Well, we want to say Shabbat Shalom to everyone. God bless you. Welcome to our Shabbat, that is Saturday meeting of the Holy Scriptures and Israel, and we are thankful to be able to study together the Book of Revelation. And it is really a, a blessing to be able to open the Word together and to learn from the Lord Jesus, the Lord Yeshua, our Messiah, this amazing book that is called The Revelation of Jesus Christ, of Yeshua HaMashiach. Hopefully, you have your Bibles with you. We are going to turn to chapter one, reading from verses sixteen to the end of the chapter, verse seventeen, actually, to the end of the chapter, and then we will, continue on and trust the Lord to finish this, chapter, that, this ministry meeting. Let's pray together. Let's ask the Lord to bless us.

So, Abba, our Father, bless your Word, we pray. We give you thanks for the love of God, for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth on him should not perish, but have everlasting life. Bless our time together, we pray in Yeshua's name. Amen, amen. And so, my dear friends and dear brothers and sisters, turn with me to chapter one of the book of Revelation. And I would like to read from verse seventeen to the end of the chapter. And the reason that I want to read from these verses, because in our previous meeting, we haven't concluded the first chapter, and there are very, very important points that are, that we have here in chapter one, the last verses of chapter one of Revelation. And so, we read in verse seventeen.

And when I saw, this is Yohanan ben Zavdai, John from Galilee says, When I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead, and he laid his right hand upon me and said unto me, Fear not, I am the first and the last, I am he that liveth and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And have the keys of hell and death.

Verse nineteen, Write the things which thou had seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter. 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, and the seven candlesticks or lampstands which thou sawest are the seven churches, the seven assemblies, the seven congregations. And I'm stopping here in the reading today, beloved brothers and sisters. If we just refresh our mind in the study of the first chapter of Revelation, we have learned thus far that after we had read about the introduction to the whole book, that was written by Yohanan ben Zavdai at about 95, 96 AD.

After we have the introduction to that book in the first three verses, and we learn that it is the or a revelation of Jesus Christ. It's not a revelation of John the divine, it's not a revelation of anyone else, it's the revelation, one single revelation, and it is an unfolding, a revelation of the person of Yeshua HaMashiach, Jesus the Christ, Jesus the Messiah.

Then we have learned that there is a greetings that John greeted in verses four to eight, the greetings to the seven assemblies, and really the greetings were given by the three persons of the Godhead. And we read in these verses four to eight, John is writing to the seven churches and he's greeting them, from whom he we read, that the greetings are from him which is and which was and which is to come, and from the seven spirits, and from Jesus Christ, in other words, all the three persons of the Godhead is greeting God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit, all the three persons of the Godhead are involved in the greeting, in saying shalom to the local assemblies in Asia Minor. Then we have learned in verses 9 to verse 16, and really 9 to 20 should be, that John saw a vision. That's how the whole book of Revelation is presented before us, that John saw a vision of the Messiah, of Christ, the risen Messiah, the man that lived upon this earth, the man Jesus Yeshua that died, was buried, and rose again, and he's ascended, and he's in glory, he's at the right hand of God, and he sees him as the one that is going to return, and when the Lord Jesus the Messiah will return, he will come to this world as a king who will ultimately rule and judge this world in righteousness.

Of course, we know it today that in the present age, the Lord Jesus the Messiah is the great high priest. He is at the right hand of God the Father interceding in the present day of the church age, interceding on behalf of his people. He is this, a great high priest, the priest that is after the order of Malki-Tzedek. He is at God's right hand, but he is coming again. And when he is coming again, he's going to take the place of a king, the anointed melech, the, the Mashiach, the anointed king. And you remember we read in verse seven, and that's the theme of the whole book of Revelation, verse seven, behold, he cometh.

He cometh with clouds, and every eye shall see him, and they which pierce him, and all the kingdoms of the earth shall wail because of him, even so, amen. He cometh, he cometh, the Messiah that was once rejected, and despite he's coming again. And when he's going to come, He's going to come as King of Kings, Melech HaMelachim and Lord of Lords. And John sees this vision of the glorified Messiah as a coming King, but in a role of one that is judging, not only going to judge the world in a future day, but he's also examining the local churches today. He knows every condition that's existing among his present day people, that is the assemblies. And so we have seen and we have learned in the previous meeting together, verses 9, 10, and 11, we see the setting of that vision.

We see that John was alone on the island of Patmos. John was in the realm of the Spirit on the Lord's day, and we say that the Lord's day apply either to the first day of the week or to the day of the Lord, to the, he is presented as seeing the Tribulation day, the days of the Lord, or specifically in a special, unique day in which he was in the realm of the Spirit, and he heard God speaking to John, writing to, telling him to write and to send these letters, the whole book of Revelation, to the seven churches. You remember we read in verse 11, he said to him, I am the Alpha and Omega, I am the first and the last, what you see, John, write in a book and send it unto the seven churches. The seven churches, these are local assemblies in Asia Minor, and he gives him the name, unto Ephesus, unto Smyrna, unto Pergamos, unto Thyatira, unto Sardis, unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea.

And we realize that these are seven churches. We will speak a little bit more about these seven churches in a moment. So when John is turning in verses 12 to verse 18, when John is turning to see the one that spoke, what does he see? He sees that vision of the glorified Messiah. Notice from verse 12 all the way to really verse 18 is the vision itself. What does he see? He sees seven golden lampstands.

He sees in verse thirteen that the Lord is in the midst of the assembly, in the midst of the seven lampstands, he sees one like unto the Son of Man. We have already learned that this Son of Man, Ben HaAdam in Hebrew, applies to the coming Mashiach from Daniel seven and verse thirteen. One like unto Ben HaAdam, the Son of Man. If you will read the Gospel of Matthew, you will notice how many a time Yeshua, Jesus the Messiah, is called Ben HaAdam, Ben HaAdam, Son of Man, Son of Man, have mercy on me, have mercy on us. He's called the Son of Man.

And we, he said of himself, the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head in the Gospel of Matthew and in chapter eight. And then, beloved brothers and sisters, we read in verse 14, we see him in his the, the, the wisdom represented in verse 14 with his head and his hair. His eyes were as a flame of fire, his feet like brass, his voice as the sound of many waters. In his right hand, he had seven stars, and out of his mouth went a sharp two-edged sword, and his face, his countenance, and that's where we ended in our previous meeting, and his countenance was like the sh, the sun that is shining in his strength. So, beloved brothers and sisters, what we really learn here, the vision itself is presenting before us the person of the glorified Messiah, and he's anticipate his coming as a king, but he is a wise king, an all-seeing king, he's a holy king, his voice is powerful, in his right hand he's holding the seven stars out of his mouth, coming a sharp two-edged sword, his face is shining in his brightness, and he is the one that is presented before us as the risen Messiah, who is ready to come as a king of kings in the role of a judge.

But we didn't finish this, because in the next verses, verses 17, 18, 19, and 20, these last four verses of chapter one are very important. Why? Because look what we saw so far, verses 9, 10, and 11, John heard. Verses 12 to 16, John saw. But now we see in verse 17 and 18 what John is doing. When he saw this vision, what does he do? We read in verse 17, we read in verse 17, and when I saw, notice that? Verse 17, when I saw, just like we read in verse 12, I turned and I saw. John says in verse 17, when I saw, look what happened to John. John fell at his feet as dead.

He fell at his feet as dead. Why? Because he saw that awesome sight, the sight of the, of the coming king and the coming judge that sees through everyone, he knows everything, he's the wisest one, he's a, he's a, a countenance, he's shining, he's, he, in his glory, in his Shekinah glory, he's ready to come, and when John saw that on the island of Patmos, he fell on his face as dead.

It was overwhelming for John. He fell on his face as dead, verse 17, and you notice what happened? We see that the Lord, the glorified Christ, the glorified Messiah, he laid his right hand upon me, John is saying, and he said unto me, don't be afraid, John. I'm the first and I'm the last, verse 17b. He continues that I'm he that liveth and was dead, and behold, I'm alive forevermore, amen, and I have the keys of hell, this is Hades, and death.

So when John was on his face as dead, seeing that great vision of the glorified Christ, the glorified Messiah, he fell on his feet as dead, but immediately, beloved brothers and sisters, the Lord, in the vision, of course, touched John. And as it says here in the end here of verse 17, he laid his right hand upon me and he said unto me, don't be afraid, fear not, I'm the first and the last. This is very interesting. Because the expression the first and the expression the last is an expression that is taken from the Hebrew Scriptures, from the prophet Isaiah, that God said that he is the first and he is the last. He is the eternal one. And here is the Messiah, the glorified Messiah, speaking of himself. And he's saying of himself, don't be afraid, I am the first and I am the last. Just go back to verse 8.

We read already there, I am Alpha and Omega, I am the beginning and the ending. Notice verse 11, I am the Alpha and Omega, I am the first and the last. In other words, what we learn that the Lord Jesus, the Lord Yeshua, the glorified Messiah, whom John sees with his glory, there in a vision, who is a coming king in the role of a judge, he is speaking of himself that he is the first that he is the last. He is the beginning and he is the end. He is the Alpha, he is the Omega. And he continued, notice what to say, to make sure that John understand that he is the one that came once to die and to be buried and to rise again, that he is indeed the one that once came, the Mashiach, and he says to him in verse 18, I'm he that liveth.

And I was dead, John, and behold, I am alive forevermore. You see, the prophets said, Isaiah said, he shall see of the travail of his soul and shall be satisfied. When the Messiah, according to Isaiah, 53 would come and suffer and die, but he will not die and remain in the grave, but he will rise again. David said in Psalm 16, thou shall not leave thine holy one to see corruption.

God promised that he will raise the Mashiach, when the Messiah will come, and therefore the Lord Jesus, the Messiah, who is now John sees in the vision here, the one that like unto the Son of Man, verse 13, he is the one that is the first and the last, He is the one that is alive. And he was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. He's alive. He is alive. To remind you, beloved brothers and sisters, that we read in the Gospel of John in chapter 10, you remember what we read in verse 17 of John chapter 10? Therefore dost my father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again, this commandment have I received of my Abba, of my father.

The Messiah must die, but the Messiah must also rise again. So he said, I am alive, verse 18. I was dead, he said, but behold, I am alive and he is alive forevermore. You see, it's so beautiful to know that we are occupied with a risen but living Savior. The Messiah, Christ, is alive. And he's saying this to John. And notice what he also says in the same verse 18. He says, I have the keys, notice that, the keys of hell and death. Hell has to do with Hades in the Greek. Hades is the place of the departed spirits and souls.

And death has to do with the physical. Body of those who has died. I have the keys of hell and of death. In other words, hell represent the spiritual part of the person, and death represent the physical, the grave. I am the one that have the keys of hell and of death. Now, just let me pause here for a moment and mention something that is very, very important to remind you, if you remember.

When sin came into this world, what happened is that Satan became the one now that has this power that, that we, that people in general fear of death because Satan himself throughout the life of mankind and caused fear because he is the one as he, he influenced Adam to, take of the fruit of the tree, of the, of the tree of the, the fruit of the, of the tree to take it and he led Adam to, to fall into sin. So Satan has, power over mankind. If you just turn with me for a moment to Hebrews chapter two, you see what we read, what the Hebrew writer said in chapter two and verses fourteen and fifteen. Why the Lord Jesus the Messiah had to come down to this world in order to deliver us, to redeem us, because it says in Hebrews chapter 2 and verse 14, For as much then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, in other words, mankind has flesh and blood, he, this is Christ the Messiah, he also himself likewise took part of the same, he became a man, a sinless man.

But why, it says here in verse 14, he likewise took part of the same, that through death he might destroy, listen to this, destroy him that has the power of death, that is the devil. So Satan, the devil, has the power of death over the unbeliever. But the believer now, the Lord Jesus the Messiah came to deliver us from the power of Satan. So we read in verse 15 of Hebrews chapter 12, and to deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. Death became death for mankind brought us into bondage, into bondage. Satan, as it says here, notice that he has a power of death according to Hebrews chapter 2 and verse 14.

To destroy him that, that had the power of death, that is the devil. When the Lord Jesus the Messiah came to this world and he died, he was buried, and he rose again, he destroyed the power of Satan over those that trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ, in the Lord Jesus the Messiah. He delivered us, notice that, he says in verse 15, he delivered us, then through fear of death, brothers and sisters, listen to this. The unbeliever, and you and I, before we were, we became believers, redeemed and saved, we had the fear of death. What is happening after death? Are we going to be in a good place, in a bad place? Where will we spend eternity?

And this is exactly what happened in the life of all those who don't believe God, who reject God, who reject God's word, they don't know. Some say, well, we are going six feet under the ground and that's it, annihilation. But there's always the fear of death. But for the believer, because of the finished work of Christ, the Messiah, death become a servant.

Death become a servant to usher the believer into the presence of the Lord. That's why 2 Corinthians chapter 5 and verse 8 says that the believer is absent from the body and he or she are present for, in the presence of the Lord. This is Fascinating to realize this, beloved brothers and sisters. And so the Hebrew author helped us to understand that now the Lord Jesus the Messiah has full control for the believer. Satan has no more control over the child of God. Why? Because he took, the Lord Jesus that is, took the keys from Satan who caused fear for those who do not belong to the Lord. And so we read in verse 18, I am he that liveth and was dead. He was buried and he rose again. He finished the work of redemption. And I am alive forevermore. And now he's saying to John in Revelation 1 verse 18, I have the keys of hell and I have the keys of death.

I'm in full control. I am the one that in the future day will raise the believers and if you know beloved brothers and sisters at the rapture of the church the dead in Christ the body will rise first. And then the soul and the spirit will be united to the body and there will be a transformation. And the believers both those who died through Jesus and those who remain alive all will change and will be ushered to meet the Lord in the air and so shall we ever be with the Lord. And so he gives John this assurance. I'm the one that is the Alpha and the Omega. I'm the one who is the first and the last. I'm the one that is alive now, and I was dead, and I am alive, notice that, forevermore.

You know, Yeshua, Jesus the Messiah, will never die again. He died once, and by one sacrifice he sanctified all those that believe on him with one sacrifice. It's not like it was in days of old when God gave to our people of Israel in days of old to offer sacrifices morning and evening and daily and weekly and monthly and yearly sacrifices which pointed to the coming of the Mashiach. Once the Messiah Jesus came, he once and for all finished the work of redemption. He was dead and he's alive and he's alive forevermore. Never anymore with the need to repeat what he finished when he died and was buried and rose again once and for all. And how good it is, beloved brothers and sisters, to know that we are now belong to him, to the risen Lord, as John sees it here in verses 17 and 18. Now, the John, the vision he's concluded, John heard, verses 9, 10, and 11, John saw, verses 12 to 16, and John did fall to the ground as dead and received the word of the Lord who said to him, don't be afraid, John.

Now that John was assured by the risen Messiah that he's alive forevermore and that he has the keys of Hades and the keys of death, then in verse 19 and 20, we have, instruction and interpretation of the first two symbols that are found in the book of Revelation. You will notice that the book of Revelation has many, many symbols.

But all the symbols that were given in the Book of Revelation are symbols that can be explained by the Book of Revelation itself and also by the Lord as He present the symbol and give the interpretation, we can have it in the in the Book of Revelation and when we look at the Hebrew Scripture we can see that many of the symbols that we have in the Book of Revelation were already given to Israel and in days of old in the Word of God. And so notice what the Lord is saying to John in the last two verses of this first chapter. First of all notice verse 19, very important verse, because in verse 19 The glorified Messiah gives John the division of the whole Book of Revelation.

If you want to know how the Book of Revelation is divided and the section in it's divided, well, the Lord himself gives John the division of the Book of Revelation. It says in verse 19, Write the things which thou, number one, has seen, and the things, number two, which are, and the, the things, number three, which shall be hereafter.

Notice that, beloved brothers and sisters? The division of the whole Book of Revelation is given to us here in, Revelation 1 and verse 19. Write, John, I want you to write, because he was going to write this to the seven local assembly in Asia Minor. Write the things which thou hast seen. And the things which are, and the things which shall be later on, hereafter, later on, in the future day.

So the things which are basically is chapter one. The things which are, what are the things that you have seen? You have seen the risen Messiah ready to return as a king in the role of one that is examining all, he knows all things, he's going to come to judge this world. You remember John, we read in what John saw in Revelation chapter one and verse seven, Behold, he cometh with clouds, and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierce him, and all the kindles of the earth shall wail because of him, even so amen. And then John saw the vision of the glorified Messiah. As we have already read from verse twelve to verse eighteen, he saw that amazing vision. These are the things which are.

Then, I'm sorry, the things which thou hast seen. John already has seen that. And then in verse 19b, and the things which are, and the things which are, has a reference to the next two chapters, chapter two and chapter three, that has to do with the present day age of the church age. The things which are, from Ephesus, from chapter two verse one, to the end of chapter three, all these seven churches, and I'm going to, with the help of the Lord, with the time that we will have, and give you a little bit of introduction to these seven letters, to the seven churches that the Lord is going to write to the seven assemblies in Asia Minor. These are the things, as we have it in verse 19, the things which are. And you and I are still in the present day church age. We are still not in the eternal order, we are not in the Messianic kingdom, and we will not be here for the tribulation period, and the things which are has to do with the church age, from Acts chapter 2 until the rapture of the church that will take place before the seven years tribulation that will come upon the face of this world.

And thirdly, notice that in, in verse 19, and the things which shall be hereafter, this is from chapter 4, once the church will be taken from here, all the way to the remaining chapters at the end of chapter 22. So, if you want to divide, if you want to understand the division of the book of Revelation, which the Lord Jesus the Messiah said to John to place it in such a way, write the things which you have seen, John, write the things which are, John, write the things which shall be hereafter.

The things which you have seen is the vision of the glorified Messiah. The things which are at the present day age of the church age, from, from chapter two of Acts to the rapture of the church, and the things that shall be hereafter is once the church will be taken out of here, we will have the days of the tribulation, the messianic kingdom, and ultimately the eternal order. Now, notice that we are going to speak a little bit about that in a few minutes. In verse twenty, we have this final verse of Revelation chapter one, the Lord Jesus the Messiah give Yohanan the interpretation of the two symbols that he gave us here in this first chapter of Revelation. He says in verse twenty, the mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest.

In my right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks, He says the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven candlesticks or lampstands which thou sawest are the seven churches. You notice how the Lord himself gives the interpretation to the very vision that John has seen, the two symbols that existing here in Revelation chapter one. Now, where do we see these two symbols? Well, in verse twelve we read, in the vision itself, I turned to see the voice of the one that spake with me, and being turned I saw, notice what John is seeing, I saw seven golden candlesticks. That's the first symbol. John is looking back, he's looking around at the, see the vision, he sees seven golden lampstands.

That's the first symbol. And then he continued, you notice that as we are reading along here, and now in verse 16, as part of the vision, he saw the one, this is the glorified Messiah, he had in his right hand seven stars. So what we find out that John saw in a vision that he saw seven lampstands and seven stars in the right hand of the one that he saw in that vision of the Son of Man.

Now here's the Lord giving him the interpretation. In verse 20, once again, he says, the mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand, and the seven golden lampstands, or golden candlesticks, he said, here is the interpretation of these two symbols. Number one, the seven stars are the seven angels of the seven churches. And then number two, the seven candlesticks, or the seven lampstands, which you saw are the seven churches. In other words, John was told by the glorified Messiah that the seven lampstands representing seven assemblies, seven local churches in Asia Minor. And the seven stars that John saw in the vision in the right hand of the glorified Messiah, these seven stars are simply seven angels, in Hebrew, malachim, or angelos in the Greek. There are seven angels or seven messengers that are overseeing the seven local churches.

Now this is important to see. Why? Because the stars in the word of God, oftentimes in the word of God, I want you to turn for me, with me for a moment to the book of Job. The word for stars in the Hebrew scripture often time, is applying or speaking of the, of the angels of, of the Lord. You remember in Job chapter 38, we read, let me read you these verses in Job chapter 38 in verses 4, 5, 6, and 7. We read of the word of the Lord. He said, where was thou when I laid the foundation of the earth? The Lord is answering Job and he's asking, he's questioning him. He said, where were you, Job, when I laid the foundation of the earth? Declare if you have understanding. Verse 5, it says, who has laid the measure thereof if thou knowest?

Or who has stretched the line upon it? He continued in verse six and seven and he said to him, Whereupon are the foundation thereof fastened, or who laid the cornerstone thereof? In other words, he's saying, Where were you, Job, when I created the universe? And then in verse seven he's saying to him, When the morning stars, notice that, when the morning stars sang together and the sons of God shouted for joy. And the Hebrew word for the sons of God is Bnei HaElohim, and the word for stars has a reference to the angels of God. The messengers of God, the servant of God, the ministering spirits of God. And so when we read of stars in general, it has application to angels.

And many do believe that there are seven, there are angels, in the context here seven, who oversee, we might call them sometime a guardian angels that are seeing, overseeing the condition of God's people. And every local church or local assembly have these guardians angels that oversee them and watch over them. Go again to Revelation, back to chapter twelve. And I want you to notice another verse there, in chapter twelve and verse four we read, notice that, in chapter twelve of Revelation, a scene in the middle of the Tribulation period, in verse four it says, and with his tail, this is the serpent, the dragon, Satan himself, with his tail he drew third part of the stars of heaven. And that is a reference to the angels of God, who are called here in Revelation twelve four, the stars of heaven, the angels of heaven. In fact, when Satan fell, he took with him one third of the angels who became what we call them today demons.

So fallen angels he took with him, Revelation twelve and verse four, and they are called stars of heaven. So in scripture in general, the word stars apply to angels, apply to angels that God have created as a ministering spirit, and as the Lord said to him, the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, Revelation chapter one and verse twenty-eight. In other words, they are guardian angels that are watching over the affair of God's people wherever they are, and they're guarding them. But there's another thought that we want to see here. Now I would like you to go to Malachi, Malachi chapter two, and in Malachi chapter two, we read that the word angelos, or the word malach, also oftentimes called, called in scripture messenger. Notice what we read in Malachi chapter 2 and verse 7. We read in verse 7 concerning the priests of Israel. In Malachi chapter 2 he said, For the priests' lips should keep knowledge, and they should seek the law of his mouth, for he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts.

Every time we read the word Malach in Hebrew, which is, on the one hand, you can say it is an angel, but also on the other hand, in scripture, he is presented as a messenger. In fact, Malachi, Malachi, Malachi is called the messenger of the Lord. The book of Malachi speak of his name, who is the messenger of the Lord. In fact, the Lord Jesus, the Messiah, is called the messenger of the Lord.

So some believe that this apply to the stars that are the angels that have a guardian angel for every local church and local assembly, but in another way to look at the beloved brothers and sisters, that it speaks about the, the, the malachim, the messengers of the Lord who were raised by God to oversee the local assembly, the spiritual leaders, the pastors, the shepherd, the teachers, the, the servants of the Lord who oversee the spiritual condition of the assembly of the living God. And every one of us who is belong to any local assembly, we know very well, and we are very thankful for godly individuals that God raised to oversee, oversee the condition of the people of God, to lead the people of God.

To become shepherd of the people of God. And in a sense, we might look at it in both ways, as the Lord saying, listen, the mystery of the seven stars which thou saw in my hand and the seven golden lampstands, here it is the answer. The seven stars are the fe- the seven messengers, the seven spiritual leaders, the seven spiritual element in the local churches. And the seven lampstands are the seven churches, the seven congregation, the seven assemblies. And that's why, beloved brothers and sisters, most likely it has a- it is applying not so much to an angel, although we do understand that the people of God have guardian angels. But specifically we can see because he's writing this to the to the to the seven churches and to the angel to the messengers of the seven churches you will notice every one of these seven letters in chapter two and chapter three began unto the angel of the church of Obviously he's writing to someone that was in the local assembly in that town and he's writing to these spiritual leaders and he's going to tell them what he think about their spiritual condition in chapter two and in chapter three as the Lord Jesus the Messiah is writing to the seven local assembly in Asia Minor.

And so this is really how chapter one is ending with the instruction and the interpretation that Yohanan received from the glorified Lord Jesus the Messiah. He's saying to him about these two final symbols. He's saying to him in these verses that the seven stars are the seven messengers. He having them in his hand. You remember we read already in the previous verses, in verse sixteen, in his right hand he has seven stars. Seven Spiritual leaders that are at the hand, at the hand of the Lord, or elements of spiritual shepherds of a local assembly, they are in the hand of the Lord, and he knows everything they do, how they lead, how they instruct, how they teach, what they teach, how they lead the local assembly, and they are the one that are leading the seven local churches to whom John is calling to write. And to remind you that lampstands speaks of light.

Seven lampstands represent seven local assemblies who should give light to the world, who should live a godly life and shed light in a dark world. And the seven churches are ekklesia, the called out ones, they are called to live for the Lord here in this world. And so what John saw, he saw the vision of the glorified Messiah who is going to come as a king, and he's going to come in the role of a judge.

Now, we are now in between chapter one and chapter two. We are not going into chapter two, but I would like to present before you just a few points in the next five, ten minutes about as an introduction to the seven letters that we are going to study together in Revelation chapter two and chapter three. We have already learned the division of the book of Revelation. Chapter one, what John have seen, the vision. Chapter two, that which are, what he, what is, and this is the present day age of the church age. What shall be hereafter is after the church will be taken out of here and the time of the tribulation and the time of the Messianic kingdom and ultimately the eternal. order Shall be. So just a few point to mention before we will close the meeting concerning the the as an introduction to the seven letters in chapter two and chapter three.

The book of Revelation chapter two and chapter three have give us seven letters that were written to seven local assemblies. And I wanted to notice in Revelation chapter one and verse eleven Jesus the Messiah asked John to write his word in a book and to send it unto the seven churches which are in Asia. You notice in verse eleven we have the name of the seven churches.

Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamos, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea. All these seven churches were in Asia Minor. And these letters were called to be sent to the seven churches in Asia Minor. Secondly, we learn that these letters, these, letters which are written by the Lord to each one of the seven churches are found for us in the next chapters. To Ephesus, chapter 2, verses 1 to 7. To Smyrna, chapter 2, verses 8 to 11. To Pergamos, chapter 2, verses 12 to 17. To Thyatira, chapter 2, verses 18 to 21, 29, I'm sorry, to Sardis, chapter 3, verses 1 to 6. To Philadelphia, chapter 3, verses 7 to 13. And to Laodicea, chapter 3, verses 14 to 22. You notice there are specific letter that is written to each one of these seven local churches in Asia Minor.

Thirdly, we learn here as introducing chapter two and chapter three of Revelation. In these seven letters, Christ, the Messiah, who is the glorified head of the church, he's pointing to the spiritual condition of each one of these seven local assemblies. He's going to point to the spiritual condition of every church. Then he will admonish each church and he will correct that which is wrong. He wanted the churches, the local churches to live for him here in this world. Now, next I want you to notice, as we continue on to introduce that chapter two and chapter three, that though through the seven letters we learn that the Lord Jesus the Messiah, who is the glorified head of the church, he gave his final message.

These letters are the final message or the final messages to the whole universal church. As the head, he is giving a final message. These are the final words of the Lord to the assemblies. Remember that the Lord Jesus the Messiah died, was buried, and rose again. He gave the Holy Spirit of God, and through the apostles, in the power of the Spirit of God, he spoke to every local assembly, such as Rome, Corinthian, Galatian, Ephesian, Philippian, and so on.

But now he gives us the final message, and this message is given to the whole church. In other words, what we read in these letters apply to the whole church of the living God in every period of time in church history. The Lord Jesus the Messiah is addressing, now notice that this is very important, he does not only address the true church, he doesn't only addressing the true church, but he's addressing both those that profess to belong to the church, who come who attend perhaps church meetings, congregational meetings, and he's addressing there the true and the false. In Christendom, we have those who claim to be Christians, who claim to be believers, and those who truly belong to the Lord. You remember in Matthew chapter seven, we did read, Many will say unto me in that day, Lord, have not I done this in your name, and have done these miracles in your name? Matthew seven, twenty one, twenty two, and twenty three, And the Lord will tell them, I never knew you.

You may have been part of any local congregation or assembly, and you claim to be a believer, a child of God, but I never knew you. The true church is a composition of true believers who are born of the Spirit. According to the Gospel of John in chapter three, the Lord Jesus the Messiah said to Nicodemus in chapter three, verses five, six, and seven, you remember what he said to him, and I'm going to read that. He said, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born of water and of spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I say unto you, you must be born again. The true church, the true assembly, are a composition of true believers and only true believers.

But you will notice that in these letters, We see that the Lord Jesus the Messiah is really speaking to the true and the false, to the professing, those who are receiving perhaps the letter, reading the letter with the others, but they really not belong to the Lord. And also those who will receive those letters, but they truly belong to the Lord. So he's writing this letter to the professing church and the true and false, and not only to the, to the true church. Thirdly, we learn that the glorified Messiah, as he's writing these churches, he's going to do here, he has certain things to say that are negative about some of these churches, such as, Ephesus and Pergamos and Thyatira and Sardis and Laodicea.

But there are some, at least two of the seven, two of these churches, assemblies, local assembly, he has nothing to say against them. And these are the Church of Smyrna, the suffering church, and the Church of Philadelphia, the church that is brotherly love. He will have nothing negative to say about these two assemblies. Fourthly, we will learn that these letters that were written to the seven assemblies by the glorified Messiah, in this letter he will have something positive to say about six of these assemblies, but he will have nothing positive to say about the church of Laodicea, the last church. And the church of the Laodicean is a church, really we can say, an unsaved professing church, where he will say to them, I will spew you out of my mouth.

And then finally in this point, through these seven letters we learn that the Lord Jesus the Messiah, who is the glorified Messiah, he will have, he, he, he will say the same things in every one of these, it's like a pattern that you find in these seven letters. He will have a description of the Lord, there's a description of the Messiah, secondly he will say to every church, I know, I know, I know, I know everything about you.

Thirdly, he will say, he that overcometh, he that overcometh, he that overcometh. And finally, he will say, he that hath an ear, let him hear. There's a pattern, beloved brothers and sisters, that we see here throughout the seven letters that are written to the seven assemblies that we find the Lord is writing to all these seven assemblies. Now finally, let me just, before we are going to finish chapter one, the final point that is important to learn about these seven letters that were written by the Lord to the seven assembly, these seven letters are also taking us through historic and prophetic order of church history. It's not only looking back, but it's looking prophetically, and it's really taken throughout church history, and every church will represent a certain age, a certain, a certain years during a certain period of time in church history, beginning with Acts chapter two, with Ephesus, and ending with our present day, the last day of the church age, the church of Laodicea.

Each of these seven letters are written to literal local churches, which existed during the time when John was there. There were literally seven assemblies in these seven cities. So there were literal churches, literal groups of believers that are living in those days that John was sending these seven letters to these seven churches. These seven letters are also representing seven types of churches that is existing throughout the whole church in various countries. You have here seven types of local churches.

Some churches are desirable, some churches are experiencing bitterness, some churches have been married to the world, some, churches are not living for the Lord, some have, churches that have, having brotherly love within them, some are, instead of letting the Lord rule, they have the people rule. Each one of these seven churches do exist in the church age today, in all the countries in which we live in today.

And then just final words, these seven types of local churches not only existed then from thirty AD. and were still existing today, but we have here the outline that we have here in these, letters. We have, first of all, the meaning of every church. Name, for example, Ephesus means desirable, Smyrna speaks of bitterness, Pergamos speaks of much marriage, Thyatira speaks of continual sacrifice, Sardis speaks of those who have escaped, Philadelphia speaks of brotherly love, and Laodicea speaks of the people who will rule, and rather than the Lord is ruling over the assembly of the living God. So you can see, beloved brothers and sisters, that as we will enter into these chapters two and chapter three, we will learn what the Lord's final words to the assembly, to the church, are, and the warning that he is giving to them, and how he is calling every church and every individual within the church to overcome, to have an ear, to listen to his word, and to overcome the condition that exists there and in this local assembly.

So we really will need the Lord's help as we're studying these seven letters in chapter two and chapter three. Now let me conclude with that. What we learn from these from these, a portion for us today is that the, division of the whole book of Revelation in chapter one and verse nineteen, remember these beloved brothers and sisters, and it will help you to understand the book of Revelation.

Write the things which thou hast seen, the vision itself. And the things which are present day age of the church age, and the things that shall be hereafter, after the church will be taken out of here, and events that will take place here in this world, after the church will be taken out of this scene. And so with this, beloved brothers and sisters, we concluded Revelation chapter one, and with the Lord's help in our next study together, we will begin by studying one letter at a time of the seven churches, the seven letters that are found in Revelation chapter two, and in Revelation chapter three, where we will need the Lord's help to help us to see the various words that the Lord have to say to every local assembly.

And so he's speaking, he's speaking to you, he's speaking to me, he's speaking to his own people, and he Will tell each one of us, he that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. May the Lord help us as we continue with the study of the book of Revelation. So our God and our Father, we just want to thank you for the time you have given us today in the study of the book of Revelation. Bless us and help us, guide us, we pray, for we ask it in Yeshua, in Jesus' name. Amen and amen. God bless you, my dear friend. Until the next time, we say Shabbat Shalom. Shalom, shalom. Bye-bye.