We are now into the second lesson study on Preparation for the End Time.

The link to the studies for this second quarter is:

http://www.ssnet.org/lessons/18b/

The link to this week's study on Daniel and the End Time is:

http://www.ssnet.org/lessons/18b/less02.html

The link to this week's study on Daniel and the End Time is:

http://www.ssnet.org/lessons/18b/less03.html

The lesson study title is "Jesus and the Book of Revelation"

Tuesday's lesson is about the sanctuary motif in the book; but goes further by proposing there was an inauguration of the Christ in the heavenly sanctuary, for which it offers VERY lame evidence in a single sentence.

"Soon after His ascension, Christ was inaugurated in the Holy Place of the heavenly temple, through this first open door. When Christ first appears in the book of Revelation, He is standing before the lamp-stands of the first apartment in the heavenly sanctuary."

ON THE CONTRARY:

1. Christ said the lamp-stands were symbolic of the church on earth
2. Christ among the lamp-stands therefore does NOT reveal a Christ ministering in a heavenly sanctuary after a supposed inauguration.

Rather, the entire vision:

1. of Him, His exceedingly bright Divine glory,
2. the trumpet sound of His voice,
3. the sword out of His mouth "with which to strike the nations" (Rev. 19:15),
4. the lamp-stands below the bright light of the angels, and
5. John's response (falling as though dead)

... meant that this was the vision equivalent of the statement in Rev. 1:7-8, "Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him, even they who pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him. Even so, Amen. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, says the Lord, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty."

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He was coming against the world and the church IN JUDGMENT. Besides, He repeatedly said so Himself throughout the seven messages that are integral to understanding this first symbolic appearance in the book.

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I don't know if you are familiar with Adam Clarke's Bible Commentary, but this is what he has to say about Revelation 1:12 and 13.

And I turned For he had heard the voice behind him. To see the voice; i.e., the person from whom the voice came.

Seven golden candlesticks - Ἑπτα λυχνιας χρυσας· Seven golden lamps. It is absurd to say, a golden silver, or brazen candlestick. These seven lamps represented the seven Churches, in which the light of God was continually shining, and the love of God continually burning. And they are here represented as golden, to show how precious they were in the sight of God. This is a reference to the temple at Jerusalem, where there was a candlestick or chandelier of seven branches; or rather six branches; three springing out on either side, and one in the center. See Exo_25:31-37. This reference to the temple seems to intimate that the temple of Jerusalem was a type of the whole Christian Church.

Like unto the Son of man - This seems a reference to Dan_7:13. This was our blessed Lord himself, Rev_1:18.

Clothed with a garment down to the foot - This is a description of the high priest, in his sacerdotal robes. See these described at large in the notes on Exodus 28:4, etc., Jesus is our high priest, even in heaven. He is still discharging the sacerdotal functions before the throne of God.

Golden girdle - The emblem both of regal and sacerdotal dignity.

Yes, Tuesday's lesson is about the sanctuary motif in the book of Revelation. The problem was, it only had a few short paragraphs on a vast subject, thus could hardly do justice to this truth that is the bases of the whole book of Revelation.

The sentence:
"When Christ first appears in the book of Revelation, He is standing before the lamp-stands of the first apartment in the heavenly sanctuary."

You are right --
the lampstands in chapter one symbolize the churches.
Each of the seven churches is given a message, and there is a warning that their lampstand would be removed if they didn't repent, and also promises to those who "overcome by the blood of the Lamb". (promises to overcomers compared with Rev. 12:11)

But remember Christ is the light of the world. The churches have no light of their own. Their light comes only when they are in connection with Christ. They need "oil" which represents the Holy Spirit, in order to "shine".

IN CHAPTER ONE

Christ is seen dressed in priestly garments:
A robe reaching to the feet and a sash were both prescribed for priests in the Mosaic tabernacle (see Lev. 16:3, Exodus 28:4, 29:5) In the earthly sanctuary, one of the Priest's duties was to keep the lamps burning.

Also, in chapter one, John sees Christ in His glorified body. This is not yet the second coming, but, as you noted in His characteristics, it is the same Christ who will come the second time.
However, first He reveals what would commence in the intervening years and the work of saving as many people as possible, for the dragon would fight fiercely to maintain control of this world.

THE INAUGURATION

This is revealed in chapters 4 and 5.

1.There we see God on His throne.

2.There are twenty four elders.
Matt. 27:52-53 tells us certain godly people were resurrected with Jesus at His resurrection. These ascended with Him to heaven, as trophies of His victory over death and the grave.

3. We see a sealed book that can't be opened.
This is a case for weeping and much consternation.
But ONE is worthy to take that book!
It is his life, death and resurrection that makes Him worthy.

The 24 elders testify of this:
"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 "

4. In chapter four we also see seven lamp stands -- these are not the same as the candlesticks in chapter one. Scripture says they are the "seven spirits". Scripture also says there is only one Spirit, so why seven? They represent the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the seven churches!

1. I never read Adam Clarke but his interpretation of that first vision using the Torah as a guide was not wise. The garments worn by the Son of Man in the vision were not symbolic of Christ ministering to the Church as High Priest, but about Him coming in judgment against it and the world in which it was. Because the seven angels bearing the responsibility of pouring out the seven last plagues were dressed the same way: "And out of the temple came the seven angels having the seven plagues, clothed in pure bright linen, and having their chests girded with golden bands." (Rev. 15:6)
    
2. His interpretation of gold is not right either. He said, "And they are here represented as golden, to show how precious they were in the sight of God." Well, not only were the lamp-stands, representing the church, gold -- but also the bowls of the wrath of God without mercy. In what way does a golden bowl of merciless wrath "show how precious that wrath is"?
    
   Rather, the gold and the white colors indicate that the objects are heavenly or were heavenly. We know this because, at the end, when the Bride was ready, "to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints." (Rev. 19:8) And the New Jerusalem "was pure gold, like clear glass." (21:18)
    
3. If Jesus Christ said that the menorah seen on earth was symbolic of the church and the angel speaking to John told him the menorah seen in heaven was symbolic of "the seven spirits of God", then we know that the menorahs John was seeing were not LITERAL references to REAL objects but symbols of ideas being conveyed in vision: namely, the Church and the Holy Spirit.
    
   No one argues that Jesus Christ has morphed into a LITERAL Lamb with seven horns and eyes, do they? "And I looked, and behold, in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as though it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent out into all the earth."

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The vision was not about sacerdotal ministry, but the coming judgment:

1. The voice like a trumpet
2. The sword out of His mouth
3. His Eyes like flames of fire

The Son of Man was dressed IN THE EXACT SAME MANNER as the angels of the last plagues: "Out of the temple came the seven angels having the seven plagues, clothed in pure bright linen, and having their chests girded with golden bands." Rev. 15:6

Compare theirs to His garments: "In the midst of the seven lamp-stands One like the Son of Man, clothed with a garment down to the feet and girded about the chest with a golden band." Rev. 1:13

The garments were NOT sacerdotal but were visual clues that those so clothed were heavenly beings making their appearance in judgment. All these elements are brought together in dramatic fashion towards the end of the Book (Rev. 19:11-16):

"Now I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And He who sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war.

1. His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns. He had a name written that no one knew except Himself.
2. He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God.
3. And the armies in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, followed Him on white horses.
4. Now out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it He should strike the nations. And He Himself will rule them with a rod of iron.
5. He Himself treads the wine-press of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And He has on His robe and on His thigh a name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS."

The first vision of Revelation is about God making known to His people the things that were soon coming against the earth and its inhabitants.

Amos 3:1-8

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If I remember correctly -- you, James follow a preterits' type of interpretation of these prophecies. Not sure what line of preterism you adhere to, or whether you just partially or fully follow that interpretation. Just trying to understand where you are coming from.

For awhile it didn't make sense how you could see Rev. 1 as actually being "Christ's second coming" until I remembered preterits' tend to believe Revelation was fulfilled back in the 1st century. That understanding has a very different idea of Christ’s second coming, and sees the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70 as “Judgment Day”, the fulfillment of the prophecies.

My major concern right now --

THIS THREAD IS TO STUDY THE LESSON from week to week, the subject being-- preparing for the end time, believing that Jesus will literally come in the near future. It is not a thread on the interpretations of Revelation, except as it pertains to our preparation for the future.

Revelation is not just about the judgment but also about JESUS and His work of preparing us for life eternal and enabling us to stand in that day.

The white robe is symbolic of purity -- white robes are also given to the saints, (see Rev. 6:11 and 7:9) who will reign with Jesus as priests and kings.

And the sword from the mouth -- is the word of God: (Ephesians 6:17) For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword (Heb. 4:12)
God's word is able to penetrate to the heart and convict a person. That is why you find those hearing Peter's message responding, "Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart" (Acts 2:37).

Will that "sword" convict and change us now, preparing us for the end time, or will that "sword" overwhelm us at the second coming with guilt because we neglected so great a salvation, and we are not saved?

A resort to "slapping on labels" is tacit admission that you are unable to respond. You become like the Jews who answered and said to Jesus, "Do we not say rightly that You are a Samaritan and have a demon?" You can read the exchange between them in John 8:12-59. To a Jew, what does the "Samaritan" label imply?



How can you advise anyone how to prepare for the future without offering them your interpretation of Revelation? The contents of this quarter's lesson proves such an attempt nearly impossible, drawing substantially from the book as it does:

• The Cosmic Controversy • Mar 31 - Apr 6
• Daniel and the End Time • April 7 - 13
• Jesus and the Book of Revelation • Apr 14 - 20
• Salvation and the End Time • April 21 - 27
• Christ in the Heavenly Sanctuary • Apr 28
• The "Change" of the Law • May 5 - 11
• Matthew 24, 25 • May 12 - 18
• Worship the Creator • May 19 - 25
• End-Time Deceptions • May 26 - June 1
• America and Babylon • June 2 - 8
• God's Seal or the Beast's Mark? • June 9 - 15
• Babylon and Armageddon • June 16 - 22
• The Return of our Lord Jesus • June 23 - 29

Besides, at the end, Jesus Christ even said, "Behold, I am coming quickly! Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book." Rev. 22:7


Within the context of Revelation:

1. The gifts of white robes to many at once is symbolic of their new, heavenly and eternal life; and of an event that implies judgment against the world. Rev. 19:6-8
    
2. The "sword from the mouth" is not about conviction in the conventional sense of the word but about the Divine word of executive judgment. The very mouth that gives life, pronounces death. Rev. 19:15

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