THE
BOOK OF REVELATION
By:
Bertrand L. Comparet
Lesson
#3 Of A Series Of 14, Transcribed From Audio Tapes
Transcribed
By:
Clifton
A. Emahiser’s
Teaching
Ministries
Phone
(419) 435-2836
[Unless
in brackets, all of the message is by Bertrand L. Comparet.]
Well, we’ve been studying the Book of Revelation. We had gotten through the
first five of the seven “churches” to which the messages were sent. The sixth in
this list is the “church” at Philadelphia; this is Revelation 3, verses 7 to 13:
“And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write; These things saith he
that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that openeth,
and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth; I know thy works: behold,
I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a
little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name. Behold, I
will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not,
but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to
know that I have loved thee. Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I
also will keep thee from the hour of testing, which shall come upon all the
world, to try them that dwell upon the earth. Behold, I come quickly: hold that
fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown. Him that overcometh will I
make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will
write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh
down out of heaven from my God: and I
will write upon him my new name. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the
Spirit saith unto the churches.”
This
ancient city of
The
Reformation was fully established in
In
Revelation 10, verses 1 to 11, John sees the vision of an angel, a mighty angel
holding a little open book in his hand, the Bible, published in the ordinary
languages of the different countries so that it could be read by the people, and
that open book had become an open door. He said: “... I also will keep thee from
the hour of testing, which shall come upon all the world ...” As long as the
“Church” kept the spirit of the rise of Protestantism, the conditions which
exist today, testing to see whether anything is fit to remain that could ride
out the storm. But while the Spirit of Yahshua is in them, they’ll have the
power to put down all these other things.
[See note #’s 2 and 4A at end of lesson. – See
also note #2 at Lesson #1.]
Seventh
and last, the message to the “Church” of
[Revelation
3:14-22]:
“And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith
the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of
Yahweh; I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert
cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will
vomit thee out of my mouth. Because
thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and
knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and
naked: I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be
rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not
appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see. As many as I
love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent. Behold, I stand at
the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in
to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. To him that overcometh will I
grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with
my Father in his throne. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith
unto the churches.”
The
city of
“This
know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be
lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient
to parents, unthankful, unholy, Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false
accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, Traitors,
heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of Yahweh; Having a form
of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.” And he
certainly described the so-called “church” of our day. How often have you heard
the passage quoted: “Behold I stand at the door and knock”, followed by the
remark “how wonderful that is?” To the contrary, it’s probably the most tragic
thing in the Bible! Yahshua the Christ locked out of his congregations, saying,
“I’m standing on the outside knocking. Will anybody let me in?”, and finding
very few takers. Well today’s “churches” consider themselves rich. They have big
congregations, huge buildings, great publishing houses turning out all sorts of
heretical and blasphemous works. Lots of ministers with D.D. degrees; but no
knowledge of Yahshua the Christ or Yahweh Elohim. They have a large influence
upon the portion of the public that calls itself “Christian” without knowing
what Christianity is. So they say “we are rich and increased with goods and have
need of nothing.” Yet they’re poor in the sight of Yahweh, blind to all truth,
lacking the white robes of righteousness, naked. Therefore the ultimate fate, “I
will vomit thee out of my mouth.” The expression not merely of rejection, but of
utter disgust. Thus, in this message to the seven “churches”, you have a true
written history of the seven stages of development of the Christian “Church”,
from the crucifixion and resurrection down to the second coming of Yahshua the
Christ.
Going
on now to the fourth chapter, there’s a complete change of scene and subject
matter. Revelation 4, verses 1 to 7: “After this I looked, and, behold, a door
was opened in heaven: and the first
voice which I heard was as it were of
a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee
things which must be hereafter. And immediately I was in the spirit: and,
behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne. And he that sat
was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone: and there was a rainbow round about the
throne, in sight like unto an emerald. And round about the throne were four and twenty seats: and upon the
seats I saw four and twenty elders sitting, clothed in white raiment; and they
had on their heads crowns of gold. And out of the throne proceeded lightnings
and thunderings and voices: and there
were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven
Spirits of Yahweh. And before the throne there was a sea of glass like unto
crystal: and in the midst of the throne, and round about the throne, were four living ones (your King James Version says ‘beasts’; that’s
the Greek word zôon and means ‘living
creatures’, an all inclusive word for anything that has life from a microbe to
an elephant) – four living ones, full of eyes before and behind. And the first
living one was like a lion, and the
second living one was like a young bullock, and the third living one had a face
as a man, and the fourth living one was like a flying
eagle.”
Up
to this point, the prophesy of the Book of Revelation had been concerning the
“Church.” Now you turn to prophesy of general world history, from John’s time on
to the end. Now of the one that sat upon the throne, it said “like a sardius
stone and a jasper.” The sardius is the blood red carnelian. Jasper is a form of
quartz, which may be of many different colors. These are the first and the last
of the twelve stones in the high priests’ breast plate; see Exodus 28, verses 15
to 21. Yahweh, being Yahshua the Christ, always emphasized “I am the first, and
I am the last”, and here it is kept consistent in the symbolism. In the first
chapter of Ezekiel, the prophet Ezekiel saw Yahweh sitting on his throne,
surrounded by a radiant glory like a rainbow. So also John saw it here. But you
notice that, whereas Yahweh dwells in the light that no man can approach unto,
for the purpose of giving such a vision to his prophet He tones that light down.
He even makes it green that is the easiest on the eyes of all colors. Always
thoughtful. In Ezekiel’s vision, Yahweh’s throne was supported by four living
creatures. Now in Ezekiel’s vision, the symbolism was doubled. Each one of these
four living creatures had four faces – the front, the back, and each side of his
head – and they were the faces of a man, a lion, an ox and an eagle. So the
symbolism definitely is the same. And what is that symbolism? During all the
years of the Exodus, when the tribes of
On
one side, the leading tribe was
“And
I saw in the right hand of him that sat on the throne a scroll” – your King James Version says ‘book’; but it’s
a mistranslation, naturally. The Greek word biblíon means a little scroll. A book
with pages laid together flat and bound along one edge, the name of that is
codex. [See note #7 at end of lesson.] This was
a scroll, and a book couldn’t fit the description at all, but a scroll does – “I
saw in the right hand of him that sat upon the throne a scroll, written within
and on the backside, sealed with seven seals.” [Comparet demonstrating]: rolled up like this, and
sealed. Just peel off the seal so you could open it up to read what was inside.
“And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, Who is worthy to open
the book, and to loose the seals thereof? And no man in heaven, nor in earth,
neither under the earth, was able to open the book, neither to look
thereon.”
Thus,
John knew that this indicated some tremendously important knowledge – and how
were you going to find out – no one being worthy to open it? So, he said he wept
much because no one could open it. So he was told “weep not because the lion of
the tribe of
Now
we’re never told what was written in words on this scroll, either inside or
outside, but it is at the opening of each scroll that we see action, a little
drama portraying some great historical event or process. The first seal which He
opened – this is Revelation 6, verses 1 and 2, and symbolizes a period from 31
B.C. to 180 A.D.: “And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard,
as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four living creatures saying, Come
and see. And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow;
and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer.”
Thus, the rider of this horse had a crown, and he symbolized the
The
east had been assigned to
At
the time John wrote this, the expansion of the empire was going on. During this
period, up to 180 A.D., at home in the city of
He
was followed by Claudius, who ruled 41 to 54 A.D. and continued administrative
reforms trying to give a reasonably efficient regime. Then Nero, 54 to 68 A.D. –
Nero was another one with a very strong touch of insanity. At the very start of
his reign, for a short time he ruled well under the guidance of the philosopher
Seneca. But his growing insanity made the latter part of his reign horrible. The
next six emperors in a row were of little consequence, finally ending with a
reign of terror under Domitian, 81 to 96 A.D. It was in the reign of Domitian
that John wrote Revelation, when he was in exile on the
Hence,
the symbolism of this event, the crowned rider on the white horse armed with a
bow, going out conquering and to continue his conquest, that was borne out by
history. Then the second seal, Revelation 6, verses 3 and 4 (this covered from
180 to 312 A.D.): “And when he had opened the second seal, I heard the second
living creature say, Come and see. And there went out another horse that was red: and power was given to him that sat thereon
to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another: and there
was given unto him a great sword.”
Now,
you notice the complete change here. This is not a war of conquest with the bow
to strike enemies at a distance. With a sword you can only hit a man who is
substantially within arm’s reach. This was fighting at home, “To take peace from
the earth.” Now the prophetic world means no more than the area occupied by the
empires of the Babylonian succession of empires. For example, Luke 2, verse 1:
“And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar
Augustus, that all the world should be taxed.”
The
word translated “world” there is the Greek word oikouméne, literally “inhabited world”,
and with an additional connotation of “civilized.” Now quite obviously, Caesar
Augustus couldn’t order the taxing of
In
the next nine years, 275 to 284, there were six completely unimportant emperors.
Then Diocletian, 284 to 305 A.D., was an able administrator, made many reforms
but with a huge increase in bureaucracy and expense to the tax payer. And also
the last terrible persecution of Christians came under Diocletian. Diocletian
abdicated in 305 A.D., leaving total chaos, civil war, multiple civil wars
because every military leader who could get much of an army to back him was
trying to seize the throne. This lasted from 305 to 312/313 when
Your King James Version, with one of its
most ridiculous mistranslations, says “a measure of wheat for a penny.” But it’s
the Roman coin, the denarius. Now you note that the rider on this horse had no
crown and no weapons, so he was not an emperor. This measure, a choínikos, was equal to just a trifle
over a quart. The denarius, the coin, with which you could buy a quart of wheat,
equaled possibly 22 to 24 cents in today’s money. It was a day’s wage for a
common laborer. You remember, in one of Yahshua the Christ’s parables He told
about the farmer who employed workmen by the day and promised each one his penny
(your King James Version says), but
it is rather a denarius. And even those hired for the last hour got the same
denarius wage. It was the common wage of a laborer. Now that phrase “and see
thou hurt not the oil and the wine” doesn’t make good sense, does it? And
whenever you run into that, you know you have a problem of mistranslation again.
It’s also translatable “see that thou be not unjust regarding the oil and the
wine.” Now that will begin to make sense, once we know what they are talking
about.
The
black horse, of course, symbolized depression and gloom. The balanced scale that
the rider carried was a common Roman symbol for two things; one, justice, and
the other commerce. You remember, that while coined money had come into pretty
general use, it was by no means universal. Not only did they, with the scale,
weigh out the weight of many commodities to be sold, but also a good deal of the
purchasing was done with bars of gold or silver bullion which had to be weighed
to find out the weight from which you could calculate the worth. Taxes of the
In
212 A.D. the emperor Caracalla, in what looked like on the surface a move of
generosity, conferred Roman citizenship on all free men living in the
From
the death of
One
after another was lost to
The
power of the empire was breaking down after the time of
CRITICAL
NOTES ON LESSON #3
Comments
by William Finck initialed W.R.F.
Comments
by Clifton A. Emahiser in brackets in lesson text as “your
transcriber”
or
initialed C.A.E. in critical
notes.
Note
#1:
The index to the Loeb Library Strabo lists two Philadelphias in Anatolia, one in
Mysia and one in
Note
#2:
I would not correlate the separation of protestants from the “Catholic Church”
with Rev. 18:4. First, the protestants did suffer much by the “church”
because of the withdrawal. Second,
Comment
by Clifton A. Emahiser: All this is very true, but because of
“16
And I will bring the blind by a way that they knew not; I will lead them in
paths that they have not known: I
will make darkness light before them, and crooked things straight. These things
will I do unto them, and not forsake them. 17 They shall be turned back, they
shall be greatly ashamed, that trust in graven images, that say to the molten
images, Ye are our gods. 18 Hear, ye
deaf; and look, ye blind, that ye may see. 19 Who is blind, but my servant? or deaf, as my
messenger that I sent? who is blind as he that is perfect, and blind as
YAHWEH’S servant? 20 Seeing many things, but thou observest not; opening the
ears, but he heareth not.”
Yes,
the move from Catholicism to Protestantism only partially opened true Israel’s
eyes, and John in the Book of Revelation prophesied of that process, and
Comparet does quite well in identifying the terrible transition that took place
(though truly the Reformation does not represent the fall of Babylon at Rev.
18:2). It appears, though, we have more painful events yet ahead of us! Thus,
“Protestantism” is not the final answer. To see that, all we have to do is
observe what the “Protestant churches” have become today! Protestantism, in some
ways, is merely warmed over Catholicism. C.A.E.
Note
#3:
Long before “missionary work” began, Jeremiah 31:34 and Ezek. 37:26-28 should
have been manifest to the “church”, which ignored these things. Comparet’s pride
along the lines of “missionary work” befuddles me, for it is this idea that is
the reason for all of our troubles! Where did Comparet suppose that we were told
to “convert” the other races? W.R.F.
Comment
by Clifton A. Emahiser: I must fully agree with William Finck on this statement.
It only proves that as well as Comparet did in many areas, he was a long way
from being perfect, and it is justified to point out his misjudgments. So it
appears that Comparet’s works are tinged with a bit of odious universalism. One
should really check out William Finck’s Scripture references at Jeremiah 31:34
and Ezek. 37:26-28, for the proclamation we hear from “church” pulpits that “we
should know the Lord” will no longer be taught, as it was never true in the
first place. Also take special notice of Ezek: 37:28: “And the heathen shall
know that I Yahweh do sanctify (set apart)
Note
#4A:
Here Comparet appears to use the word “church” correctly: the body of Israelites
who believe in Yahshua Christ: whether or not they are organized or assembled.
As for the “rise of Protestantism”, all of these “protestants” were targeted and
persecuted by the enemy (who had taken over the “Catholic Church”), and that
persecution continued when the protestants’ “churches” were also taken over by
the enemy. There was no true “gain” in Protestantism that endured, but much
turmoil and death as it was created. [See notes at
Lesson #1, note #2; and note #2 in this Lesson.] W.R.F.
Note
#4B:
Is the word “Church” also correctly used here? It seems to be. It is unfortunate
that Comparet made no distinction, such as using “church” when referring to an
organized entity with a professional priesthood (Catholic or Protestant), and
then using the words “ekklesia” or “assembly” when referring to the body of His
people Israel who are in the world and keep the faith. W.R.F.
Note
#5:
Strabo mentions the black wool of
Note
#6:
That green light is “the easiest on the eyes of all colors” is apparent, but is
such a statement relevant here? John said that he saw this vision “in the
spirit” (Rev. 4:2), and we shouldn’t assume that Spirit has the same physical
limitations which this body has. W.R.F.$CB
Note
#7:
“Codex” is not a Greek word. While John is surely describing a scroll, biblion, the diminutive of biblos, “A paper scroll, letter”, the biblos was a book, with leaves and bound
at one end. Grammatically a “biblion” could be a “little book”, but
apparently this is not how the Greeks used the word. The making of bound books
is described – though not in minute detail – in the Greek Anthologies, as I recollect. W.R.F.
Note
#8:
Lepidus, who died five years before Actium in 36 B.C., was the third member of
the triumvirate with Octavius (Augustus) and
Note
#9:
There were only five, not six, emperors between Nero and Domitian: Galba, Otho,
Vitellius (totaling about 15 months in 68-69 A.D.), Vespasian and Titus. I would
not consider these last two to be “of little consequence.” W.R.F.
Note
#10:
Even according to Comparet, Christians were persecuted under Trajan, Hadrian and
Marcus Aurelius. Is it meet to consider these “good” emperors? W.R.F.
Note
#11:
Some details differ in this list of emperors from the information which I have,
but nothing of great significance. W.R.F.
Note
#12:
13 emperors in 33 years between A. Severus and Claudius II were as
follows: 1.- Maximus I; 2.- Gordianus I; 3.- Gordianus II; 4.- Pupienus; 5.-
Balbinus; 6.- Gordianus III; 7.- Philippus; 8.- Decius; 9.- Gallus; 10.-
Volusianus; 11.- Aemilianus; 12.- Valerianus; 13.- Gallienus. Note: 2&3 and
4&5 and 9&10 all ruled together as did 12&13 for a time. W.R.F.
Note
#13:
Quintillus, who was emperor for part of 270 A.D., just before Aurelian, is
missing here. W.R.F.
Note
#14:
Officially, Diocletian was co-emperor with Maximianus. W.R.F.
Note
#16:
The Roman empire was split east/west 364 A.D. W.R.F.
Note
#17:
Many Scythian-Israelites had long been, and all along been, expanding west, the
Germans always pressuring