In the Holy of Holies

Immediately after Jesus told Peter what kind of death he would glorify God with, Peter asked for a prophetic word on John’s death. Jesus didn’t tell him, but He did prophesy about John’s future: “If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you?” (John 21:22). Many assumed that John would not die and that he would see the Second Coming of Christ. What actually happened was while John was still alive, he saw the Second Coming of Christ. John had a vision and was taken up to heaven—where time does not exist. He was basically transported thousands of years into the future and witnessed the Second Coming of Christ.

Near the end of John’s life, he was exiled to the Isle of Patmos (Greek for: “My killing”). Then it happened:

“On the Lord's Day I was in the Spirit, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet, which said: "Write on a scroll what you see and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum , Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea." I turned around to see the voice that was speaking to me. And when I turned I saw seven golden lampstands, and among the lampstands was someone "like a son of man," (Revelation 1:10 –13a).

Notice that John refers three times to where Jesus was standing: “behind me”, “I turned around”, and “when I turned”. This is possibly the only vision recorded in the Bible that begins behind the person receiving the vision. (Nothing in the Bible is insignificant!)

After he turned around, John saw Jesus standing among the seven golden lamp stands. Keep in mind that much of the Old Testament was a copy and a shadow of what is in heaven (Hebrews 8:5). For example, in the Old Testament, there was a tree of life in the Garden of Eden. In the New Testament, Revelation 22 speaks about the tree of life and that its location is in the (spiritual) city of the New Jerusalem.

The seven golden lamp stands that John saw is the spiritual equivalent of the seven golden candlesticks (described in Exodus 25) that were in the Holy Place in the Tabernacle of God. So, John saw Jesus among the candlesticks (lamp stands), therefore Jesus was standing in the (spiritual) Holy Place in the Tabernacle of God.

At the end of verse 20 in Revelation 1, Jesus explained that “…the seven lampstands are the seven churches.” So, John sees Jesus among the seven churches.

To summarize:

1. John’s vision started with Jesus behind him
2. Jesus was standing among the seven golden lampstands
3. Jesus was standing in the (spiritual)Holy Place in the Tabernacle of God
4. The seven lampstands represented the seven churches
5. Jesus was standing in the midst of the churches

The Tabernacle of God was designed so that you first entered the Outer Court (where the sacrifices were given), then the Holy Place (where priestly duties were performed), then into the Holy of Holies (where the Ark of the Covenant and the presence of God was).

John heard Jesus’ voice behind him, so John was either in the Outer Court or the Holy of Holies.

The Outer Court was where the sacrifices and offerings took place, but Jesus had alread. John said that he was “in the Spirit on the Lord’s day” and Hebrews 10:19 says that because of the sacrifice of the Lamb of God, we have confidence to enter the Holy of Holies. Therefore, John was in the Holy of Holies.

So what’s all this got to do with hearing God’s voice?

John was in the optimum place in his spiritual walk for hearing God’s voice. His relationship with God was not in the midst of the churches. John placed his relationship with God above his relationship with other people.

Please don’t misunderstand—we do need the church. We need to fellowship with other Christians and we need to sit under the five-fold ministry.

But we also need to have our own relationship with God, one that is not based on someone else’s relationship with God. We have a tendency to go only where our social circle or our church goes in the Lord. We have a tendency to live off of other people’s revelations and experiences.

We need to come to the place where our walk is our walk.

We need to come to the place where we meet with God daily and learn from Him directly. We need to come to the place where learning the Word at church isn’t enough. We need to come to the place where we need His presence and His Word more than need to eat food. We need to hunger for His voice daily.

It is my prayer for you that Father will continue to help you to hear His voice, and more and more frequently.

With God’s grace and in His peace,

Gary

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Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®.Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society. All rights reserved throughout the world. Used by permission of International Bible Society.

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