The Strong *angel And The Little Book
v1 And I saw another strong *angel come down fromheaven. His clothes were like a cloud. There was a rainbow over his head. Hisface was like the sun. And his legs were like columns of fire. v2 Heheld in his hand a little book that was open. He put his right foot on the seaand his left foot on the land. v3 Then he shouted with a loud voice. Hisvoice was like the roar of a lion. When he shouted, 7 *thunders sounded. Thesound was like voices that spoke. v4 When the 7 *thunders spoke, Istarted to write. But I heard a voice speak from heaven. Keep secret what the7 *thunders have said. Do not write it.
v5 The *angel that stood on the sea and on the landraised his right hand to heaven. v6 He made a promise in front of Godwho lives now and always. God created the heavens and all that is in them. Hecreated the earth and the sea and all that is in them. The *angel said, Therewill be no more delay. v7 When the seventh *angel sounds his*trumpet, God will act. He will complete his secret plan. He has announced thisplan to his servants the *prophets.
v8 Then the voice that I had heard from heaven spoketo me again. The voice said, Go and take the open book from the hand of the*angel. He is standing on the sea and on the land.
Verse 1 John saw a great *angel come down from heaven. It seemedthat a cloud covered him like a coat. There was a rainbow above his head. Buthis face shone with a bright light like the sun. The impression of his legs waslike fire.
The Justification Of Revelatory Claims
A revelatory claim is a claim to the effect that a certain divinerevelation has takenplacethat God has revealed x to P . The existence of revelatory claims in differentreligions raises the question of epistemic justification: Could suchclaims be justified, and in that case, how? Beingjustified will here be understood in the very general sense ofhaving positive epistemic status .
In the contemporary debate, there are both non-inferential andinferential models of justification for revelatoryclaims. In addition, there are positions that some might characterizeas fideistic, but that are perhaps better described as portraying thejustification of revelation as totally suigeneris. Below non-inferential, inferential and suigeneris positions will be treated in turn. However, since thecontemporary debates about justification draw inspiration from a longtradition of reflection within theology, it will be useful first toconsider some historical background.
Jesus Christ Speaks To John
v9 I am John, your brother. And I suffer with you asyou are suffering. I receive with you the *kingdom and the patience that areours in Jesus. I was on the island called Patmos. I was there because I taughtthe word of God and the truth about Jesus. v10 I was in the Spirit onthe day of the *Lord. And I heard behind me a loud voice, which sounded like a*trumpet. v11 The voice said, Write whatever you see in a book. Thensend it to the seven *churches. They are in Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum,Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea.
v12 Then I turned to see whose voice spoke to me.When I turned, I saw seven gold lamp holders. v13 Among the lampholders, there was a person like the Son of Man. He wore long clothes that reacheddown to his feet. Round his upper body, he had a gold belt. v14 His headand his hair were white as white wool, as white as snow. His eyes were like aflame of fire. v15 His feet were like bright shining *bronze that hasgone through a hot fire. And his voice was like the sound of many waters. v16He held seven stars in his right hand. A sharp sword that cuts with both edgescame out of his mouth. And his face was like the sun as it shines in itsstrength.
The *kingdom refers to the time when Jesus will come to rule.That will be a time of joy for Christians. John expects to share that joy withthem. This kingdom has partly come. But when Jesus comes, it will be completelyhere.
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General Revelation Vs Special Revelation
Read the transcript of this video by Dan Darling discussing the distinctions of revelations in the Bible:
There are two ways that God reveals himself in the world, general revelation and special revelation. General revelation is, as the Bible says, the heavens declare the glory of God, that you can’t help but look around and say, there’s got to be a designer here. There’s got to be a God here. This is how remote tribes, for instance, can come to faith in Christ. They just look around and say, there’s got to be something here. A special revelation is Jesus himself being revealed through the scriptures, someone teaching somebody the scriptures and the gospel. And God uses both.
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To The *church In Smyrna
v8 Write to the *angel of the *church in Smyrna. Iam the first and the last. I was dead. I came to life again. This is what I sayto you. v9 I know the troubles that you suffer. I know that you arepoor. However, you are rich. And I know the evil things that some people sayabout you. They call themselves *Jews but they are not. They belong to the*synagogue of *Satan.
v10 Do not be afraid of the troubles that you willsuffer soon. I tell you, the devil will throw some of you into prison to testyou. And you will suffer much trouble for ten days. However, be strong in your*faith even if you have to die for it. And I will give you life as a crown. v11If you have an ear, listen! Hear what the Spirit says to the *churches. Thesecond death will not hurt those who overcome.
Verse 8 On the route north from Ephesus, the next city wasSmyrna. Its modern name is Izmir. It is about 35 miles from Ephesus. It is onthe sea and it had a good, safe harbour. In trade, it was second only toEphesus.
Jesus writes to Smyrna as the first and the last. He defeateddeath. He was now alive . He writes to a *church that suffered much fromthe local people. Jesus suffered much. He knows what it is to suffer.
Jesus died and came to life again. So, they too can be brave evento die. They can be sure of the life beyond death.
Verse 9 The *Lord knew all about the problems in Smyrna. He sawall the troubles that they had. They were very poor and they struggled to live.Life was very hard for these Christians.
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Why Is The Book Of Revelation Important
The Book of Revelation, the last book of the Bible, has fascinated and puzzled Christians for centuries. With its vivid imagery of disaster and suffering the Battle of Armageddon, the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, the hideous Beast whose number is 666 many have seen it as a map to the end of the world.
The Book Of Revelation And Work
The book of Revelation provides some of the keenest insights in Scripture concerning the big picture of work. Yet it is a tough nut to crack, not only because of its intrinsic difficulty but because of the myriad interpretations that have grown up around the book. We cannot hope to solve these problems here, but we may find enough common ground to glean insights from the final book of the Bible.
Perhaps the greatest gap in interpretation is between those who see the book as primarily future, addressing the absolute end of history from chapter 6 on, and those who see most of the book as relating to events around the time John wrote . The good news is that responsible interpreters who hold the futurist view acknowledge that the events in the future are modeled on Gods work in the past, most notably in Creation and the Exodus from Egypt. Likewise, even those who interpret the book primarily from the standpoint of the first century acknowledge that it does talk about the ultimate future . For this reason, no one should object to finding enduring spiritual truths in the images of the book, nor in seeing a significant future orientation in the promises contained within it.
Jacques Ellul, Apocalypse, trans. G. W. Schreiner , 4748.
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The Funeral Of Babylon
v1 Then I saw another *angel come down from heaven.This *angel had great power. The bright light that shone from him lit up thewhole world. v2 And he called out with a loud voice. He said, *Ruined,*ruined is the great city called Babylon. Babylon has become the place where*demons live. All kinds of evil spirits are prisoners there. Babylon has becomelike a cage that holds dirty birds. The birds that people hate will stay there.v3 All the nations have drunk Babylons wine. This wine means the angerof Babylons *sins of sex. And the kings of the earth are guilty with Babylon.It is as if they have slept with Babylon. And the merchants of the earth havegrown rich from the great wealth of Babylons luxury.
v9 The kings of the earth were guilty with Babylon.It was as if they had sex with Babylon. They had lived in luxury with Babylonswealth. They will see the smoke of the fire that destroys Babylon. Then theywill weep and they will be sad. v10 These kings will stand a long wayfrom Babylon. They will be afraid that they too may suffer with Babylon. Theywill say, How terrible, how awful it is for that great city! Babylon was sucha strong city! But in only one hour, Babylons judgement and punishment came.
What Is The Meaning Of Revelation : 12 15
Revelation 20:12-15, And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened and another book was opened, which is the book of life and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them and they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds. And death, and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyones name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.
This passage describes the great white throne scene in which Jesus judges the world when they are on trial during the Millennial Age. During the one thousand years Satan and his forces will not have influence . The Old and New Testaments will be used to explain the divine message to the earths inhabitants. Verse 13 talks about the resurrection of all who have died, the first being Jesus Christ . Isaiah 26:19 & 1 Corinthians 15:20-28 corroborate that the dead will live. All of mankind, both those living at that time and those who were dead and resurrected, will have a chance to fullyunderstand and practice Gods righteousness. Isa. 26:9 says, When the earth experiences Thy judgments, the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness. Matthew 22:37-39 tells what the Heavenly Father will expect of mankind.
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General/natural And Special Revelation
A common distinction that relates to the audience isbetween general and special revelation, where the former refers to a revelation that isuniversally available, and the latter to a revelation made to a limited group of people. Often, general revelationis identified with natural revelation, even though the latterconcept has to do with the means of revelation rather thanthe audience. The natural world, including human nature, is availableto all, and would be the most plausible candidate as a means for ageneral revelation. However, it is conceivable that God could havemade a general revelation by acting outside of the natural order, forexample by making miracles visible to all . Strictlyspeaking, therefore, the counterpart to natural revelationifthere is a counterpartis supernatural revelationrather than special revelation. Supernatural, in atheological context, refers to putative divine action that is notincluded in Gods ordinary activity of creating and sustainingthe world. For the most part, however, generalrevelation and natural revelation are usedinterchangeably, as are their counterparts specialrevelation and supernatural revelation .
rational argument, historical enquiry, analysis of the structures ofhuman perception or moral motivation, or any combination of these.
Jesus Tells John To Write
v17 When I saw him, I fell down at his feet like adead man. But he put his right hand on me and he said, Do not be afraid. I amthe first, and the last. v18 I am living. I was dead. See! I am alivefor all time and without end. Moreover, I have the keys of death and of theplace of dead people.
v19 Write what you have seen. Write what is happeningnow. And write what is going to happen after these things. v20 This isthe secret meaning of the seven stars and of the seven gold lamp holders. Theseven stars that you saw in my right hand are the *angels of the seven*churches. The seven gold lamp holders are the seven *churches.
Verse 17 John saw Jesus among the lamp holders. The sight was sopowerful that it made John afraid. The effect of what he saw caused him to falldown at the feet of Jesus. John was on the ground as if he were a dead man.
Jesus put his right hand on John. This seems to have put new lifeinto John. Then Jesus said, Do not be afraid. For those who belong to Jesus,there is nothing to make them afraid.
Jesus tells John that he is the first and the last. This has thesame meaning as in verse 8 above. Jesus is one with God. He is God.
Verse 18 Jesus adds to the meaning of the first and the last. Iam living. God is the God who lives. Jesus shows that he is the same as God.He is God. The false gods of the world are not alive. There is only the onereal God who lives.
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Messages From Three *angels
v6 Then I saw another *angel. He was flying high inthe sky. He had good news to tell. This good news was true for all time. It wasa message to all the peoples of the earth, to every *tribe, language, andnation. v7 He said in a loud voice, You must respect God. Tell him howgreat he is. The time has come when he as the judge will test all people.*Worship him because he created all things. He made the heavens and the earth,the seas and the sources of water.
v8 A second *angel came after the first one. He said,The great city called Babylon has fallen. That city is completely *ruined.Babylon is like a woman who was guilty of *sins of sex. She caused all thenations to *sin in a similar way. It was as if she made them drink too muchwine. This wine means the emotions that caused Babylon to *sin.
v13 Then I heard a voice from heaven. It said, Writethis. From now on, the *Lord will *bless those who die for him. Yes, said theSpirit, they will rest from their hard work. They will receive the reward fortheir good deeds.
Verse 6 John saw the first of three *angels. The angel was flyingin the sky above the earth. The *angel came to tell people about the plans ofGod. God said that his people should have *eternal life. This is good news toall who believe Gods words. And they will serve God. The *angel made certainthat all the peoples of the earth heard him. Every person had the opportunityto hear the good news.
The *Lamb and his *angels will see them suffer.
A Biblical Definition Of Inspiration
Inspiration must be carefully defined because of the varied uses of this term and the wrong ideas about inspiration being promoted today, ideas that are inconsistent with what the Bible itself teaches regarding inspiration. Inspiration may be defined as Gods superintendence of the human authors of Scripture so that using their own individual personalities, they composed and recorded without error His revelation to man in the words of the original autographs.
If we break this definition down into its various parts, we note several elements, each of which is vital to understanding what the Bible teaches about inspiration.
The word superintendence refers to the guiding relationships God had with the human authors of Scripture in the various material of the Bible. His superintendence varied in degree, but it was always included so that the Spirit of God guaranteed the accuracy of what was written.
The word composed shows that the writers were not simply stenographers who wrote what God dictated to them. They were actively involved using their own personalities, backgrounds, and Gods working in their lives, but again, what was composed had the superintendence of God over the material written.
Without error expresses what the Bible itself claims to be true regarding its record it is Gods word and that word is truth .
The following represent a few of the definitions of prominent evangelical theologians:
To these definitions, Enns adds this important word:
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What Is The Main Idea Of Revelation
According to Karl Rahner, revelation consists primarily and essentially in Gods gracious communication of his own divine life to human beings as a personal spirit. In his view, the articulation of revelation in the scriptures and creeds is a secondary stage, presupposing an experiential encounter with the divine.