Sunday, July 7, 2013

Christ's Final Invitation

Then he said to me, “These words are faithful and true.” And the Lord God of the holy prophets sent His angel to show His servants the things which must shortly take place.
    “Behold, I am coming quickly! Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book.”
    Now I, John, saw and heard these things. And when I heard and saw, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel who showed me these things.
   Then he said to me, “See that you do not do that. For I am your fellow servant, and of your brethren the prophets, and of those who keep the words of this book. Worship God.”
   And he said to me, “Do not seal the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is at hand.
   “He who is unjust, let him be unjust still; he who is filthy, let him be filthy still; he who is righteous, let him be righteous still; he who is holy, let him be holy still.” 
22:6-11 

The Time is at Hand


Then he, the angel, said to me, these sayings are faithful and true or as Wuest# has it, these things you have heard are trustworthy and dependable.

   In the statement, the Lord God of the holy prophets, the word, holy, means sanctified (made pure) and it does not infer that prophets are to be worshiped. The prophets that were used by God were first sanctified and then used by the Lord.

 Now, in reiteration, the writer takes us back to the introduction of The Apocalypse.  The word servants, 22:6, reminds us of 1:20, where the seven stars are the servants of the seven churches;

  the things that must shortly take place, 22:6, reminds us of 1:1: to show his servants --- things which must shortly take place.

   Behold, I am coming quickly.  It is easy to believe that it was Christ who said these words since that is what the church has taught us, and the red-letter editions of the New Testament have those words printed in red which indicates that Christ spoke them.  Later we will see that Christ also spoke these words at a different time.

By reading it carefully, we notice that here it is not Christ that was speaking. It is the angel who said these words. The Living Bible changes these words to, Then the angel said to me, “These words are trustworthy and true: ‘I am coming soon!’ God...has sent his angel to tell you this will happen soon.

Be Careful Whom You Worship


   And I fell before his feet to worship him. But he said to me, "See that you do not! I am your fellow servant, and of your brothers who have the testimony of Jesus. Worship God! For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy." Rev. 19:10

   I fell down to worship...the angel which showed me these things.  The writer, a Jew, knew better; in another time and situation, he would not have considered worshipping an angel.  No doubt he knew this portion of scripture: You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve. Ex. 34:14.

   Why was the writer planning to worship an angel so long after the first time he heard the voice of his host angel?  Perhaps he was awestruck at the sight of the marriage feast, or maybe at seeing all the raptured saints.  In any case, he felt that worship at that time was appropriate.  The voice said to him, do not worship me; I am a servant like you and your brothers are; Worship God. 22:9

   I am a fellow servant...of those who keep the words of this book. Not including passing references to the book of Life, the last book that was mentioned in The Revelation was in 10:8-10 and there it was concluded that the little book was The Bible.  Here the angel again reminds us that to keep on being Christians we must keep the sayings of this book, the Bible.

   Do not seal the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is at hand.  In the KJV, there appears to be no distinction between this book in 22:9 and this book in 22:10.  The Living Bible has made the difference distinct by writing, this Book, with a capital "B" in 22:9, by which is meant the Bible, and in 22:10 instead of using the word book they write, what you have written, which, of course, later became the last book of our Bible; The Apocalypse.

When Daniel received the prophecy of the last days he was told to seal the book, even to the time of the end.  Now, at the end of time, the writer of The Revelation is told Do not seal the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is at hand.

He that is unjust, let him be unjust still.  There are several very different ways of interpreting this. 

One interpretation is, it is too late to change, Christ has returned and judgment is imminent. 
Another interpretation is the way the Living Bible has it, All doing wrong will do it more and more, the vile will become more vile; good men will be better; those who are holy will continue on in greater holiness. 22:11

For the testimony of (about) Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. 19:10.  Is easier to understand in these words:

for it is of Jesus that thy brethren ... testify by the Spirit in them. 
JFB

The design of prophecy is to bear testimony to Jesus. 
Barnes

The Living Bible has translated this part of 19:10 into understandable English; The purpose of all I have shown you is to tell about Jesus.
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# An Expanded Translation, K.W. Wuest.

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