Messianic Perspectives

Liz Aiello: 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.

Guest (Male): 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 distinct 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 friend to another edition of the program. We're glad to have you with us today as we continue this series of studies on "The Mystery of the Seven Churches." By the way, someone wrote to me and said, "Didn't you know that theory about the seven periods of church history was thought up by the Seventh-day Adventists?" Do you know what my answer was? Even if that were true, so what?

Are you suggesting that God can't reveal a truth to his church through the Adventists? More than anything else, that's an indictment on the rest of us—that a fringe group like the Adventists are more open to God's truth than the rest of us are. What's wrong with us in fundamental Bible-believing Christianity? We get our doctrinal statements and our confessions of faith all fine-tuned with every I dotted and every T crossed, and they become like the Decalogue, written in stone.

We think we've got it. We've got our little charts and diagrams and we can put it on the overhead projector and we've got the whole thing all figured out. But what are we trying to do? We're trying to stuff God into our own little doctrinal box. And what happens when we do that? God has a way of breaking the mold. You try to stuff him into a box and God will blow the lid right off. God is bigger than our doctrinal statements. He's bigger than our confessions of faith. He's bigger than our catechisms. He's bigger than our thoughts. Isaiah 55:9 says, "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts," God says.

So now let me ask you: are you going to suggest that God can't use some little religious group to speak to the rest of his church? Particularly if the rest of the church isn't listening? Think about it. What about Balaam? He was one of the most contemptible characters in all of the Old Testament, but God used him to reveal a great deal of prophetic truth, didn't he? In fact, we have a teaching tape on Balaam's four prophecies if you're interested, you can order that tape. And God used even a donkey on that occasion to speak to Balaam. Read about it in Numbers chapter 22. God reveals himself any way he wants to. He doesn't ask my permission and he doesn't ask yours either, my friend.

If my interpretation of Revelation chapters two and three doesn't fit within your particular frame of reference—if you can't handle it—then just turn off the radio or turn off the tape. But I'll tell you one thing, this interpretation is perfectly consistent with the Jewish character of the Bible. Why? Because the Jewish sages figured out centuries ago that the Bible is multi-dimensional. In fact, the ancient rabbis said the Bible is like an onion, because when you peel away one layer, you find another layer underneath. And you peel that one away and there's another one and another one.

As a matter of fact, there's another clue right here in the next verse. Look at what the Lord says in verse seven: "He that hath an ear, let him hear what the spirit saith unto the churches." It's a clue, because whenever the Lord says, "He who has an ear, let him hear," that means there's a deeper meaning to what he's just said. In fact, this phrase appears eight times in the gospels, and each time it's when he gives a story or a parable that has a deeper meaning. Something under the surface that he wants us to see.

So he says, "He who has an ear, let him hear." And I want you to remember that little phrase because in a couple of days, I'm going to show you a passage in the gospel of Matthew where Jesus mentions these seven periods of church history. And guess what he says at the end of that particular teaching? He says, "He who has an ear, let him hear." So tuck that away back in your mind and we'll come back to it later.

Then what does he say next? Verse seven: "To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God." This reference to the tree of life takes us all the way back to the book of Genesis, which is called Bereshit in the Hebrew Bible. In Gan Eden, the Garden of Eden, there were two trees that were of particular importance. First, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and second, the tree of life—v'etz hachayim, tree of life. And apparently, this tree of life provided some sort of nutritional component that caused a person to live forever.

In the book of Genesis, after the fall, God denies Adam and Eve access to the tree of life. And the reason he gives is that if they continued to eat the fruit of the tree of life, they would live forever. So they would live in perpetuity in their fallen sinful state. The degenerative process was already set in motion, so their bodies would age and they would get old, but they wouldn't be able to die. It would eventually get to the place where it would be very grotesque, horrible.

Death can be a blessing when these bodies get old and we can no longer function, we leave these bodies behind and go home to be with the Lord. "Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints," the Bible says. It's a blessing. I've seen people who lived too long. They were old and they couldn't see and they couldn't take care of themselves, couldn't even think right, and it's sad. In cases like that, if the person is a believer, death is a blessing.

So after the fall in the Garden of Eden, God blocked access to the tree of life. But then here in the book of Revelation, we have the promise once again. One of these days, we will eat of the tree of life, it says. The curse of the Adamic covenant will be lifted, the aging process will be reversed. Just think, what Maybelline and Avon and Max Factor could never do, God will do. He'll reverse the aging process. We'll never grow old. And so we'll eat the fruit of the tree of life. But notice, he says, "To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life."

Now, how do you overcome? Well, remember, the best midrash on the Bible is the Bible itself. It's the best commentary. That's why we always compare scripture with scripture. So how do we overcome so we can eat of the tree of life? The answer's in 1 John chapter 5 beginning in verse 4. Here's what John says. He says, "For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world. And this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. Verse 5: Who is he that overcometh the world but he who believes that Jesus is the son of God?"

That's the bottom line. Who is Jesus? Everything hinges on that one question. For example, the cults are all different, many different beliefs, a lot of diversity in what they teach. But they all share one thing in common: they're wrong about who Jesus is. What do Mormons have in common with Jehovah's Witnesses? Not much, except neither of them believes Jesus is God. They reject the tri-unity of God. Same thing with the Christadelphians, the Scientologists, Christian Science, and just about any other cult you want to mention.

That's why everything hinges on this one question: who is Jesus? Is he who he claimed he was or not? And the overcomers are the ones who believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God. God the Father, Abba; God the Son, Ben; and God the Holy Spirit, Ruach HaKodesh. The tri-unity of God. So we overcome by believing that Jesus is who he said he was. And he says, "To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life."

Well, that's the message to the church at Ephesus. And it represents the first period of church history, which began at the end of the apostolic era when most of the original apostles had died, and then it extended for 100 years or so into the second century, from about AD 70 to 170. This first period of church history was characterized by a relaxed spirituality. In fact, that's what the Greek word Ephesus means: to relax, to allow, or to let go. So now that the first generation of believers had gone to be with the Lord, we find that the next generation is just a little more lax. Not quite as fervent. They've left their first love.

But he commends them for their good works and spiritual discernment and perseverance and zeal. And when formalism and idolatry tried to make inroads into the early church, it was the Ephesian believers who opposed it. When the Nicolaitans tried to establish a priesthood in the early church, they opposed it. That was how it was during those first 100 years or so of church history. Now next time we'll be looking at the second period of church history represented by the church at Smyrna. I hope you'll join us. Until next time, 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. 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 six dollars or more to help us keep this program on your station.

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 six dollars and the chart for three dollars, or both for a total of nine dollars.

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 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.

Guest (Male): Messianic Perspectives is sponsored by CJF Ministries of San Antonio, Texas and is made possible on this station by the free-will contributions of our listeners in this area.