Revelation #11--week of Nov. 14-Nov.18
#11—But I have This Against You
1. What is Rev. 1:19-2:7 about?
2. What is Jer. 2:1-19 about?
3. What is the example that PS gives from the gospel of John of the word & sign going together?
4. What is the pattern of getting the message to the church when heavenly visions are given in Rev. as well as in Ez., Daniel, and Zechariah?
5. After the introduction what three parts does PS divided the letter to the Ephesians into?
6. Which part does he say is the most important?
7. In your own words what is the first commendation (2:2-3)?
8. In your own words what is the condemnation?
9. Jer. 2:13 says that the Israelites have committed 2 evils: forsaking God & going after false gods ( hewing broken cisterns for themselves). Which of these were the Ephesians guilty of?
10.What is the danger of forsaking God even without going after false gods?
11.What is the threat to the church at Ephesus if they don’t repent?
12. What is the 2nd commendation?
13.What were the five examples PS gave of lamps in the right place.
14.What application did you make?
15.Anything else from this message that you would like to discuss?
16.What Psalm did they sing at the end? Why?
Further Comment/Discussion: (Read these comments of mine; if you find something to think about and/or write do it; we will probably go over and discuss.)
1. Remember letters are rooted in the commissioning vision because each letter starts with a phrase of identification from it.
2. Likewise the letters are an introduction to the visions. They are linked together because there were 7 letters and many cycles of the visions have “7” in them. The letters & visions mutually interpret each other. Words & signs are often found together in scripture. E.g. Jesus said “I am the light of the world” and then He healed the man born blind. The word explains the vision and the vision proves the word.
3. The letters are God’s judgment of the church & the visions are God’s judgment of the world. This is another classic distinction seen in the OT most clearly in Ez. Where 4-24 is the judgment of Israel and 25-32 is the judgment of the world. (I’m not sure if Swartz meant that words are used to judge the church & visions to judge the world—I don’t think that this is the case in scripture.)
4. Judgment is always good news for the righteous and bad news for the wicked.
5. How do we know that a prophetic word is about to be spoken? (my note: I don’t
understand significance of this)
In OT prophecy often proceeded by “Thus says the Lord”
In Rev. is phrase, λέγει ὁ (followed by phrase identifying Him)
In Ez. Phrase is: λέγει κύριος
PS says He identifies Himself as lamplighter. (I don’t understand where this comes from--do you?). He holds stars & walks among the lampstands. This phrase is used because he talks to the Ephesians about being light bearers. All churches in this world are a mixed bag. The good doesn’t negate the bad and vice versa.
6. Many verses listed relating to breach of contract: Prov. 5:18, Is. 54:6, Mal. 2:14, Micah 6:2f, etc.
7. Forsake: #5800—means to leave, to abandon, to forsake, to loose: can mean going to a new location or to separate oneself from a person
1. What is Rev. 1:19-2:7 about?
2. What is Jer. 2:1-19 about?
3. What is the example that PS gives from the gospel of John of the word & sign going together?
4. What is the pattern of getting the message to the church when heavenly visions are given in Rev. as well as in Ez., Daniel, and Zechariah?
5. After the introduction what three parts does PS divided the letter to the Ephesians into?
6. Which part does he say is the most important?
7. In your own words what is the first commendation (2:2-3)?
8. In your own words what is the condemnation?
9. Jer. 2:13 says that the Israelites have committed 2 evils: forsaking God & going after false gods ( hewing broken cisterns for themselves). Which of these were the Ephesians guilty of?
10.What is the danger of forsaking God even without going after false gods?
11.What is the threat to the church at Ephesus if they don’t repent?
12. What is the 2nd commendation?
13.What were the five examples PS gave of lamps in the right place.
14.What application did you make?
15.Anything else from this message that you would like to discuss?
16.What Psalm did they sing at the end? Why?
Further Comment/Discussion: (Read these comments of mine; if you find something to think about and/or write do it; we will probably go over and discuss.)
1. Remember letters are rooted in the commissioning vision because each letter starts with a phrase of identification from it.
2. Likewise the letters are an introduction to the visions. They are linked together because there were 7 letters and many cycles of the visions have “7” in them. The letters & visions mutually interpret each other. Words & signs are often found together in scripture. E.g. Jesus said “I am the light of the world” and then He healed the man born blind. The word explains the vision and the vision proves the word.
3. The letters are God’s judgment of the church & the visions are God’s judgment of the world. This is another classic distinction seen in the OT most clearly in Ez. Where 4-24 is the judgment of Israel and 25-32 is the judgment of the world. (I’m not sure if Swartz meant that words are used to judge the church & visions to judge the world—I don’t think that this is the case in scripture.)
4. Judgment is always good news for the righteous and bad news for the wicked.
5. How do we know that a prophetic word is about to be spoken? (my note: I don’t
understand significance of this)
In OT prophecy often proceeded by “Thus says the Lord”
In Rev. is phrase, λέγει ὁ (followed by phrase identifying Him)
In Ez. Phrase is: λέγει κύριος
PS says He identifies Himself as lamplighter. (I don’t understand where this comes from--do you?). He holds stars & walks among the lampstands. This phrase is used because he talks to the Ephesians about being light bearers. All churches in this world are a mixed bag. The good doesn’t negate the bad and vice versa.
6. Many verses listed relating to breach of contract: Prov. 5:18, Is. 54:6, Mal. 2:14, Micah 6:2f, etc.
7. Forsake: #5800—means to leave, to abandon, to forsake, to loose: can mean going to a new location or to separate oneself from a person
posted by Ancient Literature & History at 3:04 AM
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