I felt as if God said, “Will you write for me?” today.
And I said, “Yes.”
The last time I blogged, it was about our Bible study and the book of Revelation. I have to tell you, we haven’t gotten far. We are blessed to be reading Revelation, but I also think we’re experiencing some fiery darts of the enemy. I’m so glad God always prevails over the schemes of the enemy. God’s in control. The enemy may work against us, but I’ve experienced (Romans 8:28, NASB): “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purposes.”
In (Revelation 1:1, NASB), I noticed for the first time that Jesus “sent and communicated it by His angel to His bond-servant John.”
“It” being the Revelation of Jesus Christ.
In the Old Testament, when the Angel of the Lord came to speak promises to Abraham, the “Angel of the Lord” is believed to be the pre-incarnate Jesus, Yeshua, Messiah.
If it is Jesus’s angel, it might be Gabriel, according to a blogger, Jamin Bradley, whom I’m not familiar with.
Our Bible study ladies’ moved on after we discussed this “angel of the Lord,” when a major distraction took over the rest of the pondering time. A new believer had significant questions and Revelation got put aside.
The second time we met, my daughter brought a birthday cake and gifts for one of the children. They quietly had a party in a corner of the room.
Later, she said, “I so wanted to hear about Revelation, but I was afraid the children would disrupt, so we gave them the toys and the food first.”
If we started over for her, she’d like to go back to the beginning, and we’ve barely finished the first chapter. I don’t think that’s going to happen.
There is a lot of symbolism in Revelation and there are a lot of differing opinions of what the symbols mean. Thankfully, in Chapter One, the seven stars are described as the angels of the seven churches and the seven lampstands are the seven churches, in verse 20.
Some people think the angels represent the pastors of the church. I happen to like the idea of each church having its own angel, a guardian angel.
Have you ever read Revelation, Chapter One? In verses one through three we find Jesus Christ, the Revelator wanting to show John, His bond-servant what will soon take place. Our “soon” and God’s “soon” is not the same, although I think we’re getting closer.
John “testified to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, everything that he saw,” (Revelation 1:2, NASB).
John, in verses 4-8, gives a MESSAGE TO THE SEVEN CHURCHES.
In verses 9-20, we read THE PATMOS VISION. When John saw Jesus, he “fell at His feet like a dead man.”
Jesus comforted him, identified Himself as “the first and the last, and the living One; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades.”
In verse 19 it says. “Therefore write the things which you have seen, and the things which are, and the things which will take place after these things.”
Next week, we intend to study and discuss Chapter 2, which are messages to four of the seven churches.
Let me know if you are studying Revelation. May God bless you and keep you in the palm of His hand.
