In The Lord's Day

In what time frame does this place the fulfillment of Revelation? Well, what is the Lord's Day? The apostle Paul refers to it as a time of judgment and of fulfillment of divine promises. (1Corinthians 1:8; 2Corinthians1:14; Philippians 1:6, 10;2;16) With the arrival of that "day," Jehovah's grand purposes move progressively and triumphantly toward their climax. That "day" begins with the crowning of Jesus as heavenly King. Even after Jesus executes judgment on Satan's world, the Lord's day continues with the restoration of Paradise and the perfecting of mankind, until Jesus finally "hands over the kingdom to his God and Father."-1Corinthians 15:24-26; Revelation 6:1, 2.

The fulfillment of other Bible prophecies helps us to see when the Lord's day begins. For example, Daniel described a chopping down of rulership in the line of King David; after "seven times" it would be known "that the Most High is Ruler in the kingdom of mankind, and that to the one whom he want to he gives it." (Daniel 4:23, 24, 31, 32) The major fulfillment of that prophecy started with the desolating of the kingdom of Judah, which is indicated by Bible evidence to have been completed by October 607 B.C. E. Revelation 12:6, 14 shows that 3 1/2 times amounts to 1,260 days, hence seven times (twice that number) must be 2,520 days. Reckoning "a day for a year," we arrive at 2,520 years as the duration of the "seven times." (Ezekiel 4:6) Therefore Christ Jesus began his heavenly rule in the latter part of 1914. The erupting of the first world war in that year marked "a beginning of pangs of distress" that have continued to plague mankind. Since 1914, how remarkably events in this bloodstained earth have confirmed that year to be the start of the "day"of Jesus' presence!- Matthew 24:3-14.

Hence, this first vision and the counsel it contains are for the Lord's day, from 1914 onward. This timing is supported by the fact that, later in Revelation, the record describes the execution of God's true and righteous judgments-events in which the Lord Jesus plays and outstanding part. (Revelation 11:18; 16:15;17:1; 19:2, 11) If the fulfillment of the first vision began in 1914, when does it end? As the messages themselves show, the organization addressed is God's congregation of anointed ones on earth. The fulfillment of this first vision ends, then, when the last faithful member of that anointed congregation dies and is raised to heavenly life. Nevertheless, the Lord's Day with blessings to the earthly other sheep continues till the end of Jesus Christ's Millennial rule.-John 10:16; Revelation 20:4, 5.

In this first vision, before John sees anything, he hears something: "And I heard behind me a strong voice like that of a trumpet, saying: 'What you see write in a scroll and send it to the seven congregations in Ephesus and in Smyrna and in Pergamum and in Thyatira and in Sardis and in Philadelphia and in Laodicea.' " (Revelation 1:10b, 11) Authoritative and commanding as a trumpet call, a voice calls on John to write to "the seven congregations." He is to receive a series of messages and to publish the things he will see and hear. Notice that that the congregations mentioned here actually existed in Asia Minor, right across the sea from Patmos. They were easily accessible to one another by means of the excellent Roman roads that existed in the area. A messenger would have had no trouble carrying the scroll from one congregation to the next. These seven congregations would resemble a section of a modern day circuit of Jehovah's Witnesses.

Next time: Continue with the subject above