glory to GOD ! THE FOUR LIVING CREATURES AND THE TWENTY-FOUR ELDERS “…and hath made us kings and priests unto God and His Father; to whom be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen” (Rev. 1:6). With these wonderful words John introduces the New Testament church to Old Testament understanding. For the first time in the book of Revelation, here at the very beginning, he is bringing the Old Testament literal types and shadows over into the New Testament fulfillment. The Old Testament was all about natural, physical, earthly types and shadows of kingship and priesthood. Their kings and priests sat on physical thrones and offered animal sacrifices upon brazen altars in temples made with hands. But now John is raising this kingship and priesthood into a higher, spiritual dimension and announces to the saints that Christ now “hath made us kings and priests unto God and His Father.” With this simple beginning John does what he will do constantly throughout the book of Revelation — refer to Old Testament terminology within the context of New Testament spiritual reality! More than 270 direct quotations, or expressions, couched in Old Testament language, are found in the Revelation. Rooted in this fertile soil, it is like a tree yielding the rich fruitage of the inspiration of the ages. Because the whole Bible is a prophecy and picture of Christ, therefore this book, drawing its nurture from the prophets of old, and showing forth the reality to which they pointed, could be nothing else but THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST! As from the mountain ranges of the Pacific the gold was once washed down and buried in the deep valleys of California, so from the mountains of the scriptures, from Horeb and Sinai, from Hermon and Carmel, from Zion and Moriah, the precious ore of divine truth and reality has been brought down and deposited in this alluvial book, till it is everywhere glistening with gold seven times refined. The books of Genesis and Exodus especially, together with portions from the Psalms and the Prophets, form the seed-bed for the whole Word of God. The deepest book in the Bible, theologically, is the book of Revelation because in it we see the harvest, the fullness, the consummation of every seed planted in the Old Testament. Today in order to understand the book of Revelation. All you need is a good copy of the Bible, and the spirit of wisdom and revelation from God! Every symbol, every sign, every picture, and every figure of the Revelation is already described and defined in the books of Moses, the Psalms, and the Prophets. All the information one needs to interpret the Revelation is already given in the pages of sacred scripture. Our problem is that we haven’t understood the seed-bed, so we don’t understand the harvest! It is interesting to note that Genesis begins with a Garden, and the book of Revelation ends with the Paradise of God. In Genesis there is a river flowing out of Eden, whereas in the Revelation there is a river flowing from God’s throne. In Genesis 2:12 there is gold in the Land, but in the Revelation there is gold in the City. In Genesis the tree of life is in the midst of the Garden, while in the Revelation the tree of life grows in the midst of the street and on either side of the river in the City. In Genesis there is the bdellium and the onyx stone, and in the Revelation there are all manner of precious stones. In Genesis God walks in the Garden, and in the Revelation God dwells in the City. And we could go on and on for pages! The Word of God is more than a history book, my beloved, and more than a set of rules, laws, and commandments. A lot of people think we should throw the Old Testament away, and if that is what they think it is obvious they have no clue as to what it’s about! The Psalmist, by the spirit of prophecy wrote, “In the volume of the book it is written of ME.” Then Jesus said to His disciples, “These are the words which I spake unto you…that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning ME. Then opened He their understanding , that they might understand the scriptures” (Lk. 24:44-45). With these things in mind it should not be difficult for any to see that THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST is the subject of the entire Bible, which meets its acme, culmination, fullness, and consummation in the revelation given to John on Patmos! We must be careful to read the Old Testament in the Spirit of Christ, or we will think everything will be fulfilled literally some day in time, instead of seeing that the FULFILLMENT IS IN CHRIST! All the imagery and typology in the book of Revelation involving the temple, the ark of the testimony, the throne, the most holy place, altars, offerings, incense, fire, seals, wheat, barley, horses, trumpets, wars, Armageddon, tribes of Israel, Jerusalem, mount Zion, the lamb, living creatures, the lion, the ox, the man, the eagle, eyes, wings, robes, harps, vials, and so on, ALL have their fulfillment in Christ. THEY ARE FULFILLED IN HIM! They are not fulfilled in America, Russia, the Middle East, or the so-called Holy Land. Oh, no! Christ is the substance of all the shadows (Col. 2:17). Whatever you are looking for to be fulfilled, don’t look at a spot on the map, don’t look at a date on the calendar, just look into Christ in the Spirit! The book of Revelation is without doubt one of the most important and wonderful books ever written. Vivid imagery marks the book of Revelation. There are powerful representations of scenes both in heaven and on earth. The central scene is the THRONE OF GOD. All other things are related to the throne. This throne is the very center of the universe. Not the physiographical center — but the spiritual center! The throne is a symbol bespeaking of that realm of God’s absolute dominion and omnipotent power over all things. The throne is not a literal seat in some far-off heaven somewhere; it is the omnipresent dimension of God’s sovereign authority and power. In the book of Revelation all “heavenly things,” that is, all spiritual realities, are revealed in their relationship to the throne of God. And while the King James Bible states that “one sat upon the throne,” you will note that the word “one” in your Bible is in italics, meaning that the word does not appear in the Greek text but is supplied by the translators in an effort to clarify what they perceive to be the intent of the passage. And while it is wonderfully true that there is ONE sitting upon the throne, it is evident that that ONE is a CORPORATE ONE — a many-membered body! God is a God of corporateness. Christ is a Christ of corporateness. “For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, SO ALSO IS CHRIST” (I Cor. 12:12). While there is only one God and one throne, yet the God of the throne is ultimately and eternally manifested in corporateness through God’s Christ, that vast company of sons who are themselves “the fullness of Him that filleth all in all.” Therefore, He who sits upon the throne is One — yet that One is a Corporate One even as Jesus says, “To 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” (Rev. 3:21). This is that eternal unity of the many-membered FAMILY OF GOD of which Jesus spoke when He said, “That they all may be one; as Thou, Father, art in me, and I in Thee, that they may be one in us. And the glory which Thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: I in them, and Thou in me, that they may be made perfect IN ONE” (Jn. 17:21-23). It is indeed wonderful!
Posted on: Thu, 18 Jul 2013 13:38:59 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015