Revelation Chapter Five Part Three
jame...@btinternet.com
PART THREE
THE INESCAPABLE CHRIST
Jesus Christ is the inescapable Christ, Revelation 1:7 “Behold, he
cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they [also] which
pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him.
Even so, Amen.”
All men will meet Him either as God’s Lamb who died for their sins or
as the Judge Who comes to punish sinners who has rejected Him. Christ
is either the Lamb or the Lion. We are not immortal so that those cast
into the Lake of Fire are first destroyed as explained in Malachi
4:3 “And ye shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be ashes under
the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do [this], saith the
LORD of hosts.” The Lake of fire experience is His presence as
described in Hebrews 12:28-29, “Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which
cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably
with reverence and godly fear: For our God [is] a consuming fire.” We
can hardly imagine what His presence must be to those who remain
sinners, and especially those who expected to be in the kingdom with
their sins. There are also those who never had the privilege of hearing
the gospel, Romans 2:14-16, “For when the Gentiles, which have not the
law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not
the law, are a law unto themselves: Which shew the work of the law
written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and
[their] thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another;)
In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ
according to my gospel.”
This appears to suggest hope for those who never heard the gospel. The
believers resurrection is called the first resurrection, Revelation
20:5, “But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand
years were finished. This [is] the first resurrection.” This continual
Lake of Fire experience will bring repentance. Knowing they are not in
the kingdom as they expected will bring eternal realities before them,
which in life they never understood. It will be for them weeping and
gnashing of teeth, Matthew 8:11, “And I say unto you, That many shall
come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and
Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven. But the children of the
kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping
and gnashing of teeth.”
The reality of being outside the kingdom is horrifying. Knowing the
only way to enter it is by resurrection and acknowledging our messiah
as our personal Saviour, Lord and King will surely show them the
decision they need to make, so that His presence becomes like that of
the Psalmist in Psalm 16:11, “Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in
thy presence [is] fulness of joy; at thy right hand [there are]
pleasures for evermore.” Believers know immediately they step out of
His presence that life has becomes no longer worth living.
The Scriptures in Greek and Hebrew are silent concerning the ultimate
fate of those who utterly refuse to repent. The gracious invitation is
in Revelation 22:17, “And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let
him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And
whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.” Why is this
given after the Kingdom is set up and not before. The answer is
obvious.We need to trust Him now as God’s Lamb otherwise He comes to
judge us as the Lion of Judah.
REDEEMING EARTH’S MORTGAGE
Revelation 5:1-7, “And I saw in the right hand of him that sat on the
throne a book written within and on the backside, sealed with seven
seals. And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, who is
worthy to open the book, and to loose the seals thereof? And no man in
heaven, nor in earth, neither under the earth, was able to open the
book, neither to look thereon. And I wept much, because no man was
found worthy to open and to read the book, neither to look thereon. And
one of the elders saith unto me, weep not: behold, the Lion of the
tribe of Juda, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and
to loose the seven seals thereof. And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst
of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders,
stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes,
which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth. And
he came and took the book out of the right hand of him that sat upon
the throne.”
We have already shown that he little book in the hand of Him upon the
throne contains the terms for the redemption of the earth from the
curse and the bondage of sin.
The law of the Kinsman Redeemer operates in God’s plan of redemption.
The entire creation is cursed and needs redemption. In the book of
Ruth, we read about redemption. It gives us a beautiful picture of the
work of the Kinsman Redeemer.
In Bethlehem lived a happy family consisting of a father, a mother and
two sons. The father’s name was Elimelech, the mother’s Naomi and the
two boys were Mahlon and Chilion. For a time they were happy and then a
famine came upon the land and this family lost everything and moved
from Bethlehem. The famine was one of the many judgements described in
Judges 17:6, “In those days [there was] no king in Israel, [but] every
man did [that which was] right in his own eyes.” It was not personal
for this family and did not include all Israel.
They travelled to the Plains of Moab across the Jordan in search of
food. This was not the land occupied by racial Moabites, but by the
tribes of Gad, Reuben and the half tribe of Manasseh. After the death
of both her sons, Naomi decided to return to Bethlehem, but Ruth
insisted on returning with her. To suggest that a godly woman like
Naomi was prepared to send her two daughters-in-law back to worship
Chemosh and Baal, where they would become temple prostitutes, is
blasphemous. Both girls were Israelites so that this could not happen
to them.
The Book of Ruth is a very bad translation of Hebrew into English. All
the translators, even Jewish scholars, follow it. The law forbade
strangers, foreigners, and forbidden races to become Jews. It is not
possible for a racial Moabite to be accepted and married in Bethlehem.
These laws had not been abolished Ezra 9:1-3, “Now when these things
were done, the princes came to me, saying, The people of Israel, and
the priests, and the Levites, have not separated themselves from the
people of the lands, [doing] according to their abominations, [even] of
the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the
Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the Amorites. For they have
taken of their daughters for themselves, and for their sons: so that
the holy seed have mingled themselves with the people of [those] lands:
yea, the hand of the princes and rulers hath been chief in this
trespass. And when I heard this thing, I rent my garment and my mantle,
and plucked off the hair of my head and of my beard, and sat down
astonied.”
THE LOST INHERITANCE The inheritance and land owned by Naomi’s family had
been sold when they left to pay their debts. Naomi was not surprised that
others were living there. They were penniless and Ruth is compelled to work
in the fields as a gleaner behind the harvesters to provide for them both.
She gleaned in the field of one Boaz who immediately became interested in her
and inquired regarding her identity. He found she was the
daughterinlaw of Naomi, a relative of his. Under the
Levitical law as we have seen a lost inheritance could be redeemed by a
relative who was willing, able and fit. Boaz was a very wealthy man.
MEETING THE CONDITIONS
Ruth 2:1, “And Naomi had a kinsman of her husband’s, a mighty man of
wealth, of the family of Elimelech; and his name [was] Boaz.” Boaz was
a type of Our Great Kinsman Redeemer, the Lord Jesus who alone can open
of the seven-sealed book.
Boaz was first a Kinsman or Relative, and he was wealthy. However there
was another close relative who must first refuse to redeem Naomi and
Ruth, Ruth 4:6-9, “And the kinsman said, I cannot redeem [it] for
myself, lest I mar mine own inheritance: redeem thou my right to
thyself; for I cannot redeem [it]. Now this [was the manner] in former
time in Israel concerning redeeming and concerning changing, for to
confirm all things; a man plucked off his shoe, and gave [it] to his
neighbour: and this [was] a testimony in Israel. Therefore, the kinsman
said unto Boaz, Buy [it] for thee. So he drew off his shoe. And Boaz
said unto the elders, and [unto] all the people, Ye [are] witnesses
this day, that I have bought all that [was] Elimelech’s, and all that
[was] Chilion’s and Mahlon’s, of the hand of Naomi.”
By removing his shoe, he indicated that he was not prepared to redeem
the inheritance or marry his dead brother’s wife. This law is found in
Deuteronomy 25:5-9, “If brethren dwell together, and one of them die,
and have no child, the wife of the dead shall not marry without unto a
stranger: her husband’s brother shall go in unto her, and take her to
him to wife, and perform the duty of an husband’s brother unto her. And
it shall be, [that] the firstborn which she beareth shall succeed in
the name of his brother [which is] dead, that his name be not put out
of Israel. And if the man like not to take his brother’s wife, then let
his brother’s wife go up to the gate unto the elders, and say, My
husband’s brother refuseth to raise up unto his brother a name in
Israel, he will not perform the duty of my husband’s brother. Then the
elders of his city shall call him, and speak unto him: and [if] he
stand [to it], and say, I like not to take her; Then shall his
brother’s wife come unto him in the presence of the elders, and loose
his shoe from off his foot, and spit in his face, and shall answer and
say, So shall it be done unto that man that will not build up his
brother’s house.”
It was simply this: If a brother, who had married a wife, died without
children, the eldest brother was to take the widow, and raise up a
family to the brother deceased; and he had a right to redeem the
inheritance, if it had been alienated. But if the person who had the
right of redemption would not take the woman, she was to pull off his
shoe and spit in his face or on the ground in front of him; and he was
ever after considered as a disgraced man. In the present case the shoe
only is taken off, probably because the circumstances of the man were
such as to render it improper for him to redeem the ground and take
Ruth to his wife; and because of this reasonable excuse, the
contemptuous part of the ceremony is omitted, Deuteronomy 25:10, “And
his name shall be called in Israel, The house of him that hath his shoe
loosed.”
We are given further understanding of the removal of his shoe in Psalm
108:9 “Moab [is] my washpot; over Edom will I cast out my shoe; over
Philistia will I triumph.” Here YHWH indicates he will deal with Edom
in conquest, as with Moab and Philistia.
THE ESSENTIAL HUMANITY OF CHRIST.
Hebrews 2:14-18, “Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh
and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through
death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the
devil; And deliver them who through fear of death were all their
lifetime subject to bondage. For verily he took not on [him the nature
of] angels; but he took on [him] the seed of Abraham. Wherefore in all
things it behoved him to be made like unto [his] brethren, that he
might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things [pertaining] to
God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. For in that he
himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succour them that
are tempted.”
The humanity of Christ and His incarnation, were of absolute and
indispensable necessity in the plan of salvation. It was as essential
as His deity was. Christ became a man, a perfect man, one of us, a
member of the human family, in order that He might be our Kinsman
Redeemer. END OF PART THREE
Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Before you buy.