Come Follow Me LDS- Revelation 1-11 Part 1, New Testament

'Stars & Candlesticks'

-  The Book of Revelation is to be read as a vision or dream

-  It is in a Temple of Solomon setting

-  It is to be understood in context with other visions

 

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all right in this episode we are going

to get into the book of Revelation this

is a book that is a little bit

confounding to many it is written in a

very different fashion than the rest of

the New Testament and so a lot of people

don't really bother much with it other

than maybe a verse here and a verse they

are a couple of scriptural references

but really the book is fascinating and

in fact Joseph Smith had said that it's

one of the actually one of the most

simple books to read I'm not sure what

he's getting at with that honestly but

it is packed full of information and

references and of symbolism and so it's

written in a sense it's written it's

given its name the book of Revelation

because in Greek it's the

Anglicized version is apocalypse so when

we talk about something that is

apocalyptic or we're talking about the

apocalypse oftentimes we're referring to

events in the book but not the actual

name of the book the actual name of the

book is revelation

that's what apocalypse means so

something that is an apocalypse is a

revelation of the mysteries of the

kingdom it's a revelation usually a

theophany

means that it's a vision of God and so

when we say the apocalypse were

referring to the events in the book not

to the name of the book and so

apocalyptic or the apocalypse has kind

of usurp our idea today of that has

kind of a usurped what the real meaning

of that is which is revelation also

again as I brought up previously think

about the term revelation and what that

really means it means to reveal means to

open up the veil re veil right it's

opening up the veil the covering the

firmament to the heavens and that's

what these kind of books are about

they're about a vision and so again if

you are reading something

that is an apocalyptic literature

meaning a revelatory literature a vision

you need to read it differently it is

there there's beasts in here strange

beasts their strange symbolism and

objects and so you need to read this as

if it is more like a dream and more like

you know it's a vision right it's you

don't look at it scientifically that's

not how it works there are other visions

throughout the scriptures not many but

there are many are there are several

other visions that you can read from one

of them by the way is the creation story

and the vision of the car the Garden of

Eden

those are visions if you look carefully

in the book of Moses and in the Book of

Abraham and then of course in Genesis

which is from Moses those stories

of the creation and the Garden of Eden

are when Abraham and Moses are receiving

a vision and so those are other things

that you need to look at very

differently the other two that are

really interesting to go to and in

reference back to well let's say the

other three that are interesting to

reverent reference back to from the book

of Revelation is Ezekiel who is a later

contemporary of Lehi Daniel a also a

contemporary of Lehi and Isaiah they

have visions you might not look at them

at visions all the time but they are

visions and they are focused on the

temple the book of Revelation is no

different so we're going to read through

out here a lot of symbolism a lot of

temple imagery and drama and that will

kind of unlock the keys a little bit

unlock the doors for us give us the keys

to understanding a little bit more about

the symbolism a little bit more about

the symbolism we're not going to have

the time to go into a lot of the meaning

and I'm no expert on the book of

halation but we're not gonna really have

the time to go into some of the meanings

on all of these in a come follow me

series maybe I'll do a separate podcast

on this but we will learn a few things

here and maybe make the book a little

less intimidating to go through if we

understand again

number one it's think of it as a dream

and number two think of a temple setting

those are the keys to understanding this

book now early on with this book the

book of Revelation yeah the book the

name of the book by the way is an

incipit what that means is they're

taking the first word in the book that's

what the Jews do for the first five the

five books of Moses each of those books

in the in Hebrew are the first word in

each of those books it's the same thing

with this it's a part of the apocalypse

is the first word in the book being that

it's the revelation of John based on

Joseph Smith what he says shows us Smith

and the Book of Mormon conclude that

this book is written by the evangelist

John who is the author of the fourth

gospel and likely or possibly the author

of the three epistles of first second

and third John that we just recently

went through now

biblical scholars today would probably

lean a little bit more the majority a

little bit more toward this not being

the evangelists John the Evangelist but

the Book of Mormon says it is and the

D&C Joseph Smith's as it is so we're

going to make the assumption then that

this is John the Evangelist and this

would have been written there's a couple

of different time periods and this is

important a couple of different time

periods that are considered likely for

this one is in the 60s ad and one is in

the 90s ad for me I would lean much more

toward the 60s ad right earlier on it's

more than likely that this was written

early on in fact was written well

well before the Gospel of John and if

you kind of look at the gospel a little

bit and you look at some of the

references you can see okay well maybe

he's already had this vision of

these things he's seen some of these

things and he probably writes the Gospel

of John much much later

in the first century AD to make sure

that the testimony of Jesus Christ as

the Son of God is put into the Bible

because there's been a lot of factions

that have started to lose the doctrine

of Christ and he wanted to reset that

but because of the authorship question

on this and because of the really the

bizarre writing seems bizarre in it the

writing of it a lot of the early

Christian fathers didn't even accept

this as part of the Canon when they

started to put together the different

books and that's probably because it

probably was not written late in the 90s

that's probably why it ends up at the

very end of the New Testament remember

that if John writes his gospel much

later

the book of Revelation would have been

much earlier on later somewhere after

the Pauline letters probably and just

like with the Pauline letters there was

a question about the book of Hebrews

well they ended up putting the book of

Hebrews at the very end of that section

of the Pauline letters the book of

Revelation is very similar to that and

with the Protestants when the

Reformation came about Martin Luther at

first said it was not prophecy and

should not be canonized he started later

in his life to make some changes on that

and started to even make references to

it and be much more accepting of it but

originally it was like no and it's very

similar to the Book of Enoch as we just

went over which is written very

differently and it also seems bizarre

and it has beasts and animals and other

things in it and it's very temple

centered so if you don't understand the

mysteries of the temple and you don't

understand this temple imagery and draw

it's gonna seem very very foreign to you

and if it seems foreign to you how do

you feel the spirit with it how does it

apply to your life but an understanding

of the temple and an understanding of

this being a vision can make a big

difference in feeling the spirit

with this book Joseph Smith delved

into this book quite a bit so let's

start off here with chapter 1 verse 1

here's what we get we get the revelation

of Jesus Christ

now Joseph Smith inserts here it is the

revelation of John a servant of God

which was given unto him of Jesus Christ

so he makes that change in that

distinction 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 okay so

here's the opening of what's gonna

happen with this vision that is kind of

conducted right navigated by an angel we

see that often times in other visions

with Nephi for example right the same

thing happened with Abraham where these

visionary navigators so to speak come

and kind of guide them through what does

this mean and giving answers and

navigating them through these visions

and it says it will they're going to

show us what must shortly come to pass

this has a prophetic message for those

in John's time period but it also has a

message for us in our time period in the

latter days so many of the Protestants

the Catholics and some of the Eastern

Orthodox churches also have that same

idea that these are there is a dualism

to this message and some believe that

all of it applies to both periods of

time some of them believe that it's a

partially of the time of John in other

parts and chapters apply to us later in

these days

and so then lower down here in verse

four we get an idea of who this message

is to and so John is receiving it he's

got a navigator an angelic navigator and

it's going to go to these seven churches

so to speak what is interesting is that

you see the same thing in the land of

Nephi

you'll see seven different areas or

these churches that are in the land of

Zarahemla there's something to that the

number seven there where perhaps they're

talking about the perfection of the of

the church or maybe they're talking

about the completeness or all of the

church in that sense but we get specific

areas here in this vision of these

several different churches these seven

different churches in Asia Minor in

Turkey and Joseph Smith adds that this

letter is to the servants of each of

these churches so in verse 4 it says

John to the seven churches Joseph Smith

says to the seven servants of the seven

churches which are in Asia and then it

says that this message is from also from

Lord Jesus Christ but also from the

seven spirits which are before his

throne this immediately puts us into a

temple setting when you talk about the

throne of God even though this is in a

vision this is a temple setting he's

there's going to be references to the

temple throne of God is in the Holy of

Holies and down in verse six and Jesus

Christ hath made us kings and priests

that's temple drama right he's made us

kings and priests unto God and his

father this is very different from what

the Jews had believed right the Jews had

the Levites the Levitical line and the

priests would be under Aaron who was a

Levite so if you were under that you

were part of the priesthood but here

John is saying who was a priest by the

way John is saying he has made us as

members of the church

made us kings and priests and queens and

priestesses undo God and his father so

again more temple imagery here and then

Joseph Smith adds this again I'm going

to go through a lot of these temple

references in verse 7 it says behold he

cometh with clouds when we speak of the

clouds the one of the ways that we can

think about that in the temple of

Solomon is that is his glory and the

glory of God and prayers are represented

by the frankincense and by the mist or

the thus the smoke that would go up

it also was the same thing from the

sacrifices the animal sacrifices as the

smoke went up as the burnt offerings

were burnt it was such sacrifice it was

going up to God same with the

frankincense that was in the sensors

that would be the prayers that would be

going up to God and in the Holy of

Holies as those things were burned it

would fill the room right and so that

would be kind of like the glory of God

and Joseph Smith adds that he was with

tens of thousands of his Saints in the

kingdom clothed with the glory of his

father definitely temple imagery and

then we get a Melchizedek Priesthood

reference in or later here in 7 and

every eye shall see him and they also

which pierced him right those that put

him up on the cross and all Kindred's of

the earth shall wail because of him even

so amen so this is like the Gentiles

right whenever we go beyond Israel we

talked about the Isles of the sea and

everybody else we're talking about the

Gentiles and when we do that we move

into a Melchizedek Priesthood reference

so all of this again it's about the

temple it's about Melchizedek it's about

the Melchizedek Priesthood and the

ordinances of the temple in 8 he says I

am Alpha and Omega the beginning and the

ending right so Alpha and Omega

are the first and last letters of the

alphabet of the Greek alphabet in Hebrew

they would say Aleph Aleph and Tov which

would be the first and last letters in

Hebrew and in verse 10 he says I was in

the spirit this is John on the Lord's

Day and heard him and heard behind me a

great voice as of a trumpet this is

still part of the temple saying I am

Alpha and Omega the first and the last

and what thou seest write in a book now

in the Book of Mormon me Phi is getting

an angelic navigation so to speak of his

own and he sees what happens to his

descendants he sees the condescension of

God which is Jesus Christ being born of

Mary and Jesus Christ life and the

sacrifice and atonement and he starts

talking about things are gonna happen in

the future and he's told I'm going to

show you more by the angel but you

cannot record any of this or you cannot

speak of this you can't write it down

that is left for John right so Nephi

writing this is writing this about 600

years earlier or more and this is left

for him to write so he's supposed to

write this in a book he's supposed to

write this so this is an important book

we're giving information about this book

in the Doctrine and Covenants and in the

Book of Mormon and of course here it is

here in the New Testament and it says

send it unto the seven churches the book

which are in Asia and then in verse 12

he says and I turned to see the voice

that spake with me and being turned I

saw seven golden candlesticks we would

think here of a menorah the menorahs had

seven lamps seven candlesticks that were

on them except for the menorah that is

used with Hanukkah but the menorah in

the temple at least the one that was in

front of the veil in

holy place had seven lamps on it and he

says in 13 and in the midst of the seven

candlesticks one like unto the Son of

Man when we see that like unto that's

very common language for a vision

because is he really seeing him or is

this a dream is this a vision that's

playing out in his mind or isn't he in

his body we don't know so he's saying

this is the image at least that I see

this is one like under the son of man

this represents Jesus Christ and it says

in 15 and his feet like unto fine brass

as if they burned in a furnace there

were stones or charcoals that would have

been burning probably in the Holy of

Holies certainly in front of the veil on

the altar of incense but going into the

Holy of Holies probably also perhaps in

the censors but there may have been

something else there in the Holy of

Holies that was burning different

charcoals or coals and his voice as the

sound of many waters we get this

reference often was there water in the

Holy of Holies it seems like there was

some how that may have gone out to the

cisterns that were out and they're still

out in the Temple Mount area four of

them just like the Garden of Eden and in

17 it says and when I saw him I fell at

his feet as dead and he laid his right

hand upon me saying unto me fear not

I am the first and the last and in

nineteen write the things which thou

hast seen and the things which are and

the things which shall be Hereafter

and we get an interpretation of what

John has seen so far he says the mystery

of the Seven Stars which thou sawest in

my right hand and the Seven golden

candlesticks the seven stars are the

angels of the seven churches

stars wherever we see stars they are

oftentimes used as symbols of angels or

messengers which is what angels mean

and it says and the seven candlesticks

which thou sawest are the seven churches

these seven churches of Asia Minor and

then he's instructed to write certain

things to each of these churches first

he has the instruction to write to the

Church of Ephesus here in Chapter two he

says here in verse two I know thy works

these are the people of a thesis and thy

labor in thy patience and how thou

canst not bear them which are evil and

thou hast tried them we talked about

this were asked in the scriptures we are

asked by the Brethren to try things to

try people even those we hear on them at

the pulpit and prove them we need to do

that to strengthen our testimonies we

need to that's how you gain faith it is

the evidence of things not seen how do

you get the evidence you prove it you

try it you test it he says and thou hast

tried them which say they are apostles

and are not and has found them liars

then he says to the members of a thesis

remember therefore from whence thou art

fallen and repent and do the first works

or else I will come unto thee quickly

and will remove the candlestick out of

his place except thou repent so if the

candlestick then is of what we've seen

so far is the messengers those of the

priesthood the servants of these are

different churches the leaders and he's

going to remove them maybe he's talking

about the leadership maybe he's talking

about the priesthood that is going to be

removed I'll tell you something that's

interesting is that in the time of King

Josiah right before we learn about Lehi

but in that period of time there were

massive referent reformations of the

temple and one of the things they got

rid of at that time the candlestick the

Tree of Life

so to speak something was removed may be

a separate menorah that was taken out

and destroyed kind of interesting to

think about when you've got this threat

here from the Lord saying

you're not being obedient and you don't

repent I'm going to remove this these

servants this priesthood and we've

already had an example of that actually

happening with the specific object that

he's talking about the menorah and then

back to the references of the temple he

says in 7 he that hath an ear let him

hear what the spirit saith unto the

churches

to him that overcometh will I give to

eat of the Tree of Life think of

Lehigh's vision if you overcome the

mists you overcome the waters you

overcome the trail the fiery darts you

end up holding on to the rod of iron all

the way to the Tree of Life and then you

are given to eat of the Tree of Life

another vision simple similar imagery

right about the temple the Lehigh's

vision if you really think about it

Lehigh's vision is about the temple and

then he talks about writing to the

church in Smyrna in verse 8 and then in

10 fear none of those things which thou

shalt suffer behold the devil shall cast

some of you into prison that ye may be

tried so this is allowed look at the

book of Job you have kind of a drama

situation going there in the book of Job

just like we do here where the Lord

allows Satan to try job the Lord allows

Satan to try us that's what mortality is

about and he says be thou faithful unto

death and I will give thee a crown of

life that's temple imagery you'll be put

on the on the throne now he uses the

term devil here now devil is it looks

like Diablo right it's the same word and

Greek it's Diablos what that means is

slanderer right and if you think about

it that title that's one of the tools

that Satan has he is a slanderer he is

going to slander you to yourself he's

going to lower your self-image that's

one of his functions

help you forget that you are a son or

daughter of God that's crucial for his

work secondly he's going to slander you

in front of others think about Lehigh's

vision again here right you're at the

Tree of Life and you're partaking of the

fruit the love of God and what is it

that pulls people away it's very very

effective over at the Great and spacious

building the pride of the world

what are they casting over to those of

the Tree of Life it's shame they're

casting shame and it's very

difficult to resist nobody wants to be

shamed the other word we're gonna get

about the devil the about Satan about

Lucifer and I think it's chapter 12 is

the accuser which is very similar right

this is what he casts at us he's

going to cast accusations accusing us of

what well we'll cover that in a

following episode here on the book of

Revelation and then a letter to be

written to the servants of the church in

Pergamos he says these things saith he

which hath the sharp sword with two

edges of course the sword is the law

it's the word it's the logos and so

being the law it's what is used for

judgment just like the cherubim with a

flaming sword that stands in front of

the tree of life that is judgment it's

justice and in 17 we get some more

temple imagery which is kind of

interesting he that hath an ear let him

hear what the spirit saith unto the

churches

to him that overcometh will I give to

eat of the hidden manna this is like The

Tree of Life remember that the manna was

something that was stored in the Ark of

the Covenant

you had the manna you had the rod of I

Aaron and you had the tablets the second

set of tablets that Moses brought down

from Sinai so those were in the Ark of

the Covenant this is talking about the

temple here I will give you the manna

that is in the Holy of Holies and I will

give him

a white stone and in the stone a new

name written which no man knoweth saving

he that receiveth so more temple imagery

Joseph Smith in Section 77 section 77 is

interesting you'll need to go to that

because in section 77 we get a little

bit of an interpretation of some of the

things in the book of revelation from

Joseph Smith simply done in a question

and answer type of format but if you

look at the date on section 77 it's

early in 1832 and if you go just before

that to section 76 it's just about a

month earlier in early 1832 that Joseph

Smith has the vision of the eternities

of the three kingdoms he has his own big

vision like John is having makes a lot

of sense that once he's had that vision

he then can look back at the book of

Revelation again and have an immense

amount of insight into what John had

seen because these are similar things

section 76 is a temple typesetting and

you should read it that way so he's

going to have even more insight into the

book of Revelation once he's had his

vision as well but in that section 77

where he's answering these questions

he's asked about the white stone and he

says something kind of interesting he

says well the white stone is given to

everybody that goes to the celestial

kingdom and it becomes your own Urim and

Thummim and you'll know about things

from the past and the present and the

future I don't know exactly what that

means it has to do with a new name it's

definitely a temple type of procedure

but it's a it's a pretty interesting

thing that we get a little bit more

context from Joseph Smith on in Section

77 and then to the church in Thyatira

we're told that notwithstanding I have a

few things against thee because thou

sufferest that woman Jezebel it's always

Jezebel it seems to me like Jesus

is more of a title we have Jezebel or

Isabel same thing from the Book of

Mormon we have Jezebel from the northern

kingdom in the Old Testament and here we

have Jezebel again who is always a

seducer and a fornicator usually a

harlot or one that's would seduce

someone at least to worship other gods

so he says because thou sufferest that

woman Jezebel which calleth herself a

prophetess to teach and to seduce my

servants to commit fornication and to

eat things sacrificed unto idols same

thing all right so they're all having

these problems remember they are in a

Greek world in Asia Minor in Turkey

where these things were very common

these four fertility cults were very

common where there would be sacrifices

made to certain gods with goddesses

usually and then there was a cultish

religious type of fornication that would

happen and this is something that

they're trying to get rid of throughout

these portions of the Greek world as

Christianity is moving into all these

places but they've been happening for

centuries and they've converted many

many in the Greek world not just the

Jews in these areas

who knows maybe more of the Greeks than

they do of the Jews and these practices

keep coming in that they've had with

their pagan rites and they're having a

difficult time stamping it out and then

we get more of a an LDS example here

with Joseph Smith in verse 26 he

says and he that overcometh and keepeth

my works we're back to works here right

you can't just have faith over and over

again he's been talking about works are

already in the book of Revelation and

keepeth my works unto the end to him

will I give power over the nation's

Joseph Smith says many kingdoms so I

think what we can see on this again the

things of God are usually natural

consequences well so are the things of

the adversary I suppose but naturally if

we are growing in the gospel

we might be persecuted but we're also

going to ascend more in our capacity to

lead and to manage our lives and to help

those around us and so you start giving

having the ability to have power over

nations so to speak or in the eternities

over kingdoms and in 27 and he shall

rule them with a rod of iron that would

be the law with the Word of God and in

fact in the Joseph Smith translation he

takes out rod of iron here and he puts

the Word of God again a vision here of a

rod of iron which is the Word of God

and Joseph Smith using word of God just

like we get in the Lehigh's vision right

a rod of iron is the Word of God and we

can think of the rod of iron as

something that a king would hold right

like a scepter for judgment and for rule

or we can think of it as something going

along a path just like we might have a

path that would be going up the Temple

Mount to Solomon's Temple where the Tree

of Life is and in 28 and I will give him

the morning star this is a reference

that is used for a king the Davidic

Kings were morning stars

so again temple imagery here being

enthroned in the Holy of Holies and then

we get in chapter 3 here we go to the

church in Sardis and in verse 4 it says

thou hast a few names even in Sardis

which have not defiled their garments

remember for the high priest he had to

wear certain garments on the day of

atonement there would be blood with that

he had to change the garments into a

pure white garment of linen before he

entered into the holy of Holy's so these

are this is temple imagery it's part of

the drama and rituals that they would go

through and they shall walk with me in

white like that like the high priest for

they are worthy and in verse 7 we get

this into the Angel of the Church of

Philadelphia write these things saith he

that is holy he that is true he that

hath the key of David

Davidic king remember royal priesthood

think of Melchizedek Priesthood he that

openeth and no man shutteth and shutteth

and no man openeth so we could think

about for example Nephi in the time of

the drought in the Book of Mormon he's

able to open the heavens and he's able

to close the heavens he's able to he's

told that he can whatever happens for

him on earth is going to happen in

heaven he has the ability to seal and to

unseal as a Melchizedek priest and maybe

beyond that he's been given that ability

as the prophet and he follows that up

here talking about opening and shutting

in verse 8 he says I know thy works

behold I have set before thee an open

door and no man can shut it so he has

opened it think about when he did that

when he dies on the cross he's gone

through Gethsemane and he dies on the

cross what happens to the veil of the

temple it splits open right it's rent

and what does that represent it means

that what Christ has done as he's

opened the way for all of us to go into

the Holy of Holies so he has opened the

door that is a title by the way of gods

that are in the Middle East that he

would have as well which is the opener

of the way and he continues in this

temple imagery and verbiage he says

behold I come quickly hold that fast

which thou hast that no man take thy

crown so if you have that in place don't

falter from there stay with a tree of

life don't get pulled away through

slander and through shame and

accusations him that overcometh will i

make a pillar in the temple of my god in

the temple and then under the church of

the loud DC ends he says down here I

know thy works that thou art neither hot

or cold nor hot I would that words cold

or hot I think that's an interesting

statement that he puts he's like look

you need to be able to make a decision

here that's part of the process you

can't just go along with the flow of

things

you've got to have commitments covenants

right that you can stick to or that you

get rid of you need to make a break from

certain things and he says I'd rather

you were one of the other don't just be

idle and going as dust in the wind but

make a decision obviously he wants us to

make the right decision and stick to our

covenants and then eighteen more temple

imagery he says I counsel thee to buy of

me gold tried in the fire the Holy of

Holies is all layered with gold that

thou mayest be rich and white raiment

that thou mayest be clothed right those

are the robes of the temple and that the

shame of thy nakedness think of the

story of Adam and Eve do not appear so

the nakedness is a symbol of shame right

it's a it's a symbol of I being in a

fallen state and having shame and so the

robes of the temple that he is talking

about here the high priestly robes that

say for example the high priest would

wear are a covering all right in Hebrew

a cap or like Yom Kippur the Day of

Atonement they're a covering for those

that are going to be entering into the

Holy of Holies or working in the name of

the Lord where that shame is removed of

being in a fallen state and the garment

represents the power of God and the

power of the atonement the power of the

priesthood that overcomes any fallen

state or shame of the fallen state that

we get down in 20 behold I stand at the

door and knock If any man hear my voice

and open the door I will come in to him

and will sup with him and he with me

to him that overcometh will I grant to

sit with me in my throne even as I also

overcame at such a crucial important

part he did it too he went through

temptation he had to overcome problems

and adversity just like we do that's to

me that's crucial in understanding the

atonement it's not just a god that is

distant

from emotion right that is that is not

tried himself he's done it he's overcome

everything and he invites us because of

what he's done to sit with him on that

throne to overcome all so everything

we've seen so far here is a

representation of the temple and in

verbiage that gives us the temple and a

vision there are objects that we would

find in the temple that have symbolism

there are words in here that give us an

understanding of a temple drama and of

the rituals that would have taken place

for example in Solomon's Temple if we

can nail that down if we can see those

things in the book of Revelation we get

a much better idea of what's happening

here it's a dream or it's a vision and

it's in a temple setting I'll talk to

you next time