Part 2
Revelation Part 2 (Listen to Audio)
Rev 1:1 The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John:
There has never been a book as fascinating, as interesting, as captivating, as graphically descriptive, as curiously mysterious, as sometimes frightening, and as misunderstood as the Book of The Revelation of Jesus Christ. To that end, it has taken its rightful place as the last book in the Bible, as the culminator and terminator of the New Testament, the final frontier, the final threshold of the New Covenant… past which there is no more labor in the Word, only rest.
As we discussed in our opening remarks to this Book of The Revelation, for two millennia now Christian preachers and teachers and scholars have been diligently, and for the most part sincerely, trying to interpret its signs and symbols and come up with some semblance of rationale as to how it all relates to their (final) generation, to the world they now see all around them, a world they are convinced is soon coming to a horrific and cataclysmic end with Jesus Christ ultimately returning in the clouds on a white horse with all His saints to subdue all the kings and rulers and subjects of the earth by victorious warfare at the Battle of Armageddon, which many see taking place in the valley of Megiddo in the Middle East.
They have charts and graphs with timelines outlining events they expect soon to happen. I know, I had many of them myself. They have religions and denominations picked out for six of the seven churches in Revelation chapters 2 and 3 with themselves designated as the Church of Philadelphia, the church of brotherly love, which they claim they have and appear to show unto one another… until one sees differently and leaves their brotherhood. They have prominent personages or perhaps an evil fallen archangel targeted to be the soon appearing antichrist. They have political beasts, and religious beasts, and marks of beasts, and New World Orders, and Revived Roman Empires, and from there is goes downhill.
Dear ones, I tell you as one who now knows he was truly “blind”, who became a leader of the “blind”, and zealously taught and published commentaries on all those things, that The Book of The Revelation of Jesus Christ has nothing whatsoever to do with the world outside, the world you see. It has everything to do with the world inside, the world you don’t see. That’s right, it is not the playbook of world events to come… never has been. That is why all prophetic forecasts of an Armageddon in the past 2000 years and now presently extant in our generation have failed miserably and will continue to do so. No, The Revelation of Jesus Christ is just that, His revealing of Himself to YOU and in YOU, just as He has been continuing to do so unto all His servant sons and daughters down through the ages since the crucifixion and resurrection.
I left you with the thought at the end of our last discussion that for some, the revealing has already happened and they “see” the kingdom of God! And that means both past and present. Didn’t Jesus tell His disciples some of them standing right there would see the kingdom of God before they tasted of death? And so they did! John sure did, didn’t he? And many have also, since that time and right up to this present day!
Luk 9:27 But I tell you of a truth, there be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the kingdom of God.
And so it is that all the “things” spoken of in Rev. 1:1 that “must shortly come to pass”, are meant to come to pass in and unto YOU, His servant son or daughter! Are you ready for them? No man knows the hour or the day and God knows it happens suddenly, when you least expect it… even aren’t expecting it.
So… there are two things I would like to bring to the forefront of your mind this day. The first we briefly discussed yesterday, and that is that the temple of God is not out there in space somewhere waiting to descend out of the heavens to the city of Jerusalem in the Middle East. As it is written in 1 Cor 3:16, YOU are the temple of God, His dwelling place. Is that too hard to grasp and understand? Or is it just too unbelievable?
In fact, you all know that we dwell here on earth in tabernacles ourselves, which are these flesh bodies, right? The word tabernacle means “dwelling place”. Well then, what is it you suppose the tabernacle in the wilderness depicted with the Holy of Holies wherein sits the Ark of the Covenant placed deep in the heart of it? Oh, yes! God’s dwelling place, YOU! Are you shocked? Maybe someday we will talk about the physiology of the human body beginning with the brain and the two covering cerebellums and from there show how precisely it all mirrors the physical temple we see built in scripture.
But for now, just know that when we read in the book of the unveiling of Jesus Christ to you, His servant son or daughter, that when it says the temple in heaven is opened… it is speaking of something happening within you and to you, not something occurring up there in the external heavens. Know ye not that the kingdom of God is within you (Luke 17:21)? Do you not also know that the beasts of the field and fowls of the air are but external metaphors for the world within you? That’s right, adam, flesh man, has within him all the natures (names) of the beasts of the earth. We even use the nature (names) of animals to describe people and/or their actions or characteristic traits. “She’s as gentle as a lamb or she’s as harmless as a dove. He’s a snake or he’s sly like a fox. My wife was a real bear this morning… oops, better not go there.” Anyway, you get the point. We will likewise get to more of this at a later time. How marvelous and wondrous are the works of God. How just and true are His ways.
The second thing I want to talk to you about is the “veil”, or curtain of separation, the inner one that veiled the Holy of Holies from the Holy Place. What does this show us? Well, there is a place within YOU, the temple of God, called the Holy of Holies where the mercy seat of God resides, and where only the High Priest is able to go in and out of. Under the old covenant, prior to the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ when the VEIL was RENT, this happened only once a year on the Day of Atonement. Again, only the High Priest could go beyond the enormous veil that walled and blocked the Holy of Holies where the ark of covenant was located. Are you with me so far?
Now let’s go back to a statement that was made yesterday. Quote: “And so it is that the carnal mind, the flesh mind of man, operates in the same earthly dimension as your flesh eyes and therefore sees only and relates only to the things of this world. It CANNOT see the things of the spirit which is why it doesn’t matter how great a scholar you are… your MIND cannot see Christ. He is “veiled” to the earthly realm, which is what our minds are of! Again, that is why you cannot understand the Book of The Revelation of Jesus Christ by “studying” it… because you cannot SEE HIM, even by sincerely trying to.”
Please, stay with me here. The ONLY ONE who can rent the thick, heavy, impenetrable veil whereby you are able to SEE beyond, even into that Holy of Holies, as we will see John does in chapters 4 and 5 of Revelation, is Jesus Christ.
You SEE… The Book of The Revelation of Jesus Christ is actually the book that describes in detail the “RENTING OF THE VEIL”… yes, the one located between your HEART and your MIND, between HEAVEN and EARTH, between the SPIRITUAL and the CARNAL. That’s why it is called The Book of the UN-VEILING! And I tell you with all sincerity, from the knowledge of firsthand experience of things I have already told you happened to me and others, that it is the VEIL of the mind that separates one from truly knowing, from SEEING, Christ.
Hey, we SEE right in Genesis 3:24 that man, that would be “adam”, was driven out of the garden by God who then placed Cheribums (plural) at the East (entrance, gate) of Eden along with a “flaming sword” which turned every which way, to guard the tree of life. So our carnal brains who wield the flaming (spiritual) sword (Word of God), every which way throughout all those folds of our cerebellums, confounding it with vain imaginations (imagery) and the traditions of men, do prevent us from going back into Eden, beyond the veil, to see Christ, the Tree of Life.
AND SO… UNTIL that veil is RENT from top to bottom by Jesus Christ, certainly something no preacher or teacher can do, you simply cannot understand the Book of The Revelation! Let’s look at a few scriptures for those of you out there who are saying… whoa nelly! Don’t you know Christ already rent the veil! Well, I would have to kindly say apparently not yours, if that is all you see! And let me quickly add that’s ok, lest some become offended or think I’m being condescending! I’m certainly not. It’s just that it is every man in his own order (1 Cor. 15:23). God knows when we are ready to receive! Some of us simply remain virgins longer that others, like the five virgins in Matthew 25 who “See” as far as the Bridegroom is coming, but they aren’t quite ready to receive yet and thus will comfortably return and remain (on this side) with their brothers and sisters who buy and sell, simply meaning they study on and go to church, etc. I say comfortably remain, because when lightning strikes, when the revelation comes, you will find yourself as John, alone and isolated, all by yourself, on an island (as in a state of mind), appropriately called “my killing”, which is what Patmos means. More on that later, but I will add thank God for the Comforter.
Now, back to the renting of the veil. Notice what happens at the crucifixion.
Mat 27:50 Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost.
Matthew 27:51 And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent;
I believe you will find that the first thing John heard at the beginning of the un-veiling in verse 10 of Revelation 1, was also a loud (a great) voice… while in the spirit of course! But notice in Mat. 27:51 what happened at the loud cry, at the shout. The VEIL came tumbling down, didn’t it? It was split in two from Top to Bottom, from head to foot.
Notice what else happened… to the EARTH (to the mind). “The earth did quake”… because it’s a mind shaking, earth shattering, “earthquake” indeed. And what are these rocks (petra) being rent? Haven’t we heard about these stones of the temple being busted up somewhere before? Oh, yes, these rocks are those “stones (petra, same exact Greek word) of the temple” that the disciples pointed out to Jesus in Matthew 24 and Mark 13. He said He would demolish (kataluo) these stones at His coming, as is when He returned to the temple (which temple you are), i.e. after the crucifixion. In fact, didn’t Jesus say there would be earthquakes in diverse places too? Well, let’s see. There was one at the crucifixion and the renting of the veil we just saw. And there’s another when the great stone is rolled back. All I can tell you is that when you get these places, dear ones, beginning with the renting of the veil, they are earth shaking, mind shaking, experiences indeed!
I want to also tell you, again from first hand experience, about the darkness, i.e. how that the Day of the Lord, that would be the day He suddenly comes to His temple (that would be to you, can’t tell you when that is), is truly a day of darkness and gloominess. I mean, my lights went out! Good night Irene! Every foundational stone and fundamental thing I thought I knew about the scriptures and Jesus Christ was turned upside down and began to melt with a fervent heat (2 Pet. 3). Talk about a scorched earth! There truly was no sun! And I am not alone in this, for many who saw the light did also openly testify that they experienced the same earth shattering and prevailing darkness. We will see this in more detail later in the Book of The Splitting of the Veil, the Book of the Un-veiling! Meanwhile you can read of the darkness over all the earth in Luke chapter 23.
Luke 23:44 And it was about the sixth hour, and there was a darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour.
Six in Biblical numerics is the number of man and the days of his labor. Nine in Biblical numerics is the number of judgment and finality. Oh I wish I had more time on this. But let’s move on.
Luke 23:45 And the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was rent in the midst.
And so it is dear ones, that the Book of The Revelation of Jesus Christ was given unto Him, for He is the Revealer, the Revelator, to shew unto His servants the things which must come to pass in their lives at the time of the un-veiling.
In closing, I would like to turn your attention to the final words in Rev. 1 verse 1.
Rev. 1:1 … and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John:
And he sent (apostellō) his angel (messenger) and signified it unto his servant John (God is a gracious giver). To “signify” means by definition to “express or make known a meaning or idea by a sign, as distinct from the physical form in which it is expressed”. That means since the things we read of in The Revelation are signified, then they are NOT the literal forms and things they express to us. In other words, they are signs, symbols, that represent something else. For example, a candlestick is not a candlestick. It represents something else. The kings of the earth are not Presidents and Prime Ministers of countries. The sea is not the ocean… and on and on.
So if you see a cartoon handout with a seven headed beast coming up out of the sea, just smile at the creative artistry. Or if someone tells you the grass and trees are going to be burned up or giant locusts are going to come down from the sky and sting you and it will hurt for five months… well, don’t be too hard on them. The real meaning of these things, these signs, lies beyond the veil, even beyond the limits of our wild and vivid imaginations, and until that veil is rent… God love them, their guess is as good, or as wrong, as anyone else’s!
… to be continued.
