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Psalms
100:1-5 A Psalm of
Thanksgiving. Make a
joyful shout to the LORD, all you lands! Serve the LORD with gladness; Come
before His presence with singing. Know that the LORD, He is God; It is He who has
made us, and not we ourselves; We are
His people and the sheep of His pasture. Enter into His gates with
thanksgiving, And into His
courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and
bless His name. For the LORD is
good; His mercy is everlasting,
And His truth endures to all
generations.
Father God you are Holy, True, Omniscient, Omnipotent,
and Omnipresent. We thank you for your love. Guide us and our loved ones through
each day and cultivate our faith so that it will grow, blossom, and bear fruit.
In Jesus name we pray, Amen!
Revelation 5:8-14 NKJV
Before
we get started with this week’s lesson I want to go back to last week’s lesson
and point something out that I missed. Have you ever noticed in the Bible that when
situations in the lives of people of the Bible, or parables containing the
number three or third, some type of deliverance seems to be the result. Just
like Jesus rose on the third day to give us a chance to be delivered if we so
desire. Rehab told the two spies to go hide in the mountain for three days and
then go back to their people. Abraham and Isaac traveled three days to the
place of sacrifice and Isaac was delivered from death on the third day. If you
evaluate the situation whenever the Bible mentions three or third many times you
will find deliverance and quite often those being delivered are favored by God.
This
is exactly what has been brought to my attention with the scroll/book in God’s
right hand that Jesus took from Him. There are three woes (Meaning three
complete judgments of God.) and what these three woes consist of is seven
judgments of God within each of the three woes. The first woe is the seven
seals, the second woe is the seven trumpets, and the third woe is the seven
bowls/vials. Seven represents completeness, and three deliverance of God’s
people in this case.
The
seventh seal introduces the first trumpet. Revelation 8:1-2 When He
opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an
hour. 2
And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and to them were given seven
trumpets.
The
seventh trumpet introduces the first bowl/vial. Revelation 11:14-15 The second
woe is past. Behold, the third woe is coming quickly. 15
Then the seventh angel sounded: And there were loud voices in heaven, saying,
"The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign
forever and ever!" Revelation 15:7 Then
one of the four living creatures gave to the seven angels seven golden bowls
full of the wrath of God who lives forever and ever.
The
seventh bowl/vial introduces deliverance for God’s people that survive the
Tribulation. So actually what is contained in the scroll/book of God’s right
hand contains all the events from Revelation Chapter 6 through Chapter 19. The
end of the third woe/judgment is the commencement of the battle of Armageddon
when all of God’s people will be ushered into the Millennial Reign/Kingdom Age.
All of evil meaning Satan, his band of demons and spirits, and sinful people
will be removed from this earth. Revelation
19:16-21 And He has
on His robe and on His thigh a
name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.
17 Then I saw an angel standing in the
sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the birds that fly in the
midst of heaven, "Come and gather together for the supper of the great
God, 18
that you may eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of captains, the flesh of mighty
men, the flesh of horses and of those who sit on them, and the flesh of all people, free and slave, both small
and great." 19 And I saw the beast, the kings of the earth, and their armies,
gathered together to make war against Him who sat on the horse and against His
army. 20
Then the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet who worked signs in
his presence, by which he deceived those who received the mark of the beast and
those who worshiped his image. These two were cast alive into the lake of fire
burning with brimstone. 21 And the rest were killed with the sword which
proceeded from the mouth of Him who sat on the horse. And all the birds were
filled with their flesh. Revelation 20:1-3 Then
I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit
and a great chain in his hand. 2 He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old,
who is the Devil and Satan, and
bound him for a thousand years; 3 and he cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut
him up, and set a seal on him, so that he should deceive the nations no more
till the thousand years were finished. But after these things he must be
released for a little while.
Did
you know this scroll/book is mentioned in the book of Daniel in Chapter 12?
Daniel was having a conversation with the Lord about the end time events along
a river bank. This took place approximately 534 B.C. The book of Revelation is
what is to come in the future, in fact near future. Revelation is prophecy
recorded in the OT just like the prophecy of Jesus birth. It will happen
whether we like it or not, the question is are you ready if the Rapture happens
tomorrow? Have you given your life to Jesus and living your life according to
God’s plan? Daniel
12:1-10 "At that time Michael
shall stand up, The great prince who stands watch over the sons of your people; And there shall be a time of
trouble, (the
tribulation) Such as
never was since there was a nation, Even
to that time. And at that time your people shall be delivered, Every one who is
found written in the book. (The Book of Life.) 2 And many of
those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, (This speaks of the Rapture
and the Great White Throne Judgment. These two awakenings take place
approximately 1000 years apart from each other.)
Some to everlasting life, Some to shame and
everlasting contempt. 3 Those who are wise shall shine Like the brightness of
the firmament, And those who turn many to righteousness Like the stars forever
and ever. (This
talks about the rewards in Heaven for serving God by spreading the Gospel of
Salvation.) 4 "But
you, Daniel, shut up the words, and seal
the book until the time of the end; (Refers to the scroll with 7 seals in
Revelation.) many shall
run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase." 5 Then I,
Daniel, looked; and there stood two others, one on this riverbank and the other
on that riverbank. 6 And one
said to the man clothed in linen, who was
above the waters of the river, "How long shall the fulfillment of these
wonders be?" 7 Then I
heard the man clothed in linen, who was
above the waters of the river, when he held up his right hand and his left hand
to heaven, and swore by Him who lives forever, that it shall be for a time, times, and half a time; and when the power of the holy people has been
completely shattered, all these things
shall be finished. 8 Although I heard, I did not understand. Then I
said, "My lord, what shall be
the end of these things?" 9 And he
said, "Go your way,
Daniel, for the words are closed up and sealed till the
time of the end. 10 Many shall be purified, made white, and refined,
but the wicked shall do wickedly; and none of the wicked shall understand, but
the wise shall understand.
OK,
now for this week’s lesson. The rest of Chapter 5 is all about worship in the
Throne Room.
8
Now when
He had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders
fell down before the Lamb, each having a harp, and golden bowls full of
incense, which are the prayers of the saints.
When He had taken the
scroll refers to Jesus. The four living creatures and the twenty-four elders
fell down before Jesus to worship him. In reading the verse one would get the
impression that the creatures and elders each had harps and bowls of incense,
but in the Greek it indicates that just the elders had them. What are these
bowls of incense that are prayers of the saints? The prayers are prayers of
judgment, of when will sin and corruption be wiped off of this earth. The
prayers go right along with what Jesus taught us in the Lord’s Prayer. Matthew 6:10 Your kingdom come. Your
will be done On earth as it is
in heaven. God’s
saints cry out to God asking how long must sin prevail here on earth. When will
Jesus take over and rule and reign instead of Satan?
God answers prayers, but
He answers them according to His timeline and not ours. Think of it this way; all
prayers that are sent up to Heaven through Jesus are filed in a filing system.
When all the things take place in God’s prescribed order happens, then our
prayers are answered. This is what’s in the bowls being held by the elders, prayers
pertaining to future events. Eventually those prayers will be answered.
9
And they
sang a new song, saying: "You are worthy to take the scroll, And to open
its seals; For You were slain, And have redeemed us to God by Your blood Out of
every tribe and tongue and people and nation,
And
they sang a new song, saying; This
new song is referring to the redeemed saints singing a song of praise and glory
to our Lord Jesus Christ. A song of thanks for what Jesus did on the Cross for
us. To put this into perspective, when I was saved the words of many songs took
on a whole new meaning, a few being, Amazing Grace, Holy, Holy, Holy, and How
Great Thou Art. Songs never caused me to cry until after I was saved, but then
all of a sudden I fully understood what Jesus did for me and songs bring forth
tears of gratefulness, happiness, and sorrow.
You
are worthy to take the scroll, And to open its seals; For You were slain, And
have redeemed us to God by Your blood; Jesus is the only one worthy to take and open the scroll
because of Him defeating Satan and shedding His blood for us by dying on the
Cross. It is Jesus blood that cleanses us of our sins. We are pure and spotless
in God’s eyes because all God sees is His Sons blood covering us.
Out
of every tribe and tongue and people and nation; This statement boldly proclaims all on
earth can accept Jesus as their saviour if they so desire. One must repent,
turn from there wicked lifestyle to be saved.
10 And have
made us kings and priests to our God; And we shall reign on the earth."
This verse tells us that
when we are Born Again we become kings and priest in God’s eyes. We are one in
Christ. 1 Peter 2:9 But you are
a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people,
that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into
His marvelous light;
There are religions that
take this literally and preach that a saved person is a little god and they can
speak things into existence through faith. God sees saved individuals as
priests and kings because of the shed blood of Jesus that covers the
individual. Saved individuals are still human beings and will sin and will
continue to go to Jesus and ask for forgiveness. Jesus didn’t have to do this
because of His divine nature. He knew right from wrong and always chose the
right thing to do, but due to the inherited sin nature we as humans cannot do
that. Anyone that proclaims and practices the word of faith movement is placing
their faith in self and not the acts of the Cross. At some point in time we
will reign on earth with Jesus, then we will be kings and priests, and that
time will commence with the Kingdom Age (Millennium).
11 Then I
looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne, the living
creatures, and the elders; and the number of them was ten thousand times ten
thousand, and thousands of thousands,
Ten thousand is the
greatest number expressed in the Greek language and the last phrase signifies
that thousands of thousands of these ten thousand times ten thousand was
present. Daniel 7:10 A fiery stream issued And came forth from before
Him. A thousand thousands ministered to Him; Ten thousand times ten thousand
stood before Him. The court was seated, And the books were opened. In other words there is no way
humanly possible to count the angels present. Can we count the stars in the
heavens? Many places the Bible refers to stars as being angels. That’s how many
angels there were.
12 saying
with a loud voice: "Worthy is the Lamb who was slain To receive power
and riches and wisdom, And strength and honor and glory
and blessing!"
What a sound this would
be, one beyond comprehension. A loud sound, one of volume that would be
deafening. It’s a good thing we will all have glorified body in Heaven,
otherwise we would need ear plugs because our ear drums would shatter. Did you
also notice what is being proclaim is being said and not sung. Did you know
that whenever angels are mentioned in the Bible they are always saying and not
singing. We picture angels to sing, but maybe they can’t, hmmmm?
The praise given to Jesus
is a complete praise, a seven fold praise. I underlined what Jesus is worthy of
above in the verse. This statement should be in every persons vocabulary when
we are praising or praying to Jesus.
13 And every
creature which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and such as
are in the sea, and all that are in them, I heard saying: "Blessing and
honor and glory and power Be to
Him who sits on the throne, And to the Lamb, forever and ever!"
The meaning of this verse
is that all created things united in rendering honor to Him who sits on the Throne
and to the Lamb. Verse eleven speaks of those present in the Throne room, but
this verse includes all of creation. The entire universe was heard by John
ascribing praise to God and Jesus, from all parts of the earth, from under the
earth, and from the depths of the sea. Due to the fall of mankind it just
wasn’t the nature of man that was changed, but all of creations nature was
changed. So it isn’t just God’s Saints waiting for the return of the Garden of
Eden, but the universe is. Romans
8:19-21 For the earnest expectation of
the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. 20 For the
creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who
subjected it in hope; 21 because
the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into
the glorious liberty of the children of God.
14 Then the
four living creatures said, "Amen!" And the twenty-four elders fell
down and worshiped Him who lives forever and ever.
The four living creatures
are saying amen to the four blessings all of creation is giving to God and
Jesus. Amen signifies they are in agreement with what creation is saying.
Verses 13 & 14 are also stating that there is eternity, “Him who lives forever
and ever”. Eternity meaning eternal life in Heaven or eternal death in Hell.
Have…….You…….given your
heart to Jesus yet and experienced a change in your life, if not, what fear is
holding you back? Eternal Happiness or Eternal Fire?
Romans 1:16 For I am
not ashamed of the gospel of Christ,
for it is
the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes…...
Romans
3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
Romans
6:23 For the wages of sin is
death, but the gift of God is
eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
John
3:3
Jesus answered and said to him, Most assuredly, I say
to you,
unless
one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God."
Last
Week’s Trivia: Who
was Ahumai?
Answer: Ahumai was Judah’s great grandson and
is listed in the family tree of the tribe of Judah. 1
Chronicles 4:2.
This
week’s Trivia: Who
was Ahuzzath?
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