11And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne and the beasts and the elders: and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands 12Saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory, and blessing.
In verse 11 there is a huge number of angles circling the throne, thousands of thousands of angels voices with the sound of praise to the Lamb of God, Jesus.
In verse 12 , the chorus contains seven possessions that Christ received was mentioned in the Old Testament as well, see 1 Chronicles 29:10-12 where David was giving thanks to God, all seven were mentioned there as well. The seven possessions mentioned are as follows:
1. Power: All things are possible with Christ, he has and is the power of God, He is able. We see this time and time again through out the new Testament with healing the sick and resurrection of the dead, walking on the water, feeding 5,000, etc.
2. Riches: 2 Cor 8: 9 , "Though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor" Eph 3:8, "8To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ," ESV. The Bible speaks of hundreds of promises to Gods children. Promises of prosperity, salvation, escaping death, heavenly places & rewards,security, healing etc. There has been no promise made that the Risen Christ cannot fulfill. There is no request made by Gods children that cannot be satisfied.
3. Wisdom: Romans 11:33, "33Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God!..."
4. Strength: He is the one who defeated Satan, for us!. There is no situation he cannot manage.
5. Honor: He is the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords, to all honor go to our Risen Christ, our perfect sacrificial Lamb.
6. Glory: Glory belongs to God alone, yet in John 1 :14 it says they beheld his (Christ 's) glory coming from the Father. This is saying the Christ is divine and is worthy of glory.
7. Blessing: Everything Christ posses, he does not just keep, he gives them freely to any of those who ask. We should strive to follow Him and his examples daily, knowing that all we posses comes from Him who gives blessings.
Here is the calling out of praises from the angles to the Lamb of God. Our voices and our praises to Him are what we have to give, we who have nothing can give our thanks to Him who has all and given all for us.
Ironside puts it bluntly, and accurately in his book, Lectures On the Revelation, when he states, " If your ever going to sing up there you will have to start in down here." And he is right!
Blessings on all,
Calabash
Sunday, September 25, 2011
Sunday, September 18, 2011
Revelation 5 : 7 -10
Rev 5:7And he came and took the book out of the right hand of him that sat uponthe throne 8And 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 odors, which are the prayers of saints. 9And 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;10And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth. (KJV)
Yes, once again Christ was (and is) there for us in our time of need. He took the book, He is worthy.
Notice there are harps as the choice of musical instrument. The Psalmist David used a harp to sing praises to the Lord, it is the instrument used to sing praise to the LORD. We need not take this lightly, it is our duty and our privilege to sing praise to Him. With all He is and has done for us, why would you not always have a song of praise on your heart for Him? What an honor it will be to stand before him and sing praise.
There is also bowls of incense present, telling us they are the prayers of the saints. The connection I find here is in the Old Testament Psalms 141:2. "2Let my prayer be set forth before thee as incense; and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice" My personal feeling is our prayers, or having time with our Father is like sweet smelling odors to Him that loves us.
Verse 9 tells us we will sing a new song. This is mentioned before in Pasalm...33:3, 98:1, 40:3 149:1 in addition to Isaiah 42 :9 & 10. The Greek translation for new is, neos, which means new in a point in time, and kainos, which means new for a point in quality. Kainos is new in a way to describe something that has never existed before! This is what we have in Christ Jesus, a new way, a new quality, new strength, new health, new joy!
The new song will say what the Risen Christ has already done for us:
1. " for thou wast slain,". The sacrificial death, for us!
2. "and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood". We were redeemed by Him that was crucified for us.
3. "out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation;". He did it for ALL of us... everybody, everywhere!
4. "made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth."
a. Because of what Christ has done for us we are made kings. Royalty as sons of God through his grace.
b. Because of what Christ has done we are made priests. We can come directly to Him that sits on the throne.
c. And we shall reign....WE WON !! Victory is ours through Christ!
Isn't that worth singing about? Right now, always and forever! We have that victory, that closeness and the royalty already...Right this minute! Get right with God and claim your sonship!
Blessings to all!
Calabash
Yes, once again Christ was (and is) there for us in our time of need. He took the book, He is worthy.
Notice there are harps as the choice of musical instrument. The Psalmist David used a harp to sing praises to the Lord, it is the instrument used to sing praise to the LORD. We need not take this lightly, it is our duty and our privilege to sing praise to Him. With all He is and has done for us, why would you not always have a song of praise on your heart for Him? What an honor it will be to stand before him and sing praise.
There is also bowls of incense present, telling us they are the prayers of the saints. The connection I find here is in the Old Testament Psalms 141:2. "2Let my prayer be set forth before thee as incense; and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice" My personal feeling is our prayers, or having time with our Father is like sweet smelling odors to Him that loves us.
Verse 9 tells us we will sing a new song. This is mentioned before in Pasalm...33:3, 98:1, 40:3 149:1 in addition to Isaiah 42 :9 & 10. The Greek translation for new is, neos, which means new in a point in time, and kainos, which means new for a point in quality. Kainos is new in a way to describe something that has never existed before! This is what we have in Christ Jesus, a new way, a new quality, new strength, new health, new joy!
The new song will say what the Risen Christ has already done for us:
1. " for thou wast slain,". The sacrificial death, for us!
2. "and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood". We were redeemed by Him that was crucified for us.
3. "out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation;". He did it for ALL of us... everybody, everywhere!
4. "made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth."
a. Because of what Christ has done for us we are made kings. Royalty as sons of God through his grace.
b. Because of what Christ has done we are made priests. We can come directly to Him that sits on the throne.
c. And we shall reign....WE WON !! Victory is ours through Christ!
Isn't that worth singing about? Right now, always and forever! We have that victory, that closeness and the royalty already...Right this minute! Get right with God and claim your sonship!
Blessings to all!
Calabash
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Revelation 5:5 & 6
Rev 5:5 And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof.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.
Last blog left with no one on Earth being worthy to hear from God, no one worthy to open the scroll. John was weeping. Verse 5 starts with an elder speaking telling John not to weep.
Have you noticed it is mentioned frequently in the Bible that humans are weeping? It seems to me that our grief stems from a general lack of knowledge (which we can have through Christ and prayer- 1 Cor 1:5 ) and our lack of patience with God to see what he has for us. We are so quick to turn to the "poor me" or the "What am I gonna do now!" and start weeping, without considering what God has in store for us.
The elder tells us that he has found someone worthy to open the scroll and receive the message. It is our Risen Christ! He is mentioned here as:
1. The Lion of Tribe of Judah:
a. Look At Gen. 49:9 where Jacob is giving the final blessings to his sons. He calls Judah, "a lion's whelp: from the prey, my son,..." A whelp is a young offspring. Isn't it just that the greatest member of tribe would be called "The Lion"?
2. The Root of David:
a. Here we return to the lineage of Christ. See Isa 11:1 and 10. Father of David was Jesse, leading to the son of David being Christ, prophecy fulfilled, the promised Messiah.
3. The Lamb
a. Christ is referred to as "the Lamb" 29 times in Revelation alone. Greek-arnion
b. 1 John 1: 29 & 36 ; 1 Peter 1 :19 ; Isa 53:7 ; all mention our Christ as lamb. Greek-amnos
c. The difference is a new concept which is being conveyed to us in Revelation. Both words mean lamb, just in a different concept. John wants us to see Christ in Revelation in a new and different concept.
Verse 6 describes more to us:
1. That the Lamb has been slain. This is in reference to the marks Christ bears from his sacrifice on the Cross.
2. That He bears 7 horns. Seven is considered perfection. In the Old Testament, horns stood for power and honor.
3. Has 7 eyes. Again, 7 for perfection. The eyes we read of in Zach 4:10 (the prophet sees 7 lamps that are the eyes of the Lord) are the 7 spirits which Christ has sent out throughout the Earth. The eyes clearly defining the omniscience (all knowing, having infinite awareness)of Christ
The picture we have here is on of total perfection while still being the ultimate sacrifice for men. Total power and omniscience and still displaying the tragedy of the deed willingly done for man's salvation.
He is the only one worthy of such a task as to open the seals.
Blessings to all,
Calabash
Last blog left with no one on Earth being worthy to hear from God, no one worthy to open the scroll. John was weeping. Verse 5 starts with an elder speaking telling John not to weep.
Have you noticed it is mentioned frequently in the Bible that humans are weeping? It seems to me that our grief stems from a general lack of knowledge (which we can have through Christ and prayer- 1 Cor 1:5 ) and our lack of patience with God to see what he has for us. We are so quick to turn to the "poor me" or the "What am I gonna do now!" and start weeping, without considering what God has in store for us.
The elder tells us that he has found someone worthy to open the scroll and receive the message. It is our Risen Christ! He is mentioned here as:
1. The Lion of Tribe of Judah:
a. Look At Gen. 49:9 where Jacob is giving the final blessings to his sons. He calls Judah, "a lion's whelp: from the prey, my son,..." A whelp is a young offspring. Isn't it just that the greatest member of tribe would be called "The Lion"?
2. The Root of David:
a. Here we return to the lineage of Christ. See Isa 11:1 and 10. Father of David was Jesse, leading to the son of David being Christ, prophecy fulfilled, the promised Messiah.
3. The Lamb
a. Christ is referred to as "the Lamb" 29 times in Revelation alone. Greek-arnion
b. 1 John 1: 29 & 36 ; 1 Peter 1 :19 ; Isa 53:7 ; all mention our Christ as lamb. Greek-amnos
c. The difference is a new concept which is being conveyed to us in Revelation. Both words mean lamb, just in a different concept. John wants us to see Christ in Revelation in a new and different concept.
Verse 6 describes more to us:
1. That the Lamb has been slain. This is in reference to the marks Christ bears from his sacrifice on the Cross.
2. That He bears 7 horns. Seven is considered perfection. In the Old Testament, horns stood for power and honor.
3. Has 7 eyes. Again, 7 for perfection. The eyes we read of in Zach 4:10 (the prophet sees 7 lamps that are the eyes of the Lord) are the 7 spirits which Christ has sent out throughout the Earth. The eyes clearly defining the omniscience (all knowing, having infinite awareness)of Christ
The picture we have here is on of total perfection while still being the ultimate sacrifice for men. Total power and omniscience and still displaying the tragedy of the deed willingly done for man's salvation.
He is the only one worthy of such a task as to open the seals.
Blessings to all,
Calabash
Sunday, September 11, 2011
Revelation 5:1-4
Rev 5:1And 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.2And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, Who is worthy to open the book, and to loose the seals thereof?3 And no man in heaven, nor in earth, neither under the earth, was able to open the book, neither to look thereon.4And I wept much, because no man was found worthy to open and to read the book, neither to look thereon. (KJV)
The vision of Ezekiel needs to be mentioned here due to the similarity of the visions with John. Eze 2:9 &10 where Ezekiel is telling of his vision. " 9And when I looked, behold, a hand was stretched out to me, and behold, a scroll of a book was in it 10And he spread it before me. And it had writing on the front and on the back, and there were written on it words of lamentation and mourning and woe. ' (ESV) This is the same vision. Please note, it is NEVER up to us to use our imagination on these writings from John, every symbol used is explained or referenced to somewhere else in the Bible!
Now the "book" is a scroll used in those times. A scroll, typically was in a rolled up form, not in a current "page" form as seen now. The roll was made of papyrus of single sheets about 8x10 inchs. These sheets were then joined together horizontally depending on the amount of writing being done. There was a wooden roller at each end, held in the left hand, unrolled by the right. The scroll would be rolled up by the left hand and unrolled downward as the reading continued. To get an idea of the size of the scroll, the book of Revelation would occupy a roll needing to be 15 ft long.
This scroll in the hand of God mentioned in revelation:
1. Was written on the front and the back. Not usual unless much had to be said because it was easier to write on the side where the lines ran with the direction the words were written. The oppsite side was much more difficult to write on and thus to read.
2. It was sealed, with seven seals:
a. When the person was done writing, there were threads coming together that knotted around
document, then sealed at the knot. This was common practice for a will to be sealed seven
times, one for each witness. Then, the will could only be opened when the seven, or their
representatives were present.
b. The seven seals could also just represent the secrecy needed and to be sure that the
correct person was opening the scroll.
Moving on we hear a challenge being given from a strong angel. "Who is the rightful heir to open this? Who is worthy of this task?" This is the record of what will happen in the end times. The Jews have a similar record in the Book of Enoch. We need to be very careful here and remember this is vision and poetry, it is Gods plan. For us to take it literally would be for us to assume that everything was settled long ago. We must take God at his word and know we have free will and a choice to be in God's purpose and to know that God's will be worked out in the end.
Back to the challenge from the angel. We find that no one stepped forward and John wept bitterly. Why? Check out Amos 3:7, "7For the Lord God does nothing without revealing his secret to his servants the prophets."(ESV) If God does nothing without revealing it first.... where is the person who is fit to receive His word and knowledge? That is right, we are in a world where NO one is fit to receive it! This is why John is weeping. We have gotten so far from God that no one was found worthy.
Are you fit to receive a message from God, do you talk with Him daily, are you in His word, do you pray for His people? Get your relationship right with Him now, time is running out.
I am here for you as well as many people in God's kingdom, just pray and he will send someone, reach out, raise your hands and reach up!
Blessing on all,
Calabash
The vision of Ezekiel needs to be mentioned here due to the similarity of the visions with John. Eze 2:9 &10 where Ezekiel is telling of his vision. " 9And when I looked, behold, a hand was stretched out to me, and behold, a scroll of a book was in it 10And he spread it before me. And it had writing on the front and on the back, and there were written on it words of lamentation and mourning and woe. ' (ESV) This is the same vision. Please note, it is NEVER up to us to use our imagination on these writings from John, every symbol used is explained or referenced to somewhere else in the Bible!
Now the "book" is a scroll used in those times. A scroll, typically was in a rolled up form, not in a current "page" form as seen now. The roll was made of papyrus of single sheets about 8x10 inchs. These sheets were then joined together horizontally depending on the amount of writing being done. There was a wooden roller at each end, held in the left hand, unrolled by the right. The scroll would be rolled up by the left hand and unrolled downward as the reading continued. To get an idea of the size of the scroll, the book of Revelation would occupy a roll needing to be 15 ft long.
This scroll in the hand of God mentioned in revelation:
1. Was written on the front and the back. Not usual unless much had to be said because it was easier to write on the side where the lines ran with the direction the words were written. The oppsite side was much more difficult to write on and thus to read.
2. It was sealed, with seven seals:
a. When the person was done writing, there were threads coming together that knotted around
document, then sealed at the knot. This was common practice for a will to be sealed seven
times, one for each witness. Then, the will could only be opened when the seven, or their
representatives were present.
b. The seven seals could also just represent the secrecy needed and to be sure that the
correct person was opening the scroll.
Moving on we hear a challenge being given from a strong angel. "Who is the rightful heir to open this? Who is worthy of this task?" This is the record of what will happen in the end times. The Jews have a similar record in the Book of Enoch. We need to be very careful here and remember this is vision and poetry, it is Gods plan. For us to take it literally would be for us to assume that everything was settled long ago. We must take God at his word and know we have free will and a choice to be in God's purpose and to know that God's will be worked out in the end.
Back to the challenge from the angel. We find that no one stepped forward and John wept bitterly. Why? Check out Amos 3:7, "7For the Lord God does nothing without revealing his secret to his servants the prophets."(ESV) If God does nothing without revealing it first.... where is the person who is fit to receive His word and knowledge? That is right, we are in a world where NO one is fit to receive it! This is why John is weeping. We have gotten so far from God that no one was found worthy.
Are you fit to receive a message from God, do you talk with Him daily, are you in His word, do you pray for His people? Get your relationship right with Him now, time is running out.
I am here for you as well as many people in God's kingdom, just pray and he will send someone, reach out, raise your hands and reach up!
Blessing on all,
Calabash
Monday, September 5, 2011
Revelation 4: 9-11
Rev 4:9And when those beasts give glory and honor and thanks to him that saton the throne, who liveth forever and ever,10The four and twenty elders fall down before him that sat on the throne, and worship him that liveth forever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying,11Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.
We start verse 9 with praise again...glorious praise to the One who created us, and ALL living things. We saw in the last blog that the beast stands for all nature. Therefore, all nature and the twenty four elders together make the united Church in Christ! What a glorious picture.
The elders fall and lay prostrate to the great Creator and cast their crowns before Him. The casting of crowns is significant here in that when a emperor or king was defeated, he cast his crown at the feet of the new leader. It is a sign of total submission, which we who are in Christ are called to be, total submission to Christ.
There is another significant truth in verse 11 when the praise is, "1Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power", is used. The translation may also read, "Lord and God", either way, recall a past blog writings of Domitian, the roman Emperor. This man wanted the title kurios kai theos...Lord and God, when anyone refused to address him as this, they were persecuted and killed. This was a confession of a true faith of that time to call only God by that title. To use it here true triumph.
The term God is Creator is being factual, only God can create something out of nothing. In the true sense, He that created everything owns everything, anything a man can handle has been given to him through God!
This finishes up chapter 4.
Blessings on all,
Calabash
We start verse 9 with praise again...glorious praise to the One who created us, and ALL living things. We saw in the last blog that the beast stands for all nature. Therefore, all nature and the twenty four elders together make the united Church in Christ! What a glorious picture.
The elders fall and lay prostrate to the great Creator and cast their crowns before Him. The casting of crowns is significant here in that when a emperor or king was defeated, he cast his crown at the feet of the new leader. It is a sign of total submission, which we who are in Christ are called to be, total submission to Christ.
There is another significant truth in verse 11 when the praise is, "1Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power", is used. The translation may also read, "Lord and God", either way, recall a past blog writings of Domitian, the roman Emperor. This man wanted the title kurios kai theos...Lord and God, when anyone refused to address him as this, they were persecuted and killed. This was a confession of a true faith of that time to call only God by that title. To use it here true triumph.
The term God is Creator is being factual, only God can create something out of nothing. In the true sense, He that created everything owns everything, anything a man can handle has been given to him through God!
This finishes up chapter 4.
Blessings on all,
Calabash
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