Revelation 1:7: "The Pierced Cloud Rider"

Revelation 1:7  Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen. 

I'm tellin' you, guys! If you want to explain who Jesus is by connecting together all the prophecies from the Old Testament into fulfillment, Revelation chapter 1 is the place!

Behold, He Cometh with Clouds

After hearing this incredible description of who Jesus is and what He wants us to be, we hear this bold proclamation!  But there are quite a few verses this passage is tapping into...the concept of coming with clouds, for one thing.  Often, in the Old Testament, Yahweh is depicted riding on the clouds, coming in judgment.  Apparently, this was used to contrast against the false Canaanite god, Baal, who in Ugaritic texts is said to be called the Rider on the Clouds.  But Yahweh is stronger than Baal, and He is the True God in the heavens.  Notice some of the verses about God coming on the clouds.

Exodus 34:5  And the LORD descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the LORD. 

Psalm 104:1  Bless the LORD, O my soul. O LORD my God, thou art very great; thou art clothed with honour and majesty. 

Psalm 104:2  Who coverest thyself with light as with a garment: who stretchest out the heavens like a curtain: 

Psalm 104:3  Who layeth the beams of his chambers in the waters: who maketh the clouds his chariot: who walketh upon the wings of the wind:

Isaiah 19:1  The burden of Egypt. Behold, the LORD rideth upon a swift cloud, and shall come into Egypt: and the idols of Egypt shall be moved at his presence, and the heart of Egypt shall melt in the midst of it. 

Nahum 1:3  The LORD is slow to anger, and great in power, and will not at all acquit the wicked: the LORD hath his way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet. 

Those verses should fill us with a sense of awe at the majesty of the LORD.  One thing to remember is that anytime the word "LORD" is in all capitals like that, it's an indication that the tetragrammaton YHWH, the personal name of God, Yahweh, is being used.  So this is THE Mighty God here that this is referring to.  The one, true God, the Creator, the Redeemer of Israel out of Egypt--that God.  And hearing that He rides on the clouds as His chariot, or descends on the cloud, or comes to judge Egypt on a swift cloud, is a way of referring to the God of the Heavens, the Lord over the heavens and the earth, the Creator of the Universe, and by extension, the earth's rightful Judge.  But the image gets expanded in the book of Daniel.

Daniel 7:13  I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. 

Daniel 7:14  And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed. 

You'll notice that Daniel 7 should really be on our minds as we read Revelation 1...but some of that is for the next blog post.  The important thing to notice now is that in Daniel's vision, he is seeing the kingdoms of the world, who are depicted as beasts, being judged by the Ancient of Days who sits on the Throne and judges the kings of the earth.  That would be powerful enough, but then this shocking image appears seemingly out of the blue, where a human figure does what usually only the God of the heavens does...comes with the clouds of heaven to the Ancient of Days and is given authority and everlasting dominion.  That is startling!  A human figure coming on the clouds.  But it's the term "Son of Man" that gets a lot of play.  That's Jesus's favorite term to use for himself, and we start to realize that Jesus is claiming to be the human figure that will restore the dominion and authority that God intended to give humanity all the way back in Genesis 1.  And when you understand this prophecy being in the background of the gospels and realize that the Jews had been looking for and expecting this human figure who would receive a kingdom that would never be destroyed, you start to see why the high priest freaked out when Jesus connects himself to the image from the prophecy.

Matthew 26:62  And the high priest arose, and said unto him, Answerest thou nothing? what is it which these witness against thee? 

Matthew 26:63  But Jesus held his peace. And the high priest answered and said unto him, I adjure thee by the living God, that thou tell us whether thou be the Christ, the Son of God. 

Matthew 26:64  Jesus saith unto him, Thou hast said: nevertheless I say unto you, Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven. 

Matthew 26:65  Then the high priest rent his clothes, saying, He hath spoken blasphemy; what further need have we of witnesses? behold, now ye have heard his blasphemy. 

Why does the high priest go nuts?  Because Jesus basically just told him he would be receiving an everlasting dominion and a kingdom that would never be destroyed.  Also remember how often the visual of YHWH coming with the clouds is associated with judgment?  What are you saying, Jesus of Nazareth?? But Jesus is vindicated in his ascension as we see him doing the very thing that Daniel seems to have seen...

Acts 1:6  When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel? 

Acts 1:7  And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power. 

Acts 1:8  But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. 

Acts 1:9  And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight. 

Acts 1:10  And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel; 

Acts 1:11  Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.

I've heard people talking about this passage as if the disciples were completely off track and still missing the point of everything Jesus had taught them.  But I don't think this is a non-sequitur at all.  Remember, this is after Jesus opened up their eyes to understand the law and the prophets.  Yes, it's before the Holy Ghost has come, but it's after he's helped them tie the big picture of what the Scripture is teaching together.  They knew the Son of Man was receiving a kingdom and they knew that Jesus is the Son of Man!  They just had the timing a little wrong.  But that doesn't mean that Jesus isn't the Prince of the kings of the earth or that He's not coming back to judge all earthly kingdoms!  But that's His job.  The disciples needed to be focused on their job.  (Which is still our job right now, by the way.)

But the passage that is most reminiscent of the words of Revelation 1:7 is something Jesus said in His Olivet Discourse.

All Kindreds of the Earth Shall Wail Because of Him

Matthew 24:30  And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 

When Jesus comes back, it will either be the greatest day of a person's life or the worst day.  Greatest if you follow Him already as King and want to see Him come back.  The worst day, if you have set yourself against Him and His word.  This isn't just a localized thing.  All the tribes of the earth, all the kindreds of the earth, shall wail and mourn because of Him.  Jesus isn't a local, tribal leader.  He is Prince of the kings of the earth, and the entire world is impacted by Him.

And Every Eye Shall See Him

This isn't just Israel seeing Him, but every eye.  The coming of Jesus is dramatic and earth-shaking.

Matthew 24:26  Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not. 

Matthew 24:27  For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. 

But one of the most interesting parts of this verse is the part that hones in on a particular event.

And They Also Which Pierced Him

At first glance, it seems pretty straightforward.  When did the piercing happen?  On the cross.  Who was pierced?  Jesus.  But the word "pierced" connects with some beautiful hidden gems in the rest of Scripture.

For example, Psalm 22 is an incredible prophecy of the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus. Many of the exact phrases from the psalm are echoed in the gospels, describing the crucifixion. 1,000 years before Jesus, and hundreds of years before the Persians started to experiment with the punishment, this psalm is mind-blowingly accurate in its description.  One of the key phrases (which is what relates to our current topic) comes from verse 16.

Psalm 22:16  For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked have inclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet. 

But when John writes his account of Jesus's death, this isn't the passage he goes to. He links it with a prophecy in Zechariah which has even deeper implications. Psalm 22 predicts the manner of death of the Messiah, but Zechariah gives us an insight into who was actually being pierced...

Zechariah 12:10  And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn. 

This is in the midst of a prophecy about how the LORD, YHWH, is going to save Jerusalem from the nations coming against her, and in the context of that, the phrase comes..." they shall look upon ME whom they have pierced"...the question I have is who is speaking?  Who is pouring out the spirit of grace and supplications?  Whoever is doing that is the one speaking, and it seems to me that this is the LORD Himself saying that the inhabitants of Jerusalem will look on the One they pierced, and is, remarkably, claiming to be the One they pierced.  John chooses this passage to reference when he describes his eyewitness account of Jesus on the cross.

John 19:34  But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water. 

John 19:35  And he that saw it bare record, and his record is true: and he knoweth that he saith true, that ye might believe. 

John 19:36  For these things were done, that the scripture should be fulfilled, A bone of him shall not be broken. 

John 19:37  And again another scripture saith, They shall look on him whom they pierced. 

Even so, Amen.

This is what is so amazing about our God.  This truth is so powerful that John doubles up with another "Amen." The One who rides the clouds is also the One who was pierced, and one day everyone will have to reckon with Him.  Are you ready?  Will you be crying tears of joy or wailing and mourning because of Him when He comes?  What is your relationship to the Pierced Cloud Rider?

Revelation 1:5-6: "The First Begotten of the Dead"

Rev 1:5  And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, 

Rev 1:6  And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen. 

We were told in verse 1, that this was a Revelation of Jesus Christ, and John unleashes a string of powerful phrases about who Jesus is, no holds barred, in the introduction of this incredible book.  Again, as I mentioned in the last post, we spent a good deal of time in Bible study going over each of these phrases and what they meant.  AND (I didn't share this with the Bible study group, because I didn't notice till I was writing this blog post...oops) there seems to be an interesting threefold parallelism between the descriptors of who Jesus is in relation to who he has made us to be.  Was that confusing?  Just take a look at this...

And from Jesus Christ

I would argue, (and I think I could demonstrate by linking the terminology) that this isn't an additional person that the message is from, adding on to he which is, and which was, and which is to come, and the seven spirits.  As I tried to show in the last post, I think all of these are referring to the same person, Jesus Christ.  But again, this is a revelation OF Jesus Christ, so that's what we're exploring here.  The fact that it's Jesus CHRIST is significant in that by calling him "the Christ", John is using the Greek word for "The Anointed One", which in Hebrew would be what we would call "the Messiah."  So this is directly tying Jesus to the role he played as the Anointed One on this earth in flesh as a man, as do the following phrases.  (It's not his last name...just to be clear.)

The Faithful Witness

This is one of those phrases that I feel has SO much packed into it that I can't even come close to doing justice to it.  But think about what that means.  This is a legal term, which is the opposite of a false witness.  A witness is someone who communicates what they have seen and heard (as Peter defines in Acts 4:20).  You can testify or witness to something, and you can do that either poorly, (like someone with a bad memory trying to remember what the criminal was wearing), or purposefully deceitfully (like the guys they hired to try to accuse Jesus, bearing false witness against their neighbor), or you can do it faithfully.  We actually have a definition given to us for this phrase in the book of Proverbs.

Proverbs 14:5 A faithful witness will not lie: but a false witness will utter lies. 

Well, Jesus is THE Faithful Witness.  But the witness to what?  We have lots of references in Scripture to things or people that bear witness to Jesus, but what was Jesus bearing faithful witness to?

John 18:37  Pilate therefore said unto him, Art thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice. 

Jesus said to Pilate that the reason he was born and came into the world was to bear witness unto the truth.  In fact, he calls himself THE Truth a couple chapters earlier, in John 14:6.  In other words, He is the Faithful Witness to TRUTH.  To the actual reality of how the world works.  He is the express image of God's person (Hebrews 1:3), He is the Word of God, which is Truth (John 1:14; John 17:17), and He is THE Faithful Witness to that Truth.  That means that whatever we need to know about life and reality and God and how we should live and how the world works...we can go to our Faithful Witness who will accurately represent the truth of all these things.  This is in contrast to the nation of Israel who was supposed to bear faithful witness to God...

Isaiah 43:9  Let all the nations be gathered together, and let the people be assembled: who among them can declare this, and shew us former things? let them bring forth their witnesses, that they may be justified: or let them hear, and say, It is truth. 

Isaiah 43:10  Ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me. 

Isaiah 43:11  I, even I, am the LORD; and beside me there is no saviour. 

Isaiah 43:12  I have declared, and have saved, and I have shewed, when there was no strange god among you: therefore ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, that I am God. 

In contrast to the nations being unable to produce witnesses to the truth of their false gods, Israel was to be a witness to who God is, His existence, His supremacy, His oneness.  They were witnesses in one way, for they saw what He did, bore record of it in the Scriptures, and we know the truth of those things to say.  But they were unfaithful witnesses in many ways.  They served other gods despite what they knew.  They didn't follow the perfect laws God had given them, or listen to the prophets He sent them.  But when Jesus comes He fulfills ALL of that...He is The Faithful Witness, so anything we need to know about God or reality, we can go to Jesus, and He has the answer, and will never lie.  He is a witness who is UTTERLY trustworthy.  But it goes beyond that...

The First Begotten of the Dead

This phrase, in particular really hit our Bible study as we went through these verses.  This is, of course, a reference to the resurrection of Jesus from the dead.  But what does the term "firstborn" imply?  It implies he is the first, but that there will be others!  Contrast it with the phrase "only begotten."

John 3:16  For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 

The phrase "only begotten" implies an exclusive uniqueness.  We are adopted children, but Jesus is The Only BEGOTTEN Son of God.  Jesus is unique!  I think some translations even translate this as "one and only".  There is a sense in which He is Unique in this regard.  The way that Jesus is the Son of God is different than how we are.  We must believe in the Only Begotten Son of God, so that we can live and become adopted sons and daughters of God.  But the way that Jesus is God manifest in flesh, the way the Holy Spirit caused the conception in the womb of Mary is utterly unique in human history.  Being the FIRSTBORN from the dead, however, is an entirely different story... If someone introduced their only child as their firstborn, that would be a little odd, though true, I suppose.  In this case, however, I think it is clear that Jesus is the first to be resurrected from the dead in this way, but He won't be the last!  He has opened the door for all of us to be resurrected from the dead just as He was!  Paul expounds on this principle so beautifully in 1st Corinthians:

1st Corinthians 15:20  But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept. 

1st Corinthians 15:21  For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. 

1st Corinthians 15:22  For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. 

1st Corinthians 15:23  But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming. 

Paul uses a slightly different picture here, first fruits instead of firstborn.  But the concept is the same. The first fruits are the very first results of a crop which are offered to the Lord in anticipation of the rest of the harvest which is coming.  In Christ's resurrection, there is an anticipation of anyone who is in Christ rising again at His coming, bodily from the dead, just like he did!  There was a preview of this described in the gospel of Matthew...

Matthew 27:52  And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, 

Matthew 27:53  And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many. 

Paul also uses the same language in his letter to the Colossians.

Colossians 1:18  And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence. 

But was Jesus really the FIRST born from the dead?  What about when he raised Lazarus from the dead, or Jairus's daughter, or the son of the widow at Nain, or when Elijah and Elisha seemed to raise children from the dead, or even the awesome story of the guy who came back to life when he was thrown on Elisha's bones?

I think the difference between Jesus's resurrection and those resurrections is that, by all indications, though they were awakened from "sleep", as Jesus is fond of saying, and received a temporary release from death, they all died again, as far as we know.

But there were also people like Elijah and Enoch who ascended to heaven!  What about them?  Well, they can't be firstborn FROM THE DEAD, since they never died, right?  Jesus is uniquely first in human history in this regard, as he illustrates by his description of himself later on in Revelation chapter 1.

Revelation 1:18  I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death. 

What sets Jesus apart is that he lived a life as a human, he genuinely died, and he genuinely rose from the dead so that he is now alive FOREVER more!  And he now has authority over death and hell.  (An authority he took back from the devil through his death and resurrection, according to Hebrews 2:14.)  This is truly incredible because it completely frees us if we are in Jesus!  Since Jesus is the Resurrection and the Life (as he told Martha he is in John 11), if we are IN Him, then it doesn't matter whether we live or die, we are the Lord's (Rom. 14:8)!  We will be alive forevermore because Jesus has authority over death and hell!  That is truly an incredible thought!

The Prince of the Kings of the Earth

If Jesus has authority over death and hell, it almost seems a small afterthought to mention that he is also ruler over the kings of the earth.  But this is a way of emphasizing that he truly is King of kings and Lord of lords.  He is the ultimate authority!

Matthew 28:18  And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. 

Revelation 11:15  And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever. 

This lines up with the prophecies of the Messiah.

Isaiah 9:6  For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. 

Isaiah 9:7  Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this. 

Daniel 7:13  I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. 

Daniel 7:14  And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.

Psalm 2:6  Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion. 

Psalm 2:7  I will declare the decree: the LORD hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee. 

Psalm 2:8  Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. 

Psalm 2:9  Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel. 

Psalm 2:10  Be wise now therefore, O ye kings: be instructed, ye judges of the earth. 

Psalm 110:1  A Psalm of David. The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool. 

Psalm 110:2  The LORD shall send the rod of thy strength out of Zion: rule thou in the midst of thine enemies. 

The angel told Mary this is who Jesus would be.

Luke 1:30  And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God. 

Luke 1:31  And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. 

Luke 1:32  He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: 

Luke 1:33  And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end. 

But the question remains...it doesn't seem like the kings of the earth are taking instructions from Jesus right now, does it?  And yet, He is making the claim that all those rulers of the earth will ultimately be answerable to him.  They will have to give an account to Him one day, and He will reign supreme.  In fact, after he told his disciples that all authority was given to him, the immediate application of that truth was not to go and conquer all nations with violence and force, but to go make disciples of all the nations, baptizing in The Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost (which they understood to be Jesus--see the book of Acts), and to teach the nations to observe everything that Jesus commanded.  It's a gentle, Jesus-like way of exercising authority over the nations.  And yet Revelation wants us from the beginning to understand that he is the Prince of all the kings of the earth...in other words, He is still the ultimate authority, and if anyone does not submit to Him now, they will eventually answer to Him.  This is a prevalent theme in the book of Daniel as well, and it is fitting that John describes so many of the things he sees in his vision with the same vocabulary as Daniel.

To Him Be Glory and Dominion For Ever and Ever. Amen. 

This is such a prominent theme in the book that I am not going to spend a lot of time on it here.  But it's so important that we don't merely dismiss it as a part of a doxology, which is what I'm always tempted to do.  But in light of him being Prince over all the kings of the earth, this is a bold and audacious claim.  This is what the Son of Man is given in the vision Daniel has in Daniel chapter 7.  This is everlasting dominion.  This is everlasting glory.  He is the Supreme Authority, and what a beautiful way to open this book, which is going to describe him taking dominion over all the earth, and one of the books of the Bible that most fully reveals His Glory!

Unto Him That Loved Us

Now what I want to make special note of is that in the midst of this revealing of Jesus and who He is, we also get a revelation of who we are because of Him.  The three-fold description of who Jesus is--(The Faithful Witness, The First Begotten of the Dead, The Prince of the Kings of the Earth)--parallels the three-fold description of how He has interacted with us in some interesting ways (Loved Us, Washed Us from Our Sins in His Blood, Made Us Kings and Priests Unto God and His Father).  One of the first shocking things that we realize from The Faithful Witness is that He loves us.  We are loved by Him.  By the King of kings.  That is amazing news!

John 3:16  For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 

John 3:17  For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. 

Romans 5:8  But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. 

John 13:34  A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.

1st John 3:16  Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. 

1st John 4:19  We love him, because he first loved us. 

The primary way His love is demonstrated is through the sacrifice Jesus made on the cross.  That was a faithful witness of how God sees us.  He loves us.  Jesus loves us.  And the cross proves it.  Which goes into the next phrase.  Not only are we loved, but we are washed.

Unto Him That ... Washed Us from Our Sins in His Own Blood

Obviously, to give a full explanation of this would be to communicate the entire gospel, which is what John wants to tap into here.  But notice the progression that we are loved, then washed, then made kings and priests.  That progression makes sense of multiple Old Testament references.  We could look at it from the perspective of the consecration of the priests, who are washed then appointed as priests.  We could look at the prophetic analogy of Ezekiel where God describes Israel as a cast-off rejected girl, whom He finds in her own blood, takes her in, loves her, washes her, says to live, clothes her and gives her a position.  But the slightly odd thing here is that Jesus washed us from our sins in his own blood.  There's that old song that asks if you're washed in the blood of the Lamb, and this is the verse that references it!  But usually, like in the example in Ezekiel, the girl's own blood is what is being washed off of her!  The blood of the animals is what is being washed OFF the priests when they go into the Tabernacle.  But here blood is the cleansing agent.  Obviously, because Jesus's blood is the only thing powerful enough to actually wash away sins.  They are done away with in His atoning sacrifice.  But what a beautiful picture.  The phrase "his own blood" makes me think of Acts 20:28.

Acts 20:28  Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood. 

I love this phrase. When did God ever have blood? In the body of Jesus Christ. The fact that He purchased and washed us from our sins in His own blood intimates a value placed on us.  His own blood indicates the incredible sacrifice He made.  But at what point are we washed from our sins in his blood?  The form of the word that this word comes from is used in a couple other places which beautifully fill out this picture.

Acts 22:16  And now why tarriest thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord. 

1st Corinthians 6:9  Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, 

1st Corinthians 6:10  Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. 

1st Corinthians 6:11  And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God. 

The parallel phrase with Jesus is that He is the first begotten of the dead. He washed our sins in his own blood and is the first begotten of the dead.  Those two things are inextricably linked.  BECAUSE our sins are washed away in his blood, we too can be risen with him from the dead and born again!

And Hath Made Us Kings and Priests unto God and his Father

And now for the positional statement.  Notice that the parallel statement with Jesus is that He is the Prince of the Kings of the Earth and now He has made us kings and priests unto God.  The reason this is so significant is that like many things in Revelation it is the fulfillment of God's long-term plan. He gave man dominion over the earth all the way back in Genesis 1, but man misused his authority and allowed himself to be conquered by sin. God came back with a new angle with the nation of Israel, and the mission statement He lays out for them is so powerful to me, connected to this verse:

Exodus 19:5  Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine: 

Exodus 19:6  And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel. 

His design for Israel was not to be a kingdom WITH priests, but a kingdom OF priests. What's the job of a priest? To represent God to the people and the people to God. (More on the job of a priest in Leviticus 10.) Yet Israel is not necessarily a faithful witness, being a kingdom of priests. Peter then tells us in the New Testament that God is designing the Church to be the ones who fulfill this role.

1st Peter 2:9  But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light: 

1st Peter 2:10  Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy. 

But, hold on, Michael, Jesus is our priest! Jesus is our King! Yes, Jesus is our HIGH Priest over a kingdom of priests, over a royal priesthood. Jesus is the King of kings, the Prince of the kings of the earth, over the delegated authority. But God has always wanted us to have dominion and authority in His world. And if we'll just be completely submitted to Him, it'll work out a lot better than it did for Adam and Eve or the nation of Israel or the current political situations around the world.  But even with Israel there was a separation between king and priest...religious and political authority. And that was intentional! But when Jesus comes He fulfills both roles...and in His Kingdom, He calls us to fulfill both roles, as well.  Isn't that incredible?

So what is my take-away from this super long blog post covering TWO verses of Revelation chapter 1?

First of all, notice what Revelation does in tying together threads that have been woven through the entire Bible and culminate in this amazing literary structure.

Secondly, notice that who Jesus is directly informs who we are. It's so important for us to understand who He is, because if we are IN Him, that tells us who we are, as well.  We are nothing without Him, but IN Him, we suddenly have incredible, jaw-dropping identity because of Who He Is, and What He Has Done.

Revelation 1:4: "The Seven Spirits of God"

Revelation 1:4  John to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace be unto you, and peace, from him which is, and which was, and which is to come; and from the seven Spirits which are before his throne; 

One of the goals for my study of Revelation is to show how Revelation is the culmination of the Bible, and with that in mind, to show how it links up with the rest of Scripture.  These verses are so packed that it took us one study just to go through verses 4-6.  Every phrase is powerful, and usually references other portions of Scripture, if not outright quoting them.  But as "The Revelation of Jesus Christ" these Scriptures are so powerful for communicating who Jesus is as we start this book.  Let's take a look...

John to the seven churches which are in Asia:

I read that while there were bishops over the different churches in the various cities, John, as the last living apostle, probably served as the bishop over Asia in a broader sense, giving guidance to these important churches in a larger role, than say, Timothy, as the bishop in Ephesus.  We will, of course, be looking at these churches in much more detail as we continue through chapters 2 and 3.

Grace be unto you, and peace,

The classic greeting, which Paul often used in his letters!  Grace, a play on the Greek way of greeting people, and peace, a play on the Jewish way of greeting people. Both elements as one church in this dual greeting.

From him which is, and which was, and which is to come;

It's tempting to skip over this as simply a way of referring to an eternal deity, which it certainly is, but let's think about why John is using this particular phrase.  It's repeated in verse 8, being said by "the Lord", in connection with being the Alpha and Omega, the first and the last, the Almighty, which Jesus claims to be throughout the book.  And it takes us back to the first time when Moses, at the burning bush, asked who he should say sent him.  God's response?

Exodus 3:14  And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you. 

There's an eternal element to this, as well.  What else would you call Someone who Is, Was, and Is To Come? He would call Himself, "I AM." The significance of this phrasing in connection to Jesus cannot be overstated.  It's reminiscent of the words from Hebrews:

Hebrews 13:8  Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.

Some people would like to make a distinction between the persons referenced as the message being FROM the one who is, was, and is to come, and FROM Jesus Christ, as if there are two different people giving this message.  But I'm not sure that Revelation gives us that option.  What we know is that just as Moses was told that his message for the people of God was from "I AM", the message John receives for the people of God is from "Him which IS, and which WAS, and which IS TO COME."

And from the seven Spirits which are before his throne; 

And now we are at one of those head swivel moments in the book of Revelation.  What?? The seven spirits which are before his throne?  What is THAT about?  Now some would say that this is tapping into second temple Jewish literature which claims that there are seven archangels before the throne of God.  Could be.  It wouldn't change my theology a ton if that were true.  However, I do wonder if something else is going on.  What do we know about these seven spirits from the rest of the book?

Revelation 3:1  And unto the angel of the church in Sardis write; These things saith he that hath the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars; I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead.

The first thing to note about this is that Jesus "has" the seven spirits of God.  Is this verse conflating the seven spirits with the seven stars in his hand, which we know from Revelation 1:20 are the seven angels of the seven churches?  Possibly.  It does seem odd though that the message would be TO the seven angels of the seven churches which are the seven spirits of God FROM the seven spirits of God as in verse 4.  Let's look further.

Revelation 4:5  And out of the throne proceeded lightnings and thunderings and voices: and there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God.

Now we see seven lamps before the throne which seem to suggest the candlesticks, which are the seven churches.  But these seven lamps of fire are identified with the seven spirits of God once again.  Hold on to these images.

Revelation 5:6  And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth.

Finally, the Lamb, which we would all agree (I hope) represents Jesus, has seven eyes which are the seven spirits of God sent forth into all the earth.  Seven eyes?  Is that how you usually picture Jesus? But this isn't the first time seven eyes are connected to God in prophetic literature.  It's time to rewind into the Old Testament.  John isn't just using this phrase out of nowhere.  This phrase has appeared before...

In the context of the rebuilding of the Temple after the Babylonian Exile, two prophets are instrumental in its rebuilding.  Haggai and Zechariah.  Zechariah is referenced a LOT in the New Testament, and in particular, the book of Revelation.  Zerubbabel was the political leader of the time that is called on to lead the people, and Joshua was the high priest.  In Zechariah chapter 3, the prophet sees a vision of the high priest, Joshua, being restored to his position as high priest.  And in the context of the vision, this little gem is dropped...

Zechariah 3:8  Hear now, O Joshua the high priest, thou, and thy fellows that sit before thee: for they are men wondered at: for, behold, I will bring forth my servant the BRANCH. 

Zechariah 3:9  For behold the stone that I have laid before Joshua; upon one stone shall be seven eyes: behold, I will engrave the graving thereof, saith the LORD of hosts, and I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day.

There's a reference to a stone, which particularly in the context of rebuilding the Temple has Messianic overtones (the stone which the builders rejected is become the head of the corner, you know. ["The BRANCH" also has Messianic overtones.])  But there is something odd about the stone before Joshua, which we're supposed to look at.  It has seven eyes.  And there is a promise connected to it that the iniquity of the land will be removed in one day.  I have a theory about when iniquity was removed because the price was paid by Jesus...

Then in the very next chapter, Zechariah is awakened out of his sleep to look at seven lampstands.  (Hint: this should ring a bell from Revelation chapter 4...scroll back up and reread that verse if you've forgotten...)  

Zechariah 4:2  And said unto me, What seest thou? And I said, I have looked, and behold a candlestick all of gold, with a bowl upon the top of it, and his seven lamps thereon, and seven pipes to the seven lamps, which are upon the top thereof: 

Zechariah 4:3  And two olive trees by it, one upon the right side of the bowl, and the other upon the left side thereof. 

Zechariah asks the angel that woke him up to look at it what these things are. The angel, seemingly surprised that he doesn't know, responds:

Zechariah 4:6  Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the LORD unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts. 

Oh, of course!  Why didn't I see that?  This is a pretty famous Scripture, but did you know it was prompted by the gold candlestick with seven lampstands?  Something about these seven lamps connected to the one golden candlestick has something to do with the empowering spirit of God.  Seven lamps connected with the Spirit of the LORD...

Zechariah 4:7  Who art thou, O great mountain? before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain: and he shall bring forth the headstone thereof with shoutings, crying, Grace, grace unto it. 

Hmm...now we're talking about a headstone.  Weren't we just talking about a stone in front of Joshua with seven eyes?  Now that's interesting, isn't it?

Zechariah 4:8  Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, 

Zechariah 4:9  The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house; his hands shall also finish it; and thou shalt know that the LORD of hosts hath sent me unto you. 

Zechariah 4:10  For who hath despised the day of small things? for they shall rejoice, and shall see the plummet in the hand of Zerubbabel with those seven; they are the eyes of the LORD, which run to and fro through the whole earth. 

The direct context in Zechariah's day was in building the temple, and the promise is that the same hands of Zerubbabel that began the house will finish it.  This seemed like an impossible task by might or power, but with God's Spirit he will be able to do it.  And for anyone who despises the small start?  Guess what?  They will see the "plummet", which is a building tool associated with...wait for it...stones, with those seven (what seven? the seven lamps?), which are the eyes of the LORD running to and fro through the whole earth.  Hang on, we've seen that before in this blog post (but, of course, since we are studying Revelation, we approached it backwards).  The lamb had seven eyes which are the seven spirits of God, and there were seven lamps before the throne which are the seven spirits of God...

Okay, Michael, would you just get to the point and tell us what you think about this already?  I'll be honest, this is such a rich and complicated topic that it's hard for me to nail down a simple, straightforward answer to the question "What are the seven spirits of God?"  But as we look at this jewel with its multiple facets, I don't feel content to just call these seven angels.  I think there's more going on here.  Seven is obviously a very significant number in the Bible. It's spelled with the same Hebrew letters as the word for "complete" or "full".  Going all the way back to the Seven Days of Creation when God finished all His work and rested on the seventh day, we see seven being used to signal something that is complete or full.  I wonder if that's what's going on here? The complete and full Spirit of God, the complete and full vision of God...not just with two eyes like us, but with seven that see everything everywhere.  That's not the way we talk about things in our logical, western-minded culture.  We use words like "omniscient" and "omnipresent."  But mightn't the Bible use an image like the seven eyes of God to communicate the same concept?  Seeing everything everywhere?  All-knowing with His seven eyes.  

And I feel like it's not a coincidence that the symbol of the seven lamps with the one candlestick is used.  The sense of the candlestick with the seven lamps seems to me to be that, just as in the candlestick in the Tabernacle, the same oil flowed through the entire thing but produced seven flames, perhaps that's the same image being invoked by the seven spirits of God.  We know that there's only one Spirit of God, ultimately.

Ephesians 4:4  There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; 

1st Corinthians 12:12  For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ. 

1st Corinthians 12:13  For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit. 

But it's just possible that the image being used here in Revelation is one of the full or complete Spirit of God in every aspect.  Many commentators point to Isaiah 11, as a reference point for these verses:

Isaiah 11:1  And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots: 

Isaiah 11:2  And the spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD; 

Again, this is a prophecy of the Messiah (note the connection to "The Branch" in Zechariah 3:8), and of the Spirit that will be upon Him.  But how many Spirits?  Well, one, right?  But notice that there are seven attributes of that Spirit... (count them!)  The Lamb with seven eyes, Jesus who has the seven spirits of God.  If I'm right about the number seven representing completeness or fulness, and the Seven Spirits of God representing the entire, whole, complete, full Spirit of God--every aspect of it--that is pretty powerful in reference to Jesus!

Colossians 2:9  For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. 

But, wait, you might be saying, I thought the seven candlesticks represented the seven churches in Revelation 1!  Haven't you read ahead?  I have, but as I was reading Zechariah it hit me what an appropriate symbol it is to be connected with both Christ and the Church!  After all, what is the church?  The Body of Christ!  And, in theory, what are we supposed to be?  The light of the world!  (Matthew 5:14-16)  The same Spirit should be flowing through each part of the body, all of us drinking the oil flowing from the one Spirit through that gold candlestick, but producing seven distinct flames.  As individual churches, we just have one flame, but the same Spirit.  But Jesus was the Light of the World, in the sense that He is the One Candlestick WITH the seven spirits of God, the seven flames flowing out of Him!  Isn't that awesome?!  His identity determines OUR identity!  That's how the message could be FROM the Seven Spirits before the Throne of God, TO the Seven Stars, the Seven Angels of the Seven Churches, which are the Seven Candlesticks.  Jesus is in the midst of the seven lamps!

For me, this concept is truly...wait for it...a Revelation of Jesus Christ.

Revelation 1:1-3: "The Apocalypse of Jesus Christ"

Revelation 1:1  The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John: 

Revelation 1:2  Who bare record of the word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all things that he saw. 

Revelation 1:3  Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand. 

The Revelation of Jesus Christ

This is the key to the book to me. From what I understand about the Hebrew (and I'm no Hebrew scholar, but I've read some stuff about it in commentaries), the grammar could go either way here to say the revelation which comes from Jesus Christ or the revealing of Jesus Christ.  I prefer the latter construction because that's just what this book is.  If you go to it only for a revelation of end-time events, I think you're missing the chief beauty of this book.  Speaking of which, we should talk about what the word "apocalypse" means.

G602 ἀποκάλυψις apokalupsis ap-ok-al'-oop-sis

From G601; disclosure: - appearing, coming, lighten, manifestation, be revealed, revelation. Total KJV occurrences: 18

We get our word "apocalypse" from the Greek word translated as "Revelation".  But when you think of an apocalypse what do you think of?  Typically we think of the end of the world or cataclysmic events (due to the nature of the things described in Revelation).  However, when we realize that an apocalypse is simply an unveiling or revealing, and that this book is a revealing or uncovering or unveiling of Jesus Christ...we get a different understanding.  And this first chapter in particular unveils Jesus Christ in some magnificent, earth-shattering ways.

I have a friend, Antonio, who has a way of looking at the New Testament as a picture of the Tabernacle.  The four gospels are the foursquare altar where the sacrifice for atonement of Jesus is made.  The book of Acts is the laver of washing, where the church is born and receives the cleansing power of that sacrifice to be identified with Him, (through the preaching of the word, belief, repentance, baptism, and the infilling of the Holy Ghost.)  The church, the tabernacle/temple is established.  The epistles are like entering into the Holy Place, where there is light and understanding and revelation, teaching which provides nourishment like bread, and worship of God and prayers like sweet incense rising to His throne.  But then we get to the veil.  And when we push past that Vail, past the flesh, we get to see the glory of God, and Jesus unveiled in His glory, as He is.  This is truly a powerful book, and chapter 1 is beautifully book-ended by chapters 19-22 in their depictions of Jesus.  We'll see more of that as we explore Revelation, particularly these first several verses in the introduction.

Which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; ...... for the time is at hand. 

A big issue that comes up when interpreting Revelation is the time period the book is describing.  And yet, for all the wrangling of the preterist, historicist, futurist, and idealist viewpoints, this book has had meaning for Christians from the time it was written till today, and that is a fact we should consider carefully.  The question we must think carefully about is: what kind of meaning did God intend this book to have for His Church?  And there are some extreme viewpoints I think we should avoid.  Was this book written for the first century context in which John wrote it?  Certainly!  I believe these were seven literal churches that needed these specific messages.  And yet the cry goes out, "whoever has ears to hear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches."  The extreme error we must avoid is assuming all the events have already happened and therefore these prophecies do not apply to us.  Similarly, a viewpoint that puts these things entirely in the future might feel similarly.  But Jesus says the blessing in reading and hearing and keeping these words is emphasized by the fact that "the time is at hand."  Only for those first century readers?  I think not.  Is Philippians 4:5 only for first century readers when Paul says, "Let your moderation be known unto all men; the Lord is at hand."?  I believe the entire church age over the last 2,000 years comprises "the last days".  We are the people Paul described as those "upon whom the end of the world has come".  Revelation is for US.  We are living in the time that Jesus brought about in enacting the New Covenant, and as such these are the last days.  Let's not make the mistake of the mocking scoffers in 2nd Peter chapter 3.  I like the quote from Aslan when Lucy presses him on what he means by "soon" in The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. Aslan responds, "Child, to me, all times are soon."  We musn't blow off the timeless message of Revelation by trying to tie down events to a particular time in human history.  Yes, it was for them in the past, and yes, this is for them in the future.  But it's also for us.  And isn't that just how the One who Was and Is and Is to Come would deliver a message?

And he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John: who bare record of the word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all things that he saw. 

John sees his role here as a witness and a mediator.  Which is exactly what we are! Even if we haven't seen a miraculous vision, we can bare record of the Word of God, of the testimony of Jesus, and of the things we have seen God do in our own lives.  Like Peter and John said to the Sanhedrin in Acts 4:20, we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.  This threefold testimony of being familiar enough with God's Word to use it as evidence, with who Jesus is in the gospels and in our lives, and of our own experience is how we become God's witnesses in this world, as He intended Israel to be in Isaiah 43:10.

Revelation 1:3  Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: 

As I mentioned in my last post, there is a blessing to those who read and hear the words of this prophecy, but there's one more catch.  Blessed are those who KEEP those things which are written therein.  That means that this is a book to be obeyed, whose principles must be remembered and guarded, and that we should keep present in our minds and hearts.  I have felt convicted that I have largely neglected teaching out of Revelation because I'm afraid of being drawn into controversy and uncertainty.  But I feel very strongly now that this book is for us, now, today, and for all of God's people in all times.  This book is crucial to know, and there is an inherent blessing in reading and listening to these words.  I hope in the upcoming blog posts you will also be blessed!

Ground Rules for a Group Study of Revelation

Currently, I am leading a Bible study that is going through the book of Revelation.  I have led Bible studies verse by verse through many books of the Bible over the years, really getting a lot out of even books that people find difficult like Leviticus or Ecclesiastes.  But I have tended to stay away from Revelation simply because I don't have my own eschatological views firmly established, and it can become very contentious very quickly.  I remember deciding I would read through it with a brother one time and we would just take it as it is, but we gave up at chapter 6.

This particular group however kept pressing me, and I realized how foolish it was to avoid the climactic, culminating book of the Bible that brings the whole story together.  Just because it's controversial doesn't mean we should ignore it.

But that being said, I knew I didn't want just a free-for-all.  So I told them we would do Revelation if we came up with some ground rules.  These are the ground rules I came up with and decided I would share them on my blog in case it's helpful to someone else.  I'm also going to try to post insights from the book as we go along. (We'll see if I can keep up with it!)  But for what it's worth, here are my group study ground rules for studying what some people may consider the weirdest book of the Bible!

 Ground Rules for Study of Revelation:

          As I set out these ground rules, please remember that I am not saying this is the only legitimate way to study Revelation or that you cannot make your own applications in other ways.  But with my limited knowledge, and with my lack of certainty, and with the nature of our group, and with considering other people’s GREAT certainty, this is how I am asking that we proceed forward with this study.  I am actually very excited about it, and believe it will be a HUGE benefit, but it IS going to be different from how many people approach it.

• I am not interested in trying to match the predictions in Revelation to specific events, current, historical, or otherwise.
• I am not interested in trying to construct a timeline, so leave your timeline charts at home.  Literary structure charts of the book, on the other hand, are fine.
• We are taking the book as a literary whole, meaning we are not trying to find out if the events predicted themselves are chronological, but rather, why they have been given to us in this order, and how it fits into the structure and themes of the book.
• Revelation is not a stand-alone book.  It is the culmination of the entire Bible, Old AND New Testaments, which means that it wraps up the overall story told in the prior 65 books. We will be seeking to explore those themes and interpreting symbols in Revelation based on the allusions it is making to the rest of Scripture.  If you have not read those other books, now would be a great time to start!
• We will be interpreting Revelation in light of the rest of Scripture, but also, the rest of Scripture in light of Revelation.  In other words, Revelation has some incredibly profound things to say by tying up threads left hanging in other places in the Bible, but we will need to understand the context of those previous hanging threads in order to understand what Revelation is teaching about them.
• Rather than viewing Revelation as a crystal ball to see the future (or the past, depending on your interpretation), in this study, we will be viewing Revelation as a book of teaching with instructions to be obeyed (Rev. 1:3; 22:7).  Therefore, our first thought as we read any passage will be to understand its theological implications (what does this say about God?), its practical obedience implications (what does this say about us and how we should live?), and its worldview implications (what does this say about our world and the spiritual and physical realities of it?).
• Finally, if a discussion is getting too heated about a particular viewpoint, we will close the discussion and move on to the next passage.  I don’t want this to be a battle of viewpoints, but rather an honest and open search for truth, so it is super important that we treat each other and each other’s views with grace, love, and wisdom.

Hope that all makes sense!  Again, I’m not trying to say that constructing timelines or matching events is an invalid way to study Revelation…that’s just not what we’re trying to do here.  And I hope that many people can come and be blessed and enriched by this study!

There Arose to Defend Israel...a Worm

When people ask you what your favorite verse in the Bible is, I doubt that Judges 10:1 springs right to mind.  Not that it's a verse you dislike...I just imagine that maybe, if you're like me, you haven't thought much about this verse in the past.

And when someone asks who your favorite judge in the book of Judges is (uh, no, I've never been asked that question and I don't know why someone would ask it, but just work with me here) I doubt Tola is the first guy you think of.  You may be partial to Samson with his superhuman strength or Gideon because of the amazing underdog story there. You may even think of Deborah (particularly if you want to emphasize that she was a WOMAN), or MAYBE Ehud, but Tola...what do we know about Tola?  Not much as it turns out.  Here's what we've got on him:

Judges 10:1  And after Abimelech there arose to defend Israel Tola the son of Puah, the son of Dodo, a man of Issachar; and he dwelt in Shamir in mount Ephraim. 
Judges 10:2  And he judged Israel twenty and three years, and died, and was buried in Shamir. 

Pretty riveting stuff, huh?

We've got a name, a small genealogy, the tribe he's from, the place he lived, the length of time he judged, and the place he was buried.  What? No story? No conquering cities to win the hand of the fair maiden, as Othniel did? No Ehud's assassin dagger? No long origin story like with Gideon, or interesting tidbits about the way he defended Israel like with Deborah and Barak?  Come on, even with Shamgar, another judge we have only two verses about, we have enough to set our imagination afire as we learn that he fought off 600 Philistines with an ox goad.  But with Tola, eh, not a lot to go on.

Or so I thought.

I've been teaching a youth Bible study through the book of Judges, and I assumed we would fly through chapter 10 and get right into the story of Jephthah, once we got there.  We had pulled some pretty interesting things out of Abimelech's story, and now it's time to move onto the next main guy.  I thought we'd read about Tola and Jair just to get through them and give them a mention since the Bible does, but it wouldn't be the main highlight.  But when someone brings a Bible dictionary and starts looking up names and places, you may just get derailed.  Which is what happened and we spent the entire Bible study talking about one guy: Tola.  Not so much about his life, but because of what his name means.  Someone looked it up, and when I realized what it was talking about I freaked out.

H8439
תּוֹלָע
tôlâ‛
to-law'
The same as H8438; worm; Tola, the name of two Israelites: - Tola.
Total KJV occurrences: 6

At this point, you may still be squinting your eyes at the screen you're reading this on, wondering what I got so excited about.  "Why is Michael so excited about a worm?"

So let's dig a little deeper.  This isn't referring to your general earthworm with which you go fishing.  I got excited because I recognized that this specific kind of worm was also mentioned in a Messianic psalm written by David but clearly pointing to the Messiah:

Psalm 22:6  But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people. 

Kind of a downer verse, huh? ("Boy, Michael, you sure are hitting all the Biblical high points in this blog post!"  Oh, don't worry...I have some stuff about the building of the Tabernacle coming up too...)

At first glance, the author of the psalm just seems to be beating himself up. Or at least describing how others look down on him.  He's not just saying, "I'm the worst, no one likes me; I guess I'll go eat a worm", but describing himself as the actual worm a person may eat!  But, this psalm has a deeper significance than that.  In case you're not familiar with why I call this a Messianic psalm, let me give a quick breakdown of some specific points... (You may skip this numbered sidebar if you're already convinced Psalm 22 is Messianic and want to get on to the wormy part.)

1) The psalm starts with the phrase: "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" You may recall that these are the exact words Jesus cried out from the cross in Aramaic just before he died. (Matt. 27:46; Mark 15:34) In those days they didn't necessarily have numbered psalms but would reference a psalm by quoting the first phrase.  Though I absolutely believe Jesus felt the weight of the world's sin on him, bringing the separation described here, I also believe he wanted to point our attention to this psalm in his final moments.
2) After the verse that prompted this post describing himself as a worm, a reproach of men, and despised of the people, the next two verses describe what people were actually saying about him..."All they that see me laugh me to scorn: they shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying, He trusted on the LORD that he would deliver him: let him deliver him, seeing he delighted in him." These words are almost verbatim what the chief priests said about Jesus while he was on the cross.  The text also mentions that those who passed by reviled him, wagging their heads and mocked him. Even the thieves who were being crucified with him said similar things! (Matthew 27:39-44)
3) The psalmist continues to describe his torment as strong bulls of Bashan surrounding him, gaping at him like a ravenous lion. The prophet Amos described the corrupt leaders of Israel with this description (Amos 4:1), and if corrupt Israelite leaders are in mind in this psalm, we certainly see them attacking with wide open mouths in Jesus's case.
4) The psalmist continues, "I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint: my heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels." Interesting how John was quick to point out that when Jesus died, blood and water poured out of his side when he was pierced with a spear. (John 19:34) Medical experts have proposed that it came from Jesus's heart.
5) Again, the experience is described: "My strength is dried up like a potsherd; and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws; and thou hast brought me into the dust of death." Before Jesus ever got to the cross, his strength gave way so that someone had to help him carry his cross. (Luke 23:26) One of the simplest but most poignant statements we get from the mouth of Jesus on the cross was the two-word sentence: "I thirst." (John 19:28)
6) After describing the bulls of Bashan surrounding him, the psalmist also makes mention of "dogs" and the "wicked" surrounding him. "For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked have inclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet." Dogs are often a way of describing the wicked Gentiles (Matt. 15:26; Phil. 3:2; Rev. 22:15). If the bulls refer to the leadership of Israel, and dogs refer to the Gentile Romans, the description of what they do to the psalmist's hands and feet is almost shockingly prophetic in what happened to Jesus. (Luke 23:33; John 20:25)
7) "I may tell all my bones: they look and stare upon me." (John 19:33-37)
8) "They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture." The gospel writers explicitly draw attention to this particular verse as a fulfilled prophecy in two cases, though all four gospels record that this happened to Jesus. (John 19:23-24; Matthew 27:35)
9) The author of Hebrews applies this phrase to Jesus from the resurrection portion of the psalm: "I will declare thy name unto my brethren: in the midst of the congregation will I praise thee." (Hebrews 2:12)

I could go on, but you get the picture.  The parallels between this psalm and Jesus's crucifixion are clearly staggering, and the early church obviously recognized this psalm as a prophecy concerning the Messiah, given how often they quoted in reference to Jesus.

So, back to the original question, what is the significance of the psalmist/Messiah calling himself a worm or, as some translate it, maggot?  Isn't it just an expression of humility? Well, it certainly is that, but not only that.

This is actually a specific kind of worm, described in Strong's as follows:

H8438
תֹּלַעַת    תּוֹלַעַת    תּוֹלֵעָה    תּוֹלָע
tôlâ‛    tôlê‛âh    tôla‛ath    tôla‛ath
to-law', to-lay-aw', (3,4) to-lah'-ath
From H3216; a maggot (as voracious); specifically (often with ellipsis of H8144) the crimson grub, but used only (in this connection) of the color from it, and cloths dyed therewith: - crimson, scarlet, worm.
Total KJV occurrences: 43

To underscore my distinguishing between this and other worms, this is a different kind of worm than is mentioned at the beginning of Job 25:6 (which is entirely derogatory) with the following definition that matches how we most often think of worms or maggots in a Biblical context:
Job 25:6  How much less man, that is a worm? and the son of man, which is a worm? 

H7415
רמּה
rimmâh
BDB Definition:
1) maggot, worm (as cause and sign of decay)

Both are often mentioned together, as in the above verse, but there is something special that separates the tola from the rimmah, though both translated in the KJV as "worms".  We learn from the encyclopedia the following information:

CRIMSON WORM , biblical tola'at shani (Heb. תּוֹלַעַת שָׁנִי), which yields a dye, called in the Bible shani, tola, karmil, and in rabbinic literature zehorit, which was extracted from the body of the "crimson worm" (carmine), the Kermes biblicus.
("Crimson Worm." Encyclopaedia Judaica. . Retrieved July 17, 2019 from Encyclopedia.com: https://www.encyclopedia.com/religion/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/crimson-worm)

In fact, this color is what they used to dye many things in the Tabernacle: the innermost layer of curtains making up the inside of the Tabernacle (Ex. 26:1), the vail that separated the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place (Ex. 26:31), the hanging for the door to the Holy Place (Ex. 26:36), the gate to get into the outer court (Ex. 27:16), the ephod, girdle and breastplate of the high priest (Ex. 28:6, 8, 15) and even the pomegranates on the hem of his robe (Ex. 28:33).  The dye was to be used in the cleansing of the leper in Leviticus 14 and in the ashes of a heifer for purification after touching a dead body in Numbers 19.  A scarlet cloth made with this same dye was to cover the bread and instruments on the table of showbread when it was being moved according to Numbers 4:8.

Studies have been done on this worm in the Promised Land, and researchers believe they have identified the very creature described here.

Apparently, the female worm attaches itself to some sort of tree (usually oak) where she lays her eggs, then dies in process of giving them life.

"Kermes echinatus larvae are cleaved during summer from their mother coccoid, which dies thereafter." (Zohar Amar, Hugo Gottlieb, Lucy Varshavsky, David Iluz, The Scarlet Dye of the Holy Land, BioScience, Volume 55, Issue 12, December 2005, Pages 1080–1083, https://doi.org/10.1641/0006-3568(2005)055[1080:TSDOTH]2.0.CO;2)

And again, we see this entry from Dr. Henry Morris:

"When the female of the scarlet worm species was ready to give birth to her young, she would attach her body to the trunk of a tree, fixing herself so firmly and permanently that she would never leave again. The eggs deposited beneath her body were thus protected until the larvae were hatched and able to enter their own life cycle. As the mother died, the crimson fluid stained her body and the surrounding wood. From the dead bodies of such female scarlet worms, the commercial scarlet dyes of antiquity were extracted."
(Dr. Henry Morris, "Biblical Basis for Modern Science", p. 73. Baker Book House, 1985.)

According to Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913):

Kermes \Ker"mes\, n. [Ar. & Per. girmiz. See Crimson, and cf.

   Alkermes.]
   1.(Zo["o]l.) The dried bodies of the females of a scale
      insect (Coccus ilicis), allied to the cochineal insect,
      and found on several species of oak near the
     Mediterranean. They are round, about the size of a pea,
      contain coloring matter analogous to carmine, and are used
      in dyeing. They were anciently thought to be of a
      vegetable nature, and were used in medicine. [Written also
      chermes.]

In response to those who believe the dye actually came from a plant instead of a living creature, Rabbi Moshe Bloom writes,

There are several poskim who believe that it does not make sense that the shani dye would be produced from a non-kosher insect, so they hold that the dye is plant-based (note that the same problem exists for both argaman and techelet). However, the Yerushalmi (Kila'im 9:1) states outright: "What is tola'at shani? Something with the spirit of life."https://www.toraland.org.il/en/beit-midrash/articles/place-and-parasha/shemot/parashat-pekudei-the-biblical-scarlet-worm-tolaat-hashani/

He also references the tradition in the Mishna that two woolen strings (dyed with the dye from this particular worm) were used on the Day of Atonement, one hanging above the door and another from the horns of the goat.

When the goat reached its final destination in the desert, the woolen string in the heichal would turn white. This was a Divine sign that the Jewish People's sins were atoned (Yoma 6:6-8). 
https://www.toraland.org.il/en/beit-midrash/articles/place-and-parasha/shemot/parashat-pekudei-the-biblical-scarlet-worm-tolaat-hashani/

The rabbi connects the tradition with Isaiah 1:18, which says, "Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool."   The words for "scarlet" and "crimson" in this verse are connected with...you guessed it!...the tola worm.

Are you seeing the connections here??  Just to summarize, the Messiah in Psalm 22:6 is referred to as a worm, but not just any worm, a small, unattractive, living creature with "the spirit of life" that dies on a tree giving life to its children, producing a scarlet, crimson dye that is used in the Tabernacle, specifically connected with Atonement providing purity to the children of Israel!  AND it was used in medicine.  Isn't that incredible?  The gospel story told in the life cycle of a bug!

So back to the original verses in Judges, which we started with, I see the gospel radiating out of this short story, as well.

After Abimelech
The Bible tells us that Tola arose "after Abimelech."  Well, if you just read Judges chapter 9, you would know that Abimelech was the first self-proclaimed king of Israel.  He was the lowly, practically illegitimate son of one of Gideon's concubines.  Gideon's story is familiar to most of us, as it is one of the greatest deliverance stories in the book of Judges!  But his ending is not talked about much as he seemed to decline spiritually and make several major mistakes after God used him to defeat the Midianites.  However, he did know that God was the only rightful king over Israel.
Judges 8:22  Then the men of Israel said unto Gideon, Rule thou over us, both thou, and thy son, and thy son's son also: for thou hast delivered us from the hand of Midian. 
Judges 8:23  And Gideon said unto them, I will not rule over you, neither shall my son rule over you: the LORD shall rule over you.

His words are beautiful, however, the sentiment doesn't seem to be carried on in the name of the son his concubine bears him in Shechem, who is called "Abimelech", which is a compound of the Hebrew words for "father" and "king." "My father is king."  Growing up with this kind of heritage in his name, it seems that Abimelech really began to think of himself as deserving to rule over Israel, and when he is older, he kills his half-brother rivals and the people of Shechem proclaim him as King!  It's a sad story full of intrigue, civil war, and ultimately, his death, which is portrayed as the judgment of God for his wickedness.

Isn't it interesting that after "Abimelech" who I style as "The Self-Proclaimed King", comes someone to "defend" or "save" Israel.  Check out the Hebrew word used here for "defend" in the BDB:
H3467 ישׁע yâsha‛ BDB Definition:
1) to save, be saved, be delivered
1a) (Niphal) to be liberated, be saved, be delivered, to be saved (in battle), be victorious
1b) (Hiphil) to save, deliver, to save from moral troubles, to give victory to
Part of Speech: verb

This is one of the roots that form the name "Joshua", or as our English transliteration from the Greek would pronounce it, "Jesus."

Who arrives to save Israel after the self-proclaimed king who causes destruction and strife? Is it another king? A warrior?  The contrast in the Hebrew cracks me up.  No, after Abimelech there arose to defend Israel...Tola.  A worm.  But as, I've pointed out, at great and possibly unnecessary length through this blog post, not just any worm.  The Tola worm that dies to give life, leaving a scarlet dye symbolizing our atonement

And, in fact, what do we know about Tola?  He was the son of Puah, whose name signifies a blast of breath or wind, a blowing away, a metaphor for the Spirit.  The son of Dodo, the loving/beloved.  A man of Issachar, which means "he will bring a reward", depicted by Jacob in his blessing as a strong but serving donkey ladened between two burdens. He lives in Shamir, a place of thorns, in the mountain of Ephraim, which ultimately produces double fruit.  These are all passive descriptions of his lineage and dwelling place.

What are the active verbs that describe what he did?  He judged, he died, he was buried.  But, if I can switch around the order of the verbs, and place the first action he did last, as the ESV says, he "arose to save Israel." He judged, he died, he buried, he arose.  The BBE words it differently but makes it explicit that he "became the saviour of Israel."

"Aw, come on, Michael," you say.  "Aren't you going a little overboard with all these word tricks?  Isn't this just a bunch of verbal gymnastics to make a mountain out of a molehill and force something out of the passage that isn't there?"  Maybe.  But I still think there's something we can learn here in the life of this judge who is given two whole verses of Scripture.

Let me ask you...are you an Abimelech?  Have you proclaimed yourself as the king of your life, perhaps justifying your action by the mistakes of your mentors or the hard life you've lived?  Are you trying to establish your own throne?  Have you chosen the path of Abimelech?

If so, I want to encourage you to consider another way.  There is another who can arise to save you.  The tree stained red may be difficult to look at.  The worm who wants to save you isn't necessarily attractive to the eye.  Not like an Abimelech or an Absalom who flatters and offers you peace even as he rebels against the ways of his father who knew that the Lord is the only true and rightful king over your life.

Yet in the life, death, burial, and resurrection of the true and greater Tola, an offer is made: "Come now, let us reason together.  Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be white as snow."

You may think I've gone way overboard in this analysis of two simple verses.  But I'll warrant that the next time you come across Judges 10, you'll read it slightly differently, and perhaps you'll be reminded of a picture of your true Savior and Defender who died to give you life if you'll only give up the rebellious ways of Abimelech, who must be put to death to open the way for Another who invites you to die and be buried with Him so that you can arise with Him to walk in newness of life. (Rom. 6:1-6)

Judges 10:1  And after Abimelech there arose to defend Israel Tola the son of Puah, the son of Dodo, a man of Issachar; and he dwelt in Shamir in mount Ephraim. 
Judges 10:2  And he judged Israel twenty and three years, and died, and was buried in Shamir.