Revelations 1 - The need for visions

VIEW:572 DATA:2021-09-01

When we read the book of Revelations we can observe a large number of representations, which seem very unusual.
We found, stars in the hands, a sword coming out of the mouth, a face like the sun and several representations. But why such things?
The first thing is that if a person writes the future clearly, the people who read it will do everything to change the future.
And in this way the future is changed, and thus the prophecy becomes false. The future is not something that you can do anything that stays the same. Changes in the past affect the future.
But God knows the future, that does not mean that changing something now, does not change the future. It just means that God knows how human beings and nature work.
To explain it better, let's say that a person, who we will call Peter, goes to a city, in a car, let's call this city Jerusalem, he is 60 kilometers away.
At the same time, someone else, let's call him John, leaves another city heading towards Jerusalem, and the distance is also 60 kilometers.
Peter is very agitated, and drives at the speed limit, which is 60 kilometers per hour, so Pedro will arrive in Jerusalem in an hour.
But João is more careful, he usually drives at 50 kilometers per hour, so João would arrive after Pedro.
See if I know the habits of João, and Pedro, I can predict what they will do, and when they will arrive.
Note that I am a mere man, and I can analyze the future, and depending on knowledge, my predictions will be very accurate. Imagine who has all the knowledge.
But imagine that I want João and Pedro to arrive together. So, I tell John that someone very special will be in Jerusalem, and the sooner he arrives, the longer he will be with that person.
Knowing João, he will now try to go at 60 kilometers per hour, and will arrive almost at the same time as Pedro.
So John and Peter arrived in Jerusalem at the same time. See that John is still John, and Pedro is still Peter. Each with their own personalities.
I did not control João, nor did I control Pedro. I just acted on their personalities, so that they acted in a way.
And so God does. We can choose which way to go, but God knows what we like, and what we want.
But then, for what, the representative views?
We calculate the time that John and Peter arrived in Jerusalem, using a mathematical formula. This formula is like a vision, the formula is not a real fact, it is a mathematical representation to understand how the car travels down a street.
The same thing happens for example with the law of gravity, it is a mathematical formula that we can calculate what happens in relation to the planets, the moons, and any object in the universe.
So, too, are visions.
For example, let's try to put into practice what happens in the vision of Revelations 1.
The first thing we can see in the vision is the representation of Jesus Christ. No matter what you are doing in heaven, the vision demonstrates one of the characteristics of Jesus' work in heaven.
Jesus can walk in heaven or converse with heavenly beings. But that does not change the function defined in the vision.
Like a car, it can go from Jerusalem to Bethlehem, from Bethlehem to Capernaum. It doesn't matter, the displacement formula is always the same.
So, now, let's try to understand the vision in practice. For this, we will analyze a person who would be after João. In the case of Paulo, he is an individual who would be on the limit between the vision of João and the action of the Vision.
Jesus through the Word of God, in this case the sword, which makes the heart of man known. He also watches with the light of justice, in which case he watches Paul.
Paul was a man who persecuted Christians. Before being called Paul, he was called Saul, and we can read in the book of Acts 8, 1.
And Saul consented to his death. That day, great persecution arose against the church in Jerusalem; and all but the apostles were dispersed throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria.
Jesus with the sword, and the light, knew the interior of Saul, and came to Saul, we can read this in Acts 9, 4.
And when he fell to the ground, he heard a voice that said to him: Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?
See that Jesus controls the angels, who are the spirits, and thus affects Saul's heart with the truth. And that Saul was chasing, the one he thought he was obeying.
Saul was sincere, but he did not know the true concept of God's love. See that Jesus has control of the lamps, so Jesus has control of the churches.
We are temples of the Holy Spirit, we can read this first to Corinthians 3, 16.
Do you not know that you are a sanctuary of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?
See that in Revelations John falls, and Paul falls, and Jesus has the same function, to say fear not, both for John in the vision and for Paul in real action.
Now, to better understand, let's read a piece of Scripture, Acts 9, from verse 8 through 13.
Then Saul rose from the earth and, opening his eyes, could see nothing. And, leading him by the hand, they took him to Damascus.
He spent three days without seeing, during which he ate and drank nothing.
Now there was a disciple in Damascus named Ananias. The Lord said to him in a vision: Ananias! To which he replied: Here I am, Lord!
Then the Lord commanded him: Get ready, and go to the street called Direita, and, in the house of Judas, look for Saul, nicknamed Tarsus; because he is praying
and he saw a man come in, named Ananias, and lay hands on him, that he might regain his sight.
But Ananias replied, Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much harm he has done to your saints in Jerusalem;
See that again we see that Jesus has control of the lamps, that is, the church. See that here we have the church both as an individual and as a group. Thus, the church can be represented as an individual, and as several people gathered together.
We observe that Jesus has control of the church, defining where it should go, and where it should not go. This whole coordination is seen in the vision of revelations 1.
See that the vision has only the servants of Jesus, in full mission. It is not merely a study, but a system of practice.
Now, we can understand what the vision is for. Every action of Jesus in relation to his church and his angels, are defined in the vision. Whether for Paul, for John, for James, or for anyone, the rule of the vision is the same.
It is like a mathematical formula, in which the car does not matter, nor does it matter the road, the calculation of the displacement is the same.
So, too, it occurs for those who understand the vision. He is able to understand, in practice, the divine action of Jesus towards men. In that case, how you work in your church, whether it be a person or a group of people.
That is why he cites the importance of knowing the book of Revelations of the Apocalypse.
 

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