Messianic Perspectives

Guest (Female): They say prophecy is history written in advance. Today we'll be looking at a remarkable series of prophecies in the book of Revelation that outlines 2,000 years of church history, all predicted centuries before it ever happened. Stay tuned as Dr. Gary Hedrick discusses the mystery of the seven churches, right here on Messianic Perspectives.

Liz Aiello: Shalom and welcome to Messianic Perspectives, a daily program where we look into the scriptures from a distinctively first-century Jewish point of view. This is Liz Aiello. Today Dr. Gary Hedrick is teaching on the mystery of the seven churches in Revelation chapters two and three. I'll be back at the close of the program to tell you about two special resources we're making available during this series, so be sure to have a pencil and paper ready. Now with today's study, here is Dr. Gary Hedrick.

Dr. Gary Hedrick: All right, thank you, and welcome listening friends to another edition of the program. It's good to have you with us today as we begin this series of studies on the mystery of the seven churches, taken from the second and third chapters of the book of Revelation.

And as we get into this, we're going to find that God used this series of messages directed to seven first-century churches in Asia Minor to form a prophecy. He's foretelling the future and showing the course of the church age over a period of some 2,000 years. And we call it a mystery because the church age was something that wasn't seen by the Old Testament prophets. But now we understand that there's more than one manifestation of the kingdom of God. There's the spiritual manifestation of the kingdom, or what we sometimes call the secret form of the kingdom, or the church age. But we must never forget that there's also a physical manifestation of the kingdom of God, and that's still in the future. It's the thousand-year Messianic age.

You see, a lot of people don't understand that Israel and the church are not mutually exclusive and that God's blessings on one do not cancel out God's blessings on the other. The fact that God has a plan for Israel does not mean he doesn't have a plan for the church. And the fact that he has a plan for the church does not mean he doesn't have a plan for Israel. You say, "What's the big deal, Gary?" Well, the big deal is that we've got people running around today saying that the church has replaced Israel in the economy of God, that there's no more place for Israel. They don't understand that the plan of God runs on three distinct tracks in scripture. Number one, God's plan for the angels. Number two, God's plan for Israel. And number three, God's plan for the ecclesia, the church.

One, two, three. First, the angels. God's plan for the angels began when they were created. Then at some point in eternity past, a third of the angels, including one of the cherubim that actually guarded God's throne—his name was Lucifer—a third of them followed Lucifer and rebelled against God and were cast down to this planet. In Luke 10:18, Jesus said he was there and saw the whole thing. He saw Satan as lightning fall from heaven, he said.

Then second, there's God's plan for Israel. Listen, God made promises to the seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, promises that were eternal and unconditional. And those promises will be fulfilled. They must be fulfilled. If God doesn't keep his promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, then listen, he isn't God. You say, "But Israel rejected her Messiah, so God rejected her." Baloney. Didn't anyone ever tell you that God knew before the foundations of the world that Israel would reject the Messiahship of Jesus Christ? It was no surprise to God. In fact, when Israel tripped over the stumbling block, which was prophesied, God was able to use their stumbling to accomplish something very wonderful, and that is to bring salvation to the Gentiles. In Romans chapter 11, verse 12, Paul says that Israel's temporary fall is what? Riches for the Gentiles. He says, "Now if their fall is riches for the world and their failure is riches for the Gentiles, how much more their fullness?" And that fullness of Israel, when she comes to faith in Yeshua HaMashiach and enters into the blessings of the new covenant, is yet future.

No, my friend, God is not finished with Israel. Then there's the third prophetic track that runs through scripture, and that's God's plan for the church. We sometimes call the church the ecclesia, which is the Greek word for the true church, God's called-out ones. Because many times when our Jewish friends hear the word church, they think of Catholicism or some institutionalized manifestation of Christendom. But when we talk about God's plan for the church, we're not talking about some denomination or religious institution. We're not talking about Catholicism or Protestantism. We're talking about his plan for the ecclesia, the body of Christ. And the ecclesia cuts across denominational boundaries. It includes people from virtually all Christian denominations. They're the ones who make up the ecclesia, or the Messianic community: Messianic Jews and Messianic Gentiles who have been made one in Christ.

You say, "Well, I didn't know there was such a thing as a Messianic Gentile." What do you think a Christian is? Christ comes from the Greek word Christos, which translates the Hebrew word Mashiach, which means Messiah. So the Hebrew equivalent of the word Christian would be the word Messianic. So if you're a Christian, you're a Messianic believer. If you're a Jewish believer in Jesus, you're a Messianic Jew. If you're a Gentile believer in Jesus, you're a Messianic Gentile. And whichever one we are, we're all part of the Messianic community, or the ecclesia, or the church. Galatians 3:28 says, "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus." That's the church, the body of Christ. And God has a wonderful plan for his church that started on the day of Pentecost in Acts chapter two. Then 2,000 years later, there's the rapture, or the catching up of the church, followed by the marriage supper of the Lord, which takes place in heaven during that seven-year tribulation period. So those are the three prophetic tracks that run through scripture: the angels, Israel, and the church. And that's what makes the book of Revelation so spectacular and so interesting, because this is the first place in the Bible where those three prophetic tracks converge. It's where they come together for the very first time.

And what we're going to be talking about in this series of studies is God's message to the seven churches in Revelation chapters two and three. This is God's last message to his church before she's translated to heaven in chapter four. And it consists of a series of seven messages, each one directed to a local church somewhere in Asia Minor. First, there's the message to the church at Ephesus. Second, there's the message to the church at Smyrna. Third, the church at Pergamum. Fourth, the church at Thyatira. Fifth, the church at Sardis. Sixth, the church at Philadelphia. And seventh, the message to the church at Laodicea. And on the surface, that's exactly what it looks like: just seven letters addressed to seven ancient churches. But what I'd like to try to do over the next few days is see if I can help you start looking at the Bible through Jewish eyes. Because if this was an Old Testament passage and I was a rabbi, the first thing I would do is to start looking beneath the surface. The Mishna says the Bible is like an onion because you look at it and you think you see all there is to see. But then you peel it and you find another layer, and then another layer, and another layer. And as you keep peeling the onion, you realize there's a lot more to it than you realized.

In fact, the ancient rabbis taught that the Torah is alive, that it's not static but dynamic, and it can speak in a fresh and new way to God's people in successive generations. In Hebrew, the rabbis say the surface meaning of a passage is called the pashat, which means simple. But then the ancient rabbis had a principle of interpretation called the remez, spelled resh-mem-zayin, which meant a hint or some truth that was recessed under the surface of the passage. The remez was a hidden truth that in many cases, even the biblical writers themselves were unaware of. That's what Peter was talking about in the New Testament when he said the biblical prophets were searching what or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ who was in them did signify when he testified beforehand the sufferings of the Messiah and the glory that should follow, First Peter 1:11.

Now, which Old Testament prophets talked about the sufferings of Christ, the sufferings of the Messiah? Isaiah in chapter 53, David in Psalm 22 and Psalm 69, Zechariah in chapter 11, Micah in chapter 4, Moses in Exodus 12:46. These men wrote under the supernatural influence of the Holy Spirit, and in some cases, they didn't even understand what they were being directed to write. Peter says they wondered about the meaning of these prophecies and also about the timing, what manner of time the Spirit of Christ who was in them did signify. They wanted to know when these Messianic prophecies would come to pass. So when we learn to look at the Bible through Jewish eyes, we begin to understand that the prophecies are often multidimensional. That is, they have more than one application. The pashat of the passage, the surface meaning of the passage, is that John sat down and wrote seven letters to seven first-century churches. But there's also a remez, a secondary meaning, and in this case, the secondary meaning is a prophecy. Well, we're out of time for today. But when we get together next time, I'll explain the prophecy that underlies these messages to the seven churches. I hope you'll be able to join us. Until then, this is Gary Hedrick saying God bless you, take care, bye-bye.

Liz Aiello: Thank you, Gary. And thank you, listening friend, for tuning in today. It's always good to have you with us, whether you're listening from home, at work, or in your car. If you liked what you heard today, you will be pleased to know we've taken all of the programs in this series and placed them on one convenient CD entitled "The Mystery of the Seven Churches." It's available for your contribution of just $6 or more to help us keep this program on your station. Just ask for Dr. Gary Hedrick's series, "The Mystery of the Seven Churches," and enclose your gift of $6 or more.

Also available is the companion chart, adapted from the original drawn by Clarence Larkin in the early 1900s, entitled "The Messages to the Seven Churches Compared with Church History." This interesting chart shows how the messages to the seven churches in Revelation correspond to the seven successive periods of church history. It's the perfect companion for this series of studies on "The Mystery of the Seven Churches." So that's the CD for $6 and the chart for $3, or both for a total of $9. Just visit our secure online store at messianicspecialties.com to place your order. If you would prefer to order by mail, just address your request to Messianic Perspectives, Post Office Box 345, San Antonio, Texas 78292. To order by phone, use our toll-free order line. The number is 1-800-926-5397.

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Have you enjoyed this edition of Messianic Perspectives? Why not continue to learn about the Jewish roots of your Christian faith by inviting a speaker from CJF Ministries? Call our toll-free number, 1-800-926-5397, and we'll be happy to handle all of the details. And as always, when you're in touch with us, please mention the call letters of this station. If you're listening to our webcast or podcast, we need to know that too. I'm Liz Aiello. Join us next time, won't you, as Dr. Gary Hedrick continues our series of studies on the mystery of the seven churches, right here on Messianic Perspectives. Messianic Perspectives is sponsored by CJF Ministries of San Antonio, Texas, and is made possible on this station by the freewill contributions of our listeners in this area.