15Study to show yourself approved to God, a workman that needs not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
Dividing? Dividing what? Everything but for today groups we read about in Revelation. When we read the Word, the Word must interpret the Word. Anything else is offering an opinion and should be considered virtually worthless. There are no idle words in the Bible. Each one was selected by the All Powerful, All Knowing God to get His message across to us.
Now we can look at Revelation 1-3,4,5. What do we see there? The Church. How do we know its the Church? Well, the Lord mentions them by name and, He gives us associations to use to tell us who is and is not the Church. What kind of associations? Words like crowns are directly linked to and associated with who? The Church:
James 1:12
| Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those ... //biblehub.com/james/1-12.htm - 19k |
| Therefore, my brothers and sisters, you whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm in the Lord in this way, dear friends! ... //biblehub.com/philippians/4-1.htm - 18k |
crown of glory that will never fade away. ...
//biblehub.com/1_peter/5-4.htm - 18k
Now, this is key right here in 1 Peter. What happens in 1 Peter 5:4?
1. The Chief Shepherd appears.
2. You receive the crown of glory.
So what can we take away from this ^^?
No appearance of the Chief Shepherd =no crown of glory. And what exactly do we see in Rev 3-4? Crowns:
Rev 3:11‘I am coming quickly; hold fast what you have, so that no one will take your crown.
Rev 4:4Around the throne were twenty-four thrones; and upon the thrones I saw twenty-four elders sitting, clothed in white garments, and golden crowns on their heads.
Who wears crowns? Kings do. What does the Word say about the Church and Kings?
Rev 1:6And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever.
Redeemed and rewarded (crowns have been given) men in heaven are proof positive that what has happened?
And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the
crown of glory that will never fade away.
The Chief Shepherd has already appeared. There is no way around it, there is no denying it, the Word says it, the Word settles it. The Lord had to have appeared some time before revelation 3-4 otherwise there could be no crowns. And before anyone argues "maybe those are a different crown on their heads" we have not finished yet. Everything has to fit together perfectly or nothing fits together at all.
First Fruits and Elders in Revelation 4-5.
What do we know about he first fruits and the elders? What are the first fruits?
Nehemiah 10:35 and that they might bring the first fruits of our ground and the first fruits of
all the fruit of every tree to the house of the LORD annually,
In other words first fruits are a small or initial part of a larger harvest. The first fruits represent something larger, a small part representing a larger whole.
What else do we know about first fruits?
James 1:18 . In the exercise of His will He brought us forth by the word of truth, so
that we would be a kind of first fruits among His creatures.
1 Cor 15:22For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. 23But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming.
So, we know that firsfruits come first....and first fruits represent a larger group (the overall population of fruit the first fruits came from-by definition).
Who are these elders? They have crowns (they have been rewarded, the Chief Shepherd has already appeared) and, do these elders represent a larger population? You bet they do:
Rev 5:9And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation;
Do the math. Every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation adds up to orders of magnitude larger than 24....Are these elders also firstfruits? What is the definition of first fruits?
Nehemiah 10:35 and that they might bring the first fruits of our ground and the first fruits of
all the fruit of every tree to the house of the LORD annually,
Do the elders fit the definition? Absolutely, exactly. But we are not done yet. It seems to be the Lord's habit (Glory to God) to give me things as I am writing. This is the coup de grace from the Lord given to me as I began to write this post:
Hidden in plain sight, hidden treasures right in front of our eyes. I've read it a hundred times if not more and did not "see it" until just now courtesy of the Spirit of the Lord. What else are these elders? What other proof do we have that the Church is in heaven in Rev 4-5? The elders are redeemed and rewarded (crowns) men. Kings wear crowns, per Rev 1, we are kings and priests. And here is our gift from the Lord today. We now establish the Church in heaven fulfilling both roles as kings and priests. We covered the Kings, now the priests. Here it is:
Rev 5:6And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth. 7And he came and took the book out of the right hand of him that sat upon the throne. 8And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints.
How many times have we read this highlighted portion above and thought of it as a quaint detail in the book? How nice, they have harps and vials! We (I) brushed right past it. This is proof positive that these elders are Priests....
Who offers up prayers on behalf of the people? Priests do:
1 Peter 2:5 Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.
These elders are kings and priests. They are First Fruits. All of these things are by definition the Church....That, my friends, puts the Church squarely and irrefutably in heaven by Rev 4-5 before any of the seals or any of the other judgements have been poured out on the earth.
Words mean things. The Lord gave us specific words with specific meanings to convey His thinking to us. Here in Revelation 1-5 we have it nailed down, proof positive that the Church is in heaven and we did not discuss the doors opened in heaven in Rev 3-4 or being kept from the hour of trial in Rev 3.
We can go further and contrast the Elders who are the definition of the Church (Kings, Priests, First Fruits) with the group in heaven in Revelation 7. What do we see in Revelation 7?
Rev 7: 9After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could count, from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, and palm branches were in their hands; 10and they cry out with a loud voice, saying,
“Salvation to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.” 11And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures; and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, 12saying,
“Amen, blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might, be to our God forever and ever. Amen.”
13Then one of the elders answered, saying to me, “These who are clothed in the white robes, who are they, and where have they come from?” 14I said to him, “My lord, you know.” And he said to me, “These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
Here we must once again rightly divide the Word of truth. How does the Holy Spirit describe this group?
clothed in white robes, and palm branches were in their hands
and
14I said to him, “My lord, you know.” And he said to me, “These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
Do you see any crowns? No. Do you see any evidence they are priests? No. Do you see any evidence they are first fruits? No. Then they are not the Church.
What do you see? White robes and palm branches in their hands.
What does the Word say (not our opinion, what does the Word say...) about palm branches?
John 12:13 They took palm branches and went out to meet him ...
| They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting, "Hosanna!" "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!" "Blessed is the king of Israel!" ... |
| ... 'Now on the first day you shall take for yourselves the foliage of beautiful trees, palm branches and boughs of leafy trees and willows of the brook, and you ... |
and tail, both palm branches and cattails. ...
Israel, Israel, Leviticus=Israel. We interpret based on what the Word says, not our opinion. Does the Word say anything about the Church and palm branches? No. Does the Word say anything about Israel and palm branches? Read the scriptures above.....
Conclusion
I have asked the Lord to reveal more of His hidden treasure in the Word that proves we the Church are not in the tribulation. Every day or seemingly so He reveals more proof from His Word that we the Church are NOT in the tribulation in any way shape or form. People who try to force the Church into the tribulation have to do so through loose interpretation and their opinion where we have direct irrefutable proof requiring no opinions only the Word itself, defining itself through itself.
Glory to God. The evidence is mounting, we do not have long left on this earth. The time of Jacob's trouble is almost upon this world which means a door will soon be opened for us in heaven (Rev 3:8). The Elders are Kings and Priests and First fruits who are by definition the Church and are in HEAVEN in revelation 4-5 when the bad things begin in earnest on this earth.
It is well beyond time for us to prepare to meet our Lord. We will be face to face with Him soon. GLORY TO GOD.
Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
