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Revelations 6, Bible Study 08/10/11

Posted on August 16, 2011 by growintheword

Revelations 6

Synopsis of Bible Study 08/10/11

Delivered by
Bishop Walker III

Revelation 12:1 says ¹And there appeared a great wonder in heaven: a woman clothed
with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve
stars.

There are many organizations who have tried to
identify who this woman really is. As a matter of fact, Roman Catholics claim
this to be Mary (mother of Jesus). They picture her to be the queen of heaven. Often
in their idol artwork, you will see this image of Mary with 12 stars around her head.
Know
that this woman clothed with the sun is not Mary. Scripturally we will prove
that this women mentioned in verse 1 is a symbol of Israel. This woman
represents Israel.
You
might recall Joseph in the Old Testament. In Genesis
37:9-11 says ⁹And he dreamed yet another dream, and told it to his
brethren and said, “Behold, I have dreamed one dream more; and behold, the
sun and the moon and the eleven stars made obeisance to me.” ¹⁰And
he told it to his father and to his brethren; and his father rebuked him and
said unto him, “What is this dream that thou hast dreamed? Shall I and thy
mother and thy brethren indeed come to bow down ourselves to thee to the
earth?” ¹¹And his brethren envied him, but his father observed
the saying. – . Joseph had a dream that got him in trouble. He shared this dream with his brothers and they
hated on him as a result. Joseph dreamed that the sun and the moon and the
11stars bowed down to him. When he told his brothers, they were like, “Are you
kidding me. Do you think this whole world is going to bow down to you?” In the
dream, the sun represented Jacob. The
moon represented Joseph’s mother, Rachael.
The 11 stars represented the sons of Israel
which were to bow to Joseph, so the 12 stars represent the fact the Joseph now
is among the 12 tribes of Israel (11+1),
Throughout scripture Israel has been referred to
as a woman in many instances. In Isaiah
54:1-6 it says ¹“Sing, O barren, thou that didst not bear! Break forth
into singing and cry aloud, thou that didst not travail with child! For more
are the children of the desolate than the children of the married wife,”
saith the LORD. ²Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch
forth the curtains of thine habitations; spare not, lengthen thy cords, and
strengthen thy stakes. ³For thou shalt break forth on the right hand
and on the left, and thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles, and make the desolate
cities to be inhabited. ⁴“Fear not; for thou shalt not be
ashamed; neither be thou confounded, for thou shalt not be put to shame: for
thou shalt forget the shame of thy youth, and shalt not remember the reproach
of thy widowhood any more. ⁵For thy Maker is thine husband” the
LORD of hosts is His name” and thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; the
God of the whole earth shall He be called. ⁶For the LORD hath called
thee as a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit, and a wife of youth, when thou
wast refused,” saith thy God. – This is God referring to Israel as a woman. Jeremiah 3:20 says ²⁰Surely
as a wife treacherously departeth from her husband, so have ye dealt
treacherously with Me, O house of Israel,” saith the LORD. – She (Israel)
is seen as a wife that leaves treacherously from her husband and he says, “… so
ye have dealt treacherously with me “Here again, Israel is seen as a woman. In Ezekiel 16:8-14 it says ⁸“`Now
when I passed by thee and looked upon thee, behold, thy time was the time of
love; and I spread My skirt over thee and covered thy nakedness. Yea, I swore
unto thee and entered into a covenant with thee, saith the Lord GOD, and thou
becamest Mine. ⁹Then washed I thee with water; yea, I thoroughly
washed away thy blood from thee, and I anointed thee with oil. ¹⁰I
clothed thee also with embroidered work and shod thee with badgers’ skin, and I
girded thee about with fine linen, and I covered thee with silk. ¹¹I
decked thee also with ornaments, and I put bracelets upon thy hands and a chain
on thy neck. ¹²And I put a jewel on thy forehead, and earrings in
thine ears, and a beautiful crown upon thine head. ¹³Thus wast thou
decked with gold and silver, and thy raiment was of fine linen and silk and
embroidered work. Thou didst eat fine flour and honey and oil; and thou wast
exceeding beautiful, and thou didst prosper into a kingdom. ¹⁴And
thy renown went forth among the heathen for thy beauty; for it was perfect
through My comeliness, which I had put upon thee, saith the Lord GOD. –Here
again, we see Israel again referred to as a woman. Probably the most
powerful example of this is found in Hosea
2:19-20 where it says ¹⁹And I will betroth thee unto Me for ever; yea, I will
betroth thee unto Me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in lovingkindness,
and in mercies. ²⁰I will even betroth thee unto Me in faithfulness,
and thou shalt know the LORD. -20- Hosea gives us this story about Gomer
(which is who the previous scripture is talking about) who is a prostitute. Hosea represents God who falls in love
with the prostitute who is Israel.
Hosea keeps on loving this prostitute, but every time he loves her, she keeps
tipping out at night being unfaithful to him. He keeps going back to Gomer and
in the middle of the night, he looks for her and calls for her again, because
she has once again snuck out. She comes home night after night bloody and
beaten, because she has been out prostituting and whoring, yet he still cleans
up her wounds, cleans for her, cooks for her, and loves her, but she would
continue to go out night after night despite it all. It is a marvelous story of
how God is in love with a prostitute and guess who that prostitute is? It is us.

Revelation 12:2 says ²And she, being with child, cried, travailing in birth and in
pain to be delivered.

The
bible says the woman who represents Israel in verse two was with child. She
cried out in labor and in pain and she gave
birth. The baby represents Jesus.
Why would she be in travail with a child? Why would she cry out in labor? It is
because when Jesus was born, he was born during a time in Israel’s history when
they were under Roman occupation and oppression.
During the time Jesus was born, he was not born during a favorable time for the
people of God (or the Jews). They were under an incredible census and they had
to go and be counted. Jesus was also crucified if you remember under Roman
persecution. So when Jesus is born, Israel (the woman) is crying out and morning.
Remember it is in travail that Jesus comes to these people.

Revelation 12:3 says ³And there appeared another wonder in heaven: behold, a great
red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads.

Here
the dragon shows up. – Now we have this dragon. The dragon represents Satan. He has great power and claims royal
authority (the 7 diadems). His crowns represent his presumptuous claims of
royal authority against the true king. The dragon wants to be king. He is
saying he is greater than the king.
John
gets a dispensational view of history
wrapped up in one vision. In other words, he sees periods of times at which God
has been moving. He goes all the way back, before the beginning even began. In
the vision that he sees, he is seeing things that happened before the beginning
began (when God was with the heavenly host on the throne). He sees this and
brings this to light along with current
reality and the apocalyptic age
when the Lord shall come back.

Revelation
12:4 says ⁴And his tail drew a third part of the stars of heaven, and
cast them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was ready to
be delivered to devour her child as soon as it was born.

His
tail (the dragon) drew a 3^rd of the stars from heaven. The dragon
had a tail and the dragon’s tail grabbed a 3^rd of the stars.
Remember we taught earlier in this series that stars represented angels. In heaven, before the beginning began,
Lucifer (now Satan) who was God’s praise and worship leader got upset because all the glory was going to God. He told God
that he thought they needed term limits. Lucifer/Satan thought that maybe
somebody other than God should get the glory. As a result, God cast Lucifer out of heaven, before the
beginning began. This is how he shows up in the book of Genesis as a snake. When
Lucifer left, he got a 3^rd of the angels, who rebelled with him,
kicked out as well. They fell to the earth with him (Note: These angels are
called fallen angels or demons). John saw in this vision that Satan got a 3^rd
of the angels (3^rd of the stars) to come with him.
Here
is something that you might not get right now. It might be later tonight, next
week, or a month from now. It doesn’t matter when, but you will eventually get
it. Now the dragon represents Satan and John get a dispensational view. John shows us how the dragon worked back then
and we see this is how the dragon still works right now. Satan represents
everything that is evil. He is a
dragon. The stars represent the messengers. The dragon got a 3^rd of
the stars with his tail, because there is toxicity
in his tail. Stars, people who make it and do well, are always taken down
by tail. Now you might get it today, next week, or next month. Our prayer is
that you get it before you meet the toxicity in the tail.
The
Dragon now has come down. He has all these heads and all these horns. Remember the
bible speaks of this fiery red dragon with 7 diadems on his head, 7 heads, and
10 horns.

Revelation
12.5 says ⁵And she brought forth a manchild, who was to rule all
nations with a rod of iron; and her child was caught up unto God and to His
throne.

In
verse 5, woman bore a child. What this dragon was waiting to do was to devour
the child as soon as he was born. Remember when Jesus was born, Herod asked the
wise men to show him where Jesus was. Herod in Matthew 2 wanted to kill Jesus
as soon as he was born. Let’s imagine how this might have looked like. You got
this woman who has the moon under her feet. She is clothed in the sun and she
represents Israel. This dragon knows she is about to give birth. The dragon
which represents Satan comes with one objective. He wants that child. He doesn’t
want that child to live and he
doesn’t want that child to make it. This woman knows that this child has
destiny and the bible says the child is caught up into the throne of God as
soon as he is born.

Revelation 12:6 says ⁶And the woman fled into the
wilderness, where she hath a place prepared by God, that they should feed her
there a thousand two hundred and threescore days.

The
woman takes off and flees to the wilderness, because there is a place prepared by God for her. She stays there 1260 days. The woman wasn’t
Mary (Jesus’ mother) running in the wilderness. This was Israel. God was
protecting Israel.
Major
conflict- There is going to be a major
conflict in heaven. Many of you may have seen this movie “The Apocalypse”
which deals with this war between Michael the angel and the demons. It tries to
depict the whole idea of this war for this child.

Revelation
12:7 says ⁷And there was war in Heaven: Michael and his angels fought
against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels,

Michael,
the head of the angelic hosts (the 2/3 of the angels that remained) and the angels
fought with the dragon (which was Satan) and his angels (who were demons or
fallen angels).

Revelation
12:8 says ⁸and prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in
Heaven.

There
is a battle that will take place that will deny Satan access to heaven.
Understand something; there is a literal
battle that’s going to take place. Michael is the leader of the angelic
host. When Paul writes, in Ephesians 6:12:¹²For we wrestle
not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against
the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high
places. , Paul declares that we are not wrestling with flesh blood. We instead wrestle
with principalities and spiritual wickedness in high places. Where did this battle
take place? According to the bible, it took place in heaven, so wrestle not
with flesh and blood. We wrestle with principalities and spiritual wickedness
in high places. There is this war going over our head that has been going on
before the beginning of time. The enemy wants to get us to participate in war
with people. If you think it is just the people and the flesh that doesn’t like
you, then you will never be effective with this war that is going on over your
head. It is much bigger than the issue you have in your flesh. There is a war
going on over your head and if you are not spiritual, you will be a pawned pimp in the game of the devil.
This
war is so real that took place and going to take place that we had to put this
in. John Milton writes about “Paradise Lost”. He spends an amazing amount of
time talking about the battle where
Michael is fighting with these demons. He says there is this indistinguishable
rage and all of heaven resounded and even the center of the earth shuck as a
result of it. When you look at that verse again about the war, it says” … and
there was no more place in heaven… (NKJV)”
1. Ex1-The
  bible shows that Satan had access to heaven even in his fallen state. How can
  the devil go to heaven even after he had been cast out? In Job 1, there was a
  day when the sons of God presented themselves before the Lord and guess who
  showed up too. It was Satan. The Lord says to Satan, where have you come from? Satan
  responds that he has been going to and fro on the earth seeking who he may
  devour. Now this takes place in heaven. Satan more or less says he had been looking
  for somebody to attack. The Lord asks him if he had considered his servant Job,
  but Satan complains that he didn’t bother him only because God had a hedge
  around him. Satan complains that this was the only thing that kept Job
  faithful. He further claims that if God would remove the hedge, Job would curse him to his face. God then releases
  Satan to attack Job, but bides him not to touch Job’s soul. Satan immediately
  went down and attacked Job. Job was down here on earth serving God and hadn’t
  done anything wrong, but over Jobs head, the Devil has negotiated for Job’s
  destiny. You can be doing everything right, but know that the Devil will
  negotiate for your destiny. Everyone is looking at you, but know there are principalities
  that are waiting to take you out. You got to be spiritual to understand this.
2. Ex 2-
  The devil is an accuser. He tells God, he doesn’t know why he continues to
  bless us after we half come to church and are reluctant to give him praise.
  This is why when Jesus died and rose again, he is now seated at the right hand
  of the father. He is now our advocate.
  This means that he is our attorney.
  He now pleads our case, before the Judge. This is why you don’t just pray and say
  amen. You pray in your attorney’s name (in Jesus’ name).

Revelations
12:9 says ⁹And the great dragon was cast out — that serpent of old
called the Devil and Satan, who deceiveth the whole world. He was cast out onto
the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.

Satan
who deceived the whole world was cast out of heaven and the angels who followed
him were cast out with him.
Four
falls of Satan:
1. He
  fell from a glorified state to a
  profane state- He was an angel of worship and he fell to a profane state. Ezekiel 28:14-16 says¹⁴Thou art the anointed cherub that
  covereth, and I have set thee so; thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou
  hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire. ¹⁵Thou
  wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was
  found in thee. ¹⁶By the multitude of thy merchandise they have
  filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned; therefore I will
  cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God; and I will destroy thee, O
  covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire.
2. He
  fell from having access to heaven to
  the restriction to the earth- Job 1:12 says ¹²And the LORD
  said unto Satan, “Behold, all that he hath is in thy power; only upon
  himself put not forth thine hand.” So Satan went forth from the presence
  of the LORD., 1 Kings 22:21 says ²¹And there came forth a
  spirit, and stood before the LORD and said, `I will persuade him.’, Zechariah 3:1says ¹And he showed me Joshua the high
  priest standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right
  hand to resist him.
3. He fell from the
  earth to bondage- This was from earth to bondage in the bottomless pit for
  1000yrs.
4. From the pit to the Lake of fire- This is found
  in Revelations 20. Even in Luke
  10:18 it says¹⁸And He said unto them, “I beheld Satan as
  lightning fall from heaven., – In other words, Satan -fell like lightening from
  heaven.

Revelation
12:10-12 says ¹⁰And I heard a loud voice saying in Heaven, “Now have
come salvation and strength, and the Kingdom of our God, and the power of His
Christ; for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, who accused them before
our God day and night. ¹¹And they overcame him by the blood of the
Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they loved not their lives unto
the death. ¹²Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in
them! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and of the sea! For the devil has
come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a
short time.”

When
Satan fell, this meant that the devil has come down to us as mentioned in verse
12.
3
ways believers have overcome the dragon:
By
the blood of the lamb- When Jesus
died and shed his blood on the cross and we entered into relationship with him,
we came into a blood covenant with him. In the Old Testament, the covenant of
blood was for the remission of sins and when it became no longer affective, Jesus
became the ultimate sacrifice. Jesus Christ became the ultimate sacrifice, the lamb
of God who was slain from the foundations of the world. Jesus shed his blood,
we came into relationship with him, and therefore, we are covered in the blood.
Ex – Jesus is sitting at the right of
the father. Imagine the scene: God is the
judge. The devil is the prosecuting attorney.
Jesus is the dream team defense lawyer.
Here comes the prosecuting attorney (the devil) and he is speaking to the judge
(God) saying “they have done this and they have done that”. We are sitting
there knowing that most of what he is saying is true. We are nervous, because we
are trying to figure out what is going to happen. After all we are guilty of
some of it. The judge looks at us and asks us, “How do we plead?” and then our
attorney who is the Christ, the Lamb slain, stands in front of us and says, “We
plead the blood”. We are not here because we have been so good. We are here, because of the blood. It reaches to the
highest mountain and flows to the lowest valley. The blood that gives me strength!
By
our testimony– This means even when
strenuous and difficult times came, these believers under martyrdom and stress,
held their testimony. Jesus says if we are ashamed of him before this adulterous
generation, then he will be ashamed of us, before his father. Even when you are
going through seasons where nobody wants to hear about Jesus, you still got to
share your testimony. Don’t let God bless you and you get in front of people
and say you are fortunate. You better
say you are blessed! Remember where
you came from. God didn’t raise you up to be quiet. He wants you to tell people
where you came from.
By
not loving your lives to death- It is
fundamental to being a Christian that you can’t love your life that much. He,
who tries to hold on to his life, is the one who loses it. He, who loses his
life, is the one who will gain it. The whole idea behind Christianity is to
deny yourself and take up your cross and follow him. Too many of us are trying
to hold on to ourselves and we wind up losing everything. This is why we can’t serve God too. We try to hold on to too
much of ourselves. Remember Paul wrote in Philippians 1:21 ²¹For
to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.-To die is to gain life.
Verse
12 says that Satan was in the earth. He knew his time was short. He knew from
the beginning of the scheme that his time was temporary, but he doesn’t want
you to know that. The closer we get
to the end of age, the more aggressive Satan
will get. The devil is like a cornered dog that has nowhere to go. He is violent and viscous.
The
dragon went after the child and the child got away. There was war in heaven,
Michael and his angels fought Satan and his angels, and Satan did not prevail.

Revelations
12:13-14 says¹³And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he
persecuted the woman who brought forth the manchild. ¹⁴And to the
woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the
wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time and times and
half a time, from the face of the serpent.

After
being flung to the earth, Satan, the Serpent, decided to go after the woman
that had the male child. Now the woman was given two wings so that she could
fly to that wilderness prepared for her.

Revelations 12:15-16 ¹⁵And the serpent cast out of his
mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried
away by the flood. ¹⁶And the earth helped the woman; and the earth
opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his
mouth. There is no secret that Satan has always attacked the Jewish
brothers and sisters since the beginning of time. Satan has always had issues
with the Jews. He hates Israel, because from the beginning, God had a plan of redemption for the Jews. It was
the Jews that would bring forth the redeemer. In Matthew 23:39 it says ³⁹For
I say unto you, ye shall not see Me henceforth till ye shall say, `Blessed is
He that cometh in the name of the Lord!'”

1.
When the woman fled to the wilderness, the
dragon/serpent spewed water out of his mouth. Since God fixed it so Israel
could get away, Satan tried another tactic.
He says he would send after her what he couldn’t do himself. He sent a flood.
The bible says the earth helped her, because the earth swallowed up the water. Isaiah
59:19 says ¹⁹So shall they fear the name of the LORD from the
west and His glory from the rising of the sun. When the enemy shall come in
like a flood, the Spirit of the LORD shall lift up a standard against him.- Here,
even Isaiah got a glimpse of how the devil was going to try and attack us. This
is all a symbol. If the woman is a symbol (of Israel), it suggests then that
the water is a symbol too. The water is a symbol of that which tries to overtake us all at one time
trying to drown us. It is the devil that sends us the things that try to
overtake us. When Satan sends all these things at one time to try and over take
us, God said he will lift up a standard against him. God says he will always take care of his children.

Revelation
12:17 says ¹⁷And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and he went to make
war with the remnant of her seed, who keep the commandments of God, and have
the testimony of Jesus Christ.

The
dragon was ticked off. The dragon says since he can’t beat Michael and the
angels, he can’t get the woman, and he can’t get the baby, he says he will make
war with her offspring that keep the
commandments of God. This seed or offspring represent the Gentiles that will be
converted during the tribulation. Just because you defeated the devil in one
area of your life doesn’t mean he is not coming at you with something else.
Just because you overcame drinking don’t think he ain’t coming with something
else.
What
is important to understand is this thing is about to shift

Chapter 13

Revelation 13:1says ¹And
I stood upon the sand of the sea. And I saw a beast rise up out of the sea,
having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his
heads the name of blasphemy.

In
modern times, the sea is a place of retreat or refreshment. In ancient Israel,
the sea was viewed as evil. It was viewed as chaotic, Psalm 74:12-13 says ¹²For God is my King of old, working
salvation in the midst of the earth. ¹³Thou didst divide the sea by
Thy strength; Thou breakest the heads of the dragons in the waters. ¹⁴Thou
breakest the heads of Leviathan in pieces, and gavest him to be meat to the
people inhabiting the wilderness. Isaiah 57:20 says ²⁰“But
the wicked are like the troubled sea when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up
mire and dirt.
The
beast comes out of the sea. The first beast represents the antichrist. He has 7
heads and 10horns. This means he will be hard to kill, because if one head is
killed, he has 6 more. Antichrist means
opposite of Jesus or instead f Jesus. 1
John 2:18 says ¹⁸Little children, it is the last time. And as ye
have heard that Antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists,
whereby we know that this is the last time. – An Antichrist is coming, but many
small antichrist have already come.
This beast mentioned in verse 1 is not a literal beast, but the characteristics
of the beast will be synonymous with a world leader that will come. This will
be a real world leader. We know throughout history, there has been a lot of
small antichrist. We have seen so many people like Hitler come who are smaller
antichrist. Daniel 7:8 says ⁸I
considered the horns, and behold, there came up among them another little horn,
before whom there were three of the first horns plucked up by the roots. And
behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of man, and a mouth speaking great
things. – The main Antichrist is called a little horn. Daniel 8:23 says ²³And in the latter
time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, a king of
fierce countenance and understanding dark sentences shall stand up. – Here the
antichrist is called king of a fiery countenance.
Daniel 9:26says ²⁶And after threescore and two weeks shall
Messiah be cut off, but not for Himself; and the people of the prince who shall
come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. And the end thereof shall be
with a flood, and until the end of the war desolations are determined.- Here
the antichrist is called a prince that
shall come. Dan 11:46:45 Daniel 11:45 says⁴⁵And he shall
plant the tabernacles of his palace between the seas in the glorious holy
mountain. Yet he shall come to his end, and none shall help him. –Here the
antichrist is portrayed as the willful king. . John 5:43 says ⁴³I
have come in My Father’s name, and ye receive Me not; if another shall come in
his own name, him ye will receive.- Here the antichrist is referred to as one that comes in his own name, 2
Thessalonians 2:3 says ³Let no man deceive you by any means, for
that Day shall not come, unless there come a falling away first, and that man
of sin be revealed, the son of perdition, – Here the antichrist is referred to
as son of perdition, the man of sin.
Ten
horns will represent that the beast will rule over 10 groups of nations. Daniel
chapter 7 and Daniel chapter 2 connects the government represented by the 10
crowns.
The
beast has blasphemous names on his head. He is advertising blasphemy against God.

Revelation 13:2 says ²And
the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of
a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion. And the dragon gave him his
power, and his seat, and great authority.

The
bible says in verse two that the beast was like a leopard and had feet like a bear,
with the mouth of lion- The antichrist then gets his power and authority from
the devil. The 3 animals used to describe this beast, represent the empires which this beast will rule. It
will have a cat like vigilance like a
leopard, crushing power like bear,
and authority ferocious like a lion.
This
Antichrist will be given power by the dragon (Satan). He will not be an
ordinary man. He will be the antichrist. He will look like a man, talk like a man,
present himself as in a way to make you believe that he is God, but he is not.
Bishop
Walker states: “I stand before you as a man called by God, anointed by God, and
my power comes from God.” You know this, because the Holy Spirit inside of you
can bear witness to it. The spirit bears witness to the truth, but if you are
not saved, anybody can come before you sounding good and you have no way of
judging if a person is anointed or of the
devil. “ The bible says that in the last days, people will have itchy ears
and run after all kinds of stuff.

Revelation 13:3 says ³And
I saw that one of his heads was, as it were, wounded to death, and his deadly
wound was healed. And all the world wondered after the beast.

He
had seven heads and one was wounded, but not literally. This leader that is
going to rise up in the last day and will be wounded in such a way that society
will say that there is nothing that can be done and there is no way he will
recover from this. He will later get up as though it never happened and the whole world is going think that he must be God
because of this. Remember, he gets his power from Satan. This is how he will
get people to follow him.

Revelation 13:4says ⁴And
they worshiped the dragon which gave power unto the beast, and they worshiped
the beast, saying, “Who is like unto the beast? Who is able to make war
with him?”

They
will worship the dragon that gave the beast power. This is devil worship. “Who is able to make war against him, “they will
say..

Revelation 13:5 says ⁵And
there was given unto him a mouth, speaking great things and blasphemies, and
power was given unto him to continue forty and two months.

He
will say great things to get you in, but once you are in, he will begin to
speak blasphemies against God.

Revelation 13:6-8 says ⁶And he opened his mouth in blasphemy
against God to blaspheme His name, and His tabernacle, and them that dwell in
Heaven. ⁷And it was given unto him to make war with the saints and
to overcome them; and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and
nations. ⁸And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose
names are not written in the Book of Life of the Lamb, slain from the
foundation of the world.

If anyone has an
ear, let him hear. One who leads into captivity, shall go into captivity. He who kills with the sword, must be killed with the sword.

There will be a
real antichrist that will come and he will do miracles. Christ says many will
do miracles in his name, but they are not of him. He will do this great stuff
and people will say he must be the one. They will run after him not knowing he
is going to pull them in just to deceive them. We don’t know what he will look like;
we just know people will be awe struck.
We want know (those who are really saved), because we will be gone. The world
will be looking for somebody to believe in and we will be gone (caught up/raptured).
We will have no idea, but he will be here (on the earth) teaching and ruling
over kingdoms. Even though the antichrist will come and blaspheme the name of
God, there will be people at the throne still giving him glory. There is no
name like the name of Jesus.

Posted in revelation | Tagged Bible Study, Bishop Walker, Direction, Encouragement, Faith, God, Mt Zion, revelation | Leave a comment

Revelations Part IV, Bible Study 07/27/11

Posted on August 3, 2011 by growintheword

Revelations Part IV

Interruption of the seals

Synopsis of Bible Study 7/27/11

Delivered by Bishop Walker III

Today we will walk through Revelations 7-9

Interruption of the seals being broken

The events of end time have a lot to do with God dealing with Israel.
Revelation 7:1 says ¹And after these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree. – When we think about the 4 angels standing on the 4 corners of the earth, it is like the four points on the compass; north, south, east, and west. These four angels impact and affect the entire earth. They are standing there holding back the four winds from the earth. Wind mentioned in this scripture is viewed as a destructive force of God’s judgment. One reference of this wind as God’s destructive force of judgment is found in Hosea 13:15 where it says ¹⁵Though he be fruitful among his brethren, an east wind shall come, the wind of the LORD shall come up from the wilderness, and his spring shall become dry, and his fountain shall be dried up: he shall spoil the treasure of all pleasant vessels.-This scripture reminds us that the wind of God, brings the judgment of God.
The 4 winds of the earth also can reflect back to the 4 horseman that we talked about on last week from Revelations 6:1-8 after the pattern of Zechariah. Zechariah 6:1-8 says ¹And I turned, and lifted up mine eyes, and looked, and, behold, there came four chariots out from between two mountains; and the mountains were mountains of brass. ²In the first chariot were red horses; and in the second chariot black horses; ³And in the third chariot white horses; and in the fourth chariot grisled and bay horses. ⁴Then I answered and said unto the angel that talked with me, What are these, my lord? ⁵And the angel answered and said unto me, These are the four spirits of the heavens, which go forth from standing before the LORD of all the earth.⁶The black horses which are therein go forth into the north country; and the white go forth after them; and the grisled go forth toward the south country. ⁷And the bay went forth, and sought to go that they might walk to and fro through the earth: and he said, Get you hence, walk to and fro through the earth. So they walked to and fro through the earth. ⁸Then cried he upon me, and spake unto me, saying, Behold, these that go toward the north country have quieted my spirit in the north country. – If you will notice here, there are four chariots with horses the same color as the four horses mentioned in Revelations 6:1-8. Here they go through the earth and they are called the 4 spirits of heaven. Also to note is that word spirit translates to the Hebrew word Ruach and it is this same wind that we used to describe the breath of God or the life of God. It is like the wind or breath that God blew into Adam that made him a living being.
These had the power to harm those who were on the earth. Revelation 7:2 -3 says ²And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God: and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea, ³Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads.- This is important. This scripture says not harm anyone until a seal had been placed on the servants of the Lord. – What is a seal? A seal in the ancient times was used by kings and property owners to show ownership and authenticity. In Ezekiel 9:4-5^:⁴and the LORD said unto him, “Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men who sigh and who cry because of all the abominations that are done in the midst thereof.”⁵And to the others He said in mine hearing, “Go ye after him through the city and smite. Let not your eye spare, neither have ye pity. – Here there is a similar protective seal given to the righteous before the Jerusalem is judged. This seal is the Hebrew letter “Ττ Tau”. Notice that it uses a small capital “t”as a symbol like the shape of a small cross. So in parallel, the 144,000 we are about to introduce is going to be sealed for a specific purpose.
The difference between the 144,00 and the church: Revelation 7:4: ⁴And I heard the number of them that were sealed: there were sealed a hundred and fortyfour thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel. – Examine this this carefully. John 6:27 ²⁷Labor not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of Man shall give unto you; for on Him hath God the Father set His seal.”- Jesus said he was sealed because he said God the father had set his seal upon him. 2 Corinthians 1:21-22 says ²¹Now He who establisheth us with you in Christ, and hath anointed us, is God, ²²who hath also put His seal upon us, and given us the pledge of the Spirit in our hearts. – Here Paul says we are sealed with the Holy Spirit which is a down payment of our eventual total redemption. Paul says God who has sealed us has given us a seal in our heart as a guarantee.
1. Sealing then is available to every believer that is saved. When we got saved we got the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit’s manifestation in my life is evidence that we have been sealed by the day of redemption. Since the seal represents ownership and authenticity, then our seal (the Holy Spirit) reveals that we are owned by God and that we are an authentic Christian, because we are sealed by the Holy Ghost. Ephesians 1:13:¹³In Christ ye also trusted after ye heard the word of truth, the Gospel of your salvation, in Whom also after ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, – The Holy Spirit seals us. Ephesians 4:30: ³⁰And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. – So the Holy Spirit sealed the deal. When we got saved the Holy Spirit sealed the deal. During the rapture, we are caught up, because the Holy Spirit sealed the deal. When the Lord comes back for his church, there will be people still sitting in the building, because everyone is not living a spirit filled, Holy Ghost controlled life. This is why the bible says you walk after the Spirit and not after the flesh! So a result, it is the Holy Spirit that is the seal for the believer or the New Testament Church.
2. Now verse 4 says the number that was numbered was 144,000. If you look carefully between verses 4-8, it begins to list the 12 tribes of Israel (144,000 of the 12 tribes of Israel). Revelation 7:4-8: ⁴And I heard the number of them that were sealed: there were sealed a hundred and fortyfour thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel. ⁵Of the tribe of Judah were sealed twelve thousand; of the tribe of Reuben were sealed twelve thousand; of the tribe of Gad were sealed twelve thousand; ⁶of the tribe of Asher were sealed twelve thousand; of the tribe of Naphtali were sealed twelve thousand; of the tribe of Manasseh were sealed twelve thousand; ⁷of the tribe of Simeon were sealed twelve thousand; of the tribe of Levi were sealed twelve thousand; of the tribe of Issachar were sealed twelve thousand; ⁸of the tribe of Zebulun were sealed twelve thousand; of the tribe of Joseph were sealed twelve thousand; of the tribe of Benjamin were sealed twelve thousand.- What is interesting is that all these tribes of Israel were ethnically Jewish. God has to deal with Israel. The tribe of Judah, there was 12,000 sealed. This is specific identification divided by 12 tribes of Israel. – When you begin to look at these 12 tribes, you begin to see something of note. The tribe of Dan is missing The reason why this tribe is left out is:
  1. One Hypothesis says it is because Dan’s tribe was associated with antichrist (Daniel 11:36-37: ³⁶“And the king shall do according to his will; and he shall exalt himself and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvelous things against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished; for that which is determined shall be done.³⁷Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers, nor the desire of women, nor regard any god; for he shall magnify himself above all)..
  2. Also it is believed that this tribe of Dan was omitted, because they introduced idolatry to the nation of Israel (Judges 18:30: ³⁰And the children of Dan set up the graven image; and Jonathan, the son of Gershom, the son of Manasseh, he and his sons were priests to the tribe of Dan until the day of the captivity of the land).

i. Another tribe worthy of note is Ephraim. It is referred to in the scripture, but only indirectly. You do not see Ephraim mentioned in the book of Revelations. You do, however, see the tribe of Joseph mentioned. Joseph if you remember represents two tribes. They were Ephraim and Manasseh. So then we then must recognize that the tribe of Joseph must mean the tribe of Ephraim. Why then is Ephraim not recognized in the text? It is because Ephraim was also associated with idolatry (Hosea 4:17 says ¹⁷Ephraim is joined to idols: let him alone). Idolatry was a serious thing to God.

Who then are these 144,000?

Many groups have claimed to be this 144,000. For example, the Jehovah Witness say their whole group is a part of the 144,000 until their number of members surpassed the 144,000. They say the 144,000 are a select group of witnesses that will go to heaven. This isn’t true though! A deeper comprehensive understanding of the scripture will reveal that the 144,000 were converted Jews, still identified as Israelites in some manner.
Here are some important facts about the 144,000.
1. They are called the children of Israel. Revelation 7:4 says ⁴And I heard the number of them which were sealed: and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel.
2. Their tribal affiliation is specific. Each tribe is specifically mentioned.
3. They are protected and triumphant during God’s wrath. They are protected during the tribulation. In fact, Revelation 14:1 says ¹And I looked and lo, a Lamb stood on Mount Zion, and with Him a hundred forty and four thousand, having His Father’s name written in their foreheads. – They meet the Lord at Mount Zion.
4. d. They are celibate. Revelation 14:4 says ⁴These are they which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins. These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were redeemed from among men, being the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb.- The c portion teaches us that they are the beginning of a greater harvest.
5. They were marked by integrity or faithfulness. It is important for us to understand this, because Israel is a term never specifically applied to the New Testament Church. Israel was an Old Testament reference to the Jews, God’s chosen people. When we understand this, then we can understand that the 144,000 were specifically chosen Jews, who believed in Jesus Christ, who were converted during the tribulation. They were sealed and when all the things begin to happen during the tribulation, they were exempt from it (because they were sealed).
6. We often associate this next verse with the church, the people. Romans 10:1 says ¹Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved., Romans 11:1 says ¹I ask then: Hath God cast away His people? God forbid! For I also am an Israelite of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin, Romans 11:26 says ²⁶And so all Israel shall be saved, as it is written: “There shall come out of Zion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob. – In these scriptures, you can see that Israel was the beginning harvest of salvation in Israel. So you see God had to deal with Israel. There was a conversion that had to take place, so they are sealed in their foreheads. They are not part of the Proper Church as we know it, because they would have had repent and that repentance would have come too late, because the church has already been raptured in this scripture. This is where we see the grace of God extended, because God has to deal with his chosen, Israel.
7. 1. The scene shifts now we see this great multitude. Now we see this great multitude at the throne. Let’s shift back to the throne. Now we understand the four angels hold back the winds and there were this 144,000 that had to be sealed. We also understand that John says he saw a multitude that no one could number. Revelation 7:9-10 says ⁹After this I beheld, and lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations and kindreds and people and tongues, stood before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes and with palms in their hands ¹⁰And they cried with a loud voice, saying, “Salvation to our God who sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb!”- In other words there was a multitude that no one could number of different tribes, different people, and different tongues. No matter how you cut it, what John saw was a perfect picture of the throne of God. Around the throne was different people and different ethnicities, but in this world, things are so segregated. God is bringing us together. He is allowing this to happen in the church now. God is bringing us together and he is allowing the church to look like what it will look like when it is raptured, because during this time we are going to be together regardless of where we come from. We are all one, because we are covered in the blood.
8. The fact that John saw individuals implies that John was aware of who was who. This means we may know who is who, but you won’t know them like you know them now. We will be immortal and incorruptible. We will be like what we were intended to look like (the spirit of God inside us).
9. They were clothed in white robes. The robes represented covering in righteousness and the priestly service of Jesus Christ. This means at the throne, there is service. Remember in John 12, when Jesus rode into the city on a donkey and they greeted him with palm leaves and shouted Hosanna? Well the palms represented victory. All the people around the thrones in this vision were giving glory and worship to him that sat on the throne. They know that they are there because of Him. They know they have salvation, because of Him. Salvation is not what we earn, it is given by God. This is why they were saying salvation is yours. We are not saved by works lest any man will boast. We are saved by grace.
10. Revelation 7:11-12 says ¹¹And all the angels stood round about the throne, and about the elders and the four living beings, and fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God,¹²Saying, Amen: Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honour, and power, and might, be unto our God for ever and ever. Amen. – The heavenly host joined in and began to give God glory. Revelation 7:13-14 says ¹³And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came they? ¹⁴And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. – These are the ones that endured hardness in their lives. These are the ones Peter talked about who went through the fiery trials and didn’t change their testimony. These are they that overcame a lot to get here. They are here in white robes and they have washed them in the blood of the Lamb. Regardless to what they did on this side, they were sealed by the Holy Ghost and are now therefore washed in the blood of the Lamb. You should thank God that you are washed in the blood. When Isaiah prophesized in Isaiah 1:18 ¹⁸Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. – They had on white robes, because their sins were gone by the blood of the Lamb. Can you imagine the magnitude of celebration at the throne now?
11. Revelation 7:15-17: ¹⁵Therefore, “they are before the throne of God, and serve Him day and night in His temple; and He that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them. ¹⁶They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat. ¹⁷For the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters, and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.” – At the throne of God, you will have no need at the throne. Do you happen to know what that might feel like to have no need? To be at the throne and not have a need or to be in a place where you are shepherded by the Lamb is amazing. Jesus told the woman at the woman at the well that he was living water and if she drank of him, she would never thirst again. Water represents life. When you have the throne, you have life. He came that we might have life more abundantly. At the throne, you will never have death or pain. Don’t worry about all your past, because on that day, he says he is going to wipe away every tear from your eye.
12. 6. Now the stage is set. You saw the throne scene. You saw the angels hold back the 4 winds and you saw what is happening on the earth with the 144,000. Now let’s look at chapter 8. This will change your life perspective forever. Know that once you hear this or read this, you will be accountable to this.
13. Revelation 8:1 ¹And when He had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in Heaven about the space of half an hour. – There was 30 minutes of silence in heaven. Some try to speculate that during this time, God is explaining himself to mankind about all the wonders of the past and his sovereign acts and man is in awe as God of his explaining himself. This is not it. This silence in heaven is shock and awe. This is the silence that sets the stage for the judgment of God to come. Despite all the praise going on around the throne and despite the angels holding the wind back from the four corners of the earth, they too were even in awe during this 30 minutes. Imagine now God is moving from the seat of grace to the judgment seat. 30 minutes might not seem long, but in context, it is. Imagine being preached to for 30 minutes and in the midst of the sermon, your Pastor would stop and not say a word for 10 minutes. That short time would seem endless. Imagine all the glory going on in heaven and then all of a sudden for 30 minutes, there is nothing but shock and awe.
  1. The seven angels show up. ²And I saw the seven angels who stood before God, and to them were given seven trumpets. ³And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given unto him much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar, which was before the throne. ⁴And the smoke of the incense, which came with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel’s hand. ⁵And the angel took the censer, and filled it with fire from the altar, and cast it onto the earth; and there were voices and thunderings and lightnings, and an earthquake. ⁶And the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound. – After the angel threw the censer to the earth, there were thundering, lightning, and an earthquake and the 7 angels prepared themselves to sound their trumpets. When the other angel threw the censer it to the earth the:
    1. 1^st trumpet sounded- It was a plaque on vegetation. Revelation 8:7 ⁷The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth; and a third part of the trees were burned up, and all green grass was burned up.- The trees and grass was burned up. Some think this may manifest as a nuclear bomb or meteor. We do not know, but whatever method God uses, people will know that this is of God.
    2. 2^nd trumpet sounded-This was a plague on the sea.- Revelation 8: 8-9 ⁸And the second angel sounded and, as it were, a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea; and a third part of the sea became blood; ⁹and a third part of the creatures which were in the sea and had life, died, and a third part of the ships were destroyed.^–– 3rd of the sea, became like blood. A 3rd of fish died and a 3rd of ships were destroyed. The word sea here is a reference to the Mediterranean.
3^rd trumpet sounded-This was a plague on the fresh waters– Revelation 8:10-11¹⁰And the third angel sounded, and there fell a great star from heaven, burning as if it were a lamp, and it fell upon a third part of the rivers and upon the fountains of waters; ¹¹and the name of the star is called Wormwood. And a third part of the waters became wormwood; and many men died from the waters, because they were made bitter. – A whole ecological system was destroyed.
4^th trumpet sounds- This brings plagues on the heavens – Revelation 8:12-13 ¹²And the fourth angel sounded, and a third part of the sun was smitten, and a third part of the moon and a third part of the stars, so that a third part of them was darkened; and a third of the day shone not, and the night likewise. ¹³And I beheld, and heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, “Woe, woe, woe to the inhabitants of the earth, because of the other voices of the trumpets of the three other angels, which are yet to sound!” – – Darkness sets on the earth. 3rd of earth was darkened
It is important to note that the first 4 trumpets show us God’s judgment. God attacks substances. There is an attack on food, water, and ordinary commerce. He attacks light and the regular routine and rhythm of days is thrown off balance.
The four trumpets reveal the mercy of God’s Judgment, because only a 3^rd of the earth is stricken. God is showing us and calling us to repentance in a rebellious generation.
5^th trumpet sounds- ¹And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth; and to him was given the key to the bottomless pit.-Satan was given the keys to the bottomless pit. The keys were given to him for a purpose. Where is the bottomless pit? We call it the Abyss. It is a prison for certain demons according to Jude 6, Luke 8:31 which says ³¹And they besought Him that He would not command them to go out into the deep., and Romans 10:7 which say ⁷or, “`Who shall descend into the deep?'” (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead).
1. What came out of the bottomless?
  1. i. It was Locust- Revelation 9: 3-6 ³And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth; and unto them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power. ⁴And it was commanded to them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree, but only those men who have not the seal of God in their foreheads. ⁵And to them it was given that they should not kill them, but that they should be tormented five months; and their torment was as the torment of a scorpion when he striketh a man. ⁶And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them.- Only those without seal, will not be tormented. For 5 months, they will say they would rather die, but death will flee from them. This is God’s judgment.
  2. ii. What do these locusts look like? Revelation 9:7-10 ⁷And the shapes of the locusts were like unto horses prepared for battle; and on their heads were, as it were, crowns like gold, and their faces were as the faces of men. ⁸And they had hair as the hair of women, and their teeth were as the teeth of lions. ⁹And they had breastplates like breastplates of iron, and the sound of their wings was as the sound of chariots with many horses running to battle. ¹⁰And they had tails like unto scorpions, and there were stingers in their tails; and their power was to hurt men five months. -These locust were shaped like horses prepared for battle.

The great multitude

The 7th seal was opened (Revelations 8)

The Remaining blasts of 2 angels that are about to sound (Revelations 9)

iii. They had a leader- Revelation 8:11 ¹¹And they had a king over them, the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue his name is Apollyon. Proverbs 30:27 says ²⁷The locusts have no king, yet go they forth all of them by bands – Locust normally don’t have a king. They do what they do instinctively, but these were not ordinary locusts.

iv. You would think that would be enough. Revelation 9:12 says ¹²One woe is past; and, behold, there come two woes more hereafter. – Says one woe is past and more will come. The worst is yet to come.

6^th trumpet sounded- This is an army of destruction– Revelation 9:13-15 ¹³And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which stands before God, ¹⁴saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, “Loose the four angels who are bound in the great river Euphrates.” ¹⁵And the four angels were loosed, who had been prepared for an hour and a day and a month and a year, to slay a third part of men.- We begin to see war and a mighty army. The angels were released in river of Euphrates to kill a 3rd of mankind. They have been there all this time, prepared for this time. Why the river of Euphrates? It is because has geographical significance. It is because Euphrates is a landmark of ancient Babylon. It was boundary of the Roman Empire which ultimately will be revived when the antichrist comes. It was also associated with the first sin. It is also associated with the first murder. The first organized revolt of God which was the tower of Babble was near this river. The first dictatorship was also associated by this river.
1. The army- Revelation 9:16-19 ¹⁶And the number of the army of horsemen was two hundred thousand thousand, and I heard the number of them. ¹⁷And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and they that sat on them had breastplates of fire and of jacinth and brimstone; and the heads of the horses were as the heads of lions, and out of their mouths issued fire and smoke and brimstone. ¹⁸By these three was a third part of men killed by the fire and by the smoke and by the brimstone, which issued out of their mouths. ¹⁹For their power is in their mouth and in their tails; for their tails were like unto serpents and had heads, and with them they cause hurt. -What an amazing parallel. The power of this plague was in there mouth and tail. The two things that the devil uses against us even now is our mouth and our tail.
2. Revelation 9:20:²⁰And the rest of the men, who were not killed by these plagues, yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship devils, and idols of gold and silver, and brass and stone and of wood, which can neither see nor hear nor walk; ²¹neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts. – They did not still repent. They saw this happen, were in awe and realized they were still alive, and then they went back to business as usual. Isn’t it amazing that Revelation is unfolding now? God gives us this to show us what is going to happen. After major catastrophes, earthquakes, and other major events, we seek repentance, and shortly after the dust settles, we are back to business as usual. God gives us a glimpse even now, but after the dust settles, we are back to business as usual. After they leave the funeral, they are back on the porch drinking a 40.
3. Today, the Lord says to us that we need to come to a place of repentance. This may be a little unnerving, but this is not a metaphoric illusion. You believe that God will walk with you through the shadow of death and you believe through his stripes are healed, but believe also that some people will be left behind. For 5mths they will cry out for death and will not find it. There will be another group that will say wow and go back to business as usual. It is time to come back so that we can go back with our Lord.

It is important to note, after all we have seen in the 6th trumpets, watch the response of man.

Posted in revelation | Tagged Bible Study, Bishop Walker, Direction, Encouragement, Faith, fullness of the Holy Spirit, God, Mt Zion, revelation | Leave a comment

Revelation Part III, Bible Study 07/20/11

Posted on July 26, 2011 by growintheword

Revelation Part III

Synopsis of Bible Study 7/20/11

Delivered by Bishop Walker III

Please note that John gets a glimpse of what heaven currently looks like. Remember that the angels said that these are things that are and that will come to pass.

The vision of around the throne

Trumpet voice – Revelation 4:1 says ¹After 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. – The trumpet represents that of warning or war.
The one on the throne – Revelation 4:2 says ²And immediately I was in the spirit: and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne. – “One” that is mentioned in this scripture, represents God who sits on the throne.
He on the throne was look like jasper and sardine. Revelation 4:3 says ³And he that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone: and there was a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald. – Jasper and sardine is a bright red and purple crystal. They both symbolize authority. Most Bishops wear these colors, because it represents ecclesiastical authority. The rainbow represents the covenant between Noah and God.
24 seats/24 elders – Revelation 4:4 says ⁴And round about the throne were four and twenty seats: and upon the seats I saw four and twenty elders sitting, clothed in white raiment; and they had on their heads crowns of gold. – .There 24 seats or thrones are placed around the one throne. 24 elders set on those thrones placed around the one throne. Matthew 27:51-53 says ⁵¹And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent; ⁵²And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, ⁵³And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many. Ephesians 4:8 says ⁸Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men. – So from these two scriptures, we see that the 24 elders are some of those that were raised at Christ’s resurrection that he took back with him when he went back to the right hand of the Father. 2 Timothy 4:7-8 says ⁷I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: ⁸Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing. – This scripture talks about a crown of righteousness. It represents a reward for labor for all the tribulations that the 24 elders had gone through. They had white robes and crown for their labor.
Thundering, lightning, and voices from around the throne- Revelation 4:5 says ⁵And out of the throne proceeded lightnings and thunderings and voices: and there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God. Remember Ezekiel 1:14 says ¹⁴And the living creatures ran and returned as the appearance of a flash of lightning. Ezekiel 10:5 says ⁵And the sound of the cherubims’ wings was heard even to the outer court, as the voice of the Almighty God when he speaketh. – The lightning and thundering went on when the angels moved. Returning to Revelation 4:5, it says there were 7 lamps. The number 7 means completion. The fire represents the complete glory of God. Now before explain verse 6, we must review. Just to recap, the bible says that at the throne there is One on the throne (God), he looks like red (sardine) and purple (jasper) representing authority. There are 24 seats or thrones around the throne and there are 24 elders who sat upon these thrones. They have crowns on their head for there labor and they have on white robes.
Sea of glass – Revelation 4:6 says ⁶And before the throne there was a sea of glass like unto crystal: and in the midst of the throne, and round about the throne, were four beasts full of eyes before and behind. – The Greek word for glass deals with transparency. You could see your reflection when you close to the throne. When you get close to the throne, you see who you really are. This will bring you to a place of humility rather than a place of pride.
The 4 Beasts – Revelation 4:7-8 says ⁷And the first beast was like a lion, and the second beast like a calf, and the third beast had a face as a man, and the fourth beast was like a flying eagle. ⁸And the four beasts had each of them six wings about him; and they were full of eyes within: and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, LORD God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come. – There 4 living creatures around the throne. They are four beasts. They have eyes in front and behind them. The first creature had a face like a lion and had an angelic human like body. The second beast had the face of a calf. The third beast had a face like a man. The fourth had a face like that of a flying eagle. When Israel was divided into 4 groups, each had a standard symbol. Judah was the lion. Ruben was the man. Ephraim was the Ox or calf and Dan was the Eagle.

Lion stands for kingship or Rulership of Christ. The Ox stands for servant. The Man face stands for humanity. The eagle stood for divinity. These heads represented each symbol of the 4 groups that Israel was divided into.
Each beast had eyes in front and back. There are 4 gospels. All four gospel writers wrote what they saw happen in the Ministry of Jesus Christ. Matthew depicted Jesus as King of kings, Mark depicted Jesus as a servant (the Ox), Luke depicted Jesus’ humanity (man- Ex- the prodigal son), and John depicted Jesus’ divinity. Matt, Mark, Luke start out talking of Jesus being born of Mary, but John starts out explaining that in the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God. Jesus reminds the disciples in the Gospel of John, that he is the way the truth and the life. These 4 beast represent the 4 gospels proclaimed in the earth.

The Beasts worship – Revelation 4:8-10 says ⁸And the four beasts had each of them six wings about him; and they were full of eyes within: and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, LORD God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come. ⁹And when those beasts give glory and honour and thanks to him that sat on the throne, who liveth for ever and ever, ¹⁰The four and twenty elders fall down before him that sat on the throne, and worship him that liveth for ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying, – These beast are cherubim angels. The worship God day and night and to not sleep. The Elders cast their crowns before the throne when they worship as if to say, these crowns mean nothing when giving glory to God. Like the elders, we must lay down our crown when your give glory to God. We were only created to give God glory. Ex- Look at the throne room. In its description, it shows you what God was used to. It is glory, glory and holy, holy all day long; yet we want God to leave that atmosphere just to come down and tolerate us in our mess. Around his throne, the scripture says they worship him and rest not.
The Seven Seals – Revelation 5:1-9 says 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? ³And 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. ⁵And 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. ⁶And 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. ⁷And he came and took the book out of the right hand of him that sat upon the 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 odours, 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; – We are talking about Christ. This powerful scene was that Jesus was the only one worthy to loose the seals, because he walked the earth without sin. Something happened that will change your perspective on how you live your life. We are between Revelations chapter 5-6 now in this day and time. Revelation is unfolding as we speak. Christ has taken the scroll and is about to release the seals.

The Rapture

1 Thessalonians 4:14-18 says ¹⁴For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. ¹⁵For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. ¹⁶For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: ¹⁷Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. ¹⁸Wherefore comfort one another with these words. – This scripture is talking about your loved ones who died in the Lord (those who sleep in Jesus). Paul brings clarity to this in the next scripture. 1 Corinthians 15:51-55 says ⁵¹Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, ⁵²In 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. ⁵³For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. ⁵⁴So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. ⁵⁵O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? – At some point in the future (nobody knows the day or time) the trumpet will sound. 2 people will be in the field and one will be taken. Those who died in the Lord will be raised first. They will be raised in incorruption and immortality (There spirit will be reunited with their body, but with incorruption this time). Those who remain will be changed immediately and we will be caught up and the Lord will meet us in the air and we will be able see who is left behind on earth. The wicked will be left on the earth.
Ways in viewing the rapture

Amillennialist – They believe God’s promises regarding the end time is only a figure of speech and will not literally be fullfilled.
Premillennialist- They believe that Christ will return to the earth prior to his literal 1000yr on the earth. There are 3 groups of this premillennialist.

i. Post-tribulationists- They believe rapture will not occur until 7 yrs of tribulation.
ii. Mid-tribulationists- They believe that 3 1/2 yrs into the tribulation, the rapture will occur. This means that the righteous would be involved in the tribulation until half way, and then they will be raptured.
iii. Pre-tribulationists- They believe God will get the righteous out first and only the ungodly will go through this tribulation. 1 Thessalonians 5:9 says ⁹For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, – The wrath that is coming is only appointed for the unsaved.

Jesus speaks an amazing revelation in the gospels. Revelation is progressively unfolding things. We see in the earth that which was prophesized by Christ, but these things are only symbols of things to come.
Hubris is a Greek word meaning pride. Pride goes before destruction. The thing that happens at the end of the day will be do to man’s pride. He will contribute to his own demise.
Matthew 24:3-8 says ³And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world? ⁴And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you. ⁵For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many. ⁶And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. ⁷For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. ⁸All these are the beginning of sorrows. – The disciples wanted to know how they would know when it would be time for Jesus to come back. This (these signs) is just a precursor, says Jesus. We will see these things play out. People are running to find food in Somalia today (like the famines mentioned) is just a precursor.

Rev 6 – The 4 horses

These 4 horses will be powerful. When the rapture comes, they will usher in something.

White horse– This stands for Religious deception.
Red horse– It is a symbol of war.
Black Horse – This one represents famine.
Pale horse – This represents pestilence.

Believers will be caught up when the rapture comes. Those who died in the Lord will be caught up. The Wicked will be left behind when the tribulation begins.

Seals

1st seal – White horse– Anti Christ- Revelation 6:1-2 says ¹And 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. ²And 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. – People rising up to lead people astray. It is all about the leaders. They will think he (the Anti Christ) has come to save them, but he has come deceive them.
2^nd seal- Red horse– This is a symbol of war. Revelation 6:3-4 says³And when he had opened the second seal, I heard the second beast say, Come and see.⁴And there went out another horse that was red: and power was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another: and there was given unto him a great sword. – He has been there from the beginning. He lets brothers kill each other and there will be holy wars. They think they are fighting for God. The closer we get to this, note it is still not the end. When this starts we will see a mighty war. As we are speak, you might notice that we are letting nuclear war heads get into the wrong hands now. Remember that man will contribute to his own demise.
3^rd seal- Black horse– Famine. Revelation 6:5-6 says⁵And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand.⁶And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine. -The famine that you see now; how can one country spend enough on a war that could end famine for a year in another country? What it takes for one week salary, during this time, will only pay for one meal. He will disrupt the commerce of the land. Man will be stumbling over each other just to try and get something to eat. Man brought this on himself.
4^th seal- Pale Horse -Death. Revelation 6:7-8 says ⁷And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see. ⁸And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth. – He was to the pestilence in the earth. Unusual viruses will enter the earth during this time. Even with our best efforts, there will be diseases that can’t be explained.
5^th seal- Revelation 6:9-12 says ⁹And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held: ¹⁰And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? ¹¹And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellowservants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled. – Under the altar where the throne was, those souls that had been slain in the name of the word of the Lord, wanted their blood avenged, but they were given white robes (rewards) and told to go back and rest a little while longer.
6^th seal- Earthquakes– Revelation 6:12-18 says ¹²And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood; ¹³And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind. ¹⁴And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. ¹⁵And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; ¹⁶And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: ¹⁷For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand? – Some people see events and say these things that are happening are coincidental. We have all this unusual stuff coming on. It is leading to the great earthquake. God is trying to shack things up and trying to get you to get your life together. When this earthquake comes, the sky will roll back. Everything will be moved out from its place. People will run to try and hide themselves. All the folk that had great power that are not saved will run and try and hide themselves. We allowed our Hubris (pride) to think we could do it our own way. All we had to do is surrender to the Lord. On that day, there won’t be any hiding places. Who will be able to stand? If you can, you need to thank God that you are saved. We can’t open 7, because it opens untold horrors and secrets. Everything was created to give God glory. When the trumpet sounds the king is coming.

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Revelation Part II, Bible Study 07/13/11

Posted on July 19, 2011 by growintheword

Revelation Part II

The 7 churches of Asia Minor (laying a foundation)

Synopsis of Bible Study 07/13/11

Delivered by Bishop Walker III

Remember that the book of Revelations is progressive. We are still seeing it unfold day by day. When we are looking at history, church history in particular, we have to look at the events that happened and see them in particular. We call them dispensation or periods (chunks) of time where God is revealing certain things to the body of Christ.

The 7 churches of Asia Minor and their descriptions

Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, Laodicea

Ephesus – Means first or desirable. It was kind of known as the influential capital of the city Asia Minor. It was also known to be huge metropolis or place of commerce. Looking at this church is like seeing the church (as a body) in its purest apostolic state that a church could be in. When we say apostolic we mean that when the Disciples became Apostles after Jesus ascended and established the churches, we see the Holy Spirit descending on the people where they gathered just as it did in Acts 2:1-4. As a result, they began to speak in tongues and lots of gifts began to manifest in the early church. This was the church that was first and desirable. Acts 2:1-4 where says ¹And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. ²And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. ³And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. ⁴And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
Smyrna – Myrrh or sweet smelling savor. This was a poverty church that survived martyrdom. To be a martyr was to be someone who died for the cause. This church was also a powerful trading spot. It had a sea harbor. If you were to look for it today it would be found around Izmir Turkey. They were known for making Myrrh which was a healing ointment for the dead. Myrrh was made by crushing and bleeding a plant at the same time. Myrrh tasted bitter, but smelled sweet (also called a sweet smelling savor).
Pergamum – Means Height or Elevation. This was a church mixed with lots of mixed church doctrines. It was built on a 1000 ft hill. This made it easy for them to defend themselves from their enemies.

Thyatira – Means Savor or labor or sacrifice of contrition . It was known as the false church that followed the seductive prophetesses. Consisted of poor folk who were willing to sacrifice. God honored them for being willing to labor. They produced instruments of Brass and bronze. They also produced dyed cloth in scarlet and purple. What’s interesting about this is there was the entrepreneurial woman in Acts 16:12-14 . It says ¹²And from thence to Philippi, which is the chief city of that part of Macedonia, and a colony: and we were in that city abiding certain days. ¹³And on the sabbath we went out of the city by a river side, where prayer was wont to be made; and we sat down, and spake unto the women which resorted thither. ¹⁴And a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira, which worshipped God, heard us: whose heart the Lord opened, that she attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul. – This scripture tells us of a lady at a prayer meeting. The women were praying and this woman was an entrepreneur. She did very well, because she sold scarlet and purple cloth and linen at the church. When she heard Peter and Paul preach about Jesus, she got saved and went home and got her whole household saved.
Sardis – This means Song of Joy or that which remains. It was known as the dead church that fell asleep.
Philadelphia – Church of brotherly love. Known for variety of temples and worship centers they had.
Laodicea – A just people or people being judged. They were known as the lukewarm church. It was a hub for the Roman Water System. It was strategically located.

What is more important was where these church wasn’t located

None of these churches were in the land of Israel. They were not associated with Israel either. AD90 is about the time.
Jerusalem had been wiped out and the temple was destroyed. God is not dealing with Israel as nation anymore. At this time he is dealing with them as a church.
Historically, everyone thought Jesus would come back only for the Jews.
When God delivered the children from Egypt, they were his chosen people. When Paul writes in Romans 11:24-25: ²⁴For if thou wert cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and wert grafted contrary to nature into a good olive tree: how much more shall these, which be the natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree? ²⁵For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.- Here is saying that some people are still operating under the old system. , Romans 10:12: ¹²For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him., Galatians 3:28: ²⁸There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. – Things have shifted now. When you look from the New Testament, through the Apostolic Age, up until now, you have to know that God didn’t intend sexism, racism, or classism to ever be part of the church. Salvation was not just for the Jew, it was to the Gentiles too. Whosever will, let them come.
When we say the church, we are not talking about physical building. They were places where they gathered to worship. AD 29-33 was the time period of Jesus’ ministry. Somewhere in there he speaks what Matthew records in verse 13.
About the Parables:

We have these 7 parables listed in Matthew 13. Parables were earthly stories that with spiritual meanings that were used by Jesus in his teachings.
You have the Parable of Sower, the Parable of the Mustard seed, the Parable of the Leaven, the prophecy of Parables, the Parable of the Hidden Treasures, the Parable of the Pearl of Great Price, and the Parable of the Dragnet. The reason you have to study these 7 parables, written around AD90, 60yrs after Jesus walked this earth, you can line up what Jesus was referring to in these parables with the 7 churches of Asia Minor. For ex: The first parable was talking about the first church (Ephesus), the second parable was talking about the second church (Smyrna), and etc… In the parables, Jesus talks the churches to come in these parables, because he knew what they would become.

About the Nicolaitans:

We will run into these people in Revelations Chapter 2, 14, and 15. The origin of the Nicolaitans is not exactly known. We do know that they were a sect that started in faith and then started teaching contrary towards to what they had been taught.

The first school of thought says the Nicolaitans started following a Deacon named Nicolas. Acts 6:5 says ⁵And the saying pleased the whole multitude: and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Ghost, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolas a proselyte of Antioch: – This is a list of the 1^st Century Deacons. This same school of thought says that Nicolas turned from the faith. His name means on who conquers people. This same school of thought explains that he took on the doctrines of Balaam or those of the Devil and taught Israel to eat food that was sacrificed to idols and to he taught them to sin by committing sexual immorality.
Another train of thought is that is was not so much after Nicolas. The word Nicolas which suggests that they were encouraged to eat things sacrificed to idols. (tape).
These false people led people into licentiousness. This is simply lewd behavior. Peter and Jude described this. 2 Peter 2:15 says ¹⁵Which have forsaken the right way, and are gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Bosor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness; 2 Peter 2:19 says ¹⁹While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption: for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage. Jude 1:4 says ⁴For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ. – He writes that certain men have gotten in and look just like you and I. Lewdness means to unrestrained by laws or general morality. This means having no boundaries.

A look at Each Church

Ephesus – Look at the time period AD time period which means the year of our Lord. Then look at the first 100yrs of church history and then the next 300, and the next 500yrs. These 7 churches represent time periods in history. We are talking about a literal church and literal things that were starting to unfold. When John writes about eh Ephesus prophecy (church), these were things that he was seeing right now. When we get to Smyrna, it represents what would happen in the next time period and so and so on until now.

Ephesus – AD 33-100 –Revelation 2:1-7 says ¹Unto the angel of the church of Ephesus write; These things saith he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks; ²I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars: ³And hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name’s sake hast laboured, and hast not fainted. ⁴Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. ⁵Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent. ⁶But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitanes, which I also hate. ⁷He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God. – The stars mean angels or messengers. The lamp stand (candlestick) symbolizes God’s presence. Here we have a church who labors. They represent the first desirable. They did all these great things, but they left God. They were guilty of working for him, instead of with him. Ex- Just because you’re faithful and just because you are always present at church, doesn’t mean a thing. God can tell that you have moved. If you don’t repent he will remove the candlestick (remove his presence). Ever seen someone try to sing or preach with no candlestick? They will be trying their hardest, but God’s presence is not with them. When God removes his candlestick it means that God has fired you. God doesn’t save by works; he saves by faith lest any man would boast. This was a literal church, in a literal time period, but the implications permeate the church today.
Smyrna– What does it mean? It means Myrrh. Remember Myrrh which was a healing ointment for the dead and was extracted by crushing and bleeding a plant at the same time. Revelation 2:8-10 says ⁸And unto the angel of the church in Smyrna write; These things saith the first and the last, which was dead, and is alive; ⁹I know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty, (but thou art rich) and I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan. ¹⁰Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.- Here God is saying, if you overcome this, you will escape a 2^nd death. God will not exempt you from suffering. You might be the church according to its description that was meant to suffer. Remember that crushing causes a sweet smelling savor. It is through the crushing that you get the best glory to God.
Pergamum– This is the time period where paganism first came into the church. It was about AD 300-500. Pergamum is known as the compromising church. Revelation 2:12-13 says ¹²And to the angel of the church in Pergamos write; These things saith he which hath the sharp sword with two edges; ¹³I know thy works, and where thou dwellest, even where Satan’s seat is: and thou holdest fast my name, and hast not denied my faith, even in those days wherein Antipas was my faithful martyr, who was slain among you, where Satan dwelleth. – Satan’s seat was where paganism was. Here God explains that they were the church positioned in Satan’s territory. They saw people killed for the cause, yet they remained faithful. God says he still held the fact that they had followers of Balaam in there with them.

Revelation 2:15-17 says ¹⁵So hast thou also them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitanes, which thing I hate. ¹⁶Repent; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth. ¹⁷He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it. . – The Sword of his mouth. This is the word. During this church’s time period, we have witchcraft and paganism coming in. Ex- You will have churches positioned in Satan’s territorial dominion. There are churches that must remain faithful in that city and not to let Nicalaitanes pull people out of the church. It is important to know that Satan is territorial. This mean Satan assigns himself to certain territories.

Thyatira –Revelation 2:18-29 says ¹⁸And unto the angel of the church in Thyatira write; These things saith the Son of God, who hath his eyes like unto a flame of fire, and his feet are like fine brass; ¹⁹I know thy works, and charity, and service, and faith, and thy patience, and thy works; and the last to be more than the first. ²⁰Notwithstanding I have a few things against thee, because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols. ²¹And I gave her space to repent of her fornication; and she repented not. ²²Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, except they repent of their deeds. ²³And I will kill her children with death; and all the churches shall know that I am he which searcheth the reins and hearts: and I will give unto every one of you according to your works. ²⁴But unto you I say, and unto the rest in Thyatira, as many as have not this doctrine, and which have not known the depths of Satan, as they speak; I will put upon you none other burden. ²⁵But that which ye have already hold fast till I come. ²⁶And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations: ²⁷And he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers: even as I received of my Father. ²⁸And I will give him the morning star.²⁹He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. – – This covers the period around the 1500s. We are talking about Papal Supremacy. This is Roman Catholicism. It is an Apostolic succession of the Pope and how all of that comes down through history. They (Popes) see themselves in Apostolic bloodline succeeding Peter.

We know about the spirit of Jezebel in the Old Testament. The Spirit of Jezebel uses seduction to promote power. It is a spirit that has to be seen. It is important to know that this spirit does not just affect women. This spirit exists in men too. The bible calls it a false prophetess. She knows the word, uses seductive sexual persuasion to gain power or position or promote his or her agenda. This spirit will not accept rebuke. It is a spirit of rebellion which is witchcraft.

The scripture says he will kill her babies. Ex- This is mean figuratively. You will connect with this spirit and decide to birth this vision and God said he will kill it as soon as it is born, because the motivation of this vision was never right. This spirit exists even today. This is why the majority of great falls in Christian leadership has been sex. It doesn’t matter what your sexual preference is, this spirit wants you. This spirit applies to both genders. The craftiness is, you put stuff away and get closer and closer to God, and then the anxiety intensifies. This is why Satan don’t want you to worship because in worship you out of the flesh. If you really think about it, the majority of the struggle in this house (church) today is sex (not drugs, alcohol, and etc …). The only way you will overcome it is to know that Satan don’t want you, he wants you position.

Sardius – Time period from the 1600s until 1700. Revelation 3:1-3 says ¹And unto the angel of the church in Sardis write; These things saith he that hath the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars; I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead. ²Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die: for I have not found thy works perfect before God. ³Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee. – Here God says he knows their works. God knew that there would be some people who wouldn’t defile themselves. He knew their works wasn’t perfect, but he knew they would strengthen those who remained in the faith and for these things, God said he would reward them.
Philadelphia – Remember this is the church of brotherly love. Revelation 3:7-11 says ⁷And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write; These things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth; ⁸I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name.⁹Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee. ¹⁰Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth. ¹¹Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown. – This represents the time period of the 1800s. It is the time period which the bibles were being printed. God says he would strengthen them by his word and strengthen those who overcome.
Laodicea – All those other churches (1-6) have come to pass. Those churches were literal churches during literal seasons of time that have come to pass. Laodicea is the 7^th church, the end of time church. It represents the time period of the 1700s until Jesus Christ comes back. This church represents the presents the current time now. We are in the Laodicea time zone. Revelation 3:14 says ¹⁴And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God; – There will be no other time period after this. We are in this time period. In fact, we may be the generation that could see the coming of the Lord. No other time period could have said this, because the other time periods had to unfold first.

Revelation 3:15-21 says ¹⁵I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. ¹⁶So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. ¹⁷Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: ¹⁸I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see. ¹⁹As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent. ²⁰Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. ²¹To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne. – God says here is a church, now a contemporary church. This is us.

God says he knew we wouldn’t be all the way in or out (lukewarm) and this makes him sick. He says as a result, he will vomit us out of his mouth. He says we believe it is alright to have one foot in the world and one in the church and you have made it ok. God says every time he sees us like this, it makes him sick. He says we think it is alright to be full of the Holy Ghost one day and full of liquor the next. He says we have made our sins convenient enough to accommodate it.

God says we don’t want to hear sermons about conviction, holiness, or living right. We think that this would be judging us. We don’t want to hear the real word of God. We want to hear people talk about positive living and how everyone should be happy. God says we don’t want to hear anything about repenting and turning away from your wicked ways. We just want a positive message that tells about the house or car we are going to get. We don’t want anyone to tell us that we are living in sin and that we ought to repent and turn from our wicked ways! If they do, we will leave that church and find somebody to accommodate our sin because we are lukewarm!

We don’t even recognize that we have jobs making more money than anyone in our family has made. We have bigger cars and bigger churches and we don’t even realize that because of our dysfunction of satisfying our lukewarmness, why we are always depressed. We can’t figure out how we are in this big house, yet no one in it is speaking to each other. You don’t realize why your children can’t stand you, because they see you shout in church and curse each other out on the way home! God says we don’t even realize how dysfunctional we really are. He says he is telling us what to do. We have big churches, but little Christians. He tried to tell us to buy gold from him that was tried. We thought the tangible stuff was where it was at. This was prophesied in AD90. We are in 2011. We think our stuff adds value to us, because we are a stuffy generation. We are a name brand generation. We are so consumed with stuff, that we are in so much debt. God said he tried to tell us if we buy gold from him that is tried, it has been through some things. Gold has been tried by fire and like it, if we would go through some things, we would start reappropriating things in life and you will start thanking God for the thing money can’t buy, instead of the things money can buy. Then you will start giving God glory for his mercy and grace. Know that your car will fade away, your house, and your bling bling will fade away. There will be no UHaul behind your hearse when you die. What shall it prophet a man to gain the whole world and lose his soul? Jesus says I love you so much, I could come at any moment. If he came tonight, some of us would be up the creek. He said that he loves us so much, that he stands at the door knocking. He knows the party is going on so loud, we don’t hear him. He says if we can turn the noise down and get all the seducing spirits out of our ear, maybe we will realize that the door. It is not in relationship or another drink. It is at the door. He says he is at the door knocking. He is not going to force his way in. If he comes like a thief, we won’t be ready. He just wants us to let him in and he will forget all things that we did. Like the thief on the cross, he says this day you can be with him in paradise. God is giving us time, this generation, time to get this thing right.

Posted in revelation | Tagged Bible Study, Bishop Walker, Direction, Encouragement, Faith, fullness of the Holy Spirit, God, Mt Zion, Relationship, revelation | Leave a comment

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Revelations 6, Bible Study 08/10/11

Revelations Part IV, Bible Study 07/27/11

Interruption of the seals being broken

The great multitude

The 7th seal was opened (Revelations 8)

The Remaining blasts of 2 angels that are about to sound (Revelations 9)

It is important to note, after all we have seen in the 6th trumpets, watch the response of man.

Revelation Part III, Bible Study 07/20/11

The vision of around the throne

The Rapture

Rev 6 – The 4 horses

Seals

Revelation Part II, Bible Study 07/13/11

The 7 churches of Asia Minor and their descriptions

What is more important was where these church wasn’t located

A look at Each Church

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