Santhana David

Q2. (Daniel 3:16-18) How do the Jews answer Nebuchadnezzar? What is their attitude? How do they witness about their God? Do they face death with resignation or defiance? Characterize their faith. Because Daniel had exerted great moral and spirituality on his companions, their compromise with foreign gods was impossible. They did not dignify the king’s question with a defense for not bowing down to the statue. They agreed to be put into the furnace knowing their God would save them. By saying even if their God does not save them they emphasized their defiance. Their faith was unshakable – no exceptions to the king’s order. Even at that point their minds raced to the scriptures they learned from the Book of Exodus (20:3~4) “Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.”

Q1. (Daniel 3:8-15) Why do the Jews’ fellow government officials report them to Nebuchadnezzar? Why is the king so angry? What is his motivation to have people bow to the statue? Jealousy was the main factor – Daniel and his three friends had been allocated lofty positions by the king and their other Jewish friends disliked this. Therefore they snitched on Daniel’s companions The insubordination was the cause of King Nebuchadnezzar fury and rage. King Nebuchadnezzar’s intention was to shift the attention of the Jews’ from their God, the God of Israel. The huge statue on the plain of Dura basically represented the kings continued rebellion against Israel’s one God.

Q3. (Daniel 2:44) What does verse 44 teach us about the kingdom that the God of heaven will set up? What kingdom is this? When does this kingdom come? How is this related to Mark 1:15? When will it destroy all other kingdoms? The kingdom of the God of Heaven, in my opinion, started to take shape with the birth of Christ, during the time of the Roman emperor Ceasar Augustus. The earthly kingdoms set up by mere mortal kings only has a transitory life span and they rule by corporal vigor condemning people at their own discretion. But the kingdom of God triumphs of the the hearts of mankind with love and spirituality, and this kingdom of heaven is here to stay. Because of its divine and eternal origin its unconquerable. The King Messiah, said, “And I tell you that you are Peter, ……… and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.”(Matt 16:18) No other kingdoms will subsist during this time only kingdoms will be Jesus’ Churches. The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!” (Mark 1:15) This is further proof that the kingdom of heaven is already taking its shape and it’s still growing. “I will bring such distress on all people that they will grope about like those who are blind, because they have sinned against the LORD. Their blood will be poured out like dust and their entrails like dung.”(Zep 1:17) The 2nd coming of Christ is doomsday for all antichrists – they’ll pay with their lives and their hierarchies destroyed.

Q2 . (Daniel 2:27-28) How does Daniel show humility in this situation? It would be safe to assume that it was God’s providence for His own glory and Daniel’s exaltation that Nebuchadnezzar forgot what his dream was. Daniel was not at all presumptuous like the rest of the Chaldeans in the king’s court. When he reached his residence, Daniel asked his friends to turn to God in prayer for protection and enlightenment. Daniel in his prayer must have humbly confessed to God that no wisdom in his personal capacity could provide the revelation of the dream. His honesty and complete dependence on God was rewarded with the knowledge of the dream and it’s meaning. Daniel in my opinion demonstrated honest humility through his total dependence on God’s providence. How does he use this situation as an opportunity to witness before the king to his faith in God? He began to address the king by pointing out the inability of the Chaldeans who had many gods to reveal the dream let alone interpreting it. He saw an opportunity to make known his God – the God of the Israel who can simplify mysteries and reveal the dream and thoughts of man. “But there is a God in heaven who reveals secrets, and he has shown King Nebuchadnezzar what will happen in the future. Now I will tell you your dream and the visions you saw as you lay on your bed.” (Dan 2:28) A simple and direct magnification of Israel’s God. According to 1 Peter 5:5-6, should we try to exalt ourselves? If we do so, what will happen? 1Peter 5:5~6 : In the same way, you who are younger, submit yourselves to your elders. All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, “God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.” Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Humility preserves peace in all societies, especially in Christian Churches. On the contrary, pride causes many undue problems. We are not to arrogate and evince pride. And more importantly we must never exalt ourselves above others. We need to be submissive to “God’s mighty hand” or else be beaten down and dashed to pieces. Who are we to oppose God ? When we are reconciled to God, God will bring comfort to our souls and He will lift us up when the need arises

The call for “communal” prayer seems to be undoubtedly for Daniel’s enlightenment – asking God to reveal to Daniel King Nebuchadnezzar’s mysterious dream – by way of this supplication Daniel hoped that the lives of his friends and himself and the lives of the other wise men would be spared. The power and efficacy of an united and fervent intercession is revealed here - and it's effectiveness is shown when God reveals the mystery of the dream to Daniel – it's basically the “handing over" to God our needs who’ll answer in His time. In Catholic churches we have the Intercessory prayers or the Prayers of the Faithful on every Sunday or Feast day Eucharistic celebration – a number of intercessions prayed for by the whole congregation.

Q4 Daniel would only eat clean meat permitted under the Levitical dietary laws. But here the king’s meat offered to idols made the food unclean and common. The Israelites by way of Law forbidden from eating unclean and common food as it was thought that they were called for a higher purpose. Therefore, Daniel’s assumption was that the food was a product of idolatry and Babylonian rituals. Hence, he chose vegetables and seeds, a biblical diet passed down from generation to generation from the time of Adam. And without doubt the Jewish youths took advantage of the situation to treat themselves with the vibrant and colorful fruits and fine vegetables grown in the fertile Mesopotamian land. When Ashpenaz for fear of offending the King Nebuchadnezzar refused Daniels first request to food other than the king’s rich food, he again negotiated another deal with the chief official. Daniel asked that he and his friends be put on the vegetable diet for ten days. After which the official can view the health condition of the four youths – if they looked better than the others in training they’ll continue with the diet. Knowing Daniel’s good intentions, “….God had caused the official to show favor and sympathy to Daniel.” (Dan 1:9) Ashpenaz finally agreed to the so called “project.” Through this episode Daniel, though still a young lad, has manifested his negotiating skills.

Q3 Although Daniel was submissive to his new name, the education and other requirements, he rejected the “rich” food offered. It might be highly probable that Daniel had, had scriptural education in his native land, prior to being in captivity in Babylon. The knowledge of the Law of Moses (Lev 11:4~20), which forbids consumption of flesh of unclean animals or other unclean food was possibly the reason – he would not have known the source or type of the meat he was to eat anyway – therefore his subtle refusal - Being strong willed, Daniel would never have defiled himself with the king’s rich food. Daniel, not only was an audacious character but also a matured adolescent with a valiant heart. He apparently had no encouragement at the outset even from his three friends when he made the remarkable decision to refuse the rich food of the king all by himself. “But Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine, and he asked the chief official for permission not to defile himself this way.”(Dan 1:8) He’d rather die than to offend the Sovereign God. These men of faith, especially Daniel could easily resist temptation and overcome sinfulness.

Q2. (Daniel 1:1-7) What was their status in Jerusalem? In Babylon? What do you think was the effect of changing their names to Babylonian names? What impact might it have on them to be made eunuchs? Did they make compromises? If so, why? One of the first things, these four circumcised Hebrew youths, encountered, was the changing of their names to that of the Babylonians’ culture and religion of the time. Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah were probably from the nobility of Judah. The four lads who had no physical defects, now slaves of the Babylonian king, were taken to Babylon, to be given a three year training prior to being designated in governmental positions. Unlike other victorious kings, who enslaved subjugated persons, King Nebuchadnezzar was determined to train young captives who showed an aptitude for learning and intelligent. The four Jews were chosen by Ashpenaz. It was hoped that by changing their names from Daniel to Belteshazzar, Hananiah to Shadrach, Mishael to Meshach, and Azariah to Abednego, the four Hebrew friends will lose the Jewish identities. The original names of Daniel and his friends had an element of God, or rather a shorthand version of Jehovah. More importantly, the name change was intended to erase all attachment to their Jewish nation and religion. The four Jewish youth with deliberately “castrated” names of the Chaldean gods were to perform specific public duties as Babylonians under King Nebuchadnezzar. Though they carried out their duties, they never failed their worship of their One God. They never defiled themselves with the day to day Babylonian way of life, be it be food or drinks etc. They made no compromises as they know that their God is the ultimate Deliverer. Not King Nebuchadnezzar or his Chaldean / Babylonian gods.

Q1. (Daniel 1:1~5) Have you ever made a rapid transition between your customary and a new and radically different culture? What did it feel like? Were you able to take your faith with you, or did it fade to the background during this time? Not exactly, as Daniel did but...... some years ago when my house was being renovated, my friend, a Hindu helped me to get a house for rent in a housing estate where most of the Indians were Hindus and Chinese were practicing Taoists. Though it was only for a month, staying in a multi ethnic, race, religious and cultural society in Malaysia has its own difficulties too. During that challenging time we were invited to two Hindu weddings which took place in the temple nearby and a dinner as it was the month Chinese festival of the Hungry Ghosts. The experience made my family and me stronger in terms of our adaptation to the cultures of different societies and taught us how to cope with or rather how we will be able to say, “that’s not ours.’ We have a God, the one God who is our salvation. We did not attend the weddings because if we did, we’d be asked to eat (the food offered to their gods) there. Here in Malaysia, Hindus cut goats inside the temple premises as offering to their god. It’ll be the same for weddings (they’ll offer a goat or two to their god (depending on the budget and the number of people invited), praying for a happy and long lasting relationship for the newly wed. Of course it'll be cooked - mutton curry. It’ll be eaten with rice and all that the hosts offer. What did we do ? We went over to the house of the hosts, a day prior to the wedding to hand over the “wedding present” and told them that we had to take my mother to the doctors for a check-up. And on Saturday, of the last week of September (and our last week there too) our Chinese neighbors invited us to attend dinner (FOC) in honor of the hungry ghosts at their temple nearby. There they’ll offer roast pigs to the gods of the ghosts and other foods which have been offered to some god. Did we go – A big NO - we told them that we were going for the “sunset mass that evening – two days later we moved back to our own house - relieved. How can we betray this Jesus who came so that we may have life and that too, in abundance ? How can we as baptized Christians turn our backs on the Son of Man who died on the Cross as punishment for our sins so that we may be sinless in the eyes of God ? I’d rather take up on Jesus’ offer : “To him who overcomes, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I overcame and sat down with my Father on his throne.” (Rev 3:21)

“My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?" (4th & the central word of Jesus from the Cross) Jesus have escaped this death ? Remember this – “Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and he will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels?”(Matt 26:53). No, He did not give in to that temptation - instead Jesus chose to be forsaken by His Father as He bore the sins of the world. “Abba, Father,” he said, “everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.” On the other hand, we can assume that was fulfilling a Psalm that was written 1000 years before He was born, there at Calvary on the Cross. Jesus in dying on the cross was directing human attention to the holy scriptures to substantiate His Messianic Mission. Again, there’s this : "He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him."(Cor 5:21) So could it be at this point of time that God turned His back on the One who loved Him – the time when Jesus cried out aloud, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?" Because, God’s eyes are too pure to look at evil and cannot tolerate wrongdoing. (Habb 1:13) But in any case, I can safely assume that the human race does not have capacity to appreciate the utterly horrific experience of having the sins of the world put upon the Lord Jesus as He hung in excruciating pain from that Cross ? We need to :- 1) understand that Jesus did not bring us deliverance from death but deliverance through death 2) realize that because of His fidelity to God’s will in His life that Jesus suffered and died. 3) realize the number of times we fail to glorify God 4) show fidelity to the teachings and examples of Jesus 5) know where do I/we stand before God 6) know that the mocking, scourging, the blood and the nails were all for you and me

“Woman, here is your son,” and to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” (3rd of the last 7 Words of Jesus) Calling one’s mother, “woman” may seem uncongenial, especially for Jesus in His dying moments from the Cross. Though the then Jewish culture probably condoned the term but somehow along the way it suggests a distancing between two persons - in this case mother and son. Here it’s necessary to recapitulate Jesus’ reaction when He is told that His Mother and members of the family were outside asking to speak to Him. “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?” And pointing towards His disciples He said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother, and sister, and mother.” (Matt 12:48~50). Perhaps Jesus intentionally uttered the word to mean a detachment – an interesting facade as to why this designation was used. It’s not out of disrespect or He was ashamed of her but He probably wanted to spare His mother from the sorrow that her firstborn is being brutally killed. Had He spoke with tenderness and compassion the occasion would have had supplemented the intensity of her passion and sorrow. On the other hand, it would seem that He did not want rude insults directed to her from the mob gathered had they known she is the mother of the crucified King of the Jews. Well the reasons are best known to Him alone. In spite of the agony and the ominous ultimate sacrifice, Jesus was concerned about the care of His widowed mother after He was gone. Therefore, Jesus made an oral statement to make a binding obligation to John. “Woman, here is your son” and to the disciple, “Here is your mother” (John19:26~27). He made provision for His mother by charging John, whom He deeply loved, to take care of her as if she was his mother. But why John, and not others ? Yes it would seem that the responsibility of Jesus’ brothers and sisters to be the caretakers of their mother but first let’s look at the following :- a) He was not about to leave it to others to decide under whose care Mary would be As the firstborn of Mary the care for His remaining parent was Jesus’ responsibility c) It was probable that none of Jesus’ brothers had accepted Him – as the Messiah – so they were not at the foot of the Cross d) John was His brother in the “Kingdom” – the beloved apostle – John was present at the foot of the cross e) John proved his faithfulness at Calvary – he stood by Jesus f) The other brothers in the “Kingdom” had fled for fear of being identified with Jesus g) Jesus wanted to ensure she continued to live in an environment of faith – Mary’s spiritual growth and eternal life were His primary concern. Now what does this tell us. 1) That Jesus is a compassionate “God-Man” whose extensive mercy and care for others lasted right to the very end of his life.” 2) During the time of greatest suffering, Jesus was thinking of others (His mother), not himself. 3) If we really love someone, we should live by the example and put their spiritual welfare ahead of everything else 4) That we must love all – in good times as well bad times.

In rebuking his disrespectful compatriot, the 2nd thief had demarcated their classification, as malefactors who deserved the punishment meted out - a sort of open confession of his own guilt. Then something un-thought off happened - he had Jesus on the pedestal, by saying, “But this man has done nothing wrong.” Remember Jesus saying, “Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven “ (Matt 10:32). Well the best guess would be that in spite of his unworthiness the 2nd thief must have witnessed Jesus preaching a number of times, sometime earlier – this thief, knew who Jesus was and the message of salvation Jesus preached - it must have been in God’s plan – that somehow he’d be crucified with Jesus and give the Lord some consolation in His dying moments with his words. The thief must have heard Jesus preaching that believing is a work - "This is the work of God - that you believe in Him whom He sent"(John6:29). And at that point of time, he came to be aware that only Jesus could save his unworthy soul. For all he was, the thief’s words replicated repentance and his confession of his guilt confirmed he had faith. “You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only” (James 2:24). The thief in confessing his guilt and affirming that Jesus “the way, truth and the life”(John 14:6) proved by his action that it is not feasible to be saved without works. For his faith, the 2nd thief received the promised salvation - “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.” (Luke 23:43) Oh! What a gift – for his petition, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom” (Luke23:42). God will always reward those who put their faith in Him. “Without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he that comets to God must believe that He is, and that He rewards them that diligently seek Him.” (Hebr 11:6) The devil was really glad that everything was going its way because Jesus was faced with humiliation of the highest degree by being numbered with two malefactors or rather common thieves. But the evil one was unaware that it was unknowingly yielding to the POWER of CHRIST, because Jesus was fulfilling a 700 year old prophesy of Isaiah (Is 53). Again, when the thief repented, Jesus demonstrated HIS POWER in saving a soul from burning forever in the flames of hell.

Was this not preplanned in God’s divine plan of Salvation ? Yes I believe that it was God’s intent to send Jesus to offer an absolutely eternal sacrifice as compensation for sin - obviously a fulfillment. Then again, Jesus, a Jew living in a different time – AD33 – where the Jews, Chief Priests, Scribes, Pharisees and Sadducees lived, not us – these people and not us, must be held accountable for killing Jesus. You and me a BIG NO. Because humanity was in "the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will"(2 Tim 2:26), is why Scribes and Pharisees incited the crowds when Pilate found no guilt in the Jesus – “When the chief priests and the officers saw him, they cried out, Crucify him, crucify him! Pilate said to them, Take him yourselves and crucify him, for I find no guilt in him” (John 19:6) St. Augustine wrote, "The true image of the Hebrew is Judas Iscariot, who sells the Lord for silver. The Jew can never understand the Scriptures and forever will bear the guilt for the death of Jesus.” Jesus uttered, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23:32~34) – for all present at the time of His passion and crucifixion – would they have done what they did if they had believed that He was the Son of God – they ignorant – refused to believe and envied the work of Jesus – fear of losing their status quo.

Well I believe that the means of atonement is animal sacrifice and the shedding and sprinkling of its blood around the altar. God providing and man physically performing the rite - I guess its an act of grace which God provided for man to "make even".

My name's Santhana - I'm from Penang Malaysia - I'm a Catholic and I'd like to grow in the knowledge about Jesus, the Christ.

We’re all familiar with this verse : "Christ is the Head of the Church: and He is the Saviour of the body" (Eph 5:23) all the more reason why we should acknowledge that Lord of the lamp stands is in the midst of each of the seven churches and that He owns and is in complete command of all His messengers, the angels as He holds the seven stars in His right hand and this should include His ownership of local the congregation. As He walks among the seven lamp strands He lights them up. He declared that He is the light of the world when He was living in flesh. (John 8:12). He knows everything that goes on in each of the assemblies. “Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in His sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of Him with whom we have to do." (Hebr 4:13) With Jesus here today, the Christian world does need a lamp stand, for He, the Light of the world has inundated the spiritually gloomy world with divine light – each and every one of us are the lamp stands today – for we are spiritually filled with oil and we burn brilliantly in the presence of the Almighty who manifested Himself in Flesh in Jesus, who'll break the seals and work to overcome and end evil for our good. If you, the Church as a whole and me continue to live like the congregations to whom the seven letters were sent to, the Son of Man will not hesitate to “pull the plug” on us. Time and again we are reprimanded though readings were hear in Church services or when we read the Word by ourselves. Jesus wants us to hear and reconcile our state of life with that of His. He died for our sins – He’s Alive now – today – lets repent.

It’s vividly clear that John wanted the members of Christ’s Church not only read the future of the Church based on the visions in writing but also to recognize the 2nd God of the Trinity, Christ himself, who revealed it to him. The seven golden candlesticks which representing the seven churches (Rev 1:20) are literally the all the Churches of today. The Churches receive light from the Gold which shines and glows and this, the gold, which implies the presence of the purity of God - the Churches in turn will have to light up the lives of its members. When the veil of the temple was torn into two the Jesus died, the way to God was opened to humans. This fact substantiates the claim of God’s presence directly into the life of the Church. Then the apostle saw Jesus’ priestly status in that He was in a robe of authority. The sash of Gold signified His Godliness in His office as our high Priest in the order of Melchizedek.(Hebr 5:6) Then as in Dan 7:9 His head and hair of His head were white denoting majesty, purity and wisdom. John noticed that His eyes were like a flame of fire. (Rev 19:12a) symbolizing discernment of the highest degree – ready for battle. The vision of the “reddened” brass as though it was from the furnace suggests that He is the One with the power and purity to judge the world and slay the antichrist. The “great voice, as of a trumpet” he heard in (Rev 1:10) here sounded like that of many waters. “His voice was like the roar of rushing waters, and the land was radiant with his glory”. (Ezek 43:2) Next he saw seven stars on His right hand are actually seven angels as explained in Rev 1:20 – the emblems of the seven Churches to which John was assigned to write to. Out came a two edged sword connoting the authoritative power of the Holy One’s judgemental words for those aligned to Satan. Probably, the apostle could bear to see His countenance that was like the sun, shining clearly and powerfully - too bright and dazzling for mortal eyes to look at - and then the lawless one will be revealed. The Lord Jesus will destroy him with the breath of His mouth and will bring him to nothing with the brightness of His coming. (2 Thess 2:8) John had seen this before – nothing new. Remember he was at the transfiguration.(Matt 17:1~6) He immediately recognised that this was Jesus, the Son of Man. And Jesus responded in a symbolic way Hey! Relax, don’t be afraid. I am the resurrection and the life. I am undeniably your God, but I am also Jesus, your buddy. I now have all power over life and death. (Rev 1:17~18) Though still flabbergasted the presence of Jesus must have been very comforting to John. We know that Jesus or Lord has ascended to the Father – has completed His tasks and has received all things - He is the “faithful witness”, the firstborn raised from the dead, and the “King of kings” and that He will soon return to earth to set things right. What degree of comfort it would have been for the Christians of the 1st century in their time of trials, tribulation and persecution. Everything written in this book will most definitely placate me, more importantly it encourages me live a better life knowing that He, my Lord and my Saviour will come again to judge the antichrist. Thank Jesus. Amen.

In an alphabetical order the following are some of the countries in which Christians experience tribulations and persecution :- Iraq / Iran / Saudi Arabia / Egypt / Kuwait / Maldives / Nigeria / Pakistan / Qatar / Sudan / Syria / Yemen. In my country, Malaysia there are certain prohibitions to the practice of Christianity especially on the use of certain Arabic words used for worship. Otherwise every citizen is free to practice their respective religions as enshrined in the constitution. Unlike in the countries mentioned above, in Malaysia we can build places of worship of all religions including Islam, with proper permission from federal and local government authorities. What some speculate about Malaysia is truly untrue. We have a fair government. The Second Coming of Christ Jesus has always been the hope of every denomination of Christianity. False Christs, (Matt 24:5 ; Lk 21:8), Wars (Rev6:2), natural disasters like earthquakes (Rev 6:12) have already taken place and still ongoing and Christians are feeling the repercussions of these in those lands I mentioned in the 1st paragraph. The great tribulations of believers is already at hand (Mark 13:9, 11~19). But God’s promise in 1 Thessalonians 4:17 gives every believer hope that the rapture will engulf us from evil and its persecution of those who profess the name of Christ, as written in (Rev 7:14), "These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Praised be the Holy Name of Jesus - Amen Amen Amen

“I am Alpha and Omega” (Rev1:8)- the 1st and the last letters of the Greek alphabet I see this as God’s affirmation of His distinctive qualities – omnipotent, omnipresent and omniscient – implying His Divinity and it’s obvious here that God is much more than we can ever comprehend, as mentioned in Isaiah: “Who has done this and carried it through, calling forth the generations from the beginning? I, the LORD - with the first of them and with the last--I am he." (Is.41:4) – It’ll be interesting to note that “Christ is also the head of the church, which is his body. He is the beginning, supreme over all who rise from the dead. So he is first in everything” (Col 1:18) - a divinely inspired writing of Paul - here it is applied to Christ, while Rev 1:8 it refers to God. While Rev 21:6 says “Then He said to me, "It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life without cost.” It is done – very much similar the phrase which appears in John 19:30, where Jesus says on the cross “It is finished” – this is an implication the job has been accomplished, so those redeemed will be prepared for the next stage of life which is of an eternal state. God’s reaffirmation is recapitulated to emphasize His Greatness. And lastly to those who have thirsted after God’s righteousness, He will quench their thirst freely. Rev 1:17 When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. The apostle John who used to rest on Jesus’ chest during the Saviour’s days of flesh, was overwhelmed with astonishment and fear at the sight of the manifestation of the glory of Son of God, so much so he fell in adoration. We in one way or the other need this glimpse of God’s glory to excite our faith and attain spiritual fear. As in the days of old in (Dan 8 & 10) 8: I was left alone, gazing at this great vision; I had no strength left, my face turned deathly pale and I was helpless & 10: A hand touched me and set me trembling on my hands and knees. These are instances which can rekindle one’s faith life – we sometimes need a jolt. Perhaps, John could also have reminded himself of his previous experience at Transfiguration where John had his first glorious glimpse of Jesus, during which they fell to the ground and Jesus told them “Do not be afraid”. Today for many Christians "There is no fear of God before their eyes." (Rom 3:18) and many do not say to themselves “Let us fear the LORD our God....”. (Jer 5:24) Fear of the Lord must always prevail in every Christian – Jesus is the Lord because at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth (Philippians 2:10)

What testimony is more accurate than from John who loved Jesus more than he feared punishment. Who is much more qualified than John who so devoted and one who walked, talked and saw the miracles Jesus performed during His days on earth ? It was assumed by the authorities that the banishment of John to this Island of Patmos would result in the following :- a) loneliness, misery and death he could nothing there to "campaign" for Jesus there They were wrong to presuppose it for a God forsaken place. It was here that the Alpha and the Omega "got" him to write the dynamic and prophetic revelation as witness for him until the 2nd coming of the Lord - a great hope for the Church which was undergoing severe persecution. Jesus is salvation to all believers. The pronouncement of blessings at the beginning of Rev 1:3 is for all who read or hear the testimonies of Jesus. But sadly most of us, the believers today are caught up with our day to day survival that we give very little time for the Great Eagle (symbolic for God), let alone bear witness. It's time to

Hello Everyone, My name Santhana David and I'm from Georgetown, Penang, Malaysia. I'm a Building Manager working in Penang. I have a great desire and interest to understand the book of Revelation and I look forward to learn from all out there as much as possible from Bible study. May the Lord be with each and everyone of us throughout this study and keep us open to His promptings in order to enlighten our minds throughout this course. I guess that's it !

My name I Santhana David. I'm a retired Engineer currently working as a Building Manager. I'm from Georgetown Penang, Malaysia. But I've a great desire/ interest in understanding the Book of Revelation. I guess that's about it. Looking forward to share and learn as much as possible from this study. May the Lord be with us throughout this study of the Book of Revelation.