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Revelation 1
Jesus Christ, the Tabernacle and the Creation
(Revelation
Chapter 1)
The Return
of the King
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Motto: " An inscription was also written
over him in letters of Greek, Latin, and Hebrew: “THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.”
Luke
23:38 |
Lord Jesus Christ said:” Search the Scriptures; for in them ye think ye
have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.”
(John 5:39). The whole the
Scripture from the Book of Genesis to the Book of Apocalypse is a graceful revelation God’s
Son’s divine character, He who is our Savior. All the explanations
from the Book of Apocalypse, which we will follow further on,
will confirm the aforementioned.
Before
starting this study, there are two explanatory notes to make. The first one refers to our
topic being of a spiritual kind and that is why it should be
judged and understood as such (See 1Corinthians
2:13-14); and the second one is a note regarding the way we
can see and comprehend the Revelation.
A
suggestive expression exists in English that goes like: Did you get the picture
or can you see the picture?“
I think divine wisdom expresses the same thought in as far as understanding the
Revelation is concerned. What do
you picture when you read the book? Can you see the image, the picture that John
the prophet described.”
The
Old Testament Sanctuary has played a major role that lasted for over 1500 years.
This temple
represented someone; this someone being the one whom all the ceremonies and
services in the temple depicted. This someone is Jesus Christ through him and
for him were these services representing.
(See John 2:19;
Hebrews 10:20; Isaiah 53; etc)
While studying the first chapter of the Revelation Book, God’s Spirit will
lead us to seeing the tight connections between Jesus Christ’s
glorious vision, the plan of The Old Testament’s Jewish Sanctuary and the 7 days of
Creation from Genesis.
“Further
on, let us find out what this connection consists of? The starting point will be
with our Lord Jesus’ image, the one described by John at the
beginning of his book. …Jesus Christ is
being seen as:
-wearing a long robe
-wearing a golden belt around his chest
-having his head and his hair as white as snow, white like
wool
-having eyes like fire
-having feet like bronze glowing in a furnace
-a voice like rushing waters
-a sharp double-edged sword coming out of his mouth
-his face shining as the Sun itself
-in
His right hand there are the seven Stars, so in his left hand there are the keys of Hades.
Lord Jesus’ statement from John 2:19 “Destroy this temple,
and I will raise it again in three days” and the verses from Hebrew 10:19-20 and
this glorious spiritual image has inspired me to overlap the vision to the plan of the OT
Sanctuary. The result is that the Lord Jesus crucified facing us
and holding in his right hand The Menorah or the Candlestick – the 7 Stars, the 7 Angels of the 7 NT churches; in the middle, there is His face shining
as the Sun (See Rev.1:16)- the
golden altar for incensing, and his feet reach to the bronze
altar for burnt offerings. In Lord’s left hand, there is the Table with the loaves of
bread to be put in the front for the priests and the keys of Hades. The
objects on his chest are all of gold. We also can find this
glorious image of the Lord in the following: Daniel 10:5-6; Ezekiel 8:2; Zechariah 4; Mathew 17:2;…
How important this revelation of Jesus Christ as the God’s
Temple
on Earth is. God didn’t want to leave us when we sinned, so in order that His presence not to mean death for us the sinners, (Exodus 33:20; Judges
13:22) He gave His own Son, Jesus- Emmanuel (Mat. 1:23) to be a
Holly Temple for us and in this way He can be with us further on. (Exodus 25:8)
Going on, Jesus affirmation is to be noticed: ”I am
Alpha and Omega, the First and the Last.” These words, which are repeated in the beginning of the Book of Revelation, made me realize that
Lord Jesus Christ is “The Word that became flesh “ (John 1:1-14), He is the beginning of
the Bible, Alpha the Book of Genesis and also, the end of the Bible, Omega -the Book
of Revelation. The whole Scripture confesses about Him, all the things
were made and stand through Him and for Him. The Apocalypse
is
in this context, the last and the supreme discovery of the salvation plan and it has the
Son of God in its very center. If in Genesis, the way to the
“tree
of life” has been closed, in Apocalypse it is opened through Lord Jesus.
The aforementioned reasons, Prophet John’s statement from Rev 1:10 (“On the Lord’s Day I
was in the Spirit”), the order in which the prophetic scenes are
being described in the Book of Revelation, and the verses of Col. 1:16-17 and John 1:3-4 led me to the first book of the Bible and to the 7 days of Creation. All of these,
as I have noticed, having a special place in that picture of the
Lord and the Old Testament Sanctuary plan.
1. The first day – The Light It is situate in the
Holy Place
in the front of the golden altar for burn incense, behind the veil
that separate the two chambers of the Sanctuary and in front of the
covenant ark or heavenly throne. This veil was torn at the dead
of Jesus on the Cross, opened through Jesus an enter into the presence of God. (Mark 15:38). This place gives
spiritual enlightenment to every single human being of this world. (John 1:9)”I am the Light of the
world “said Jesus.
2. The second Day
– The Sky (Genesis 1:6-8) -
is the space between the
Holly Place
and the
Bronze
Basin
, the separation between the water under and
the water above. This is the Earth’s atmosphere- “the first heaven”. (See 2 Corinthians 12:2)
3. The third Day- The Land (Genesis 1:9-13) - it appears among
waters, vegetation and trees. This day’s place is the same as the
Bronze Altar and the burnt offerings’ one. This altar is the Earth “His footstool” (Isaiah 66:1). This is the place
where Lord Jesus has been brought like a Lamb to be sacrificed.
This altar symbolizes the repentance. (See Romans 12:1)
4. The fourth Day- The greater Light - the Sun that governs the Day,
the Lesser Light – the Moon that governs the Night; and the stars (Genesis 1:14-19). This is the second
heaven. On this fourth day, we are in the Holly
Place, which is the first room of the Temple. The Sun is in the
middle-the golden altar for burn incensing, is placed in the front of the Lord, at the
same height as His face is. The stars-the golden candlestick, placed at
the Lord’s right-hand side represent the Angels of the 7 churches.
(See Rev 1:20)The Moon is on the
Lord’s left - hand side in the same place where the breads of Presence (they are to
be put in the front of the priests) are. Jesus Christ is the Sun of our
redemption, and He is our mediator. He is the bread of life,
too. Genesis 1:14 is
a very important verse that we will return to when we will study the prophetic pictures of
Daniel’s Book. The basin for the priests washing, the basin
standing as a symbol for the sea. The New Testament’s symbol is the baptism.
6. The sixth Day- the creatures moving on the ground
and the Man (Genesis 1:24-31)-
this day is placed in the front of the bronze altar for the
burnt offerings at the entrance of the
Temple
’s yard. This position at the entrance of the Temple
suggests the freedom of choice that God
created the man with.
7. The seventh
Day- God rested and blessed the seventh day (Genesis 2:1-3). This day’s place
is in the
Most Holly Place
, where the presence of God is obvious, on
the top of the golden ark, at the merciful throne. At this place there is peace and
rest for people, here is the Holy Spirit. (See Hebrew 4:10-11) In this place was
John when he had seen the Revelation, the Book of Apocalypse. He
was in the Spirit in the seventh day, in the Lord’s Day (Mark 2:28). This place is also the
third Heaven, where Paul was caught up. (2Corinthians 12:2)
By these three overlapped images, we have now a cosmic
perspective of the Old
Testament
Temple
and of the salvation plan. In the
center of it, there is Jesus Christ as a Holly Temple, and the faithful ones as priests
serving in Him and dwelling with Him and in Him. (See Acts 17:28; Rev 1:6; 1Peter 2:9) In this plan, there is
the Temple yard/the Bronze Altar for burnt offerings which is
the Earth and represents the repentance, it is the place where we can bring our bodies as
pleasant, spiritual, living offerings to God. (Rom. 12:1)
The Bronze
Basin
for the priests’ cleaning is the Sea and from the spiritual point of
view represents the baptism or the cleaning before entering the
Temple. The Lamp stand or Menorah, which has to light every day, represents the seven Angels/stars that have been given the New Testament
(Rev 1:20; 2:1…).
The table with the bread of Presence
symbolizes the Old Testament, it is the bread for the faithful priests in the Temple. The Altar for burn
Incense lies on the place of Sun and it stands for Jesus Christ,
the Sun of our righteousness, who, by His sacrifice, opened the way to the Most Holly Place
to God’s Throne. By the incense of prayer together with the merits
of Lord Jesus’ sacrifice, this Altar of Incense is a “Stargate”
to
Paradise
for us.
In this
amazing plan, the crucified Lord Jesus Christ is the “corner stone” making the
connection between the Heaven and the Earth.
-by His sacrifice, He opened the way to God’s Throne (Heb. 10:19-22)
-He is the only mediator between God and men: The Man
Jesus Christ (1Tim.2:5)
-He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life; nobody can come
to The Father but through Him (John
14:6)
-He is the vine, we are the
branches, and separated from Him we cannot do anything (John 15:5; Isaiah 5:1-2)
-He is the door for the sheep and the good Shepherd who
gives His life for the sheep (John
10:7)
-Jesus Christ is the mysterious
ladder that Jacob saw at Betel, on which God’s angels were ascending and descending
bringing light and cure in our World (Genesis 28:12-13 and John 1:51)
Only Lord Jesus’ divine attributes make possible the existence of this “living
way” for our salvation. Jesus Christ is the true God. A simple
man, a created being could not have made the bridge over the sin created abyss between Man
and God, between Heaven and Earth. Due to His divine attributes,
Jesus is present with us here, and due to His human attributes, He is our representative and He pleads for us before God as a slaughtered Lamb. May
the glory be of the Highest One for this wonderful and perfect
plan!
The connection between the Lord
Jesus’ vision from Revelation 1, the Old Testament Sanctuary and the seven days of the
Creation, is the premises that we start from to understand the
prophetic books of Daniel and Revelation. These grate's truths are
found in the scroll that The Father holds in His right hand (Rev 5:1-13). Jesus Christ only
has been found worthy to open this Book of our salvation and the
entranceway to the Most Holly Place
when He gave His life for us, on the Cross at Golgotha
. Give all the praise and glory to His Name!
Test
question:
Were are you living now? Are you in or are you out? Are you a
star in the master’s hand bringing light and life in this World or are you a “black hole”
bringing dark and death around? Now is the moment for you to have a decision. There is no neutrality in this matter.
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