Prophecy, Fresh Manna

The Coming Of Messiah

Prophecy, God's Word

Finally there is a book available that brings the end of days Bible prophecies together in a comprehensive way that makes sense. Don't be deceived by false teachings about the fulfillment of the great tribulation prophecies and the coming of King Jesus the Messiah. You can receive many benefits from the author’s eight years of research as he applies current events and a Hebraic Roots understanding, that makes the last generation prophecies come alive.

For more information about the author and insight regarding this must read book, visit the author’s web site at: Prepare For The Coming Messiah. This book is also available at Amazon.

Christ Invites Us To "Come" ... (Revelation 6:1-7:17)

Christ invites us to ‘come’ (6:1,3,5,7) - and look at things through His eyes. With Him, we look at earth. With Him, we look at heaven. Troubled world, tremendous worship - These are the things we see when we look through the eyes of our Lord jesus Christ. Our world is deeply troubled. Heaven’s worship is absolutely tremendous. Of all our many ‘troubles’, the greatest is this: We are sinners, and none of us ‘can stand’ before ‘the face of Him who sits on the throne’. Our earthly ‘troubles’ are nothing compared with this! There is hope. There is a way of ‘salvation’. We can be saved through ‘the blood of the Lamb’. If, however, we turn from Him - ‘the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world’ - there will be no hope. We will face ‘the wrath of the Lamb’ (4:16-17; 5:10,14; John 1:29). Will you be saved - or lost?

Approaching The Book Of Revelation (11) - "We Are To Be Changed By God's Word" (iii)

As we read the Book of Revelation, we must remember that "we walk by faith, not by sight" (2 Corinthians 5:7). We don't need to pretend that we can understand all that we read in the Book of Revelation. We can, however, know the true comfort of the Gospel. We read the Book of Revelation. It directs our attention to Jesus Christ. Trusting in Him, we receive eternal salvation. We travel on life's journey, assured that this earthly life is not all that there is. Through Christ, our Saviour, God is calling us on to something better. He's saying to us, "The best is yet to be." This is the great message which the Book of Revelation, with all its difficult passages, proclaims emphatically - "This world is not my home. I'm just a-passing-through." Let's be honest in acknowledging the difficulty we have in understanding all that God is saying to us in the Book of Revelation. Let's make sure also that we don't miss out on the great comfort which "the revelation of Jesus Christ" brings to us. As we read the Book of Revelation, let's learn to bow down before the Lord, rejoicing in our Saviour, Jesus Christ and giving thanks for His gift of salvation. We may not understand all that we read, but we will be learning to worship the Lord - and that is more important than anything else!

Approaching The Book Of Revelation (10) - "We Are To Be Changed By God's Word" (ii)

The call to obedience and the promise of blessing - This is very different from the view that sees the Book of Revelation as an essentially closed book - "Don't read it. It will only confuse you." God's way is the way of comfort. It is not the way of confusion. Through "the revelation of Jesus Christ", we are led out of confusion. We must begin by being honest with ourselves. We must stop imagining that we have great understanding of the mysteries of God. When we acknowledge that we do not have a full understanding of the deep things of God, we will learn to live with unanswered questions. We will learn to say, with Paul, "Now, we see through a glass darkly. Now I know in part." This confession of our failure to understand the mysteries of God will not hinder us from confessing our faith in the ultimate triumph of God's love: "then shall I know even as also I am known. And now there abides faith, hope and love, these three; but the greatest of these is love" (1 Corinthians 13:12-13).

Approaching The Book Of Revelation (9) - "We Are To Be Changed By God's Word" (i)

We are to be changed by God's Word.
The Bible doesn't leave us as it found us. The Book of Revelation calls for a change in our way of thinking, a change of our way of living. It calls for a change of heart: "Be zealous and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If any one opens the door, I will come in to him" (Revelation 3:19-20). God's Word comes to us with a call for obedience. It calls us to receive comfort. It calls us to worship. We haven't been given the Bible so that we can build up a great treasury of Biblical knowledge, and pat ourselves on the back, taking pride in our great knowledge. The Book of Revelation hasn't been given to us so that we become conceited in our supposed knowledge of the things to come. We have been given the Word of God so that we might learn to be obedient. This is the way of comfort. No less than any other part of Scripture, the Book of Revelation calls for our obedience. When we seek to obey its message, we will find that it will bring great blessing into our lives - "Blessed is he who reads, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written here" (Revelation 1:3).

Approaching The Book Of Revelation (8) - "Seeing History From God's Point Of View" (ii)

We see God at the centre of our life. We see Him, working out His purpose of grace. He is fitting us for heaven. This is the goal of our life on earth. This is a glorious goal - "Eye has not seen nor ear heard, neither has it entered into the heart of man what God has prepared for those who love Him" (1 Corinthians 2:9). This perspective of glorious hope, proclaimed in the Gospel of Christ's resurrection, is developed more fully in the Book of Revelation. The message of glorious and eternal hope is brought to us by Paul in 1 Corinthians 15. This message is emphasized more fully in the Book of Revelation. "A door is opened in heaven" (Revelation 4:1). The glory of heaven shines upon the earth. The people of God are called to press on to the heavenly glory that awaits them. Through "the revelation of Jesus Christ", we are raised above a life that's going nowhere. We're going somewhere. We're going to be with Jesus. We're going to be where He is. On earth, we're learning to give all the glory to Him. We're being prepared for the glory of the heavenly worship, so wonderfully described for us in the Book of Revelation.

Approaching The Book Of Revelation (7) - "Seeing History From God's Point Of View (i)

Seeing history from God's point of view
What does this mean? There are really only two ways of looking at history. There is the way of faith and there is the way of unbelief. For the unbeliever, history is no more than a meaningless series of events. There is no sense of direction. There is no goal toward which history is travelling. We're going round in circles. We're on a journey, but we're not going anywhere. We're on a wild goose chase, looking for something and finding nothing. For the believer, everything is different. The believer sees a sense of direction in history. He sees history as a journey toward a destination - a glorious, heavenly and eternal destination. What is it that makes the difference? How is the believer able to see more than the unbeliever? Is there something special about the believer? No! The difference comes from this - "the revelation of Jesus Christ." It is Jesus who gives us something to live for. Through "the revelation of Jesus Christ", we are able to look at life with new eyes. We see our life with the eyes of Jesus. He gives to us the eyes of faith. Through faith in Him, we see God at work in all things. We see God at the centre of our life. We see Him, working out His purpose of grace. He is fitting us for heaven. This is the goal of our life on earth.

Approaching The Book Of Revelation (6) - "The Revelation Of Jesus Christ (iii.b)

Whatever questions may remain unanswered, let's never forget that God has given us His answer to the question of salvation: "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved" (Acts 16:30-31). In the Bible, there is great variety. The Gospel of Luke is very different from the Book of Revelation. The Book of Acts is very different from the Book of Psalms. The Letter to the Romans is very different from the Prophecy of Isaiah. What does this mean? Does it mean that the Bible is no more than a collection of books that don't connect with each other? Must we abandon the idea that the Bible has one central Theme - "the revelation of Jesus Christ"? While there is great variety in God's Word, we must see this as a great opportunity for looking at our Saviour, Jesus Christ, from a variety of different angles. The psalmist, the prophet, the gospel writer, the apostle to the Gentiles, the writer of the Book of Revelation - they're all speaking to us about our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. They're all pointing us to the One in whom alone there is full salvation. They're all saying, "Look away from me. Look to Jesus." They're all saying, "I'm only the servant. Jesus is the Saviour." Who is it that enables us to see the Bible as one Book? It's Jesus. He's the One who holds it all together. With Jesus at the centre of our attention, we come to the puzzling and difficult Book of Revelation and we say, "Here is Jesus. Here, we have more than a whole lot of strange and confusing visions that don't make much sense to us. Here we have a single revelation - the revelation of Jesus Christ." We read the Book of Revelation, and we pray, "Lord, whatever else I may see as I read this mysterious Book, let me see Jesus. Let me see Him, standing at the very centre of this Book. Let me see Jesus standing at the very centre of my life. Let me keep Jesus always at the very centre of my life."

Approaching The Book Of Revelation (5) - "The Revelation Of Jesus Christ" (iii.a)

"The revelation of Jesus Christ" (1:1)
What does this mean?
Thirdly, it means this. The revelation is one revelation. It is not many revelations. The final book of the Bible is called the Book of Revelation. It is not the Book of Revelations. This is important. It emphasizes that the Book of Revelation has a single focus of attention. It directs our attention to Jesus Christ. It is not a Book of Revelations which takes us here, there and everywhere. Right at the very beginning, it tells us, "This Book is about Jesus Christ." When we read the Book of Revelation, there will be times when we're not sure how a particular passage relates to this great Theme, "the revelation of Jesus Christ." We find the same thing when we're reading other parts of the Bible. We read something that is difficult to understand, and we wonder, "How does this relate to our Saviour, Jesus Christ?" We should not get over-anxious about this. We have many questions, but let's not forget this: Jesus is the Answer to our most important question: "What must I do to be saved?"

Approaching The Book Of Revelation (4) - "The Revelation Of Jesus Christ" (ii.b)

There will always be an element of mystery in our Christian Faith. We are mere human beings. We cannot fully understand the deep things of God. This element of mystery does not, however, take away from the trustworthiness of God's love, which has been so wonderfully revealed to us in Jesus Christ, our great Saviour. In Jesus Christ, God has shown us how much He loves us. We can trust God. He loves us with a faithful love. He loves us with an everlasting love. How do we know that God loves us with a faithful love? How do we know that He loves us with an everlasting love? We look at the Cross of Jesus Christ, and we see the greatest love of all - "God so loved the world that he gave His only Son" (John 3:16), "The Son of God loved us and gave Himself for us" (Galatians 2:20). The element of mystery is, however, a reminder that God is God, and we are simply human beings, created by Him. The element of mystery reminds us that we must bow before Him in deep humility. "The revelation of Jesus Christ" - This comes from God. It cannot come from ourselves. We must bow before the Lord and acknowedge that "salvation comes from the Lord" (Jonah 2:9). It is "the gift of God" (Ephesians 2:8).

Approaching The Book Of Revelation (3) - "The Revelation Of Jesus Christ" (ii.a)

"The revelation of Jesus Christ" (1:1)
What does this mean?
Second, it means this. The purpose of the Book of Revelation is not to mystify. It is to reveal. This is the reason God has given us the Bible. God is not putting a veil over our eyes. He is lifting the veil from our eyes. He is opening our eyes. He is revealing Jesus to us. Certainly, there are many things we do not understand. We read the Book of Revelation, and we wonder, "What does this mean?" We turn to other parts of the Bible, and we still have many unanswered questions. If we had lived in Biblical times, we might have had a better understanding of some of the things that are written in the Bible. If we had lived at the time when the Book of Revelation was written, we might have had a clearer understanding of its message. In our search for understanding of Scripture, there is a very important point that we must never forget. There are many things that we cannot fully understand for this reason. We are human. We are not divine. Full understanding belongs to God. Our understanding of God's Word will never be more than partial understanding. There will always be an element of mystery in our Christian Faith. We are mere human beings. We cannot fully understand the deep things of God.

Approaching The Book Of Revelation (2) - "The Revelation Of Jesus Christ" (i)

"The revelation of Jesus Christ" (1:1)
What does this mean?
* First and foremost, it means this. Jesus Christ is the great Theme of the Book of Revelation. Jesus Christ is the great Theme of the whole Bible. Why has God given us the Book of Revelation? Why has He given us the Bible? Is it just to teach us all sorts of interesting information about ancient times? - These are the kind of things that people believed in ancient times. No! God's Word is for us. God's Word is for today. God is revealing to us His Son, our Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ. He is leading us to a true knowledge of Himself. He is showing us the Way through which we come to know Him. He is showing us Jesus Christ - "the Way, the Truth and the Life." Jesus is the Way. He is the True and Living Way. Jesus Christ is revealed to us so that, through faith in Him, we might come to know God as our Loving, Heavenly Father.

Approaching The Book Of Revelation (1)

The Book of Revelation is a puzzling book. It is difficult to understand. The Book of Revelation is part of the Bible. The way in which we approach the Book of Revelation is directly related to the way in which we approach the rest of the Bible. What is the message at the heart of the Book of Revelation? It's the same message that's at the centre of the whole Bible: "the revelation of Jesus Christ." What are we reading about in the Book of Revelation? It's the same thing that we're reading about in the rest of the Bible. We're looking at history from God's point of view. We're looking at history from the point of view of "the revelation of Jesus Christ." Why do we read the Book of Revelation? Why do we read the other parts of the Bible? We read God's Word so that our lives may be changed. We look at "the revelation of Jesus Christ." We pray that we may catch a glimpse of His grace and His glory. We pray that, as we turn our eyes upon Jesus, we will become more like Him.

Come To Christ And Be Saved.

Revelation 21:9-22:21
God has given us a glimpse of a future which is heavenly, eternal and glorious: ‘the Holy City, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God - It shone with the glory of God.’
Is this ‘eternal life’ for everyone? Will all people ‘dwell in the House of the Lord for ever’? Will everyone be saved. Is this what the Word of God teaches?
‘God wants everyone to be saved’. He wants everyone to ‘come to the knowledge of the truth’, to ‘come to repentance.’
Sadly, there are many who ‘refuse to love the truth and so be saved’ (21:10-11; John 3:16; Psalm 23:6; 1 Timothy 2:3-4; 2 Peter 3:9; 2 Thessalonians 2:10).
Who will be saved? - ‘only those, whose names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life’.
‘Come’ to Christ - ‘Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they...may go through the gates into the city' (27; 22:17, 14).

Come To Christ And Reign With Him.

Revelation 19:11-21:8

Our Saviour is ‘Faithful and True’. He is ‘the Word of God’. He is our ‘Lord’ and ‘King’ (19:11,13,16).

We are invited to ‘come’ to Him. The invitation - ‘Come, gather together for the great supper of God’ - is a call to come to Christ (19:17).

We come to Christ so that we might ‘reign with Him’ (20:6). Coming to Christ is only the beginning. God is preparing us for something even better - reigning with Him. This is a great future - ‘no more death or mourning or crying or pain’ (21:4).

There is, however, a Word of warning for those who refuse to come to Christ for salvation - ‘If anyone’s name was not found written in the Book of Life, he was thrown into the lake of fire’; ‘Their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulphur’ (20:15; 21:8).

‘Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved’ (Acts 16:31).

God Is Calling Us To Be Holy.

Revelation 18:1-19:10

We read of the fall of Babylon (18:2,10,16-17,19,21).

We live in a time of sinful rebellion against God. This will be followed by the time of God’s holy judgment.

What is God saying to His own people at this time? - ‘Come out of her, My people, so that you will not share in her sins, so that you will not receive any of her plagues’ (18:4).

God is calling us to be ‘holy’, ‘a people belonging to Him’.

Why does He call us to be holy?

Does He want us to go around, feeling ‘superior’ - better than the rest? No! - He wants us to ‘declare the praises of Him who called us out of darkness into His marvellous light’ (1 Peter 1:15-16; 2:9-10).

We look away from ourselves. We look to the Lord, and we say, ‘Hallelujah!’ (19:1,3,4,6).

‘Let us rejoice and be glad and give Him glory’ (19:7).

Christ Has Given Us The Victory.

Revelation 16:1-17:8

We live in an unbelieving and rebellious world - ‘they refused to repent and glorify Him’. In an increasingly hostile environment, we must seek to maintain our faithful’testimony’. There are many who take delight in sin. They rebel against God. They take pleasure in persecuting the people of God: ‘They will make war against the Lamb’. What are we to do when we face such determined opposition? - We must remind our enemies that they will be defeated by Christ: ‘the Lamb will overcome them because He is Lord of lords and King of kings’. We must remind them that Christ has given us the victory: ‘with Him will be His called, chosen and faithful followers’. ‘We are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. Nothing will be able to separate us from’ His love (16:9, 11; 17:5-6, 14; Romans 8:37-39).

Through Christ, We Are "More Than Conquerors."

Revelation 14:1-15:8
With ‘patient endurance’, we are to ‘obey God’s commandments and remain faithful to Jesus’ (12).
This will not be easy. Satan will do all that he can to defeat us.
How can we be ‘victorious’ over him?
We must rejoice in all that God has done for His people, Israel. He delivered them from their bondage in Egypt. We sing ‘the song of Moses’. Beyond the great event of the Exodus, there is something even more wonderful. We rejoice in what God has done for us - ‘In Christ, God was reconciling the world to Himself’. We sing ‘the song of the Lamb’ (15:2-3; Deuteronomy 7:7-8; 2 Corinthians 5:19).
We hear God’s call - ‘Fear God and give Him glory.’ We consider His ‘great and marvellous deeds.’ In our hearts, we say, ‘Who will not fear You, O Lord, and bring glory to Your Name (14:7; 15:3-4).

Christ Has Won The Victory For Us. Let Us Claim His Victory By Faith.

Revelation 12:1-13:18

In Genesis 3:1, we read of ‘the serpent’. Here he is again - ‘that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan’.

*He is a powerful enemy. He ‘leads the whole world astray’. He is a determined enemy. ‘Day and night’, he is busy, accusing God's children.

* He is a defeated enemy. ‘They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb...’. This is not only Christ’s victory over Satan. This is our victory in Christ, the victory Christ has won for us.

Why is Satan so busy? It’s because ‘he knows his time is short’ (12:9-12).

How are we to take our stand against Satan? We must listen to the Word of God: ‘He who has an ear, let him hear’. We must obey the Word of God: ‘This calls for patient endurance and faithfulness...’ (13:9). Christ has won the victory for us. Let us claim His victory by faith.

Feeding On All Of God's Word

Revelation10:1-11:19

‘Take the little scroll and eat it. It will turn your stomach sour, but in your mouth it will be as sweet as honey’ (10:9). We are to feed on God’s Word - the difficult parts as well as those passages which make us feel good.

God’s Word speaks about judgment as well as salvation. Before we can rejoice in ‘the Kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ’, we must hear about His ‘wrath’: ‘The time has come for judging the dead’ (15,18).

‘Sweet and sour’: For a balanced diet of God’s Word, we need both . We need the ‘sour’ - ‘It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God’ - as well as the ‘sweet’ - ‘God so loved the world...’ (Hebrews 10:31; John 3:16). The ‘sour’ - ‘Flee from the wrath to come’ - creates a hunger for the ‘sweet’ - ‘the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world’ (Matthew 3:7; John 1:29).