|
[ Back ] [ Home ] [ Up ]
[ Next ]
Now let’s continue on. Let’s come to John 20. Now we’re going to look
at John and then Luke and then Mark when the women came to the tomb
early the first day of the week, and we’re going to understand some
things concerning the resurrection of Jesus Christ. And as Jesus
promised He would be in the tomb exactly three days and three nights. So
He was put in the tomb just as the Passover day was ending at sunset,
and that was on a Wednesday. Then you come forward three days and three
nights and it puts you on the regular weekly Sabbath. Does that sound
familiar where we started out? Yes, indeed. And He had to be resurrected
at exactly that same time. But in order to understand what happened we
need to come to the first day of the week and then put the events
together that happened on the first day of the week so we can go back
and see what happened when Jesus was resurrected and then we will come
forward to when He ascended into heaven to the Father.
Now let’s come here, John 20: “Now on the first day of the
weeks…” Now that is the first day counting to Pentecost. That is on a
Sunday, the first day of the week, and it was the Wave Sheaf Offering
Day. “…While it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came early to the tomb…”
Now she came alone. The other women came and joined her. They probably
had already decided that in the morning they were going to go and take
the spices and to do more wrapping [of] Jesus body in spices in the
morning. So she started while it was still dark. But understand as she
was walking the sun was rising so it was getting lighter and lighter and
lighter. “…Mary Magdalene came early to the tomb; and she saw that
the stone had been taken away from the tomb.” So immediately she didn’t
know what to do. She didn’t understand what was happening. “Then she ran
and came to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and
said to them, ‘They have taken away the Lord from the tomb, and we do
not know where they have laid Him.’ ” (John 20: 1-2, FV).
Now let’s come over here in Luke 24:1: “Now on the first day
of the weeks, they came to the tomb at early dawn, bringing the
spices that they had prepared; and certain others came with them.
But they found the stone rolled away from the tomb; and when they
entered it, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.” So
here the other women came. Mary came first and ran to tell Peter and
John. The other women came and found exactly the same thing. How much
later it was we don’t know, but they didn’t know that Mary had already
been there.
Now verse 4: “And it came to pass that while they were puzzling over
this, suddenly two men [who were angels] in shining garments stood by
them. And as they bowed their faces to the ground, being filled
with fear, they said to them, ‘Why are you seeking the living among the
dead?’ ” So the key thing is this – let’s understand a very important
and profound point which is this: No one witnessed the resurrection of
Jesus Christ. The women who came to the tomb didn’t see it. The soldiers
who were guarding the tomb didn’t see it. When they came early in the
morning on the first day of the week, the Wave Sheaf Offering Day, He
wasn’t there. There’s no such thing as an Easter Sunday resurrection.
That is a lie, a fiction. Jesus was gone.
They said: “ ‘He is not here, but has risen: remember when He spoke
to you while He was yet in Galilee, saying, ‘ “It is necessary
for the Son of man to be delivered into the hands of sinful men,
and to be crucified, and to arise the third day”?’ Then they remembered
His words; and after returning from the tomb, they related these things
to the eleven and to all the rest.” So they got there while Mary
Magdalene was apparently telling them, because it says in verse 10:
“…Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Mary, the mother of James, and
the others with them, who told these things to the apostles” (Luke
24:1-10, FV), but of course they didn’t believe it.
Now let’s come here to Mark 16:2 and let’s see the account here: “And
very early on the first day of the weeks, at the rising of the
sun…” So Mary started out when it was still dark. Now we have the sun is
rising. They were coming to the tomb. This is the parallel account of
Luke 24. Verse 3: “…and they were asking themselves, ‘Who will roll away
the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?’ For it was a massive
stone. But when they looked up, they saw that the stone had been
rolled away. And after entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting
on the right, clothed in a white robe; and they were very frightened.”
Now that was an angel. See there were two angels. In this case they’re
emphasizing seeing one. “But he said to them, ‘Do not be afraid. You are
seeking Jesus the Nazarene, Who was crucified. He has risen; He is not
here. Look, there is the place where they laid Him. But go, tell
His disciples and Peter that He goes before you into Galilee; there you
shall see Him, as He said to you’ ” (Mark 16:2-7, FV). Quite an
interesting thing, isn’t it?
Now let’s see what happened next, and then this will help us understand
about the resurrection of Jesus, because He had to be raised from the
dead exactly three days and three nights from the time He was put in the
tomb. So He had to be raised at the end of the Sabbath. Remember, just
like as we started out when they cut that premier sheaf for the Wave
Sheaf Offering, it was cut right as the weekly Sabbath had ended, or was
ending. That signified Christ being raised from the dead, no longer
connected to the earth, as it were. No longer earthy, if we could put it
that way.
Now let’s come back here to John 20 again and let’s see what else
occurred. Let’s pick it up here in verse 3. After Mary Magdalene came,
then the other women came: “As a result, Peter and the other disciple
[that is John] went out and came to the tomb. Now the two ran together,
but the other disciple ran faster than Peter and came to the tomb first;
and he stooped down and saw the linen cloths lying there,
but he did not enter. Then Simon Peter came following him, and he went
into the tomb and saw the linen cloths lying, and the napkin that had
been on His head, not lying with the linen cloths but folded up in a
place by itself.” Quite an amazing thing, isn’t it? Now let’s read verse
8: “Then the other disciple, who had come to the tomb first, also went
in and saw these things; and he believed. For they did not yet
understand the scripture which decreed that He must rise from
the dead.” (John 20:3-9, FV). Christ had to give them that
understanding later.
Now let’s look at this and let’s analyze this for just a minute and
let’s see what this is telling us. We know that when Joseph of
Arimathaea and Nicodemus took Jesus’ body off the cross that they had a
hundred pounds of spices and aloe, and they wrapped His body. Now it was
not like a shroud. The Shroud of Turin is a lying fiction. It has
nothing to do with Christ. They didn’t lay a shroud over Him. He was
wrapped with the linen. They probably had strips of linen about like
this – about six to nine inches wide. Probably more like about six
inches. And they would wrap His body, beginning with His feet, and add
in the spices as they were wrapping, go right on up on up His torso, all
the way up and then do His body and then do His arms. And then cover His
head with a special covering that was called a napkin.
Now they saw the linen cloths lying. What did they see? What would be a
profound witness of the resurrection of Christ but to see the wrappings
of these linen cloths still in their wrapped form but no body in it and
perhaps with a little sag in the middle of the wrapped cloth showing
that He wasn’t there? Now what would this demonstrate? This would
demonstrate that 1) no one took the body; 2) if they would have taken
the body they would have taken the burial wrappings with them. Wouldn’t
you think? Now if they didn’t want to, if they stole the body and didn’t
want to take the wrappings with them then they would have to unwrap it
or cut it off. So they saw the linen cloths laying there to demonstrate
that as a Spirit Being, Christ, as we will see a little later, did not
need to have the cloth removed to be resurrected. He just simply rose
through it. Now to demonstrate that He was alive we have this: the linen
napkin, which was on His head, was folded and put in another place. Now
do you think if anyone was going to steal His body, would they not have
taken the napkin too? Do you think that they would have…whoever the
group claiming that the disciples stole the body away – and of course
the Jews still believe that lying fable to this day because they won’t
take the New Testament and read what it says and look at the evidence.
Now if you were a forensic expert today what would you have to conclude?
That the napkin was folded up and put in another place and no one had
gone into the tomb, except Jesus was put in there when He was dead.
You’d have to conclude that He was resurrected from the dead. And you
would have to conclude that He deliberately folded the napkin and put it
in another place to demonstrate that He was alive. That’s quite an
important thing to understand.
Now let’s look at some psalms which bear on the resurrection of Christ.
Now in Psalm 16 we find something very interesting. Let’s ask the
question: What do you suppose that may have been the first thoughts of
Jesus when He was resurrected and He’s in the tomb, and He realizes that
He is alive. Because His last thought was what? On the cross saying,
“Father into Your hands I commend My Spirit,” and He died. So what would
He think right after He’s resurrected? Now if you’ve ever been
unconscious or if you’ve ever had an operation where you’ve gone under a
sedation and you wake up, your thoughts are entirely different, right?
Well we have it right here, maybe these are the words of Christ. A
prophecy of the words of Christ, the very first ones that He spoke when
He was raised from the dead. Psalm 16:8: “I have set the LORD always
before me: because
He is at my right hand, I shall not be moved. Therefore my heart is
glad, and my glory rejoiceth: my flesh also shall rest in hope. For Thou
wilt not leave my soul in hell [You will not leave me in the grave];
neither wilt Thou suffer [allow] thine Holy One to see corruption.” And
that happened to Jesus. And probably His first thought was to praise
God, to praise God for the tremendous and wonderful blessing of the
resurrection, that He did not see corruption, that He didn’t leave Him
in the grave, that the Word of God was true and the covenant that Jesus
Christ and God the Father made before Jesus came to the earth in the
flesh that He would raise Him back to life when He died, was fulfilled.
Let’s finish verse 11: “Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in Thy
presence is fulness of joy…” Now we’re going to see that on the
Wave Sheaf Offering Day Jesus came again into the presence of God the
Father. “…At Thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore”
(Psa. 16:8-11, KJV).
Now let’s come to Psalm 23. Here is another one which I think are the
very words of Christ after He was resurrected in thanking and praising
God. Now let’s begin right here. We’ve covered this before. We’ve gone
through some things concerning Psalm 23. There are many, many, many
lessons we can learn out of this. But let’s think of it in the praising
of God the Father by Jesus Christ after He was resurrected from the
dead.
Now, Jesus did not stay in the tomb very long. Where did Jesus go? Now
let’s understand something: He was raised from the dead; the burial
clothes were there; the napkin was folded up; His first conscious
thoughts were probably thanking God of the fulfillment of Psalm 16; and
then since He was a Spirit Being He merely walked through the stone
which covered the tomb, and the soldiers didn’t see Him when He came out
the other side because He would be in the heart of the earth three days
and three nights. So He could not have stayed there very long at all –
get right out. Where would He have gone, because He didn’t ascend until
the next morning as we are going to see? Well, right near there is the
garden of Gethsemane, right? And in the garden of Gethsemane was the
place where Jesus always prayed. And as a matter of fact, the night of
the Passover, after He had the Passover with the apostles, they went
there and He prayed for three hours and then was arrested. So Jesus
probably went out to His, as it were, familiar or favorite praying place
in the garden of Gethsemane, and perhaps this was His prayer.
Let’s read it, Psalm 23: “The LORD is
my shepherd; I shall not want [anything]. He maketh me to lie down in
green pastures: He leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my
soul [His soul and His body would not see corruption – yes, restored it
through the power of the resurrection, right?]: He leadeth me in the
paths of righteousness for His name’s sake [to do the will of God]. And
isn’t that what Jesus said? “Lo, I come to do the will of the Father Who
sent Me”? Yes. “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of
death [He just experienced it, right?], I will fear no evil…” Did He
have any fear when He went through the scourging and crucifixion? No.
“…For Thou art with me; Thy rod and Thy staff they comfort me.
Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies…” Quite
a fantastic thing, isn’t it? You talk about preparing right in the
presence of the enemies. The soldiers were guarding the tomb – He walked
right out. The civil government of the Romans was against Him; the
religious government of the Jews was against Him; His own apostles
didn’t believe Him until later [when] He opened their minds. You talk
about “preparing a table in the presence of my enemies.” “…Thou
anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.” Remember He was
anointed with oil twice before the crucifixion. “Surely goodness and
mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the
house of the LORD for ever” (Psa. 23:1-6, KJV).
Now let’s come to Psalm 108 and let’s see another prophecy about Jesus.
And let’s look at this as having to do with also His prayer of the
resurrection: “O God, my heart is fixed; I will sing and give praise,
even with my glory. Awake, psaltery and harp: I myself
will awake early [a type of the resurrection]. I will praise Thee, O
LORD, among the people: and I will sing praises unto Thee among the
nations [yet to happen, isn’t it?]. For Thy mercy is great above
the heavens: and Thy truth reacheth unto the clouds. Be Thou
exalted, O God, above the heavens: and Thy glory above all the earth;
that Thy beloved may be delivered [which He was]: save with Thy
right hand, and answer me. God hath spoken in His holiness; I will
rejoice…” (Psa. 108:1-7, KJV). Quite a wonderful thing that
Christ experienced.
Now one other psalm here. Let’s come to Psalm 63. Although David wrote
this and he did see a similitude of God in the small little tabernacle
where he had the Ark of the Covenant that was in his house after it was
retrieved from Kirjath-Jearim. Now here, let’s look at it from the point
of view of the resurrected Christ and what He was thinking: “O God, Thou
art my God…” Think of Him now praying in the garden of Gethsemane,
praying all that night thanking God for resurrecting Him from the dead
and waiting for the time when it was time for the fulfillment of the
Wave Sheaf Offering. “…My soul thirsteth for Thee, my flesh longeth for
Thee [which it did when He was in the flesh] in a dry and thirsty land,
where no water is; to see Thy power…” Because now He knew that He was
going back to God the Father; now He knew that He was going to ascend
into heaven; now He knew that He was going to see the sanctuary of God
again. “…To see Thy power and Thy glory, so as I have seen Thee
in the sanctuary. Because thy lovingkindness is better than life,
my lips shall praise Thee” (Psa. 63:1-3, KJV). Quite a wonderful
thing.
Now, let’s talk about, a little more, the Wave Sheaf Offering Day and
the ascension of Jesus Christ. Let’s come to John 20:10 and let’s get
the story flow from here: “Then the disciples went away again to their
home. But Mary stood outside the tomb weeping; and as she wept, she
stooped down and looked into the tomb. And she saw two angels in
white who were sitting, one at the head and the other at the feet, where
the body of Jesus had been laid.” Because she could see also the burial
cloths. “And they said to her, ‘Woman, why are you weeping?’ She said to
them, ‘Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where
they have laid Him.’ And after saying these things, she turned around
and saw Jesus standing, but did not know that it was Jesus.” Because He
was able to manifest Himself in a form that she couldn’t see Him as He
was. And there was a specific purpose for that.
Verse 16: “Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you
seeking?’ Thinking that He was the gardener, she said to Him, ‘Sir, if
you have carried Him off, tell me where you have laid Him, and I will
take Him away.’ Jesus said to her, ‘Mary.’ Turning around…” She
apparently turned and was crying and wasn’t looking at the man and just
saying “Oh, if you’d just tell me where He is.” “…Turning around, she
said to Him, ‘Rabboni’; that is to say, ‘Teacher.’ Jesus said to her,
‘Do not touch Me, because I have not yet ascended to My Father. But go
to My brethren and tell them that I am ascending to My Father and your
Father, and My God and your God.’ ” (John 20:10-17, FV). Now,
this was still in the morning. When was the Wave Sheaf Offering to be
elevated for the first of the firstfruits? In the morning, somewhere
right around nine o’clock in the morning. So this fits the time frame.
So, Mary Magdalene went and told them; Jesus ascended into heaven; He
was accepted of God the Father.
Now let’s see another vision, another psalm in Psalm 24 which talks
about the acceptance of Christ. Then we will go to Revelation 4 and
Revelation 5 and we will see the fulfillment of that. Let’s come to
Psalm 24. Now there’s quite an interesting sequence of things here with
the psalms. First of all Psalm 22 is about the crucifixion of Christ.
Psalm 23 is about the resurrection. Psalm 24, which follows, is about
Jesus ascension into heaven and being accepted.
Now let’s pick it up here in Psalm 24, and let’s think of it this way:
These are some of the thoughts of Jesus as He is ascending to the
Father, and He’s looking down on the earth, verse 1: “The earth is
the LORD’S, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell
therein.” As He’s ascending He sees the earth, He sees the land, He sees
the oceans. “For He hath founded it upon the seas, and established it
upon the floods. Who shall ascend into the hill of the LORD? or who
shall stand in His holy place? He that hath clean hands, and a pure
heart…” Now this may be the angels singing as Christ is ascending, “Who
shall ascend into the hill of God? or who shall stand in His holy place?
He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart?” That was Christ. “…[He] who
hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully. He shall
receive the blessing from the LORD, and righteousness from the God of
his salvation.” Quite a wonderful thing. Just imagine how Christ is
ascending.
Now verse 7: “Lift up your heads, O ye gates…” The gates where He would
walk through to go to the throne of God the Father and be accepted by
God the Father as the perfect sacrifice for the sins of all the world –
all mankind. “…And be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of
glory shall come in.” That is Christ, the King of glory. The one Who
conquered death; the one Who overcame sin; the one Who overcome the
pulls of the flesh; the one Who was crucified and yet in His days of His
flesh He cried out in fear and trembling to the one Who was able to save
Him from death (that is God the Father), and now He’s ascending; now
He’s at the gate; now He’s walking into in just a little bit, right into
the presence of God the Father. And we’ll go to Revelation 4 in a minute
and see what He saw.
“…Be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come
in. Who is this King of glory? The LORD strong and mighty, the
LORD mighty in battle.” And hadn’t He overcome everything? Yes. He had
just overcome Satan the devil; He had just overcome all the demons; He
had just overcome death; He was now resurrected, strong and mighty in
battle, and that was in the battle for us. And by the grace of God He
tasted death for every one of us that He could be resurrected and ascend
to God the Father to be that perfect sacrifice and our High Priest at
the right hand of God the Father.
“Lift up your heads, O ye gates; even lift
them up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come
in. Who is this King of glory? The LORD of hosts, He is the King
of glory. Selah” (Psa. 24:1-5, 7-10, KJV).
Now let’s come to Revelation 4 and let’s see what Jesus saw when He was
resurrected to come in the presence of God the Father. Now we know this
by vision that was given to John, so let’s look at it this way: This is
also what Jesus saw. And I want you to picture the angels singing in
glory and power that Christ had overcome; that He now is going to walk
down to the presence of God the Father, see God the Father, and they are
going to embrace each other for the very first time since Jesus left to
become a human being.
Now here’s the setting that He saw. And we’re blessed to have this given
to the apostle John. Now let’s begin in Revelation 4:1: “After these
things I looked, and behold, a door opened in heaven…” Didn’t we just
talk about the door? Didn’t we just talk about the everlasting gates?
Yes. “…And the first voice that I heard was as if a trumpet were
speaking with me, saying, ‘Come up here, and I will show you
the things that must take place after these things.’ And
immediately I was in the Spirit; and behold, a throne was set in
heaven, and
one was sitting on the throne.” And this is what God the Father
looks like in appearance – great, glorious and marvelous. “And He Who
was
sitting was in appearance like a jasper stone and a sardius stone; and a
rainbow was around the throne, like an emerald in its
appearance.” So here is the throne of God with the Father sitting in it
and a great rainbow all around the throne and the sea of glass that it
sits on.
“And around the throne were
twenty-four thrones; and on the thrones I saw twenty-four elders
sitting, clothed in white garments; and they had on their heads golden
crowns. And proceeding from the throne were lightnings and thunders and
voices; and seven lamps of fire, which are the seven Spirits of God,
were burning before the throne.” So here is Jesus coming closer and
closer. “And before the throne was a sea of glass, like crystal.
And around the throne and over the throne were four living
creatures, full of eyes before and behind…” And this is what Isaiah saw
with the Seraphim. “…And the first living creature was like a
lion, and the second living creature
was like a calf, and the third living creature had the face of a
man, and the fourth living creature was like a flying eagle. And
each of
the four living creatures had six wings respectively [and that’s
what Isaiah saw – six wings]; and around and within they were
full of eyes; and day and night they cease not saying, ‘Holy, holy,
holy, Lord God Almighty…’ ” Now it doesn’t mean that they did this
repeatedly without stopping. There were certain times when this
occurred, because as we will see when it occurred the twenty-four elders
bowed down and worshipped. So this was at certain set times that this
was done.
“ ‘…Lord God Almighty, Who was [now referring to Christ], and Who is,
and Who is to come.’ And when the living creatures give glory and
honor [so it wasn’t continuously] and thanksgiving to Him Who sits on
the throne, Who lives into the ages of eternity, the twenty-four elders
fall down before Him Who sits on the throne; and they worship Him Who
lives into the ages of eternity, and cast their crowns before the
throne, saying, ‘Worthy are You, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and
power because You did create all things, and for Your will they were
created and exist’ ” (Rev. 4:1-11, FV). Everything that there is,
is by the will of God for His great plan for all of humanity. And Christ
is going to be the one Who is going to execute this plan all into the
future. And so this Wave Sheaf Offering Day, when Christ ascended into
heaven, this is what He saw. This is Whom He met, and He came to God the
Father and presented Himself.
Now there must have been some portion of blood yet left in Christ that
He took with Him when He ascended into heaven so that the holy place
could be sanctified with His blood in heaven above so that He would be
the propitiation for our sins. And that the blood of Jesus Christ can
cover the sins of all mankind, that is for those who repent.
Now let’s see Chapter 5 because this also tells us something else. Not
only is He there with God the Father, but Christ is there to carry out
the will of the Father from heaven, to complete the plan of God. Now
let’s read here Revelation 5:1: “And in the right hand of Him Who sits
on the throne I saw a book [this is the rest of the book of Revelation],
written within and on the back, which had been sealed with seven
seals.” Now a key important thing: Nothing is going to be understood
without Christ revealing it. Remember that. Whatever we understand in
the Bible it’s because of what God has written in the Spirit of God.
Whatever understanding that we have of the prophecies it’s because God
reveals it, therefore we must be very careful in interpreting
prophecies, that we interpret them correctly according to the will of
God.
“And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, ‘Who is worthy
to open the book and to loose its seals?’ But no one in heaven, or on
the earth, or under the earth was able to open the book, or to look
inside it.” And so John said: “And I was weeping greatly because no one
was found worthy to open and to read the book, or to look into it. Then
one of the elders said to me, ‘Do not weep. Behold, the Lion Who is of
the tribe of Judah [that’s Christ], the Root of David, has overcome to
open the book, and to loose its seven seals.’ Then I saw, and behold,
before the throne and the four living creatures, and before the elders,
was standing a Lamb…” So we have the two aspects of Christ – the
Lamb as Savior, and the warrior of Judah. And David was a man of war –
the two aspects of Christ. That’s why He’s coming as conquering King.
Here it is the Lamb: “…as having been slain, having seven horns and
seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God that are sent into all
the earth…” Now if you don’t have the tape on the “Spirit of God – The
Seven Spirits of God,” write in for it.
“…And He came and took the book out of the right hand of Him Who sits on
the throne [that’s of the Father]. And when He took the book, the four
living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb,
each having harps and golden bowls full of incense, which are the
prayers of the saints.” So our prayers come right up before God the
Father. “And they sang a new song, saying…” And this is a new song for
the saints that they are going to sing this song when they are
resurrected. And this is what we will sing when we come before God the
Father: “ ‘…Worthy are You to take the book, and to open its seals
because You were slain, and did redeem us to God by Your own blood [not
the elders – the saints], out of every tribe and language and people and
nation, and did make us unto our God kings and priests; and we shall
reign on the earth.’ ” So the first thing we are going to know when we
are resurrected is what God has in store for us to be ruling and
reigning with Christ as kings and priests.
And now then he saw a great and spectacular thing. Remember, the angels
were rejoicing in the gates opening and Christ walking in to come down
to God the Father. “And I saw and I heard the
voices of many angels around the throne…” So just picture this: here’s
the throne of God; twenty-four elders; Christ standing right there at
the right hand of God; the rainbow around the throne and a vast sea of
glass. And all on the sides of that a tremendous chorus of angels going
all around behind the throne, and on this side of the throne. All around
the throne were the voices of many angels around the throne. “…And
the voices of the living creatures and the elders, and thousands of
thousands…” Great and marvelous was this Wave Sheaf Offering Day and the
ascension of Jesus Christ. “…Saying with a loud voice, ‘Worthy is the
Lamb Who was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and
strength, and honor, and glory and blessing.’ ” And if you don’t have
the “Messiah”, you get the “Messiah” and you listen to this song. Great
and fantastic is this song. This finishes off the whole “Messiah” – the
reception of Jesus Christ at the throne of God.
“ ‘…Worthy is the Lamb Who is slain to receive power, and riches, and
wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory and blessing.’ ” And the
whole creation is going to rejoice. And we are going to join Christ
there at the first resurrection and we are going to be given the things
that God wants to give us to rule and reign with Christ. And just as
Christ came and received this great blessing, we will be resurrected and
the angels will rejoice. The angels will carry us up to the throne of
God to the sea of glass and we will sing praises to God. We will see
Jesus Christ. We will see the twenty-four elders. We will see the four
living creatures. We will see the thousands and thousands and thousands
of angels, and we will look back on the earth just like it was here.
“And every creature that is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the
earth, and those that are on the sea, and all the things in them, I
heard saying, ‘To Him Who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, be
blessing, and honor, and glory, and sovereignty into the ages of
eternity.’ ” Fantastic thing. This is what happened on the Wave Sheaf
Offering Day – the reception of Jesus Christ by God the Father as the
perfect sacrifice for the sins of all mankind. The Creator had died, but
was resurrected back to save His creation. Later in that day He came
back to the earth and appeared to the apostles and so forth. You can
read of that in the
Harmony or in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.
Now let’s finish it off here, verse 14: “And the four living creatures
said, ‘Amen.’ ” That part of the plan of God with the ascension of Jesus
Christ to the throne of God to carry on the work of the church from then
on was finished – Amen. “And the twenty-four elders fell down and
worshiped Him Who lives into the ages of eternity” (Rev. 5:1-14,
FV). This is the fulfillment of the Wave Sheaf Offering Day. And
this is the meaning of Revelation 4 and 5.
Unleavened Bread – Sabbath – 2006
Scriptural References
-
Leviticus 23:9-11
-
I Corinthians 15:20-23
-
Matthew 24:35
-
Matthew 12:40
-
Colossians 1:14-19
-
Revelation 1:4-6, 17-18, 12-17
-
Exodus 33:17-23
-
Exodus 34:5-7
-
Isaiah 6:1-10
-
Matthew 17:1-9
-
II Peter 1:14-21
-
John 20:1-2
-
Luke 24:1-10
-
Mark 16:2-7
-
John 20:3-9
-
Psalm 16:8-10
-
Psalm 23:1-6
-
Psalm 108: 1-7
-
Psalm 63:1-3
-
John 20:10-17
-
Psa. 24:1-5, 7-10
-
Revelation 4:1-11
-
Revelation 5:1-14
[ Back ] [ Home ] [ Up ]
[ Next ]
|