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Apocalypse 5 – the Beginning of The End
AWE of things unseen uncovered, creatures of Heaven hardly imagined and devastations of earth unimaginable! This is what the Lord Jesus Christ reveals [ἀποκάλυψις – apokalypsis] to the Apostle John.

Excepts from Revelation 4:

The Throne Room of Heaven

.. The first voice that I had heard speaking to me like a trumpet said, “Come up here …

.. and behold, a throne set in heaven, and One sat on the throne.

.. Around the throne were twenty-four thrones..

And out of the throne proceeded lightnings and thunderings and voices:
Revelation 4:5a KJV

6 and before the throne there was something like a sea of glass, like crystal; and in the center and around the throne, four living creatures full of eyes in front and behind.

! ! ! ! Living Creatures

The first living creature was like a lion.. each one of them having six wings, are full of eyes around and within..

“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God, the Almighty, who was and who is and who is to come.”
Revelation 4:8b NASB

And when the living creatures give glory, honor, and thanks to Him who sits on the throne, to Him who lives forever and ever,

the twenty-four elders will fall down before Him who sits on the throne, and they will worship Him who lives forever and ever..

5:2 And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, “Who is worthy to open the scroll and to break its seals?”

.. 6 And I saw between the throne (with the four living creatures) and the elders a Lamb standing, as if slaughtered..

8 When He had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb..

“Worthy are You to take the scroll and to break its seals; for You were slaughtered, and You purchased people for God with Your blood from every tribe, language, people, and nation.
Revelation 5:9b NASB

.. 11 Then I looked, and I heard the voices of many angels around the throne and the living creatures and the elders..

“Worthy is the Lamb that was slaughtered to receive power, wealth, wisdom, might, honor, glory, and blessing.”
Revelation 5:12 NASB – the loud praise of thousands of angels

.. 14 And the four living creatures were saying, “Amen.” And the elders fell down and worshiped.

Come and see!

Last time in Apocalypse 4 – Tribulation begins – The End Revealed, after the LAMB opened the first seal we heard the loud voice of the first creature near to the Throne say, “Come.”

Then we saw a rider with a bow on a white horse.

He went out conquering and in order to conquer.

He shall strike down the wicked from afar
With inescapable arrows from the string of his bow
The Face of the Lion whose wrath did slay them
His enemies will never know
Roger @talk of Jesus {dot}.com

The Second Seal:

War on Earth
- Have you fully fallen in fear and awe before the One on the Throne as the Lamb opened the scroll?
- Did the ἀποκάλυψις
  - ‘disclosure of truth concerning things before unknown’
  - convict your sinful soul as if you were dead before Him?
- Could you face any of the four living creatures ever-vigilant in holiness surrounding the Throne of the One Creator and eternal LORD?
Before we observe the opening of the second seal, returning to The Throne Room of Heaven, let’s look once more upon this scene with the second living creature.

Revelation 4-5 excerpt:

.. And there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne..

.. and in the center and around the throne, four living creatures full of eyes in front and behind..

.. the second living creature was like an ox..

.. Each of the four living creatures had six wings; they were covered with eyes around and inside..

I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne, the living creatures, and the elders..

saying with a loud voice:

“Worthy is the Lamb who was slain
To receive power…

.. Then the four living creatures said, “Amen!”

Revelation 6:

3 When He broke the second seal, I heard the second living creature saying, “Come!”

Notice that the second living creature, which the KJV translates, ‘beast‘ also speaks with authority; for these four are nearest worshipers of the Lord God!

The four living beasts serve the Throne of the LORD — they are His messengers, all similar in power and fearful appearance, and yet different as personalities of man are both alike yet individual. The four horsemen also sent (by the living messengers of the Throne) also differ in appearance as do their horses and the judgments for which each is sent out to all the earth.

4 Another horse, fiery red, went out.

And it was granted to the one who sat on it to take peace from the earth, and that people should kill one another;

and there was given to him a great sword.

From the unsealed judgment read from the scroll, two have gone out

– one with a bow to conquer from afar and now
- a rider who will spill the blood of war by the hand of a mighty rider of the horse red as fire!
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To be continued...
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February 10, 2021
Swords & Sickles
Proclaim this among the nations:
Consecrate for war;
    stir up the mighty men.
Let all the men of war draw near;
    let them come up.

Beat your plowshares into swords,
    and your pruning hooks into spears;
    let the weak say, “I am a warrior.”

Joel 3:9-10

Consecrate them, says the LORD! Yes. It is a holy war – war between the Lord God and those who hold to their sins, following idols, false prophets, foolish sages and lying leaders.

What has been will be and what has never before been seen will blind the eyes of the nations.

Joel 3:

¹³Put in the sickle,
    for the harvest is ripe.

Go in, tread,
    for the winepress is full.
The vats overflow,
    for their evil is great.

¹⁴Multitudes, multitudes,
    in the valley of decision!
For the day of the Lord is near
    in the valley of decision.

Borders and Nations Destroyed

By what proxy have the nations divided Tyre and Sidon to the spoils of nations beyond the valley of destruction?

Have the people not fled for their lives by land and by sea to places where they remain an enemy?

Though you rebuild fallen towers and repair the breach of five-walled fortresses, refugees will yet invade your borderless regions. Their helpless will expose the evil of princes; their plight unveils the nakedness of greed.

Has anything changed? Are these last times so different than the demise of the godless in the days of Joel?

Six centuries later Peter would preach the words of Joel’s prophesy fulfilled by the Holy Spirit speaking through a few Apostles heard by the crowd in many languages. [Acts 2:16-21] The last days have begun, Peter preaches, with the incarnation of Christ Jesus and the Lord’s crucifixion for our sins and His resurrection and ascension to the Throne of the LORD!

It is the Lamb of God who will judge. He was not a sword-wielding conquering King, general or prophet. God’s own compassion for the nations sacrificed the promised king of the jews as full payment for our sins, even the sins of His own enemies.

The Rumblings of Peace

One of the Apostles of Jesus lived to see Jerusalem fall once more under the domination of Rome. John wrote letters of love to the churches of Asia (modern day Turkey). Then as the last living Disciple prophesy came to John.

Rome has since fallen. A false prophet emerged from a cave to conquer the continents. Wars to end all wars. Emperors and dictators and despots have risen with sword and perished in humiliation. Even Israel is replanted after shameful killings of the remnant.

Only the message of the Lamb remains viable – a call to repentance and redemption in the blood of love, rather than the blood of war. Like in times before the falls of the mighty some claim peace, but it is war they invite. It is the Lord who will judge. Hear the Truth of these last days:

Revelation 6:1-8 excerpt
1. And I looked, and behold, a white horse! And its rider had a bow, and a crown was given to him, and he came out conquering, and to conquer.
2. And out came another horse, bright red. Its rider was permitted to take peace from the earth, so that people should slay one another, and he was given a great sword.
3. And I looked, and behold, a black horse! And its rider had a pair of scales in his hand.
4. And I looked, and behold, a pale horse! And its rider’s name was Death, and Hades followed him. And they were given authority over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword and with famine and with pestilence and by wild beasts of the earth.
And they were given authority over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword and with famine and with pestilence and by wild beasts of the earth.

Death Tolls of War
- Current estimate of the population of the earth: 7,404,976,783
  - a fourth of the earth killed = 1,851,244,195
  - 9/11 Death toll = 2,996
  - 2016 Migrant deaths = 4,310 of 243,000+ war refugees
  - Syrian war deaths = c.300,000-400,000
  - Abortion deaths = 40,000,000 – 50,000,000
  - WWII deaths = 50,000,000 – 80,000,000
- The current combined populations of China, Russia and the US = 1,831,278,025
I am not suggesting that these three empires will be those destroyed in the end. The number of souls tormented and killed on the earth will exceed the total number of people living in these three earthly super-powers!

Our sin is rampant! The judgment of evil is inevitable.

The Lamb of God IS and will be, forever, Lord and Savior!

He did not come to the world with a sword of power or a sickle to reap the riches of other lands. No, Christ Jesus came into the world as a Lamb of sacrifice for our sins. He will return on the clouds as John as prophesied.

Revelation 6:

⁹When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the witness they had borne. ¹⁰They cried out with a loud voice,

“O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?”

¹¹Then they were each given a white robe and told to rest a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brothers should be complete, who were to be killed as they themselves had been.
September 11, 2016
The Time Is Near For Our Church – Pergamum
The Revelation of Jesus Christ

John to the seven churches

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; And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth.

“Write what you see in a book and send it to the seven churches, … to Pergamum…

16 In his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength.

“Fear not, I am the first and the last, 18 and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades. 19 Write therefore the things that you have seen, those that are and those that are to take place after this.

20 As for the mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand, and the seven golden lampstands, the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.

Christ, our risen Lord and Savior holds in His right hand the angels of the churches. Christ, our returning Lord and Savior stands in the presence of His golden churches – the believers to be taken-up along with those who have gone before us.

Yet each letter to the churches is specific to a group of believers: praise for faithfulness and call to continued faith. For not all who say, “Lord, lord,” will be taken-up. Not all who say, “Lord, lord,” will stand as a light of witness as a lampstand on His right. For some will be separated to the King’s left and He will say of those who did not glimmer with the light of Jesus, “I never knew you.”

And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal. – Matthew 25:46 KJV

Therefore: The warnings for the seven churches are addressed to the saints of every generation until the last.

You with ears to hear, let the scripture of Revelation speak to your eternal soul.

City of Science … and Satan?

Pergamum

Pergamon’s strategic location along both land and sea trading routes contributed to its prosperity. Pilgrims from all over the Mediterranean region would flock to the city to engage in commerce or to visit the famous Ascelpion, a center of medical treatments.

Perched atop a windswept mountain along the Turkish coastline and gazing proudly—almost defiantly—over the azure Aegean Sea sit the ruins of the ancient Greek city of Pergamon.

The modern visitor approaches the site from the steep and winding road that leads from the modern Turkish city of Bergama just a few miles away. Upon reaching the ruins, the commanding panoramic view from Pergamon’s 1,000-foot-high perch makes it easy to understand how this city once dominated the entire region.

Antipas, a Christian bishop of Pergamum, was believed to have been martyred here at the end of the first century A.D., around the time when many scholars believe the Book of Revelation was composed. The execution of their bishop certainly would not have endeared the city to its Christian inhabitants, and the Biblical reference to the city is reflective of the general tension between Christian and pagan communities at the end of the first century A.D. – 7/16/2013 article excerpt- Sarah Yeomans

Revelation 2:12 “And to the angel of the church in Pergamum write: ‘The words of him who has the sharp two-edged sword.
Mention of this “sword” occurs only once outside of Revelation. It is a very large sword.
1. properly a long Thracian javelin, also a kind of long sword wont to be worn on the right shoulder
Simeon, after having dedicated the baby Jesus said: “For my eyes have seen Your salvation .” – Luke 2:30

Then Simeon turned to Mary and also prophesied: “yes, a sword will pierce through your own soul also…” – Luke 2:35a
13 “‘I know where you dwell, where Satan’s throne is. Yet you hold fast my name, and you did not deny my faith even in the days of Antipas my faithful witness, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells.

Persecution of first century Christians, familiar to us by fictional accounts of actual incidents in Rome, were common throughout the Roman Empire.

The martyrdom could have taken place at this famous pagan temple or in their large amphitheater.

Pergamum or Pergamos is just one city where Christians were persecuted and killed for cruel sport. (Ephesus, as you may recall from Paul’s later letters, is another.)

14 But I have a few things against you: you have some there who hold the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, so that they might eat food sacrificed to idols and practice sexual immorality. 15 So also you have some who hold the teaching of the Nicolaitans. 16 Therefore repent.

John 15:19 [The words of Jesus:]

If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.

Jesus expects the church to be different from the world. We are NOT like the worshipers of idols and unbelievers.

Christ reveals through John “some there who hold the teaching of Balaam.”

Do you recall the donkey speaking to the Prophet to preserve his life from the sword of the angel?

Numbers 22:23 And the ass saw the angel of the LORD standing in the way, and his sword drawn in his hand…

IF a Prophet of God may risk execution for disobedience, surely a Christian in a faithful church may also be warned for standing too close to sin.

Once again the issues are idol worship, sexual immorality, and false teaching.

Has anything changed from these temptations up to this 21st century, dear faithful believer?

Yet, be encouraged that our All-Powerful risen and returning Lord may wield a large sword in your defense against the world, IF you remain faithful.

* In verse 15:
- 1. Notice that the church in Ephesus hated the “deeds” of the Nicolatians (2:6)
- 2. Now in this church in Pergamos, (the infiltrated church), it has become “doctrine” = teachings!
- 3. Ephesus hated their deeds as the Lord hated their deeds. Now Pergamos allows what God hates!
- a) The Lord has always hated when anyone “lords” over His people but Himself!!
Revelation 2:16 Therefore repent. If not, I will come to you soon and war against them with the sword of my mouth.

Repent! But IF NOT, come I to you without delay, indeed to war against the same with the edge of the sword of my mouth. {see concordance}

* Verse 16:

1. Repentance is not mere “I’m sorry!” It must be a change of heart and actions!

2. If we, as the Lord messengers and servants, do not admonish and stand for the truth, HE WILL!!!

* Commentary of John Brown

17 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, with a new name written on the stone that no one knows except the one who receives it.’

* b) A white stone with a new name!

(1) No one knows for sure what this allude to but there used to be a custom of voting for an accused criminal with a black and a white stone.

(2) If the white stones outnumbered, the criminal was set free!

(3) Through our faith in Jesus as Lord as Savior, the white stone has been cast, we have been set free!!

(a) And along with that freedom as slaves to this world, we have been given our FATHER’S name! It will be written in the Lamb’ Book of Life!!!

NEXT: Thyatira
October 3, 2013