Revelation 2:17
17 He that hath[echo] an ear,[ous] let him hear[akouo] what[tis] the Spirit[pneuma] saith[lego] unto the churches;[ekklesia] To him[autos] that overcometh[nikao] will I give[didomi] to eat[phago] of[apo] the hidden[krupto] manna,[manna] and[kai] will give[didomi] him[autos] a white[leukos] stone,[psephos] and[kai] in[epi] the stone[psephos] a new[kainos] name[onoma] written,[grapho] which[hos] no man[oudeis] knoweth[ginosko] saving[ei me] he that receiveth
[lambano] it. KJV-Interlinear
17 'He who has
an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, to him I will give some of the hidden manna,
and I will give him a white stone, and a new name written on the stone which no
one knows but he who receives it.' NASB
The same exhortation is stated here again, ‘he who has an ear,’ is an expression which emphasizes the
responsibility of the individual Christian to heed Gods Word in scripture.
God has issued you a mandate in this verse for the third
time, to heed, to listen, to hear, to learn, to understand, and to grow up as a
result.If you are not interested in
doctrine, then you are in violation of this mandate. If you do not pursue your daily study, then
you are in violation of this mandate.
So, you as a Christian, have an obligation to learn
truth.You should want to learn
truth.It should not be forced on
you.And if your interest is not in
truth, then your interest is in other than truth, namely lies. For that is all that is
left, when truth is rejected.
Let the Christian, hear what the ‘Spirit says to
the Churches.’This did not say what
Christ said to the Churches.This did
not say what Christ said to the Spirit.
It said, what the Spirit says.
Your spiritual life functions only when you are in
fellowship.In order to get into
fellowship you must confess your sins to God the Father. You are to do this on a regular basis in
order to remain in fellowship as much as possible. The study of confession and fellowship is
more detailed in the 1 John study.
When in fellowship, the Holy Spirit has control
over your soul.When out of fellowship,
your sin nature has control over your soul.
When in fellowship, all communication from God, through
doctrine, is transmitted into your human spirit, and into your soul, by means
of the Holy Spirit.Therefore, all
doctrine is taught by the Holy Spirit.
He is the primary communicator of truth.
Therefore, you are to listen to the Spirit, which
means to be in fellowship so that the ministry of the Holy Spirit will function
properly for your spiritual life. You do not have any unusual feelings or
sensations, for you cannot sense or detect anything of a spiritual nature from
this temporal world.Those who say they
have Spirit ecstatic moments are frauds.
The word for Churches is plural and therefore, is a
message to all Christians.
To overcome, ‘nikao,’
means to conquer, prevail, to accomplish a long hard fought victory. This is a sequential or chronological
accomplishment and not a momentary single event, but a series. This is the believer who is successful in
attaining spiritual maturity, and staying there.
The first church slipped away from their first
obligation, namely the study of doctrine.
They were reminded of the potential loss of further deeper blessings
when they get into heaven.
The second church held onto their
faith and thus were reassured of an exceptional blessing, the crown of
life, when they get to heaven.This
exceptional blessing goes to anyone who suffers tremendous sufferings and still
holds on to their faith.
The third church is now in view. They not only lost their interest in
doctrine, but they went one step further and engaged in a compromised lifestyle
with their unrighteous neighbors.When
you get it in your head that you can do things on your own, then compromise is
the next step. And no one on their own, is able to avoid this failure in their life.
The student of the Word of God, does not set the
course of study, but follows the study outlined by the instructor.
The sin of the third church is dramatically worse,
and so the potential loss of future blessings is expanded so as to indicate the
greater magnitude of ones potential loss, if one does
not repent, change their mind, and get their spiritual act together.
Here are three more blessings, undefined, and even
stated as hidden. Anything hidden from us, we cannot know. Even in our speculation we will not be able
to guess what they are exactly.
The three blessings are – hidden manna, a white
stone, and a new name written on the stone.
Since we have only symbolism here, we can only
guess as to what they ‘might’ mean.
Manna was a sweet honey
flavored bread that God fed the Israelites during their wanderings in the
wilderness.The Israelites were to place
a hidden jar of manna inside the Ark of the Covenant so as to remind them of
Gods faithful provision.The hidden
manna is also representative of Christ, the bread of life, which symbolizes the
blessings and benefits of knowing Him.
That refers to spiritual growth to maturity as well. This first manna reference is available to
all believers, and is theirs for the taking when they study their doctrine
daily and grow up.
However, this second manna,
is a hidden manna which is in heaven, and of which is available to only some
believers, who ‘overcome’ in this life, with respect to their sustaining their spiritual
growth.
We have doctrine now. It is written and right before our eyes to learn
and live.
But in heaven, there is an advanced manna, and
advanced implies that it is infinitely far beyond anything we have now. Therefore it is a tremendous blessing for
those who comply with Gods mandates and grow up and achieve and maintain
spiritual maturity.
The white stone, is
something that may have three meanings, all of which probably lead to one
phenomenal blessing.
During the Old Testament, the High Priest wore a
breast plate upon which a Urim
and Thummim were located. Those stones were used to determine Gods will.God was
asked questions and the response of the stones provided the answers. They were a unique conversation mechanism for
direct access to God.
Second, the white stone,
may also be a reference to a valuable stone, namely a diamond, to indicate the
extreme value and beauty of Gods blessing.
Third, the white stone was an award given to those
who competed in competitions, and served as a right of ownership to valuable
prizes, admissions to events restricted to only certain persons, and so forth. The victors name was inscribed on the stone,
further designating it as his and no one else's.
The word for new, ‘kainos,’
does not refer to something of the same type, or new as opposed to an old one,
but it means something that is qualitatively enhanced, something better,
something that is a whole new invention a complete redoing of what was old. You might compare walking as a mode of
transportation to some type of hover space craft that can go anywhere, do
anything, right now.That is the meaning
of the difference between what you have now, and what you could have in
eternity.Your new name will be
phenomenally better, but your new name is you, so what is used to describe you,
means you.
So, given these interpretations, we can assume that
the white stone posses extreme value to the mature believer, to the one who
advances and maintains (overcomes), his spiritual maturity.
But, it too is hidden. None of us will know what it is, until we get
to heaven and receive our very own white stone.
But suffice to say, heaven will be rich with rewards, and those rich
rewards will be more valuable, infinitely more valuable, than anything that
exists in this world.
The people in Pergamum compromised away their
eternal blessings, just as Esau traded away his birthright to Jacob, for the
price of a meal.
Worldliness and all that
it stands for, is worth nothing more than the price of a single common meal. Would you trade away a rich producing gold
mine, in exchange for a single burger?
No.Only a fool would do such a
thing.
You have right in your own little hand, a unique
opportunity for coming into possession of a vast fortune in your eternal life.
This vast fortune is not an internet scam, but the real deal. And all you need do to acquire it securely for
yourself, is to begin and stick with, a daily study of the Word of God.
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