IF MOST OF "REVELATION" IS
FULFILLED, THEN WHAT IS THE POINT OF IT TODAY?
Michael F. Blume
©
2003 Michael F. Blume
All
Rights Reserved
Prophecy
involves more than unfulfilled disasters, and has great
implications concerning WHAT THE CHURCH COULD and SHOULD BE DOING RIGHT
NOW.
I think
that after you read my following thoughts, you would agree
there is much relevance to
fulfilled prophecy today.
And to you
who disregard any interest in studying Revelation, I think this may
change your mind as well.
Many have
heard the past fulfillment interpretation of the book of
Revelation, and reacted prematurely saying that such a thought renders
Revelation irrelevant to the church of our day and to each of us as
Believers. Such a response is extremely incorrect. In fact, past
fulfillment causes one to realize just how much more we should be doing
for the Lord because of its implications. My entire concept has changed
about my life as a Christian right in the here and now as a result of
this understanding!
I also wish to address the thought that many people have who indicate
they relegate the Book of Revelation and its information as not so
important in
their lives as, say, the need to win souls, for example. I propose that
a futuristic interpretation and concept of Revelation has engendered
just such a belief in the minds of these people. After all, if the
events listed in Revelation have not yet occurred, then why be worried
about them now?
To look at the events of Revelation, for the most part, as having
already been fulfilled, implies a very vital truth. And it is this
implication that has simply overhauled my own life as a Christian.
Let me begin by saying that if we were to relegate any past events of
history as recorded in the Bible as irrelevant to our lives as
Christians, then we had better throw out most of the New Testament! All
four gospels are the history of Christ's ministry in this world. The
crucifixion is a historical event! The book of Acts is the history of
the early church. Much of the epistles speak about Paul's words
concerning the problems with the various churches in that first
century. Throw these books out, if history is irrelevant to our day
today!
However, we all know such a thought is ridiculous! We need the accounts
of Christ's life and crucifixion. We need the accounts of the early
church in the book of Acts and the lists of problems and how Paul dealt
with them in the early church period. Why? These events have
IMPLICATIONS that affect our lives today as believers. I do not even
have to explain the need for such implications, as that should be
obvious to any believer today. But the Kingdom Eschatological approach
to the book of Revelation is no less a valid point that should urge us
to greatly value this book today.
The thought that the destruction of Jerusalem, for rejecting Christ and
calling for pagan Caesar to be her king instead, as we propose is a
great issue in the Book of Revelation, tells us that the destruction is
all past and fulfilled. The implications to this proposition are
enormous! We end up with the City of the New Jerusalem with a river of
life flowing from it, and a tree of life with leaves for the nations'
healing and fruit for meat. And just before John says "Amen", he wrote
words inviting all who thirst to come to this very River of Life and
drink, right now, of its waters!
We propose the City is the church of Jesus Christ! Do we do so as the
result of flights of fancy interpretation? Absolutely not. Jesus,
Himself called us a city!
Matthew 5:14
(14) Ye are
the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.
The writer
of Hebrews synonymously called the church the Heavenly Jerusalem.
Hebrews 12:22-23
(22)
But ye are
come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly
Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, (23) To the general
assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and
to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect,
Paul wrote
about the mother, the church, as Jerusalem which is above.
Galatians 4:26
(26) But
Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all.
Jerusalem
above is not going to be the mother of us all. She is and she was 2000
years ago in Paul's day! She "is" the mother of us all.
God foretold that His people would be called a city!
Isaiah 60:1-3
(1) Arise,
shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the LORD is risen upon
thee. (2) For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross
darkness the people: but the LORD shall arise upon thee, and his glory
shall be seen upon thee. (3) And the Gentiles shall come to thy light,
and kings to the brightness of thy rising.
The early
church viewed this prophecy as speaking about their day.
Acts 13:47
(47) For so
hath the Lord commanded us, saying, I have set thee to be a light of
the Gentiles, that thou shouldest be for salvation unto the ends of the
earth.
And Isaiah
continues and reads:
Isaiah 60:11
(11)
Therefore
thy gates shall be open continually; they shall not be shut day nor
night; that men may bring unto thee the forces of the Gentiles, and
that their kings may be brought.
Isaiah 60:14-15
(14) The
sons also of them that afflicted thee shall come bending unto thee; and
all they that despised thee shall bow themselves down at the soles of
thy feet; and they shall call thee, The city of the LORD, The Zion of
the Holy One of Israel. (15) Whereas thou hast been forsaken and hated,
so that no man went through thee, I will make thee an eternal
excellency, a joy of many generations.
People
might say this has not been fulfilled, despite the words of Acts 13:47,
but nobody can deny that these words are saying that it is the PEOPLE
OF GOD that are to be called a City. Isaiah 62 plainly states this to
be so!
Isaiah 62:12
(12)
And they
shall call them, The holy people, The redeemed of the LORD: and thou
shalt be called, Sought out, A city not forsaken.
What does
this imply? What does this tell us if we are to understand that we are
already in the New Jerusalem, in the form of the New Testament church?
It means a lot!
It means that we should be ruling and reigning as Kings right now. The
dominion that everyone is waiting for to exert over the earth in the
future, is a dominion we should be enjoying right now! This shook me to
my very core! I was waiting for the millennium to begin and to one day
rule as a king and priest. But I realized God already made us these
things.
Revelation 1:5-6
(5)
And from
Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of
the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved
us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, (6) And hath made us
kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion
for ever and ever. Amen.
"Hath made"
is past tense! We were made kings and priests. Hello, kings and priests!
So what does it mean, then, to rule over certain cities, if this is a
"now" thing?
It means revival! Church, we should be ruling our cities by having such
mighty revival that righteousness begins prevailing in our communities.
To one is given ten cities. This means on member of the church has
enough power and anointing and ministry to lead revivals in ten cities!
Do you deny this? Would not not say God could do this? Church, this
message has challenged my soul and pushed me towards greater victories
and more powerful influence through my own ministry! I was shaken to
the core when these thoughts hit me. I thought of much time I have
wasted! I was waiting for millennium to rule and reign with Jesus. But
I realized I can rule right now in victory over my own life, by
enjoying power over sin, as Paul indicated in Romans 6 when he said
"sin shall not have dominion over you."
I began to see how anemic the church has become!
If that city is the people of God right now, as all indications from
the rest of the Bible, as far as I see them, are telling me, then I
need to get off my backside and start ruling and overcoming obstacles
and stepping out in faith for God to use me in revival! If my thoughts
are correct, then there are thousands of churches that are wasting
precious time in thinking they are not yet kings and priests, and
cannot rule right now. They are satisfied to think they are a witness
in their city, and so long as they have open doors on Sunday, for
hungry souls to come if they really want Jesus, then they are doing
God's will.
No, they are not!
We need to be conquering our cities. We need to be stomping out the
effects of devils and unclean spirits in our towns, by starting to live
victoriously in our personal lives! We have saints who can barely hold
onto Jesus, let alone conquer temptation in their lives, and refuse to
let sin have dominion over them.
Unbelief
runs rampant! Please understand I am not trying to be mean and hard.
It's just the truth! Paul said sin shall not have dominion over you,
since you have been buried into Jesus' death, and have thereby caused
the destruction of the old man, so we should not serve sin. Yet
believers look at such a thing as impossible because "we still have
this old flesh." However, Paul contended that, despite our mortal
bodies, God's Spirit can quicken these bodies so that we should not
live the rest of our days to the lust of the flesh and to the flesh.
Paul did it!
Romans 8:11-12
(11) But if
the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he
that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal
bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you. (12) Therefore, brethren, we
are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh.
What reason
did Paul give for not having to be debtors to live after the flesh? It
was because Christ's Spirit is in us to quicken our mortal bodies. That
means that He can empower us right now while we have mortal bodies, so
that we do not have sin reign over us.
Romans 6:12
(12)
Let not sin
therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the
lusts thereof.
He is
contrasting sin ruling in our mortal bodies, with our mortal bodies
being quickened to no longer live after the flesh!
Meanwhile, saints do not believe this is possible! This "old flesh"
still holds us down so much, and we won't have victory until we are
changed. No sir! Paul said that in this present life sin does not have
to have dominion over us. We should dominate sin! We are, presently,
kings and priests! And we shall rule in this world!
No, I am not speaking about KINGDOM NOW doctrine, that proposes we take
over the government offices of Ottawa and Washington.
We've got churches where there are not any more gifts of the Spirit in
operation than an occasional message in tongues and an interpretation
of tongues, or a healing every few months, and yet we call ourselves
"Apostolic"!
This message stirred me up!
The ramifications of the fact that the wrath and destruction in the
Book of Revelation is fulfilled, leads one to realize that this City
needs to be pumping out the River of Life so that all who are athirst
can come and drink of its waters right now, not 2,000 years from now,
or even 10 years from now!
Jesus clearly explained that the river of living waters is the Holy
Ghost that is a well inside us!
John 4:14
(14)
But
whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never
thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of
water springing up into everlasting life.
John 7:38-39
(38)
He that
believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall
flow rivers of living water. (39) (But this spake he of the Spirit,
which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was
not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)
How can we
read these verses, and then interpret Revelation's river of living
water as a literal and physical river of H20?
And the tree of life is in the church, also.
Compare:
Revelation 22:2
(2)
In the
midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there
the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her
fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of
the nations.
Psalms 1:3
(3)
And he
shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth
forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and
whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.
I am glad
that David wrote that the saint of God is like a tree whose leaf does
not whither, because Revelation reads that those leaves are for the
healing of the nations! This is speaking about saints of God who walk
not in the way of sinners, not sit in the seat of the scornful! Read
the previous two verses in Psalm 1. And the fruit is brought forth in
his season, just as Revelation stated that the fruit was yielded every
month. This is figurative talk, juts like Psalm 1:3 was figurative
talk, of the saints of God.
And this Psalm chimes in harmony with these words:
Isaiah 61:3
(3)
To appoint
unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the
oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of
heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the
planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified.
"...that
they might be called trees of righteousness"
Jesus is inside us as the Holy Ghost, and pours forth the Rivers of
Living water. Or rather, He should be pouring it forth from our lives.
The fact is that many believers are defeated and the River is locked up
within their souls and not pouring out.
Now, it has been said that such interpretations of Revelation are
flights of fancy, without basis and foundation. However, I have quoted
Psalm 1:3, which nobody would deny was not speaking figuratively about
the saints of God. Psalm 1:1-2 says so! So I am simply making
references of the things noted throughout Revelation, that I claim are
figurative, to their established use of figures of speech in the rest
of the Bible.
Revelation stated that the New Jerusalem had twelve foundations having
a name of the twelve apostles in each foundation. Paul already
interpreted that for us as follows:
Ephesians 2:19-22
(19)
Now
therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens
with the saints, and of the household of God; (20) And are built upon
the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being
the chief corner stone; (21) In whom all the building fitly framed
together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord: (22) In whom ye also
are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.
DOES IT
MATTER IF WE STUDY REVELATION OR NOT?
Revelation 1:3
(3)
Blessed is
he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and
keep those things which are written therein: ...
I
formerly noted that many relegate study of Revelation to be a lesser
issue of importance than other biblical issues. Such thinking is
extremely wrong. Revelation is an entire book of the Bible! Would God
have us relegate an entire book of the Bible to be something of lesser
concern than the rest of the Bible? Think of it. God took time and
inspiration to move upon His servant, John, to write an entire book
that people are casting aside today as unimportant. Oh, they might
claim it's important, alright, but not as important as other issues.
I disagree. God wants us to clearly understand all of the Bible. And
the temptation to cast off any study of Revelation whatsoever goes hand
in hand with the thought that it is not as important as other issues.
Let me address this concept of this book by asking whether or not
realization of how much more we should be doing as the church today, in
the way of seeing more dominion in our personal lives and churches, is
important? I think all would respond with a resounding YES! Well, this
is the sort of thinking that thundered in my ears and echoed for months
after I began looking at Revelation in this light.
I suggest that the reason people cast Revelation aside as a lesser
book, is due to the influence of futurist interpretation of this book.
Since these events are not occurring yet, and are off in the future
somewhere, even if only ten years away, then all we can derive from it
is the hope that evil will be over one day, and go on our merry way and
simply staying saved for the time being. And let's pray we never have
to be around in this world when that judgment comes! "Come before the
tribulation, Jesus!"
But if everyone felt that these things were fulfilled in the
destruction of Jerusalem, and that the Church is spiritually standing
on a sea of glass, shouting Hossana to Jesus, because we accepted Him
whereas Jerusalem rejected Him, then this implies a great deal of
truths. Revelation 7, in noting this picture, says that the saints
serve God day and night in His temple. Are we not the temple of the
Holy Ghost now? Do we not serve Him now?
When one realizes that a fulfilled concept of Revelation is true, the
implications will impact us so heavily, that we will all feel compelled
to loose the power of God out from within our lives so much more than
what we presently are, and believe God for greater things than we have
dared believe Him for before. I know, because this is what happened to
me.
Has my ministry changed? Yes. I have seen more miracles in my ministry,
more anointing upon my preaching, and more faith for greater things. I
leave you with this as my personal testimony as to what a difference
Kingdom Eschatology has done in my own life.
What are the fruits of this interpretation? The fruits are evident in
my own ministry. And would not something be truly considered as correct
if the results are that it urges one towards greater exploits for the
Lord, and a deeper appreciation for what we already have provided for
us because of the present experience of the new birth that the cross
and resurrection of Jesus Christ provided for us? I think so!
RDTW