The beginning – I have essentially nothing to add to the words here spoken. Speak them within and may they be known within your soul, may they resound within the hearts of you and your family in Christ, to all within the kingdom of Almighty God. Amen.
1 This is the revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show His servants what must soon come to pass. He made it known by sending His angel to His servant John, 2 who testifies to everything he saw. This is the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ.
3 Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear and obey what is written in it, because the time is near.
In my mind I can hear skeptical, derisive comments to the effect the time was not and thus is not near. Such notions are but a shallow, superficial misdirection. Should you harbor such sentiments, I petition you to reconsider, to reevaluate your ‘conclusions’. Such opinions are self-defeating.
In the present I consider the image in the mirror as marred with age – and yet it is all as a story by which I have yet to secure any profound insights, even to discern what lies within much less beyond my own perception. Yet time is fleeting! Perhaps it can be said eternity unfolds from today, hence it is ever near.
4 John,
To the seven churches in the province of Asia:
Grace and peace to you from Him who is and was and is to come, and from the seven Spirits before His throne, 5 and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth.
To Him who loves us and has released us from our sins by His blood, 6 who has made us to be a kingdom, priests to His God and Father—to Him be the glory and power forever and ever! Amen.
7 Behold, He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him—even those who pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him. So shall it be! Amen.
8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, who is and was and is to come—the Almighty.
9 I, John, your brother and partner in the tribulation and kingdom and perseverance that are in Jesus, was on the island of Patmos because of the word of God and my testimony about Jesus. 10 On the Lord’s day I was in the Spirit, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet, 11 saying, “Write on a scroll what you see and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea.”
12 Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking with me. And having turned, I saw seven golden lampstands, 13 and among the lampstands was One like the Son of Man, dressed in a long robe, with a golden sash around His chest. 14 The hair of His head was white like wool, as white as snow, and His eyes were like a blazing fire. 15 His feet were like polished bronze refined in a furnace, and His voice was like the roar of many waters. 16 He held in His right hand seven stars, and a sharp double-edged sword came from His mouth. His face was like the sun shining at its brightest.
17 When I saw Him, I fell at His feet like a dead man. But He placed His right hand on me and said, “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last, 18 the Living One. I was dead, and behold, now I am alive forever and ever! And I hold the keys of Death and of Hades.
19 Therefore write down the things you have seen, and the things that are, and the things that will happen after this. 20 This is the mystery of the seven stars you saw in My right hand and of the seven golden lampstands: The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.
This evening, minutes from Wednesday, September 5th I realize there are virtually minutes on God’s clock until the tribulation, the journey of the last days, bursts into our lives – into the lives of believers and non-believers both.
Please help those who call upon Your Son’s name, Almighty God, to seek You with sincerity beyond question, beyond any iniquity that has remained until this time. Father, forgive them, I prayerfully add my cry to that of the Lord Jesus.
Something I would like to share – it is my responsibility to share as a result of this study and my seeking to produce this ‘commentary’ – there is a pattern you will discover in the presentation of the events which follow.
The reader is given the heavenly testimony as to what is about to befall humanity in episodes, for lack of a better word, upon the Earth. Subsequent to each of these, the events unfold in the realm of mankind. The centrality of the throne of God in the telling has caused much confusion – yes, and misinterpretation – perhaps most importantly in clouding the question, “When does the tribulation occur?” Not the time, but regarding the order of events. The vital question remains, as always, “When will we see the Messiah?” Be ready. Give your heart to him – it’s not easy, but it must be.
The message given to Christ and to us, his followers. Human history to proceed, and looking back now, from this point the conclusion approaches.
End Times Prophecy 