Epaggelia

The title means “to open up, take the lid off” – Gk, “Apokalupsis”, where we get our English word, Apocalyptic. Contrary to popular usage, it has nothing to do with catastrophic wars and the end of the world as we see the media purport. It is singular, not plural. It has many visions, but one message: Christians win in Christ no matter how big & evil our enemy is, Jesus Christ is our victorious King. Revelation is the only letter written to 7 exclusive congregations. So we need to keep our understanding in the context of the original readers and not ourselves. The historical background is important, if we are going to make any personal application for today. History remains a great teacher for the future. John gave them assurance that they could understand it as fulfilled prophecy, see 1:1,3, 22:6, 10. Our interpretation is defined by scripture, see Dan. 8:26, 12:4. So fulfillment of Revelation can be seen within a few centuries. Some passages do have an obvious two-fold fulfillment, akin to the way Isaiah 7:14 can refer both to Jesus (God Saves) in Mt. 1:23 and Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz (quick to plunder, swift to spoil) in Isa. 8:1-3.

Authorship & Outline: John the Apostle and disciple whom Jesus ‘loved’, Jn.13:23, was banished to the isle of Patmos, while suffering this persecution, he received many visions and was told to write them down in a book, 1:9-10. The last we see of John in the New Testament is Acts 15:4 & Gal. 2:9 in Jerusalem, it is only secular history from Irenaeus and Justin that we learn about John going to Ephesus. Irenaeus claimed to be a student of Polycarp, who sat at the feet of John.  The timing of his writing was somewhere between 81-96AD under the reign of Emperor Domitian.  Revelation can be outlined as simple as this:

• Introduction & Vision of Christ, Chapter 1
• Specific Visions for The Angel of the 7 Churches, Chapters 2-3
• General Visions of Prophecy for the 7 Churches, Chapters 4-22
  • Seven Seals, Trumpets & Bowls, Chapters 4-16
  • Winners & Losers, Chapters 17-20
  • More Than Conquerors in Christ, Chapters 21-22

Historical Background: The culture and political scenario of the first Christians is important, getting a meaningful understanding of Revelation is possible if we know how the world looked upon Christians in the 1^st century.  The first persecution we suffered was from Jews, when James and Stephen were killed, it sent shock-waves of both fear and boldness throughout the new church. But Jews couldn’t continue their persecution of us, because of 2 major reasons: Firstly they had too big an enemy being Rome and were preoccupied with revolts and oppression, secondly we had God’s miraculous power proving to the Jews that their debate and persecution was fighting against God, which Gamaliel warned them of in Acts 5:39.   In 66AD the Jews revolted against the Romans throughout most of Israel. The Emperor Nero sent his General Vespasian to Israel to quell the rebellion in Palestine. After almost 2 years of fighting in 68AD, Vespasian accomplished subduing most of Israel and prepared to overtake Jerusalem itself, when amazingly, Nero committed suicide, which motivated Vespasian to leave Israel and take the Throne in Rome in 69AD. He left his son Titus in charge of besieging and finishing off Jerusalem. Titus erected the Romans Eagle in the Temple on 10 August 70AD (a fulfillment of Dan. 9:27, 11:31 & 12:11, as well as Mat. 24:15). They destroyed and burnt the Temple to the ground, looting the gold and it’s best treasures.  There were still pockets of Jews trying to rebel but the main element gathered at Masada and held out till 73AD, after knowing all was lost to the Romans, they organized a mass suicide, so the revolt of 66AD lasted till 73AD. Now Titus was victorious, Christians were busy spreading the gospel of Christ. Many Romans ignorantly believed that Christianity was a revamped renewal of Judaism, trying to establish itself again, so they fell under immediate persecution. The trumped up charge of Christ being the “King of the Jews” served as a prefaced purpose that would haunt Christians for decades, Mark 15:2. Christians were constantly confused by the Romans with Jews as a new breed to be stamped out. But after 117AD when Hadrian became Emperor, one of his decrees helped identify Christians as separate from Jews. The Jews revolted again in 132AD giving Hadrian a defeat in losing over 570,000 Roman soldiers, so Hadrian eventually burnt Jerusalem to the ground and built a shrine to Jupiter on the ruins of the Temple. Hadrian also banned circumcision, over time, this actually helped Romans identify who was a Christian and who was a Jew, in the humiliating gender identification Romans gave their enemies. God knew circumcision would be an issue and prepared for it to be abolished since the Apostolic letter of Acts 15. So Christians found themselves escaping persecution for a while until they came into Roman towns with marketplaces that demanded allegiance to Caesar upon entry.  This lull in persecution gave them an opportunity for escape, but in Asia Minor where the seven churches are located, they were targeted because they wouldn’t publicly acknowledge Caesar as King, only Jesus as Lord Christ (Kurios Christi). This made Christians look like a threat to the government and reign of Caesar and caused them to be persecuted again. However as the love of God and His Spirit was shown by Christians, their own persecution became a great advertisement for Jesus and Christianity. The Gospel was used by His Spirit and faithful Christians, we eventually grew and overturned the Empire, making Christ the King of kings.

Do you know your family’s future? In Christ, it is fantastically famous and eternally rich, for we are citizens of Heaven, Philippians 3:20. The Theme and/or summary of Revelation can be summed up in one verse, Revelation 17:14. Every Christian should commit this verse to memory and ask God to write it on your heart!

The Apostle Paul’s viewpoint is still accessible after 2 millennia, read and see in Ephesians 1:3-14. It’s origin comes from the day Christ was crucified. Do you think that as the veil of the Temple was torn, and it fell to open a view into the Holy of Holies, there might have been a Levite present to watch it happen? Luke 23:45-46. If there was someone there, their view would not have been brightly illuminated, because Luke tells the event as if it happened during the darkness that covered them during the 6^th hour of the day. However, there was a golden lampstand burning, so it was lit! The reality is that Christ’s physical body had been prepared for this event, Hebrews 10:19-22, and God was longing to show this access for centuries. If we are in Christ, by faith, we have access. How is this access possible? Only by the victorious death of Christ, the Heavenly Realms in Christ are real.

In 1 Corinthians 3:16-17, Paul wrote, “You (collectively) are God’s temple; God’s Spirit continually lives in you.” Paul is declaring that internal division within the congregation was inexcusable because the congregation was God’s temple (sanctuary) containing God’s Spirit. So, internal division was inappropriate behavior for a local group composed of all kinds of different people living in Christ. The plural pronoun Paul used to show he was writing the whole congregation is seen in English translations: in the King James Version (contrasting “ye”—plural –-(3:16), with “any man” (3:17), and in the Phillips Modern English translation or the New International Version which both contrast “you yourselves” (3:16) with “anyone” (3:17).

Later in 1Corinthians 6:17-20, Paul spoke of the individual Christian as God’s temple. The context is sexual activity of a Christian by personal choice with a prostitute. Paul said this was inexcusable behavior for a person who has surrendered their self to Christ. The argument Paul made is basically the same—the individual Christian contained God’s Spirit. So which is it? Is a congregation God’s temple? Or is the individual Christian God’s temple? Both! Why both? The same thing makes both the congregation and the individual Christian God’s temple—possession of God’s Spirit. A congregation is a collection of men and women who have given their lives to Jesus Christ. Christians are a people who possess God’s Spirit. Whether as individuals or as a congregation, Christians behave as people who possess God’s Spirit, Romans 8:9. The presence of God is in them whether they are together or they are pursuing their lives individually. Ungodliness had NO role in their collective or individual behavior. Both internal division (in the congregation) and sexual immorality (in the individual) are ungodly.

God made an unspeakable investment in us! God’s investment in us through Jesus Christ was not a “partial investment” based on a contradictory commitment! So, we should not make an investment of our body/behavior in God partial or contradictory.

What is our daily perspective on loving God with our HEART, SOUL, MIND & STRENGTH, Mk. 12:30, if not seeing the love of Christ in our lifestyle as a glimpse of heaven on earth? Paul prayed that the eyes of our heart would be enlightened, Ephesians 1:17-18. Do you see Him living amongst us? Only Priests could see the Holy of Holies from the Holy Place.

At the risk of sounding overly critical and unnecessarily negative, I think our spiritual maturity is worth considering an observation from a study in Luke’s writings, His Gospel and the Acts. I found a real contrast in the way Luke uses the word “condemn”. In the Gospel of Luke, he quotes Jesus using this word 24 times, yet as Luke writes the book of Acts, he uses it only once. This word obviously has a priority in the vocabulary of Jesus Himself!  It is a strong word, meaning, To destroy, it is not simply pronouncing a negative opinion on someone, or labeling property unfit for residency. To condemn is to inflict death, or assassinate a person; for a vegetable, it is to cut off the life source and be left to rot. It is the action of executing a sentence, and Jesus uses it a lot in the gospel of Luke, It also appears quite often in Matthew!

Consider the context of Matthew 10:24-34 letting people know that even Christians who are being quiet about Jesus and God’s love, are more valuable than many sparrows. So His question is why would we refrain from letting people know how valuable we are to Him? Especially when we are facing trials, mockery, friction or stark persecution, risking death.

Sometimes we have good reason to be scared to death, such as when we have a scary accident & are in horrible pain that is in no way shape or form related to how we share our faith, or behave as a Christian. However, within the Christian’s life, our opportunities to speak about Jesus, or act like Jesus, should never be deterred by fear of what other people might think or do to us. When the disciples feared for their life on a boat in a storm, they had already seen him work miracles and heard his command to cross the lake, Mt. 8:18. What could stop that from happening? But the storm deterred them from believing the presence of Christ could help them do the job He gave them to do. So they came and woke him up saying, “Lord, save us! We are about to die!” (Mat 8:25) When the disciples feared for their life, Jesus rebuked the storm and went on to teach his disciples that their fear was based on a lack of faith. They struggled to believe in God’s power to save them through a storm in His work to cross a lake! If they do not have that kind of faith, and show it, then they will not grow as Christians, if they live in fear of this world, they will become frustrated with God, instead of being granted strength to grow their faith and do the work God is giving them. This lack of faith is why Judas Iscariot ended up being a loser and the rest of his closest disciples became apostles! (John 17:12)

The example of a growing Christian, saved by grace, can be seen in the Apostle Paul being converted from the old Saul he was. Paul was saved in more than one way, (2nd Cor. 11:23), when he could have been killed just once. But because of his growing faith in the powerful loving care of God in Jesus Christ, he was saved (1st Cor. 9:27) No Christian should view themselves as a ‘reject’ in the eyes of Christ. It is only outside of Christ that we face rejection because of our sin, not our self, we, in and of our selves, our very being, is so valuable to God. Never forget what James says, “There is only one lawgiver and judge, he who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor? (James 4:12) This is one of the many ways, a Christian can prevent losing our sure salvation. Believe and share the belief that Christ can save us from the wrath of God against our sin that we become so quickly identified and adversely affected by sin’s deceptive nature. It is wise for us, from time to time, to keep fresh in our mind and heart, how often Jesus used the word “Condemn”, God is able to do that! God is love, and very rich in mercy, but do we take advantage of his grace, and neglect the sharing of our faith in His love? James says, that for him that knows to do good and does not do it, to him, it is sin.”, James 4:17. We certainly do not want to continue in that way of thinking. We sure don’t want to live that habitually. The devil is sly and can deceptively distract us on a detour from the straight & narrow path Jesus wants us to walk on. Live right in His sight and share your faith in Him.

In this old creation, we call the cosmos, God made Adam as the first in humanity. Now, humanity has seen a new creation. His name is Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. Jesus is the reality of what God’s image really is. Adam was only a shadow of His image, he was given a soul when God breathed life into him and placed him in the garden of Eden. The first Adam brought death to humanity, the second ‘Adam’ brings life to this day, 1st Corinthians 15:23. Jesus is the unique Son of God, in the sense that He perfectly revealed God to us, and was ushered into this world without the aid of any man, God’s Holy Spirit created His unique Son in the womb of a virgin. Mary is blessed above all women to have the strength to submit in this work of God. Christ is entitled The Son of God in becoming flesh from the Word of God in the beginning of our universe, John 1:1-14. The Word of God before we existed was actually God Himself before Adam was created, and at that time Adam was a shadow of a ‘son of God’, as Luke 3:38 describes him. Adam enjoys the privileged position of being the progenitor of the human race which God uses to bring in His perfect and unique Son. Everyone in Jesus Christ, spiritually, is an adopted son or daughter of God, Romans 8:15. It is interesting to note how Adam is described in Genesis 1:26-3:19, as a ruler and head of humanity, as he is given dominion, while at the same time, it was planned before the foundation of the world, that God would bring Jesus into the world and establish dominion in a spiritual Kingdom in this world, Matthew 1:16-17. The Apostle Paul actually entitles Jesus as a very real King in 1st Timothy 6:14-15. His domain in His dominion still reigns to this day in the hearts of men & women by the millions, and is growing! You can see Jesus as the Head of the church in Colossians 1:18 and the head of his new creation in Romans 5:12-24, what a wonderful ruling Savior we have! The consequences of death which Adam brought to us, is in stark contrast to the consequences of life Jesus brings us, Genesis 3:16-19, and we see this explained so clearly in 1st Corinthians 15:20-49. Such an opposite negative act of Adam was committed in joining with his wife to rebel against God’s word, and eat the forbidden fruit, Genesis 3:6, yet, here we have Christ, joining with us, the bride of Christ as the church, to one day eat the fruit of the tree of life, Revelation 19:7-9, 22:1-2. Back in ancient days when Adam & Eve felt death approaching in their guilt & shame, God arrived and covered their nakedness with an animal’s skin, requiring it’s sacrifice, Genesis 3:21. We know Jesus is the Lamb of God, which was mocked, stripped, counted as a transgressor and slaughtered for our sins, Matthew 27:27-35. Never forget how God loves us, in providing a way to have our guilty sins covered up and washed away by blood & water, 1st Peter 3:21. The effect Adam had on his children’s fellowship with God was isolation & distance, instead of a loving care for each other. Humanity’s experience became full of hate & violence. Cain killed Abel and society grew so bad, God had to bring the flood in Noah’s day. However, in Christ, the effect on His siblings is redemptive and causes us to experience true life, an intimate, personal & public relationship with God. Humanity’s experience can be full of love & life, when we set our heart’s desires on the reality of how much greater Christ is, than Adam. Praise Him for ever!

Jesus said this first (Luke 18:1) Paul repeated it, we echo this, don’t stop praying! “You also must help us by prayer” (2nd Corinthians 1:11). Paul wrote to the Corinthians about his near-death experiences on his mission trip to Asia – and declared how God delivered him through their prayers. Prayer isn’t just something that helps us deal with our problems. It is necessary for God’s will to be shown on Earth. The New Testament takes us on a journey of commanded prayer. We are told to “pray for those who persecute you” (Matthew 5:44) for workers to go into the harvest (Matthew 9:38). We are to pray in faith (Matthew 21:22) and while praying for strength to escape persecution (Luke 21:36) we will not enter into temptation (Luke 22:40). We are to pray constantly (Romans 12:12) and with thanksgiving (Philippians 4:6) be devoted to prayer (Colossians 4:2), asking for doors of opportunity to be opened for sharing the good news of Christ (Colossians 4:3) with lost people that want to be found. We are to pray always (I Thessalonians 5:17) for those serving the church’s leadership roles (2Thessalonians 3:1) and for all people (I Timothy 2:1) especially those in high positions of power over the nations. Plead with confidence for God’s purpose to be accomplished in our life, in our neighborhood and indeed capitols all over the world. Do we really pray like this? When Christ returns, will he find this kind of faith anywhere on this earth? (Luke 18:8) I sure hope so, what about you? If not, you better start praying!

The Lord Jesus Christ has a brother named James, and he wrote an inspired fact, “…whoever wants to be the world’s friend becomes God’s enemy” (James 4:4) Jesus reminds us that we are to pray for our enemies, not against them. The reason I’m writing this is to help us pray that God will give His enemies an open heart to receive His truth and put a desire in their heart to hate sin and love Him.

A politician by the name of Marco Rubio, has made clear publicly his views against homosexuals being given marriage status by the Government and this has resulted in a gross amount of anger from the LGBT movement around our nation. Even the support of “civil unions” as an alternative to homosexual marriage, for which President Obama advocated as recently as 2012, is now unacceptable. Why? Because many people sympathetic to the LGBT movement have promoted propaganda. Propaganda is, Webster says, a “widespread dissemination or promotion of particular ideas, doctrines, practices, etc., to further one’s own cause or to damage another one.”  Mr. Rubio’s perspective is perhaps colored by the fact that he is the U.S-born son of Cuban immigrants and has a realist perspective of what happens when people are attacked for their beliefs. Under Castro, both Christians and homosexuals were dehumanized and painfully persecuted to death.

Our nation has now arrived in the public dialogue about same-sex marriage with polarized views that quickly engender violent hate speech. There is no longer room to debate how it may impact society, families, children, or the legal rights of other citizens. Religious beliefs based on Scripture – which has been held for millennia by many different religions – are swept aside.The simple truth, say the propagandists, is that anyone who articulates opposition to gay marriage is guilty of hate speech. The only remaining question is to what degree they should be censured, silenced and prosecuted. And judging by the rapidly growing hostility toward Christianity, it’s going to be harsh.

I’m not sure about how I will vote next year, personally, I think Mr. Rubio is a bit too young and our nation needs a more mature man, but however we vote, I’m convinced, we should vote prayerfully. Pray for your enemies to be defined as God’s enemies in your own heart, and that they would love the truth and hate sin, not the sinner. God loves each and every one of us, friend & foe. But we must take a stand to speak the truth in love, so if you are praying for God’s enemies, you can with confidence, vote with a clear Christian conscience. For the remaining months, make a point of memorizing Matthew 5:44, and remember that the most loving act of faith you can express towards an enemy of God is to look them in the eye and tell them the truth about how much Christ loves them. He died for the sin they are trapped in, to be released.