Chapter 40 "Revelation"

"Revelation" John's vision God gave revelation to Jesus Christ to show his servants things that must come to pass.So Jesus sent messengers to overtake John to record what he saw and tell the public to be witnesses of these prophecies.The Lord will bless those believers who hear these prophecies and keep them. John was exiled on the island of Patmos at this time. When the Lord's Day came, John was moved by the Holy Spirit and heard a voice say to him: "What you see, write in a book and send it to Ephesus and Smyrna." , Pergamos, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea.” John heard the voice and wanted to see who was speaking, and he saw seven golden lampstands, and one of them was wearing a His long garments hung down to his feet, like the Son of Man.There is a golden belt around his chest, his beard and hair are as white as snow and wool, his eyes shine like flames, his feet shine like red copper, and his voice is like the roar of a flood.He holds seven stars in his right hand, spits out a double-edged sword, and his face is like a scorching sun emitting golden rays.John was shocked when he saw this, and fell to the ground, lying at his feet, unable to move.Then the shining man said, "Fear not. I am the first, and the last, and the living; I was dead, and now I am alive forever and ever; and I hold the the key. Therefore write what you have seen, and what is now, and what will come to pass. Speaking of what you have seen, the seven stars that are in my right hand and the mystery of the seven golden lampstands: the seven stars are Angels of the seven churches; the seven lampstands are the seven churches."

John knew that it was the Savior who appeared, so he wrote a letter to the envoys of the seven churches to convey the meaning of the Lord. In the letter to the messengers of the church at Ephesus, the Lord said this: "I know your works, your toil, your patience, and that you cannot tolerate the wicked. You have labored for my name and are not weary. Yet one thing I to rebuke you, is that your first love has forsaken. Therefore remember from whence you fell, and repent, and do the works of your first works. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its original move away.” The Lord also told John to tell him: listen to the Lord’s teaching, hold on to love, and hate the wicked whom the Lord hates, and the Lord will give him the fruit of the tree of life in the Paradise of God.

In the letter to the messenger of the church in Smyrna, the Lord asked John to tell him that the Lord was aware of his affliction, poverty, and the slander spoken by those who pretended to be Jews.The devil will put a few of them in prison to be tested and suffer tribulation for ten days, but there is no need to be afraid of this suffering, and you must be faithful to the Lord until death, and the Lord will give him the crown of life. In the letter to the messengers of the church in Pergamum, the Lord said: "I know your dwelling place, where Satan is seated; when Antipas, my faithful witness, was killed among you, where Satan dwelt Thou hast kept my name, and thou hast not forsaken my word." But he is to be blamed for the teaching of Balaam and the teaching of the Nicolaitans; and Balaam taught Balaam He put stumbling blocks in front of the Israelites, telling them to eat things sacrificed to idols and to commit adultery. The behavior of Nicolaitan's party is what the Lord hates.

The Lord said: "Therefore you should repent; if you do not repent, I will come to you soon and attack them with the sword in my mouth." The believers of the church who listen to the oracle will receive the true biography given by the Lord. In the letter to the messengers of the church in Thyatira, the Lord asked John to tell him that the Lord knew of his works, his love, his faith, his hard work, his patience, and many more good works he had done.But for his tolerance of the self-proclaimed prophet woman Jezebel who tempted the Lord's servants to commit adultery and eat sacrifices, he must accuse the unrepentant woman Jezebel and those who commit adultery with her. be punished, and suffer great tribulation; the churches shall be recompensed according to their deeds, and the party of the harlot shall be slain; Keep good works until the coming of the Lord; those who always obey the command of the Lord will receive the iron authority from the Lord to subdue the nations and the morning star from the Lord.

In the letter to the church in Sardis, John told the messenger that none of his actions were perfect before God, so he had to recall how he had received and heard God’s teachings, be vigilant and repent of his mistakes.However, there are those in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes, and those who obey the Lord’s teachings and behave well will walk with the Lord in white clothes. recognize his name before all his angels. In the letter to the church in Philadelphia, the Lord told the messenger: Because he kept the way of the Lord and never forsook the name of the Lord, the Lord will open a door before him, and no one can shut it; Satan who pretends to be a Jew A family of liars will bow at his feet; when the whole world is tried.He shall not be tried, but shall continue his righteousness and keep his crown.Those who succeed in doing righteous deeds all the time will enter the temple of the Lord and never go out, and can be used as pillars in the temple of God. The Lord will bring the name of God, the name of the city of God—come down to the New Jerusalem of God, and take the name of the Lord His new name was written on the pillar.

In the letter to the church in Laodicea, the Lord told the messengers that they should not be lukewarm in their faith, and should not be satisfied with the wealth in front of them, let alone forget that they were so miserable, pitiful, and poor. It was the Lord who made him rich and made him rich. He can put on white clothes to cover his naked body, and he can polish his blind eyes with medicine.The Lord loves him, so he rebukes and disciplines him. He needs to be zealous and repent of all his mistakes.Those who listen to the Lord's teaching, repent and succeed, the Lord will give him to sit on the throne of the Lord with the Lord.

Afterwards, John saw a door open in heaven, and heard a voice as loud as a trumpet, saying, "Come up here, and I will show you what must happen in the future." Then John saw a throne in heaven, and in the throne There is one person on the end seat, like jasper, like ruby; around the throne is a rainbow like emerald, and twenty-four elders sit in twenty-four seats around the throne. They are dressed in white and wear golden crowns.There was lightning and thunder in the throne, and seven lamps of fire—the seven spirits of God—lit in front of the throne, making the front of the throne shimmering and crystal clear.

Four strange creatures were also seen placed in and around the throne. These creatures were covered with eyes and each had six wings.The first was like a lion, the second was like a calf, the third had a human face, the fourth was like an eagle flying; The Almighty, who is now, and who is to come." And the twenty-four elders fell down before the throne, and laid their crowns before the throne, saying, "Our Lord and our God, you are worthy to be glorified , honor, and authority, for you made all things, and by your will they were created and are." Next, John saw the hand of the Lord God on the throne holding a book full of writing, sealed with seven seals, and a mighty angel declared that no one could open and read the book because no one was worthy to do so.At this time, I saw three lambs that seemed to have been slaughtered standing on the throne, among the four living beings and the twenty-four elders. After reading the scroll, only he can break the seven seals, unfold and read the scroll.

Immediately, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders each held a harp and a golden censer full of incense, and fell down before the Lamb. The incense in the censer was the prayer of all the saints.John heard the four living creatures, the twenty-four elders, many angels around him, and all the created things in heaven and earth say the same thing: The Lamb who was slain is the one who is worthy to take the scroll, break the seven seals, gain authority, and be rich. , Wisdom, Power, Honor, Glory, Blessing; to the Lord God and the Lamb on the throne for all eternity. The Lamb opened the first of the seven seals, and as one of the four living creatures said, "Come!" a victor with a bow and arrow and a crown on his head appeared riding a white horse; the Lamb opened the first seal. The second seal, followed by another "Come!" A rider on a red horse appeared, and was given authority and a big sword, indicating that he could take peace from the earth and make people kill each other; at this time, the third seal When it was opened, a man with a scale in his hand appeared before John riding a black horse, and he heard a voice from among the four living creatures saying, "One liter of wheat for a denarius, three liters of barley for a denarius; oil and wine Don't waste it."

The fourth seal was opened, and the fourth creature said again, "Come!" A rider on a gray horse appeared. The power of God is to destroy a quarter of the earth's people by the sword, famine, pestilence, and wild beasts. When the fifth seal was opened, some souls shouted loudly under the sacrifice:--they were killed because they upheld God's way and testified for God--"Holy and true Lord, you do not judge those who live on earth , avenge our bloodshed, how long will we have to wait?" Then each of them was given white clothes, and ordered to rest for a while, and then they would be satisfied.

As soon as the sixth seal was opened, the sky and the earth trembled, the sun and the moon became dark, and the stars filled the sky like a gust of wind blowing off the immature fruits from the trees and falling all over the ground.The sky has shifted, and the mountains and islands are also drifting... This is the wrath of the Lamb!The kings, ministers, generals, strong men, wealthy households, all slaves and free ones of the earth hid in caves and caves to avoid the face of God on the throne and the wrath of the Lamb. Then, the four angels in charge of the wind on the ground stood at the four corners of the ground and stopped the wind, and another angel came up from the place where the sun rose, holding the seal of the living God, and sealing the foreheads of all the servants of God.Of the tribes of the children of Israel were sealed 144,000 in number: the tribes of Judah, the tribes of Reuben, the tribes of Gad, the tribes of Amon, the tribes of Naphtali, the tribes of Manasseh, the tribes of Simeon, the tribes of Levi, The tribes of Issachar, Zebulun, Joseph, and Benjamin each received twelve thousand seals. Afterwards, many people from different countries and nations came from all over the world, all dressed in white, holding palm branches, standing in front of the throne and the Lamb, worshiping and praising God and the Lamb on the throne, and all the angels also faced Prostrate yourself and worship God and the Lamb. One of the elders came to John and asked John who these people in white clothes were and where they came from. John said, "You know, my lord." Then the elders told John that they escaped from the great tribulation. Washed, they serve God day and night in the temple of God, and no longer suffer from hunger, thirst and sun exposure. The lamb shepherds them and leads them to the source of the spring of life, and God wipes away their tears of sorrow. The lamb finally opened the seventh seal, and the heavens immediately fell silent. About two quarters later, the seven angels standing before God were given seven trumpets, and an angel holding a golden censer came to the altar. The cigarettes and the prayers of all the saints rose slowly before God; the angel filled the censer with the fire on the altar and poured it on the ground. Suddenly, lightning flashed and thunder thundered, and the earth trembled. At this time, the seven angels with the trumpets sounded the trumpets respectively.When the first angel sounded his trumpet, hail mixed with fire and blood fell from the sky, and one-third of the trees and grass were burned away. When the second angel blew his trumpet, the burning mountain rolled down into the sea, and the sea water became bloody water, and one-third of the creatures and ships in the sea were dead and broken. The third angel sounded the trumpet, and the big star called wormwood, burning from heaven, fell into the rivers and their water sources, and the water in the rivers became bitter like wormwood, and many people died. The fourth angel blew his trumpet, and one-third of the sun, moon, and stars were struck and darkened, and the day was no longer bright, and the night had no stars to shine.An eagle flew in the air and cried, "Three angels will sound the other trumpets; woe to you people who dwell on the earth! Woe to it! Woe to it!" The fifth angel blew the trumpet, a star fell from the sky, and opened the abyss with the key of the abyss, and thick smoke came out of the pit, covering the sky and covering the sun; swarms of locusts rushed out with the smoke These locusts looked like war horses preparing to go out, wearing golden crowns, faces like men, hair like women, with sharp teeth like lions, iron armor on their chests, and tails of scorpions. They flapped their wings like Tens of thousands of horses are galloping, and their messengers are to hurt those people who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads. They will use the poisonous stings on their scorpion tails to hurt these people for five months. I can't ask for death.The messenger of the Abyss is the king of locusts, and his Hebrew name is Abaddon.This is the first disaster for the people of the earth. The sixth angel began to blow the trumpet, and a voice from the four corners of the golden altar in front of God ordered the angel who played the trumpet: "Release the four messengers who are bound in the Euphrates River." These four messengers had already made a wish to kill three One of the crowd.When he was released at this time, he immediately obeyed his wish.I saw that they had a large number of soldiers and horses, and the armor on the chest of the cavalry was like fire, accompanied by purple horses and sulfur, as if they were burning; the horses were all very majestic, with heads like lions and tails like snakes with snake heads. It spewed out fire and smoke, with puffs of brimstone, and a third of the people died at their feet.The remaining two-thirds, upon seeing this, still did not think about repenting, and continued to worship demons and idols, and continued to commit murder, sorcery, adultery, and theft. After the disaster passed, another angel descended from the sky. He was clothed in colorful clouds, his head was surrounded by a rainbow, his face was like a red sun, his feet were like pillars of fire, and he held a small scroll opened in his hand. The lion roared, and with this cry, seven thunderclaps were deafening.John was about to write down what he saw, when a word came from heaven: "Seal what the seven thunders have said, and do not write it." Then he ordered him to take the little scroll from the angel's hand and eat it, saying eat it. When you taste it in your mouth, it will feel as sweet as honey, but when you eat it, you will feel bitter in your stomach.John complied, and sure enough. The angel asked him to continue to prophesy and testify.At this time he was given a reed, and a voice commanded him to measure the temple of God and the altar and those who worshiped in it.There is no need to measure the courtyard outside the temple, because it will be left to the Gentiles, who will trample the holy city for forty-two months.John heard again and said, "I will make my two witnesses preach a thousand two hundred and sixty days in sweaters." These two men will breathe fire from their mouths and burn up the enemies who want to kill them; No rain will fall, the water will be turned into blood, and they can attack the world with all kinds of plagues at any time and at will.When they had finished their testimony, the beasts in the abyss would come up to fight them and kill them, and the dead bodies lay in the streets of the great city called Egypt or Sodom for three and a half days, and the people rejoiced over it.Three and a half days later, the anger of God entered their bodies, and they resurrected and obeyed God's call to go to heaven. Those who saw them were very frightened. earthquake. The seventh angel blew the trumpet, and John heard a voice from heaven proclaiming: "The kingdoms of the world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ." So the twenty-four elders fell on the ground, worshiped Almighty God, and thanked him for his power. king.At this time, the temple in heaven was opened, and the ark of the covenant appeared in the temple, followed by lightning and thunder, earthquake and hail. Various visions appeared in the sky: a woman wearing the sun and the moon, wearing a crown of twelve stars, crying in the pain of childbirth; a red dragon with seven heads, seven crowns and ten horns, and a third of the stars behind it. to devour the child that was about to be delivered before the woman.The woman gave birth to a boy and was immediately taken up to the throne of God, who will rule the nations with a rod of iron.The woman fled to the wilderness according to God's guidance, where she could survive for 1260 days. The angel Michael and the messenger fought with the dragon and the messenger. The dragon was defeated and fell to the ground, so he chased the woman again. The woman got a big eagle and flew into the wilderness. The water was about to wash away the woman, but the earth opened up and swallowed the flood, and the woman was saved, but the dragon had to stand on the beach by the sea and get angry.This dragon was transformed into the ancient snake, Satan the devil. At this time, a strange beast appeared in the sea, with ten horns wearing ten crowns, and blasphemous names on seven heads. Its body was like a leopard, its four feet were like a bear, and its mouth was as big as a lion. All right.The dragon handed over his authority and seat to the monster, and allowed it to exercise power for forty-two months. This beast blasphemed God, defeated the saints, and subdued all races, peoples, and countries.Then another monster came up from the ground. Its horns were like a lamb and its voice was like a giant. It gave power to send fire from the sky, so that everyone, big or small, rich or poor, whether master or slave, would receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads. , to get the name of the beast or the number of the name of the beast, this number is 666. At the same time the Lamb stood on Mount Zion, with a multitude of one hundred and forty-four thousand, and the name of the Lamb and the name of his Father were written on their foreheads; The Lamb is with him, singing a new song with the sound of the harp.Three angels flew in the sky, to preach the eternal gospel to the people on the earth, and told people: the day of God's judgment has come; the adulterous city of Babylon has fallen; Pain, restless day and night. A white cloud floated over, and sitting on it was a man resembling a son of man, with a golden crown on his head, who harvested the ripe crops on the ground with a sharp sickle; another angel came out, harvested ripe grapes on the ground with a sickle, and then Grapes are poured into the great wine of God, and blood gushes out of it immediately.Those who defeated the beast stood on the sea of ​​glass, playing the harp of God and singing the songs of Moses and the Lamb.Then the temple of the altar was opened, and the seven angels who were in charge of the seven plagues came out of the temple, dressed in linen and with a golden belt around their waists, and one of the four living creatures gave the seven angels seven golden bowls filled with the wrath of God. , let them fall to the ground. The first angel poured out his bowl on the ground, and those who had the mark of the beast and worshiped his image were covered with sores. The second angel poured his bowl into the sea, and the sea water turned into blood immediately, and all living things in the sea died. The third angel poured out his bowl on the rivers and the fountains of the waters, and the waters became water of blood. The fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun, and the sun was scorching, and the heat wave hit people. The fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and the kingdom of the beast was in darkness, and all the people in the kingdom were full of sores, and the pain was so great that they spit foul language and gnawed their tongues. The sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and the river dried up, and the way appeared; from the mouths of the frog, the dragon, the beast, and the false prophet, three unclean spirits--the spirit of demons, the three demons Invite all the kings of the world to fight at Armageddon. The seventh angel poured his bowl into the air, and a voice from the throne in the temple said, "It is finished." Then lightning flashed and thunder blared, earthquakes and cities collapsed, the islands and mountains disappeared, and huge hailstones fell on people. Taking one of the seven bowls, an angel called John and took him into the wilderness to see the great harlot being punished.John saw a woman clothed in purple and scarlet, riding a scarlet beast with seven heads and ten horns, clothed in gold and silver, adorned with jewels, and holding in her hand a golden cup full of her filth and fornication, with this inscription on her forehead: "Mystery! Babylon the Great, mother of all harlots and all abominations that are in the world." The harlot got drunk with the blood of the saints and the witnesses of Jesus.John was puzzled, and the angel explained to him the mystery of the harlot and the beast with seven heads and ten horns that she rode: the beast was there before, but it is not now, and it will climb up from the bottomless pit, and it will return to perdition.Its seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits, that is, seven kings, five of whom have fallen, one is still alive, and the other has not yet come; and the ten horns of the beast are ten kings, who have not yet received the kingdom, but once they To gain power, will give power to the beast with one accord, and fight against the Lamb, but the Lamb, Lord of lords and King of kings, will conquer the beast.The many waters where the harlot sits imply many peoples, multitudes, nations, and tongues. The harlot is the great city that rules over the kings of the earth. At this time, another angel with great authority came from heaven and announced loudly: Babylon has fallen!It has become a dwelling place of the devil and a nest of every unclean spirit and loathsome bird. " Another voice from heaven said, Let the people withdraw from the city, so that they will not be punished with the harlot.For her extravagance, her sin, her injustice, God will punish her twice, and she will suffer and mourn, and be consumed by fire.The rulers of the land who had committed adultery with her, and the merchants who got rich from her, all mourned and wept for her.But the saints, apostles, and prophets who were oppressed by her rejoiced that she was punished, because God had avenged them. A strong angel raised a huge stone and threw it into the sea, saying that the city of Babylon would sink and disappear like this stone, never to return.The people sang "Hallelujah (Praise the Lord)" loudly in the sky, and the twenty-four elders and four living creatures bowed down and worshiped God, saying "Aji Hallelujah." The people rejoiced and celebrated the Almighty God of God reigns, preparing for the marriage supper of the Lamb. At this moment John saw the sky opened, and a rider on a white horse appeared. His eyes were like flames, he wore many crowns, and he wore blood-splattered clothes.And all the armies of heaven rode on white horses, and followed him in white linen, and on his clothes and on his thighs was written: "King of kings and Lord of lords." The soldiers fought and captured the beast and the false prophet who worshiped the image of the beast, and threw them into the lake of fire burning with sulfur.Another day an angel stood in the sun and called the birds to feast on their flesh.Another angel took the key and chains of the abyss, went to catch the snake-happy but transformed dragon, bound it for a thousand years, and sealed the abyss. The souls of those who were beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of God, the souls of those who have not worshiped the beast and its image and have not received the mark of the beast, will be resurrected and will be with Christ for a thousand years.After a thousand years, Satan will be released and deceive the nations of the world to gather and fight. Then fire will be sent from heaven to consume them, and the devil will be thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone where humans and beasts are, where they will be tormented forever. At this moment, a large white throne and the person sitting on the throne appeared. All the dead people stood in front of the mourning throne.The books of life and the books of life were opened, and everyone was judged according to what was written in the books of life and according to his deeds, but whoever was not named in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire. Finally, John saw the new heaven and the new earth, the holy city New Jerusalem descending from God from heaven.A loud voice came from the throne: God will live with men, and be their God, and they will be his people.God will wipe away their tears, and there will be no more death, mourning, crying, and pain in the world. The past has passed away, and God has renewed everything.God will give freely the water of life to the thirsty, and the cowardly, the unbelieving, the abominable, the murderer, the sexually immoral, the sorcerer, the idolater, and every liar, will enter into the brimstone lake of fire. Afterwards, one of the angels holding seven golden bowls filled with the last seven plagues took John to a great mountain and showed him the holy city New Jerusalem, which came down from God, and told him that this city was the bride, is the wife of the Lamb.John saw that the city was filled with the glory of God, shining brightly like precious stones, like jasper, like crystal.The high wall of the holy city is entirely made of jasper, and the city and its streets are of pure gold; twelve pearls are the gates of the holy city on the east, north, south, and west sides, and the twelve gates have twelve angels The names of the twelve tribes of Israel are written on the twelve gates; the city wall has twelve foundations, each of which is decorated with different precious stones, and the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb are written. There is no temple in the holy city, because God and the Lamb are the temple of the city; the city does not need the sun and the moon to shine, because the glory of God illuminates the whole city; the Lamb is the lamp of the city.There is no night in the city, the gates of the city are open day and night, and all the nations walk in the light of the city, but those who are unclean, those who do evil and lie, and those who are not named in the Lamb's book of life are not allowed to enter the holy city. There is a crystal clear river in the streets of the Holy City. The river is the water of life flowing from the throne of God and the Lamb. On both sides of the river grows the tree of life. The tree bears twelve kinds of fruits. cure.The throne of God and of the Lamb stands in the city, and his servants write his name on their foreheads and serve him forever.God's light shines on them, making them kings forever. The angel once again told John that what he heard and saw was that God sent his angel to show his servants the things that must soon take place, and those who keep the prophecy will be blessed.When John heard it, he said, "Look! I am coming quickly. My reward and punishment are mine, and I will repay each man according to his deeds. I am the Alpha and the Omega; I am the first and I am the last; I I am the beginning, and I am the end..."My Lord Jesus has sent my angel to testify these things to you for the churches.I am the root and offspring of David; I am the bright morning star. " Finally, John told everyone in accordance with the divine revelation: "I testify to everyone who hears the prophecy in this book, that if anyone adds anything to this prophecy, God will bring upon him the plagues that are written in this book; this book If anyone takes away from the prophecy of the book, God will take away his portion from the tree of life and the holy city which are written in this book." (Revelation 1-22)