Term Paper: Module 5 Revelation 21

 Term Paper: Module 5 Revelation 21

Revelation 21 is an obvious end-times chapter, but not what usually comes to mind when we hear the phase “end-times.” Revelation 21 prophesies to both the Millennial Age and post Millennial Age. It speaks to the time after the rebels are incinerated by the fire of God and sentenced to the judgment of the second death. Satan is thrown into the Lake of Fire where the Antichrist and false prophet await his arrival—Sheol opening its mouth to receive him (Isaiah 14:9). It speaks to the dawning of the New—the New Heavens and the New Earth—wherein dwell righteousness. All that is evil has been judged—no more tears, no more death, mourning, crying, nor pain. 7000 years later, the desire of God reigns—God dwells with man. The former is gone; the new has come. Thundering from the Throne is heard, “No more death… Behold I make all things new.”

This “new” is not a complete abolition of the old but a transformation—a new birth. As we consider what God means by a new heavens and a new earth we must anchor in the account of Noah as defined by Peter in 2 Peter 3. In Peter’s description the earth was destroyed in Noah’s flood. It wasn’t annihilated, the earth was cleansed of evil, as it will be at the end of the Millennium with God’s final blow to the rebels. God views righteousness as a “new.” Examples of this are: Noah’s flood in Genesis 6 as it cleansed the earth of the evil, in Christ we become the righteousness of God and are defined as a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17, 5:21), and in the New Heavens and New Earth “wherein dwells righteousness (2 peter 3:13).

In Verse 1 God says there is “no sea” in the New. This takes me to Ezekiel 28 where God pronounces judgment on the King of Tyre, an indicant of Satan. In Ezekiel 28:2 Satan says through the king of Tyre, “I sit in the seat of gods in the heart of the seas.” I see a tie between this statement and the “no more sea” statement in Revelation 21, differing with Mike’s point that it is about dividing peoples.

Revelation 21 stands as the headwaters revealing of the City of God. Its flow waters the whole Bible—the wedding processional, if you will. Without Revelation 21 we would lack the definitive revealing of the City as The Bride. There are hints elsewhere, but here we see her—His one—clothed as a bride adorned for her husband. How glorious she must be. Breathtaking, I’m sure. God Himself adorns her beauty. Abraham saw this city, God’s city—God’s bride—and chose to give his life in search for her. It changed his pursuit—and therefore, his destiny. This would be the outcome for us if we too could see her, even if just a glimpse; it would change us. It would narrow the way we walk and the things we pursue. She is that beautiful—that glorious. She is that one Christ Jesus gave His life for. She was worth it to Him. Because of this, one of my main prays has become, “Show me Your City and the Lion Who sits on its Throne.”

Why was Babel built on the plain in Shinar and not on a mountain, since it was to reach into the heavens? Verse 9 gives us insight, since New Jerusalem is on a plain. Satan has seen New Jerusalem. Satan wants what God has, as we clearly see in Isaiah 14’s “I will” statements. If he can’t have it, he imitates it. Babel was man’s attempt, birthed in the heart of Satan, to build his city to reach heaven. Revelation 20:7-10 describes Satan’s last attempt to have this city; instead, he meets his final demise.

Our destiny as the Church is wrapped up in Israel’s destiny. We together are the one new man Ephesians 2:15 talks about. We see this so clearly in Revelation 21’s description of the Bride. Verses 9-12 show us that Israel and the church are both part of the Bride. These four scriptures changed my decades-long understanding of the Bride as just the church. This City, the Bride, has gates inscribed with the names of the 12 tribes of Israel. (I wonder if Dan is there or if he is replaced with Joseph or his sons.) Her foundation stones are adorned with the names of the Lamb’s apostles. (Again I wonder if Matthias was written or Paul.) This leads me to believe that at least some parts of both Israel and the Church are the Bride. She is comprised of those who made themselves ready, and not the “Ahabs” of Israel or of the ekklésia who shrunk back (Hebrews 10). In Ephesians 5 Paul also speaks of marriage as typifying Christ and His church. Could this include Israel? They too were God’s called out ones. Thayer's Greek Lexicon says of ἐκκλησία that in the Septuagint ekklésia is often equivalent to קָהָל, the assembly of the Israelites. I firmly believe that all the Bride must come through Jesus Christ, but how Israel does that is a mystery. Surely its thread must reach into Hosea 2: In that day..."I will betroth you to Me forever…”

The High Priest Thread

The High Priest Thread

A couple months ago I decided to read the Bible beginning to end. I got through Genesis 3. Rapid reading through the Bible is not something I do well. Getting stuck in details, cross referencing, and Greek/Hebrew meanings makes it nearly impossible for me.

Let’s back up a year. Last summer I took a class on the Millennial sacrifices found in Ezekiel 40-48. Very fascinating and I agree with most of what the teacher said—I think. However the teacher emphasized the priestly role of Adam in the Garden. In fact he made the priestly role of Adam the intent of Moses/God penning Creation in Genesis. He said that Creation is not mostly about the beginning of the earth and how it was created, rather it’s about why it was created. Furthermore, the accounting of Creation was to mainly show Adam’s high priestly role in the Garden, and therefore mankind’s high priestly role on the earth—God’s intent for man since the beginning. His emphasis got my head shaking and angered my husband, in fact he wouldn’t continue listening. I mulled this teacher’s message for over a year, again listened to his series, and then wrote him a response. My position is that Genesis (which means the origin or coming into being of something (Merriam-Webster)) is the historical record from beginning to end concerning (including, but not limited to) God, the God/man relationship, the earth, sin, judgment, faith, and Israel. If there is a high priest in the Garden then it is God, not Adam.

My purpose in writing this blog is to lead the reader to see that Jesus is likely the High Priest in the Garden and the One who walked in its cool of the day. Some of what I write will be conjecture—reasonable conjecture— and something I hope interests you as it does me.

Let’s discuss the High Priest. Hebrews is clear that Jesus is THE Eternal High Priest. Hebrews reveals that the earthly tabernacle was only a shadow of what is in Heaven. (8:5, 9:23-25) Jesus is the High Priest of Heaven and He serves a Temple in Heaven that is real—the original—the eternal—not made with hands, that is, not of this creation (9:11). Everything on Earth done through the Old Testament priests was only to vaguely reflect the reality in Heaven. These heavenly reflections on Earth are called “shadows.” Just as natural objects cast shadows when light stands behind them, so too do the Heavenly realities cast shadows on earth when the Light of God shines behind the real in Heaven. Jesus ONCE FOR ALL did what earthly priests’ sacrifices could never do, though offered year after year. Jesus ONCE FOR ALL entered the Heavenly temple with His own blood. He accomplished what their sacrifices could never do by taking away sin; their sacrifices only covered sin. Hebrews 9:11-12

In our Bible study home group we are studying Hebrews, my very favorite book in the Bible. As stated above, Hebrews clearly reveals Jesus as the High Priest, Who ONCE FOR ALL was sacrificed for us. His blood did what the blood of bull and goats, or the ashes of the heifer could never do. It is through His blood we have forgiveness of sin. He also ever lives to make intersession for us. The job of a Levitical priest was to offer sacrifices on behalf of the people for their sins—to cover their sins, but not to do away with their sins. Ephesians 1:7 states the Jesus fully pardons, having made full payment for our sin. Jesus is of a different order than the Levitical Priesthood of Aaron—Jesus is of the priestly order of Melchizedek. Melchizedek, Priest of God Most High, just shows up one day and Abraham was so blown away that he just gave him stuff. (I still wonder what Melchizedek did with all Abraham’s offerings.)

The first blood ever shed on Earth was by God. God killed an animal to cover Adam and Eve’s nakedness. Think about that for a moment. God killed one of His own creation—the first death ever(!)— the first blood ever shed(!)—was by God to cover nakedness resulting from sin. He then made garments for Adam and Eve. He didn’t just snap His finger and have cloths appear—He made them. It’s all actually very sad. This sacrifice for sin was a foreshadowing of what God would do in the future. Jesus, our High Priest shed His blood not to cover for sin, but to fully forgive sin.

Something in Genesis startled me this time as I read, and it is where I got stuck. Genesis 3:8. It states: They heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day. They didn’t just hear the sound of God, they heard Him walking. This means that He had substance. He wasn’t just a wind that was heard, like you’d hear wind blowing in the trees—Whoever this manifestation of the Godhead was He had substance. Furthermore, He was walking, not hovering, not blowing, not just a presence manifesting—no He was walking in the Garden. He could be heard and what was heard was defined as walking. I propose that this is none other than Jesus. God walked on the earth in the Person of Jesus.

What else leads me to believe that it was Jesus in the Garden is that Jesus is Creator God. When I say this I don’t set aside all the points in Scripture that talk about the Three-in-One God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and the biblical thread they were all involved in Creation. However, the New Testament clearly states: 1. Jesus is God (John 1); 2. Jesus created all things (John 1:3, Colossians 1:16-17). The Bible begins in Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth… And although the Scriptures express the whole Godhead’s involvement in Creation, the New Testament is not shy to proclaim Jesus as Creator. Jesus told the Jews in John 8:58: “before Abraham was born, I am" equating Himself with the I AM of Exodus 3:14. We know from John 1 and Colossians 3:16 that Jesus Christ created all things—He is Creator God. I don’t believe that as He walked on Earth 2000 years ago it was for the first time. I believe it was Jesus Adam heard walking in the Garden in the cool of the day. And that when the blood of the first animal was shed to cover for sin it was Jesus, the High Priest of Heaven, Who shed that blood as a first fruits, so to speak, of what was to come.

Could the reason God rested on the 7^th day point to the humanity of Christ? We know God doesn’t get tired and doesn’t need to rest. Creating things didn’t wear Him out and yet God rested. Why?

Is the Tribulation 3½ years or 7 years—What Changed My Mind

 Is the Tribulation 3½ years or 7 years—What Changed My Mind

In 1980 I received Christ in a church that taught the tribulation was 3½ years. I understand their position well and also where this doctrine’s roots are in Scripture. As the years have passed and my knowledge of end-times has increased, I now see a 7-year tribulation in Scripture. So changed my mind?

Daniel 9 is really the headwaters of nearly all eschatological views. Whether you are Amillennial, Partial Preterist or full, Postmillennial, Historic Premillennial, or Dispensational nearly all boil down to how one handles Daniel 9.

First a little background on Daniel: The setting for Daniel 9 is Babylon where Daniel, as a young man, had been taken captive during the reign of Nebuchadnezzar. Now as an old man he was reading the Book of Jeremiah. As he read he understood that there were to be 70 years of captivity due to the sin of Judah—the Southern Kingdom of Israel. (The Northern Kingdom, referred to as Israel, had already been taken captive by Assyria under Sennacherib.) Daniel’s response when realizing there were only a couple years left of the 70-year captivity are in verses 9:3-19. Verses 3-4 read: So I gave my attention to the Lord God to seek [Him by] prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth and ashes. 4 I prayed to the LORD my God and confessed…Gabriel shows up while Daniel is praying. He came to give Daniel instruction, to talk with him, and to give insight with understanding. (21-22).

A week in Jewish culture was either a week of days or years (7 days or 7 years). Daniel’s 70-week prophecy is weeks of years or 490 years. They are not consecutive years, rather they are prophetic years where the clock only ticks when certain conditions are met. (Likely when Israel is in the land, they have jurisdiction over Jerusalem, and the temple is functioning: Mike Bickle.) Following is what Gabriel said and is referred to as Daniel’s 70-week prophecy: (Verse 26 is what changed my mind on the 3½-year tribulation versus a 7-year tribulation.)

24"Seventy weeks have been decreed for your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to make an end of sin, to make atonement for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy [place]. 25"So you are to know and discern [that] from the issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince [there will be] seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; it will be built again, with plaza and moat, even in times of distress. 26"Then after the sixty-two weeks the Messiah will be cut off and have nothing, and the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. And its end [will come] with a flood; even to the end there will be war; desolations are determined. 27"And he will make a firm covenant with the many for one week, but in the middle of the week he will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering; and on the wing of abominations [will come] one who makes desolate, even until a complete destruction, one that is decreed, is poured out on the one who makes desolate." Daniel 9

Verse 26 clearly says that Messiah will be cut off (die) after the 69^th week. That is clear. This means that after Jesus died there was still one full week of years left (or 7 years). He didn’t fulfill ½ of the last 7 years of the 70 during His ministry years. But let’s look at why people assume He did. Daniel 9:27 says:

27"And he will make a firm covenant with the many for one week, but in the middle of the week he will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering.

I was taught that it was Jesus in verse 27 who made a firm covenant for one week and who put a stop to sacrifice and grain offerings by the His blood in the New Covenant half way through the last week (Luke 22:20, Hebrews 9-10). Thus, fulfilling the first ½ week in His ministry years and the last ½ week during the 3½-year tribulation. But how can Jesus be the one spoken of in both verses 26 and 27? The math doesn’t work, and when verse 26 is so clear that Messiah is cut off after the 69^th week—not after the 69½ week! Furthermore, Jesus’ Covenant is eternal and not for a week!

I conclude, along with many others, that the tribulation is the last week of years—7 years. And that the one who confirms a covenant with the many in verse 27 is the anti-Christ. Isn’t it odd that the dispute is whether verse 27 is speaking about Jesus or the anti-Christ!

Following is some further study, if you’re interested:

During these 490 years it is important to understand these basic points. The 70 Weeks have been decreed for:

Verse 24:

1. Your people (the Jews) and your holy city (Jerusalem)
2. to finish the transgression,(likely their rejection of Messiah)
3. to make an end of sin,
4. to make atonement for iniquity,
5. to bring in everlasting righteousness,
6. to seal up vision and prophecy and
7. to anoint the most holy [place].

Verse 25:

1.  … from the issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince [there will be] seven weeks and sixty-two weeks;(For a total of 69 weeks, leaving one 7-year week left. Jesus rebuked the leaders of Jerusalem for not knowing the time of their visitation in Luke 19:41-44. All they had to do was add the years for a definitive time a Messiah’s (first) coming.)
2. it will be built again, with plaza and moat, even in times of distress.(Nehemiah)

Verse 26:

1. “Then after the sixty-two ((7 + (62 × 7))or after the 69^th week)weeks the Messiah will be cut off and have nothing,(Messiah will die.)
2. and the people of the prince(anti-Christ; likely ancient-Roman descent) who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary(Rome destroyed Jerusalem in 70 AD).
3. And its (Jerusalem’s) end [will come] with a flood (flood usually means peoples—nations);
4. even to the end (another end distinct from the destruction of the city above) there will be war; desolations are determined.

Verse 27:

1. “And he will make a firm covenant with the many for one week,(Jesus’ Covenant did not last a week—it lasts eternally. This is why I believe it is the anti-Christ making a 7-year covenant with the nations at the beginning of the 7-year tribulation. Some translations say that “he will confirm a covenant with the many for a week.” So there could already be a covenant that is confirmed by the anti-Christ or one that the anti-Christ makes firm for 7-years. At this time he is allowing (probably prompting) the Jews to sacrifice in the yet-to-be-built Temple.)
2. but in the middle of the week he will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering; (Many believe that this is Jesus fulfilling the Old Covenant Law of sacrifice, but as stated above, it is not. It is the anti-Christ breaking his covenant with the nations and forcing the Jews to stop sacrificing in the yet-to-be-built Temple.)
3. and on the wing of abominations [will come] one who makes desolate,(Jesus spoke of the Abomination of Desolation standing in the holy place (Matthew 24:15, 21) and that at that time …)“there will be a great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will.” Therefore this cannot be 70 AD.)
4. even until a complete destruction, one that is decreed, is poured out on the one who makes desolate.” (This is the complete end of the anti-Christ and his kingdom at the end of the 1290 days Daniel prophesied about in Daniel 12:11. Here God says that instead of only 1260 days, as stated in the Book of Revelation, there is actually another 30 days. These extra 30 days are where the bowls of wrath are poured out on the anti-Christ and his kingdom; the church is raptured at the end of the 1260. She is not on the earth during the last 30 days or at least has new bodies so the bowls of God’s wrath does not touch her.)

 

The following chart if from IHOPKC: