Revelation Revolution
by Dr. Kay Fairchild
Chapter 1
Pages 1-26
The book of Revelation is not just a historical book, but it is a spiritual book. It has been interpreted in the past as just an historical book. For example, in Revelation 1:4, John talks about him who is, and who was, and who is to come. Most people either talk about the “him who was” or “who is to come.” What we want to do is take “him who was” and “who is to come” and bring it into “him who is.” We want to bring the past and the future into the now. The way we are going to do that is in realizing that this is not just a historical book, but it is a spiritual book.
Some have taken the books of Revelation, Ezekiel, and Daniel and correlated them to current events that are happening in the world. Some of those things can be made to fit. I’m not saying that there is no validity to any of that. I am not saying that is all wrong. But some have made the Bible say anything they want it to say. Paul preached to some people who “were entirely ready and accepted and welcomed the message [concerning the attainment through Christ of eternal salvation in the kingdom of God] with inclination of mind and eagerness, searching and examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so” (Acts 17:11 Amplified Bible).
This is the nobility of the Bereans:
Eight-fold Proof of Doctrine
1. Does it appear in seed form in Genesis?
2. Does it appear in type form in the Law?
3. Does it appear in song form in Psalms?
4. Was it prophesied by the prophets?
5. Did Jesus teach it?
6. Did the early Church proclaim it?
7. Do the epistles help us understand it?
8. Does it come to its consummation and manifestation in the book of Revelation?
Revelation (Singular)
In teaching the book of Revelation I am taking the posture of giving things to you rather than taking things away from you. But I do know that some things are going to be taken away from you because you are going to receive the Spirit of wisdom and revelation concerning the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
In Revelation 1:1 we read, “The Revelation” and I want to stop right there with the word “Revelation.” That is the key to this whole chapter; in fact, it is the key to the whole book of Revelation. It tells us up front what this book is about. Notice “The Revelation” singular. It does not say “Revelations.” Nine times out of ten we hear teachers say “Turn to Revelations chapter 5.” It is written “Revelation” (singular). Why? Because there is only one revelation.
Paul the apostle, who also had the revelation of the death, burial, and resurrection, used that word “revelation” (singular) many times in his epistles because he understood that there is only one revelation in the entire Bible and it is the revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ—the death, the burial, and the resurrection.
The Little Book Is Open
In Revelation 10:8 we read:
And the voice which I heard from heaven spoke unto me again, and said, Go and take the little book which is open in the hand of the angel who standeth upon the sea and upon the earth (emphasis added).
Why is it a little book? It is a little book because it contains only one message. Man has made it many messages. But there is just one message. The gospel is Christ’s life, death, burial, and resurrection.
He said go and take the little book which is open. We are living in a time where the little book, the one message is open. The revelation of Jesus Christ is now open. The bread and wine message is open to us. We are seeing it with clarity. We are seeing as never before that the Feast of Tabernacles is simply a second look at Passover.
The Bitter Herbs
The Israelites were to eat the lamb roasted with fire along with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. Proverbs 27:7 tells us that “to the hungry soul every bitter thing is sweet.” Jesus had a soul that hungered for the Father’s will—even if it meant drinking the bitter cup.
Look for a moment at Revelation 10:9:
And I went unto the angel, and said unto him, Give me the little book. And he said unto me, Take it, and eat it up; and it shall make thy belly bitter, but it shall be in thy mouth sweet as honey (emphasis added).
When it’s digested, you see the bitterness of the bitter cup that Jesus drank. We can’t see how high he went until we see how low he went. Jesus drank that bitter cup—more bitter than anything that anyone could ever drink. When we see it, digest it, and we get it on the inside of us, we will see that Jesus, who knew no sin, became sin. It was more than just a physical death. He drank the bitter cup. When we drink something it is inside of us. So, Jesus became bitterness on the inside, because he became sin. When we really digest the person and the work of Christ, we see that it was a bitter cup and when he drank it, it was inside of him and he became sin. He did not just die physically. He also died spiritually and became Sin and went into hell.
This is a big issue in the Kingdom of God because some still do not see this yet. Some do, and thank God, they’re coming into this understanding more and more, but some say that Jesus just became a sin offering. If we want to say he became a sin offering, that’s well and good, but let’s make sure that we understand that in becoming the sin offering, he became sin. He became who we were; otherwise we could not have been there6. Some are challenged with the fact that Jesus became sin (2 Corinthians 5:21). We must eat the bitter herbs with the lamb.
It was bitter in his belly, but in his mouth, it was sweet as honey. Honey is a Promise Land provision. Remember the riddle that Samson gave forth to the Philistines? In the dead carcass of the lion was Promise Land provision, or honey. Honey also speaks of wisdom. What is the wisdom of God? 1Corinthians 1:18-25 tells us that the wisdom of God is the preaching of the Cross.
So in Revelation 1:1, we read “The Revelation,” (singular) because there is only one revelation. There is only one message and the sooner we get this, the better off we’re going to be. The sooner we understand this, the more we’re going to hasten the coming of the Day of the Lord in our life individually and corporately. Continuing in verse 1, we read:
The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to show unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant, John.
This book is about Jesus. When we come to the conclusion of this book, we will know that the book of Revelation is not about bugs as big as Volkswagens. When one is born of the spirit he hears by the spirit. When we finish the study of the book of Revelation we will know by the spirit that this book is not about Godzilla monsters that come up out of the sea to destroy people. It is not about locusts that come up out of the earth to sting people. It is not about Scud missiles. It’s not about Russia. It is not about Iraq. It is not about the Middle East and the battle of Armageddon. It is not about a temple in the Middle East. It is not about a literal word that ministers death (2 Corinthians 3:6). It is about the Lord Jesus Christ, the life-giving Spirit. This is the revelation of Jesus Christ. It is the unveiling of Jesus Christ, and that alone. And the understanding of that will change a literal world!
Remove The Veil
This book is about the removing of a veil that is over our minds—a veil that has been there for a long time and has hidden the glory of God. 2 Corinthians 3:14 gives us the key to having the veil lifted and that is the understanding of the death, burial, and resurrection:
But their minds were blinded; for until this day remaineth the same veil untaken away in the reading of the old testament; which veil is done away in Christ.
In 1 Corinthians 11:26, Paul says we are to eat of the bread anddrink of the cup to show the Lord’s death until he comes. This scripture is not talking about the Lord coming from without. The Lord in us is much more personal than an external coming. This scripture refers to his apokalupsis, his epiphaneia, his uncovering, his outshining, his parousia that comes from spirit to soul and flows out of our body so others can see and can sense something of the nature of Christ and see the glory of God.
The Greek word for revelation is apokalupsis, meaning to uncover, to unveil something that is hidden. What has been hidden? Christ. Colossians speaks of Christ in you, the hope of glory. Christ in you is a hope of the manifestation of glory. Christ in you is not the manifestation of the glory, but when we get the veil removed, then the Christ, the glory, the nature of God is going to be unveiled, uncovered, and he is going to make his way out from spirit to soul and he is going to manifest out of our lives. If Christ in you is not unveiled, then the glory is yet a hope. A seed is planted in the ground not to stay covered, but to bring forth a stem, a branch, and to bring forth much fruit. That is what God is doing in this hour.
In the tabernacle of Moses, there was a veil between the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies. At the death of Jesus, the veil in the temple was rent from top to bottom. In David’s tent, which represents a people in maturity, there was no veil. That tells me that the veil was done away with in Christ, but it still has to be taken out of our minds. The thing that is going to bring about the revelation of Jesus Christ in our midst individually and corporately is receiving understanding of the death of Jesus. We have to understand that the old man was crucified and there is only one man left. After one sees that he was crucified, there is only one man left and that is Christ the Lord. That is why we are to “know no man after the flesh,” including ourselves (John 7:24, 2 Corinthians 5:16, 1 Thessalonians 5:22).
The veil is not going to be taken away by giving people a list of do’s and don’ts. Christ will be revealed when people awake to righteousness, wake up to who they are, wake up to the fact that there is only one man left and that is Christ. The world has a cliché, “accentuate the positive and you eliminate the negative.” The death of Christ, and our identification with it, though it seems negative, is a positive thing.
In 2 Corinthians 3:14, we read that their minds were blinded. Remember, we are talking about apokalupsis, the revelation, which means to uncover something that is hidden. The key to uncovering that which is hidden, the key to removing the veil that is still upon our minds to a degree, is the understanding of the death of Christ— that is the marriage supper of the Lamb—the marriage of spirit and soul becoming one. The truth that is in our spirit comes to our mind, renews our mind, and is then expressed in our life.
In the natural, a woman receives seed in her womb and nine months later she births something. The womb of the woman speaks of the womb of the mind. Our spirit is an initiator and our soul is a projector—it projects out. What is in spirit that comes to soul is then projected out by the soul. The womb of our soul goes into labor. What is the labor? The labor is to fill our minds with the truths of the finished work. That is hard and that is a labor because your old heavens must pass away with a fervent heat and a loud noise. Why? Because it is easier to think we are something that we are not than to think that we are something that the word declares we are.
Continuing in 2 Corinthians 3:14-16:
But their minds were blinded: for until this day remaineth the same vail untaken away in the reading of the old testament; which vail is done away in Christ. But even unto this day, when Moses is read, the vail is upon their heart. Nevertheless when it shall turn to the Lord, the vail shall be taken away.
Of course that does not mean that we are not to read the Old Testament. Paul said the veil is done away in Christ, who is the New Covenant. Paul understood that he was writing this to them, but for us (1 Corinthians 10:11, Hebrews 11:39-40). He was simply saying that we have read the New Testament with an Old Testament mentality. We see the God of the New Testament the same way we see the God of the Old Testament. You may be thinking, “Isn’t he the same God?” Yes he is, but he deals differently. He dealt with them in a different way under the Old Covenant because they were not born again. Now, in the New Covenant, God deals with us from the mercy seat. Also, there is a difference between the Old Testament and the Old Covenant. Today we are to read the Old Testament with the mentality of the New Covenant. So, the veil is untaken away in our minds, in the reading of the Old Testament; which veil is done away in Christ. Through the death of Jesus Christ, the veil has been done away, but now it has to be taken away and that is the key to having the revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ that the book of Revelation talks about. That is the key for the unveiling of the Christ in us.
Let me say that there are people that have been prayed for and have been healed that were not even born again. There are born again and spirit filled people who have been prayed for and have been healed. But I am not talking about that. I’m talking about something greater than an in-part manifestation. I’m talking about something greater than being healed from cancer and ten years later you have it again. I’m talking about receiving all of God, being made whole, God himself filling us in spirit, soul and body. I’m talking about the fullness, something that will never fade away, will never pass away, and will never be corrupted. I’m talking about Christ.
There is no veil in the New Testament except the veil that is over our mind. The primary work of the Holy Spirit is to remove the veil that is over our mind, to remove the veil that has been done away but is untaken away. How? John 16 says the Holy Spirit will not speak of himself, but he is going to glorify the Son. If he glorifies the Son, he’s going to be speaking of and showing us the person and the work of Christ. If the Bible is an autobiography about Jesus, and it is, it is going to show us his person and his work. The work of the Holy Spirit is to remove the veil that is still there in our minds by teaching us about the person and the work of Christ and our identification with him. It will be removed when we walk up to the veil or the curtain that is called “the hanging.” When we see that the veil was rent through his death, we see that his hanging was our hanging. We won’t be like Judas and kiss the master, and then go out and hang ourselves. If Judas had waited just three more hours, he could have let Jesus’ hanging be his hanging. But he went out and hung himself and threw down thirty (the number of maturity) pieces if silver (redemption) in the temple (which we are).
View The Finished Work
This is so prevalent in the Church today. We worship the Lord and walk out the door saying “What can I do to become more righteous?” There’s nothing you can do. There is nothing you can do to become more righteous. You cannot add one cubit to your stature. What we have to do is walk up to the hanging and see that his hanging was our hanging as we see in Exodus chapter 40:33-34:
And he reared up the court round about the tabernacle and the altar, and set up the hanging of the court gate. So Moses finished the work. Then a cloud covered the tent of the congregation, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle (emphasis added).
What does this tell us in type? It tells us that when we walk up to the hanging and really see the spiritual meaning of the curtain of the tabernacle, that the veil was rent, that his hanging was our hanging, and that Jesus finished the work—then the glory of the Lord will fill the tabernacle. The veil will be taken away by the Holy Spirit revealing to us the treasures hidden in the death of Christ. In this particular passage we read that when they set up the hanging, Moses finished the work. Then a cloud covered the tent of the congregation and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. The veil is going to be taken away as the Holy Spirit reveals that Jesus’ hanging on the cross—his death over 2,000 years ago at Calvary— was our death.
When the tabernacle of Moses was completed, it was filled with God’s glory. When David’s tent was completed, it was filled with God’s glory. Of course there are some other things that went along with that. But if you read about Solomon’s temple, you will see that nothing happened until they put a bullock on the brazen altar and from the Ark of the Covenant in the Most Holy Place came a laser beam of light and supernaturally exploded that bullock on the brazen altar. At that moment, people fell down and worshipped the Lord for the first time. Then the glory of God filled the Most Holy Place. Jesus finished the work! When a people come to realize the work is completed, we will experience the fullness of God’s glory filling his temple—and it will not be as a temporary visitation, but an eternal habitation.
The book of Revelation tells us what happens in the lives of people whenever they come to understand that his hanging was their hanging. In the Old Testament, we can see prophetic pictures of the death, burial, and resurrection. In the gospels, we find the historical surroundings of the death, burial, and resurrection. In Acts we see it proclaimed and declared, but Paul the apostle, in the epistles, is the only man that really explained it. All of the other writers took what Paul said to explain the death, burial, and the resurrection. Then the book of Revelation shows us the product that is coming forth out of a people that understand the death, burial, and resurrection.
So, the book of Revelation is a book that reveals what Jesus accomplished at the cross of Calvary. The book of Revelation is one of the most glorious books in that it gives us the conclusion of every Old Testament picture. One can teach every book of the Old Testament by teaching Revelation.
The Testimony Of Jesus—The Spirit Of Prophecy
Scholars argue that the only problem with spiritualizing the book of Revelation is that it takes away from the true prophetic nature of the book, because they say that all of these things are going to happen in the future. Some believe that there are things that are prophesied, like a future seven year tribulation, a literal temple in the Middle East, devastation, famine, pestilence, tumult, torture, and woe—and all of that has scared people to death. Some believe that if you spiritualize the book, you are taking away from the prophetic nature.
How can revealing Jesus take away from the prophetic nature when the spirit of prophecy is the testimony of Jesus? Let’s look at Revelation 19:10:
And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, See thou do it not! I am thy fellow servant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus. worship God; for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.
There is no way that spiritualizing the book of Revelation can take away from the prophetic nature of this book, because the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. If you’re going to be involved in a true prophetic spirit of prophecy, it’s going to talk about Jesus. The spirit of prophecy will bear witness to the person and the work of Christ. It will always lift up Jesus as he said, “In the volume of the book, it is written of me.” Everything from cover to cover is about him. Yes, it is about us too, but primarily it is about the head. Look at 2 Peter 1:19:
We have also a more sure word of prophecy, unto which ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts;
What is a more sure word of prophecy? You will have a more sure word of prophecy, a more solid understanding of the word of God, when you understand that the spirit of prophecy is the testimony of Jesus. When you understand that from cover to cover, the Bible is simply about Jesus and the work of Christ and that no matter what book you’re studying, whether it is Exodus, Ruth, Nehemiah, or Esther (where the name of the Lord is written in acrostic five times throughout the book)—every book points to something that relates to the person and the work of Christ, then you have a more sure word of prophecy. You’re going to have a more sure word of prophecy when you understand that the book of Revelation is not about Scud missiles. You’re going to have a more sure word of prophecy when you understand that the book of Revelation is not about a battle of Armageddon, or locusts, or bugs as big as Volkswagens. You’re going to have a more sure word of prophecy when you understand that the book of Revelation is simply about the revelation of Jesus Christ and it is God removing a veil in our minds to cause him to be unveiled and uncovered so the world can see.
Written To Bondservants
Continuing with Revelation 1:1:
The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to show unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant, John,
Look at the words servants and servant. The word servants or servant in this passage means “bondservant.” It would be an interesting study to see how many times the word bondservant is used in the book of Revelation. A bondservant is not a nominal, status-quo Christian. Not everyone in the body is a bride. Many in the body want to see how close they can live to the edge, how much sin they can be involved in and still be saved or still get by, but a bride is one that wants intimacy. A bondservant is one that loves his master. He is one that, even though he has fulfilled his time with his master, he doesn’t want to live “footloose and fancy-free,” but he wants to become a love slave, a bondservant, because he loves his master and he loves his family so much that he wants to keep on serving even though he is free to go. It will affect your family when you become a bondslave and have your ear nailed to the door with an awl. Look at Exodus 21:5-6
And if the servant shall plainly say, I love my master, my wife, and my children, I will not go out free; then his master shall bring him unto the judges. He shall also bring him to the door, or unto the door post; and his master shall bore his ear through with an awl, and he shall serve him forever.
When we have our ear nailed to the door, we do not want to hear anything except the person and the work of Christ. When our ear is nailed to the door we do not want to hear any message unless it glorifies the Lord. We do not want to hear anything that would not lift Jesus up, and when he is lifted up, he is lifted up within us. That is all we want to see, that is all we want to hear, because when we see him as he is, we’re going to be like him!
The book of Revelation is written for bondservants. Some may say, “I thought it was written for the whole body.” Yes, it is written for the whole body, but specifically it is written for bondservants. If you are one in the body of Christ who is just satisfied with being born again and Spirit-filled, waiting for the rapture to take place so you can be snatched out of here, you’re going to interpret this according to Scud missiles and locusts and a seven year tribulation and a battle of Armageddon. But if you have your ear nailed to the door, you are going to hear this spiritually.
Jesus—The New Beginning
Eight times (the number of new beginnings) we see in the book of Revelation “He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.” Everyone has an ear, so this must be talking about a specific group of people. Let me paraphrase it: “He that hath an ear nailed to the door is going to hear what the Spirit saith, (not “said” or “going to say,” but “saith,” present tense, present truth) to the Church. Unless your ear is nailed to the door, you’re not going to have a new beginning. If you want your ear nailed to the door, you’re going to have a new beginning. Do you want a new beginning? Continue to eat lamb, continue to eat the bread and drink the wine, the broken body and shed blood, and your ear is going to be nailed to the door. All the way through this study, your ear will be continually nailed to the door.
John 10:9 tells us who the door is. Jesus is the door. If we will keep our ear nailed to the door, tuned in to him, then we are going to hear these things and there is going to be an unveiling. This book is about him. It is about him and it is about nothing else.
John—“God Is Good”
What a great choice the Holy Spirit made when he chose John to write this book. “John” means “Jehovah favored” or “God is good.” John was the one that laid his head on the bosom of Jesus. He had his ear nailed to the door. He heard his heartbeat. He heard his heartthrob. He could feel his feelings because his ear was nailed to the door, and he had the revelation of Jesus Christ. On the isle of Patmos, John received the revelation of just how good God really is.
The only difference in the book of Revelation and the revelation that Paul received is that the book of Revelation is written in spiritual symbology and Paul’s was written in a language that was easier to understand. The book of Revelation was written in a code and you can only understand the code by the Spirit. It is exactly the same revelation that Paul the apostle received when he received his gospel. Paul called it “my gospel” which is the death, burial, and the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
In Revelation 1:1, notice the phrase “… things which must shortly come to pass …” If it was to shortly come to pass then, it is at hand now. This is not just a futuristic book, but it is something that is present right now, as it says in Revelation 1:4, “Him who is and who was, and who is to come.” We can take our past and our future and bring it into the now.
Full Throttle
The last phrase we read in Revelation 1:3 is, “For the time is at hand.” The Greek actually says, “For the time is in your hand.” If you study the word “hand,” you will find that it means “throttle” or “to squeeze.” So it is saying that the time is in your hand and the throttle is in your hand—which means we can hasten the coming of the Day of the Lord, the unveiling, the appearing of the Day of the Lord in our lives just as fast as we can labor to enter into rest.
Written By Sign And Symbol
Let’s finish part b of Revelation 1:1: “And he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant, John.” The word “signified” is very interesting. It is #4591 in the Strong’s Concordance and it means “to give a sign or to indicate by sign and symbol.” For example, if you were driving down the road with kids in the back seat and they saw a McDonald’s sign, you would not stop at the sign to get them a happy meal. You would go where the sign points to and get them a happy meal. A sign points to something else.
The book of Revelation is written by sign and symbol. For example, the pale horse in Revelation 6 according to the Greek, is a green horse. We’ve never seen a living, breathing, naturally occurring green horse, so it points to something else. A sign is not something that we center up around, but we center up around that to which it points. It is symbolic. We could break that word down to sign-if-ied—a sign that points to something else. We have to understand the code; we have to understand the symbology to understand the book of Revelation.
There are three things that are important to understand. First, we need to understand that this book is about Jesus. It is the revelation of Jesus Christ. Secondly, it is for a people that have their ear nailed to the door—bondservants. Thirdly, he tells us that he sent and signified it, meaning that it is written in sign and symbol. When we get into this book and see all kinds of pictures and icons, we must understand what they represent. They do not represent anything in the natural, or the literal. They represent something spiritual.
Let me give you the law of hermeneutics: If you interpret a set of scriptures, you must remain consistent with your law of interpretation. For example, when we see the word “Lamb” in the book of Revelation, we do not think of a barnyard creature that bleats, we think of the Lord Jesus Christ. Why then, when we read Revelation, do we spiritualize the Lamb, but when we come to the temple, we are pouring concrete over in the Middle East? Why do we believe that the trumpet is a literal horn that an angel is going to blow and Christians all over the world are going to hear it? For that to literally happen, the trumpet would have to be the size of Mars. A trumpet blast of that magnitude would not rapture you; it would shatter you and everything around you into oblivion. The law of hermeneutics does not allow us t spiritualize one thing and then literalize something else. Jesus had something to say about man’s doctrine called a literal, physical rapture, a literal, physical catching away, and we can find it in our Lord’s prayer in John 17:15 (Amplified Bible):
I do not ask that You will take them out of the world, but that You will keep and protect them from the evil one.
This is the prayer Jesus prayed. If we are praying any other prayer, we are not praying with Jesus, we are praying against Jesus. The issue is not whether there is a catching away, a rapture. Certainly there is a rapture. Paul experienced it, Philip experienced it, and John experienced it on the isle of Patmos. And all three men remained here on planet earth to minister from the realm they had been raptured into. There is definitely a rapture—but not in the way that many in the Church believe.
What amazes me is that people get into the book of Revelation and spiritualize what they understand, but they literalize what they do not understand. I do not say this to disparage anyone. I realize that people do the best they can with what they have and that is the way that most people have been taught to interpret the book of Revelation. They spiritualize the Lamb but they literalize the candlestick, or the temple, or the seals, when these things really have a spiritual meaning. Most people were never given the option to consider that a spiritual book might just have a spiritual meaning! They have never been given the freedom to find out what that spiritual meaning might be! Thank God this is changing. We’re here to proclaim liberty to the captives and the opening of the prison and of the eyes of those who are bound! This is what Paul has to say about it in the Amplified version of Colossians 2:8 and 2:20:
See to it that no one carries you off as spoil or makes you yourselves captive by his so-called philosophy and intellectualism and vain deceit (idle fancies and plain nonsense), following human tradition (men’s ideas of the material rather than the spiritual world), just crude notions following the rudimentary and elemental teachings of the universe and disregarding [the teachings of] Christ (the Messiah).
If then you have died with Christ to material ways of looking at things and have escaped from the world’s crude and elemental notions and teachings of externalism, why do you live as if you still belong to the world? (Emphasis added).
Let The Teacher Do The Teaching
Once we understand the spiritual meaning, it is not hard for us to interpret the word of God correctly. There are some important things I want to show you so that you know why I am interpreting this book the way I am interpreting it, and so that you can interpret it for yourself. Yes, the Bible will interpret itself, but we must have a correct understanding of the Bible to begin with. Anyone can say “We use the Bible to interpret the Bible” but what is their understanding of the Bible? Do you see the Old Testament as prophetic pictures of the death, the burial, and the resurrection? Do you see that there were natural things, like Jesus’ physical coming, that point to spiritual things, like Jesus’ Spiritual coming in and through a people? The natural, literal temple in Jerusalem pointed to the temple which we are. All of that was natural at one time, but it points to something spiritual. I am going to show you how Jesus interpreted the scriptures and was consistent in his law of interpretation, like the law of hermeneutics states. Let’s look at John 2:13-21.
And the Jews’ passover was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem, and found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers of money sitting; And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers’ money, and overthrew the tables; and said unto them that sold doves, “Take these things hence; make not my Father’s house an house of merchandise.” And his disciples remembered that it was written, “The zeal of Thine house hath eaten me up.” Then answered the Jews, and said unto him, What sign showest thou unto us, seeing that thou doest these things? Jesus answered, and said unto them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” Then said the Jews, “Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou rear it up in three days?” But he spoke of the temple of his body.
Jesus was making a transition. He was trying to show them that there is a transition from the Old Covenant into the New Covenant, but the Jews were showing Jesus the beauty of Herod’s temple. Jesus was trying to show them that a New Covenant was standing before them and when it is enacted, God will not dwell in temples made by man’s hands. Jesus said to them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” To which the Jews said, “It took us 46 years to build this temple and you are going to raise it up in three days?” (Isn’t it interesting that the number 46 just happens to be the number of Adam?7) Their carnal mind went right out of the safety zone! They wanted to kill him! They were greatly confused because they thought he was saying something other than what he was saying. They had no idea what he was talking about, because they were thinking in the natural of Herod’s temple and Jesus was thinking spiritually.
He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith. Jesus goes to Church and he sees men promoting their own ministry (selling oxen) instead of God’s ministry of bread and wine. These ministers are exploiting their followers (selling sheep), and saying they have a corner on the market of “spiritual” things (selling doves). It was Passover! The only sacrifice needed is the one Jesus provided with his sinless life. But the Church is still offering their sacrifices of dead works and promoting religion.
Jesus made a scourge of small cords. If you take the word “cords” back to Moses’ tabernacle, you will find that it means “remnant.” With just a hand full of people that speak the truth of the finished work,Jesus is cleansing today’s religious system—utterly destroying it! If Jesus cleansed the temple of Herod’s day with zeal, with how much more zeal is he cleansing the religious system today
He was showing them a transition from the literal interpretation to the spiritual interpretation. He said, “I’m going to go to the cross and I’m taking the first Adam with me and you are going to utterly destroy him when you crucify me!” He that knew no sin, became sin. The temple of the first Adam is the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird. That temple is going to be utterly destroyed! “But in three days, I’m going to arise as the last Adam, the life giving spirit, the true temple of God! And you too can become the temple of God if you’ll just receive my sacrifice!” He said “I’m going to the cross as the first Adam. But I am going to arise as the last Adam, and redeem the whole fallen race!”
All he was trying to do was show them that in the Old Testament, they thought it was about Moses’ tabernacle, they thought it was about David’s tent, they thought it was about Solomon’s temple, they thought it was about Ezekiel’s temple, but these were all just signs pointing to Jesus. In the New Testament, there is a shift. Jesus was establishing his principle of interpretation. He was simply taking a picture in the Old Testament and bringing it out of the realm of enigma and types and shadows and showing the spiritual reality of it all. Jesus is the one who set up this principle of interpretation and we are going to teach it the way Jesus taught it. We are going to take Old Testament pictures and show you spiritual reality.
For instance, just a few years ago some in the Church were so hung up on, “This is the year of Jubilee.” Yes 1998 was the one – hundred – twentieth Jubilee since Adam in Israel. It was the fiftieth year that natural Israel had been a nation. People were all excited about it in the Church, but they were not even teaching it according to the spirit of the word. They were saying, “If you’ll send your money to this ministry, you will have a Jubilee because this is the year of Jubilee.” They had no clue that Jubilee is the sounding of a long, loud blast of a ram’s horn. It is speaking about a death that is going to bring more than a financial blessing or a physical healing; it is going to bring the wholeness of God, the manifestation of God himself. Many are so excited about the taking of a red heifer in Jerusalem and the sacrificing on the Feast of Tabernacles, and the cleansing of the temple sight. They’re so excited about the blood of bulls and goats while the Holy Spirit is saying “What? Know ye not that ye are the temple of the Holy Ghost?”
I thank God for the revelation that the blood of Jesus Christ changes us on the inside. The Old Testament sacrifices could not do that. For example, in the book of Numbers, chapter 19, the red heifer ashes only cleansed the outside of the people who touched death. All of those sacrifices point to the Lamb of God who would become sin to cause us to become a new creature. Therefore, we are the temple of God. It’s not about a temple over in the Middle East. As we get the veil over our minds taken away through understanding what the book of Revelation is all about, great grace is going to appear. We are going to experience an unveiling like we have never experienced before and it is going to bring a greater manifestation of joy and love and patience and faith.
You can tell people “love your neighbor” and people can act like they love their neighbor. And they can come in and hug you on the neck while they are thinking “I hope you break your leg when you walk out that door.” You cannot teach people to love their neighbor. They have to be in union with the Christ. They have to have something take place in their minds in order to uncover Christ so that love can flow out and manifest. We must experience the revelation of Jesus Christ. The revelation of the death, the burial, and the resurrection must be realized. The Feast of Tabernacles is a second look at Passover and you are going to see it all the way through the word of God.
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