Matthew 24:29–35 The Coming of the Son of Man

[Study Aired November 3, 2025]

Our study today highlights the coming of the Lord. As indicated in the previous study, our focus is on the spiritual application or the inward application of these words of the Lord. This does not mean that there is no outward application of the Lord’s discourse with His disciples about His coming. The study today of the Lord’s coming is centered on His coming into our lives with the spirit of His mouth and His brightness. 

2Th 2:7  For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. 
2Th 2:8 And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: 

In the second part of this study today, the Lord used the parable of the fig tree to show us that by the things that are made, we are able to understand  the invisible things of Him. 

Rom 1:20  For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: 

The coming of summer does not take us by surprise. This is because the coming of summer is preceded by branches of figs becoming tender and putting forth leaves. In the study today, we shall show the spiritual meaning of the coming of summer and how it applies to us, His elect. 

The Coming of the Son of Man

Mat 24:29  Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: 

The use of “after” in verse 29 seems to suggest that it is after we have gone through tribulation that the sun becomes darkened and the moon gives not her light. However, a closer look at the Greek word “meta” which primarily is used as “after” can also mean “in the midst or “among” as shown in the following instances, where the word was translated as “among”:

Luk 22:37  For I say unto you, that this that is written must yet be accomplished in me, And he was reckoned among the transgressors: for the things concerning me have an end.  

Joh 6:43  Jesus therefore answered and said unto them, Murmur not among yourselves. 

What this implies is that it is while we are going through tribulation or the Lord’s judgment that the sun becomes darkened and the moon does not give her light. The sun refers to Jesus Christ who is our father as shown in the following verse:

Gen 37:9  And he dreamed yet another dream, and told it his brethren, and said, Behold, I have dreamed a dream more; and, behold, the sun and the moon and the eleven stars made obeisance to me.
Gen 37:10 And he told it to his father, and to his brethren: and his father rebuked him, and said unto him, What is this dream that thou hast dreamed? Shall I and thy mother and thy brethren indeed come to bow down ourselves to thee to the earth?   

Isa 9:6  For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. 

When we are going through the Lord’s fiery trials or tribulation, it is as if the sun is darkened. That is to say that it seems as if the Lord has abandoned us. Remember that when Jesus was going through the process of crucifixion, it was as if God, His father (the sun) had abandoned Him. 

Mat 27:46  And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? 

The same thing happened to Paul when he was travelling by sea to Rome to present his case to Caesar. Paul, together with all those travelling with him in the ship did not see the sun for fourteen days when there was a storm at sea.

Act 27:20  And when neither sun nor stars in many days appeared, and no small tempest lay on us, all hope that we should be saved was then taken away.  

During these times of tribulation or our fiery trials, our sun seems to be  darkened and this experience is what it is described in the Book of Isaiah as the Lord forsaking us for a small moment. 

Isa 54:7  For a small moment have I forsaken thee; but with great mercies will I gather thee. 
Isa 54:8 In a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment; but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the LORD thy Redeemer.  

As indicated in verse 29, it is not only the sun that is darkened during our time of tribulation, the moon also does not give her light. The moon refers to our mother, who is the church system of this world or Babylon as shown below:

Gen 37:9  And he dreamed yet another dream, and told it his brethren, and said, Behold, I have dreamed a dream more; and, behold, the sun and the moon and the eleven stars made obeisance to me.
Gen 37:10 And he told it to his father, and to his brethren: and his father rebuked him, and said unto him, What is this dream that thou hast dreamed? Shall I and thy mother and thy brethren indeed come to bow down ourselves to thee to the earth?

The moon not giving her light therefore means that during our fiery trials, we come to see that the church system of this world or Babylon which we were part of when Christ came to us with His judgment, does not have the word of truth. The stars falling from heaven signifies the fact that we shall see the messengers parading in the church system of this world or Babylon as messengers of Satan as we go through these fiery trials marked out for us.  

2Co 11:13  For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. 
2Co 11:14  And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. 
2Co 11:15 Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.  

In verse 29, we are told that the powers of the heavens shall be shaken. This implies that the fire of His words shall destroy everything within our hearts and minds that can be shaken. The flesh and its false doctrines in our hearts and minds represent that which can be shaken within us. 

Heb 12:25  See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven: 
Heb 12:26  Whose voice then shook the earth: but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven. 
Heb 12:27  And this word, Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. 
Heb 12:28  Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear: 
Heb 12:29  For our God is a consuming fire. 

Mat 24:30  And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 

It is as we go through this fiery trial of the Lord that we see the appearance of the sign of the Son of man in our heaven. That is to say that in our hearts and minds, we begin to witness the dwelling of Christ within us. These are the signs or indicators that Christ has come to dwell in our hearts and minds (heaven):

Sin becomes less attractive when Christ resides in our hearts and minds.

Rom 8:10  And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. 

We come to see that we do not have the strength or power to please the Lord and that our ability to please the Lord is through the excellency of the Lord’s power within our mortal bodies. 

2Co 4:6  For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. 
2Co 4:7 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.  

A third indicator of the son of Man in our heavens is that our understanding is enlightened as Christ is revealed progressively in us through His word.

Gal 1:15  But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb, and called me by his grace,
Gal 1:16 To reveal his Son in me, that I might preach him among the heathen; immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood: 

A fourth sign of Christ’s presence within our hearts and minds is that we begin to walk by faith as we do away with the law of Moses which we were under during our time in Babylon. 

Gal 2:20  I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. 

The fifth sign of Christ’s presence in our hearts and minds is that we have a renewed hope.

Col 1:27  To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory: 

As we indicated in the previous study, nations are within us. The tribes of the earth refers to people and therefore represents our flesh. The mourning of the tribes of the earth means that our flesh laments over its death through the Lord’s judgment. In other words, our fiery trials are a painful experience for our flesh. This mourning experience is what characterizes our walk. That is why the two witnesses, who represent the Lord’s elect, are clothed in sackcloth signifying their mourning status in this life.

Job 14:22  But his flesh upon him shall have pain, and his soul within him shall mourn.

Rev 11:3  And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth.  

However, as shown in verse 30, it is through this bitter mourning experience that we come to see our Lord Jesus Christ coming to establish His kingdom within us with power and great glory. 

Luk 17:20  And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation:
Luk 17:21 Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.

Mat 24:31  And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. 

The Lord in every generation is sending forth His angels with a great sound of a trumpet. Spiritually, the sounding of a trumpet is the proclamation of the word of the Lord. 

Isa 58:1  Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins. 

The angels being sent by the Lord are His elect in every generation who are proclaiming the word of the Lord. It is also instructive to note that in the Old Testament time, the sounding of a trumpet was either to call the people of Israel together or to sound an alarm of an impending war.  

Jer 4:5  Declare ye in Judah, and publish in Jerusalem; and say, Blow ye the trumpet in the land: cry, gather together, and say, Assemble yourselves, and let us go into the defenced cities. 

Eze 33:2  Son of man, speak to the children of thy people, and say unto them, When I bring the sword upon a land, if the people of the land take a man of their coasts, and set him for their watchman: 
Eze 33:3  If when he seeth the sword come upon the land, he blow the trumpet, and warn the people;
Eze 33:4  Then whosoever heareth the sound of the trumpet, and taketh not warning; if the sword come, and take him away, his blood shall be upon his own head.
Eze 33:5  He heard the sound of the trumpet, and took not warning; his blood shall be upon him. But he that taketh warning shall deliver his soul. 
Eze 33:6 But if the watchman see the sword come, and blow not the trumpet, and the people be not warned; if the sword come, and take any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at the watchman’s hand. 

In these verses of Ezekiel above, the watchman represents the Lord’s elect who are to make the Lord’s people aware of this fiery trial or war that we are going through. Through the message of the Lord’s elect, the Lord is gathering His people all over the world (the four winds) together. For example, our assembling today is what the Lord is doing in this age and the essence of this gathering is to equip us to withstand the fiery trials that we are going through and to have the confidence that the Lord is establishing His kingdom within us. In the fullness of time, this kingdom will become outward.  

Luk 17:20  And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation:
Luk 17:21 Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.

The Lesson of the Fig Tree

Mat 24:32  Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh:
Mat 24:33  So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors. 

Signs that summer is arriving for a fig tree include fresh leaves appearing, the branches becoming tender, and the development of the “breba” crop—an early harvest of figs. If we are to understand what the Lord is saying to us in verse 32, then we need to know what summer represents spiritually. In the Bible, the summer is the time of the harvest as shown in the following verses:

Jer 8:20  The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved.   

Pro 6:8  Provideth her meat in the summer, and gathereth her food in the harvest. 

Pro 10:5  He that gathereth in summer is a wise son: but he that sleepeth in harvest is a son that causeth shame. 

The time of the harvest represents the reward of our labor and therefore spiritually, the coming of summer is when our labor in the Lord shall be rewarded. That is the time of our salvation. This is what the Lord has to say about what we must do as we see summer or our salvation approaching:

Rom 13:11  And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. 
Rom 13:12  The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light. 
Rom 13:13  Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying. 
Rom 13:14 But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.

1Pe 1:13  Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; 
1Pe 1:14  As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance: 
1Pe 1:15  But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation;
1Pe 1:16 Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.  

2Pe 3:14  Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless. 
2Pe 3:15  And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you; 
2Pe 3:16  As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction. 
2Pe 3:17  Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own stedfastness. 
2Pe 3:18 But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever. Amen. 

In verse 33, the Lord is telling us that when we come to see all these things, then we must be aware that our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. The question is, “What are all these things that Jesus is referring to?” “These things” refers to all that He has said earlier in this discourse in Matthew chapter 24, especially verses 29 -31, about what is going to happen to us, His elect. If we are privileged to be experiencing what He is talking about in these verses, then we must know that the time of our salvation is drawing closer!! In other words, we must know that we are going through the Lord’s judgment in this age, that our understanding is being enlightened to know more of Jesus through His words, that the kingdom of heaven is being established within us with Christ on the throne in our hearts and mind and finally, the Lord through His elect, is gathering us together from the four corners of the earth. If you see these things, then it means the summer is near or our salvation is closer than when we first believed.    

The story of how Elijah was taken up to heaven illustrates the point being made about how we are to know that the time of our salvation is drawing very close. 

2Ki 2:9  And it came to pass, when they were gone over, that Elijah said unto Elisha, Ask what I shall do for thee, before I be taken away from thee. And Elisha said, I pray thee, let a double portion of thy spirit be upon me. 
2Ki 2:10  And he said, Thou hast asked a hard thing: nevertheless, if thou see me when I am taken from thee, it shall be so unto thee; but if not, it shall not be so. 
2Ki 2:11  And it came to pass, as they still went on, and talked, that, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and parted them both asunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven. 
2Ki 2:12  And Elisha saw it, and he cried, My father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof. And he saw him no more: and he took hold of his own clothes, and rent them in two pieces. 
2Ki 2:13  He took up also the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and went back, and stood by the bank of Jordan; 
2Ki 2:14 And he took the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and smote the waters, and said, Where is the LORD God of Elijah? and when he also had smitten the waters, they parted hither and thither: and Elisha went over.  

In this episode, we can say that Elijah represents our Lord Jesus and Elisha signifies the elect. In order for the Lord’s elect (Elisha) to be rewarded at the summer which is the time of the harvest (first resurrection), he must see Christ or Elijah taken up. That is to say that we must see Jesus in the light of His suffering and His glorification. As we can see, Elisha saw a chariot of fire and horses of fire. We know that chariot of fire represents Christ’s suffering and the horses of fire signify the suffering He endured as a result of the war in His heavens during His time here on earth. As a result, Jesus (Elijah) was transformed in glory. 

As He is, so are we. We must come to know that this is the time of war in our heavens as we ride this chariot of our suffering. When we come to realize this, then we must know that the summer or the first resurrection is near!! That was how the disciples before us lived as they recognized that the time was at hand. If during the time of the disciples, the time was at hand, then what shall we say of the times in which we are living?

2Ti 4:6  For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand.

Rev 1:3  Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.

Rev 22:10  And he saith unto me, Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book: for the time is at hand.

It is instructive to note that in 2 Kings 2:11 that Elijah went up by a whirlwind. The word “whirlwind” also means flash of lightning. This is what Paul said about this period of the harvest or summer:

1Co 15:52  In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. 
1Co 15:53  For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.
1Co 15:54 So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.     

Mat 24:34  Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled. 

The statement, “This generation shall not pass, till all these things are fulfilled” is another way of saying that man shall not live by bread alone but by every word of the Lord. In this age, it is the Lord’s elect of every generation who must fulfill or live by every word of the Lord. In the age of the lake of fire, all humanity shall fulfill the word of the Lord. 

Mat 4:4  But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. 

Luk 4:4  And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God. 

In summary, we can say that all things shall come alike to all human beings with the elect being first to experience all things.

Ecc 9:2  All things come alike to all: there is one event to the righteous, and to the wicked; to the good and to the clean, and to the unclean; to him that sacrificeth, and to him that sacrificeth not: as is the good, so is the sinner; and he that sweareth, as he that feareth an oath.  

Mat 24:35  Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away. 

The heaven and earth in verse 35 refers to the impermanence of the things that we see. Therefore, Jesus is warning us to prioritize spiritual and eternal matters over temporary, earthly concerns and to build one’s life on the enduring foundation of His word. 

Isa 40:8  The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever. 

Isa 55:11  So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it. 

1Pe 1:24  For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away: 
1Pe 1:25 But the word of the Lord endureth forever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you. 

The statement in verse 35 is therefore a call to urge us to invest our lives in things that will last, such as faith and righteousness, rather than in temporary earthly pursuits. The lives of the men of faith show us how we are to live as we see the day of the Lord approaching.

Heb 11:24  By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter; 
Heb 11:25  Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; 
Heb 11:26 Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompence of the reward. 

We thank the Lord for how far He has brought us. Our confidence is in the fact that He who has started this good work in us, will see to its completion. Amen!!

The Book of Joel – Chapter 2:1-11,  Part 1 – The Day of the Lord

“Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD” –  Mal 4:5

[Study Aired July 27^{th 20}24]

The Day of the Lord

Joe 2:1  Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of the LORD cometh, for it is nigh at hand; 
Joe 2:2  A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness, as the morning spread upon the mountains: a great people and a strong; there hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after it, even to the years of many generations. 
Joe 2:3  A fire devoureth before them; and behind them a flame burneth: the land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing shall escape them. 
Joe 2:4  The appearance of them is as the appearance of horses; and as horsemen, so shall they run. 
Joe 2:5  Like the noise of chariots on the tops of mountains shall they leap, like the noise of a flame of fire that devoureth the stubble, as a strong people set in battle array. 
Joe 2:6  Before their face the people shall be much pained: all faces shall gather blackness. 
Joe 2:7  They shall run like mighty men; they shall climb the wall like men of war; and they shall march every one on his ways, and they shall not break their ranks: 
Joe 2:8  Neither shall one thrust another; they shall walk every one in his path: and when they fall upon the sword, they shall not be wounded. 
Joe 2:9  They shall run to and fro in the city; they shall run upon the wall, they shall climb up upon the houses; they shall enter in at the windows like a thief. 
Joe 2:10  The earth shall quake before them; the heavens shall tremble: the sun and the moon shall be dark, and the stars shall withdraw their shining: 
Joe 2:11  And the LORD shall utter his voice before his army: for his camp is very great: for he is strong that executeth his word: for the day of the LORD is great and very terrible; and who can abide it? 

Introduction

The sequential step from “Repentance” studied in last week’s Chapter One of Joel is in rigid lockstep with the dreadfully enigmatic “The Day of the Lord”, the revelation of Jesus Christ signified in Revelations. For our former Babylonian selves, the obscure meaning of that term remained fearfully unsolved, regardless of our masking joyfulness with endless affirmations that “Jesus loves us” as we choked down the glazed death rings (doughnuts) and drank the awful coffee.

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:
Rev 1:2  Who bare record of the word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all things that he saw.
Rev 1:3  Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand. 

For the Berean student of Christ (Acts 17:10-15), and as far as joyfully receiving repetitive verses go, the following one in Matt 13 holds the key, yet it is equally baffling to the Babylonian mind. Even though Matt 13:10-17 was referring to the parable of the sower, Jesus’ answer to his Elect, primarily represented as the Apostles, though not solely named as such, ‘is, was, and will be‘ an ‘earth’ shattering realisation that it is only a very, very limited few who will be given to understand The Mysteries of the Kingdom of God. It is they, alone, who in this age since the cross, and stealthy hidden in Gideon’s physical account, are given to go and fight the spiritual enemies within themselves as individual joints constituting the Bride of Christ.

Mat 13:10  And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables? 
Mat 13:11  He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.
Mat 13:12  For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath.
Mat 13:13  Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand. 
Mat 13:14  And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias [Jehovah’s help], which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive:
Mat 13:15  For this people’s heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them. 
Mat 13:16  But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear.
Mat 13:17  For verily I say unto you, That many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them.

Jdg 7:2  And the LORD said unto Gideon, The people that are with thee are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel vaunt themselves against me, saying, Mine own hand hath saved me. 

Gideon’s army (Jdg 7:18) is severely stripped from 32,000 to 300 men to fight the relatively massive Midianite army. In this case, the number 3 (3 x 100) carrying trumpets and lamps represents the progression of the Lord’s Elect, who see by the light of Christ’s spiritual word, the enemy in the dark and gloomy night approaching within and blow the war trumpet alarm to fight the giant enemies by Christ’s power and might, not by their strength.

Jdg 7:7  And the LORD said unto Gideon, By the three hundred men that lapped [like dogs, signifying faithful devotion] will I save you, and deliver the Midianites into thine hand: and let all the other people go every man unto his place [home, effectively back to symbolic Babylon].

Isa 58:1  Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins.

This prelude brings us to the incredibly exciting understanding of “The Day of the Lord.”

Heb 3:15  As it has been said: “Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts, as you did in the rebellion.”
Heb 3:16  For who were the ones who heard and rebelled? Were they not all those Moses led out of Egypt?
Heb 3:17  And with whom was God [their Husband] angry [symbolically “bitter” – Col 3:19] for forty years? [because they couldn’t understand that He needed Shulamite-like kisses of espousal devotedness – Son 1:2] Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness?
Heb 3:18  And to whom did He swear that they would never enter His rest? Was it not to those who disobeyed?
Heb 3:19  So we see that it was because of their unbelief that they were unable to enter.

Significations:

The first verse of today’s Study in Joel, Chapter Two, describes our formally fearful anticipation of “The Day of the Lord” in him being our enemy! In ancient Israel, an enemy was announced by blowing a trumpet. Today, after the cross, it is represented by Christ’s spiritual message to all to whom he has given ears to hear the trumpet and eyes to see the enemy and to spiritually divide the truth. It is the day of judgement first, “nigh at hand” for the Bride of Christ while she is in the flesh and for the remainder of the world represented as Gog and Magog, their ‘day of the Lord’ as unrefined spirit beings in the Resurrection to Judgement, the Lake of Fire.

Rev 8:12  And the fourth angel sounded, and the third part of the sun was smitten, and the third part of the moon, and the third part of the stars; so as the third part of them was darkened, and the day shone not for a third part of it, and the night likewise.
Rev 8:13  And I beheld, and heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabiters of the earth [Gog and Magog as numerous as the stars of heaven] by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels, which are yet to sound!

Joe 2:1  Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of the LORD cometh, for it is nigh at hand;

Christ’s Bride is the heavenly New Jerusalem above, who inherits Christ, him being “the holy mountain”; they, now in marriage, are unified as one ‘holy mountain’.

Isa 57:12  I will declare thy righteousness, and thy works; for they shall not profit thee.
Isa 57:13  When thou criest, let thy companies deliver thee; but the wind shall carry them all away; vanity shall take them: but he that putteth his trust in me shall possess the land, and shall inherit my holy mountain; 

Zec 8:3  Thus saith the LORD; I am returned unto Zion, and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem: and [New] Jerusalem shall be called a city of truth; and the mountain of the LORD of hosts the holy mountain. 

Our Lord’s holy mountain is established by much violence in our earth as Michael and his angels, meaning Christ, fight our battles within since Christ’s strength is made manifest in the ‘weaker vessel’ (1 Pet 3:7), the Woman, the Bride of Christ we hope and pray to be.

Mat 10:34  Think not that I [Christ] am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. 
Mat 10:35  For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law.
Mat 10:36  And a man’s foes shall be they of his own household.

Eze 33:2  Son of man, speak to the children [The Bride of Christ] of thy people, and say unto them, When I bring the sword upon a land [you and I], if the people of the land take a man of their coasts, and set him for their watchman:
Eze 33:3  If when he  [you and I] seeth the sword come upon the land [our spirit; our conscience], he blow the trumpet, and warn the people [Primarily, first judge yourself before you are capable of warning others, but not limited to your hypocritical self – 1 Cor 11:30];
Eze 33:4  Then whosoever heareth the sound of the trumpet, and taketh not warning; if the sword [God’s word] come, and take him away, his blood shall be upon his own head. 
Eze 33:5  He heard the sound of the trumpet, and took not warning; his blood shall be upon him. But he that taketh warning shall deliver his soul.
Eze 33:6  But if the watchman see the sword come, and blow not the trumpet, and the people be not warned; if the sword come, and take any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at the watchman’s hand. 
Eze 33:7  So thou, O son of man, I have set thee a watchman unto the house of Israel; therefore thou shalt hear the word at my mouth, and warn them from me.

In the Gideon scriptures mentioned above, he represents Christ, and his 300 men are the selected Elect, having come out of the 32,000 men of Israel representing the world, fleeing Egypt and, later, Babylon, similarly and all spiritually representing Assyria, Sodom and Old Jerusalem. With three aspects of lust written in their hearts, they are the Lord’s selected faithful Elect, all remaining subject to (1) the lust of the eyes, (2) the lust of the flesh, and (3) the pride of life. This symbolises the progression (Number 3) of the Bride of Christ and the forgiveness of her lofty sins (pride) by her Lord’s faith and spirit.

Rev 11:8 And their [the joints of the Bride] dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city [Old Jerusalem, the disappearing Whore within each of us], which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where [Spiritually today if you hear his voice] also our Lord was crucified.

1Jn 2:16  For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.
1Jn 2:17  And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he [the Bride alone since the cross] that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.

Isa 2:12  For the day of the LORD of hosts shall be upon every one that is proud and lofty, and upon every one that is lifted up; and he shall be brought low:

Isa 13:4  The noise of a multitude in the mountains, [Babylon within and the world] like as of a great people; a tumultuous noise of the kingdoms of nations gathered together: the LORD of hosts mustereth the host of the battle [within the incipient Bride’s.
Isa 13:5  They come from a far country, from the end of heaven, even the LORD, and the weapons of his indignation, to destroy the whole land [of the Elect of God]. 
Isa 13:6  Howl ye; for the day of the LORD is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty. 

To the anxious Babylonian who unknowingly believes in “another Jesus” (2 Cor 11:4), ‘the day of the Lord’ is seen as one event of the outward return of Christ being witless of the obscure inference of a Second Resurrection, meaning, the Resurrection to Judgement. Even though he erroneously believes that Jesus loves him as he is, a certain doubt dogs his conscience because of verses such as Joel 2:2, and he dismisses it as a terrifying day for some other far worse sinner. Unwittingly for him, that day is the return of Christ, not for him, but for the Lord’s “little flock” Elect.

Rom 10:9  That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.

Rom 10:13  For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved [in one of the two resurrections]

Of course, ALL Christians confess their sins and call upon Christ’s name, not knowing that they worship “another Jesus” (2 Cor 11:4) since they insist upon eating and drinking their own doctrinal bread and water.

Joh 5:28  Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves [from Adam to the end of the One Thousand Year reign] shall hear his voice, 
Joh 5:29  And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life [the First Resurrection]; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation [G2920 – meaning “judgement”, the Resurrection to Judgement resulting in salvation].

As former Babylonian Christians, verse 13 was all we needed to understand, as it speaks plainly, yet we did not grasp the meaning of “grace” in the following verse, which represents chastisement.

Eph 2:8  For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
Eph 2:9  Not of works, lest any man should boast.
Eph 2:10  For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them [and not after the other Jesus’ doctrine modelled in our image]. 

Grace is God’s “gracious love and favour.” But what does grace do for us? Well, when we sin, grace does much more abound with God’s loving Fatherly chastening and scourging until we are brought to see that it feels so good when we finally quit banging our heads against the wall of “turning grace into lasciviousness.” As formally did we, lasciviousness is precisely what our Babylonian brothers and sisters do. They think that they are solely saved by Christ’s work on the cross and that they don’t have to do anything because “Christ died for us, so we don’t have to die”! THAT IS LASCIVIOUSNESS – colloquially expressed as greasy grace.

Rom 5:20 Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, [scourging, chastening, rebuking] grace did much more abound.

Heb 12:5  And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him:
Heb 12:6  For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.
Heb 12:7  If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?
Heb 12:8  But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.

Tit 2:11 For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men,
Tit 2:12 Teaching [G3811 – Paideuo- Phonetic: pahee-dyoo’-o – Definition: 1. to train children a. to be instructed or taught or learn b. to cause one to learn 2. to chastise a. to chastise or castigate with words, to correct] us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;

Apart from the Bride of Christ, the entirety of mankind ever to exist, having unwittingly cast themselves as royalty and been thrown into the Lake of Fire, will most torturously, yet temporarily, while ‘chastising grace’ works its utterly devouring work, will assuredly give God the glory for its molten re-casting them as God’s fine gold.

Lam 4:1  How is the gold become dim! how is the most fine gold changed! the stones of the sanctuary are poured out in the top of every street.
Lam 4:2  The precious sons of Zion, comparable to fine gold, how are they esteemed as earthen pitchers, the work of the hands of the potter! 

Zec 9:3  And Tyrus did build herself a strong hold, and heaped up silver as the dust, and fine gold as the mire of the streets [Having cast her own righteousness]. 
Zec 9:4  Behold, the Lord will cast her out, and he will smite her power in the sea; and she shall be devoured with fire

Rev 18:16  And saying, Alas, alas, that great city [Ephriam, Israel, Old Jerusalem, Egypt, Sodom & Babylon – The Great Whore; you and I], that was clothed in fine linen, and purple, and scarlet, and decked with gold, and precious stones, and pearls!
Rev 18:17  For in one hour so great riches is come to nought. And every shipmaster, and all the company in ships, and sailors, and as many as trade by sea, stood afar off,
Rev 18:18  And cried when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, What city is like unto this great city!

The Elect of God today, the Bride of Christ, has had her day of gloominess and thick darkness and is now joyfully receiving the ‘gloomy foreboding’ chastisement and eagerly being re-cast as her Lord’s fine gold in his image. At the First Resurrection, when Christ’s Bride ascends into Christ, her sisters and brothers remaining on Earth will, with loin loosening fear (As was King Belshazzar’s in Dan 5:1-7), bitterly lament for their day of darkness remaining throughout the One Thousand Year reign by Christ and his Christs (plural) rod of iron on into the early stages of the Resurrection to Judgement. Only then, and upon their acknowledgement of their waywardness, will their dawning glory break forth in Christ.

Luk 23:45  And the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was rent in the midst.
Luk 23:46  And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost.
Luk 23:47  Now when the centurion saw what was done, he glorified God, saying, Certainly [the Bride of Christ] this was a righteous man.
Luk 23:48  And all the people that came together to that sight, beholding the things which were done, smote their breasts, and returned.
Luk 23:49  And all his acquaintance, and the women that followed him from Galilee, stood afar off, beholding these things. 

Joe 2:2  A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness, as the morning spread upon the mountains: a great people and a strong; there hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after it, even to the years of many generations.

After the First Resurrection, Babylonian Christianity and the world will realise, with much consternation, that they are not resurrected to eternal life. They will experience fear, as “a great people”, the Bride of Christ keeps them in forced peace during the Thousand Year reign. Their future will remain jittery since they will see the apostles and other long-dead truthful followers of Christ now resurrected, similar to how Joseph’s brothers in Egypt felt when they found Joseph alive.

Continuing in the following verses of Joel, there is hidden “one event to all” mankind, beginning first with the Bride of Christ being devoured by her Lord’s fiery word. Upon her resurrection to life and inheriting her Lord as her Husband, she will be His very same fiery sword that prepares the world to be utterly consumed by fire from Eden at the end of the One Thousand Years when fire consumes Gog and Magog, the world.

Joe 2:3  A fire devoureth before them; and behind them a flame burneth: the land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing shall escape them.
Joe 2:4  The appearance of them is as the appearance of horses; and as horsemen, so shall they run.
Joe 2:5  Like the noise of chariots on the tops of mountains shall they leap, like the noise of a flame of fire that devoureth the stubble, as a strong people set in battle array.

Eze 39:6  And I will send a fire on Magog, and among them that dwell carelessly in the isles: and they shall know that I am the LORD.

Rev 20:7  And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison,
Rev 20:8  And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. 
Rev 20:9  And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them.
Rev 20:10  And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are [the entirety of mankind ever to have lived], and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever [age lasting fire until all mankind and the Devil and his angels are refined as gold in a furnace].

Joe 2:6  Before their face the people shall be much pained: all faces shall gather blackness.

At the beginning of the Resurrection to Judgment, the entire world will endure immense mental suffering, which will manifest as “blackness.” This is because every jot and title of the previous understanding of the Lord’s word is as dark as the curtains in Solomon’s temple that hide Christ and his Bride, who are likewise depicted as “black” to their understanding. As a result, people will believe that they are about to be engulfed in the lie of a physical eternal fire.

Son 1:5  I [The Shualmite who symbolises the Bride of Christ] am black, but comely, O ye daughters of Jerusalem [the rest of the world], as the tents of Kedar, as the curtains of Solomon. 
Son 1:6  Look not upon me, because I am black [… it is useless in this day and age to understand me], because the sun [Christ, the noonday sun, burnt black all of her whoredoms] hath looked upon me: my mother’s children were angry with me; they made me the keeper of the vineyards [all symbolic 40,000 plus disunited Christian denominations realising that they are not invited to the wedding supper]; but mine own vineyard have I not kept [since, and now, Christ is her vinedresser and workmanship].

All in the Lake of Fire do not realise that the intense pain they feel is actually a part of their spiritual refinement, not literal burning while they are still alive since spirit bodies cannot die, but rather a much lengthier physical version of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego’s faith-building firey event (Dan 3:8-30). Those three young children (probably in their teens) no doubt felt dreadful consternation while being bound to be thrown alive into the furnace. Likewise, it is similar to Joseph’s brothers living every day for seventeen years with the expectation that Joseph will exact sudden fiery retribution upon them until their old man, their father, Jacob, died. Only then did they ever come to be at peace with their brother Joseph. The death of their old man signifies the ultimate end of the Lake of Fire coming upon the whole world as they come through that fiery experience, having been purified of the carnal-minded, rebellious old man.

Zep 1:14  The great day of the LORD is near, it is near, and hasteth greatly, even the voice of the day of the LORD: the mighty man shall cry there bitterly.
Zep 1:15  That day [is] a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness,
Zep 1:16  A day of the trumpet and alarm against the fenced cities, and against the high towers.
Zep 1:17  And I will bring distress upon men, that they shall walk like blind men, because they have sinned against the LORD: and their blood shall be poured out as dust, and their flesh as the dung.
Zep 1:18  Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the LORD’S wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy: for he shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land.

Joe 2:7  They shall run like mighty men; they shall climb the wall like men of war; and they shall march every one on his ways, and they shall not break their ranks:

It is Christ, our husband, who runs upon our proud walls and its embedded breasts like fortification towers of Old Jerusalem, denoting the formally proud yet, repentant Rahab-like whore we have been before we become purified by our Lord’s fire and made his Bride. The joints of the Bride, the Elect of God are the “they” who “run like mighty men”. Having been saved by Christ, she now goes forth in the Lake of Fire and likewise breaks down her sister Babylon’s proud walls and whorish ways.

Son 8:10  I [The Bride of Christ] am a wall, and my breasts like towers [having powerfully put off her whorish ways]: then was I in his eyes as one that found favour.

Oba 1:21  And saviours [Plural] shall come up on mount Zion to judge the mount of Esau [Zion and Esau represent the entire world]; and the kingdom shall be the LORD’S. 

Joe 2:8  Neither shall one thrust another; they shall walk every one in his path: and when they fall [not by chance] upon the sword, they shall not be wounded [H1214 – to cut off; gain by unrighteous violence].

The destruction of the Old Jerusalem we are is done in an orderly manner in Christ’s timing. We look forward to falling upon the sword of God’s word and are most certainly wounded in spirit and gained a contrite heart while yet we live.

Psa 118:16  The right hand of the LORD is exalted: the right hand of the LORD doeth valiantly.
Psa 118:17  I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the LORD.
Psa 91:7  A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee.

Joe 2:9  They shall run to and fro in the city; they shall run upon the wall, they shall climb up upon the houses; they shall enter in at the windows like a thief.

We are the city of Old Jerusalem being destroyed. God’s word enters through our eyes, which are the windows of the Lord’s spiritual understanding. Even though the wise virgins likewise sleep with the foolish, Christ, under cover of darkness, quietly puts his hand through the hole to the latch of our door.  Yet, and to the collapsing Babylonian world around us today in 2024, and at an undisclosed time of Christ’s imminent return, the Elect of God with him will climb upon the destroyed houses of man’s government and demonic spiritual ideologies. Christ’s wife, in iron rulership with him (Rev 2:27), will have come stealthily like a thief in the night yet in plain sight to force the Beast to submit to Christ.

Son 5:2  I [The wise virgins, the Bride of Christ] sleep, but my heart waketh: it is the voice of my beloved that knocketh, saying, Open to me, my sister, my love, my dove, my undefiled: for my head is filled with dew, and my locks with the drops of the night [the dew is the ravishing life-giving word of God, enflamed by his kisses better than wine].
Son 5:3  I have put off my coat; how shall I put it on? I have washed my feet; how shall I defile them? [He died, is resurrected and made pure and is returning to bless his Bride with her inheritance in Him]
Son 5:4  My beloved put in his hand by the hole of the door, and my bowels [my heart ‘betwixt my breasts’, my seat of his spirit – Son 1:13] were moved for him.
Son 5:5  I rose up to open to my beloved; and my hands dropped with myrrh, and my fingers with sweet smelling myrrh, upon the handles of the lock.

(Myrrh is a dedicated anointing oil only for Aaron and his sons, representing the Bride of Christ and her priestly commission. It represents the pure unadulterated spiritual word of God. She, in unity with her husband, is anointed by him and made holy. Exo 30:32  Upon man’s flesh shall it [Myrrh] not be poured, neither shall ye make any other like it, after the composition of it: it is holy, and it shall be holy unto you. Exo 30:33  Whosoever compoundeth any like it, or whosoever putteth any of it upon a stranger [Expose Christ’s truth to a heritic], shall even be cut off from his people.)

Joh 10:10  The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.

1Th 5:2-11  For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. 
1Th 5:3  For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.
1Th 5:4  But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, [who have perfect vision through the windows of their spiritual understanding] that that day should overtake you as a thief.
1Th 5:5  Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness. 
1Th 5:6  Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober.
1Th 5:7  For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night.
1Th 5:8  But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation.
1Th 5:9  For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,
1Th 5:10  Who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him.
1Th 5:11  Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one another, even as also ye do.

Most starkly, the following concluding verses of Joel’s expressions of The Day of the Lord are mirrored in Revelations, where Christ’s word (the sun) has become inky black to our collapsing world, and the 40,000 plus Babylonian Christian churches, depicted as the moon, worshipping “another Jesus” become even darker than the previous 2,000 years since the cross. At this point, Christ’s Christ, the “stars” with their testimony are likewise utterly hidden since their Lord has finished spiritually martyring them beneath him, their altar.

Joe 2:10  The earth shall quake before them; the heavens shall tremble: the sun and the moon shall be dark, and the stars shall withdraw their shining:

Rev 8:12  And the fourth angel sounded, and the third part of the sun was smitten, and the third part of the moon, and the third part of the stars; so as the third part of them was darkened, and the day shone not for a third part of it, and the night likewise.
Rev 8:13  And I beheld, and heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabiters of the earth by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels, which are yet to sound!

Joe 2:11  And the LORD shall utter his voice before his army: for his camp is very great: for he is strong that executeth his word: for the day of the LORD is great and very terrible; and who can abide it?

Rev 6:9  And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held:
Rev 6:10  And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? 
Rev 6:11  And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellowservants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled.

That “little season” has existed ever since the cross, yet, as seen in the spring growth of the fig tree, it is even at our door (Luk 21:29-33) and is to the Babylonian world, that dreadful Day of the Lord the Bride, paradoxically, has relished since understanding her jaw-dropping calling.

Lord willing, Christ has made the Bride ready for the ‘Return of her Lord’ in next week’s study.

​I have been asked why Job refers to the southern stars as chambers. Here is that verse:

Job 9:9  Which maketh Arcturus, Orion, and Pleiades, and the chambers of the south.

​Job, in various passages, names all the northern constellations, but he refers to the southern skies as “chambers of the south”.

​The reason for this is that Job, and 90% of mankind today, lived in the northern hemisphere, and were not able to see the southern skie​s due to the curvature of the earth.

​The Hebrew word translated as “chambers” is ‘cheder‘, and it means a place that is out of the sight of others. Here are a few examples of how this word is used elsewhere in scripture:

Gen 43:30  And Joseph made haste; for his bowels did yearn upon his brother: and he sought where to weep; and he entered into his chamber, and wept there.

Jdg 15:1  But it came to pass within a while after, in the time of wheat harvest, that Samson visited his wife with a kid; and he said, I will go in to my wife into the chamber. But her father would not suffer him to go in.

2Sa 13:10  And Amnon said unto Tamar, Bring the meat into the chamber, that I may eat of thine hand. And Tamar took the cakes which she had made, and brought them into the chamber to Amnon her brother.

​Joseph went into his bedroom to weep, away from the eyes of his brothers and the Egyptians. Samson also wanted some private time with his wife, and Amnon certainly did not want King David to know that he was raping his own sister.

​There are other translations for this word, such as “inward parts”, as in this verse:

Pro 20:30  The blueness of a wound cleanseth away evil: so do stripes the inward parts [Hebrew:​ ‘cheder‘] of the belly.

​Here again this word refers to the things we know are there​, but we cannot see them, “the inward part of the belly”. So while there are other translations for this word, the meaning is the same, and the word ‘chamber’ or ‘chambers’ is by far the most common way of translating this word in the King James Version.

​I hope this helps you to see why Job refers to the northern constellations by name, and refers to the southern skies with the Hebrew word, ‘cheder‘, the out of sight “chambers of the south”.

YbitC, Mike

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Rev 8:12  And the fourth angel sounded, and the third part of the sun was smitten, and the third part of the moon, and the third part of the stars; so as the third part of them was darkened, and the day shone not for a third part of it, and the night likewise.
Rev 8:13  And I beheld, and heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabiters of the earth by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels, which are yet to sound!

Introduction

The symbols of this fourth trumpet are 1) the third part, 2) the sun, 3) the moon, 4) the stars, 5) the day, and finally 6) the night. If any one of these six items are not symbols, then there is no way in the world for us to “keep the things which are written therein”, simply because we cannot “keep” the literal sun, moon and stars. On the other hand, if the sun and the moon were both somehow “kept” and experienced on the day of Pentecost, then maybe we too, will now be able to “live by these words proceeding out of the mouth of God” (Mat 4:4).
So let’s look at the darkening of the of the sun and moon at that time, and see how Peter and those present at that time, kept those words.

Act 2:14  But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and said unto them, Ye men of Judaea, and all [ ye] that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken to my words:
Act 2:15  For these are not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is [ but] the third hour of the day.
Act 2:16  But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel;
Act 2:17  And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams:
Act 2:18  And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy:
Act 2:19  And I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke:
Act 2:20  The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come:
Act 2:21  And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.

According to the apostle Peter, the “Sun had been turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before” this day of Pentecost had arrived. If Christ is the “Sun of righteousness” and he had been killed, then the Sun had certainly been “turned into darkness” as he lay in the grave. If the moon really is the “lesser light” of those who wanted to maintain the fading light of Moses’s face and who had killed and denied their own Messiah, as we all have, then “the moon [ had] been turned into blood” just before “that great and notable day of the Lord” which began on the day of Pentecost when Peter stood up and announced that “the last days had begun… and judgment was now on the house of God.”

Mal 4:2  But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall.
Gen 1:16  And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: [ he made] the stars also.
2Co 3:7  But if the ministration of death, written [ and] engraven in stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not stedfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance; which [ glory] was to be done away:

“Blood, fire, and vapor of smoke” are the very symbols we are, and will be seeing throughout this revelation of Jesus Christ. The “fire and blood” are both mentioned in the first trumpet.

Rev 8:7  The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up.

Joel and Peter are both giving us part of the revelation of Jesus Christ. It is in this book of Revelation, given to us by Christ himself, where Joe 2, Mat 24, Act 2 and all the prophecies of the Old Testament and the New Testament, are brought together into one cohesive “revelation of Jesus Christ.” It is the things written in this prophecy which show us clearly that all of these symbols are within, and are to be read, heard and kept all within. The emphasis at both the beginning and the end of this prophecy is on the fact that the time to keep the things written therein is right now. That was also stated in Mat 24, but it is being drummed into us with a warning here in this prophecy.

Mat 24:32  Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer [ is] nigh:
Mat 24:33  So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, [ even] at the doors.
Mat 24:34  Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.
Mat 24:35  Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.

No other prophecy makes clear that the present application of the things written therein is right now as clearly as does this “revelation of Jesus Christ.” It opens and it closes with that clear instruction. But it also closes with a warning which makes it super clear that we must never think that there is any part of this revelation that is not for each of us to read, hear, and keep.

Rev 1:1  The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to show unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified [ it] by his angel unto his servant John:
Rev 1:2  Who bare record of the word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all things that he saw.
Rev 1:3  Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.

Rev 22:7  Behold, I come quickly: blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book.
Rev 22:18  For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book:
Rev 22:19  And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.
Rev 22:20  He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.

Since Christ is the Word, the oft repeated phrases, “It is near, even at the door… the time is at hand… the time is come… Behold I come quickly… Surely I come quickly” all must therefore refer to the fulfillment and keeping of the words of this prophecy in the lives of those who are looking for the revelation of Jesus Christ in their lives as being “at hand… near, even at the door.”

Heb 9:28  So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.

Christ’s second coming, like the resurrection itself, is a present truth in “earnest” for those who are given to understand that we are to “fill up what is behind of His afflictions, be crucified with Him, be resurrected with Him and walk in newness of life with Him” because “the time is at hand” to do so.

Eph 1:11  In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:
Eph 1:12  That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.
Eph 1:13  In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,
Eph 1:14  Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.
Col 1:24  Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the church:
Col 1:25  Whereof I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfil the word of God;
Col 1:26  Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints:
Col 1:27  To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:

It is with the desire to “fill up that which is behind of the sufferings of Christ, that we approach  the words of this prophecy, knowing “the time is at hand” to “keep the things written therein.”
So let’s take these symbols one by one and see what the scriptures say they represent in our lives.

What is the third part?

1) The third part. This first symbol is one we have covered in each and every one of our discussions of the first three trumpets.

The third part is mentioned in the first trumpet in verse seven.

Rev 8:7  The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up.

The third part is mentioned again in the second trumpet is in verses eight and nine.

Rev 8:8  And the second angel sounded, and as it were a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea: and the third part of the sea became blood;
Rev 8:9  And the third part of the creatures which were in the sea, and had life, died; and the third part of the ships were destroyed.

And it is mentioned again in the third trumpet in verses 10 and 11.

Rev 8:10  And the third angel sounded, and there fell a great star from heaven, burning as it were a lamp, and it fell upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of waters;
Rev 8:11  And the name of the star is called Wormwood: and the third part of the waters became wormwood; and many men died of the waters, because they were made bitter.

In each of these trumpets we saw that “the third part” symbolizes the “little by little” process of the work of judgment that is being accomplish by the Word of God in these seven trumpets.

Exo 23:30  By little and little I will drive them out from before thee, until thou be increased, and inherit the land.
Deu 7:22  And the LORD thy God will put out those nations before thee by little and little: thou mayest not consume them at once, lest the beasts of the field increase upon thee.
Joh 12:48  He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day.

Peter informed us in Act 2, that this is the last days for those who are “the house of God.”

Act 2:16  But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel;
Act 2:17  And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams:
1Pe 4:17  For the time [ is come] that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if [ it] first [ begin] at us, what shall the end [ be] of them that obey not the gospel of God?

In the first trumpet, the third part of our trees are burned up by God’s fiery Word. In the second trumpet, the third part of the seas become blood, killing a third part of the creatures in the sea, and destroying a third part of the ships in the sea, when the fiery word of God is cast into the fleshly seas of our lives. In the third trumpet the third part of our own rivers and fountains of water are made bitter by the word of God “burning as a lamp,” just as they are made bitter in our stomach in these verses.

Rev 10:9  And I went unto the angel, and said unto him, Give me the little book. And he said unto me, Take it, and eat it up; and it shall make thy belly bitter, but it shall be in thy mouth sweet as honey.
Rev 10:10  And I took the little book out of the angel’s hand, and ate it up; and it was in my mouth sweet as honey: and as soon as I had eaten it, my belly was bitter.

Our waters are made bitter by the words of this prophecy, as its words begin to destroy and kill our old man within us. We saw the verses in Eze 31 that likened the king of Tyre to Pharaoh whose “root was by great waters.”

Eze 31:7  Thus was he fair in his [ Pharaoh’s] greatness, in the length of his branches: for his root was by great waters.

The king of Tyre and Pharaoh are both planted by God Himself. They are both types of us prospering by God’s own decree, in our own “great waters” even as we live our lives contrary to the words and laws of our God.

Jer 12:2  Thou [ Lord] hast planted them, yea, they have taken root: they grow, yea, they bring forth fruit: thou art near in their mouth, and far from their reins.

Where are the heavens and the earth which are mentioned in all of these trumpets?

Psa 50:4  He shall call to the heavens from above, and to the earth, that he may judge his people.

God’s people are in both the heavens and the earth. It is there that He is judging His people. That judgment is taking place within the heavens and the earth which are both within us, where our God dwells.

1Co 3:16  Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?
Isa 1:2  Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth: for the LORD hath spoken, I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me.
Isa 13:13  Therefore I will shake the heavens, and the earth shall remove out of her place, in the wrath of the LORD of hosts, and in the day of his fierce anger.

God is not judging or addressing His “rebellious children” in the physical bodies of the physical heavens. That is not the heavens in which He or His children dwell. He dwells in the heavenly realm within His people.

Isa 40:22 It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in:
Isa 51:16  And I have put my words in thy mouth, and I have covered thee in the shadow of mine hand, that I may plant the heavens, and lay the foundations of the earth, and say unto Zion, Thou art my people.

God “puts His words in our mouths” for the purpose of  “planting the heavens and laying the foundations of the earth in His people.” That is what is being done as we read His words concerning His works in the heavens and in the earth in these seven trumpets.

What is the sun?

2) What is the sun and what does “a third part of the sun was smitten” mean?
A darkened sun is the spiritual type of “another Jesus and another gospel ” with which we replace the True Christ, and the true gospel.
As is always true with every word of God, the sun, the moon and the stars all have a negative application when they are worshiped as Gods in their physical form, instead of being seen as spiritual types of spiritual realities. We do that today when we worship the planet, and believe that the life of this planet comes from the physical sun. Believing that life on earth depends upon the sun, is like believing that the milk and egg comes from a store. They do not originate at a store. The store is just the channel for getting the milk and eggs to the public. Milk, comes from cows, and eggs come from chickens.

Jer 8:2  And they shall spread them before the sun, and the moon, and all the host of heaven, whom they have loved, and whom they have served, and after whom they have walked, and whom they have sought, and whom they have worshipped: they shall not be gathered, nor be buried; they shall be for dung upon the face of the earth.
Eze 8:16  And he brought me into the inner court of the LORD’S house, and, behold, at the door of the temple of the LORD, between the porch and the altar, [ were] about five and twenty men, with their backs toward the temple of the LORD, and their faces toward the east; and they worshiped the sun toward the east.

It is the inclination of the natural man to worship the lesser light that rules the night. Yes, they think they are worshiping the Sun who is the greater light, but the sun they worship is in reality the light of “the lesser light.”
But what is the positive spiritual reality of the sun? Here it is again:

Mal 4:2 But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall.
Mat 5:44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.

Christ is God’s “Sun of Righteousness who arises on, and gives light to the just and the unjust.” But we have to realize that He does send His sun to rise on the evil and the good before we can understand the meaning of “a third part of the sun was smitten.” We first have to understand that the light that shines on us as carnal babes is the same sun, the same word, but with only the light and understanding that is given to Babylon. It is the beginning of the darkening of even that light which is “the third part of [ our] sun is smitten.” The three trumpets yet to sound will gradually blot out the light of our Sun.
In the third trumpet, a third of our ships were destroyed. As we see our ships being destroyed. As we are brought into darkness, we are slowly but surely “brought to our wits end.” It all leads to our salvation, but we must first “keep the things written therein.

Psa 107:14 He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, and brake their bands in sunder.
Psa 107:23 They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters;
Psa 107:24 These see the works of the LORD, and his wonders in the deep.
Psa 107:25 For he commandeth, and raiseth the stormy wind, which lifteth up the waves thereof.
Psa 107:26 They mount up to the heaven, they go down again to the depths: their soul is melted because of trouble.
Psa 107:27 They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wits’ end.
Psa 107:28 Then they cry unto the LORD in their trouble, and he bringeth them out of their distresses.

What is the moon that is smitten with darkness?

3) What is the ‘moon,’ and why is it “smitten with darkness?”

We have already shown that the moon is called “the lesser light,” and it was placed in the heavens “to rule the night”.

Gen 1:16  And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: [ he made] the stars also.

The moon has no light in itself. All the moon can do is reflect some of the light of the sun and “rule the night” with its much “lesser light”. At times the earth comes between the sun and the moon, and there is no light from the moon. It is then that we realize that the light of the moon is of itself nothing more than darkness.

Once again it is Babylon’s doctrines in us which give us “the lesser light that rules the night.” So the moon is our “bondwoman” mother, before we are, by the mercy of God, transformed into “the son of the freewoman.”  Once again, If our light is darkness, Christ is not in us.

Mat 6:23  But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!

We have all been in “darkness and the shadow of death,” and at “our wits end.” That is an essential part of this revelation which is these seven trumpets.

Mat 4:16  The people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up.
Joh 5:33  Ye sent unto John, and he bare witness unto the truth.
Joh 5:34  But I receive not testimony from man: but these things I say, that ye might be saved.
Joh 5:35  He was a burning and a shining light: and ye were willing for a season to rejoice in his light.
Joh 5:36  But I have greater witness than that of John: for the works which the Father hath given me to finish, the same works that I do, bear witness of me, that the Father hath sent me.
Isa 13:10  For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine.
Isa 24:23 Then the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed, when the LORD of hosts shall reign in mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before his ancients gloriously.
Isa 60:19  The sun shall be no more thy light by day; neither for brightness shall the moon give light unto thee: but the LORD shall be unto thee an everlasting light, and thy God thy glory.

What is “the moon [ that is] turned into blood?”

Like Joseph’s brothers, we think we are honorable men who would never steal a silver cup (Gen 44:8-9). Like Job, we all think of ourselves and men who are “eyes to the blind, feet to the lame, and a champion to the widows” (Job 29:13-15). Like all of Christ’s apostles, we all think that we would never, ever deny our Lord (Mat 26:35). But until our moon is smitten and shines not for a third part of it, we are never made aware that it was our sins that killed our Lord, and that we have denied Him with an oath. This is the sun being turned into darkness and the moon into blood before we become the house of God to begin our continuing judgment.

Joe 2:31  The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come.
Eze 32:6  I will also water with thy blood the land wherein thou swimmest, [ even] to the mountains; and the rivers shall be full of thee.
Eze 32:7  And when I shall put thee out, I will cover the heaven, and make the stars thereof dark; I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon shall not give her light.
Eze 32:8 All the bright lights of heaven will I make dark over thee, and set darkness upon thy land, saith the Lord GOD.

“Man shall… live by” these words (Mat 4:4). Which of “the things written therein; the words of the book of this prophecy [ will you dare to] take away?

Rev 22:19  And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and [ from] the things which are written in this book.

What are the stars that are smitten with darkness?

4) What are the stars? We saw in the last verse of chapter one that stars are angels. The angels of these trumpets are God’s elect who “stand before God,” and “keep the saying of this prophecy.”

Rev 8:1  And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour.
Rev 8:2  And I saw the seven angels which stood before God; and to them were given seven trumpets.
Zec 4:11  Then answered I, and said unto him, What are these two olive trees upon the right side of the candlestick and upon the left side thereof?
Zec 4:12  And I answered again, and said unto him, What be these two olive branches which through the two golden pipes empty the golden [ oil] out of themselves?
Zec 4:13  And he answered me and said, Knowest thou not what these [ be]? And I said, No, my lord.
Zec 4:14  Then said he, These are the two anointed ones, that stand by the Lord of the whole earthRev 1:20 The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches: and the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches.
Rev 19:10  And I fell at his feet to worship him [ the angel]. And he said unto me, See [ thou do it] not: I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.
Rev 22:8  And I John saw these things, and heard [ them]. And when I had heard and seen, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel which shewed me these things.
Rev 22:9  Then saith he unto me, See [ thou do it] not: for I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of this book: worship God.

We are the ones who “keep the sayings of this book,” and it is we whose stars are smitten with darkness so that they shine not for a third of them. When our stars are darkened they work against us as we fight against God.

Jdg 5:20 They fought from heaven; the stars in their courses fought against Sisera.
Eze 32:7  And when I shall put thee out, I will cover the heaven, and make the stars thereof dark; I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon shall not give her light.

Whether our stars are darkened or not, they are the working of our Lord.

Psa 8:3 When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained;
Jer 31:35 Thus saith the LORD, which giveth the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, which divideth the sea when the waves thereof roar; The LORD of hosts is his name:

What is “the day?”

5) What is “the day and why is it dark for a third of the day?”
“The day,” all through scripture typifies the time we are in the light. The sun shines, and gives us light by which we see, in the ‘day.’ The ‘day’ is “the light of knowledge” (2Co 4::6). The day that is darkened by a third is the day of the process of judgment against the darkness of that ‘day.’ That is the symbolism of “one third of the day is darkened.” What we are being told is that this day is beginning and it is getting dark, as these trumpets of judgment are being blown. It is only through judgment that we learn righteousness,” and become “children of the day.”

Joe 2:1  Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of the LORD cometh, for it is nigh at hand;
Joe 2:2  A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness, as the morning spread upon the mountains: a great people and a strong; there hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after it, even to the years of many generations.
Zep 1:14  The great day of the LORD is near, it is near, and hasteth greatly, even the voice of the day of the LORD: the mighty man shall cry there bitterly.
Zep 1:15  That day [ is] a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness,
Zep 1:16  A day of the trumpet and alarm against the fenced cities, and against the high towers.
Zep 1:17  And I will bring distress upon men, that they shall walk like blind men, because they have sinned against the LORD: and their blood shall be poured out as dust, and their flesh as the dung.
Zep 1:18  Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the LORD’S wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy: for he shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land.
Rev 6:12  And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood;
Rev 6:13  And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind.
Rev 6:14  And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.
Rev 6:15  And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains;
Rev 6:16  And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb:
Rev 6:17  For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?

Our God is “calling light out of darkness.” We will live by these words first. We will be darkened before we become children of the day.

Job 12:22  He discovereth deep things out of darkness, and bringeth out to light the shadow of death.

2Co 4:6  For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
1Pe 2:9  But ye [ are] a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:

What is night?

6) What is night and why is the night darkened?
“Night,” we must remember, is called “the lesser light.”

Gen 1:16  And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and t he lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also.

The fact that the sun, moon, and stars are all darkened, and the day and the night shine not for a third of each, respectively, is a symbol of how thorough is this process of judging the darkness out of which we are being called..Job 12:22, 2Co 4:6, and 1Pe 2:9, all quoted above, are speaking of coming from darkness into light, and they are speaking of coming out of night into day. Night, thoughout scripture typifies, lack of knowledge, being deceived, living in darkness, ignorance and rebellion.

Joh 11:10  But if a man walk in the night, he stumbleth, because there is no light in him.
1Th 5:2  For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.
1Th 5:7  For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the nigh t.

Christ comes to us and begins His fiery work in us while we are yet in the darkness of deception and rebellion. He comes to us “in the nght.” Christ does not come to us after we have decided to repent of our sins, as we have all been taught. It is He who comes to us “as a thief in the night,” and then He “leads us to repentance.”

Rom 2:3  And thinkest thou this, O man, that judgest them which do such things, and doest the same, that thou shalt escape the judgment of God?
Rom 2:4  Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth [ Greek, ‘ago,’ brings, or drags] thee to repentance?

How is that accomplished?

2Pe 3:10  But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.

Summary

We have seen that the symbols of this fourth trumpet are:
1) the third part, which we have before demonstrated to be the symbol of the process of judgment into which this revelation takes us.
We have seen that:
2) the sun is the symbol of the greater light that rules our day and is the symbol of “the light of the knowledge of… God… in Christ.”

2Co 4:6  For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

We have seen that:

3) the moon has no light in and of itself, and is the “lesser light that rules the night,” out of which we are called.

We have seen that:

4) the stars are angels, and we saw that the angels that blow these trumpets, “stand before God,” just like the two candlesticks of Zec 4 and Rev 11. We also saw again the verses in Rev 19:10 and Rev 22: 9 which reveal that these angels are us, if indeed we are those who “keep the sayings of this book.”

We saw that:

5) the day is ruled by the sun and symbolizes the time of understanding and knowledge, which is being darkened by the falsehoods and heresies into which we are all predestined to fall.

Finally we saw that

6) the night is the time of our walk which is ruled by the lesser light of the moon, and that it is out of this time of our walk that we are being called through the agency of this revelation of Jesus Christ.

Next week we will, Lord willing, begin our study of the last three trumpets of which we are warned:

Rev 8:13  And I beheld, and heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabiters of the earth by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels, which are yet to sound!

Here is what we are told of the first of these three trumpets after our sun, moon, and stars are “smitten with darkness so that the third part of them is darkened.” This first ‘woe’ is actually the 5th trumpet.

Rev 9:1  And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth: and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit.
Rev 9:2  And he opened the bottomless pit; and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit.
Rev 9:3  And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth: and unto them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power.
Rev 9:4  And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree; but only those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads.
Rev 9:5  And to them it was given that they should not kill them, but that they should be tormented five months: and their torment [ was] as the torment of a scorpion, when he striketh a man.
Rev 9:6  And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them.
Rev 9:7  And the shapes of the locusts [ were] like unto horses prepared unto battle; and on their heads [ were] as it were crowns like gold, and their faces [ were] as the faces of men.
Rev 9:8  And they had hair as the hair of women, and their teeth were as [ the teeth] of lions.
Rev 9:9  And they had breastplates, as it were breastplates of iron; and the sound of their wings [ was] as the sound of chariots of many horses running to battle.
Rev 9:10  And they had tails like unto scorpions, and there were stings in their tails: and their power [ was] to hurt men five months.
Rev 9:11  And they had a king over them, [ which is] the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue [ is] Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath [ his] name Apollyon.

Hi, Mike,

Are we allowed to try to interpret the stars? I read an article by the late Dr. Martin and was intrigued on how he used to stars to try to date the Lord’s birth date and explain the star that the Magi were following. I ask this under the assumption that the stars actually play a part in important events on Earth.

Thanks,
R____

Hi Again, R____,

Your question was,

Are we allowed to try to interpret the stars?

I am somewhat familiar with Dr. Ernest Martin’s book, but I cannot say that I have read more than excerpts from that book, so I will confine my comments to The Book, meaning the Bible.
The short answer to this question is no, we do not “interpret the stars” in the astrological sense of living your daily life by the stars.

Jer 10:2 Thus saith the LORD, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them.

Astronomy is a science, which simply studies the stars and their constellations. Here is Webster’s definition of astronomy:
“ASTRON’OMY, n. [ Gr. a star, and a law or rule.]
The science which teaches the knowledge of the celestial bodies, their magnitudes, motions, distances, periods of revolution, aspects, eclipses, order, etc. This science depends on observations, made chiefly with instruments, and upon mathematical calculations.”
Astrology, on the other hand, is demonic. Here is Webster’s definition of astrology:
“Astrology
ASTROL’OGY, n. [ Supra.] A science which teaches to judge of the effects and influences of the stars, and to foretell future events, by their situation and different aspects. This science was formerly in great request, as men ignorantly supposed the heavenly bodies to have a ruling influence over the physical and moral world; but it is now universally exploded by true science and philosophy.”

I will be bolder than Webster and call astrology nothing more than “science falsely so called.” Astrology is just as baseless in true science as is evolution. Both are “science falsely so called.” Astrology amounts to nothing less than the worship of the stars, and that was definitely forbidden in Israel.

Deu 4:19 And lest thou lift up thine eyes unto heaven, and when thou seest the sun, and the moon, and the stars, even all the host of heaven, shouldest be driven to worship them, and serve them, which the LORD thy God hath divided unto all nations under the whole heaven.

The Bible does mention the sun moon and stars as being for signs and for seasons:

Gen 1:14 And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:

Very few people today can even see the stars at night, and the need to study their placement in the physical heavens seems totally useless to most of us. But astronomers who give us our calendars, know better than that. The stars of the heavens are always in their proper places at the proper seasons of every year. The heavens really are like the parts of a giant clock which is so accurate that our astronomers actually use the heavens and their star clusters as the means by which our clocks on earth are adjusted and are set.
The book of Job even mentions some of the figures of the star clusters, or constellations, of the stars.

Job 9:9 Which maketh Arcturus, Orion, and Pleiades, and the chambers of the south.
Job 38:31 Canst thou bind the sweet influences of Pleiades, or loose the bands of Orion?
Job 38:32 Canst thou bring forth Mazzaroth in his season? or canst thou guide Arcturus with his sons?
Job 38:33 Knowest thou the ordinances of heaven? canst thou set the dominion thereof in the earth?

“The sweet influences of Pleiades” is not a good translation of the Hebrew word ‘maadannah,’ which actually means “bindings or fetters.” Here is Rotherham’s version:

Job 38:31 Canst thou bind the fetters of the Pleiades? Or, the bands of Orion, canst thou unloose?

This is the Concordant Version:

Job 38:31 Can you tie up the windings of the Pleiades? Or can you unloose the draw- cords of Orion?

The point is that God is simply asking Job if Job can manuver the stars into their proper place? He is asking Job if he, Job can arrange and sustain the stars in their positions and God does continuously. God is not telling us that the stars influence our daily actions or any human events.
Yes, the wise men saw Christ’s star in the heavens, because they were looking for something they had been told would occur. The ‘star’ these men saw had been prophesied by the prophet Balaam, who Balak, the king of Moab, had hired to curse Israel. Here is that prophecy:

Num 24:12 And Balaam said unto Balak, Spake I not also to thy messengers which thou sentest unto me, saying,
Num 24:13 If Balak would give me his house full of silver and gold, I cannot go beyond the commandment of the LORD, to do [ either] good or bad of mine own mind; [ but] what the LORD saith, that will I speak?
Num 24:14 And now, behold, I go unto my people: come [ therefore, and] I will advertise thee what this people shall do to thy people in the latter days.
Num 24:15 And he took up his parable, and said, Balaam the son of Beor hath said, and the man whose eyes are open hath said:
Num 24:16 He hath said, which heard the words of God, and knew the knowledge of the most High, [ which] saw the vision of the Almighty, falling [ into a trance], but having his eyes open:
Num 24:17 I shall see him, but not now: I shall behold him, but not nigh: there shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a Sceptre shall rise out of Israel, and shall smite the corners of Moab, and destroy all the children of Sheth.

Those who were wise had been expecting an unusual heavenly ‘star’ to appear in the heavens as the sign of the arrival of the king of the Jews, because one of God’s prophets had them expecting to see that star. As noted above, the study of the placement of the stars was much more appreciated by older civilizations than it is by societies today. Even Isaiah mentions the constellations and groupings of the stars.

Isa 13:9 Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it.
Isa 13:10 For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine.
Isa 13:11 And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible.
Isa 13:12 I will make a man more precious than fine gold; even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir.
Isa 13:13 Therefore I will shake the heavens, and the earth shall remove out of her place, in the wrath of the LORD of hosts, and in the day of his fierce anger.

Amos mentions Orion:

Amo 5:8 Seek him that maketh the seven stars and Orion, and turneth the shadow of death into the morning, and maketh the day dark with night: that calleth for the waters of the sea, and poureth them out upon the face of the earth: The LORD is his name:

Here is what Strong’s concordance has to say about the Hebrew word translated Orion:
“kesi yl
kes- eel’
The same as H3684; any notable constellation; specifically Orion (as if a burly one): – constellation, Orion.”

Astronomy is not the study of scripture, and the scriptures are far more familiar for me, but I hope you can see that while this verse is true…

Gen 1:14 And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:

… that neither this verse nor any other verse of scripture, can be found which justifies the “science falsely so called” of modern day astrology, and that we are in fact forbidden from basing our daily actions upon the placement of the stars of the heavens. “Let God be true and every man a liar.”

Jer 10:2 Thus saith the LORD, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them.
1Ti 6:20 O Timothy, keep that which is committed to thy trust, avoiding profane [ and] vain babblings, and oppositions of science falsely so called:
Rom 3:4 God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar; as it is written, That thou mightest be justified in thy sayings, and mightest overcome when thou art judged.

Your brother in Christ,
Mike

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Revelation 1:16, Part 1 – And he had in his right hand seven stars…

Updated October 11, 2023

Rev 1:16 And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth went a sharp twoedged sword: and his countenance [was] as the sun shineth in his strength.

Introduction

As always we are learning about Jesus Christ as that name and title applies to us “keeping the things which are written therein.” In these studies we are not at liberty to guess about what is being signified by the symbols of the things written therein, simply because we are not at liberty to “think above what is written.” That is a critically important principle which we must keep in mind in these times when personal revelation so commonly trumps the words of scripture.

1Co 4:6 And these things, brethren, I have in a figure transferred to myself and [to] Apollos for your sakes; that ye might learn in us not to think [of men] above that which is written, that no one of you be puffed up for one against another.

Lord willing, we will never “think above that which is written” and will instead give the scriptures which explain the signification of every symbol in this Revelation of Jesus Christ.

In the last study, we saw that Christ in us walks with “feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace”, and He speaks within us with a voice which is as the sound of many waters.

Rev 1:15 And his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters.

We saw that Christ’s feet are as brass because “we have this treasure [Christ] in earthen vessels.” Brass [copper] signifies flesh at its most useful peak. Through Christ in us we become the “feet” or the sockets of the pillars of the door of the temple. We enter into the presence of God through sin and death, through corruptible flesh and blood which, even at its best state – that being the flesh and blood of Jesus Christ – the Truth remains that “flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God.”

1Co 15:50 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.

2Co 4:7 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.

We saw that Christ dwells in and walks around “in this world… in us,” His body, and we saw that we are His feet as fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace, because:

1Co 3:13 Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is.

Our “walk” with our “feet” is our “work.”

1Pe 4:12 Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you:

1Jn 4:17 Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world.

We also saw that the voice coming out of that “body, which is the church” is as the “voice of many waters.” It is the voice of Christ’s words being given to mankind “by the church.”

Eph 3:9 And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery [Greek: mustērion, secret], which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ:
Eph 3:10 To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly [places] might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God,
Eph 3:11 According to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord:

God is “NOW” making known to the powers in the heavens the manifold wisdom of God; that “manifold wisdom” being “Christ in you, the hope of glory” and all which that entails. He is NOW making this known “by the church.” Paul is not speaking of some future time. He said, “NOW.” God is using “the church, which is His body” to bring this secret to each generation of mankind. That is the secret which has been hidden from the beginning of the world, but is now being made known to us in whom He dwells. It is through those who now know this “secret of His will” that God will, in His time, “make all men to see what is the fellowship of that mystery.” Here is verse 5 of Ephesians 3, and here is the same message in Colossians 1.

Eph 3:5 Which in other ages [Greek: genea, generations] was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit;

Col 1:26 Even the mystery [Greek: mustērion, secret] which hath been hid from ages [Greek: aions, ages] and from generations [Greek: genea], but now is made manifest to his saints:
Col 1:27 To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory
Col 1:28 Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus:
Col 1:29 Whereunto I also labour, striving according to his working, which worketh in me mightily.

Why does Paul say “His working… works in me mightily?” That brings us to this verse we are covering today:

Rev 1:16 And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth went a sharp twoedged sword: and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength.

The secret Paul speaks of in Ephesians 3 and Colossians 1 is Christ in us. If Christ is in us and we are in Him, where does that place us?

Mat 22:44 The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool?

Mat 25:33 And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.
Mat 25:34 Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:

Mat 26:64 Jesus saith unto him [the high priest], Thou hast said [I am the Messiah]: nevertheless I say unto you, Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven.

Mar 16:19 So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God.

If Christ is in us, then we, too, are sitting with Him at God’s right hand of power “in the heavens.”

Mat 28:18 And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.

Eph 2:6 And He raised us up together and seated us together in the heavenlies [or, heavenly (realms)] in Christ Jesus, (ALT)

What good is that? What advantage is there to being seated with Christ at the Father’s right hand in the heavens? Here is what that accomplishes in us”

The body is one, and hath many members

1Co 12:12 For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also [is] Christ.
1Co 12:13 For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether [we be] Jews or Gentiles, whether [we be] bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.
1Co 12:14 For the body is not one member, but many.

This same principle applies to “one seed” with many in that one seed:

Gal 3:16 Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ.

Christ is that “one seed.” He alone can receive the promises. So where does that leave us? Same chapter:

Gal 3:29 And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.

Everything must be “in Jesus Christ” or it is not accepted by God. That is why we are told…

Php 4:13 I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

“From Him… Unto Him…”

This is why we see Christ handing the book to His christ.

Rev 5:1 And I saw in the right hand of him that sat on the throne a book written within and on the backside, sealed with seven seals.
Rev 5:2 And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, Who is worthy to open the book, and to loose the seals thereof?
Rev 5:3 And no man in heaven, nor in earth, neither under the earth, was able to open the book, neither to look thereon.
Rev 5:4 And I wept much, because no man was found worthy to open and to read the book, neither to look thereon.
Rev 5:5 And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof.
Rev 5:6 And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth.
Rev 5:7 And he came and took the book out of the right hand of him that sat upon the throne.
Rev 5:8 And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and four [and] twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints.
Rev 5:9 And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation;
Rev 5:10 And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.

It is Christ who is on the throne. This is proven by comparing the last two verses of the previous chapter with Colossians 1:16.

Rev 4:10 The four and twenty elders fall down before him that sat on the throne, and worship him that liveth for ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying,
Rev 4:11 Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.

By whom and for whom were all things created?

Col 1:15 Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:
Col 1:16 For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether [they be] thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:

Look at the similarities between these two sections of scripture. Both are from Christ to Christ, and both finish by telling us that we will be kings and priests with and in Christ. In other words, these two sections of scripture are telling those who can see it that Christ identifies completely with “the church which is His body.”

Col 1:24 Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the church:

The seven stars in His right hand are the book in His right hand

What are these seven stars, and why are we told they are in Christ’s right hand? What is the significance of being in Christ’s right hand?

Here is the first place in God’s word which gives us the spiritual significance of what God is telling us when He inspires the phrase “His right hand.”

Gen 48:8 And Israel beheld Joseph’s sons, and said, Who [are] these?
Gen 48:9 And Joseph said unto his father, They [are] my sons, whom God hath given me in this [place]. And he said, Bring them, I pray thee, unto me, and I will bless them.

Israel, Joseph’s father who before was called Jacob, is about to teach us two very important spiritual principles, if we can receive them. He is about to tell us what the spiritual significance is of the younger brother and what the spiritual significance is of the right hand.

Gen 48:10 Now the eyes of Israel were dim for age, so that he could not see. And he brought them near unto him; and he kissed them, and embraced them.
Gen 48:11 And Israel said unto Joseph, I had not thought to see thy face: and, lo, God hath shewed me also thy seed.
Gen 48:12 And Joseph brought them out from between his knees, and he bowed himself with his face to the earth.
Gen 48:13 And Joseph took them both, Ephraim in his right hand toward Israel’s left hand, and Manasseh in his left hand toward Israel’s right hand, and brought them near unto him.
Gen 48:14 And Israel stretched out his right hand, and laid it upon Ephraim’s head, who was the younger, and his left hand upon Manasseh’s head, guiding his hands wittingly; for Manasseh was the firstborn.
Gen 48:15 And he blessed Joseph, and said, God, before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac did walk, the God which fed me all my life long unto this day,
Gen 48:16 The Angel which redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads; and let my name be named on them, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth.
Gen 48:17 And when Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand upon the head of Ephraim, it displeased him: and he held up his father’s hand, to remove it from Ephraim’s head unto Manasseh’s head.
Gen 48:18 And Joseph said unto his father, Not so, my father: for this is the firstborn; put thy right hand upon his head.
Gen 48:19 And his father refused, and said, I know it, my son, I know it: he also shall become a people, and he also shall be great: but truly his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his seed shall become a multitude of nations.
Gen 48:20 And he blessed them that day, saying, In thee shall Israel bless, saying, God make thee as Ephraim and as Manasseh: and he set Ephraim before Manasseh.

This is not a history lesson even though it is a historical fact. These stories are not ministering to the principles involved at that time. “They ministered not to themselves but to us.” Jacob could not even see well enough to distinguish his grandsons. However, God had revealed to Jacob the principle involved in the birth of His uncle, Ishmael, and his brother Esau. So, for our benefit, to minister not to himself or his own physical descendants but to minister to us, he knowingly crossed his hands and blessed the younger over the elder.

1Pe 1:9 Receiving the end of your faith, [even] the salvation of [your] souls.
1Pe 1:10 Of which salvation the prophets have enquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you:
1Pe 1:11 Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow.
1Pe 1:12 Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into.
1Pe 1:13 Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;

‘The younger brother shall be greater’ is not concerned with Ephraim being greater than Manasseh, even though that did become the case physically and historically. ‘The younger brother shall be greater’ is a principle which has been being revealed to us from the very beginning. Abel was greater than his older brother, Cain. Isaac was greater than his older brother, Ishmael, and Jacob was greater than his older twin, Esau. This principle is even revealed to us in Jacob’s wives. Rachel, the second wife, the mother of Joseph, was greater than Leah, Jacob’s first wife. None of these historical people are the spiritual point being given to us though. Here is the point which the holy spirit is making for those with eyes to see and ears to hear:

1Co 15:44 It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.
1Co 15:45 And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.
1Co 15:46 Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual.
1Co 15:47 The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven.
1Co 15:48 As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly.
1Co 15:49 And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.

That is the point that is being made over and over, but which is still so very little understood or believed. The inward and spiritual are always preceded by the natural, the earthy, the carnal man. This is true in every generation.

Mat 24:34 Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.
Mat 24:35 Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.

God’s Word is not outward or historical or relevant only to a certain time or place. “This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled” and “my words shall not pass away” will be true in every generation since Christ, and those words will be true right up to and through the purging fires of the lake of fire.

Being “all things to all men”

Being at Christ’s right hand signifies that we have been made to be “all things to all men.” The significance of being in and at Christ’s right hand is that the younger, prodigal brother, who comes to work at the eleventh hour only after being a prodigal son, is the first to be given power which is not given to the older brother. This is true only because all those who are at Christ’s right hand see themselves as having been both the older son and the prodigal son. They see themselves as having been both the self-righteous Pharisee and the lowly publican. They see themselves as having been both the Jews wanting to stone the adulterous woman and the adulterous woman. Those who are at Christ’s right hand will acknowledge that it was they who have been party to the death of all the prophets (Mat 11:50, Rev 18:24) and to the death of Christ, Who we are now imitating and following:

1Pe 2:21  For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps:

Being at and in Christ’s right hand necessitates that we all come to see ourselves as having been “chief of sinners…” acknowledging that “every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God” is in our flesh:

Mat 4:4 But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.

1Ti 1:15 This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.

God’s elect acknowledge that they have been guilty of both complaining about “having born the heat of the day,” and yet, through “Christ in us” we are also blessed to become those who afterward “receive their wages first” and through “being seated with Him at His Father’s right hand of power, “work mightily… more abundantly than they all.”

1Co 9:22 To the weak became I as weak, that I might gain the weak: I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some.

Paul did not become weak, but Paul knew he was in a body of weak flesh and blood, and had been weak, and he could easily identify with all who were weak. Paul could be “made all things to all men” by simply acknowledging that all sin was in his flesh. Christ is now in us, and we can now, being at His right hand, “have all power” and do all things through Jesus Christ who strengthens [us].

The right hand represents the power under which we are submitted, be it for good or for evil. The right hand is the power which dominates our minds:

Rev 13:16 And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:

What is the spiritual significance of being in or at God’s or Christ’s right hand?  According to the scriptures, the right hand of God is the source of power, strength and righteousness.

Exo 15:6 Thy right hand, O LORD, is become glorious in power: thy right hand, O LORD, hath dashed in pieces the enemy.

Psa 48:10 According to thy name, O God, so is thy praise unto the ends of the earth: thy right hand is full of righteousness.

Isa 41:10 Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.

What are the seven stars in Christ’s right hand?

Now let’s see how this phrase is used elsewhere here in the book of Revelation. In this same chapter we are told what these stars are:

Rev 1:20 The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches: and the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches.

Rev 2:1 Unto the angel of the church of Ephesus write; These things saith he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks;

Rev 5:1 And I saw in the right hand of him that sat on the throne a book written within and on the backside, sealed with seven seals.

Christ did not lay down the seven stars so He could pick up a book written within and on the backside, sealed with seven seals. The seven stars are always in His right hand, and the book is also always in His right hand. As we have just been told, the seven stars are the seven angels to the seven churches, and those seven angels, as we are later informed, are “our fellow servants who keep the sayings of this book.”

The word ‘angel’ means ‘messenger’. The messengers to the seven churches are the messengers “which show [us] these things”:

Rev 19:9 And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These [things this angel is showing John… the judgment of the great whore of chapters 17 and 18] are the true sayings of God.
Rev 19:10 And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, See thou do it not: I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.

Rev 22:8 And I John saw these things, and heard them. And when I had heard and seen, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel which shewed me these things.
Rev 22:9 Then saith he unto me, See thou do it not: for I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of this book: worship God [“the seven angels of the seven churches”].

Twice we are informed that these angels are our fellow servants, our brothers who have the testimony of Jesus Christ and of them that keep the sayings of this book.

Someone will be certain to point out that the book is taken out of the hand of the man on the throne.

Rev 4:9 And when those beasts give glory and honour and thanks to him that sat on the throne, who liveth for ever and ever,
Rev 4:10 The four and twenty elders fall down before him that sat on the throne, and worship him that liveth for ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying,
Rev 4:11 Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.

Verse 11 identifies the person on the throne as Christ because of what we are told about Christ in Colossians:

Col 1:16 For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether [they be] thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:

Who is it who takes the book out of the hand of Him that sits on the throne? It is John, and who is John? John signifies the fellowservant who is keeping the sayings of the prophecy of this book. It is John who brings this book to the seven churches. John, and you and I as his fellowservants keeping what is written therein, are the messengers to the seven churches. Where does that place us? It places us in the right hand of Him who walks in the midst of the seven churches and who sits on the throne of heaven.

It is Christ who sits on that throne, and it is Christ who holds the seven angels in His right hand. It is Christ who holds the book in His right hand, and it is Christ in us who takes the words of the sayings of the prophecy of this book to the seven churches.

The lives of all God’s elect are written on the pages of God’s book (Psa 139:16). God’s elect “keep the things which are written therein”, and live by every word which proceeds out of the mouth of God, as revealed in His book, which is in His right hand, which is sealed with seven seals and is opened only to those in whom that Lamb dwells.

Here is that same book as mentioned in the book of Psalms. We learn that God has predestined that we will all keep what is written in His book.

Psa 139:16 Like an open book, you watched me grow from conception to birth; all the stages of my life were spread out before you, The days of my life all prepared before I’d even lived one day. (MSG)

There is a “book of life” which contains only the names of the few who will be raised to life, but God has only one book by which all men will be tried in both the resurrection to life and the resurrection to judgment:

Joh 5:28 Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice,
Joh 5:29 And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation [Greek: krino, judgment].

Rev 20:15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.

Rev 1:3 Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.

There is no difference between “the things written therein”, which must be kept by those who are blessed (Rev 1:3), and “the days ordained for me in thy book.” Both amount to nothing less than “every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.”

God’s book is like His seed. God has but one seed, and that seed is Christ and those in Him.

Gal 3:16 Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ.

In the same way, God has only one book that must be kept, and that one book is “the revelation of Jesus Christ… sealed with seven seals… in His right hand of power.” Here is Psalm 139:16 in the ASV:

Psa 139:16 Thine eyes did see mine unformed substance; And in thy book they were all written, Even the days that were ordained for me, When as yet there was none of them.

Here is what we all do with the words of that book which has written in it, “even the days that were ordained for us before there were any of them.”

Rev 1:3 Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep the things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.

We must all eat of both the tree of the knowledge of good and evil as well as the tree of life. If we as God’s elect are to “keep the things which are written therein”, and if mankind is to “live by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God”, and if we are all to come to see ourselves as “chief of sinners”, then this next verse should begin to make much more sense to us all:

Rev 20:12 And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.

Those whose names are written in the book of life came up in “the resurrection of life” (Joh 5:29) over a thousand years before the resurrection that comes after the thousand-year reign of our Lord and His christ. They come up in “the resurrection of life” because they were the few who were judged in this present time:

1Pe 4:17 For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?
1Pe 4:18 And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?

This is what we are told of those in “the resurrection of life”:

Rev 20:4 And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.
Rev 20:5 But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.
Rev 20:6 Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.

“The books were opened” refers to every life of every man who has ever lived who had not been in “the first resurrection.” “Another book was opened, which is the book of life” is Christ’s spotless, sinless life, lived in sinful flesh and blood, the same as the children. “The dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works” is each of us seeing that we were all in Adam before we became “in Christ.”

Both the life of our spotless Savior, and our own very spotted lives, are all in Christ’s word and are therefore all in Christ. The scriptures declare this to be so again and again:

Isa 45:7 I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.

Pro 16:4 The LORD hath made all [things] for himself: yea, even the wicked for the day of evil.

Rom 11:36 For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom [be] glory for ever. Amen.

Joh 15:2 Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch [in me] that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.

Act 17:28 For in him we [Paul and you and me and the Pagan Athenians] live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring.

Adam, and all who are in Adam, “are His offspring.”

Luk 3:38 Which was the son of Enos, which was the son of Seth, which was the son of Adam, which was the son of God.

It is our spotless Savior who “makes peace and creates evil.” It is Christ who has “made the wicked [Mike Vinson] for the day of evil [within Mike Vinson]. It is our spotless Savior “of whom, through whom and to whom are all things.” It is Christ, our spotless Savior, who has “in Him branches that bear not fruit.” “In Him” we all “live and move and have our being.” It is a mind which is devoid of understanding of the sovereignty of God, and the application of that sovereignty, which cannot understand how a spotless Savior can “create evil.” It is a mind which does not know the scriptural definition of “all things are of God” (1Co 11:12, 2Co 5:18) which therefore denies that all this is “in Him.” Here is how Paul deals with this spirit:

Rom 9:19 Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will?
Rom 9:20 Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus?
Rom 9:21 Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour

God has only one book. That one book is “the revelation of Jesus Christ.” We are not at liberty to pick and choose which parts of the sayings of the prophecy of this book we will keep. We will all “live by every word which proceeds out of the mouth of God.” If to us any of this is ‘out there’ only in the lives of others and is not being applied within us, then we have taken that part out of the sayings of the prophecy of this book, and we will acknowledge that part in this book as being for us in the later judgment, in the lake of fire. The ‘fire’ of “the lake of fire” is the same ‘fire’ that judges us in this present time. The only difference is the timing and the rewards promised to those who are in that “blessed and holy first resurrection” (Rev 20:6). Those who are in the first resurrection, the resurrection of life, will not be hurt of the second death/lake of fire which is the great white throne judgment, and they will be given power over the nations for a thousand years with Christ:

Rev 2:11 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death.

Rev 2:26 And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations:
Rev 2:27 And he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers: even as I received of my Father.
Rev 2:28 And I will give him the morning star [Christ (Rev 22:16)].
Rev 2:29 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches

Rev 22:18 For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book:
Rev 22:19 And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and [from] the things which are written in this book.

Conclusion

We have seen that the right hand of God is the source of all power, strength and righteousness. We have seen that being in Christ’s right hand, we are also at God’s right hand. We have also seen that the seven stars are the seven angels to the seven churches, and we saw that Revelation 19:10 and Revelation 22:9 tell us that the seven angels are the messengers to the seven churches who are our fellowservants who keep the sayings of the prophecy of this book.

We have seen that the days ordained for us in God’s book and the commission to “keep the things written therein” and the declaration by Christ that all men “shall live by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God” are in fact all one and the same exhortation.

We have seen that the scriptures are completely Christ-centric, and that just as the seed of Abraham is singular, so too, is God’s book by which “every man” will be judged (1Co 3:13-15). We have seen that God has only one seed, and He has only one book. That one seed and that one book are both Christ and those who are in Him:

Gal 3:16 Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ.

Knowing that “all our days are written in His book” (Psa 139:16) we can paraphrase that thusly: ‘He saith not books as of many; but as of one book, and to thy book, which is ‘the revelation of Jesus Christ… every Word that proceeds out of God.’

We saw that “the books” mentioned in Revelation 20:12 are us in Christ, and “the book” against which we are judged is our sinless Savior and His doctrines and His Words.

Next study, Lord willing, we will learn what is the sharp two-edged sword which comes out of the mouth of Christ, and why we are told that He is as the sun in its strength.

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Rev 1:18-20 I Am He That Lives and was Dead

Updated October 20, 2023

Rev 1:18  I [am] he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.
Rev 1:19  Write the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter;
Rev 1:20  The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches: and the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches.

Introduction

For the first time since we have started these studies in this Revelation of Jesus Christ, we hope to cover more than one verse. We have covered most of what we see in the remaining three verses already. What we need to do as we cover these next three verses is to notice how they reinforce what we have seen already, and always keep in mind the opening admonition to “keep the things which are written therein, for the time is at hand.”

Rev 1:3  Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.

The only people who “read and hear the words of this prophecy and keep the things which are written therein” are those to whom it is “given to understand the mysteries of the kingdom of God.”

Mat 13:10  And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables?
Mat 13:11  He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.

Rev 1:18 (a) I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen…
Rev 1:19 Write the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter;

We will get to the last part of verse 18 in a moment, but first we need to take note that the first part of verse 18, and all of verse 19, make the 4th and 5th times in this one chapter alone that we are reminded of the nature of the words of this prophecy and the nature of the author of the words of this prophecy. Here is Christ’s example to us as to how we are to apply this knowledge.

Mat 24:15  When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:)

This is the supposedly “apocalyptic” 24th chapter of Matthew. Let’s ask the question that never seems to occur to the dispensationalists. What if Matthew 24 were being read by someone in 100 A.D. or 1000 A.D. or 1500 A.D. or 2000 A.D? What application would “the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place” have to do with those people? Well, if we approach God’s Word with the singular, dispensational, apocalyptic, end time approach, which the whole orthodox Christian world has given to these words, then they have no application whatever to anyone who reads of “the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place.” “Whoso reads” would have no application to anyone other than someone reading that prophecy of Daniel in the generation in which “the kingdoms of this world become the kingdoms of our Lord and His Christ.” However, that is not how Christ intended for His words to be taken. That is not how Christ’s Words are to be understood, and He makes that super clear in this same 24th chapter of Matthew. Here is how Christ meant for His words to be applied and understood:

Mat 24:34  Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.
Mat 24:35  Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.

Christ tells us that “the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place” was fulfilled in Christ’s own generation! He is also telling us that it was also fulfilled in 100, 1000, 1500 and 2000 A.D. Whoever “reads and understands” fulfills that prophecy in every generation. “Who reads and understands” IS “this generation which shall not pass away until all these things be fulfilled.”

That is why Christ repeatedly tells us He is “the first and the last,” and His words “are, were and will be.” We have already covered these verses earlier in this chapter, but just so this point is made clear, here again are the other three times, in this one chapter, that  this very special doctrine is repeated and emphasized for our edification who have ears to hear and eyes which see.  It is a doctrine which is hidden from the eyes of this world:

Rev 1:4  John to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace be unto you, and peace, from him which is, and which was, and which is to come; and from the seven Spirits which are before his throne;

Rev 1:8  I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.

Rev 1:11  Saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last: and, What thou seest, write in a book, and send it unto the seven churches which are in Asia; unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamos, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea.

Any time we read “I am Alpha and Omega” or any time we read “I am the first and the last” what we are being told is that Christ and His words “are, were and will be.”

Rev 1:18 (b) … and have the keys of hell and of death.

Why does Christ want us to know that He holds the keys of death and of hell? Do not the scriptures teach that “the devil has the power of death?”

Heb 2:14  Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;

This verse is true, but it is true in the context of God’s sovereignty, and in the context of the sum of God’s word, both of which reveal that Christ has been given all power in heaven and in earth, and Satan’s powers are under Christ’s ‘keys.’

Mat 28:18  And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.

“The keys of hell and of death” are held by the same man who has the keys of the kingdom of heaven, the key of knowledge, the key of David  and the key of the bottomless pit. Christ holds all of those keys, and if He is in us, then we, too, have “the keys of death and hell, the keys to the kingdom of heaven, the key of knowledge, the key of David and the key of the bottomless pit.”

Mat 16:19  And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be [have been] bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.

Luk 11:52  Woe unto you, lawyers! for ye have taken away the key of knowledge: ye entered not in yourselves, and them that were entering in ye hindered.

Rev 3:7  And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write; These things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth;

Rev 20:1  And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.
Rev 20:2  And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years,
Rev 20:3  And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.

Nothing is opened without Christ. The entire word of God is about Christ and His Christ. The entire Bible is Christ-centric. Christ is the key to all knowledge. Christ in us is “the fear of God” in us, and the fear of God is the beginning of knowledge, the “key of knowledge.”

Pro 1:7  The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.

Pro 9:10  The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding.

2Pe 2:20  For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning.

This is where “the fear of the Lord” leads us:

1Jn 4:18  There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.

“Perfect love” is the least understood subject on this earth. Here is the definition of perfect love. All other attempts to love God or our brothers are not really ‘love’ at all but are rather a counterfeit of this “perfect love.”

1Jn 5:2  By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments.
1Jn 5:3  For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.

So then, scripturally speaking, “the fear of the Lord” and “the love of God” are one and the same thing, which lead us to “the key of knowledge… Christ in you, the hope of glory.”

Col 1:27  To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:

Rev 1:20  The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches: and the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches.

“The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches: and the seven candlesticks which you saw are the seven churches.” Just so we do not miss what is being said here, let us not fail to remember that this entire book and all “the things written therein” are all from John and are all addressed to these seven churches:

Rev 1:3  Blessed [is] he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time [is] at hand.
Rev 1:4  John to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace be unto you, and peace, from him which is, and which was, and which is to come; and from the seven Spirits which are before his throne;

In verse 4 we are told that this book is being sent to the seven churches in Asia from John, who had received this revelation from Christ, who had in turn received it from His Father.

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:
Rev 1:2  Who bare record of the word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all things that he saw.

“God’s angel” who was sent unto John was Jesus Christ according to His own words:

Joh 20:21  Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you.

Christ has sent us just “as My Father has sent me.” Yet at the beginning of every message to each of the seven churches, of chapters two and three, we are told:

Rev 2:1  Unto the angel of the church of Ephesus write; These things saith he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks;

Rev 2:8  And unto the angel of the church in Smyrna write; These things saith the first and the last, which was dead, and is alive;

Rev 2:12  And to the angel of the church in Pergamos write; These things saith he which hath the sharp sword with two edges;

Rev 2:18  And unto the angel of the church in Thyatira write; These things saith the Son of God, who hath his eyes like unto a flame of fire, and his feet [are] like fine brass;

Rev 3:1  And unto the angel of the church in Sardis write; These things saith he that hath the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars; I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead.

Rev 3:7  And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write; These things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth;

Rev 3:14  And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God;

While this revelation of Jesus Christ is sent from God to Christ and from Christ to His elect, it becomes obvious that ‘the seven angels of the seven churches’ are those chosen by Christ to bring this revelation of Jesus Christ to the seven churches, to “show them these things.” In other words, “the angel which showed me these things” is John and his “fellowservants who keep the sayings of this book.”

Rev 22:7  Behold, I come quickly: blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book.

Is that really who these seven angels are? Is that who shows these things to God’s elect? Is that really what the scriptures teach? Yes, it is, and here are the scriptures which tell us who it is who “shows us these things:”

Rev 4:1  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.

Who is this who is showing these things to John and to us? It is a “voice… as it were of a trumpet.” Who has a “voice… as it were of a trumpet who “shows us these things?”

Rev 17:1  And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters:

The angels which “show us these things” are “the angels which had the seven vials.” Now all we need to do is to determine who these seven angels are which have these seven vials. We are never left to guess. We never need “to think above what is written” (1Co 4:6). All we need do is to “believe what is written.”  Here is the identity these seven angels:

Rev 19:10  And I fell at his feet to worship him [the angel which had just shown John the judgment of the great harlot]. And he said unto me, See thou do it not: I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.

Why was John on the isle of Patmos?

Rev 1:9 I John, who also am your brother, and companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was in the isle that is called Patmos, for the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ.

None of this is left to the fertile imaginations of men. It is “the doctrine of Jesus Christ” that these “seven angels which have the seven vials” are also “the angels which show us these things.” There are not several groups of “the seven spirits of God.” The “seven spirits” are “one spirit.”

1Co 6:17  But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit.

1Co 12:13  For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether [we be] Jews or Gentiles, whether [we be] bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.

Eph 2:18  For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.

Eph 4:4  [There is] one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling;

So when we read of “the seven spirits before His throne:

Rev 1:4  John to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace [be] unto you, and peace, from him which is, and which was, and which is to come; and from the seven Spirits which are before his throne;

The seven lamps which are the seven spirits of God:

Rev 4:5  And out of the throne proceeded lightnings and thunderings and voices: and there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God.

The seven horns and seven eyes, which ARE the seven spirits of God:

Rev 5:6  And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth.

Here is the link to the study on the spiritual significance of the number seven:

The seven spirits, the seven lamps and the seven horns and seven eyes are all one and the same “one spirit” which spirit, according to the Word of God is His spirit in us making us to be “joined unto the Lord.”  Here once again is the verse which makes this clear to those with eyes that see and ears that hear:

1Co 6:17  But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit.

The seven spirits of God “in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders… a Lamb as it had been slain;” are “the Christ… His Christ”, those whom God has “sent forth into all the earth.” Who has God, through Christ, “sent forth into all the earth?” We need not guess:

Joh 20:21  Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you.

What did God send Christ to do? He sent Christ to be a lamb slain from the foundation of the world. He sent Him to atone for and to be a sacrifice for the sins of the whole world. Do you have a part in that commission? Answer at your own peril, for “out of your own mouth you will be judged.”

Rom 12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.

1Co 15:31 I protest by your rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily.

Gal 2:20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.

Col 1:24 Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the church:

Now if all the different “seven spirits of God” are really “one spirit,” then the same is true for the seven angels which are sent to the seven churches. They are one and all “of your brethren… which keep the sayings of this book” (Rev 22:9).

Conclusion

This first chapter, by God’s design, tells us what we are about to be shown as “the revelation of Jesus Christ.” What it reveals is that we are the christ of Christ. We are ‘the Lord’s Christ’:

Act 4:26 The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord, and against his Christ.

Rev 11:15 And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.

Rev 12:10 And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.

We have seen in this first chapter, that God has given this revelation of Jesus Christ to John, who in turn gives it to the seven churches of Asia. As is always the case, we saw that the seven churches are the one church, with one spirit and one gospel and one doctrine and one mind.

Eph 4:4  There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling;
Eph 4:5  One Lord, one faith, one baptism,

Php 2:2  Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind.

Every word to every church, just like all of Christ’s parables, is actually addressed to “he who hath and ear,” and so it is with this entire revelation.

Mat 13:9  Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.

Rev 3:6  He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.

We have seen that it is given to but few to hear “the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven,” which is the same as “the revelation of Jesus Christ.”

Mat 13:11  He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.

“Few are chosen… to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven”:

Mat 22:14 For many are called, but few are chosen.

That is especially true of the revelation of Jesus Christ. Christ’s commission to save this world (Joh 3:17) includes Him revealing to us His Father. In so doing, He tells us:

Joh 14:8  Philip saith unto him, Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us.
Joh 14:9  Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou [then], Shew us the Father?
Joh 14:10  Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works.

Christ, in turn, has sent us to reveal Himself and His Father to the world. We are Jesus of Nazareth (Act 22:8). We are “of His flesh and of His bones” (Eph 5:30), and “as [Christ] is so are we in this world” (1Jn 4:17). Therefore we can scripturally say we have been sent to reveal Christ to the world via the revelation of Jesus Christ within us just as Christ came to reveal His Father through Himself:

Joh 14:9 Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?

Joh 20:21  Then said Jesus to them again, Peace [be] unto you: as [my] Father hath sent me, even so send I you.

1Jn 4:17  Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world.

We have been reminded that this entire revelation is to John, who is “our brother,” who is also “our fellowservant and of they who keep the sayings of the prophecy of this book.”

Rev 1:9  I John, who also am your brother, and companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was in the isle that is called Patmos, for the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ.

Rev 22:8  And I John saw these things, and heard [ them]. And when I had heard and seen, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel which shewed me these things.
Rev 22:9  Then saith he unto me, See [thou do it] not: for I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of this book: worship God.

We have learned that the angel which “showed John these things” is the same as the angels which had the seven vials of God’s wrath:

Rev 17:1  And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters:

Rev 21:9  And there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will shew thee the bride, the Lamb’s wife.

We have seen that just as all the sevens dealing with God’s spirit are actually “one spirit,” so too, all the apparently different groups of “seven angels” are actually the same angels to the seven churches, “sent into all the earth,” and all of those angels are really just “our brother and companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ…”

1Co 6:17 But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit.

Rev 1:9 I John, who also am your brother, and companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was in the isle that is called Patmos, for the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ.

Those who cannot see that we must consider the sum of God’s Word, do not see that we are the Christ of Christ. They do not see that Christ has sent us to do what His Father sent Him to do. Therefore they twist:

1Pe 3:18  For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit:

…into the damnable doctrine of ‘substitutioary atonement’. Such is not the case. Christ’s death for our sins is called an exemplary death, and we are told that we are to die with Him, filling up what is behind of His afflictions for His body’s sake, which is the church.

There is much more written about who suffers for whom and who dies for whom. than just 1 Peter 3:18. For example:

1Pe 2:21 For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps:

There it is! Christ’s suffering and death is an example for us. It is an exemplary death, not a substitutionary death:

Gal 2:20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.

1Pe 4:1 Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin;

Here we have it in this same epistle. If Christ is in you, then you have “the same mind,” and suffer with Him for the sake of His body which is the church, because His sufferings are not yet filled up.

Col 1:24  Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the church:

We, too, suffer and are crucified daily for the church, for Christ’s body, just as Christ suffered and was crucified for us:

1Jn 4:17  Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world.

We are John, and John is us, because we are all “joined unto the Lord in one spirit.”

Rev 1:9  I John, who also am your brother, and companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was in the isle that is called Patmos [Greek: “the place of my dying”], for the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ.

Rev 5:6  And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth.

Are we “lambs, slain with Christ?”

Joh 21:15  So when they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my lambs.

Gal 2:20  I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.

Rom 6:3  Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?
Rom 6:4  Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
Rom 6:5  For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:
Rom 6:6  Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.

If we are “raised with Christ in the likeness of His resurrection”, if He has “laid His right hand on us”, then He has sent us to be “crucified with Him” and to show these things to the seven churches, and through Christ in us, to open the seven seals and go forth into all the earth blowing the seven trumpets and pouring out the seven vials of God’s wrath and keeping the sayings of the prophecy of this book and keeping the things written therein. At the appointed time Christ will have His Christ ‘to make all men see what is the fellowship of this mystery which from the beginning of the world has been hid in God’.

Eph 3:9 And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ:
Eph 3:10 To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God,
Eph 3:11 According to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord:

The seven spirits sent forth into all the earth, are in the same seven angels which are in Christ’s right hand, and those seven angels are the same seven angels which blow the seven trumpets. Those seven angels which blow the seven trumpets are one and the same seven angels which pour out the seven vials full of the wrath of God. In other words the seven angels and the seven spirits are “one spirit of God” which is “joined unto the Lord” as God’s elect.

1Co 6:17  But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit.

It is only God’s elect who have been given eyes to see and ears to hear the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, and who understand that the time is at hand to keep the things written therein.

Rev 22:8  And I John saw these things, and heard them. And when I had heard and seen, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel which shewed me these things.
Rev 22:9  Then saith he unto me, See thou do it not: for I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of this book: worship God.

Understanding that “as he is, so are we” tells us that in Christ we, too, are the lamb who takes the book sealed with seven seals out of the right hand of the man on the throne, and in Christ, we show these things written in this book to the churches.  We, in Christ, are first the seven churches, then we are the seven angels of the seven churches, which angels are in Christ’s right hand and who, being in His right hand, have the power to blow the seven trumpets and to pour out the seven vials of God’s wrath. As John, our fellowservant, we show all these things to the churches, because we are “one spirit joined to Christ.”

If we are given to see and understand this, we will now read the things that are written therein and know that it is all for us to “keep the things written therein, for the time is at hand,” and that we are to “live by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.”

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Out of His Mouth Went a Two Edged Sword

Updated October 13, 2023

Rev 1:16  And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth went a sharp two edged sword: and his countenance was as the sun shining in his strength.

Introduction

Last week we covered the stars in the right hand of “one like unto the Son of Man,” who was “in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks.” We saw that verses 4 and 5 of Revelation 1 demonstrate that this whole book is from Christ, and it is addressed to Christ, His anointed:

Joh 20:21  Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you.

We also saw that the “book in the right hand of Him that sat on the throne [Christ] was given to the Lamb [Christ (Col 1:24)] to open the seven seals and to give us the revelation of Jesus Christ. We saw that the words, “He had in His right hand seven stars” in chapter 1, is the same ‘right hand’ we read of in chapter 5 where we are told: “I saw in the right hand of Him that sat on the throne a book” (Rev 5:1). Both the seven stars and the book are in Christ’s right hand. We saw that the seven angels of the seven churches are also the seven angels which blow the seven trumpets and pour out the seven plagues of God. We saw that even though Abraham has only “one seed,” Christ, that we are all one in that “one seed.” We also saw that all the “books” are actually in God’s one book. What we are slowly learning is the truth of these verses:

 Rev 17:1  And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters:

Rev 21:9  And there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will shew thee the bride, the Lamb’s wife.

It is these “seven angels” which show us “the judgment of the great whore… and… the bride… the Lamb’s wife.” “The bride the Lamb’s wife” is the seven angels and the seven churches. It is through these seven angels that we are shown this entire revelation of Jesus Christ. We know this because “the angel which showed me these things” tells us so.

Rev 19:10  And I fell at his feet to worship him [the angel]. And he said unto me, See thou do it not: I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.

Rev 22:8  And I John saw these things, and heard them. And when I had heard and seen, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel which shewed me these things.
Rev 22:9  Then saith he unto me, See thou do it not: for I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of this book: worship God.

So it is only “through the church” that “the manifold wisdom of God is made known” to us all.

Eph 3:9  And to make all men see [“The spirit of prophecy… Which showed me these things”] what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ:
Eph 3:10  To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly [places] might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God,

The seven spirits of God are a Biblical symbol of the completed work of the one spirit of God in us:

1Co 6:17  But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit.

1Co 12:13  For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether [we be] bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.

Eph 2:18  For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.

The seven churches are the one body of Christ.

1Co 12:13  For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.

1Co 12:20  But now are they many members, yet but one body.

Eph 4:4  There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling;

Rev 1:16  And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth went a sharp twoedged sword: and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength.

The Greek root word for stars is ‘aster.’ It is principally understood as a light in the heavens. Jesus Himself claims the title of the bright and morning star, which is seen in His face shining as the sun in the last part of this verse, the sun being the star that provides light and life for the earth.

Rev 22:16  I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star.

Christ is the light of the world:

Joh 8:12  Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.

Probably the most well known mention of stars in the New Testament is the single star that led the wise men to the birthplace of the Lord Jesus Christ. As such, it helps us define stars spiritually as a supernatural light for leading us to Christ.

Mat 2:1  Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east toJerusalem,
Mat 2:2  Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him.

Later Christ informs us that “we are now that light of the world.”

Mat 5:14  Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.

Mat 5:16  Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

The apostle Paul reaffirms this truth.

Php 2:15  That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world;

If we understand that as He is so are we in this world (1Jn 4:17), we ought to have little difficulty seeing these stars as the chosen elect of Christ, anointed to be luminaries, whose purpose is to reveal Christ and His Father to mankind:

Joh 17:3  And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.

Christ proclaims us as such. He proclaims us to be as He is in this world.

1Jn 4:17  Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world.

That the number seven is used here in Revelation 1:16 signifies that the perfection of the chosen of Christ is in view.

Act 13:47  For so hath the Lord commanded us, [saying], I have set thee to be a light of the Gentiles, that thou shouldest be for salvation unto the ends of the earth.

Act 26:18  To open their eyes, [and] to turn [them] from darkness to light, and [from] the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me.

… And out of his mouth went a sharp two edged sword:

What always comes out of the mouth of the Lord is God’s words.

Joh 14:23  Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.
Joh 14:24  He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father’s which sent me.

God’s Word is what rules the lives of His elect. It is His word, His sword in His mouth, which also disciplines His elect as “the rod of His mouth.”

Pro 2:6  For the LORD giveth wisdom: out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding.

Isa 11:4  But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked.

Those words “out of His mouth” in the New Testament are called “the sword of the spirit.”

Eph 6:17  And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:

Rev 19:15  And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.

Rev 19:21  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.

At the very beginning of God’s Word we are told that this sword in the mouth of Christ is a fiery sword which guards the way of the Tree of Life:

Gen 3:24  So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.

There is no way to get to the Tree of Life except going through that fiery sword, and that fiery sword will burn out all of the wood, hay and stubble in our lives. It is the cherubim, a type of God’s elect, who are  equipped with that flaming sword. We read this about “the sword of the spirit which is the word of God.“

Jer 5:14  Wherefore thus saith the LORD God of hosts, Because ye speak this word, behold, I will make my words in thy mouth fire, and this people wood, and it shall devour them.

Once again, “as He is so are we,” and so we are told in Isaiah…

Isa 49:2  And he hath made my mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of his hand hath he hid me, and made me a polished shaft; in his quiver hath he hid me;

…And later in Revelation 11:

Rev 11:3  And I will give [power] unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred [and] threescore days, clothed in sackcloth.
Rev 11:4  These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth [Zec 4:3].
Rev 11:5  And if any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies: and if any man will hurt them, he must in this manner be killed.

It is all the revelation of Jesus Christ. The sword that is in His mouth is “a flaming sword.”

… And His countenance was as the sun shining in his strength.

The Sun is the brightest of all the stars of heaven. It shines light on all darkness and drives away all darkness. The Sun of Righteousness is the light of the world:

Mal 4:2 But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall.

Who is this “Sun of Righteousness?”

Mat 17:1  And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into an high mountain apart,
Mat 17:2  And was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light.

God’s elect are “as He is… in this world” (1Jn 4:17).

Ecc 8:1  Who is as the wise man? and who knoweth the interpretation of a thing? a man’s wisdom maketh his face to shine, and the boldness of his face shall be changed.

“Christ is [us]… makes [our] face to shine” with His glory in us.

If we are in Christ and He is in us, then we are with Christ at His Father’s right hand, “dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto.” That light being His word burns up all that pertains to man and the things of his flesh.

1Ti 6:13  I give thee charge in the sight of God, who quickeneth all things, and [before] Christ Jesus, who before Pontius Pilate witnessed a good confession;
1Ti 6:14  That thou keep [this] commandment without spot, unrebukeable, until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ:
1Ti 6:15  Which in his times he shall shew, [who is] the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords;
1Ti 6:16  Who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see: to whom be honour and power everlasting. Amen.

2Pe 1:19 We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts:

Lastly, we are told that Christ’s countenance was as the sun. This reference is nothing more than a visual representation of the magnitude of His apparent glory, and we see this confirmed throughout scripture.

Psa 84:11 For the LORD God is a sun and shield: the LORD will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly. 

Rev 10:1  And I saw another mighty angel come down from heaven, clothed with a cloud: and a rainbow was upon his head, and his face was as it were the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire:

We will learn later what it means to have died with Christ, and to have His right hand with the seven stars “laid upon us.”

Rev 1:17  And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last:

Conclusion

We have seen in this study that stars are lights in our heavens. We saw that those lights in our heavens are Christ coming to His elect through His elect, and then later through His elect “to all men.”

We have also seen in this study that the “two edged sword” is the word of God, who, once again, is Christ. In the end, Christ and His words are once again in us and come out of our mouths as a flaming sword which will destroy and is destroying our enemies and will burn and is burning out all that will burn.

We have seen that “His countenance was as the sun shining in his strength” is again the light of God’s word in us, driving away anything that is darkness.

Joh 3:19  And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their [our] deeds were evil.

In conclusion, the message of the revelation of Jesus Christ is the revelation that He is in us, and that as His Father has sent Him, He has sent us. The revelation of Jesus Christ is that “as He is, so are we in this world.” The revelation of Jesus Christ as having the seven stars in His right hand, as a sword in His mouth, or as the sun in its strength, is all “Christ in you the hope of glory.”

Next week, Lord willing, we will learn what it means to be “as dead at the feet of Christ,” and to have His right hand, holding those seven stars, and that book “laid upon us.”

Rev 1:17  And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last:

B___ wrote:
Hello again Mike! Greetings from Australia – I hope you and your family are well.
It has been great to listen to all the new material posted on your site from the Dallas conference as well as the new “you asked” questions. My wife and I are doing well and are growing in the Lord with each passing week as we continue to study the word and discuss the things of the spirit together. It is indeed a lonely walk, but we are definitely counting it a blessing to be privy to things that “… many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them…” (Mat 13.17)
I also am very grateful for teachers such as yourself for being obedient to God faithful to the teaching of scripture rather than the traditions of men.
 Anyway, on to my topic at hand; After hearing you speak on one of the Google videos about the types and symbols of the 7 days of creation I decided to start looking more in depth at this. My question pertains specifically to the “stars of heaven” and also Mat 24.

And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:
And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so.
And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also.
And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth, 
And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good.

By comparing “spiritual with spiritual” I can clearly see that the “light of the Sun” is Christ and his word and “darkness” is when we are blinded by the false doctrines of the spiritual establishment and agenda of our time. In this condition “… the light within us is darkness and how great is that darkness…” (Mat 6.23) Like the Pharisees, while in this condition we say that we see and as a result continue to stagger about blindly in the night indulging our spiritual lives with drunkenness and fornication. In Mat 24 we read

Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken. 

My understanding of this chapter and verse specifically is that once we come to see that the Sun (Christ) we have been looking to for nourishment and light is in fact the “other Jesus” (2Co 11.4) and that we are in fact “blind and do not see” then we realize that the Sun is darkened and the moon (the teachings of hypocrisy we sit under while we are carnal babes in Christ) no longer holds any light for us. However the “stars shall fall from Heaven” has me slightly puzzled… What seems to be a common thread in the O. T is that Abraham’s seed and the children of Israel are likened again and again to the “stars of heaven” (Gen 22:7, 26.4, Deu 1:10, 4.19, 10.22, 28.62 etc etc)
I guess what I’m having trouble grasping, Mike, is why it is of spiritual significance that the “stars fall from Heaven”? Is it just another way of saying “Babylon the Harlot has fallen”? (Rev 14.2, 18.2) Is it just saying that once we come to see our true spiritual state that all the ministers of Christendom who say they are Abraham’s seed but despise his word fall from our “Heavens”? I would appreciate any help you could give me on this Mike. If you have addressed this previously please direct me to your web page but I did search for it and didn’t see anything relating to my question. Anyway – God bless Mike, keep up the excellent work! B_____

Good morning B____,
I enjoyed your demonstration about how giving things to God impresses Him. This is what really ‘impresses’ God:

1Sa 15:22  And Samuel said, Hath the LORD [ as great] delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey [ is] better than sacrifice, [ and] to hearken than the fat of rams.

Hos 6:6  For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.

I am constantly amazed at how many times we overlook the word “not” in scripture. “Not sacrifice… not a Jew… these are not the seed of Abraham,” etc.

Jer 5:31  The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means [‘Give me 10% of your gross income’]; and my people love [ to have it] so: and what will ye do in the end thereof?

It is all part of God’s working of all things together for His purpose and for our good. I thank Him for it and pray that He always keeps me grateful for the incredible blessings I have been given at His hand. It really is a blessing to be counted worthy to suffer for His name’s sake. ‘His name’s sake’ is His word and anyone who knows and does His Word will suffer in this flesh for doing so.
You say:
What seems to be a common thread in the O. T is that Abraham’s seed and the children of Israel are likened again and again to the “stars of heaven”(Gen 22.7, 26.4, Deu 1.10, 4.19, 10.22, 28.62 etc etc)

I guess what I’m having trouble grasping Mike is why it is of spiritual significance that the “stars fall from Heaven”?

Is it just another way of saying “Babylon the Harlot has fallen”? (Rev 14.2, 18.2)

Is it just saying that once we come to see our true spiritual state that all the ministers of Christendom who say they are Abraham’s seed but despise his word fall from our “Heavens”?

In answer to your question, I am going to remind you what and where is heaven. You are right to remember that Abraham’s children are said to be as the stars of heaven for number. But they are also said to be as the sand of the sea for number.

Heb 11:12  Therefore sprang there even of one, and him as good as dead, so many as the stars of the sky in multitude, and as the sand which is by the sea shore innumerable.

Now with this verse in mind, I want you also to consider this verse of God’s Word:

Heb 9:23  [ It was] therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these [ the blood of calves and goats]; but the heavenly things themselves [ you and me] with better sacrifices than these.

It is not one person in a thousand who understands that the heavens need cleansing. And it is even fewer who understand what and where heaven is.
So what I am saying is that your assessment is exactly correct.
“[ It is] just another way of saying ‘Babylon the Harlot has fallen’? (Rev 14.2, 18.2)[ It is] just saying that once we come to see our true spiritual state that all the ministers of Christendom who say they are Abraham’s seed but despise his word fall from our ‘Heavens’?”
The “stars falling from heaven” of Mat 24 are the powers and principalities within our heavens which must fall before we can even recognize our blinded and hopeless condition.
I hope this helps you to see that stars are angels in our heavens and that not all angels are “angels of light.”

Rev 1:20  The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches: and the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches.

Rev 9:1  And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth: and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit.

Let me know if I have not covered this to your satisfaction.
Mike
P. S. I certainly will pass along your words of gratitude to those who help out so much.