Revelation 1:1 The Revelation of Jesus Christ…
This as far as we need to go. One reason people have trouble with the Book of Revelation is because of the symbolism and cryptic sayings. But the primary reason is because they are looking for the wrong information. They want to know: What does 666 mean? Who is the beast? the false prophet? the antichrist? What are all those ugly things coming up out of the abyss and those three spirits like frogs? What does all that mean? They are focused on the wrong things. And, consequently, they miss what the Book of Revelation is all about. The key that unlocks the Book of Revelation is given in the first words: The Revelation of Jesus Christ…
The Greek word for “revelation” is apokalupsis. It means to “uncover, unveil, or reveal.” Therefore the Book of Revelation is the unveiling or revealing of Jesus Christ, and not just Christ as an individual but also the many-membered Body of Christ with the Lord Jesus as Head. We are only in the beginning stages of the Body of Christ. That does not eliminate those who have gone on before; they are part of it, too. It just means that we are in the beginning stages of the completed work. Actually, most of it is done in the end-time, or should I say the beginning time. It depends on your point of reference.
There is so much promised for the last days. Do you know what the last days are? People talk about the things that are going to happen. There are many promises and fulfillments spoken of in the Bible concerning the last days. What are your last days? After you reach adulthood you have come into your last days. So when a promise is given for the last days, don’t shove it out into the future for someone else to experience. It is for you when you come into your spiritual adulthood. When you become spiritually mature, then you are in your last days, the days when you can experience many fulfillments in the Lord.
Jesus told His disciples, I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. Howbeit when He, the Spirit of Truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth… John 16:12-13. When you come to the days of your spiritual adulthood, then you have come to the last days when many things can come to pass that could not have happened before. These are your last days.
The Book of Revelation is concerning the unveiling or revealing of the many-membered Body of Christ. You see that even in the very first chapter. John said, I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and I heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet…And I turned to see the voice that spake with me. And being turned I saw seven golden candlesticks; and in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man… Revelation 1:10,12,13. John saw the Lord Jesus Christ in the midst of His Church. The voice of the Lord was coming forth out of the Body of Christ. Everything that takes place from this point on will take place through the Body of Christ. Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but He reveals His secret unto His servants the prophets. Amos 3:7. Why? because they have to speak it! They have to be the channels!
John 7:37-38 In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus
stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto Me, and drink,
38 He that believeth on Me, as the Scripture hath said,
out of His belly shall flow rivers of living water.
Many Christians are looking for an outpouring of the Holy Spirit to take place in the last days, a latter day outpouring of the latter rain. “One day,” they say, “the Lord will bring revival. God will pour out His Spirit.” It is already poured out! It is not a matter of Him doing it in the future. It is a matter of us ascending to the place where it is happening. That outpouring of the Holy Spirit takes place through people. It is not a sudden descending of the Holy Spirit upon man from the heavens above. But there will be those who will drink of Him until they are filled to overflowing and out of their most inner being shall flow rivers of living water, and that will be the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.
If we sit back and wait for God to pour out His Spirit, it won’t ever happen. We have to appropriate it! We have to drink of His life! And we have to do it with an awareness that it is not only to be contained in us but it must also flow right on through us. That is where the life is! That is where the joy is! It is when you become a giver, when you are ministering His life and presence that you will find joy unspeakable.
You know what the Dead Sea is like. It is dead because there is no outlet. Water stagnates when it doesn’t flow. We don’t want to be Dead Sea Christians. It is when the waters of life are flowing through you that there is change. You can only go so far in just appropriating unto yourself. True life and joy is found when His life flows through you. Now we must move on to Leviticus.
A key to opening up the Pentateuch is found in John 5:46-47. For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed Me: for he wrote of Me. But if ye believed not his writings, how shall ye believe My words? Like the Book of Revelation the purpose of the Pentateuch is to reveal Christ. Moses wrote of Him, so a revelation of Him is what we should look for in his writings. But many Christians get caught up in the begets and begots, the sacrifices and offerings, etc., and miss the underlying revelation of Christ. We must learn how to look beyond the symbolism and feast on the hidden manna of the Spirit of God.
Leviticus 1:1 And the Lord called…
That is as far as we need to go. What is the word “and”? It is a conjunction, and a conjunction connects two things together. What is it bringing together here? Exodus and Leviticus! What does the word “exodus” mean? Our English word “exit” is derived from the word “exodus.” Exodus means “to go out.” In the Book of Exodus we find the children of Israel in slavery in Egypt. God uses Moses to bring them out. It is the “Going-out Book.” The key word in Exodus is “redemption,” because it is about God redeeming His people.
Many consider Egypt to be a type of the bondage of this world, and when a person becomes a Christian he is brought out of Egypt. Not so! Those Israelites were His people before they went in. Egypt is a type of the bondage that His people have gotten themselves into. It is a religious bondage. They are under taskmasters that say, “Thou shalt do this or not do this and thou shalt do that or not do that.” The Pharisaic taskmasters keep them in line. That is what Egypt is. But God is going to bring His people out. There is going to be another exodus.
Egypt was likened unto an iron furnace. But the Lord hath taken you, and brought you forth out of the iron furnace, even out of Egypt, to be unto Him a people of inheritance, as ye are this day. Deuteronomy 4:20. Many Christians today are living in an iron furnace. They are trying to please God by the things they do. The only way you can please God is by becoming, by His life invading your life so that He can be expressed through you. That is what God wants.
Exodus is the going out book. Leviticus is the book that gives the procedure for presenting yourself unto the Lord – in symbolic language, of course.
Leviticus 1:1 And the Lord called…
Exodus is the coming out of one realm, and Leviticus is the going in to another realm. It gives you the principles and truths so you can come into the Lord. That is what the conjunction “and” is for. It connects the two. It is one thing to come out of Egypt; it is quite another thing to come unto the Lord. And too many Christians just want to come out of sin; they don’t want to submit to His Lordship.
The first sacrifice spoken of in this chapter of Leviticus is the whole burnt offering, which is the presenting of your whole self unto the Lord as a living sacrifice. The whole burnt offering in the Old Testament corresponds to Romans 12:1. I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. That isn’t speaking of non-Christians. Only a Christian can be a living sacrifice. If you aren’t a Christian, you are dead. What can God do with a dead sacrifice? He needs those He can live in and move through. God wants to live in you! He wants to express Himself through you.
Leviticus 1:1 And the Lord called…
The Hebrew word for “call” (qara) is quite interesting. It is a word that is often used in calling forth new life, such as in Genesis 21:3: And Abraham called (qara) the name of his son…Isaac. When you name your child, calling him a particular name, then that is a new life being presented into the world. So when God calls, He is calling you to new life.
The Lord brought them out of Egypt and now He is calling them to a new life in Him. It is one thing to come out of the old; it is quite another thing to come into His life. If you ask, “Do you know the Lord?” Christians will respond, “Yes, I know the Lord,” when many of them don’t know the Lord at all. They know about Him. They have read the Bible and believed what their preacher has said about Him, but experiencing His life is something else entirely. I’m not talking about “I’ve got Jesus in my heart by faith.” I’m talking about His life in us. It is a different thing. So God brought them out. Then He called them unto Himself, a new life, a new world. That is what God is making available to us now. He is setting before us an open door and saying, “Here is access into My life.” When we walk through that door into His life, then we become a door of access into God for someone else that they may come through us to Him.
Here is another thing of interest about Exodus and Leviticus. God was speaking from Mount Sinai in Exodus. He gave them the Ten Commandments there. They were conditioned by their slavery and couldn’t relate to anything but commandments – “Don’t do this and don’t do that.” But when you get to Leviticus the Tabernacle is built, and God moved His dwelling place from the Mount to the Mercy Seat over the Ark of the Covenant in the Holy of Holies.
The law that came from Sinai revealed the sinfulness of man; it condemned him and brought him under judgment. But when the Ten Commandments were put in the ark and covered with the Mercy Seat, the law was changed from a condemning Word to a Word of mercy and grace. Jesus Christ is our mercy seat. He puts grace and mercy in the Word. For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. Romans 1:17.
So God has changed His position. He was speaking from Sinai, but now He has moved to the tabernacle, which means that He is in the midst of His people. The Shekinah Glory is resting over the Mercy Seat and it is from there that God is speaking. It is a whole new world. Underlying everything in the Book of Leviticus is New Testament truth, the principles of the Kingdom. God has moved from a voice that condemns to a voice of grace and mercy. It is a Word that calls us into the new world of His very presence and life.
We are being called out and called into. Leviticus is definitely a Word for us. We have been in Egypt. In fact, we still have some Egypt in us; we still have some Babylon in us, some religious ways that we need to be free of. It is not this or that. Much of the Christian world says you are either saved or not saved. Everything is not black or white. We are being called out and at the same time there is a Word calling us unto. There is an overlapping. Before we are completely out of Egypt we are being called unto Him. So while we are coming out, we are also coming unto.
It is very important for us to understand that God is calling us to new life in Him. I’m not talking about becoming a Christian. I’m talking about Christians being called to a life realm not previously known. That means it is up to us. Do you want to move into this new life realm? The cost is your old life! After you ride with Noah in the ark through the floods and get to the other side you have reached a new day. You don’t continue to live in the ark; you get out of the ark and leave it behind. You don’t need it anymore. Wherever you are in your spiritual life, the Lord is saying, “Leave your ark! I’m calling you to a new life.”
“Oh, I’ve got some things here I really love. I want to take them with me. There are ways that the Lord has blessed me. I can’t leave them.” But the Lord says, “You can’t take those with you.” But you say, “These are good things, God gave them to me.” Nevertheless, you can’t take them with you. It’s a new day! It’s a new life! It is the principle of leaving the good for the better, and then leaving the better for the best. He taketh away the first, that He may establish the second. Hebrews 10:9. We have to decide. Are we satisfied where we are, or do we want to move into a new realm of His life?
You are called into a new life in God. You have access into God’s world. Do you want it? Do you realize that this access has been given and many Christians don’t even know about it or want it? And many that do want it can’t get in it. Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and not be able. Luke 13:24. Much of the Christian world doesn’t even know that access to a higher realm has been given. But many of those who do won’t be able to enter in because they are not willing to turn loose their life.
Copyright © 1999 by Henry DuBose