THE SECOND SEAL Revelation Chapter 6 VERSE 3 “When He (the Lord) opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature saying, “Come and see.” I HEARD THE SECOND LIVING CREATURE: The four living ones or creatures mentioned here in the first four seals represent the four attributes of God, as are numbered in Rev 4:7: LION (Power) CALF (Justice) MAN (Love) EAGLE (Wisdom) The opinions of brethren differ on the first two. It seems most convincing, however, that…
The Second Church: was Smyrna: meaning “bitter” and is most appropriate in light of the persecutions which characterized the era. An Important Preface to the Smyrna Period “Brethren are not all historians, and the histories of the periods which cover the Smyrna, Pergamos, Thyatira, and Sardis Churches, Seals, and Trumpets are particularly not well known except to historians who have made a point of studying them. A knowledge of this history is, however, imperative to an understanding of the symbols…
Revelation Chapter 8 VERSE 2 “And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and to them were given seven trumpets.” Here again is one of those re-focus markers which John uses so effectively viz. AND I SAW. Had those who provided chapters and verses recognized this, Chapter 8 would have begun with Verse 2 as it should. The words, AND I SAW in Verse 2 carry us back to the beginning of the age (to the first church)—now…
THE FIRST SEAL continued. As further evidence that although the first church possessed the white horse (the pure doctrine of Christ) in its possession, nevertheless those who were soon to be riding (controlling and directing) this doctrine were already aspiring to do so. “The apostle Paul declares that; The Mystery of Iniquity (“Mystic Babylon“) was already beginning to work amongst the Lord’s people IN HIS DAY; but the working was evidently but slight until after the death of Paul and…
THE FIRST SEAL Revelation Chapter 6 VERSE 1 and 2 “Now I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals; and I heard one of the four living creatures saying with a voice like thunder, “Come and see. And I looked, and behold, a white horse. He who sat on it had a bow; and a crown was given to him, and he went out conquering and to conquer.” The traditional view held by the majority in the nominal…
The Seven angels of the Seven Churches The first Church: was Ephesus: meaning “First” or “desirable” this period covered the time in which the apostles lived beginning at Pentecost 33 A.D. to about 100 A.D. “The angel of this Church is the Apostle Paul who wrote the greater part of the New Testament —ALL in the form of letters to the various churches and to the Hebrews as a group. Texts like 2 Cor 11:28 and Acts 9:15 demonstrate his…
The History of the Gospel Age Church The importance of history cannot be overestimated most especially as it pertains to the history of the Gospel age church. Unfortunately, the vast majority of professed Christians have little or no knowledge of church history. They may know something about the early days of the church its founding by the Lord and the apostles and its progress up until about the time of the fall of Jerusalem, but beyond that it all becomes…
As stated in our previous post before we delve into the history of each of the seven churches and their respective angels, we would first like to ask, What are the qualifications for being one of the Seven Angels? The following excerpt comes to us from the New Albany Notes on Revelation. “Much discussion has gone into naming the seven messengers (angels) to the seven Churches. On the whole, Bible students have been in basic agreement as to the identities…
Zechariah’s Vision The foregoing vision given Zechariah confirms what we were discussing in our previous post concerning the divine channels chosen to dispense the truth to the household of faith. In the narrative found in (Zech 4:1-14), Zechariah was given another vision by the angel of the Lord, and the angel (messenger) asked him, “What do you see?” Zechariah answered saying, “I am looking, and there is a lamp-stand of solid gold with a bowl on top of it, and…
The Seven angels and the Proper Food On the Lord’s Day the apostle John banished upon the island of Patmos was in spirit when he saw one like the Son of Man standing in the midst of seven golden lamp-stands. In his right hand he held seven stars. He later explained to John that the seven stars were the angels (or messengers) of the seven churches, and that the seven golden lamp-stands represented the seven churches. (Rev 1:9-20) These seven…