Jude 8
"Yet in like manner these people also, relying on their dreams, defile the flesh, reject authority, and blaspheme the glorious ones.
"...True revelation, however, builds up character instead of degrading and demoralizing it."
(I would say I rest my case but I'm still just getting warmed up :-)
Jude 22-23
And of some have compassion, making a difference: And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh.
"Christians are not concerned exclusively with their own salvation. They have a duty toward the misguided and the mistaken."
Revelation 2:7
He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.
"To him who conquers is another formula, taken from military usage, found in the conclusion of each letter. The mighty cosmic conflict has begun between God and Christ and their forces of right on the one hand, and Satan and the Antichrist and their cohost of evil on the other. The persecution of the Christians is an opening skirmish; they are the soldiers of Christ. The conqueror is the Christian who by his "patient endurance" his courageous steadfastness, his loyalty and devotion unto death, is an imitator of Christ himself. Just as Christ suffered a martyr's death, but overcame his enemies and death itself and is now triumphantly enthroned in heaven, so the Christian who takes up his cross and follows Jesus to a similar martyrdom will also triumph over his enemies, both human and supernatural, and will be a victor over death. So much emphasis is placed on this concept by the author that we are practically forced to conclude that for him "conqueror" and "martyr" are synonymous terms."
"In this and in the other letters specific promises are made to the conqueror. In this case he is solemnly assured that he will eat of the tree of life which is in the paradise of God. Frequently in apocalypticism it is stated or assumed that the beginning of the new age will be similar to the beginning of this present age, that the new creation will reproduce the initial blessedness of the first creation, that the new paradise will be similar to the Garden of Eden. Accordingly, in Revelation it is supposed that the blessings and glories of the Garden of Eden will characterize the new age, and that in the paradise to come the martyr will eat of the tree of life, which is depicted in 22:2 with its twelve kinds of fruit. Although Adam lost paradise and immortality by eating of the tree in Eden, the martyr, by eating of its fruit, will live forever. This is but one of a series of glorious rewards which are held out to the prospective martyrs.
("twelve kinds of fruit", I'm gonna go dimensions, yup)
Revelation 2:17
He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it.
"For the third time the concluding formula precedes the promise to the martyr, which in this instance is twofold. In the first place the Israelites were fed mana during their deliverance from Egypt, so the faithful Christian will receive spiritual mana in the next life following his liberation from death. This corresponds to the promise of II Baruch 29:8, that in the days of the Messiah manna will once more come down from heaven to earth as food for the righteous (cf. Hagigah 12b). In the second part of the reward Christ will give the martyr a white stone with a new name written it, a name that will be known only to the one who receives it. The meaning is somewhat obscure, but possibly the reference is to a kind of phylactery or amulet with the secret name of Jesus, which the martyr has not denied, engraved on it so as to protect him in this life and to insure a blessed immortality in the next.
"that in the days of the Messiah manna will once more come down from heaven to earth as food for the righteous"
How in the world do you think we sustained ourselves through all of what we went through to get to this point?
"The meaning is somewhat obscure, but possibly the reference is to a kind of phylactery or amulet with the secret name of Jesus, which the martyr has not denied, engraved on it so as to protect him in this life and to insure a blessed immortality in the next."
Exactly how many other people in your life have you ever heard talk about amulets or tailsmen and their place in the Christian tradition?
Exactly...
"...not because of what I say, but because of what I am, which should have been clear enough to them."
It wasnt clear to them who Christ was then and its not clear to people now who we are, the male and female parts of divinity (in the spirit of Tabitha and Elijah) sent to announce the beginning of the tribulation.
You ought to be going "OMGoodness it's ringing more true by the day at this point."
"III. INTRODUCTORY VISIONS (4:1-5:14)
A. ADORATION OF GOD IN HEAVEN (4:1-11)
The main body of Revelation is seemingly composed of seven series of eschatological visions, with seven visions in each of the series. As a fitting introduction to these series of apocalyptic scenes, two visions, one of God and the other of Christ, in all of their majesty, splendor, and power in heaven, are depicted. At present God and Christ are far removed from the earth and its inhabitants, who during this present el age are under the domination of Satan and his demonic forces, both supernatural and human. But the Christian readers are assured that God and Christ are not unaware of their desperate plight, are not without deep concern about their sorrows and tribulations nor are they powerless to rescue them from their enemies and to save them out of this age of evil and wickedness. On the contrary, these two scenes portraying them in all of their majestic might are a pledge that very soon they will intervene in the affairs of this world, will defeat and overpower Satan and his followers, will drastically terminate his dominion, his age, and then will institute a new age under their own control for the benefit of the faithful Christians."
Rev 4:1-2
After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter.
And immediately I was in the spirit: and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne.
"Here he would be shown what was going to take place in the future. Since, according to astral theology, everything that was to happen on earth had already been predetermined in heaven, if a person could only visit heaven to learn its secrets through information provided by angels, or possibly by reading the heavenly tablets of destiny. he would have a preview of all that was to occur on earth. Indeed, the events that were to happen might even be re-enacted before his very eyes. Consequently, on his return to earth he would be able to predict with certainty what the future had in store. It was for this reason that Enoch, Abraham, Isaiah, and others were taken to the heavenly regions. It was for this same purpose that John ascended to the celestial realm. The future of the world and of all mankind is unrolled before him in one magnificent panorama after another. As a result of this preview he writes with authority. Also, he at times writes of events of the future as if they were occurring while he writes, or as if they had already happened, using future, present, and past tenses with almost complete indifference, as do other apocalyptic writers.
(The great I am experiences past present and future all at the same time. Just accept it quit trying to understand it.
And if somebody else has a better explanation as to why things are playing out exactly like they are laid out in that book? The one that blesses you if you read it and take it to heart? I'd love yo hear it.
Brothers and sisters, To many coincidences isn't a coincidence, its pretty simple.)
Revelation 9:20
And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship devils, and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood: which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk:
"Men who will not learn from their experience:
That man is quite impervious to the impacts of facts" it was once said of a man who seemed never to be influenced by events, however important they were. The mass of mankind, according to the man of Patmos, was quite uninfluenced by the death of a third of the human race. To them applied the truth of the word that "there is none so blind as they that won't see." The O.T. prophets are all the while rebuking their people for failing to see what God was saying to them in events whose meaning should have been perfectly clear. It is remarkable how rarely he describes a man facing the meaning of his own moral experience and learning from it. Century after century men have confronted life with unseeing eyes and unhearing ears. It seems sometimes that loud speakers are shouting forth the meaning of events but that men refuse to listen to their words.
( I really need to even say anything about the two underlined sections? I need go into more detail?)
Revelation 19:19-21
19 And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army.
20 And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.
21 And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh.
"19-21. As in 17:14, the beast with his armies made war on Christ and his army of martyrs. However, both he and the false prophet (the pseudo Christ, whose latest appearance was in 16:13, just prior to the battle of Armageddon) were captured and thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with brimstone. As for the armies of the beast, all were slain by the sword which projected from the mouth of Christ, and the birds that had been summoned by the angel were gorged with their flesh.
Thus the reign of the Antichrist, of the satanic Roman emperors and empire, will come to an end. The Antichrist and his colleague, symbolizing the priesthood of the imperial cult, will be tortured in the lake of fire forever. This fiery lake is not to be confused either with Hades (Sheol) or with the bottomless pit. Instead, it is a place of eternal damnation and punishment for the wicked, the opponents of God and of the righteous, similar to the Jewish Gehenna or the Greek Hell. In one form or another this fiery place of everlasting punishment is depicted in many Jewish and Christian writings (cf. I Enoch 21:7-10; 54:1-2; 90:26-27; II Esdras 7:36; II Baruch 85:13; Sibylline Oracles 2:196-200, 252-53, 286; Mark 9:43; Matt. 5:22; II Enoch 10:2; Apocalypse of Peter 8; Mekhilta on Exod. 14:21; Hagigah 13b). Those nations of the earth who worshiped the beast and bore his name will be restored to life in the second or general resurrection (20:18) and following the judgment, in accord with the warning of 14:9-10, They too will be consigned to the fiery lake for an eternity of torment (20:15; 21:8).
That John has been using current traditions concerning the final victory over the antichrist and his followers may be seen by reference to other sources. According to Dan. 7:11, the fourth beast, representing the Greco-Syrian kingdom, with the little horn symbolizing Antiochus IV Epiphanes, was slain and its body burned. Further on in Daniel it is predicted that Antiochus will attack the saints in the last days, but will come to his end "between the sea and the glorious holy mountain" (Dan. 11:44-45) As for the wicked and the persecutors, they will be raised to "shame and everlasting contempt" (Dan. 12:2); apparently Gehenna is meant here. We read in II Thess. 2:8-10 that the "lawless one" will be destroyed by the breath of the mouth of the Lord Jesus, and that those who are deceived by him are destined to perish. In a Jewish apocalypse the armies of the Antichrist will be destroyed by the sword, while he himself will be bound and taken before the Messiah, who will convict him and put him to death (11 Baruch 40:1-4). The Sibyl predicts that Beliar and the overweening men who have been deceived by him will be burned up by a world-wide conflagration (Sibylline Oracles 3:68-73). Finally, from the Ascension of Isaiah 4:14 we learn that Christ with his armies will defeat Beliar, the Antichrist, and his forces and will drag them into Gehenna Later on the godless will be totally consumed with fire (Ascension of Isaiah 4:18). It is from this stream of apocalyptic tradition, coupled with an eschatological reinterpretation of Ezek. 39:17-20, that John has developed his pattern of thought concerning the conquest and eternal punishment of the Antichrist and the deluded people of earth who became his followers and worshipers.
The gruesome feast of the birds on the flesh of the slain (cf. vs. 17) should be contrasted with "the marriage supper of the Lamb," to which the martyrs are invited (vs. 9). A similar feast, likewise showing dependence, direct or indirect, upon Ezek. 39:17-20, is found in other sources; e.g., in the Sibylline Oracles 3:697 the beasts will eat their fill from the flesh of those who perished in the last days. Also, according to the neo-Hebraic Apocalypse of Elijah, subsequent to the defeat of Gog and Magog and their armies after the messianic interim, the birds of the heaven and the beasts of the field will eat the flesh and drink the blood of the fallen.
Any questions?
:-).
I love you baby.
Going to buddys, my mind needs a lil rest.
TTYS.
No comments:
Post a Comment