Participants: Ranko Stefanovic
Series Code: RCK
Program Code: RCK000008
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00:18 Welcome again to our program
00:22 "Revelation of the Coming King." 00:26 Whether you are the viewer, 00:29 already watched the previous programs 00:33 or you're new one, I want to welcome you 00:34 in the name of our Savior Jesus Christ. 00:37 We are studying a book of the Bible 00:39 that's not easy to understand 00:42 but praise God, He promised all help to us. 00:45 And I hope that you have realized 00:48 that when we do it in the right way, 00:50 when we take the Bible as our interpreter, 00:53 interpreter of that book, that some things 00:57 they become much, much clear, clear to us. 01:01 I'm Ranko Stefanovic, professor of New Testament, 01:05 and Seventh-day Adventist theological seminary, 01:08 Andrews University. 01:10 And I am so glad to lead 01:14 and study of the last book of the Bible. 01:19 As we study the Book of Revelation, 01:23 we need God's help. 01:24 We need the wisdom of the Holy Spirit. 01:27 But at the same time we need some good tools 01:29 and I'd like at this moment to once again introduce 01:35 one good tool for study of the Book of Revelation. 01:38 There are other books and very good tools 01:41 that people made but our presentations here follow 01:44 what is here found in this book titled 01:47 "Revelation of Jesus Christ." 01:49 As I promised to you, I will always refer to the pages 01:53 that you can open and study the topic 01:57 that we cover in the presentation 01:59 that we made after this program is over. 02:02 So my presentation now, 02:06 the material is found here from page 163 and on. 02:13 There are about next 30, 40 or 50 pages. 02:16 We'll see how much material you can get here 02:18 and I'd like to encourage you to study the topic for yourself. 02:22 But as every time we do it, 02:23 we'd like to ask God for His presence here 02:27 and for His help in understanding 02:28 those difficult things of the Book of Revelation. 02:32 Our, Heavenly Father, thank you so much for your love. 02:37 Thank you for giving us this revelation of Jesus Christ. 02:41 And thank you for a promise that those who study your word, 02:46 you will not leave them alone. 02:49 Thank you for a Holy Spirit 02:53 who can direct us and lead us into all the truth 02:56 so just asking for Your presence in our midst 02:59 and thank you for all your help, in the precious name 03:03 of our Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. 03:11 I would like just in few moments to recall 03:14 and to repeat what we said last time. 03:18 We saw that Revelation 4 and 5 makes one literary unit. 03:23 It's one vision of John. 03:27 But this vision has two stages. 03:29 One that is set here in Chapter 4 03:34 and we saw the Chapter 4 presents the general realities 03:38 there before the throne of God in the heavenly places. 03:40 This is something that always takes place on a regular base 03:44 when the heavenly beings come there before God. 03:49 We saw new element 24 elders 03:51 but generally speaking this is something 03:53 that always takes place there in heaven. 03:55 However, when we come here 03:58 to Chapter 5, the situation changes. 04:01 And now comes very emotional moment for me 04:04 because I'm coming to the chapter 04:07 that I spend 3 years of my life, 04:10 6 days of the week about 13, 14, or 15 hours a day 04:15 because the subject of my dissertation 04:19 was actually Revelation Chapter 5. 04:22 This reason I fell in love 04:25 with the content of this chapter. 04:26 So I would like to invite our viewers 04:28 and you who are here, my audience, 04:31 that we go here to Chapter 5 of the Book of Revelation. 04:37 There are many-- 04:39 here to discover here in this chapter 04:42 and many encouraging messages 04:44 that God wants to give us at this moment. 04:48 Keep in mind that John is still in the vision. 04:52 He is there watching through the open door 04:56 of the heavenly temple there in the throne room 04:59 what is going on there. 05:01 And you remember what we finished in Chapter 4. 05:04 There is that giving glory to God 05:08 and worshipping of God by the heavenly beings. 05:11 But suddenly everything stops 05:16 and there is a silence there in the heavenly throne room. 05:20 Let's read Chapter 5 verse 1. 05:23 And "I saw in the right hand of him 05:29 who sat on the throne." 05:30 You know who he is. It's God, we saw Him. 05:34 "A book written inside and on the back, 05:40 sealed up with seven seals." 05:45 Suddenly the heavenly lethargy stops. 05:51 And the focus of the whole assembly 05:54 in the heavenly room is on that book. 05:59 By the way, what kind of book is that? 06:02 Usually, when we think of books, it's like this. 06:06 Unfortunately, this is not a kind of book that John saw. 06:12 He saw the book like this, scroll. 06:15 It was sealed. It means that it had seven threads. 06:20 Into the knots here, 06:21 there was a seal impression with the ring there. 06:24 So you cannot open this book. 06:26 You can break even one seal and remove the thread 06:30 but you cannot open the book. 06:32 The book is not opened 06:33 until all the seven seals are broken. 06:35 Are you still with me? Then you can unroll the scroll. 06:38 This is actually what John sees. 06:40 The question is how do you know that this is scroll? 06:44 Because about the time of the Book of Revelation, 06:47 the format of the book was changed gradually 06:50 from scrolls to the codex. 06:53 Codex, this is the format of the book. 06:57 Actually, the codex came to use 07:00 toward the end of the second century 07:01 but already toward the end of the first century, 07:04 we have some evidence of the use. 07:06 But we know that this scroll, the Greek word of biblion, 07:10 that is book was actually scroll 07:12 because when you go to the 6th seal 07:18 of the Book of Revelation, which is in Chapter 6, 07:21 John talks with the opening of the 6th seal that the heaven 07:24 was like a scroll open. 07:32 This is a clear reference 07:33 when John used the word 'biblion.' 07:35 The same word is used 07:36 that he had in mind not 'codex' but the 'scroll.' 07:39 So he sees the scroll. 07:41 The scroll is okay, sealed with the seven seals. 07:47 But John also notices something very interesting is 07:53 that this actually scroll is written on both sides. 07:59 Okay, on both sides. 08:00 The question is now, what is the meaning of all of this? 08:06 And I'd like now to start with something 08:09 that is very provocative 08:12 because just on this small detail, 08:15 I spent about 8 months of my life. 08:20 If you take any Bible translation, 08:23 it states that John saw the scroll 08:27 in the right hand of God. 08:32 Because my language, 08:36 okay, as I was born is based on Greek. 08:42 When I read this statement -- in Greek 08:47 and I saw all those different translations 08:49 of the Bible in the world, 08:51 something was strange in my ears. 08:55 Because in Greek when you read, it's not in the right hand, 09:01 it's at the right side at the right hand. 09:06 When I for the first time writing my dissertation 09:09 made that proposal, everybody was against me. 09:12 They said, "How can you disagree with all Bible translators?" 09:17 But I had to do my scholarly research. 09:19 And that's why I spent so many months of my life. 09:22 I went to search old Greek sources 09:25 dealing with 1,000, 1,000 pages. 09:27 We did not have that computer research 09:29 but we had so called Ibycus. 09:32 You type the phrase in Greek 09:33 and it goes through all Greek pages 09:36 that were written from the seventh century BC 09:38 until the seventh century AD. 09:40 And I found only that the phrase-- 09:43 was used only about 20 times by Greeks. 09:48 Because the translators translated this phrase 09:51 that in Greek is on the right hand 09:54 meaning the side they translate in the hand of God. 09:58 They said we translate in this way because 10:01 John did not know Greek very well. 10:03 So we have here a corrupted grammar. 10:07 But then what I discover is 10:10 actually it's not corrupted grammar. 10:12 John used the phrase that was an idiom 10:16 well used in Greek but very rarely. 10:19 And in all those 20 instances 10:23 that I got from Greek sources 10:26 actually always means on the right hand. 10:30 It applies the side. 10:32 By the way, I wrote a scholarly paper on that. 10:35 It was published in scholarly journal. 10:37 I'm quoted by scholars with regard to that 10:40 but still people are still holding the tradition. 10:42 How it's very difficult for people to change. 10:45 So what is the situation that we have here is 10:47 we have to keep in mind 10:49 John sees God sitting on the throne. 10:52 But see our problem is 10:54 that when we are talking about a throne, 10:57 we always have in mind British throne. 11:03 But in ancient Near East, in Israel, 11:06 throne was not just a chair 11:08 where the king would sit. It was a kind of a couch. 11:13 The king would sit and king would invite 11:15 somebody else to sit beside him there on the throne. 11:19 By the way, I would like to encourage you 11:20 to open 1 Kings Chapter 1. 11:22 You read there that King Solomon was sitting on the throne 11:26 and his mother came to visit him if you remember to talk to him 11:30 about Adonijah, his brother there. 11:33 And Solomon saw his mother. 11:36 He got up from the throne. 11:38 He took his mother for his hand 11:40 and took her to sit beside him on the throne. 11:45 Now it comes everything clear when we read Psalm 110. 11:49 "The Lord said to my lord, sit with me upon my throne." 11:56 And now Revelation 3:21 11:59 the promise given to the church makes sense. 12:03 "Everybody who overcomes will sit with Me on My throne, 12:08 as I overcame and sat with my Father on His throne." Amen. 12:14 Now everything, everything makes clear. 12:16 So let me now clarify it. 12:18 So John sees God sitting on the throne 12:21 but there on the throne at the right hand of God, 12:27 there on the throne, he sees a scroll not in the hand of God 12:32 waiting for somebody for a worldly candidate 12:37 to come to take that scroll. 12:40 So when you take the scroll, what do you do next? 12:43 To come and to sit there on the throne. 12:47 Oh, boy. They're coming here to something very interesting is. 12:52 Let me just provide few more details. 12:55 When John sees the scroll, 12:58 there was nothing uncommon in the Roman Empire, 13:01 that the documents were sealed with seven seals. 13:05 I have the evidences, the dissertations. 13:08 The scroll, if you have some important document, 13:12 you needed seven witnesses. 13:14 Each one witness would put the impress 13:16 of his ring there to seal that document. 13:19 So it means nobody can pamper 13:21 with the content of the document. 13:23 So dealing here with something that is securely sealed. 13:28 It's so sealed that the following scene comes. 13:33 Are you with me? Let's go there verse 2 13:36 "And I saw a strong angel," 13:38 whenever in the Book of Revelation 13:39 you have strong angel, 13:41 it means that the message is so much important, 13:43 that some important angel has to do this job. 13:46 Not just an ordinary angel. 13:47 It says, "I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice. 13:52 'Who is worthy to take the book and to break its seals?'" 13:58 Keep in mind they're looking for a worthy candidate. 14:04 Not everybody in the universe is able to do it. 14:10 But please I would like you to pay special attention 14:16 to something John says in verse 3. 14:19 "And no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth 14:24 was able to open the book or to look into it." 14:27 Why nobody in heaven? 14:29 Please I would like-- you want to use our knowledge 14:32 that we talk about Chapter 4. 14:34 If you go to conclusion of Chapter 4, 14:36 what do you read there? 14:38 Verse 11, "Worthy you are, 14:43 our Lord to receive glory and honor and power." 14:46 Who is the only one who is worthy? A God. 14:51 Now there is a question 14:52 who is worthy to take this book and to open it? 14:56 So to be worthy it means you have to be divine. 15:01 But not only to be divine, please, I would like you 15:04 to observe something. 15:06 If this is the only qualification 15:07 just to be worthy to be divine, 15:09 God could go and take the scroll and open it. 15:14 But there was something more. 15:16 In order to open that book 15:18 it was necessary not to be just worthy, 15:21 but also to have the blood of the lamb 15:25 by which the fallen humanity was redeemed 15:29 in order to open the scroll and unleash the history, 15:33 to lead us to the time of the earth. 15:35 That's why nobody in the entire universe 15:38 is able to open the scroll. 15:39 Hey, we have some great crises there in the throne room. 15:44 And John says, "Nobody is able." 15:46 Now watch out the next text, it says in verse 4. 15:50 "Then I began to weep greatly, because no one was found worthy 15:56 to open the book and to look it." 15:59 And now John as he's crying, one of the 24 elders, 16:05 now you see that, those elders, uh? 16:08 He said to me, "Stop weeping, behold the lamb 16:13 that is from the tribe of Judah, the root of David, has overcome, 16:19 so as we open the book and its seven seals." 16:24 "Please, please, can you help me?" 16:27 The elder says to John, "Stop weeping and crying, 16:31 because there is somebody who overcame," 16:35 one more time, you remember in 3:21, 16:39 "Who overcomes will sit with me on my throne, 16:44 as I overcame and sit with my Father on His throne." 16:50 Now the elder says to John, "There is one who overcame." 16:54 Can you connect the two verses? 16:56 "There is one who overcame" and who is that? 16:59 The lion from the tribe of Judah. 17:03 And John excited, keep in mind, he's weeping, 17:06 he's excited to see that lion who overcame. 17:10 He turns to see, but where is the lion? 17:13 Actually, he sees the slain lamb. 17:18 By the way, this is very important feature 17:20 in the Book of Revelation. 17:21 It's very important for Revelation Chapter 7. 17:24 Very often John is in the vision. 17:26 We'll talk more about that. He hears something. 17:29 He hears that the lion from the tribe of Judah overcame, 17:34 but when John actually sees what he heard, 17:38 he sees the same thing, but with different symbol 17:44 because both the lion and the lamb 17:48 are the symbols for Christ. 17:50 You see, the lamb, uh, sorry, 17:52 the lion indicates what Jesus did. 17:57 What did He do? He overcame. 18:00 But the lamb shows how He did it. 18:05 He did not overcome as the lion, He overcame as the slain lamb. 18:11 So actually this is the text that is telling us that, 18:15 that qualification for taking the book 18:21 includes somebody who is divine 18:23 because he's worthy, but that's not enough. 18:28 It looks for the blood of the lamb. 18:32 Somebody by the virtue of his own death, 18:36 of his own blood is able to redeem the falling humanity. 18:41 That's why nobody in the universe was found worthy. 18:46 There is only one and he is now ushered into the scene. 18:53 But please watch something out. 18:57 We are coming here to the climax moment of the entire scene. 19:04 Verse 6, "And I saw between the throne 19:06 with the four living creatures and the elders, 19:09 a lamb standing as if slain, 19:12 having seven horns and seven eyes, 19:15 which are the seven spirits of God, 19:17 sent out into all the earth." 19:21 And now verse 7, "And when he came 19:26 and when he took the book" keep in mind, one more time, 19:31 he comes to the throne. What does he do? 19:34 He takes the scroll, at the moment 19:36 when the lamb takes the scroll, he doesn't open the book. 19:40 When does he open the book? 19:42 If you go to Chapter 6, he breaks the first seal. 19:46 We will see it next time, then he breaks the next seal 19:48 and the next seal and the next seal. 19:51 When he actually opens the seventh seal 19:54 is the second coming of Christ. 19:57 So the book is not open 19:58 before the second coming of Christ. 20:00 So this is not about the opening of the book. 20:02 It's about what? It's about the taking of the book. 20:06 The moment when he takes the book 20:07 from the throne what happens? 20:09 Look verse 8, "When he had taken the scroll, 20:13 the four living creatures and the 24 elders 20:17 fell down before the lamb, each one holding a harp 20:21 and golden bowls full of incense, 20:23 which are the prayers of the saints. 20:26 And they sang a new song." 20:27 Now, now, now I'm asking you to pay attention 20:30 to something very important, 20:31 "Worthy are you to take the book." 20:35 What was the question that was asked in verse 2? 20:38 Who is worthy to take the book, to open it to read it?" 20:42 He says, "You are worthy to take the book 20:45 and to break its seals for you were slain 20:48 and purchase for God with your blood, 20:50 man of every tribe and tongue and people and nation." 20:54 Please, I would like you to pay attention to something. 20:56 Who is worthy in Chapter 4? Only God is worthy. 21:03 Now there is somebody worthy to take the scroll, 21:06 somebody has to be divine, but another qualification, 21:11 he had to purchase, to redeem people 21:14 from the slavery of Satan. And we go to verse 10. 21:17 "You have made them to be 21:19 a kingdom and priests to our God, 21:21 and they will reign upon the earth." 21:23 And then verse 11, "Then I looked, 21:24 and heard the voice of many angels 21:27 around the throne and the living creatures and the elders. 21:30 And the number of them was Myriads of Myriads 21:33 and thousand of thousand," boy, 21:34 the throne room had to be a great during the era, huh? 21:38 "Saying with loud voice, 21:40 'Worthy is the lamb that was slain to receive power 21:43 and the riches and the wisdom and the might 21:46 and the glory and the blessing." 21:48 Please, I'd like to ask you in question is 21:51 when they said, "Worthy is the lamb 21:53 that was slain to receive power and the riches and the wisdom 21:57 and might and honor and glory," 21:58 what is this? These are exclamations 22:01 that you give only to the royalty. 22:04 But keep in mind, that Jesus does not receive 22:06 these exclamations before he takes the book. 22:10 Did you notice something? Let's go back. 22:12 Please, this is very important to observe. 22:15 When you read in verse 7, 22:17 "He came and He took the book out of the right side of Him 22:21 who sat on the throne. 22:22 When he had taken the book" then what happens? 22:27 Then there is glorification of the lamb. 22:29 He's worthy, but he's also worthy to receive the power 22:33 and the glory and the wealth and all those exclamations 22:37 that belong only to the royalty. 22:39 But you see the crescendo here 22:41 that reaches the climax of that worship in verse 13. 22:46 "And every created thing 22:48 which is in heaven and on the earth 22:50 and under the earth and on the sea. 22:52 And all things in them, I heard saying, 22:55 'To Him who sits on the throne and to the lamb, 22:58 be blessing and honor and glory 23:00 and dominion forever and ever.'" Amen. 23:03 "And the four living creatures kept saying, 'Amen.' 23:07 And the elders fell down and worshiped." 23:09 What's going on? 23:11 You will notice while in Chapter 4, "God is worship." 23:15 All the heavenly beings they glorify Him, 23:18 sing to Him, worshiping Him. 23:20 What is going on now in Chapter 5? 23:23 Now the lamb is worshipped. 23:26 Worshiped on the same level as God. 23:29 If you go to verse 13, they're worshipping the lamb 23:33 and the God who's sitting on throne 23:35 which means that they are now both 23:38 sitting on the throne there. 23:39 Because the lamb came, 23:40 he took the scroll from the throne. 23:42 He sat there on the throne and glorifying God. 23:45 Let's now explain this. 23:48 We're coming to the key moment here of the vision. 23:53 There are few questions. 23:56 Why do heavenly beings worship Jesus and glorify Him? 24:01 Because He has taken the scroll from the throne. 24:05 Why that crisis in the throne room? 24:07 Looking for a worthy candidate. 24:10 Why is this scroll sealed? 24:15 And there is only one person in the entire universe 24:18 who can come, take the scroll, and unseal it. 24:21 Look at those questions. 24:24 What is the significance of that? 24:25 You know, unfortunately there are Christians 24:28 coming from my own denominations, 24:30 who believed that in Chapter 5, 24:32 we have the investigative judgments seen. 24:35 I'm sorry, everything which we just read, 24:37 does it somehow reflect investigative judgments seen? 24:42 There's so much celebration. 24:44 There's taking of the scroll and the book is not open. 24:47 If the Book of Daniel Chapter 7, 24:49 yeah, the books are open at the judgment. 24:51 Here there is no any opening of the book. 24:53 Simply the book is taken by the lamb 24:54 and the lamb is glorified as royalty. 24:57 What are we talking about? 24:58 You see, we have something to understand 25:01 little bit about the history of Israel. 25:04 You remember we already mentioned 25:06 that we want to understand the Book of Revelation. 25:09 What is the first step that we have to make? 25:12 Where is the key for the unlocking 25:16 many difficult passages of the Book of Revelation where? 25:19 In the Old Testament. So you want to understand it, 25:23 we have to ask ourselves a question. 25:26 Where in the Old Testament? We have the throne. 25:31 And at the throne, there is a scroll, 25:36 especially that the scroll is sealed. 25:39 Are you still with me? I'd like to invite you something. 25:43 Please keep in mind the purpose of this presentation 25:46 is to stimulate our appetite for starting. 25:48 I cannot cover all details. 25:50 I know that may be you will be left 25:52 confused at the end of this presentation, 25:54 but praise God for that, 25:55 it means, that after this presentation 25:57 you will go and study for yourself more. 25:58 And you have here about 50 pages. 26:01 You understand it's impossible to cover 26:02 these 50 pages in one hour. 26:04 So please, go and keep study for yourself, 26:06 let's go back to the Old Testament. 26:09 If you open the Book of Deuteronomy, 26:12 the Book of Deuteronomy Chapter 17. 26:17 We read there, you know, 26:20 God was bringing the people of Israel 26:23 into the promise land, you know--we know that. 26:26 And God wanted to be the king over His people. 26:32 God was supposed to be the King of Israel. 26:35 But when we go to Deuteronomy Chapter 17, 26:37 Moses said to the people of Israel, 26:40 "When you enter the promise land," 26:43 Moses said, "I know what you will do. 26:46 You will want to have a king, 26:49 a human king among yourself as the other nations." 26:54 Moses said, "I know you will do it." 26:56 And Moses says, "Since I know that you will do it, 27:01 these are the rules and the regulations for your king." 27:08 And please, I don't want to go through entire Chapter 17, 27:12 from verse 14 actually you have those regulations. 27:16 But there is something very important in verse 18 27:19 that we read about the regulations 27:23 that Moses gave for their future king. 27:27 Are you there? Deuteronomy Chapter 17, 27:29 we read from verse 18, 27:32 "Now it shall come about 27:34 when he the king sits on the throne." 27:37 Please, what does it mean to sit on the throne? 27:39 It means to begin to reign when he's enthroned. 27:42 "He shall write for himself a copy of this law on a scroll 27:47 in the presence of the Levitical priests. 27:50 It shall be with him 27:51 and he shall read it all the days of his life, 27:54 that he may learn to fear the Lord his God, 27:57 by carefully observing all the words 28:00 of this law and these statutes, 28:03 that his heart may not be lifted up above his countrymen 28:07 and that he may not turn aside from the commandments, 28:10 to the right or to the left 28:12 so that he and his sons may continue long in his kingdom 28:17 in the midst of Israel." Okay. 28:21 As we read here about the regulations 28:24 for the Israelite kings that Moses set. 28:29 According to the instructions 28:31 that Moses set for the future kingship 28:34 was when the king is enthroned on the throne, 28:37 when he becomes the king, sits on the throne, 28:39 what was the first duty of the king to do 28:42 when he becomes a king? 28:46 He has to provide for himself a copy of the law of God. 28:53 It could be the five Books of Moses 28:55 or simply the Book of Deuteronomy. 28:57 He says, this law which is actually all of his reference 28:59 in the Book of Deuteronomy 29:01 to the Book of Deuteronomy, doesn't matter. 29:03 It means the copy of the law of God. 29:06 Why did king have to do it? Why? 29:10 What is the purpose of that? 29:12 Moses makes very clear 29:14 because that king when he sits on the throne, 29:16 he had to realize that he was not the sole king. 29:20 There was a king above him. 29:24 So that heavenly king asked him to read that law 29:28 that he knew-- that he knows how to behave. 29:33 That his heart, he says, 29:34 is not lifted above his brethren. 29:37 Because the King of Israel 29:39 was supposed simply to be Shepherd, 29:41 the father of his people because he was accountable 29:44 to that real king who was actually God, God in heaven. 29:49 By the way, please, I hope you trust me, 29:52 because you have the references, you'll study for yourself. 29:55 It was God's will that the King of Israel 29:58 when he sits on the throne 30:00 by providing the copy of the law of God for himself 30:04 that he reads it constantly, 30:06 that he knows how to relate to the people, 30:09 but at the same time, 30:11 the King of Israel was supposed to be 30:14 the keeper of the law of God. 30:16 His duty was constantly to keep that law 30:19 and to instruct the people into the law of God. 30:21 By the way, you will notice all of this. 30:23 Whenever there is--after a long period of apostasy in Israel, 30:28 when the good king sits on the throne, 30:30 the first thing that the king does, 30:33 he reads the law of God 30:34 and he organizes the Levites and the priests. 30:36 He sends them throughout the land, 30:38 to teach people, to instruct them 30:40 into the will of God. 30:42 This was actually the first reference 30:44 and you'll see that the scroll is connected 30:46 with enthronement of the king and the throne there. 30:49 By the way, if you go to 1 Samuel Chapter, 30:52 let me just see, it's 1 Samuel 10:25. 30:58 You can read it there. 31:00 When the first king in Israel was crowned, 31:05 you know, his name it was Saul. 31:07 we read that Samuel 31:11 made a copy of the law of God for the king there. 31:17 Actually, the history of the Israelite kingship 31:20 was closely associated with the scroll of the law of God. 31:26 Are you still with me? 31:28 By the way, when you see the history 31:29 of the Israelite kingship, 31:31 whenever one king sits on the throne, 31:33 you hear the statement, "He did evil in the eyes of God. 31:37 He did not obey the instructions 31:40 that are found in the Books of Moses." 31:43 Then you have that person by name, 31:47 he sat on the throne after his father, 31:50 but his heart was right before God and he did everything 31:53 what was right in the eyes of God 31:55 according to the instructions from the Book of Moses. 31:57 So you see the reign and the rule 32:00 of the king in Israel was based on that 32:03 how the person relate to the law of God 32:06 because the king was supposed to be 32:08 the keeper of the law of God. 32:11 But to live to get little bit faster. 32:14 There is something that point of Israel's history. 32:18 That something happened. We don't know how. 32:21 We don't know where the tradition started, 32:24 but I'd like you to open 2 Kings 11:12. 32:31 This is a very important text 32:33 for the understanding of Revelation Chapter 5. 32:36 We read there it's about the enthronement 32:41 of the young king Joash. 32:43 You remember he was just-- how old was he? 32:45 7, 8 when he became a king. 32:49 You remember all his brothers were killed 32:51 by that evil queen Athaliah, you remember that. 32:56 And now the time came and they said, 32:59 "Then he the high priest, brought the king's son out 33:04 and put the crown on him and gave him the testimony." 33:09 What is the testimony? 33:11 If you go through the Old Testament 33:13 you can see that the law of God, 33:15 the Torah, the five books of Moses, 33:18 they were also called the testimony. 33:20 By the way, you know that in the arc of the covenant 33:22 was the testimony there. 33:24 It's always the reference to the law of God. 33:26 So now, now, now pay attention to something very important. 33:29 "They brought the king's son" and what did they do? 33:35 "They put the crown" royal crown "upon his head." 33:41 Did he become the king at that moment? No. 33:44 Something else had to happen 33:46 and they put the testimony into his hands. 33:50 And it is at that moment "they made him king, 33:54 anointed him and they clapped their hands 33:57 and they said, 'Long live the king.'" 34:01 Something happened in Israel's history. 34:02 We don't know how that instruction that Moses gave 34:07 to the kings of Israel 34:09 when the king sits on the throne, 34:10 he has to provide for himself the copy 34:12 evidently because of the bad history of the Israelite king. 34:16 They did it before. 34:18 So when the king came to his enthronement, 34:21 they put him there at the special place. 34:24 Are you still with me? 34:25 And they would take a crown 34:27 and put up on his head, but it's silence. 34:31 Nobody rejoices. And then something else is done. 34:36 They took a scroll. You know why. 34:40 They put into his hand. He accepts the scroll. 34:44 At that moment, what does the text say? 34:48 They made him king and people started shouting, 34:53 singing, rejoicing, 34:56 "Long live the king." Who is he now? 34:59 From this point on in history of the Israelite king, 35:03 the enthronement consisted of two arcs. 35:06 The crown on the head, the scroll of the law of God 35:12 in his hand, at that moment, the king is proclaimed-- 35:16 the young prince is proclaimed to be the king. 35:21 This is the way how the enthronement 35:23 of the Israel kings actually started. 35:26 Unfortunately, the Israelite kings 35:31 did not obey the instructions 35:34 that Moses gave to the Israelite kings. 35:37 You remember just here and there some of the kings in Jerusalem 35:42 did what was right in the eyes of God. 35:45 Most of them, they did evil. 35:47 And finally the Assyrian king came, 35:51 he took the people of Israel, 35:52 those 10 tribes to the Assyrian captivity 35:55 and finally we have the destruction of Jerusalem, 35:58 okay, in 605 and the people of Judah were taken, 36:03 you remember when Daniel was taken, 36:05 they were taken to the captivity. 36:07 Now let me ask you, friends. 36:11 There is no anymore the king on the throne 36:17 of the David's throne there in Jerusalem. 36:19 What does it mean? 36:23 There is no somebody who is in charge of the law of God. 36:29 People are now taken there into the Babylonian exile, 36:32 but there is something very interesting 36:34 as I did the research. 36:37 I wanted to find why the scroll is sealed 36:40 and suddenly I found in Jewish sources. 36:44 You can find there in my commentary. 36:46 I put it there. 36:47 You can see there are several pages, 36:50 that the Jewish people at the time 36:51 when the Book of Revelation was written 36:53 they believed the base of Isaiah 8:16, 37:00 and we read, "Bind up the testimony, 37:04 seal the law among my disciples." Okay. 37:09 Let's make it very practical, okay. 37:12 "Bind up the testimony." 37:15 This is how you make scroll, 37:17 then you put those threats there and then you seal it, 37:22 so nobody can read it. 37:24 By the way later in the book, 37:27 Isaiah explains the meaning of this. 37:30 It's in Chapter 29 verses 9 to 14. 37:36 God said to Isaiah, you know, your words to the people 37:41 are really like the words of the sealed book. 37:45 When you give the sealed book to somebody 37:47 and you said to the person read it, 37:50 he will say to you, I cannot read it, because it's sealed. 37:55 So we see God compares the sealed book with the word 37:59 that Isaiah actually prophesied to the people. 38:02 And it's based on that 38:04 that the Jewish people reached the conclusion 38:07 that somewhere with the king of Ahaz, 38:09 they mentioned him the king of Ahaz, 38:12 who was really rebellious against God 38:14 and that's why God sent the message 38:16 through Isaiah to people against the very king. 38:18 They said it was a time of Ahaz, 38:21 during the prophet of Isaiah that actually the law, 38:25 the revelation of God became sealed 38:29 to the Jewish people, to the people of Israel. 38:33 And they said that the kings 38:35 that they followed the king of Ahaz, 38:38 they contributed to the sealing of the book. 38:41 So with the Babylonian exile 38:43 there is no other king on the throne of Israel any longer. 38:47 The book is sealed and there is nobody to interpret 38:53 the law of God to the people and it was during the same time. 38:58 By the way, we are talking about Jewish people 39:00 the same concept is found also in the Book of Jeremiah, 39:05 in the Book of Ezekiel and also in minor prophets. 39:09 And Jewish people took all those texts. 39:11 They developed their tradition saying, 39:15 "Yeah, there was no king of Israel anymore on the throne, 39:19 but the time will come when the Messiah 39:24 who is descendant of David, 39:26 the true king of Israel will come to Jerusalem, 39:30 sit on the throne of David 39:33 and he will take the seal scroll of the law of God, 39:39 unseal it and once again 39:42 instruct the people into the law of God." 39:46 This concept is found in the New Testament. 39:48 In Jeremiah, Ezekiel and I'd like to encourage you 39:51 when you study it you have all those texts there, 39:54 but the Jewish people they went even one step further. 39:57 They really developed the entire tradition, 40:00 so they were waiting for the Messiah 40:02 who will come and finally unseal the sealed law of God 40:07 and instruct the people into the will of God. 40:11 I don't need to remind you that in the New Testament 40:15 what the Jewish people expected 40:17 and what the Old Testament prophets prophesied 40:20 finally was fulfilled in Jesus Christ, the Messiah. 40:24 How is Jesus called in the New Testament? 40:26 The Son of David. 40:27 How many times He's called in that way? 40:29 By the way, if you go to the Gospel of Luke, 40:33 when Gabriel talks to Mary and he said, 40:35 "The son that you will bear actually, 40:40 he will sit on the throne of David 40:43 and he will rule forever." 40:46 Actually, we know that in the New Testament. 40:49 All those expectations, all those prophesies 40:52 about that future king 40:53 were actually fulfilled with Jesus Christ. 40:56 And no wonder when we read the Gospel of Matthew, 40:59 when Jesus was anointed there at the River of Jordan, 41:02 when He started His public ministry as a king, 41:05 what was the first job that Jesus does 41:09 when he began His public ministry? 41:11 In the Gospel of Matthew Chapter 5, 41:12 He goes there to the mount of blessings 41:17 and people surround that mount there, 41:20 disciples were there 41:23 and He fulfills that Messianic promises 41:26 and He instructs the people on the Sermon on the Mount 41:29 into the law of God. 41:30 When you go to the Gospel of Luke, the same Jesus, 41:34 the same baptism at the River of Jordan, 41:37 the same temptation there in the desert, 41:39 but the first thing according to the Gospel of Luke 41:41 that Jesus does, He goes there to the synagogue. 41:45 Luke 4:16, on the Sabbath day, He goes there 41:49 and the first thing that they give to Him 41:51 is the scroll of Isaiah to read 41:53 and Jesus read the spirit of the Lord is upon me. 41:57 The Lord anointed me to preach the Gospel to the poor, 42:03 to proclaim that message of the joyous year of the Lord. 42:09 Then Jesus sits down and says to the people, 42:12 "Today, that scripture is fulfilled in your ears." 42:17 What was the people response? 42:19 "Who is he? He's the son of Joseph. 42:22 What is he pretending to do?" 42:23 Because they knew what Jesus was doing. 42:25 They were waiting for the Messiah 42:26 who would take the scroll, 42:28 instruct the people and now Jesus said, 42:30 "The scripture has been fulfilled in your ears." 42:32 And they wanted to kill Jesus. 42:35 Friends, this is the message of Revelation Chapter 5. 42:39 The Jewish people and the Christians were waiting 42:42 for the Messiah to come. 42:45 He will take that sealed scroll 42:48 that was sealed at some point of history. 42:52 He will unseal it. 42:54 And now in the Book of Revelation, 42:56 He will unleash the events in history 43:01 that have to take a place under God's control, 43:04 leading to the time of the end. 43:07 That's why when John started weeping, 43:10 the elder came to him and he told him, 43:13 "stop weeping, because" look now, 43:16 "because the lion from the tribe of Judah, 43:20 the one who is the root of David." 43:23 Now you know why Jesus is the root of David 43:26 because that's the Messianic title. 43:28 This is what the Jewish people are waiting to take 43:31 and Revelation Chapter 5 is telling us 43:35 that what Jewish people were awaiting 43:38 and Christians were hoping about finally was fulfilled 43:42 with the coming of Jesus Christ. 43:44 So I'd like to suggest to you 43:47 that actually Revelation Chapter 5 43:51 portrays a significant moment in history 43:55 when actually Jesus after His death on the cross, 43:59 His ascension there to the heavenly places. 44:03 A stage was set here in Chapter 4. 44:07 All the heavenly beings, representatives 44:09 of different planets were there in the throne room 44:12 waiting for Jesus to come, to celebrate His triumph 44:16 but much more, there was enthronement ceremony 44:21 when finally Satan who up to this moment 44:25 who took dominion over the planet earth from Adam. 44:30 Finally, there was a transference of the authority 44:33 from Satan upon Jesus and from that moment, 44:36 Jesus became the ruler of the planet earth. Amen. 44:41 Satan has nothing to seek more there in the heavenly places. 44:46 He's not representative of the planet earth 44:48 as he did in the Book of Job, you remember that? 44:51 Because now Jesus is our advocate, 44:53 He's our representative 44:55 and He is the ruler of the planet earth. Amen. 44:59 So I'd like to suggest to you 45:01 that actually Revelation Chapter 5 portrays that moment, 45:05 The Enthronement of Christ. 45:07 By the way if you read in the Book of Hebrews, 45:11 the author of the Book of Hebrews, 45:12 I believe that it was Apostle Paul, 45:14 he said, the main point of everything 45:17 that we are talking about is that we have such high priest 45:21 "who sat there at the right hand 45:24 of the majesty there in the heavenly places." 45:27 The New Testament is replete with statements 45:29 we have in Ephesians Chapter 2, we have in 1 Peter, 45:33 we have Hebrews the most important text, 45:34 Hebrews 12:1, 2 that Jesus after His death on the cross, 45:40 He went there and instead of choosing 45:44 the prestigious position there, 45:46 He sat at the right hand of the Father there 45:48 at the right hand on the throne there in the heavenly places. 45:52 The New Testament is replete with this statement. 45:56 So at what point of history 45:59 does Revelation Chapter 5 refers to? 46:02 There is only one text in the Bible 46:06 that actually provides the explanation for that. 46:09 It's actually the Book of Acts. The Book of Acts Chapter 2. 46:15 So please I would like you to turn 46:19 to the Book of Acts Chapter 2, 46:21 you know, we have the day of Pentecost? 46:23 When Peter started preaching the day of Pentecost 46:26 and people said, "Boy, 46:28 why are you listening to them, they are drunk?" 46:30 And then Peter made that famous sermon telling them 46:36 that they were not actually drunk, 46:38 but actually what's taking place there 46:40 is the fulfillment of the prophesy of Joel 46:42 that God will send His spirit. 46:45 And people will prophesy 46:47 people who proclaim the Gospel message. 46:49 And now Peter concludes with following statement. 46:52 Please I would like that you join me in verse 33. 46:57 "Therefore" So Acts 2:33, 47:03 "Therefore having being exalted to the right hand of God, 47:08 and having received from the father 47:10 the promise of the Holy Spirit. 47:13 He has poured forth this which you now see and hear." 47:16 Let me repeat one more time. 47:18 "Therefore having being exalted to the right hand of God." 47:24 Is this clear? Amen. What did he do now? 47:28 He sent the Holy Spirit and Peter says, 47:32 "The coming of the Holy Spirit is the greatest evidence 47:35 that he has been exalted there in the heavenly places." 47:39 And now he says in verse-- let's read verse 34. 47:43 "For it was not David who ascended into heaven, 47:46 but he himself said, 47:47 'The Lord said to my Lord, 'sit at my right hand 47:52 until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.' 47:56 'Therefore let all the house of Israel know for certain 48:00 that God has made him both Lord and Christ, 48:04 this Jesus whom you crucified.'" 48:07 So when did the event of Revelation Chapter 5 take place? 48:12 At what point of history? On the day of Pentecost. 48:17 Please allow me, I have another description of this event 48:22 that is found in that book 48:24 "Desire of Ages" page 833 to 835. 48:31 It's one of the nicest description 48:33 of what we find there in Revelation Chapter 5 48:36 and you will notice that this description 48:37 is actually concluded with last two verses from Revelation 5, 48:41 so please, I need your attention. 48:43 It says, "All heaven was waiting 48:46 to welcome Savior to the celestial courts. 48:49 As He ascended, He led the way 48:51 and the multitude of captives 48:53 set free at His resurrection followed." 48:55 24 elders, huh? 48:57 "The heavenly hosts with the shouts 48:59 and exclamations of the praise 49:02 and celestial song attended the joyous train. 49:05 There is the throne, and around it, 49:08 the rainbow of promise. 49:10 There are cherubim and seraphim. 49:11 The commanders of the angel's hosts, the sons of God, 49:15 the representatives of the unfallen worlds, 49:17 they assembled there. 49:19 The heavenly council before which Lucifer 49:22 had accused God and His Son, 49:24 the representatives of those sinless realms 49:26 over which Satan had thought to establish his dominion, 49:30 all are there to welcome the Redeemer. 49:33 They are eager to celebrate His triumph 49:36 and to glorify their King." Amen. 49:41 "But He waves them back. Not yet. 49:45 He cannot now receive the coronet of glory," 49:48 He's supposed to receive the crown "and the royal robe." 49:53 Is that enthronement ceremony? 49:56 "He enters into the presence of His Father. 49:59 He points to His wounded head, 50:02 the pierced side, the marred feet. 50:04 He lifts His hands, bearing the print of nails. 50:08 He points to the token of His triumph," 24 elders. 50:12 "He presents to God the wave sheaf, 50:15 those raised with Him 50:17 as representatives of that great multitude 50:20 who shall come forth from the grave at His second coming. 50:23 He approaches the Father, 50:24 with whom there is joy over one sinner that repents, 50:27 who rejoices over one with singing. 50:30 Before the foundation of the earth were laid, 50:33 the Father and the Son 50:35 had united in a covenant to redeem man 50:37 if he should be overcome by Satan. 50:40 They had clasped their hands in a solemn pledge 50:43 that Christ should become the surety for the human race. 50:47 This pledge Christ has fulfilled. 50:50 The voice of God is heard proclaiming 50:52 that justice is satisfied. Satan is vanquished. 50:55 Christ's toiling, struggling ones on the earth 50:58 are accepted in the Beloved. 51:00 The Father's arms, boy, encircle His Son, 51:05 and the word is given, 51:07 'Let all the angels of God worship Him.'" Amen. 51:11 "With joy, rulers and principalities and powers 51:15 acknowledge the supremacy of the Prince of life. 51:18 The angel host prostrate themselves before Him, 51:21 while the glad shout fills all the courts of heaven," 51:25 she quotes now Revelation 5. 51:28 "Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, 51:33 and riches, and wisdom, and strength, 51:35 and honor, and glory, and blessing." 51:37 Why they are shouting this? 51:39 Because now Jesus receives the crown and the royal robe. 51:42 He's now there on the throne. Amen. 51:45 "Songs and triumph mingle with the music from angel harp, 51:50 till heaven seems to overflow with joy and praise. 51:55 Love has conquered. The lost is found. 51:59 Heaven rings with voices in lofty strains proclaiming, 52:05 'Blessing, and honor, and glory, and power, 52:10 be unto Him who sitteth upon the throne, 52:13 and unto the Lamb forever and ever.'" Amen. 52:16 Friends, if you're not persuaded that Revelation 5 portrays 52:22 the enthronement of Christ by these arguments, 52:24 you will never be persuaded with any other arguments. 52:28 You can see what Ellen White saw in the vision, 52:32 what John saw in the vision. 52:34 It's one and the same event. 52:35 Of course, each one of them is describing Him 52:38 from his or her perspective. 52:41 But it's the same event. 52:43 And I would like now to read another quotation 52:45 from Ellen White from the book "The Acts of the Apostles." 52:49 Please, I want to read this 52:51 because there are some people they say, 52:53 "It has never been any enthronement 52:55 of Jesus there in the heavenly places. 52:58 They're just invention of some they call liberal scholars." 53:03 I just want that you see that, 53:05 we saw it there on the base of Acts Chapter 2, 53:07 but let's read what Ellen White said 53:09 in "The Acts of the Apostles," page 38 to 39. 53:13 She said, "When Christ passed within the heavenly gates," 53:18 well, she described here what we saw there. 53:21 "He was enthroned amidst the adoration of the angels." 53:27 What was he? Enthroned. Enthroned. 53:30 "As soon as this ceremony was completed," 53:33 do you need any interpretation of this? 53:35 "As soon as this ceremony was completed, 53:38 the Holy Spirit descended upon the disciples in rich currents," 53:42 actually Ellen White interprets 53:44 what we have in Luke, in Acts Chapter 2. 53:47 "The Pentecostal outpouring was Heaven's communication 53:54 that the Redeemer's inauguration was accomplished. 53:58 According to His promise He had sent the Holy Spirit 54:02 from heaven to His followers 54:04 as a token that He had, as a priest and king, 54:09 received all the authority in heaven and on earth, 54:13 and was the anointed One over His people." Amen. 54:19 Now you have to understand why actually 54:25 Revelation Chapter 5 is so significant and important. 54:29 We talked so much about what Jesus did on the cross 54:33 and we do it rightly here. 54:37 But without this ceremony, 54:40 the enthronement of Jesus on the heavenly throne 54:43 when there was a transference 54:45 of the authority from Satan to Christ, 54:47 without the ceremony Satan would be still 54:51 the ruler of the planet earth. 54:54 Actually Revelation 5 is telling us, 54:57 we will come to that 54:59 when we come to Revelation Chapter 12, 55:00 we will see that, that with that point 55:03 Satan was completely cast out from heaven 55:05 and Satan realized that he had but a short time. 55:10 He knew that his dominion came to its end 55:13 that now Jesus is the glorious king 55:17 and it is that glorious appearance actually drawn 55:20 so Jesus there on Patmos in Revelation Chapter 1. 55:25 By the way there is more point 55:27 I would like just to use one point. 55:29 I would like to conclude with this 55:30 because people are asking me, 55:32 "Where do we have in Revelation Chapter 5, 55:35 where do we have the Pentecost?" 55:38 So please I'd like to invite you 55:40 quickly that we go to Revelation Chapter 1. 55:45 If you go to Revelation Chapter 1 55:47 you remember we see the seven spirits of God. 55:50 We already explained it the seven spirits of God 55:53 it's actually symbolic reference to the Holy Spirit 55:56 and we read in the Revelation 1, we read verse 4. 56:01 "John to the seven churches that are in Asia, 56:04 grace to you and peace from him who is, 56:07 and who was, and who is to come," Yahweh, huh? 56:09 "And from the seven spirits who are before the throne of God." 56:12 Where is the Holy Spirit seen in Chapter 1? 56:16 Before the throne of God. Before the throne of God. 56:18 Please will you go with me to Revelation Chapter 4? 56:21 Revelation Chapter 4, are you there? Mm-hmm. 56:25 I want to do it before the time, okay? 56:28 Verse 5. "Out of the throne come flashes of lightning, 56:33 and sounds, and peals of thunder. 56:35 There are seven lamps of fire burning before the throne 56:38 which are the seven spirits of God." 56:40 Where is the Holy Spirit seen in Chapter 4? 56:43 Before the throne. Before the throne. 56:44 Please, will you go with me to Revelation 5:6? 56:49 "And I saw between the throne with the four living creatures 56:53 the elders, Lamb standing, as if slain, 56:56 having seven horns and seven eyes, 56:58 which are the seven spirits of God 57:01 sent out into whole the earth." 57:05 Why suddenly in Revelation Chapter 5, 57:07 the Holy Spirit is not before the throne of God any longer? 57:11 Now the Holy Spirit is sent down to the earth 57:15 because we have the day of Pentecost. 57:17 We will continue the study in the next presentation. 57:20 Until then, may God bless you 57:22 and keep in mind that we have our King 57:25 who is on the heavenly throne 57:27 and He is in control of whole situations on the earth. |
Revised 2014-12-17