Season 3 Podcast 192 Pt II The Beatitudes and the Book of Revelation
Part II The Beatitudes and the Book of Revelation
First let me refer you to Podcast 187, The Beatitudes and the Structure of Law. It is helpful to review that podcast to fully appreciate Pt II.
All who study the scriptures know that they mean different things at different times to different people. Personalizing scriptures is a gift from God when inspired by the Holy Ghost. The scriptures live and can be applied to every individual in every age and culture. They can also be applied to an infinite variety of situations.
Though we cannot just willy-nilly decide what scriptures mean, we can claim ownership by applying them to our personal lives. Everyone on earth is entitled to personal inspiration from God. If we become familiar with the scriptures, often inspiration comes by a scripture popping into our mind that is relevant to our needs or our prayers. God always speaks to us in our own language, and often he speaks to us through his Holy prophets as recorded in the scriptures.
The correlation between the Beatitudes and the prophecies of John the Revelator is not just a coincidence. When reading the Book of Revelation some understandably focus so much on destruction that they miss the true theme. The true theme of the Book of Revelation is the completion of the Beatitudes. Notice that the promises to the seven churches are the same as the promises in the Beatitudes in the Sermon on the Mount. The Book of Revelation is about the Second Coming of Christ where He reigns for a thousand years, and it is about the end of the world when there is a new heaven and a new Earth where God and Christ and those who inherit his kingdom dwell forever.
As a reminder Linda shall again quote the Beatitudes. Following the Beatitudes, we shall present the promises give to the seven churches mentioned in the Book of Revelation. That will help you to clearly see the connections.
(1) Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
(2) Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.
(3) Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.
(4) Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.
(5) Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.
(6) Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.
(7) Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.
(8) Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
(9) Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you. (Matthew 5:3-12)
Now let’s consider the promises to the Seven Churches. We shall present them in the order presented in Chapters 2 and 3 of the Book of Revelation. The first is the Church at Ephesus.
To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.
That, of course, can be written as a Beatitude.
Blessed is he that overcometh for to him will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.
Of course, we are just quoting the blessing. To fully understand what the Savior meant when he said, “To him that overcometh” you must read the full letter. Remember that the Beatitudes are laws with conditions and consequences. We must fully understand and obey the conditions to receive the full blessings. That is true for all laws of God.
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