RLJ-870

UNDERSTANDING THE KINGDOM OF GOD
THE BOOK OF REVELATION - PART 34

John S. Torell

April 27, 2003

CHAPTER TWENTY TWO - Segment 2
In this message we are going to look at the last verses in the Bible. These verses are not often quoted in sermons, and the reason for that is that we have a strong warning from Jesus Christ himself, that most ministers are not very comfortable with.

Verse 7: The question we must settle now is this, does this verse refer ONLY to the book of Revelation, or does it refer to the entire Bible? As we think about this, let us establish the following facts:

A) The book of Revelation was the last revelation given from God to one of the original apostles of the Lord Jesus Christ. It was given in 90 AD, some 57 years after the resurrection of Jesus.

B) In 90 A.D. only the apostle John was still alive on the earth, all other apostles including Paul had been executed and were in heaven.

C) By 120 A.D. the leadership of the Christian churches had come to an agreement, that the books we have today in the New Testament were inspired writings given to men by God, and all other writings were rejected as Scripture, but retained as uninspired writings. Closing the New Testament and rejecting all further writings was done by the second and third generation pastors and ministers, following the apostles. The theological term for this process is called "The Canon," which means that something has been established and nothing can be added or subtracted from it. The Old Testament was canonized around 300 B.C.

D) At the time of Christ, there were no books as we know today. Instead written material was written down on scrolls, which were fastened to wood pools and the papyrus was rolled from one stick to the other as it was read.

Some centuries later when hand written books were made and bound, the different books in the Bible were laid out in the order that we have today.

My conclusion: The book of Revelation was the final revelation to the Church of Jesus Christ on this earth. Thus I believe that the warnings given in chapter 22 of the book of Revelation, not only applies to this book, but to the entire Bible. I believe that I stand in good company in this matter, since at the time of the invention of making bound books, the book of Revelation has always been the last book of the Bible.

Verse 8-9: The apostle John was totally overwhelmed at this time, and had a great need to worship and bowed before the angel, who rebuked him and told him, we only worship God Almighty. Deuteronomy 6:13-15; Matthew 4:8-10

Verse 10: The apostle was told that this revelation was not going to be sealed up, but that it should be published and spoken to all to hear. Compare this with Daniel 12:1-13

Verse 11: In this verse we are given an understanding, that there shall be a separation toward the end of time. Those who are holy will become holier, and those who are ungodly and evil will become more ungodly and evil. Compare this with Daniel 12:10 and 2 Timothy 3:13

Verse 12: Again we are told that each human being shall be judged on an individual basis, judged against what they did with the gifts and power given to them on the earth. 2 Corinthians 5:10-11; Revelation 20:13

Verse 13: This is again affirming the greatness of Jesus Christ and his eternal position. Compare this with Revelation 1:13-18

Verse 14: As far as I am concerned, this verse has been tampered with in the King James translation. No one can be saved by keeping God’s commandments. It is all by grace. Looking at the Greek text for this verse, it states "blessed are those who wash their robes..." This is in harmony with Revelation 1:5 and 7:13-17.

Verse 15: For a second time this warning to people is repeated, as first stated in Revelation 21:8 Compare this with the preaching of the apostle Paul some 33 years earlier - Galatians 5:19-21

Verse 16: Again we are given an affirmation about who is the author of the book of Revelation.

Verse 17: This is a strong invitation to come and join the Lamb of God and be part of the New Jerusalem. And for the believers in Christ to drink of the water of life freely. This water of life can be obtained now on the earth, through the Holy Spirit - John 7:37-39

Verses 18-19: As the Word of God is now going to close forever, Jesus is putting in an extremely strong warning, Do not tamper with the Word of God or face terrible consequences!

The tragedy is that in verse 19 someone has tampered with the Word of God. In the Greek original texts it does not say "THE BOOK OF LIFE" but "THE TREE OF LIFE." My personal feeling is that someone wanted to put some extra fear into people and took out the word "tree" and replaced it with the word "book," which changes the meaning significantly. Compare this with Deuteronomy 4:2; 12:30-32; Proverbs 30:5-6; Galatians 1:6-9; Revelation 2:7

WARNING!

Many Christians do not know that there is a corrupt Greek New Testament text, which were produced by the so called "Alexandrian school of theology." This text was compiled by the gnostic theologian Origen Adamantius (185-254 A.D.). This corrupt Greek text was further developed by two British Anglican priests at Cambridge University in England by the name of Westcott and Hort. What is not told about these men was that they had become secret Satan worshipers and that they had rejected the very core of the Gospel. These two men "cooked" up a Greek text, that since 1881 has been used in the translation of all new Bible versions in English. In 1898 Nestle’s Greek New Testament was published and laid the foundation for modern Christian textual scholarship, and Nestle’s text is a further development of the evil work of Westcott and Hort.

Thus the following translations are made from this corrupt text: RSV, NASV, NRSV, NWW, NEV, NIV, TNIV, NCV, LV and many others.

By reading and teaching from a corrupt translated Bible, the person is adding and taking away from the Word of God! Could this be one of the reason that so many Christians today are sick and plagued with pain?

For a further study of the Westcott and Hort corrupted Greek text, see The Dove, 2002, pages 108-109

Verse 20-21: This is a final call and a final greeting from Jesus and his apostle, John. Will you come? You are bidden to come and receive eternal life! Only you can respond to these questions and calls, no one can make this decision for you! Matthew 22:1-14

Do you have an ear to hear with?

The End

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