Messianic Perspectives

Liz Ayello: 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. Right here on Messianic Perspectives.

Shalom and welcome to Messianic Perspectives, a daily program where we look into the scriptures from a distinctive first-century Jewish point of view. I'm Liz Ayello. Today, Dr. Gary Hedrick is teaching on the mystery of the seven churches in Revelation chapters 2 and 3. 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 continue this series of studies on the mystery of the seven churches. Now, when commentators look at Revelation chapters 2 and 3 and all they see is a series of seven messages to seven first-century local churches, they're not looking at it from a Jewish perspective because it was very common for the ancient Jewish prophecies to have more than one application.

There was the Peshat, which was the surface meaning, and then the Remez, which was more like a secret meaning, hidden beneath the surface. So when we look at Revelation 2 and 3, the obvious meaning, the Peshat, is that John sat down and wrote seven letters to seven first-century churches. But there's also a Remez, a deeper secondary meaning. And the Remez in Revelation 2 and 3 is a remarkable prophetic outline of 2,000 years of church history.

Now, this is not a sealed prophecy in the same sense that certain Old Testament prophecies were closed up and sealed until the time of the end, like Daniel said. In fact, at the end of the book of Revelation, the angel who brought this vision to John specifically said, "Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book," in chapter 22, verse 10. And why not? He says, "for the time is at hand." You see, the reason the prophecy of Revelation could not be closed up and sealed, like the prophecy of Daniel was closed up and sealed, was that the fulfillment of the Revelation prophecy was to begin almost immediately.

Daniel's prophecy could be closed up and sealed because there would be a long interval before its final fulfillment. But in the case of the book of Revelation, the fulfillment begins almost immediately in the message to the church at Ephesus. Now look at this: Revelation chapter 1, beginning in verse 4. It says, "John to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from Him who is and who was and who is to come." Now, here's the first clue that there's something unusual about this prophecy because there were at least ten churches in Asia Minor, and maybe more.

So there must have been some special reason why these seven churches are singled out. And the reason is that these churches were typical of the seven periods of the church age, as we'll see later. And notice, this is not just John talking; it's God. He says, "Grace to you and peace from Him who is and who was and who is to come." Past, present, and future. "Is" is present tense, "was" is past tense, and "is to come" is future tense. He identifies the source of this revelation as God Himself.

"Him who is and who was and who is to come" is the equivalent of the Hebrew Yahweh, or Jehovah. In Exodus 3:14, God identified Himself to Moses as simply "I AM." I AM in the past, I AM in the present, I AM in the future. I AM that I AM. So this is not the revelation of Saint John the Divine, like some Bibles title it; it is the revelation of Jesus Christ, the Alpha and the Omega, the Eternal One. Notice, too, the number seven because you find it woven throughout the book of Revelation.

You see, in ancient Israel, the number seven had special significance. In the Torah, in the book of Bereishit, the book of Genesis, we have the establishing of Shabbat, or Sabbath. God created the universe in six days and then He rested on the seventh day. It was called Shabbat, which is the Hebrew word for rest. So the Sabbath became the seventh day of the week. Then in Leviticus 25, the year of Shmita, when the land rests, is every seventh year. So every seventh day is Shabbat and every seventh year is the year of Shmita, or remission.

Then after seven weeks of years, or 49 years, the 50th year was the year of Yovel, or the year of Jubilee. So the number seven was woven into the very fabric of Israel's national life. In the temple, the blood of a sin offering was sprinkled how many times? Seven times before the Lord. In order for a leper to be pronounced clean, he had to appear before a Kohen when? On the seventh day, according to Leviticus 23. Two of Israel's main festivals, Pesach and Sukkot, each last for seven days.

Then there are seven weeks between Pesach, or Passover, and Shavuot. And then on Shavuot, guess how many lambs were offered? That's right, seven. And we could go on and on showing the use of the number seven in the Old Testament. Seven is a number of divine significance, and it's especially prominent here in the book of Revelation. There are seven churches, seven menorahs, seven stars, seven torches, seven seals. There's a lamb with seven horns and seven eyes, seven angels with seven shofarot, or seven ram's horns.

There are seven thunders in chapter 10. In chapter 12, there's a dragon with seven crowns on his seven heads. And in chapter 15, there are seven angels with the seven last plagues in seven gold bowls. Then in chapter 19, we find a city on seven hills along with seven kings. And then interspersed throughout the book of Revelation, there are seven barakot, or seven blessings. The first barakah is in chapter 1 and the last one is in chapter 22, seven altogether. So the message is from God (verse 5), and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the earth. To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood.

Now skip down to verse 10—this is Revelation chapter 1. John says, "I was in the Spirit on the Lord's Day, and I heard behind me a loud voice as of a trumpet." Now let me stop there because this verse is very often misinterpreted. John says he was in the Spirit on the Day of the Lord. Probably 90% of the Bible commentaries say this was on Sunday. In fact, some people try to use this verse as proof that the Sabbath was changed from the seventh day of the week to the first day of the week, from Saturday to Sunday.

And they even try to impose Sabbath regulations on Sunday. You can't work, you can't drive your car, you can't go to a restaurant, and on and on it goes. And again, this is what happens when you fail to interpret the New Testament in the light of the Old Testament. Because the truth is that nowhere in the Bible is the first day of the week called the Day of the Lord, or the Lord's Day. Nowhere. Shabbat has never been changed, my friend. Leviticus 16:31 says that Shabbat is an ordinance forever.

Now most Christians worship on Sunday because it commemorates the resurrection of Christ, and that's okay. But he might have been resurrected on Saturday night. Remember, Jewish days begin at sundown. So Shabbat went from sundown on Friday to sundown on Saturday. So in Jewish reckoning, the first day of the week technically started at sundown on Saturday night. When the two women came to the tomb the next morning, Jesus was already long gone.

The stone wasn't rolled away so Jesus could get out; the stone was rolled away so the disciples could see that He was already gone. So if we really want to commemorate the resurrection, maybe we should have a worship service on Saturday night, which would be fine because the truth of the matter is that God doesn't care what day of the week you have your worship service on. The early church met every day of the week. They didn't esteem one day of the week above another day. To them, every day was a day of praise and worship.

Think about it: what is the Day of the Lord, or the Lord's Day? In the Hebrew scriptures, it's Yom Yahweh. The Rabbis called it the Day of Adonai. It's an eschatological term; that is, it refers to the end times. What John is saying is that while he was in the Spirit, God gave him a vision of the end times. He was in the Spirit on the Day of the Lord. And then John had a vision of the Lord Jesus Christ, Adonai Yeshua HaMashiach, in all of His glory and majesty.

No longer is He the Lamb of God; now He's the Lion of the tribe of Judah. No longer is He the meek and mild carpenter's son from Nazareth, because now He's the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty. And John says Jesus' face was shining with the radiance of the Shekhinah, like the sun shining in its strength, he says, which means that John wasn't able to look directly into His face, just like you and I can't look directly into the sun. If we try it, we'll go blind.

And here's what the Lord tells John to do (verse 19): "Write the things which you have seen, and the things which are, and the things which will take place after this." (Verse 20) "The mystery of the seven stars which you saw in My right hand, and the seven golden lampstands: The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands which you saw are the seven churches." There it is, the mystery of the seven churches. There is more to this prophecy in Revelation 2 and 3 than just seven letters to seven local churches, because He says they represent what? Things which are and the things which will take place after this.

In other words, there was a meaning in the present tense and there was a meaning in the future tense. Well, that's all of our time for today. Next time, we'll begin with the first of these seven churches, that's the church at Ephesus. Until then, this is Gary Hedrick saying, "God bless you. Take care. Bye-bye."

Liz Ayello: Thank you, Gary. And thank you, listening friend, for tuning in today. If you liked what you heard today, you'll 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," and it's yours for a gift of just $6 or more to Messianic Perspectives. 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, P.O. Box 345, San Antonio, Texas 78292.

To order by phone, use our toll-free order line. The number is 1-800-926-5397. 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 Ayello. 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.

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