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“ ...I am thy fellow servant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus; worship God. For the testimony of Jesus is the Spirit of prophecy”. Revelation 19:10 More emphasis has been laid on prophecy, prophetic utterances and the prophet in recent times. In fact, the office of a prophet has so much been exalted that everyone desires to be addressed as a 21st century prophet. The scripture above clearly states that the testimony of Christ is the Spirit of prophecy. The honest inquirer would then ask, ‘What is the testimony of Christ?’ because in that answer lies the true meaning of prophecy. The New Testament mentions the gift of prophecy several times, especially in the writings of Apostle Paul, but we are not certain about what the prophet said except for the instance of Agabus as related in the twenty first chapter of the book of the Acts of the Apostles. He took the girdle of Paul and bound his own hands and feet and said, ‘thus saith the Holy Ghost, so shall the Jews

‘Behold, I am coming as a thief, blessed is he who watches and keeps his garments, lest he walks naked and they see his shame’. Revelation 16: 15 The honest inquirer wants to know what it really means to be constantly clothed – especially when the injunction is seen as coming directly from the Lord. Are we to fear this coming happening when we are in the bath? How might a follower of Christ be found naked? Does watching at all times mean staying awake? Does it mean that the blessed follower of Christ would not be asleep in bed when Christ returns? The context of the verse shows that the final wrath of the Lord had been revealed - the preceding verses clearly affirm that. A wider context presents the coming of Christ as that of a thief in the night. This image is presented by the Lord in the gospels as well and Apostles like Peter and Paul referred it to while admonishing the saints to stay constantly alert so as not to be caught unawares. Stealth and surprise are the chief weapons

“And war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought with the Dragon; and the Dragon and his angels fought,” Revelation 12:7 The question is often asked of the possibility of darkness in the presence of light. The reason for this question is not far-fetched. Whatever is good, pure, holy is attributed to God while evil, filthiness and unrighteousness belong to Satan. The tenth verse of that chapter buttresses the fact that the accuser accuses the brethren before God day and night (this can either be a physical appearance or his voice and we can conclude both to still achieve the same aim). A quick back flips to the book of Job further paints a clearer picture. ‘Now, there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them’. This has been a debate for years. Some claim that it was prior to his fall – if that would hold true, then he should not be addressed as the accuser of the brethren. The two scriptural quotations clear

‘Now a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun...’ ‘And another sign appeared in heaven: behold a great, fiery red dragon...’ Revelation 12: 1, 3 Signs! Signs! Images! Images! I often like to bring people’s notice when discussing the revealed mysteries in this book thus truth – they were visions revealed to a man, so, he could only express whatever he sees with his knowledge of people, places, things, events. The questions now are: Who is this woman? What about the child, and the dragon? Let’s consider the text closely with some submissions from bible scholars. Sit back and relax! A quick contrast of this woman with the woman in the seventeenth chapter clearly points to us that she is saintly and the latter is filthy. She was clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a garland of twelve stars while the other woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls, having in her hand a golden cup fu

“But I have a few things against you, because you have there those who hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols and to commit sexual immorality”. Revelation 2:14 The greatest havoc that can be wrath against the Christian faith or the community of Christ is not the gates of hades (the power of death and its pangs which are forces of hell), for it will never prevail upon it, but by such men and women as Balaam. He taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the children of Israel. The children of Israel moved and camped in the plains of Moab on the side of the Jordan across from Jericho. Now Balak (the king of Moab) the son of Zippor saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites and was exceedingly afraid. He sent messengers to Balaam to come at once to curse the people for Balaam enjoyed the delegated authority of God to bless and to curse exclusively - an exclusive privilege that was ackno

“Then the fifth angel sounded: and I saw a star fallen from heaven to the earth. To him was given the key to the bottomless pit” Revelation 9:1 The gospels record an account of Jesus expelling evil spirits (demons, unclean spirits) from a man and a conversation ensued. The demons practically begged (pleaded) him not to command them to go out into the abyss (paraphrase). Where is this dreaded place? Where is this location that even demons do not want to go? Is it the same place as the world of the dead (Sheol)? Do dead humans also share this realm with demons? A fallen star from heaven refers to an unidentified being, possibly a demonic being, a fallen angel, specifically sent for this assignment. It is important to note that all angels are messengers. All can be used by God to achieve his purpose. So we need not debate on the character of this particular one. He was given the key to the bottomless pit, literally, ‘the shaft of the abyss’ - a location which serves as a reservoir o

“And I heard the number of those who were sealed. One hundred and forty four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel were sealed” Rev. 7:4 The major advocates of this special symbolic selection of individuals are known by everyone of us. Don’t we? If you are on the contrary, they are right there in your neighbourhood. They come in pairs asking questions such as: Is there really a place called hell? Who are the 144,000? Is there life after death? Where is paradise? Does the dead have hope? They may be seen as zealous but the core of their message is selfish and baseless in its entirety. They want to try if per chance they could work their way into the number or paradise. I was once questioned by them if I could sing the song and have the seal on my forehead as that would be part of the criteria. Some views on the text include: # The number is exclusively a selection from the natural Jews. If this would hold true, as it possibly might due to God’s special affection towa

“Thus you also have those who hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans” Rev. 2:15 “the deeds of the Nicolaitans” Rev. 2:6 The Book of Revelation is filled with symbols and symbolic representations of persons, events, places and acts. We would cause more misunderstandings if we translate some of these symbols literally. The Nicolaitans won’t be an exception. Who are they? Were they literally part of the early church? How do we identify them? What do they do? These are questions begging for answers. The name ‘Nicolaitans’ is symbolic, meaning ‘Conquering the laity’. Apparently, this group – as the name suggests, claimed some kind of superior status that permitted false teachings which might include idolatry and immorality. Do we still have similar groups among us today? I think we do. How often we see men and women positioned as God and unreservedly revered and worshipped. We do not so learn of Christ. The path of the sons is humility! It can be suggested that the writer assumes the r

“I know your works, and where you dwell, where Satan’s throne is” Revelation 2:13 Could this be an end to the long search of where man’s greatest enemy dwells? We all grew into the knowledge of attaching everything called evil to Satan. It is an ideology not limited to a singular religious worldview just as we hear ‘God’ on the lips of every man – either believing or unbelieving. In fact, most times I feel atheists use the word ‘God’ more often than the believers. Probably the entire human race would make their way to Asia and spot out Pergamum so we can put our greatest enemy to death once and for all...#just_thinking We could probably consider some of his attributes for a well structured strategy on our quest for his capture. # He is free ranged – running to and fro the earth like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. A close watch could be embarked upon as we move along the streets and an alarm could be raised whenever he is spotted by anyone # He is finite – having a tim