Revelation 19: 9
19:9. Then he said to me, "Write: 'Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb!'"And he said to me, "These are the true sayings of God."
There are seven kinds of heavenly joy in Revelation as follows:
The figure seven refers to perfection and the middle joy or the core or the peak of joyis in Revelation 19: 9.
In short, the other six joys will peak to the fourth joy.
All joys we have in the world must peak to the joy of entering into the marriage supper of the Lamb when Jesus comes a second time.
A joy will be vain if it does not peak to the marriage supper of the Lamb and such a joy will end in perdition forever.
Whoever in the world may say that he rejoices even a robber may say like that but it is different with ours because our rejoicing peaks to the heavenly joy. The joy of men will decrease and go toward eternal perdition.
The peak of joy happens at the time of Jesus' second coming. Afterward we enter into the kingdom of peace a thousand years and into New Jerusalem.
We are discussing about the sixth joy.
Revelation 22: 7
22:7. "Behold, I am coming quickly! Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book."
Revelation 1:3
1:3. Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written in it; for the time is near.
CombiningRevelation 1:3with Revelation 22:7,we can have two conclusions as follows:
This famine happened also in Canaan, to Joseph's brothers.
Genesis 42:1-5
42:1. When Jacob saw that there was grain in Egypt, Jacob said to his sons, "Why do you look at one another?"
42:2 And he said, "Indeed I have heard that there is grain in Egypt; go down to that place and buy for us there, that we may live and not die."
42:3 So Joseph's ten brothers went down to buy grain in Egypt.
42:4 But Jacob did not send Joseph's brother Benjamin with his brothers, for he said, "Lest some calamity befall him."
42:5 And the sons of Israel went to buy grain among those who journeyed, for the famine was in the land of Canaan.
Joseph's brothers refer to shepherds. Thus, the spiritual famine happens in shepherding. Why can it happen?
THE SIGN OF SPIRITUAL FAMINE.
Looking at one another[Genesis 42:1], meaning looking always the faults of other people or judging them so there is no chance to see God or to see our own faults.
We often blame the one who is not guilty as Joseph's brothers blamed Joseph.
Consequently, there is spiritual dryness and spiritual deatheven the second death in hell in which one falls and never rises anymore.
Jacob, referring to Holy Spirit God, gave Joseph's brothers advice to buy grain in Egypt [Genesis 42:2].
Meaning Holy Spirit anoints us to humble ourselves at the Lord's feet to get the revelation of the true teaching Word.
Joseph's brothers went to Egypt to buy the grain twice, meaning as follows:
42:7. Joseph saw his brothers and recognized them, but he acted as a stranger to them and spoke roughly to them. Then he said to them, "Where do you come from?" And they said, "From the land of Canaan to buy food."
42:8 So Joseph recognized his brothers, but they did not recognize him.
42:9 Then Joseph remembered the dreams which he had dreamed about them, and said to them, "You are spies! You have come to see the nakedness of the land!"
42:10 And they said to him, "No, my lord, but your servants have come to buy food.
42:11 "We are all one man's sons; we are honest men; your servants are not spies."
42:12 But he said to them, "No, but you have come to see the nakedness of the land."
42:13 And they said, "Your servants are twelve brothers, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan; and in fact, the youngest is with our father today, and one is no more."
The right attitude in receiving and in preaching the true teaching Word is NOT COMPROMISING with the flesh such as our family, self-interest, et cetera expressly.
2 Timothy 4:2
4:2. Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching.
The contents of the true teaching Word are as follows:
The way outside the Word of God is dead-lock and perdition.
The advice of a priest is not only for our life in the world but also for our eternal life. Therefore, a priest must be in the true teaching Word firmly.
Joseph's brothers must be sanctified from the spirit of spies whether in private relationship or in ministry. The spirit of spies means as follows:
The results of being sanctified from the spirit of spies are below:
42:4. But Jacob did not send Joseph's brother Benjamin with his brothers, for he said, "Lest some calamity befall him."
Joseph's brothers have gathered together but there was not one of his brothers, that is to say Benjamin.
Genesis 43:8-9
43:8. Then Judah said to Israel his father, "Send the lad with me, and we will arise and go, that we may live and not die, both we and you and also our little ones.
43:9 "I myself will be surety for him; from my hand you shall require him. If I do not bring him back to you and set him before you, then let me bear the blame forever.
Judah had to give a guarantee to make Benjamin go with him.
Meaning Jesus has to give guarantee with the blood of redemptionby His death on the cross to build the perfect body of Christ.
Genesis 45:4,15
45:4. And Joseph said to his brothers, "Please come near to me." So they came near. Then he said: "I am Joseph your brother, whom you sold into Egypt.
45:15 Moreover he kissed all his brothers and wept over them, and after that his brothers talked with him.
In short, the teaching Word and the redemption unite what that has been far off to be near.The far Gentiles may be near to the Israelites to become one perfect body of Christ, that is to say heavenly Bride who is ready to welcome Jesus' second coming.
Ephesians 2:13-16
2:13. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought nearby the blood of Christ.
2:14 For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation,
2:15 having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace,
2:16 and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity.
The sign of entering into the oneness of the perfect body of Christ is the peace in our heart(as Joseph hugged and kissed his brothers).
The results of having the peace are below:
19:9. Then he said to me, "Write: 'Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb!'"And he said to me, "These are the true sayings of God."
There are seven kinds of heavenly joy in Revelation as follows:
- Revelation 1: 3
- Revelation 14: 13
- Revelation 16: 15
- Revelation 19: 9 (The core or the peak of joy)
- Revelation 20: 6
- Revelation 22: 7
- Revelation 22: 14
The figure seven refers to perfection and the middle joy or the core or the peak of joyis in Revelation 19: 9.
In short, the other six joys will peak to the fourth joy.
All joys we have in the world must peak to the joy of entering into the marriage supper of the Lamb when Jesus comes a second time.
A joy will be vain if it does not peak to the marriage supper of the Lamb and such a joy will end in perdition forever.
Whoever in the world may say that he rejoices even a robber may say like that but it is different with ours because our rejoicing peaks to the heavenly joy. The joy of men will decrease and go toward eternal perdition.
The peak of joy happens at the time of Jesus' second coming. Afterward we enter into the kingdom of peace a thousand years and into New Jerusalem.
We are discussing about the sixth joy.
Revelation 22: 7
22:7. "Behold, I am coming quickly! Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book."
Revelation 1:3
1:3. Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written in it; for the time is near.
CombiningRevelation 1:3with Revelation 22:7,we can have two conclusions as follows:
- Heavenly joy comes from the true teaching Word.
Committing our service to the Lord with a joy in hearing the Word of God, we have the true joy. How many times we read, we hear, and obey the Word of God (we gather the Word), those are the same times we experience the heavenly joy. - There will be no chance to read and to hear the true teaching Word or a spiritual famine will happen.
This famine happened also in Canaan, to Joseph's brothers.
Genesis 42:1-5
42:1. When Jacob saw that there was grain in Egypt, Jacob said to his sons, "Why do you look at one another?"
42:2 And he said, "Indeed I have heard that there is grain in Egypt; go down to that place and buy for us there, that we may live and not die."
42:3 So Joseph's ten brothers went down to buy grain in Egypt.
42:4 But Jacob did not send Joseph's brother Benjamin with his brothers, for he said, "Lest some calamity befall him."
42:5 And the sons of Israel went to buy grain among those who journeyed, for the famine was in the land of Canaan.
Joseph's brothers refer to shepherds. Thus, the spiritual famine happens in shepherding. Why can it happen?
- Because the shepherd is unwilling or unable to feed the sheep due to there is no revelation of the Word of God.
- Because the congregation cannot eat the true teaching Word while there is a revelation of the Word due to their keeping sins.
THE SIGN OF SPIRITUAL FAMINE.
Looking at one another[Genesis 42:1], meaning looking always the faults of other people or judging them so there is no chance to see God or to see our own faults.
We often blame the one who is not guilty as Joseph's brothers blamed Joseph.
Consequently, there is spiritual dryness and spiritual deatheven the second death in hell in which one falls and never rises anymore.
Jacob, referring to Holy Spirit God, gave Joseph's brothers advice to buy grain in Egypt [Genesis 42:2].
Meaning Holy Spirit anoints us to humble ourselves at the Lord's feet to get the revelation of the true teaching Word.
Joseph's brothers went to Egypt to buy the grain twice, meaning as follows:
- Pastors must humble themselves at Jesus' feet in order to get the revelation of God's Word.
The congregation must humble themselves also in order to eat the true teaching Word their pastor has preached. - Pastors must humble themselves to join a fellowship together with the priest who has the gift of opening the revelation of God's Word.
The requirement is the ONE TRUE TEACHING WORD.
The pastor also must lead the congregation to join the fellowship but with a spirit of consideration not with a carelessness in joining any fellowship.
- Do not seek the teaching Word only to solve problems (for congregation) or to seek the material of preaching sermon (for pastors).
Otherwise, the grain will be used up and the spiritual famine will happen again as Joseph's brothers went to Egypt once and then they used up the grain. The congregation should not seek the Word only to solve the problems because the grain must be used up. - We must seek the true teaching Word doublyin order to solve our problems or to have the material for giving sermon as well as to enter into the true fellowship of forming the perfect body of Christ as Joseph's brothers talked with him in his embrace together. As a result, there is no more famine.
42:7. Joseph saw his brothers and recognized them, but he acted as a stranger to them and spoke roughly to them. Then he said to them, "Where do you come from?" And they said, "From the land of Canaan to buy food."
42:8 So Joseph recognized his brothers, but they did not recognize him.
42:9 Then Joseph remembered the dreams which he had dreamed about them, and said to them, "You are spies! You have come to see the nakedness of the land!"
42:10 And they said to him, "No, my lord, but your servants have come to buy food.
42:11 "We are all one man's sons; we are honest men; your servants are not spies."
42:12 But he said to them, "No, but you have come to see the nakedness of the land."
42:13 And they said, "Your servants are twelve brothers, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan; and in fact, the youngest is with our father today, and one is no more."
The right attitude in receiving and in preaching the true teaching Word is NOT COMPROMISING with the flesh such as our family, self-interest, et cetera expressly.
2 Timothy 4:2
4:2. Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching.
The contents of the true teaching Word are as follows:
- Convincing, showing our sins.
- Rebuking us roughly so we can repent.
- Exhorting, guiding us so we can remain righteous and holy. The advice or exhortation is the way out of problems.
The way outside the Word of God is dead-lock and perdition.
The advice of a priest is not only for our life in the world but also for our eternal life. Therefore, a priest must be in the true teaching Word firmly.
Joseph's brothers must be sanctified from the spirit of spies whether in private relationship or in ministry. The spirit of spies means as follows:
- Seeing the weakness of other people so he cannot see his own weakness.
- Working for the interest of some particular groups only.
- Plotting or making conspiracy. It is like a fellowship but not because of the revelation of God's Word. It is a fellowship done because of envy, revenge, the interest of a group, et cetera.
Mark 3:2,6
3:2. So they watched Him closely, whether He would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse Him.
3:6 Then the Pharisees went out and immediately plotted withthe Herodians against Him, how they might destroy Him.
Pharisees are the enemy of the Herodians but they can plot together against Jesus to kill Him. - Self-truth.It means covering sins by blaming other people or pretending to do good things and even blaming God.
Do not join a fellowship with seeing the quantity but let us see true teaching Word. Joseph's ten brothers plotted against Joseph who hold fast to the true teaching lonely.
The results of being sanctified from the spirit of spies are below:
- Genesis 42:11
42:11. "We are all one man's sons; we are honest men; your servants are not spies."
The first result is honesty, meaning:- There is nothing hidden.
- There is no hypocrisy.
The first thing is the honesty about the Lord or the honesty in the true teaching Word, and then we can be honest in all other things.
Do not be as ten spies who admitted the truth of the true teaching Word but they added "nevertheless" or "but" and they were perished and unable to enter into Canaan as the consequence.
- There is nothing hidden.
- Genesis 42:13
42:13. And they said, "Your servants are twelve brothers, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan; and in fact, the youngest is with our father today, and one is no more."
The second result is a unity.We can be united, beginning in our marriage, if we can be honest. On the contrary, two people in one bed cannot be united if they are not honest.
All things can be different in joining the forming of Christ's body except these seven things:
Ephesians 4:3-6
4:3. endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
4:4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hopeof your calling;
4:5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism;
4:6 one Godand Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.- One body = one Head that is Jesus = one true teaching Word.
John 1:1,12-14
1:1. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
1:12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name:
1:13 who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
1:14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.
One body is born from one womb of the true teaching Word. - One Spirit
- One hope
- One Lord
- One faith
- One baptism
- One God.
Being honest and one heart will result in the answer of our prayer even miracles. - One body = one Head that is Jesus = one true teaching Word.
- Genesis 42:17,21
42:17. So he put them all together in prison three days.
42:21 Then they said to one another, "We are truly guilty concerning our brother, for we saw the anguish of his soul when he pleaded with us, and we would not hear; therefore this distress has come upon us."
The third result is the true teaching Word giving us strengthto be willing in suffering or experiencing the sprinkling of blood so we have the glory in form of the renewal of life as follows:- Confessing our sins.
It is the shortest way to get the help of God.
Keeping sins means a dead-lock. - Genesis 42:27-28
42:27. But as one of them opened his sack to give his donkey feed at the encampment, he saw his money; and there it was, in the mouth of his sack.
42:28 So he said to his brothers, "My money has been restored, and there it is, in my sack!" Then their hearts failed themand they were afraid, saying to one another, "What is this that God has done to us?"
= being free from the binding of moneyuntil we can say "it is more blessed to give than to receive".
As a result, we can give ourselves fully to God as a bride surrenders to heavenly Bridegroom.
- Confessing our sins.
42:4. But Jacob did not send Joseph's brother Benjamin with his brothers, for he said, "Lest some calamity befall him."
Joseph's brothers have gathered together but there was not one of his brothers, that is to say Benjamin.
Genesis 43:8-9
43:8. Then Judah said to Israel his father, "Send the lad with me, and we will arise and go, that we may live and not die, both we and you and also our little ones.
43:9 "I myself will be surety for him; from my hand you shall require him. If I do not bring him back to you and set him before you, then let me bear the blame forever.
Judah had to give a guarantee to make Benjamin go with him.
Meaning Jesus has to give guarantee with the blood of redemptionby His death on the cross to build the perfect body of Christ.
Genesis 45:4,15
45:4. And Joseph said to his brothers, "Please come near to me." So they came near. Then he said: "I am Joseph your brother, whom you sold into Egypt.
45:15 Moreover he kissed all his brothers and wept over them, and after that his brothers talked with him.
In short, the teaching Word and the redemption unite what that has been far off to be near.The far Gentiles may be near to the Israelites to become one perfect body of Christ, that is to say heavenly Bride who is ready to welcome Jesus' second coming.
Ephesians 2:13-16
2:13. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought nearby the blood of Christ.
2:14 For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation,
2:15 having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace,
2:16 and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity.
The sign of entering into the oneness of the perfect body of Christ is the peace in our heart(as Joseph hugged and kissed his brothers).
The results of having the peace are below:
- Psalm 133:1-3
133:1. <<A Song of Ascents. Of David.>> Behold, how good and how pleasant it is For brethren to dwell together in unity!
133:2 It is like the precious oil upon the head, Running down on the beard, The beard of Aaron, Running down on the edge of his garments.
133:3 It is like the dew of Hermon, Descending upon the mountains of Zion; For there the LORD commanded the blessing--Life forevermore.
= The Lord commands blessings for us, both physical blessings and eternal life nothing may hinder. - The Lord gives us anointing oil so our lamp burns continually until Jesus comes a second time.
- Romans 16:20
16:20. And the God of peace will crush Satanunder your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen.
= The Lord gives us His power to crush Satan, referring to problems, failures, diseases, et cetera. - 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24
5:23. Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
5:24 He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it.
= The Lord preserves and sanctifies our body, soul, and spirituntil we become perfect to welcome Jesus' second coming.