Revelation 1:4-7

[Ahwatukee]

John,To the seven churches in the province of Asia:Grace and peace to you from him who is, and who was, and who is to come, and from the seven spirits before his throne, and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth.

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The proclamation "who is, and who was, and who is to come" refers to God's eternal state. This same proclamation can be found in the following scriptures within Revelation:

"I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.” - Rev.1:8

"Each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around, even under its wings. Day and night they never stop saying: "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty' who was, and is, and is to come." - Rev.4:8

"We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty, the One who is and who was, because you have taken your great power and have begun to reign." - Rev.11:17

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"Grace and peace from the seven fold spirit before his throne" - Rev.1:4

The seven spirits or the seven fold spirit, are also made reference to in the following scriptures:

"These are the words of him who holds the seven spirits of God and the seven stars." - Rev.3:1

"In front of the throne, seven lamps were blazing. These are the seven spirits of God." - Rev.4:5

"The Lamb had seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth." - Rev.5:6

Since the seven spirits are not specifically identified, it is not possible to be dogmatic as to their identity. A popular belief is that the seven fold spirit is symbolic representing the Holy spirit. What we do know is that:

* Jesus holds the seven spirits in his hand
* They are symbolically represented by seven lamps
* They are symbolically represented by the Lambs seven
horns and seven eyes
* They are sent out into all the earth

"To Him who loves us and has released us from our sins by His blood"

Luo: to loose one bound, i. e. to unbind, release from bonds, set free. to release one bound by the chains of sin.

This of course speaks of our salvation that is in Christ by trusting in Him completely as the One who provided salvation for us fully through the shedding of His blood in payment for our sins. For scripture states that "the wages of sin is death" and "unless there is a shedding of blood there is no forgiveness for sins.

"who has made us to be a kingdom, priests to His God and Father—to Him be the glory and power forever and ever! Amen."

Our being made to be a kingdom and priests to God is also mentioned in Rev.5:10:

"You have made them into a kingdom, priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth.”

That believers will reign on the earth as a kingdom and priests, is referring to our positions during the millennial period in our immortal and glorified bodies, which begins after God's wrath has been poured out and Christ returns to the earth to end the age. Being priests of God and reigning with Christ on earth during the millennial period, is also spoken of regarding the great tribulation saints, who are resurrected after Christ returns to the earth to end the age, which we will cover later.

"Behold, He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him—even those who pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him. So shall it be! Amen."

Here, John is seeing a vision of the second coming of Christ, i.e His return to the earth to end the age and establish his millennial kingdom, which is synonymous with Matt.24:30-31 and the Lord's return to the earth to end the age, as described in Rev.19:11-21. Compare Matt.24:30 with Rev.1:7:

* The inhabitants of the earth will see the Lord arriving on the clouds

* They will mourn when they see him

To be continued .......

 

[Gabriel2020]

It is amazing that John was to write to each Angel of the seven churches and not directly to each church themselves. I believe that he was addressing each Angel personally, because they are the watchers, or overseers. The Angels were to take this message that was given to them to the churches they were watchers over., as Angels had always done in human form. Now what church leader received these message from the angels.

 

[Ahwatukee]

It is amazing that John was to write to each Angel of the seven churches and not directly to each church themselves. I believe that he was addressing each Angel personally, because they are the watchers, or overseers. The Angels were to take this message that was given to them to the churches they were watchers over., as Angels had always done in human form. Now what church leader received these message from the angels.

Hello Gabriel2020 and thank you for your reply,

The word "Aggelos" translated as "Messenger" can refer to either a human or angelic messenger depending on the context. In this case, I believe that the messengers may be referring to the pastors or overseers of each of those churches and not to angelic beings. The pastors or messengers would be the ones who would be reading the letters to each of their congregations.

 

[Gabriel2020]

I understand what you are saying, but the message had to be delivered by angelic beings as God has always done. do you think? I don't think John could have done this by himself.

 

[Ahwatukee]

I understand what you are saying, but the message had to be delivered by angelic beings as God has always done. do you think? I don't think John could have done this by himself.

Well, regarding John getting the book of Revelation to the seven churches, the angel did tell him the following:

"I took the little scroll from the angel’s hand and ate it. It tasted as sweet as honey in my mouth, but when I had eaten it, my stomach turned sour. Then I was told, “You must prophesy again about many peoples, nations, languages and kings.”

Also, using Sardis as an example, at the beginning of each letter is says, "to the angel of the church in Sardis, write. Since angels are spirits and are in the presence of the Lord, why would John be writing to angels, when they could get that information first hand from the Lord.

John just needed to get these letters to those seven churches and he would have most likely had help in delivering them.

Personally, I think that it is more plausible that the reference to aggelos is referring to the pastors or overseers of those churches. Those who would be addressing the congregation. Remember also that there were rebukes and consequences to five of those churches if they didn't repent of what the Lord had rebuked them for. Therefore, I don't think that angelic beings would be held responsible for the sins of the individuals within those churches.

In conclusion, this is something that can be left up to the reader to compare the scriptural pros and cons in order to come to their own conclusion regarding this.

Thanks again for bringing this up Gabriel. By the way, we will be going over this again, since we haven't even got to the letters yet.

 

[Desertsrose]

Hi Ahwatukee.

Just a thought here.

The Holy Spirit hasn't been referred to in the past as the 7 spirits has He? I would tend to think the 7 spirits are not the Holy Spirit unless we can connect them somehow.

But I wouldn't be dogmatic about that either.

The four living creatures sounds like the vision Ezekiel had.

The kingdom of priests is spoken of also in 1 Peter 2:9-10.

I just recently studied this with a group of ladies so it's fresh in my mind.

But you are A chosen race, A royal priesthood, A holy nation, A people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; for you once were not A people, but now you are the people of God; you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

Thanks for the references to every eye seeing Him when He returns.

I think that helps to show Jesus hasn't already returned because every eye has not seen Him.

Also at His return everyone will be in mourning. I haven't see that happen yet either.

It helps to confirm that this is a future event. I'll go and read the references you posted. God bless you!

 

[Ahwatukee]

Hi Ahwatukee.

Just a thought here.

The Holy Spirit hasn't been referred to in the past as the 7 spirits has He? I would tend to think the 7 spirits are not the Holy Spirit unless we can connect them somehow.

But I wouldn't be dogmatic about that either.

The four living creatures sounds like the vision Ezekiel had.

The kingdom of priests is spoken of also in 1 Peter 2:9-10.

I just recently studied this with a group of ladies so it's fresh in my mind.

But you are A chosen race, A royal priesthood, A holy nation, A people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; for you once were not A people, but now you are the people of God; you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

Thanks for the references to every eye seeing Him when He returns.

I think that helps to show Jesus hasn't already returned because every eye has not seen Him.

Also at His return everyone will be in mourning. I haven't see that happen yet either.

It helps to confirm that this is a future event. I'll go and read the references you posted. God bless you!

Good day DesertsRose!

The Holy Spirit hasn't been referred to in the past as the 7 spirits has He? I would tend to think the 7 spirits are not the Holy Spirit unless we can connect them somehow.

I don't believe that the seven spirits or seven fold spirit is mentioned anywhere else in scripture, but only here in Revelation, that I recall anyway. That the seven fold spirit is representing the Holy Spirit is just one of the beliefs held by some, which is why I mentioned it. But, as I said, we do not have enough information to know who the seven spirits are, but only what is listed in those verses in Revelation.

The four living creatures sounds like the vision Ezekiel had.

You are absolutely correct! Every time I am reading through Revelation and I come to the introduction of the four living beings, also referred to in Ezekiel as cherubim and as seraphim in Isaiah, I go and read Ezekiel regarding them, seeing that Ezekiel gives a detailed description of them. So we will be going to Ezekiel and Isaiah when we get to the four living beings.

Thanks for the references to every eye seeing Him when He returns.

Yes, I mentioned that, and maybe I should have written something up front regarding this, but my concern is to differentiate between the event of the gathering of the church vs. the Lord's return to the earth to end the age.

As you may be aware we have those who are claiming that Christ has already returned in 70 AD and that the resurrection has already taken place and that most end-time events have already taken place as well. However, when Christ returns to the earth to end the age, it will be to bring an end to all human government and to establish his own kingdom, with him literally being present and ruling on this earth and the church with him.

Good catch on the reference to the "royal priesthood" by the way.

Thank you for your comments, I look forward to them.

 

[Stunnedbygrace]

Some think Isaiah 11:2 describes this 7 fold Spirit of God.
Enjoying this ahwatukee!