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REVELATION.22
1Then the Angel showed me the River of Living Water, clear as crystal that flows from the throne of YAHUSHA the Lamb. 2This River flows down the middle of the street of the city and the Tree of Life is on each side of the River, producing fruit every month (twelve times a year). And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.
HEALING IN HEBREW: REMEDY, ALLEVIATION, DELIVERANCE, SERVICE, UPKEEP, YIELDING.
3Nothing that YAHUSHA curses or judges guilty will be there in that city, for the throne of YAHUSHA the Lamb will be in there, and His servants will serve and worship Him.
"THE CURSE" THAT YAHUSHA PUT UPON MANKIND IS THAT SIN CAUSES DEATH. THE TORAH ITSELF (ESPECIALLY THE PART THAT IS THE LAW) IS BASED UPON THE EXISTENCE OF THIS CURSE AND THAT IS WHY THE DEATH PENALTY FOR CERTAIN CRIMES AGAINST THE LAW WAS ESTABLISHED. THIS PRINCIPLE WAS MADE FAMOUS WITH THE ERECTING OF THE TWO STANDING STONES IN CANAAN ALMOST IMMEDIATELY AFTER JOSHUA LED THE 12 TRIBES ACROSS THE JORDAN RIVER. ONE OF THE STONES LISTED THE BLESSINGS AND THE OTHER STONE LISTED THE CURSES OF THE LAW.
SO TO A JEW IN JOHN'S DAY IT WOULD BE IMPORTANT TO HAVE IT MADE CLEAR THAT THE CURSE OF THE LAW (DEATH) IS NO LONGER IN EFFECT ON THE NEW EARTH. SO THE LEAVES OF THE TREE OF LIFE THAT GIVE ETERNAL LIFE ALSO SERVE TO REPRESENT THE END OF THE CURSE THAT HAD BROUGHT ETERNAL DEATH.
This verse is another indication that Heaven and Earth have melded together in some inexplicable way because the mention of Heaven as a separate place from Earth is no longer here and that fact has always been front and centre since the beginning of Revelation, and actually since after Adam and Eve's expulsion from the Garden. Yahusha's home had always been heaven, but now it's a New Earth, dwelling among transformed First-Fruit Humans and also the Heavenly Creatures.
4His servants (THE BRIDE) will see His face and YAHUSHA’S Name will be written on their foreheads. 5There will never be night again. People won’t need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for YAHUSHA the only living Alahim will give them light. And they will rule like Kings forever and ever.
YAHUSHA'S SERVANTS WILL WEAR HIS NAME ON THEIR FOREHEADS. THIS IS A DIRECT CONNECTION TO THE HIGH PRIEST WHO WORE THE NAME OF YAHUAH ON HIS HEAD BAND. WE ARE BOUGHT WITH A PRICE AND YAHUSHA OWNS US, AND HAS RESTED HIS PERFECT NAME UPON US.
NIGHT WILL NO LONGER EXIST AND THIS SPEAKS ABOUT NEVER ENDING LIGHT BECAUSE WE'RE TOLD THAT NEITHER THE LIGHT OF A LAMP (ARTIFICIAL LIGHT) OR OF THE SUN (NATURAL LIGHT) WILL BE NEEDED. THEN WE'RE TOLD THAT YAHUSHA'S SERVANTS WILL REIGN AS KINGS, WHICH MAKES PERFECT SENSE BECAUSE YAHUSHA PROMISED THAT HIS FOLLOWERS WOULD REIGN ALONG WITH HIM (SOME ON THRONES TOO).
6Then the Angel said to me, “These words are true and can be trusted. For YAHUSHA the mighty Alahim of the spirits of the prophets, has sent His Angel to show His servants what must happen soon: 7‘Listen, I’m coming very soon! And there’ll be huge blessings for anyone who obeys the Living Words of prophecy written in this book.’”
THIS IS ESSENTIALLY THE CONCLUSION OF ALL OF JOHN'S VISIONS, BECAUSE THE LAST SHORT SECTION ISN'T TECHNICALLY A VISION BUT JOHN'S FINAL THOUGHTS ABOUT WHAT HE'S JUST SEEN AND EXPERIENCED (WHICH IS STILL YAHUSHA'S WORDS GIVEN TO JOHN AND US, BY DIVINE INSPIRATION ... IT'S JUST NOT A TRANCY VISION). BUT WHAT DOES HAPPEN NOW IS A SENSE OF URGENCY AND CALL TO MATURE, BE PERFECTED & SET-APART. AND IT IS MADE BY REPEATING THE SAME ESSENTIAL MESSAGE OVER AND OVER, AND THAT URGENCY REVOLVES AROUND THE TIMING AND CERTAINTY OF YAHUSHA MAKING HIS LONG AWAITED RETURN.
VERSE 7 SAYS "LOOK I'M COMING VERY SOON".
VERSE 10 SAYS THAT "THE FULFILMENT OF ALL REVELATION'S
PROPHECIES IS NEAR".
VERSE 12 SAYS "PAY ATTENTION, I'M COMING REAL SOON".
VERSE 20 SAYS "YES, I'M COMING SOON".
WHY THIS REPETITIOUS WARNING OF HIS IMMINENT RETURN TO END THIS BOOK? BECAUSE AT THE MOMENT OF YAHUSHA’S RETURN, REVELATION TELLS US THAT THE SPIRITUAL CONDITION (AND THEREFORE THE ETERNAL FUTURE OF EACH AND EVERY HUMAN BEING THAT IS LIVING (OR HAS EVER LIVED) WILL BE FOREVER FROZEN). THIS MEANS THAT WHEN THE TRUMPET SOUNDS AND YAHUSHA BLASTS THROUGH THE INVISIBLE SEAM OF DIMENSIONS (FOR THE WHOLE EARTH TO SEE), IT DOES NOT SIGNAL A FINAL CALL TO REPENTANCE OR OPPORTUNITY TO MAKE A FRESH DECISION - RATHER IT MEANS THE TIME FOR DECISION AND CHANGE HAS COME AND GONE - PERMANENTLY. THIS IS THE CONTEXT IN WHICH WE MUST UNDERSTAND THE FINAL FEW PRECIOUS WORDS OF THE SCRIPTURE.
REV 1:3
"BLESSED ARE THE READER AND HEARERS OF THE WORDS OF THIS PROPHECY, PROVIDED THEY OBEY THE THINGS WRITTEN IN IT! FOR THE TIME IS NEAR!"
REV 22:7
"LISTEN, I’M COMING VERY SOON! AND THERE’LL BE HUGE BLESSINGS FOR ANYONE WHO OBEYS THE LIVING WORDS OF PROPHECY WRITTEN IN THIS BOOK.’”
SO THE BEGINNING AND THE ENDING OF REVELATION ARE TIED TOGETHER IN A NEAT BUNDLE WITH THOSE TWO VERSES BEHAVING AS BOOK ENDS. YAHUSHA DOES SOMETHING VERY UNUSUAL IN IT - HE GIVES US A GLIMPSE OF NOT ONLY THE HISTORICAL FUTURE, BUT ALSO OF THE ETERNAL FUTURE AFTER THE END OF HISTORY. HE SETS OUT REQUIREMENTS FOR US TO PARTICIPATE IN THE NEW EARTH, NEW UNIVERSE AND ETERNAL MILLENNIAL KINGDOM, BUT ALSO THE THINGS THAT DISQUALIFY US. YET, SOME OF THOSE DISQUALIFIERS ARE NO LONGER POLITICALLY OR SOCIALLY POPULAR TO UTTER, AND SO SOCIETIES AND EVEN BRIDAL FELLOWSHIPS HAVE OFTEN SOUGHT TO FIND WAYS TO DILUTE THEM OR TO DISMISS THEM ALTOGETHER AS PRIMITIVE, IRRELEVANT, OR EVEN HATEFUL. BUT WHAT YAHUSHA CALLS EVIL AND ABOMINATION AND WRONG WILL ALWAYS BE THAT WAY NO MATTER WHAT THE WORLD DECLARES OR THE PRESSURE THEY APPLY.
8"Hello there, I’m John, the one who heard and saw all these things. And after I heard and saw them, I fell down to worship at the feet of the Angel who showed them to me. 9But the Angel said to me, “Oy, come on now, you can’t worship me! I’m just a servant like you and your brothers the prophets, and like all those who guard and obey the Living Words in this book. Now worship YAHUSHA - not me!”
THE ANGEL SAYS THAT HE IS AMONG THE FELLOW SERVANTS JUST LIKE THE PROPHETS AND THE PEOPLE WHO OBEY THE WORDS OF THIS BOOK. HE IS SPEAKING OF THE OLD BLOOD-COVENANT PROPHETS FROM WHOM JOHN DREW SO MUCH OF HIS WORDING AND THE STRUCTURE OF HIS BOOK OF REVELATION - THOSE WHO WERE ALSO SHOWN OR TOLD MUCH OF WHAT JOHN WAS SHOWN, RECEIVING A SIMILAR MESSAGE CENTURIES EARLIER. AND THE PEOPLE WHO OBEY THE WORDS ARE, TOO, ONLY SERVANTS OF YAHUSHA. SO WHEN IT COMES TO WORSHIP THERE IS A UNIVERSAL TWO CLASS SYSTEM IN PLACE: THE ONE TO BE WORSHIPPED ...YAHUSHA.... AND EVERYONE AND EVERYTHING ELSE AS THE WORSHIPPERS.
10Then the Angel told me, “Don’t seal up the words of prophesy in this book or keep it a secret! For the time is near for all these things to happen.
JOHN IS INSTRUCTED TO DO SOMETHING THAT HAS A FAMILIAR RING TO IT. HOWEVER, THE INSTRUCTION IS THE OPPOSITE OF WHAT AN EARLIER PROPHET WAS TOLD TO DO.
DANIEL 12:4
"BUT YOU, DANIEL, KEEP THESE WORDS SECRET, AND SEAL UP THE BOOK UNTIL THE TIME OF THE END. MANY WILL RUSH HERE AND THERE AS KNOWLEDGE INCREASES."
SO WHILE DANIEL WAS TOLD TO KEEP THE VISIONS OF THE FUTURE A SECRET, JOHN WAS TOLD TO PUBLISH WHAT HE RECEIVED. WHY COULD JOHN REVEAL WHAT DANIEL HAD TO CONCEAL? BECAUSE KNOWLEDGE MUST INCREASE FIRST. KNOWLEDGE OF WHAT? KNOWLEDGE BY WHOM? WE'VE DISCUSSED ON NUMEROUS OCCASIONS THAT NOT ONLY REVELATION BUT ALSO THE WORDS OF THE OLD BLOOD-COVENANT PROPHETS IN PAST TIMES WERE OFTEN NOT UNDERSTOOD OR THEY WERE OUTRIGHT MISUNDERSTOOD UNTIL THE PASSAGE OF TIME, AND ENOUGH HISTORY UNFOLDED SO THAT THE CIRCUMSTANCES SURROUNDING THE PROPHESIED EVENTS BECAME IMAGINABLE OR EVEN APPARENT.
JOHN HAD SUBSTANTIALLY MORE KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING THAN DANIEL BECAUSE JOHN LIVED AROUND 700 YEARS AFTER DANIEL. FOR INSTANCE: WHILE FOR DANIEL DELIVERANCE WAS LITTLE MORE THAN THE JEWISH PEOPLE BEING RESCUED FROM THEIR BABYLONIAN CAPTIVITY AND RETURNING, IN FREEDOM, TO THEIR HOMELAND, THAT WAS BUT A SHADOW OF WHAT WAS COMING.
JOHN CAME TO UNDERSTAND DELIVERANCE ON AN ENTIRELY DIFFERENT LEVEL >>>THE SUPERNATURAL<<< NO LONGER WAS DELIVERANCE ONLY A LIBERATION FROM AN EARTHLY OPPRESSOR - IT HAD BECOME A SPIRITUAL REALITY OF FAR MORE IMPACT BECAUSE IT CROSSES ALL CULTURAL BOUNDARIES AND TRANSCENDS ALL ERAS AND LANGUAGES. EVEN THE ONE WHO PERFORMED THE DELIVERING ACT (YAHUSHA MESSIAH) WAS KNOWN TO JOHN. DANIEL WAS GIVEN A BRIEF INSIGHT INTO SEVERAL DISTANT END TIMES EVENTS. BUT HE COULD MAKE LITTLE SENSE OF THEM BECAUSE THEY WERE UTTERLY BIZARRE TO HIS MIND. IN FACT THEY CONFUSED AND UPSET HIM SO TERRIBLY THAT WE READ:
DANIEL 8:27
"I, DANIEL, GREW WEAK AND WAS ILL FOR SOME DAYS. THEN I GOT UP AND TOOK CARE OF THE KING'S AFFAIRS, BUT I WAS APPALLED AND UPSET AT THE VISION AND STILL COULDN'T UNDERSTAND IT".
JOHN UNDERSTOOD ALOT OF HIS VISIONS (FOR MANY WERE A REPLAY OF DANIEL'S) BUT NOT ALL OF THEM. HE RECEIVED A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF THE SEQUENCE OF FUTURE EVENTS AND TO AN EXTENT WHEN THEY WOULD OCCUR. JOHN HAD THE BENEFIT OF DANIEL'S, EZEKIEL'S, ISAIAH'S, AND ALL THE OTHER OLDER PROPHETS WRITINGS. STILL, MOST OF THE VISIONS WERE TO TAKE PLACE SO FAR IN THE FUTURE FROM JOHN'S TIME (AS WE ARE NOW PRIVILEGED TO KNOW) THAT THERE WAS NO WAY THAT HE COULD POSSIBLY UNDERSTAND THE FEATURES, SHAPES, OBJECTS, AND HUMAN INSTITUTIONS THAT HE WAS BEING SHOWN. BUT RATHER THAN BEING CONFUSED TO THE POINT OF ILLNESS (AS WITH DANIEL), JOHN WAS AWED AND OVERWHELMED TO THE POINT OF WRONGLY WORSHIPPING THE ANGEL WHO SPOKE MUCH OF IT TO HIM.
11So let anyone who’s doing evil keep doing evil, let anyone who’s unclean and filthy, stay that way, let anyone who’s being obedient keep being obedient, and let anyone who’s set-apart be even more set-apart!”
OUR LOVING AND LONG-SUFFERING MASTER CAN ALSO BE SEVERE. ESSENTIALLY THE WORDS SEEM TO SAY: WHATEVER YOU ARE, YOU’RE DESTINED TO STAY THAT WAY :
DANIEL 12:10 "MANY WILL PURIFY, CLEANSE AND REFINE THEMSELVES - BUT THE WICKED WILL KEEP ON ACTING WICKEDLY, AND NONE OF THE WICKED WILL UNDERSTAND. BUT THOSE WITH DISCERNMENT WILL UNDERSTAND".
ECCLESIASTES 11:3. "AS A TREE FALLS, SO IT LIES AND AS A MAN LIVES, SO HE DIES."
CHARACTER AND DESTINY ARE BOTH SETTLED HERE IN TIME. WHAT A PERSON IS AND WHAT A PERSON DOES IN LIFE DETERMINE WHAT THEY ARE ETERNALLY. BEHAVIOUR MATTERS. THIS MAN-MADE POEM IS TRUE:
"SOW A THOUGHT, YOU REAP A BEHAVIOUR, SOW A BEHAVIOUR, YOU REAP A HABIT, SOW A HABIT, YOU REAP A CHARACTER, SOW A CHARACTER, YOU REAP A DESTINY."
THE SCRIPTURE STATES WHAT THE WICKED DO, VERSUS WHAT THE RIGHTEOUS DO. AND SINCE THE WICKED WILL GO ON BEHAVING WICKEDLY THEY WILL NOT UNDERSTAND EITHER THE GOODNESS OF YAHUSHA OR THE MEANING OF THE EVENTS OF THE END TIMES AS THEY BEGIN TO HAPPEN. BUT THE RIGHTEOUS BRIDE WILL FURTHER PURIFY, CLEANSE, AND REFINE THEMSELVES AND AS A RESULT RECEIVE DISCERNMENT SO THAT THEY DO UNDERSTAND THE GOODNESS OF YAHUSHA AND ALSO THE MEANING OF THE EVENTS OF THE END TIMES AS THEY UNFOLD.
12Listen, I’m coming soon! And I’ll bring rewards with Me. Don’t think I won’t repay everyone for what they’ve done (GOOD & EVIL). 13I am the Alef and the Tau, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End. 14There’ll be huge blessings for anyone who’s washed their robes by actively behaving My Words, and they’ll have the right to eat right from the Tree of Life (YAHUSHA). They can go through the gates into the Eternal City. 15But outside those city gates are all those dogs who enchant with drugs, who whore, murder, worship idols, and who love to lie and be fake.
IN ANCIENT HEBREW TIMES, DOGS WERE HELD IN CONTEMPT AS BEING FILTHY AND WITHOUT WORTH. THEY WERE NOT PETS AND IN JEWISH RITUAL WERE UNCLEAN, SHAMELESS & WITHOUT ANY REDEEMING VIRTUES. SO AS YOU CAN IMAGINE, THE TERM 'DOG' WAS USED AS A NASTY INSULT HURLED TOWARD AN ENEMY. IT WAS THE CUSTOMARY TERM USED THROUGHOUT THE SCRIPTURE FOR A MALE TEMPLE PROSTITUTE. SO WHEN SPEAKING OF DOGS FIGURATIVELY, IT WAS IN MOST CASES (THOUGH NOT ALL) SPEAKING OF WHAT WE’D TODAY CALL LGBTQI - WHICH IS THE LIKELY CASE HERE GIVEN THE CONTEXT AS A BEHAVIOURAL LIFESTYLE THAT WAS EXCLUDED FROM ETERNAL LIFE WITH YAHUSHA.
1. DOGS — PHIL 3, MATT 7, 2PET 2, PSA 22 & PROV 26 ALL SPEAK OF THE CIRCUMCISION, THE RELIGIOUS, AND THE HYPOCRITES, BARKING, GROWLING, VICIOUS AND AS FILTHY DOGS.
2. SORCERERS — MAKERS, ENCHANTERS AND USERS OF DRUGS, SPIRIT MEDIUMS, BLACK MAGIC AND ALL FORMS OF WITCHCRAFT ARE INCLUDED IN THIS NEW CITY.
3. WHOREMONGERS — SEXUALLY IMMORAL, COVERING ALL FORMS OF SEXUAL SINS AND PERVERSIONS.
4. MURDERERS — REV 21:7-8
5. IDOLATERS — REV 21:8
6. LIARS — THOSE WHO LIVE AND LOVE AND MAKE A LIE.
16“So I, YAHUSHA, have sent My Angel to be a witness of all these things and to give My Bridal Fellowship proof (OF TRUTH & AUTHENTICITY). I am both the root (ORIGIN-FATHER) and the offspring (DESCENDANT-SON) of David, the Bright Morning Star.”
YAHUSHA IS REPEATING WHAT HE SAID BACK IN REV 1:1 - MEANING THAT AS THE ROOT OF DAVID, YAHUSHA IS IDENTIFYING HIMSELF WITH THE 12 TRIBES AND AS THE OFFSPRING OF DAVID HE IS IDENTIFYING HIMSELF WITH THE MESSIANIC LINEAGE PROMISED BY THE PROPHETS.
THE MORNING STAR INTRODUCES THE NEW DAY, SO YAHUSH INTRODUCES THE NEW ETERNAL DAY. HIS LIGHT IS IN THE HEARTS OF THE OVERCOMER. WISE MEN SEE AND FOLLOW HIS STAR. LUCIFER FORFEITED HIS PLACE AS THE "DAYSTAR" AND LEADER OF HEAVEN'S ANGELIC WORSHIP, THROUGH SIN. NOW YAHUSHA HAS REDEEMED A NEW CREATION TO REPLACE LUCIFER AND THE FALLEN ANGELS, AND THIS NEW CREATION WILL WORSHIP YAHUSHA AND THE LAMB FOREVER !!
DEUT 13:1 "EVERYTHING I AM COMMANDING YOU, YOU ARE TO GUARD TO DO. DO NOT ADD TO IT OR SUBTRACT FROM IT".
17So the Spirit and the Bride say, “Come!” Everyone who hears will say, “Come!” All who are thirsty may come and drink the water of life freely. 18But pay attention, for I’m warning everyone who hears the words of prophecy in this book: If anyone adds anything to them, I will give them the plagues written in this book. 19And if anyone takes away from the words of this book of prophecy, I’ll take away that person’s share of the Tree of Life and of the New Set-Apart City, which are all written about in this book.
20YAHUSHA is the one who bears witness of all these truths, and now He says, “Yes, I’m coming quickly.” Amein! Yes Come, Master YAHUSHA!
21The favour of our Master YAHUSHA MESSIAH be with all His Set-Apart Chosen forever ... SO BE IT !
FINALLY, TO END THIS APOCALYPSE, IT IS REINFORCED AS TO WHY READING THIS BOOK IS SO IMPORTANT. YAHUSHA, WHO CERTIFIES THAT THIS ENTIRE MESSAGE IS FROM HIM ..... HE WHO HAS PREVIOUSLY SAID THAT WE CAN COUNT ON THESE WORDS AS TRUSTWORTHY AND TRUE.... HE SAYS THAT HE IS COMING SOON! SO BE AWAKE - BE AWARE - AND MOST IMPORTANTLY, BE READY. AMEN! COME MASTER YAHUSHA!
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