Jeffrey Bowden
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- Dec 25, 2023
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Rev 16:1 (NIV): Then I heard a loud voice from the temple saying to the seven angels, “Go, pour out the seven bowls of God’s wrath on the earth.”
John’s use of “I heard” is about what he heard in a scene that what was shown to him by one angel.
Rev 17:1-3 (NIV): 1 Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the judgment of the great prostitute who is seated on many waters, 2 with whom the kings of the earth have committed sexual immorality, and with the wine of whose sexual immorality the dwellers on earth have become drunk.” 3 And he carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness, and I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was full of blasphemous names, and it had seven heads and ten horns
Rev 16:1 and 17:1-3 follow the same pattern as Rev 4:1-2. John was being shown scenes that he wrote up as Rev 4:1-2. John did not go to Heaven in Rev 4:1. He was on Patmos being shown future scenes by one angel. The same goes for Rev 16:1 and 17:1-3. Before “Come, I will show,” in Rev 17:2, John was being shown his vision in Rev 16:1. After “Come, I will show,” John used the phrase, “I saw,” which he was still being shown Rev 17 while on Patmos.
While on Patmos, John was shown all the scenes in Rev. John was extremely busy writing what he just heard and saw that was shown to him by one angel.
Wrong.What it proves is that Jesus wasn't in heaven on His throne when His face "shone like the sun".
And no, One angel did not show John everything. It was the angel of Rev 21:9 who showed John "these things" which were different than the other things he had seen. Anyone can see that if they read from 21:9 to 22:8
If John can write during his vision, then all the following can take place just as easily. God's hands aren't tied by John being on Patmos.
John may have been on Patmos, but it doesn't mean he was chained to it and God would be helpless to take him in the Spirit anywhere He wants to. God opens doors that no man can shut. Just look at Peter's rescue from prison with guards on either side of him.
It's only John who is told to "come up here", there's no one else there to hear it. And verse 2 immediately shows him in heaven before the throne.
Rev 4:1After this I looked and saw a door standing open in heaven. And the voice I had previously heard speak to me like a trumpet was saying, “Come up here, and I will show you what must happen after these things.”2At once I was in the Spirit, and I saw a throne standing in heaven, with someone seated on it.
Here the Lord is having John taken in the Spirit by an angel to the wilderness after obeying the command to come.
Rev 17:1Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the judgment of the great prostitute who is seated on many waters, 2with whom the kings of the earth have committed sexual immorality, and with the wine of whose sexual immorality the dwellers on earth have become drunk.” 3And he carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness, and I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was full of blasphemous names, and it had seven heads and ten horns
The Lord can have John taken to a high mountain overlooking Jerusalem any way He wishes to, as He did. The angel also commands John to "come" and after John obeys, and is carried away in the Spirit.
Rev 21:9Then came one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues and spoke to me, saying, “Come, I will show you the Bride, the wife of the Lamb.” 10And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great, high mountain, and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God,
John’s written words prove you are wrong.John's not seeing or hearing things physically in the vision. The things he's seeing and hearing aren't there on Patmos, their in the spiritual realm. That's why he's in the Spirit because what he's seeing isn't there in the physical realm.
In chapter 4 of Rev, John's in heaven seeing the vision from heaven, whereas in Ezekiel chapter 1, Ezekiel sees the same vision looking up to the throne in heaven. And what the "vision of the rapture" is missing, is a vision of the rapture. John's not having a vision of a command. Rather he obeyed the command and found himself in heaven seeing a vision of heaven. Something like, I saw a multitude being taken up to heaven. But no, it's just John.
Rev 22:8 (ESV): I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things. And when I heard and saw them, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who showed them to me,
John heard and saw ALL of Rev while on Patmos. He wasn’t in a dreamlike state. John’s assignment was to watch the scenes displayed by one angel. Then write about what he heard and saw.
You want John in a dreamlike state, going here and going there, and eventually everywhere cited in Rev. That is totally dismissive of the one angel whom God sent to John to show John all of Rev. Other angels took part, but only in some of the scenes.
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