Chapter 1

UNDERSTANDING THE BOOK OF REVELATION

INTRODUCTION AND FOUNDATION

The Book of Revelation actually begins in Genesis.

Genesis 1:27, "So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them."

This is the beginning of what is being revealed in the Book of Revelation. This is the manifesting that is NOW coming into being. This is the manifesting of God's finished work.

This Book of Revelation can be taught in many ways. It can be taught subject by subject and chapter by chapter. I will, probably use both ways to express my understanding of the Book of Revelation. Some teach Revelation historically, some futuristiccally, there are many ways that it is taught. I have come to understand what the Holy Spirit meant when the bible spoke about not being able to hold all that could have been written. This book, that I am writing, could never hold all truth that has been given.

I, in no way mean to say that only my understanding, of this book, is all there is to be understood. For every understanding that I have, I am sure that many can and will add to it, even more understanding. And every day, more of God's understanding is rising in many of us, and every day, more could and probably will be written by many, and it is welcome.

Most teach this book as a book of fear; but, most of all, the books that I have read, teach this book as the REVEALATION OF JESUS CHRIST. I will not teach this book as the Revealing of Jesus; but, of the revealing of US! Those of us who come to know and manifest our TRUE IDENTITY. Hallelujah!!

Most teach this book as a SEPARATE book from all the other 65 books of the bible; and this book CANNOT be taught, separate from the other 65. This book is a combination of all those 65 books. And this book of Revelation cannot be taught without knowing those other 65 books. From Genesis through Jude, must be understood in order to understand the Book of Revelation.

Most teach this Book of Revelation, with the thought, that this book is about the future. They think that this prophesy is to be fulfilled, in the future. But, 95% of this book is already fulfilled. There is a part of the book that shall be fulfilled or manifested, and is presently being fulfilled or manifested. As we will see as we go through this writing.

I want to lay a foundation for this teaching. And that foundation begins in the Book of Genesis.

Genesis 3:15, " And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel."

Now here, God is speaking to the serpent. "I will put enmity between thee and the woman, between THY seed and HER seed:" The word enmity means; hostility or hatred. This shows me that the serpent HAD A SEED. The seed was present, at that time. And the woman's seed was present, in the mind of God. "and thy shall bruise his heel." THIS IS THE BEGINNING OF THE BOOK OF REVELATION!

From that time on, the Seed begins to come forth.

From Genesis through Malachi, the Seed comes.

From Matthew, through Mark, Luke and John, the Seed dies.

In Acts, the Seed lives.

Throughout the epistles, the Seed speaks.

And in Revelation, the Seed reigns.

So, we must understand that throughout ALL the books, THE SEED IS PRESENT! The Seed is CHRIST. The Seed is NOT JESUS. The Seed is CHRIST!

I want to explain my understanding of this word "Christ". Most think that "Christ" is or was a part of Jesus' name. It is not. Look at the beginning of His ministry. He was called JESUS CHRIST. At the end of His ministry He was called CHRIST JESUS. Why would they change His last name to become His first name? The word "Christ" means anointed or anointing. This tells us that whatever name is used with the word "Christ", is "the anointed of God". EX: Linda Christ, or Linda the anointed of God. But, notice this: Jesus walked out of being under the ANOINTING of God, into becoming THE ANOINTING!! The flesh man, Jesus, came to be a PATTERN for us to follow. This word "anointing", is simply THE VERY LIFE OF GOD.

The little word "of" means, out from within. The anointing or life is OUT FROM WITHIN GOD. It is HIS LIFE. And the flesh man, Jesus, walked out of BEING, Jesus the anointed of God, to become the Anointing, Himself. God's Life. He actually MANIFESTED the Christ, or the Life of God. As we go thorugh all the books of the bible, we see the Christ (or the Life of God) manifesting! Hallelujah! The words Jesus Christ speaks of Jesus' earthly ministry. The words Christ Jesus speaks of His Heavenly or Spiritual ministry. His Heavenly ministry is the position that the Son RETURNED to, which is Fatherhood. While Jesus walked the earth, He was our brother. When He returned to His previous position, from the beginning, He became our Father and NOW we are awakening to the knowing that it is HIS AS US. We are One IN HIM.

John 17: 5, "And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thy own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was."

This word "with" can be interpreted as "IN". As He returned to Fatherhood, we moved into Sonship. But, this was not to be our last step of our journey back to where we were brought forth from, from within God.

When we get to the Book of Revelation 1:1, the Seed is being revealed and manifested.

The word "Revelation" means; to reveal something that is hidden. It also means, to UNCOVER and make clear. I love this word, UNCOVER. Because He is UNCOVERING OUR TRUE IDENTITY, that lies covered by this body of flesh. This body of flesh that we have mistakenly thought WAS our identity is NOT our Identity. But, our True Identity, simply uses this flesh body as a vehicle. The same way, this flesh body uses an automobile as a vehicle. This body is just to show Him, or for Him to be seen in this realm of flesh and the realm of visibility. He that lives in the flesh body. And by giving us understanding of the Book of Revealtion, we see that God intended on revealing US or UNCOVERING US, THE REAL US. The Christ, or God's Life. We are told in many places in the bible, that God planned on revealing everything to us.

Colossians 1:26, "Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but NOW IS MADE MANIFEST to his saints."

1 Corinthians 2:9-10, "But as it is written, eye hath not seen, not ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit; for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God."

Romans 16:25-26, "Now to him that is of power to stablish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began. but NOW IS MADE MANIFEST, and by the scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, made known to all nations for the obedience of faith."

Matthew 13:35, "That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things which have been kept secret from the foundation of the world."

Ephesians 3:8-12, "Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ; and to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ: to the intent that NOW unto the primciipalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God, according to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus, our Lord: in whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him."

1Corinthians 2:7, "But we speak wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory."

This secret that has been hidden since the foundation of the world, IS OUR TRUE IDENTITY. HIM!!

Acts 17:28, "For IN HIM we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, for we are also his offspring."

Now, let me say something here. Don't get too hooked on being God's OFFSPRING. Because as we will see, further on in this writing, WE GO BEYOND being His offspring. And "in Him" does not mean that there is me AND Him, I AM IN HIM; ONE WITH HIM. THIS is our True Identity and what has been hidden, but NOW IS BEING MADE KNOWN TO US.

The church system has taught us many things, in error. But, NOW is the time for His Truth, AND our Truth to be seen. And we will SEE this, in the first chapter and the first verse of the Book of Revelation, when we get to it. IF YOU SEARCH IT OUT, YOU WILL FIND THAT JESUS NEVER TAUGHT SONSHIP!! HE TAUGHT ONLY THE FATHER AND FATHERHOOD.

The Book of Revelation was intended BY GOD, to UNCOVER this truth, for us to understand it. God's intent has been that not one mystery is left unknown, by us. IT IS THE REVELATION OF THE CHRIST. Not the revelation of Jesus. Jesus had already been revealed GENERATIONS BEFORE THIS BOOK WAS EVER WRITTEN!!

Think about it, folks.

In the original writing, the words Jesus Christ, is only used one time. Every other place, in this Book of Revelation, that you see the words Jesus Christ , should be omitted. It should read, Christ. And the only place that Jesus Christ is written in the original, is in chapter one and verse one. Because what is being revealed is Christ, Head and Body. And Jesus, as I said before, had already been revealed. John walked with Jesus, so it is not the flesh man Jesus, being revealed.

This Book of Revelation is a book of faith, not fear. It is a book of faith, in so much so, that Jesus said, "Behold". Anytime that you see the word, "behold", it means, take careful notice, I am going to show you something that you have not known, up until now. He is about to reveal something that has not been revealed yet. Why careful notice is needed in this book, is because He is going to reveal something that is hard to believe and it will take faith to believe it.

This Book of Revelation is precious in the heart of God. This book is the only book out of all 66 books, where He says, "Blessed is the man who reads and they that hear the words of this prophecy...and keep" (Rev 1: 3). Reading means, RECEIVING this book. The word "keep" means, to protect. Turn to Revelation 22. I will show you how important and precious this book or prophesy is to God.

Revelation 22: 18-19, "For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book; And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book"

This shows us just how important this book is to God. For instance, if God tells us that we are brought forth out of Him and that we are in His Image; which means, IF He is Spirit Being, then WE are a Spirit Being, and we insist that we are HUMAN, what are we doing? Not only are we taking away from His Word, BUT we are ADDING to it.

We hear a lot of people say, when they talk about this book, The Book of Revelations. It is NOT plural. It is the Book of THE Revelation. All of the whole book is just one Revelation, one prophecy. This is the longest prophecy in the bible.

These are just some of the things that we need to understand about this book:

1. We need to understand that this is NOT the revealing or the uncovering about Jesus. But the Christ. The Christ is a people, not Jesus.

2. God is revealing these things to John. John walked, talked, ate with and loved Jesus, the man. God is NOT revealing that same Jesus to John. He is revealing a people, the Christ, God Himself.

3. There are three people in this book. People who overcome and people who do not overcome, and the unknowing.

4. This revelation is in 3 diminsions. (a) it is GIVEN. VS 1 (b) it was SENT. VS 1 (c) it was signified, OR God ok'd it. VS 1.

5. This revelation is connected with all 65 of the other books of the bible.

6. This revelation is a book of faith.

7. The theme of this book is war. War against the saints; war against God; war against the enemy.

8. The issue of this war is, dominion.

9. This book is about a people who come to know their TRUE IDENTITY.

We need to understand the people that God is speaking of in this book. There are those who are called by His name and are living it. Then, there are those who are His people, but they are blaspheming His name. To blaspheme His name does not mean to take His Word out of context, or to take His name in vain by cussing, it means to be called by His name, but not acting like Him. That is taking the name of the Lord in vain. Blasphemy is DENIAL WHO WE TRUELY ARE. They are acting like the "unsaved" and yet calling themselves by His name. But, God knows that the blasphemy that is taking place leads to something. Idolitry. And this is the life we have been living, by deneying our True Identity. But, as we know, His Plan has been laid, and is finished and ALL will come into HIS KNOWLEDGE of their Identity.

We also, must understand that this book is written in symbolic language. It cannot be understood with the natural mind.

Chapter 1 and verse 20 shows us this. This particular verse IS explained to us, in the same verse, showing us that this book IS written in symbols. But, we must depend on the Holy Spirit to bring forth understanding all through this whole book.

Although the Book of Revelation is clearly stated, a prophecy, we must understand that the symbols used in the writing, is written in the time period of of its own day. The date of the writing of the Book of Revelation was 66AD. So, it was in the background of that time.

Prophecy is often given to show something of the future, but written in terms of the present time it actually was written in. A lot of people don't understand that IF you study the culture of a time, and cultural beliefs, and the way things were worded in that particular time period, MUCH will be seen differently, than they way we see things today.

We must understand that John did see the things that he wrote of. But, he did not know what these things were, so he had to interpret the things that he saw, in the knowledge of the things he did know and tell in the knowledge of HIS DAY.

Before, we get into the Book of Revelation, let's look at some truths about John. John, truely had an out of body experience, which the bible will show us this. So, be open minded. Don't put God and His Word in a box, that He is just now coming out of. Remember when we use to be warned by our church leaders; "Don't read this, don't read that, it is of the devil. Don't fellowship with these people, or those people, they are New Agers. If you read this or that, you will be taken into darkness." Do you remember that? Well, I am here to tell you, that GOD IS ALL IN ALL. IF your dependance is in Him, you cannot get into anything that He isn't a part of. So, just stay open minded. So, let's look at some facts about John, the teller of the prophecy that we will be going through.

Reveleation 1:9-10, "I John, who also am your brother, and companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Christ, was in the isle that is called Patmos, for the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ. I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet."

John was a flesh man and had been banished to the Isle of Patmos. Solid ground, a dry and barren place. John was banished to this Isle because of his following Jesus and for his testimony of Jesus. John was known as the "beloved" of Jesus. John walked with Jesus, ministered with Jesus. John was very close to Jesus. He knew Jesus probably better than any of the disciples. And now, here in the Book of Revelation, he is telling us that us that he is testifying of that flesh man, Jesus. Now, this tells us, or it should tell us, that John IS NOT revealing the man, Jesus, here in this book. Jesus had already been revealed long before John wrote this prophecy. Remember John saw Jesus transfigured, upon the Mount. John knew Jesus, John experienced Jesus and John walked, talked, ate, travelled, and saw Jesus revealed. So, there is no way, that John was being shown in this Revelation, the man John at walked with. John was being given a revealtion to another Person. (as we will see)

We see where it says, "I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day...". In the original writing, this is worded differently. It reads, "I BECAME in the Spirit." His flesh body was on the Isle of Patmos, but he "became in the Spirit." Notice, it doesn't say that John fell asleep, or had a vision, he became in the spirit.

We are Spirit Beings, because we are in the image of God, and so was/is John. What is so surprising about a Spirit Being, being found in the Spirit realm? We do not leave the earth to be in the Spirit. To be in the Spirit is a state of being. As we all know, we can so easily find ourselves in His Presence one minute, and the next minute be thinking with the carnal mind. We need to get rid of all this "religious" thinking about being in the Spirit.

Let's look at another scripture that shows us the same thing.

Revelation 22:8-9, "And I John saw these things, and heard them. (now remember that John was physically on earth, on the Isle of Patmos) And when I had heard and seen, I FELL DOWN TO WORSHIP BEFORE THE FEET OF THE ANGEL which shewed me these things. Then said he to me, See thou do it not (don't worship me): FOR I AM THY FELLOW SERVANT, AND OF THY BRETHREN THE PROPHETS, AND OF THEM WHICH KEEP THE SAYING OF THIS BOOK; ......WORSHIP GOD."

Now, who was telling this to John? A brother; a fellow servant of God; one of them that keeps (protects) the saying of this book. Was this brother on the Isle of Patmos? No. He was a brother that was in the invisible realm, or what is known as the realm of the Spirit. All of this WAS NOT happening in John's mind; John was in the invisible realm. Just as was Paul, when he told us that he had been in the third heaven. After all, John and Paul (and you and I) are Spirit Beings. What makes it so hard for anyone to believe that we can step out of the flesh body and enter into the realm that we came from? We ARE to have dominion over all things; and that includes our flesh bodies. John had an out of body experience, here.

It is my desire to share what I have been given. I pray that our ears and eyes be opened, even more that they have already been opened. I ask that you lay aside what you have been taught, previously, and just remain open to what the Spirit will witness to us. Our God is an ever moving God, and is still awakening us to all that He has given us, for we HAVE RECEIVED HIS FULLNESS, if we will just take hold of that fullness and let it rise from within us.

So, think about these things that have been said, so far, and be open, then go on with the study of the Book of Revelation.

_______________________

Linda Keith

to be continued.

It is understandable for a child to be afraid of the dark; but, why would an adult be afraid of the LIGHT?

Sigler.org/keith

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