the time of His incarnation, (Galatians 3:16-19). The Heir of the Promise was hidden until the fulness of time, (Galatians 4:30-31). The hiddeness is not only visual but also auditory: the voice of God which was heard on Sinai and then through the prophets has now become silent except through this Jesus Christ, Hebrews 1:1-2.

     So the Revelation of Jesus Christ is the visual, audible, intellectual and spiritual appearance of God.

     Further discussion and referents for this lesson may be found on pages 72-74 of the book Revelation in Context.  Revelation in Context is available at www.Amazon.com or www.Xulonpress.com or locally at Living Word Bookstore, Shawnee, Oklahoma. Free downloads are also available at www.revelationincontext.sermon.net

3. REVELATION: THE VEILS REMOVED

THE VEILS:

    The Greek title of the Book of Revelation is referred to as "The Apocalypse." This Greek word may also be translated as "the unveiling, uncovering, manifestation, appearing, or coming." So the "Revelation of Jesus Christ" may refer to His unveiling, uncovering, manifestation, appearing, and/or coming. The prefix apo- means "from, away from." The root of the word Apocalypse is kalu, meaning "a veil or covering." The suffix -psis denotes action or process. Apocalypse therefore means, "the action or process of taking away the veil."

     For the Biblical context we should consider the significant veils described in the Old Testament: (1) the veil of mortality, (2) the veil of separation, (3) the veil of the Law, and (4) the veil of the Heavens.

     (1) The veil of mortality is unredeemed Flesh. This veil became necessary when Adam and Eve sinned and became subject to death, separation from God. It was the veil of death. God clothed them; that is, He put a veil between Him and their sinful Flesh, Genesis 3.21.  Isaiah saw this veil as the veil of darkness that kept the whole world from seeing the full Light of God, Isaiah 25.7-8.  Christ removed this veil, Hebrews 10:19-20; I Corinthians 15:54.

     (2) Another veil of separation was in the Temple which separated even the Preisthood from the Holy of Holies. Christ accomplished the removal of this veil: Matthew 27.51. Christ provided access through Himself to this most Holy place: Hebrews 9.1-12.

     (3) The veil of the Law. The Pharisees pretended a high reverence for the Law, but Christ taught that the Law was only necessary because of disobedience. God's will was that the Law should be written in the hearts of Mankind. The external ritual code of the Law often blinded people to the need for the inner obedience from the heart. The story of Moses' face to face confrontation with God furnishes an example that beholding and partaking of the glory of God is the essence of the Law of God; that is, to know Him and to be changed into His likeness, Exodus 34:33; II Corinthians 3:14-18.

     (4) The veil of the Heavens is described in Psalm 104:2 as a curtain that veils the full Light of God. It is God's garment. The starry heavens declare the glory of God and were created for the purpose of orientation in time and space for Mankind, Genesis 1.14-15. The sun, moon, stars and planets were not just randomly sprinkled but formed definite and readable patterns. Moses was instructed to make all things according to the "Pattern."
     The veil of the heavens was opened to the prophets as in Ezekiel 1.1. In the New Testament the Heavens were opened to John the Baptist, Mark 1:10; Stephen, Acts 7:56; Peter, Acts 10:11; and John the Revelator, Revelation 4:1. The Book of Revelation concerns the visions given to John in which the veil of the Heavens was opened again to prophetic view.

     The Book of Revelation shows how all of these veils were removed by Jesus Christ.

For more discussion and referents on the Greek word Apocalypse see my book Revelation in Context, pages 63-70. Revelation in Context is available at www.Amazon.com or www.XulonPress.com or locally at Living Word Bookstore in Shawnee, Oklahoma. Free downloads are available at www.revelationincontext.sermon.net