By Jack Kinsella
The Book of the Revelation is divided into several sections. Chapters 1-3 cover the first section, the message from the Lord to the Seven Churches of Asia Minor.
As we’ve discussed in previous briefs, each of the seven churches was a literal church that existed during the first century. They were real churches with real problems. The letters to the seven churches addressed the most egregious problems facing each of these embryonic churches.
But, as they say, “hindsight is about 20/20” and using the benefit of hindsight, scholars have determined that each of the seven churches in Asia Minor is also representative of various epochs within this present dispensation, or the Church Age.
When you get right down to it, it is both fitting and logical that the letters to the seven churches would be prophetic. The Book’s formal name is “The Revelation of Jesus Christ to the Apostle John” but its short name is from the Greek “apocalyptos” which means ‘unveiling’ or ‘revelation’.
All three of those words can be used interchangeably with ‘prophecy’ – which also means unveiling, revelation or, simply the speaking of God’s Word.
Assessment
“After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter.” (Revelation 4:1)
For all of the past three chapters, John has been in the presence of Jesus, walking amidst the golden candlesticks, but John wasn’t in heaven. He was in exile on the isle of Patmos.
“I John, who also am your brother, and companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was in the isle that is called Patmos, for the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ.
I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet,
“Saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last: and, What thou seest, write in a book, and send it unto the seven churches which are in Asia; unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamos, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea.” (Revelation 1:9-11)
John is on Patmos, off the coast of Greece, on Planet Earth. He was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day, heard a voice and turned. Still on Patmos, Greece, Planet Earth. John takes dictation and writes out the seven letters to the seven churches located in various corners of Asia Minor, Planet Earth.
When Jesus finishes dictating, He concludes His letters: “He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.”
Look at the Big Picture with me as it stands at this moment.
Jesus has finished His revelation to the churches of Asia Minor and to the Epochs of the Church from the days of the Apostles to the days of the Televangelists.
Jesus says, “Pay close attention here…” and WHAM – in the very next verse, John is whisked into heaven.
There are several other things I want you to be sure to notice. The first is the presence of the trumpet. John was in the Spirit in the Lord’s Day and the Lord came to John, accompanied by the sound of a trumpet.
The second is that when the Lord was finished dealing the the earthly Church, John hears another trumpet, and he is whisked away into Heaven.
Paul writes of the believer’s resurrection, “In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.” (1st Corinthians 15:52)
The third is that John heard the call, “Come up hither” and Revelation 4:2 says, “And immediately I was in the Spirit.”
Fourth, note that John was already ‘in the spirit in the Lord’s day’ on the Isle of Patmos, Greece, Planet Earth at the time when he received his vision for the seven churches.
John is now literally ‘in the spirit’ and present in heaven, where he remains for the remainder of the revelation.
Finally, notice that when John is called, it is to “shew thee these things which must be hereafter.” (4:1)
The Voice from Heaven tells John these things MUST be ‘hereafter’. ‘Hereafter’ what? The answer is obvious. It means after what just came before.
And so….what just came before? The Seven Epochs of the Church Age. What follows Revelation 4:2 when John finds himself translated into heaven?
First is the worship of the Lamb of God as the One worthy to open the seals of judgment. Then comes the actual opening of the first seal.
“And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, Come and see.
“And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer.” (Revelation 6:1-2)
Bible scholarship is more or less unanimous on the identity of the rider on the white horse as the antichrist. The opening of the 1st seal begins the series of twenty-one judgments that are pronounced against a Christ-rejecting world.
Now let’s summarize:
1. Jesus outlines in detail the future history of the Church Age, divided into seven epochs and concluding with a description of Laodicea that is a mirror-image of 21st century mainstream Christianity.
2. Jesus concludes with an admonition to ‘listen up’ to hear the spiritual message behind His words.
3. John hears a trumpet, hears a voice saying ‘come up hither’ and says he is now literally ‘in the Spirit’ but instead of merely ‘in the Lord’s Day’ as before, now he is “in the Spirit” but present in heaven.
4. It is not until AFTER John arrives in Heaven that the first seal is broken, allowing the judgment of antichrist.
5. Make no mistake about it. The antichrist is a judgment on all those that rejected Christ. Paul says he is a “strong delusion” that the world will embrace because ‘they received not the love of the truth that they might be saved.”
The antichrist is the first seal judgment specifically pronounced as a judgment against those who rejected Christ. Jesus was speaking of the rider on the white horse when He said,
“I am come in My Father’s name, and ye receive Me not: if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive.” (John 5:43)
The judgments of the Tribulation are ALL for the purpose of judging a Christ-rejecting world, beginning with the first seal. According to the prophet Daniel, that first seal is broken with the restoration of Temple sacrifice and worship.
Daniel says it isn’t until three and a half years AFTER the restoration of Temple sacrifice and worship that the antichrist breaks his covenant with Israel.
The Third Temple is as sacred as the Second or the First, according to Jesus Christ, Who ought to know. He calls the antichrist’s desecration of the Temple “the abomination of desolation”.
It could only be an abomination if the Temple were sacred and it could only be made desolate by being desecrated.
During the Church Age, I am the Temple of God. Not a building.
Do you see the chronological flow? Now, interrupt it and see what happens. There is a sudden, loud and discordant clang when one tries to change the order of operation.
First the redemption, then the Church Age, then the conclusion of the Church Age, then the open door in heaven, then the celebration of the Lamb and then the breaking of the first seal.
And THEN the antichrist, the restored Temple, the resumption of Temple worship, the interruption of Temple worship, the persecution of Christians and Jews, Mark of the Beast, etc., etc.
Change the order and it changes the logic of what came before and what is to come ‘hereafter’. And hereafter comes just after we hear a trumpet and a voice saying, “come up hither.”
If hereafter doesn’t mean, ‘after Laodicea’, then ‘hereafter’ can’t really mean anything at all.
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