*Revelation 2:7 / *Rev. 2:7 -
(To eat of the *tree of life)
While Jesus Christ is the life (John 14:6), the source of Christians' eternal life spiritually (John 3:16), the Tree of Life could be a literal tree, the fruit of which will be for the eternal life of obedient Christians' future, physical resurrection bodies (of 1 Corinthians 15:21-23,51-53, Philippians 3:21, Luke 24:39, Romans 8:23-25); just as Adam's physical body would have lived forever if he had eaten of the Tree of Life, in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3:22). The leaves of the Tree of Life could also help to speed the healing (Revelation 22:2b) of Christians' future, resurrection bodies if they are ever injured by accident.
And Christians may still have to eat other foods for their nourishment, even after their physical resurrection, just as even angels may have to eat (Psalms 78:25).
Having to eat is a good thing, for it is a daily reminder of our dependence on God for our continued existence (Acts 17:28, Matthew 6:11). This will be important to remember especially after the resurrection of obedient Christians into immortal physical bodies, so that Christians do not become proud and rebellious against God like happened with the angelic being Lucifer (Isaiah 14:12-15).
So in the eternal state, Christians could still eat, work, and play. They may not have to sleep, however, as their eternal bodies and brains may be able to maintain themselves without sleep.
Also, the Christians in the literal city of New Jerusalem in the eternal state on the future, New Earth (Revelation 21:1 to 22:5), as in a new surface for the earth, will still have free will. For God wants real children (Revelation 21:7), not robots. But because of their continued free will, it will be possible for Christians in New Jerusalem to sin. But they will not ever have to sin, just as Christians now do not ever have to sin (Romans 6:17-22).
If a Christian in the eternal state does commit a sin, what will happen to him will depend upon what he does next. If he repents, he will be forgiven (1 John 1:9). If he refuses to repent, he will be chastened (Revelation 3:19). And if he still refuses to repent, he will end up in the lake of fire (Hebrews 10:26-27).
The lake of fire will exist on the New Earth outside one wall of New Jerusalem (Revelation 22:14-15, Revelation 21:8). A lot else will also exist on the New Earth, for a new race of humans will be created along with the New Earth, which human race will fall into sin and mortality, although they will then normally die at advanced ages (Isaiah 65:17,20). Christians of the present earth could become like the angels of the New Earth in the sense that they could minister to the elect members of the new race of humans like how angels now minister to the elect humans on the present earth (Hebrews 1:14).
~
{Re: Are you saying that throughout eternity, Christians will endeavor to keep their salvation, and will never have any rest?)
Note that there is rest in obedience (Matthew 11:28-30), while there is no rest in disobedience (Isaiah 57:20-21).
(See also section 3 of Revelation 21:4 below)
--
*Revelation 2:9b / *Rev. 2:9b -
This and Revelation 3:9 were referring to non-Christian genetic Jews living in the literal, first century AD cities of Smyrna and Philadelphia (Revelation 2:8, Revelation 3:7) in the Roman province of "Asia" (Revelation 1:11b), which is today western Turkey. Non-Christian genetic Jews are not truly Jews in the sense that even though they are physically circumcised, they are spiritually uncircumcised (Acts 7:51) and so spiritually they are not Jews (Romans 2:28-29, Revelation 2:9b, Revelation 3:9). But all Christians, whether genetic Jews (Acts 22:3) or genetic Gentiles (Romans 16:4b), have become spiritually-circumcised Jews if they have undergone the spiritual circumcision of water-immersion (burial) baptism into Jesus Christ (Romans 2:29, Philippians 3:3, Colossians 2:11-13).
Revelation 3:9b could have been fulfilled in the first century AD in the local church congregation in the city of Philadelphia (Revelation 3:7) in the Roman province of "Asia" (Revelation 1:11b). For Revelation 3:8's "open door" meant that Jesus Christ had made it so that congregation could preach the Gospel to the people living in that city (cf. 2 Corinthians 2:12, Colossians 4:3; 1 Corinthians 16:9), which evangelism could have eventually resulted in the salvation of the formerly-non-Christian genetic Jews living there (Revelation 3:9b).
--
*Revelation 2:10 / *Rev. 2:10 -
This shows that Satan is sometimes allowed by God to harm and kill even obedient Christians, which is what Satan will be allowed by God to do during the future Tribulation of Matthew 24 and Revelation chapters 6 to 18 (Revelation 12:17). Satan (the dragon, Revelation 12:9) will give the future Antichrist (the individual-man aspect of Revelation's "beast") power (Revelation 13:4) over the whole earth (Revelation 13:7b). And he will persecute and physically overcome Biblical Christians (not in hiding) in every nation (Revelation 13:7-10, Revelation 14:12-13, Revelation 20:4-6, Matthew 24:9-13).
(See also Luke 10:19 above)
~
(Ten days)
The ten days of Revelation 2:10 were ten literal days which already happened in ancient times, just as Revelation 3:10 already happened in ancient times.
(See Revelation 3:10 below)
--
*Revelation 2:14b,20b / *Rev. 2:14b / *Rev. 2:20b -
This does not contradict that under the New Covenant all foods are in themselves okay for all Christians, whether Jews or Gentiles, to eat (1 Timothy 4:4-5). Instead, Revelation 2:14b,20b refers to the same principle as 1 Corinthians 10:20-21, which refers to those who eat meat sacrificed to idols, with the intent or the idea that in doing so they are actually "fellowshipping" with the idols, as opposed to having the true knowledge (1 Corinthians 8:10a) to eat the meat just as meat without ascribing any evil spiritual significance to it whatsoever (1 Corinthians 8:4-8; 1 Corinthians 10:25-31).
(See also Romans 14:14 above)
--
*Revelation 2:15 / *Rev. 2:15 -
(*Nicolaitans)
The Nicolaitans (Revelation 2:15) were Gnostic Christians (Irenaeus, Against Heresies, Book 3, Chapter 11) who falsely claimed to follow the teachings of a man named "Nicolaus" (Clement of Alexandria, The Stromata, Book 2, Chapter 20), also called the deacon "Nicolas" (Acts 6:5) (Irenaeus, Against Heresies, Book 1, Chapter 26, Part 3). The Nicolaitans were "lovers of pleasure" (Ignatius, Epistle to the Trallians, Chapter 11), who lived in "unrestrained indulgence" (Irenaeus, Against Heresies, Book 1, Chapter 26, Part 3), instead of believing in the need for Christians to repent from sin (Revelation 2:16), if they are not to ultimately lose their salvation from hell (Hebrews 10:26-29).
(See Hebrews 10:26 above)
--
*Revelation 2:16 / *Rev. 2:16 -
(Re: Jesus coming)
See Revelation 3:3 below.
--
*Revelation 2:21 / *Rev. 2:21 -
See Revelation 3:19 below.
--
*Revelation 2:22 / *Rev. 2:22 -
Here the original Greek does not refer to "the" great Tribulation, as in the Tribulation of Revelation chapters 6 to 18 and Matthew 24. For the myriad details of that Tribulation have never been fulfilled.
(See Revelation chapters 2-3 above)
--
*Revelation 2:24-25 / *Rev. 2:24 / *Rev. 2:25 -
(Re: Jesus coming)
See Revelation 3:3 below.
--
*Revelation 2:26-29 / *Rev. 2:26 -
This refers to the future Millennium when Jesus Christ will give obedient Christians physical power over the nations after His Second Coming and the Church's physical resurrection (Revelation 19:7 to 20:6, Revelation 5:10).
--
*Revelation 2:27 / *Rev. 2:27 -
(He shall rule them with a rod of iron)
Here the "he" is not referring to Jesus Christ but to any Christian who overcomes, and keeps Jesus' works, to the end (Revelation 2:26).
But Revelation 19:15 is referring to Jesus Christ, the Word of God (Revelation 19:13-15, John 1:1,14), just as Psalms 2:9 is referring to Jesus, the Son of God (Psalms 2:7-12, John 20:31).
During the future Millennium (Revelation 20:4-6, Revelation 5:10), non-Christians will be ruled with a rod of iron by both Jesus Christ and the Church (Psalms 2:9, Revelation 19:15, Revelation 2:26-29), in the sense that non-Christians will not be able to do as they please. They will be forced to worship and obey the returned Jesus, on the pain of great punishment from Him (Zechariah 14:16-19, Psalms 66:3-4).
~
(Broken)
See Psalms 2:9 above.
~
(Re: Does being ruled with a rod of iron mean *slavery?)
One of the definitions of slavery is: "submission to a dominating influence" (Webster's). Humans are either submitting slaves (servants) to the dominating influence of God and righteousness in their lives, or they are submitting slaves (servants) to the dominating influence of Satan and sin in their lives (Romans 6:16-23, Ephesians 2:2; 2 Timothy 2:26, John 8:34).
There is no middle ground. Humans are too weak to stand on their own. Even all together, they are an infinitesimal speck of dust before the infinite God (Isaiah 40:15,17). And without God's help, they are no match against Satan and his fallen angels (Ephesians 2:2, Ephesians 6:12-18).
So humans must decide whom they will serve.
One of the other definitions of slavery is: "the state of a person who is a chattel of another" (Webster's). Chattel means property. All humans are the property of God, for He is the Creator and sustainer-in-existence of all humans (John 1:3, Colossians 1:16-17, Acts 17:28), and He can do with them whatever He wants (Romans 9:11-24, Revelation 4:11).
These facts rankle the pride of humans. The word "rankle" is ultimately derived from the word "draco", which means serpent, or dragon. From the beginning of the current human race on the earth, the serpent/dragon has brought it into rebellion against God, by appealing to its pride. For Eve was deceived into disobeying God by her pride: She wanted to be as a god (Genesis 3:4-6), regardless of what God wanted at that time.
At the midpoint of the future Tribulation of Revelation chapters 6 to 18 and Matthew 24, the serpent/dragon (Satan, aka Lucifer) will be cast down out of heaven to the earth permanently (Revelation 12:7-9). He will know that his time is short (Revelation 12:12b) and so he will employ all of his power to bring the world into the conscious and open worship of himself and of his human son the future Antichrist (the individual-man aspect of Revelation's "beast") (Revelation 13:4-18; 2 Thessalonians 2:9), who will speak horrible things against YHWH God (Revelation 13:5-6, Daniel 11:36).
No doubt these things will include the two facts regarding YHWH God and humans mentioned earlier: that YHWH God forces humans to worship him (Romans 14:11), and that He owns humans (Psalms 100:3). The Antichrist and his False Prophet (Revelation 19:20, Revelation 13:11-18) will remove these facts from their proper light, which is that YHWH God is the Infinite Holy Creator, more than worthy of worship by all of His infinitesimal creatures (Revelation 4:11, Revelation 5:13), who only exist because He is the one who created them and keeps them in existence (John 1:3, Colossians 1:17, Acts 17:28).
The Antichrist and his False Prophet will instead present YHWH God and Creation in the false, black light of Gnosticism, in which YHWH God is a finite, evil creator (Demiurge) of that which is material, while humans are, in their true nature, divine spirits who are being wrongly imprisoned within the material universe. They belong instead in their original home in heaven, a purely-spiritual realm of bliss called the Pleroma.
The Antichrist and his False Prophet will present YHWH God's forcing people to worship him as the act of a deranged tyrant, and will present YHWH God's owning of people as invalid as humans owning other humans in today's society.
But the Antichrist will be a deranged tyrant himself. Everyone will have to worship him and his image on the pain of death (Revelation 13:15). And everyone, as if they were his cattle/chattel/slaves, will have to receive his mark upon themselves (Revelation 13:16-18).
So how will the Antichrist get around this hypocrisy: reviling YHWH God as a deranged tyrant enslaving mankind, while he (the Antichrist) will be a deranged tyrant enslaving mankind?
He could do so in a way similar to how past, Marxist dictators got around the hypocrisy of reviling the tyranny of capitalism enslaving workers, while the Marxist dictators themselves were tyrants enslaving workers. Marxist dictators claimed that their dictatorship was necessary to completely root out capitalism, and that once the victory over capitalism was complete, their dictatorship would end and be replaced by a workers' utopia.
Similarly, the future Antichrist will claim that his world dictatorship (Revelation 13:7-18) is necessary to root out Biblical Christianity, and all other (what he could call) "enslaving mechanisms of the tyrant god", and that once a victory over YHWH God is complete (Revelation 19:19, Revelation 16:14), his dictatorship will end and be replaced by a utopia for humans in heaven itself.
But this will be a lie, a deception of Satan who deceives the whole world (Revelation 12:9). For Satan will know that there will be no victory over YHWH God, but only total defeat at Jesus Christ's future, Second Coming (Revelation 19:11 to 20:3). Before Jesus returns, even though Satan will know that his time is short (Revelation 12:12b), he will manage to bring almost all of humanity, through its pride, eventually down into the same eternal suffering which he himself will end up in (Revelation 20:10,15, Revelation 14:10-11, Matthew 25:41,46). He is a king over all the children of pride (Job 41:34).
--
*Revelation 2:28 / *Rev. 2:28 -
Here the "morning star", if literal, would be the second planet from the sun. So obedient Christians, during the future Millennium (of Revelation 20:4-6) and/or during the subsequent time of the New Earth (Revelation 21), as in a new surface for the earth, could be given by Jesus Christ the option of going to the second planet from the sun and terraforming it for Him until it is like the Garden of Eden. Also, it is possible that Jesus could then give obedient Christians other planets and/or their moons to terraform, such as the fourth planet from the sun and some moons of the fifth and sixth planets.
~
(Re: Will *eternity get *boring after awhile?) / (*Boredom)
There will be no boredom in eternity for obedient Christians (Psalms 16:11), in such a vast universe as ours, with some 100 billion galaxies, each containing some 100 billion stars. There could be a trillion already-inhabited planets in our universe, which obedient Christians could travel to and live on during eternity, interacting with a practically-infinite variety of life-forms, tasks, information and recreation. And who is to say that our universe has to be the only one? God could have created an infinite number of universes. So even after obedient Christians have experienced all of the variety of our vast universe (and helped to even increase its variety by terraforming for God now-desolate planets and moons in our and other star-systems, and populating them with brand-new species of plants and animals never seen before, which obedient Christians could design from their own, God-inspired creativity), obedient Christians will then have all of the rest of eternity to experience and increase the variety of all of the rest of the universes, always in the bliss of the presence of God (Psalms 16:11), who is spiritually everywhere at all times (Psalms 139:7-10).
--
*Revelation 3:1-3 / *Rev. 3:1 -
This shows that Christians can become figuratively dead due to performing insufficient good works (James 2:26) or having unrepentant sin in their lives (1 Timothy 5:6).
~
(Seven Spirits)
See Revelation 4:5 below.
--
*Revelation 3:3 / *Rev. 3:3 -
This was addressed to the literal, first century AD, local church congregation in the city of Sardis (Revelation 3:1) in the Roman province of "Asia" (Revelation 1:11) regarding Jesus Christ visiting that congregation spiritually (not physically) in judgment, if it did not repent. Compare 1 Corinthians 5:3, where the apostle Paul said that he had judged someone in the congregation in Corinth by his spiritual presence, despite his being absent from that congregation physically. Revelation 2:5 and Revelation 2:16 can be understood in this same, spiritual sense with regard to the literal, local church congregations in Ephesus and Pergamos.
Also, regarding Revelation 2:25, it did not require that Jesus Christ would ever come physically prior to the passing away of the first century AD members of the literal, local church congregation in Thyatira, just as, for example, Matthew 5:18 did not require that heaven and earth had to pass away before Jesus abolished the letter of the Old Covenant law, which He did on the Cross (Ephesians 2:15-16, Colossians 2:14-17, Romans 7:6). Also, the first century AD city of Thyatira still exists today as a thriving city in Turkey, where Christians still live. So Revelation 2:25 can include an encouragement to Christians living in that city still today to keep the faith until Jesus' future, physical, Second Coming, whether or not they will die before it occurs.
(See also Acts 1:11 above)
--
*Revelation 3:4-5 / *Rev. 3:4 -
This gave assurance to the literal, first century AD, local church congregation in the city of Sardis (Revelation 3:1) in the Roman province of "Asia" (Revelation 1:11) that a "few" of its members would overcome to the end. But those "few" were not named, so none of the members had the assurance that he or she was one of the "few". The few having "not defiled their garments" could refer to them not committing unrepentant sin (Jude 1:23), while "overcoming" includes more than just not committing unrepentant sin. It also includes things such as being willing to die for Jesus Christ during a persecution against Christians (Revelation 12:11).
--
*Revelation 3:5 / *Rev. 3:5 -
(Re: *Overcoming / *Overcome)
Any Christian can ultimately have his name blotted out of the Book of Life (Revelation 3:5), he can ultimately lose his salvation and be cast into the second death of the lake of fire (Revelation 2:11, Revelation 20:14-15) if he does not overcome to the end (Revelation 3:5, Revelation 2:11, Revelation 2:26, Hebrews 6:11-12, Hebrews 3:6,12,14, Matthew 24:9-13).
Revelation 3:5, 1 John 5:4-5, 1 John 2:13-14 and 1 John 4:4 do not contradict this, for these verses do not give any assurance that every Christian will overcome to the end. All that the 1 John verses give assurance of is that Christians can presently be overcomers. And all that Revelation 3:5, Revelation 2:11 and Revelation 2:26 give assurance of is that those Christian who do overcome to the end will not have their names blotted out of the Book of Life and will not be cast into the lake of fire.
An example of Christians "overcoming" (Greek: nikao: G3528) (Revelation 3:5) or "getting the victory" (nikao) (Revelation 15:2) to the end is found in Revelation 15:2, which refers to Christians who will be willing to be killed by the future Antichrist (the individual-man aspect of Revelation's "beast"), instead of worshipping him to save their mortal lives during his future, worldwide persecution against Biblical Christians (Revelation 13:7-10, Revelation 14:12-13, Revelation 20:4-6, Matthew 24:9-13).
Christians will be able to spiritually overcome the future Antichrist and Satan by not loving their lives to the death (Revelation 12:11). But it is also possible for Christians to fail to overcome and so in the end to lose their salvation from hell (Revelation 3:5, Revelation 2:11) if they are fearful (Revelation 21:7-8) of being tortured and killed (Matthew 10:28, Revelation 2:10) to the point where they will wrongly employ their free will to renounce Jesus Christ and His Gospel, to commit apostasy (Hebrews 6:4-8, John 15:6), to keep from getting tortured and killed (Mark 8:35-38; 2 Timothy 2:12, Matthew 24:9-13, Matthew 13:21, Luke 8:13).
(See also Hebrews 6:4 above)
~
(*Book of life)
The names of elect individuals were written in God's Book of Life from the foundation of the world (Revelation 17:8b), for even before the foundation of the world they were elected (chosen) by God to become Christians at some point during their lifetime (Ephesians 1:4-11). But nowhere does the Bible say or require that the names of elect individuals were permanently written in the Book of Life in the sense of it being impossible for any elect individual, once saved, to ultimately lose his salvation, such as in Hebrews 6:4-8.
God could write the names of some elect individuals in the Book of Life even though He knows that He will eventually have to blot out their names (Revelation 3:5) when they wrongly employ their free will to the ultimate loss of their salvation (e.g. Hebrews 10:26-29) for the same reason that God created an entire race of humans on the earth even though He knew that He would eventually have to blot them all off the face of the earth (except for only eight individuals: 1 Peter 3:20) in Noah's Flood, after that entire race of humans (except for the eight individuals) wrongly employed their free will to become utterly corrupt (Genesis 6:5-7).
--
*Revelation 3:8 / *Rev. 3:8 -
(*Open door)
Here the "open door" meant that Jesus Christ had made it so that the literal, first century AD church congregation in the city of Philadelphia in the Roman province of "Asia" (Revelation 1:11) could preach the Gospel to the people living in that city (cf. 2 Corinthians 2:12, Colossians 4:3; 1 Corinthians 16:9), which evangelism could have eventually resulted in the salvation of the non-Christian genetic Jews living there (Revelation 3:9b).
--
*Revelation 3:9 / *Rev. 3:9 -
(Say they are Jews, and are not)
See Revelation 2:9b above.
-
Next entry / Prior / Table of Contents
Dec 27, 2018
(To eat of the *tree of life)
While Jesus Christ is the life (John 14:6), the source of Christians' eternal life spiritually (John 3:16), the Tree of Life could be a literal tree, the fruit of which will be for the eternal life of obedient Christians' future, physical resurrection bodies (of 1 Corinthians 15:21-23,51-53, Philippians 3:21, Luke 24:39, Romans 8:23-25); just as Adam's physical body would have lived forever if he had eaten of the Tree of Life, in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3:22). The leaves of the Tree of Life could also help to speed the healing (Revelation 22:2b) of Christians' future, resurrection bodies if they are ever injured by accident.
And Christians may still have to eat other foods for their nourishment, even after their physical resurrection, just as even angels may have to eat (Psalms 78:25).
Having to eat is a good thing, for it is a daily reminder of our dependence on God for our continued existence (Acts 17:28, Matthew 6:11). This will be important to remember especially after the resurrection of obedient Christians into immortal physical bodies, so that Christians do not become proud and rebellious against God like happened with the angelic being Lucifer (Isaiah 14:12-15).
So in the eternal state, Christians could still eat, work, and play. They may not have to sleep, however, as their eternal bodies and brains may be able to maintain themselves without sleep.
Also, the Christians in the literal city of New Jerusalem in the eternal state on the future, New Earth (Revelation 21:1 to 22:5), as in a new surface for the earth, will still have free will. For God wants real children (Revelation 21:7), not robots. But because of their continued free will, it will be possible for Christians in New Jerusalem to sin. But they will not ever have to sin, just as Christians now do not ever have to sin (Romans 6:17-22).
If a Christian in the eternal state does commit a sin, what will happen to him will depend upon what he does next. If he repents, he will be forgiven (1 John 1:9). If he refuses to repent, he will be chastened (Revelation 3:19). And if he still refuses to repent, he will end up in the lake of fire (Hebrews 10:26-27).
The lake of fire will exist on the New Earth outside one wall of New Jerusalem (Revelation 22:14-15, Revelation 21:8). A lot else will also exist on the New Earth, for a new race of humans will be created along with the New Earth, which human race will fall into sin and mortality, although they will then normally die at advanced ages (Isaiah 65:17,20). Christians of the present earth could become like the angels of the New Earth in the sense that they could minister to the elect members of the new race of humans like how angels now minister to the elect humans on the present earth (Hebrews 1:14).
~
{Re: Are you saying that throughout eternity, Christians will endeavor to keep their salvation, and will never have any rest?)
Note that there is rest in obedience (Matthew 11:28-30), while there is no rest in disobedience (Isaiah 57:20-21).
(See also section 3 of Revelation 21:4 below)
--
*Revelation 2:9b / *Rev. 2:9b -
This and Revelation 3:9 were referring to non-Christian genetic Jews living in the literal, first century AD cities of Smyrna and Philadelphia (Revelation 2:8, Revelation 3:7) in the Roman province of "Asia" (Revelation 1:11b), which is today western Turkey. Non-Christian genetic Jews are not truly Jews in the sense that even though they are physically circumcised, they are spiritually uncircumcised (Acts 7:51) and so spiritually they are not Jews (Romans 2:28-29, Revelation 2:9b, Revelation 3:9). But all Christians, whether genetic Jews (Acts 22:3) or genetic Gentiles (Romans 16:4b), have become spiritually-circumcised Jews if they have undergone the spiritual circumcision of water-immersion (burial) baptism into Jesus Christ (Romans 2:29, Philippians 3:3, Colossians 2:11-13).
Revelation 3:9b could have been fulfilled in the first century AD in the local church congregation in the city of Philadelphia (Revelation 3:7) in the Roman province of "Asia" (Revelation 1:11b). For Revelation 3:8's "open door" meant that Jesus Christ had made it so that congregation could preach the Gospel to the people living in that city (cf. 2 Corinthians 2:12, Colossians 4:3; 1 Corinthians 16:9), which evangelism could have eventually resulted in the salvation of the formerly-non-Christian genetic Jews living there (Revelation 3:9b).
--
*Revelation 2:10 / *Rev. 2:10 -
This shows that Satan is sometimes allowed by God to harm and kill even obedient Christians, which is what Satan will be allowed by God to do during the future Tribulation of Matthew 24 and Revelation chapters 6 to 18 (Revelation 12:17). Satan (the dragon, Revelation 12:9) will give the future Antichrist (the individual-man aspect of Revelation's "beast") power (Revelation 13:4) over the whole earth (Revelation 13:7b). And he will persecute and physically overcome Biblical Christians (not in hiding) in every nation (Revelation 13:7-10, Revelation 14:12-13, Revelation 20:4-6, Matthew 24:9-13).
(See also Luke 10:19 above)
~
(Ten days)
The ten days of Revelation 2:10 were ten literal days which already happened in ancient times, just as Revelation 3:10 already happened in ancient times.
(See Revelation 3:10 below)
--
*Revelation 2:14b,20b / *Rev. 2:14b / *Rev. 2:20b -
This does not contradict that under the New Covenant all foods are in themselves okay for all Christians, whether Jews or Gentiles, to eat (1 Timothy 4:4-5). Instead, Revelation 2:14b,20b refers to the same principle as 1 Corinthians 10:20-21, which refers to those who eat meat sacrificed to idols, with the intent or the idea that in doing so they are actually "fellowshipping" with the idols, as opposed to having the true knowledge (1 Corinthians 8:10a) to eat the meat just as meat without ascribing any evil spiritual significance to it whatsoever (1 Corinthians 8:4-8; 1 Corinthians 10:25-31).
(See also Romans 14:14 above)
--
*Revelation 2:15 / *Rev. 2:15 -
(*Nicolaitans)
The Nicolaitans (Revelation 2:15) were Gnostic Christians (Irenaeus, Against Heresies, Book 3, Chapter 11) who falsely claimed to follow the teachings of a man named "Nicolaus" (Clement of Alexandria, The Stromata, Book 2, Chapter 20), also called the deacon "Nicolas" (Acts 6:5) (Irenaeus, Against Heresies, Book 1, Chapter 26, Part 3). The Nicolaitans were "lovers of pleasure" (Ignatius, Epistle to the Trallians, Chapter 11), who lived in "unrestrained indulgence" (Irenaeus, Against Heresies, Book 1, Chapter 26, Part 3), instead of believing in the need for Christians to repent from sin (Revelation 2:16), if they are not to ultimately lose their salvation from hell (Hebrews 10:26-29).
(See Hebrews 10:26 above)
--
*Revelation 2:16 / *Rev. 2:16 -
(Re: Jesus coming)
See Revelation 3:3 below.
--
*Revelation 2:21 / *Rev. 2:21 -
See Revelation 3:19 below.
--
*Revelation 2:22 / *Rev. 2:22 -
Here the original Greek does not refer to "the" great Tribulation, as in the Tribulation of Revelation chapters 6 to 18 and Matthew 24. For the myriad details of that Tribulation have never been fulfilled.
(See Revelation chapters 2-3 above)
--
*Revelation 2:24-25 / *Rev. 2:24 / *Rev. 2:25 -
(Re: Jesus coming)
See Revelation 3:3 below.
--
*Revelation 2:26-29 / *Rev. 2:26 -
This refers to the future Millennium when Jesus Christ will give obedient Christians physical power over the nations after His Second Coming and the Church's physical resurrection (Revelation 19:7 to 20:6, Revelation 5:10).
--
*Revelation 2:27 / *Rev. 2:27 -
(He shall rule them with a rod of iron)
Here the "he" is not referring to Jesus Christ but to any Christian who overcomes, and keeps Jesus' works, to the end (Revelation 2:26).
But Revelation 19:15 is referring to Jesus Christ, the Word of God (Revelation 19:13-15, John 1:1,14), just as Psalms 2:9 is referring to Jesus, the Son of God (Psalms 2:7-12, John 20:31).
During the future Millennium (Revelation 20:4-6, Revelation 5:10), non-Christians will be ruled with a rod of iron by both Jesus Christ and the Church (Psalms 2:9, Revelation 19:15, Revelation 2:26-29), in the sense that non-Christians will not be able to do as they please. They will be forced to worship and obey the returned Jesus, on the pain of great punishment from Him (Zechariah 14:16-19, Psalms 66:3-4).
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(Broken)
See Psalms 2:9 above.
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(Re: Does being ruled with a rod of iron mean *slavery?)
One of the definitions of slavery is: "submission to a dominating influence" (Webster's). Humans are either submitting slaves (servants) to the dominating influence of God and righteousness in their lives, or they are submitting slaves (servants) to the dominating influence of Satan and sin in their lives (Romans 6:16-23, Ephesians 2:2; 2 Timothy 2:26, John 8:34).
There is no middle ground. Humans are too weak to stand on their own. Even all together, they are an infinitesimal speck of dust before the infinite God (Isaiah 40:15,17). And without God's help, they are no match against Satan and his fallen angels (Ephesians 2:2, Ephesians 6:12-18).
So humans must decide whom they will serve.
One of the other definitions of slavery is: "the state of a person who is a chattel of another" (Webster's). Chattel means property. All humans are the property of God, for He is the Creator and sustainer-in-existence of all humans (John 1:3, Colossians 1:16-17, Acts 17:28), and He can do with them whatever He wants (Romans 9:11-24, Revelation 4:11).
These facts rankle the pride of humans. The word "rankle" is ultimately derived from the word "draco", which means serpent, or dragon. From the beginning of the current human race on the earth, the serpent/dragon has brought it into rebellion against God, by appealing to its pride. For Eve was deceived into disobeying God by her pride: She wanted to be as a god (Genesis 3:4-6), regardless of what God wanted at that time.
At the midpoint of the future Tribulation of Revelation chapters 6 to 18 and Matthew 24, the serpent/dragon (Satan, aka Lucifer) will be cast down out of heaven to the earth permanently (Revelation 12:7-9). He will know that his time is short (Revelation 12:12b) and so he will employ all of his power to bring the world into the conscious and open worship of himself and of his human son the future Antichrist (the individual-man aspect of Revelation's "beast") (Revelation 13:4-18; 2 Thessalonians 2:9), who will speak horrible things against YHWH God (Revelation 13:5-6, Daniel 11:36).
No doubt these things will include the two facts regarding YHWH God and humans mentioned earlier: that YHWH God forces humans to worship him (Romans 14:11), and that He owns humans (Psalms 100:3). The Antichrist and his False Prophet (Revelation 19:20, Revelation 13:11-18) will remove these facts from their proper light, which is that YHWH God is the Infinite Holy Creator, more than worthy of worship by all of His infinitesimal creatures (Revelation 4:11, Revelation 5:13), who only exist because He is the one who created them and keeps them in existence (John 1:3, Colossians 1:17, Acts 17:28).
The Antichrist and his False Prophet will instead present YHWH God and Creation in the false, black light of Gnosticism, in which YHWH God is a finite, evil creator (Demiurge) of that which is material, while humans are, in their true nature, divine spirits who are being wrongly imprisoned within the material universe. They belong instead in their original home in heaven, a purely-spiritual realm of bliss called the Pleroma.
The Antichrist and his False Prophet will present YHWH God's forcing people to worship him as the act of a deranged tyrant, and will present YHWH God's owning of people as invalid as humans owning other humans in today's society.
But the Antichrist will be a deranged tyrant himself. Everyone will have to worship him and his image on the pain of death (Revelation 13:15). And everyone, as if they were his cattle/chattel/slaves, will have to receive his mark upon themselves (Revelation 13:16-18).
So how will the Antichrist get around this hypocrisy: reviling YHWH God as a deranged tyrant enslaving mankind, while he (the Antichrist) will be a deranged tyrant enslaving mankind?
He could do so in a way similar to how past, Marxist dictators got around the hypocrisy of reviling the tyranny of capitalism enslaving workers, while the Marxist dictators themselves were tyrants enslaving workers. Marxist dictators claimed that their dictatorship was necessary to completely root out capitalism, and that once the victory over capitalism was complete, their dictatorship would end and be replaced by a workers' utopia.
Similarly, the future Antichrist will claim that his world dictatorship (Revelation 13:7-18) is necessary to root out Biblical Christianity, and all other (what he could call) "enslaving mechanisms of the tyrant god", and that once a victory over YHWH God is complete (Revelation 19:19, Revelation 16:14), his dictatorship will end and be replaced by a utopia for humans in heaven itself.
But this will be a lie, a deception of Satan who deceives the whole world (Revelation 12:9). For Satan will know that there will be no victory over YHWH God, but only total defeat at Jesus Christ's future, Second Coming (Revelation 19:11 to 20:3). Before Jesus returns, even though Satan will know that his time is short (Revelation 12:12b), he will manage to bring almost all of humanity, through its pride, eventually down into the same eternal suffering which he himself will end up in (Revelation 20:10,15, Revelation 14:10-11, Matthew 25:41,46). He is a king over all the children of pride (Job 41:34).
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*Revelation 2:28 / *Rev. 2:28 -
Here the "morning star", if literal, would be the second planet from the sun. So obedient Christians, during the future Millennium (of Revelation 20:4-6) and/or during the subsequent time of the New Earth (Revelation 21), as in a new surface for the earth, could be given by Jesus Christ the option of going to the second planet from the sun and terraforming it for Him until it is like the Garden of Eden. Also, it is possible that Jesus could then give obedient Christians other planets and/or their moons to terraform, such as the fourth planet from the sun and some moons of the fifth and sixth planets.
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(Re: Will *eternity get *boring after awhile?) / (*Boredom)
There will be no boredom in eternity for obedient Christians (Psalms 16:11), in such a vast universe as ours, with some 100 billion galaxies, each containing some 100 billion stars. There could be a trillion already-inhabited planets in our universe, which obedient Christians could travel to and live on during eternity, interacting with a practically-infinite variety of life-forms, tasks, information and recreation. And who is to say that our universe has to be the only one? God could have created an infinite number of universes. So even after obedient Christians have experienced all of the variety of our vast universe (and helped to even increase its variety by terraforming for God now-desolate planets and moons in our and other star-systems, and populating them with brand-new species of plants and animals never seen before, which obedient Christians could design from their own, God-inspired creativity), obedient Christians will then have all of the rest of eternity to experience and increase the variety of all of the rest of the universes, always in the bliss of the presence of God (Psalms 16:11), who is spiritually everywhere at all times (Psalms 139:7-10).
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*Revelation 3:1-3 / *Rev. 3:1 -
This shows that Christians can become figuratively dead due to performing insufficient good works (James 2:26) or having unrepentant sin in their lives (1 Timothy 5:6).
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(Seven Spirits)
See Revelation 4:5 below.
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*Revelation 3:3 / *Rev. 3:3 -
This was addressed to the literal, first century AD, local church congregation in the city of Sardis (Revelation 3:1) in the Roman province of "Asia" (Revelation 1:11) regarding Jesus Christ visiting that congregation spiritually (not physically) in judgment, if it did not repent. Compare 1 Corinthians 5:3, where the apostle Paul said that he had judged someone in the congregation in Corinth by his spiritual presence, despite his being absent from that congregation physically. Revelation 2:5 and Revelation 2:16 can be understood in this same, spiritual sense with regard to the literal, local church congregations in Ephesus and Pergamos.
Also, regarding Revelation 2:25, it did not require that Jesus Christ would ever come physically prior to the passing away of the first century AD members of the literal, local church congregation in Thyatira, just as, for example, Matthew 5:18 did not require that heaven and earth had to pass away before Jesus abolished the letter of the Old Covenant law, which He did on the Cross (Ephesians 2:15-16, Colossians 2:14-17, Romans 7:6). Also, the first century AD city of Thyatira still exists today as a thriving city in Turkey, where Christians still live. So Revelation 2:25 can include an encouragement to Christians living in that city still today to keep the faith until Jesus' future, physical, Second Coming, whether or not they will die before it occurs.
(See also Acts 1:11 above)
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*Revelation 3:4-5 / *Rev. 3:4 -
This gave assurance to the literal, first century AD, local church congregation in the city of Sardis (Revelation 3:1) in the Roman province of "Asia" (Revelation 1:11) that a "few" of its members would overcome to the end. But those "few" were not named, so none of the members had the assurance that he or she was one of the "few". The few having "not defiled their garments" could refer to them not committing unrepentant sin (Jude 1:23), while "overcoming" includes more than just not committing unrepentant sin. It also includes things such as being willing to die for Jesus Christ during a persecution against Christians (Revelation 12:11).
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*Revelation 3:5 / *Rev. 3:5 -
(Re: *Overcoming / *Overcome)
Any Christian can ultimately have his name blotted out of the Book of Life (Revelation 3:5), he can ultimately lose his salvation and be cast into the second death of the lake of fire (Revelation 2:11, Revelation 20:14-15) if he does not overcome to the end (Revelation 3:5, Revelation 2:11, Revelation 2:26, Hebrews 6:11-12, Hebrews 3:6,12,14, Matthew 24:9-13).
Revelation 3:5, 1 John 5:4-5, 1 John 2:13-14 and 1 John 4:4 do not contradict this, for these verses do not give any assurance that every Christian will overcome to the end. All that the 1 John verses give assurance of is that Christians can presently be overcomers. And all that Revelation 3:5, Revelation 2:11 and Revelation 2:26 give assurance of is that those Christian who do overcome to the end will not have their names blotted out of the Book of Life and will not be cast into the lake of fire.
An example of Christians "overcoming" (Greek: nikao: G3528) (Revelation 3:5) or "getting the victory" (nikao) (Revelation 15:2) to the end is found in Revelation 15:2, which refers to Christians who will be willing to be killed by the future Antichrist (the individual-man aspect of Revelation's "beast"), instead of worshipping him to save their mortal lives during his future, worldwide persecution against Biblical Christians (Revelation 13:7-10, Revelation 14:12-13, Revelation 20:4-6, Matthew 24:9-13).
Christians will be able to spiritually overcome the future Antichrist and Satan by not loving their lives to the death (Revelation 12:11). But it is also possible for Christians to fail to overcome and so in the end to lose their salvation from hell (Revelation 3:5, Revelation 2:11) if they are fearful (Revelation 21:7-8) of being tortured and killed (Matthew 10:28, Revelation 2:10) to the point where they will wrongly employ their free will to renounce Jesus Christ and His Gospel, to commit apostasy (Hebrews 6:4-8, John 15:6), to keep from getting tortured and killed (Mark 8:35-38; 2 Timothy 2:12, Matthew 24:9-13, Matthew 13:21, Luke 8:13).
(See also Hebrews 6:4 above)
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(*Book of life)
The names of elect individuals were written in God's Book of Life from the foundation of the world (Revelation 17:8b), for even before the foundation of the world they were elected (chosen) by God to become Christians at some point during their lifetime (Ephesians 1:4-11). But nowhere does the Bible say or require that the names of elect individuals were permanently written in the Book of Life in the sense of it being impossible for any elect individual, once saved, to ultimately lose his salvation, such as in Hebrews 6:4-8.
God could write the names of some elect individuals in the Book of Life even though He knows that He will eventually have to blot out their names (Revelation 3:5) when they wrongly employ their free will to the ultimate loss of their salvation (e.g. Hebrews 10:26-29) for the same reason that God created an entire race of humans on the earth even though He knew that He would eventually have to blot them all off the face of the earth (except for only eight individuals: 1 Peter 3:20) in Noah's Flood, after that entire race of humans (except for the eight individuals) wrongly employed their free will to become utterly corrupt (Genesis 6:5-7).
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*Revelation 3:8 / *Rev. 3:8 -
(*Open door)
Here the "open door" meant that Jesus Christ had made it so that the literal, first century AD church congregation in the city of Philadelphia in the Roman province of "Asia" (Revelation 1:11) could preach the Gospel to the people living in that city (cf. 2 Corinthians 2:12, Colossians 4:3; 1 Corinthians 16:9), which evangelism could have eventually resulted in the salvation of the non-Christian genetic Jews living there (Revelation 3:9b).
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*Revelation 3:9 / *Rev. 3:9 -
(Say they are Jews, and are not)
See Revelation 2:9b above.
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