Agape Bible Study Revelation 21 -22
Revelation 21:1-8 The New Heaven and the New Earth
Chapter 21 begins the longest and the last of John's final seven visions, each of which started with the words Kai eidon. Although this is the Seventh Vision, it is the eighth use of this key phrase.
In Revelation 20:9, John had a vision of the Bride that the Bridegroom carried home and the "house" He prepared for her as St. John recorded in his Gospel when Jesus said: "In my Father's house there are many places to live in; otherwise I would have told you. I am going now to prepare a place for you, and after I have gone and prepared you a place, I shall return to take you to myself, so that you may be with me where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going" (Jn 14:2-3).
Question: What other use of the word parousia pertains to the "coming" of our Lord and our relationship with Him at every Eucharistic celebration? Please read Matthew 23:37-39.
Answer: In the Liturgy of the Eucharist, we, the sacred assembly, utter the words, "Blessed is He who is coming in the name of the Lord," and as the Priest speaks the words of Consecration, the Holy Spirit gives us the miracle of transubstantiation and Christ is present among us. We witness His on-going parousia to every generation of the faithful.
Jesus' Parousia to His people after His Ascension:
- in His judgment against Jerusalem and the Old Covenant in AD 70
- in the visible form of bread and wine in the Eucharist
- to each of us after our death in our Individual/Particular Judgment
- His final appearance at the end of the age of humanity and the Final/Last Judgment
2 I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride dressed for her husband.
John sees the central aspect of the New Creation: The Holy City of the New Jerusalem (as opposed to the Harlot/False Prophet City of the earlier chapters). It is the vision Paul longed to see when he wrote to the Church at Philippi, But our homeland is in heaven, and it is from there that we are expecting a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transfigure the wretched body of ours into the mold of his glorious body, through the working of the power which he has, even to bring all things under his mastery (Phil 3:20-21).
This ultimate reality of the eschatological (End Times) New Creation is also the progressive reality of the new Jerusalem, the Church down through the last generations of Salvation History. The old Jerusalem was excommunicated/disinherited and executed for her violations of the covenant and rejection of Christ. Then, the heirs of Christ, the New Israel of the New Covenant Church, became citizens of the new Jerusalem. It is a city whose origin is in Heaven just as her citizens are themselves "reborn" from above in the image of Christ. The new Jerusalem is a Church established definitively by Christ to rule on earth. It is also a kingdom that is progressively fulfilling His will on earth down through time until the day when He will establish it finally in consummate, absolute perfection as the heavenly Jerusalem, the Bride taking her place beside her Spouse.
prepared as a bride dressed for her husband
Revelation 21:9-27 ~ The New Jerusalem
Verse 9 ties together Chapters 15-22. The angel in verse 9 is one of the seven angels who had the seven chalices (bowls) who showed John the vision of Babylon (17:1). Now, one of the seven chalice angels not only reveals the heavenly Jerusalem (21:10) but Jerusalem as the Bride of the Lamb.
Question: The revelation of the New Jerusalem Bride is in contrast to what other revelation the chalice angel showed John in Revelation 17:1-5?
Answer: The Bride of the New Jerusalem is in contrast to "Babylon," the Prostitute city, unfaithful wife, and false prophet.
Verses 9-27 are a vision of the New Covenant Church as the new, heavenly Jerusalem in contrast to the Old Covenant Church of the old earthly Jerusalem. Identifying the Harlot city as Rome instead of Jerusalem cannot adequately complete this contrast because it does not fit unless it is the Old versus the New.
10 In the Spirit he carried me to the top of a very high mountain, and showed me Jerusalem, the holy city, coming down out of heaven from God. 11 It had all the glory of God and glittered like some precious jewel of crystal-clear diamond.
One of the chalice angels carried John "in the Spirit," not in reality, away to a high mountain
12 Its wall was of great height and had twelve gates; at each of the twelve gates, there was an angel, and over the gates were written the names of the twelve tribes of Israel; 13 on the east, there were three gates. On the north three gates, on the south three gates, and on the west three gates. 14 The city walls stood on twelve foundation stones, each one of which bore the name of one of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.
Notice that 21:12-20 are full of twelves, the number representing perfection in government and authority, repeated eight times in the Greek text. The number twelve is also the symbolic number for Israel. Seven is the number of spiritual perfection and fullness, but eight is the number of redemption, salvation, and regeneration!
| #1. Rev 21:12 | It had a great high wall with twelve gates |
| #2. Rev 21:12 | and with twelve angels at the gates |
| #3. Rev 21:12 | the names of the twelve tribes of Israel |
| #4. Rev 21:14 | The wall of the city had twelve foundation stones |
| #5. Rev 21:14 | on them were the names of the twelve Apostles |
| #6. Rev 21:16 | He measured the city...it was twelve thousand furlongs |
| #7. Rev 21:21 | The twelve gates |
| #8. Rev 21:21 | were twelve pearls |
The repetition in the use of the number twelve indicates that the description of the Heavenly Jerusalem is symbolic and represents the perfection of her place as God's authority.
Question: If the length and the breath are the same, it can be assumed that the height and the width are also the same, and verse 16 says that the plan of the City is perfectly square. What geometric shape is the city
Answer:The heavenly City is a cube!
Question: What feature of the Tabernacle in the desert and later the Jerusalem Temple was a perfect cube? See 1 Kng 6:20 and 2 Chron 3:8-13.
Answer: The Holy of Holies, the dwelling place of God among His people.
There is a beautiful passage in Ephesians related to this passage in Revelation. St. Paul's theme in Ephesians is the Church as the Body of Christ. Read Ephesians 3:1-6, where begins by writing about "The Mystery of Christ" that was unknown in previous generations. It is the same "mystery" or secret that the angel told the prophet Daniel to "seal up" and not reveal until the end of time (the end of the Old Covenant) in Daniel 12:9.
Now, John describes the city in terms of precious and semiprecious gems. The most obvious connection is to the precious gems in the breastplate of the High Priest, which was four rows of three stones each, representing the twelve tribes of Israel (Ex 28:15-21):
| Row #1 | Sard, topaz, emerald |
| Row #2 | Garnet, sapphire, diamond |
| Row #3 | Hyacinth, ruby, amethyst |
| Row #4 | Beryl, cornelian, jasper |
24 The nations will come to its light, and the kings of the earth will bring it their treasures. 25 Its gates will never be closed by day, and there will be no night there, 26 and the nations will come, bringing their treasure and their wealth. 27 Nothing unclean may come into it: no one who does what is loathsome or false, but only those who are listed in the Lamb's book of life."
There are also eschatological (end times) overtones that point to the heavenly Jerusalem at the end of time in the Book of Isaiah, which St. John describes in the Book of Revelation (see Rev 21:9-27 and 22:5). Some of the wording is virtually the same; for example, compare Isaiah 60:3 with Revelation 21:24.
| Isaiah 60:3 | Revelation 21:24 |
| 60:3 Nations shall walk by your light and kings by your shining radiance. | 21:24 The nations will walk by its light, and to it, the kings of the earth will bring their treasure. |
27 Nothing unclean may come into it: no one who does what is loathsome or false, but only those who are listed in the Lamb's Book of Life.
Notice the contrast between verse 27 and Revelation 17:8 and 18:2. Revelation 17:8 mentions the people of the world whose names have not been written since the beginning of the world in the Book of Life, and Revelation 18:2 describes "Babylon" as being the dwelling of devils and the stronghold of everything foul and unclean. These descriptions are in contrast with the Holy New City, which holds only those whose names appear in the "Book of Life" and in which there is nothing unclean. All those within her walls have been washed clean in the blood of the Lamb!
Revelation Chapter 22
Revelation 22:1-8 ~ John's Vision of the River of Life
In 21:6B, John heard the voice of the One sitting on the heavenly throne proclaim: "I will give water from the well of life free to anybody who is thirsty," and now in 22:1-2, the angel shows John that lifegiving water.
The Catechism teaches that water is a symbol in the ministry of the Holy Spirit: "The symbolism of water signifies the Holy Spirit's action in Baptism since after the invocation of the Holy Spirit it becomes the efficacious sacramental sign of new birth: just as the gestation of our first birth took place in water, so the water of Baptism truly signifies that our birth into the divine life is given to us in the Holy Spirit. As by one Spirit, we were all baptized, so we are also made to drink of one Spirit. Thus, the Spirit is also personally the living water welling up from Christ crucified as its source and welling up in us to eternal life" (CCC 694).
2 on either bank of the river were trees [tree] of life
In Greek, the tree-of-Life reference is singular, not plural. The more accurate translation is: on each side of the River was Tree of Life. This reference points to the symbolic and sacramental nature of this passage.
Question: What is unique about the fruit of this forest of the Tree-of-Life, and what do the leaves symbolize? See Ps 1:3, 46:5, and Ez 47:1-12.
Answer: The leaves never wither (Ps 1:3), it bears continuously twelve months a year, and it heals (Ez 47:1-12 and Ps 46:5).
Remember, the symbolic imagery of the number 12 symbolizes the perfection of government and authority. The perpetual green of the leaves and the healing quality symbolizes the joy of eternal life, and the continuous bearing fruit symbolizes the eternal nature of the life of the redeemed.
First Adam/Tree-of-Life = eternal life for Adam ==> Jesus the Second Adam/Tree-of-Life = the Cross, redeeming humanity to eternal life by Christ's blood atoning for the sin of Adam.
As the seventh vision continues, the Chalice Angel of 21:9 shows John the River of Life. John's vision is a parallel to the springs of water welling up out of the ground in the Garden of Eden to form a river which then parted into four streams that went out to water the earth (Gen 2:10-14). This image repeats Ezekiel's vision in Chapter 47 of the New Covenant Temple. Under the Law of the old Sinai Covenant, God required the covenant people to journey to the Temple in Jerusalem for the ritual cleansing of unintentional sin through animal sacrifice (there was no forgiveness for intentional sin; see Num 15:22-31). But the New Covenant promised that a mighty river of grace and life would spill forth to cleanse the whole earth like the river that flowed from in the Sanctuary of Eden (Gen 2:6, 10). Also, see Ezekiel 40:1-4 and 47:1-12.
Question: In Ezekiel's vision, from where does the water flow?
Answer: It flows eastwards from under the Temple's threshold and from under the right side of the Temple.
You will recall that from Jesus' pierced chest flowed out blood and water from the Cross (Jn 19:34), and after His Ascension, He is seated on the right hand of God the Father in Heaven (c.f., Acts 7:55-56; Heb 1:3),. The Old Covenant desert Tabernacle and the Jerusalem Temple were oriented to face the east. In front of the desert Sanctuary was large bronze laver or basin (Ex 30:17-21) called the "sea" in the Jerusalem Temple (1 Kng 7:23-28). The priests had to purify themselves with the "holy water" from the basin before entering the Sanctuary's Holy Place, and the covenant people had to ritually cleanse themselves in a ritual pool called a mikvah before entering the Temple for worship. Perhaps the bronze laver and the mikvah foreshadowed the purification flowing water from Jesus' pierced chest as well as the Holy Spirit's mission in the Sacrament of Baptism, and John's vision of the River of Life pouring out to purify the whole earth as the Holy Spirit renews creation.
Comparing John's vision of the Tree-of-Life with Adam's Tree-of-Life, we understand that God restored in superabundance the blessing Adam forfeited through sin. What we have gained in Christ is so much more than we lost through Adam. St Paul wrote to the Roman Christians: If death came to many through the offense of one man, how much greater an effect the grace of God has had, coming to so many and so plentifully as a free gift through the one man Jesus Christ! (Rom 5:15).
Revelation 22:8-15 ~ John's Testimony
In 19:9, we mentioned that to fall or prostrate oneself before an angel or a human of superior status was not unusual in the Bible. Once again, the heavenly messenger is emphasizing now that redeemed man has access to the presence of God, he has become a "fellow-servant" with the angels. He also reminds John that as a member of the heavenly council, he, like the angels, can worship God face to face.
10 This too he said to me, "Do not keep the prophecies in this book a secret, because the time is close. 11 Meanwhile, let the sinner continue sinning, and the unclean continue to be unclean; let the upright continue in his uprightness, and those who are holy continue to be holy."
Question: Compare the angel's command to John to make known the prophecies revealed to him with Daniel's order in Daniel 12:4 concerning a prophetic message as well as John's instructions in Revelation 10:4-5 when he was told not to write down the words from the seven claps of thunder. Why was Daniel command (in the 6th century BC) to conceal the "words" of his prophecy and to "seal up the scroll" until the end of time?
Answer: In Daniel chapter 12, a divine messenger told Daniel to seal up a prophecy revealed to him because it concerned the distant future. However, John's prophetic visions involved the imminent future; therefore, John must write down everything that he has seen and heard. The only part John cannot make known is the message of the seven thunders, which suggests it is most likely a prophecy of the distant future concerning Christ's Second Advent.
The secrecy of the seven thunders is another indication that most of the action in this book took place within John's lifetime and impacted his generation. Verse 11 gives us a time reference. The angel cannot be referring to the future time of the new Heaven and Earth when everything in creation is reconciled to God because, at that time, there is no sin. This reference must be to the time when humanity must make a choice: to be for Christ or against Him. It must be the Age of the Church from John's time progressing through history, and is the prelude to judgment spoken by the prophet Ezekiel spoke of when every person must make a choice: He who hears, let him hear; and he who refuses, let him refuse (Ez 3:27).
These promises in Revelation 2:7 and 3:13 are to those who persevere. The phrase to enter to gates of the City is reminiscent of the restrictions of the old Sinai Covenant, where that forbade Gentiles to enter the Temple proper under pain of death. Now, with the revelation of the "Mystery of Christ" (see Eph 3:1-9), Gentiles have entrance to the covenant with Yahweh. And finally, Christ fulfills the covenant blessing promised to Abraham that all nations of the earth would receive a blessing through him as the ancestor of the Redeemer-Messiah (Gen 12:3; Acts 3:25; Gal 3:8; and also see Revelation 21:24-26).
17 The Spirit and the Bride say, "Come!" Let everyone who listens answer, "Come!" Then let all who are thirsty come: all who want it may have the water of life, and have it free. 18 This is my solemn attestation for all who hear the prophecies in this book: 19 if anyone adds anything to them, God will add to him every plague mentioned in the book; 19 if anyone cuts anything out of the prophecies in this book, God will cut off his share of the Tree-of-Life and of the Holy City, which are described in the book.
The Greek word translated "free" in verse 17 is dorean [do-reh-an'], which means "gratuitously, without cost, freely, or free gift" (Thayer's Greek Dictionary). The New American Bible reads: "let all who desire it accept the gift of life-giving water." Look at the beautiful symbolism in verses 17-18: The Holy Spirit and the Church (the Bride) call for Christ to come in salvation and judgment! The call reminds us again that John's entire prophecy is set in the heavenly liturgy as, in response to the Spirit and the Bride, the assembly of saints and angels call out, "Let everyone who listens answer, Come!' And then Christ makes His invitation to come to Him and, for eternity, drink from the cup of salvation that only He can offer.
Question: What is the price of the salvation He offers?
Answer: There is no cost; it is free.
Question: Why is salvation a gift?
Answer: It is free because Christ paid the price of our salvation on the altar of the Cross.
Old Covenant
Tabernacle/Tent in the wilderness ==> Temple in Jerusalem
New Covenant
Tabernacle/Tent of our earthly bodies==> God's heavenly Tabernacle
Agape Bible Study Hebrews 11 - 13
Hebrews 10:39-11:7: The Faith of the Ancients
The previous chapter concluded with a warning from Habakkuk 2:4 [from the Septuagint] in Hebrews 10:38: "But my just (righteous) one shall live by faith, and if he draws back I take no pleasure in him." This warning is followed by the encouraging statement We are not among those who draw back and perish [Hebrews 10:39]. On the contrary, the inspired writer encourages his audience, not only will we "not draw back", but we are among those who have faith and will possess life! This statement is the opening line in what follows, a discourse on the history of the hope and the persevering faith of the people of God.
Hebrews 11:4-32 begins a list of named heroes and heroines of the faith from the second generation after Adam to the period of the monarchy of Israel. Notice that only two women are mentioned: Sarah, and the Gentile harlot Rahab. Jesus of Nazareth is a descendant of both these women:
Saint | Some Old Testament Scripture passages |
1. Abel | |
2. Enoch | |
3. Noah | |
4. Abraham | |
5. Isaac | Genesis 17:19-21; 21:1-11; 22:1-19; 24:4-66; 25:9-11, 19; 26:1-40; 36:28-29 |
6. Jacob | Genesis 25:19-35:29; 37:1-35; 42:12, 29-38; 43:6-14; 47:6-12, 27-31; 48:1-50:14 |
7. Sarah | Genesis 11:29-31; 12:5-17; 16:1-8; 17:15-18:15; 20:2-21:12; 23:1-19 |
8. Joseph | Genesis 30:22-25; 33:2-7; 35:24; 37:2-36; 39:1-23; 40:3-50:26; Exodus 1:5-8; 13:19 |
9. Moses | Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy |
10. Rahab [Rachab] | |
The next 5 "conquered kingdoms" 11. Gideon | |
12. Barak | |
13. Samson | |
14. Jephthah | |
15. David | Ruth 4:17, 22; 1 Samuel 16:1-2 Samuel 24:25; 1Kings 1:1-2:11; 1Chronicles 10-23:32; 25:1; 27:23, 32; 28:-29:30 |
16. Samuel |
Cain is mentioned in 11:4 as a contrast to righteous Abel, just as the unnamed and hard-hearted Egyptian pharaoh is mentioned in 11:27 as a contrast to the obedient Moses, and ungrateful Esau in contrast to Jacob who desired the spiritual promises belonging to the firstborn son in 11:20. These are negative examples of faith. Pharaoh's daughter is mentioned in 11:24 but only as an illustration of Moses' choice between remaining the son of an Egyptian princess and choosing to identify with his people's suffering.
Hebrews 11:32 begins a list of unnamed heroes of the faith, from the period of the prophets to the period of the Maccabees who are only identified by mention of their suffering and martyrdom The only unnamed faithful believers in the first section from 11:4-32 are Moses' parents.
Saints | Scripture Passages |
1. The parents of Moses [Jochebed and Amran] | |
2. The Old Testament Prophets who conquered kingdoms, did what was righteous, obtained the promises... | 1-2 Samuel; 1-2 Kings; 1-2 Chronicles; Books of the Prophets |
3. Closed the mouths of lions: Samson, David, Benaiah, Daniel | Judges 14:5-6; 1 Samuel 17:34-37; 2 Samuel 23:20; Daniel 6:24; Sirach 47:3 |
4. Quenched the power of fire: Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego [Azariah in Hebrew] | The Book of Daniel 3:1-23; the Song of Azariah in the furnace in Daniel 3:23-90 [LXX] and in Catholic Bibles 3:24-90 |
5. Some escaped the sword like Moses, Joshua, David, Elijah and the Jews in the time of Esther, but others died by the sword: the Maccabee brothers and their martyred soldiers; Prophets like Uriah; Christians | Books of Exodus, Joshua; 1-2 Samuel; 1 Kings, 1 Chronicles; 1-2 Maccabees The prophet Uriah [Jeremiah 26:20-23]; other prophets [1Kings 19:10; 14; Jeremiah 2:30]; Christians [Acts 12:2] |
6. Strong in battle & turned back foreign invaders: Joshua, the Judges, Samuel, Saul, David, Hezekiah, the Maccabees, Judith | Books of Joshua & Judges, 1 & 2 Samuel, Isaiah 36-38; 1-2 Maccabees, Judith |
7. Tortured/ scourged martyrs: -Eleazar, the 90 year old scribe who was tortured to death when he refused to violate God's law by eating pork during the persecution by the Greek-Syrian king Antiochus Epiphanes. -the 7 sons of the righteous mother who also refused to eat pork during the same persecution
| Eleazar the Scribe: 2 Maccabees 6:18-31 The 7 sons: 2 Maccabees 6:30; 7:1-42; Christians, Acts 22:24; Jesus, Matthew 20:19 |
8. Righteous who were stoned: Stoned=Naboth, Zechariah son of Jehoiada, Perhaps New Testament heroes like: Stephan and Paul who were both stoned but Paul survived. | Naboth: 1Kings 21:11-19; Zechariah: 2 Chronicles 24:19-22; Stephen: Acts 7:59; Paul: Acts 14:19; 2 Corinthians 11:25
|
9. Imprisonment: Jeremiah, Hanani, Micaiah, Paul and Christians | Jeremiah 37:4-21; 20:1-2; Hanani, 2 chronicles 16:7-10; Micaiah, 1 Kings 22:26-27; Paul, Acts 24:27; Hebrews 10:34; 13:33 |
10. Made powerful out of weakness: David over Goliath; Samson in blindness, Elijah against 450 prophets of Baal, Gideon defeated a large army with a small band, Esther, Judith | Samson in Judges16:19-30; Gideon in Judges 7; Elijah in 1Kings 18; St. Clement applauds both Esther and Judith in 1 Clement 55:3-6 for being given power out of weakness to defeat Israel's enemies. |
Hebrews 11:8-12, The Faith of Abraham and Sarah:
The inspired writer of Sirach praises Abraham in Sirach 44:19-21: Abraham, the great ancestor of a host of nations, no one was ever his equal in glory. He observed the Law of the Most High, and entered into a covenant with him. He confirmed the covenant in his own flesh, and proved himself faithful under ordeal. The Lord therefore promised him on oath to bless the nations through his descendants, to multiply him like the dust on the round, to exalt his descendants like the stars, and to give them the land as their heritage, from one sea to the other, from the River to the ends of the earth.
Hebrews 11:8: By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance; he went out, not knowing where he was to go.
Question: When did God first call Abraham to faith? What did God ask Abraham to do? See Genesis 12:1; 15:7; Nehemiah 9:7; Acts 7:2-4.
Answer: Abraham was living in the great ancient Mesopotamian city of Ur of the Chaldeans. God told him to go to an unidentified land: Yahweh said to Abram, 'Leave your country, your kindred and your father's house for a country which I shall show you...'. The unidentified land to which he was to go was land which had been given to Abraham's ancestor Shem but which had been usurped by the descendants of Canaan, son of Shem's disgraced brother Ham [Genesis 9:25-27; 10:6-7].
Hebrews 11:13-16: Promise of the Heavenly Jerusalem
All these: Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Isaac and Jacob died in faith without having received their promised inheritance.
Hebrews 11:17-22: Abraham's Test of Faith
Abraham's test of faith came in Genesis chapter 22:1-3 when God commanded him to offer in sacrifice the beloved "son of the promise", Isaac: It happened sometime later that God put Abraham to the test. 'Abraham, Abraham!' he called. 'Here I am,' he replied. God said, 'Take your son, your only son, your beloved Isaac, and go to the land of Moriah, where you are to offer him as a burnt offering on one of the mountains which I shall point out to you.' Such a test of faith is also called a "covenant ordeal." It is the same kind of "covenant ordeal" which Adam and Eve faced when confronted by the Serpent in the Garden of Eden. But this is Isaac's covenant ordeal as well as Abraham because he also had to submit in faith.
ISAAC SON OF ABRAHAM A "TYPE" OF JESUS CHIRST
Comparisons between the "offering up" of Isaac in sacrifice found in Genesis 22:1-18 and the Passion and Resurrection of Jesus Christ:
¨ Isaac and Jesus were "only, beloved" sons of a righteous father; Ishmael had been sent away in Genesis 21:14 [Genesis 22:2].
¨ Both Isaac and Jesus are identified as the "son of Abraham" [see Genesis 21:3; 22:2; Matthew 1:1].
¨ Both were offered in sacrifice [Genesis 22:2; John 1:29; Matthew 27:35; Mark 15:24; Luke 23:33; John 11:50, 19:17-18].
¨ The sacrifice was offered in the land of Moriah – Jerusalem [Genesis 22:2; 2 Chronicles 3:1; Matthew 16:21-23].
¨ Both sons carried the wood for their own sacrifice [Genesis 22:6; John 19:17]
¨ Both were "bound" and placed on top of the wood [Genesis 22:9; John 19:18-19; Philippians 2:8].
¨ Both willingly allow themselves to be offered in sacrifice [Genesis 22:7-8; Colossians 2:6-8].
¨ Both sons were given "resurrected" or "given back" to their fathers on the third day. Isaac was essential "dead" to his grieving father when God commanded him to sacrifice his son. On the "third day" God provided another sacrifice and his son was restored. God's son died on the Cross and was resurrected on the third day! [Genesis 22:4; Matthew 16:21; 17:23; 20:19; Mark 9:31; 10:34; Luke 9:22; 18:22; 24:7, 44-47; Acts 10:40; 1 Corinthians 15:4].
The Fathers of the Church saw Isaac as a prefigurement of the Christ. Clement of Alexandria wrote of Isaac as a type of Christ not only in being offered for sacrifice by his father but in his name, which means "laughter": Isaac is a type of the infant Lord as son, and, in fact, Isaac was the son of Abraham as Christ is of God, victim as was the Lord. But he was not cut down like the Lord; no, Isaac only carried the wood of the sacrifice, as the Lord did his cross. He laughed mystically by way of prophesying that the Lord fills us with joy, we who have been redeemed by his blood. He did not suffer but left to the Logos, as is fitting, the first fruits of suffering. What is more, because he was not immolated, he signifies also the divinity of the Lord. For after his burial, Jesus was raised up, thus leaving suffering behind, just as Isaac had escaped the sacrifice. Christ the Educator 1.5.23.1-2
Hebrews 11:32-12:2 The Faith of Prophets and Heroes
Question: What roles did Gideon, Barak, Samson and Jephthah play in the history of Israel?
Answer: Gideon, Samson and Jephthah were all judges in the pre-monarchy period of Israelite history. The "judges" were not so much civil administrators as military leaders.
- Gideon was a son of Joash from the tribe of Manasseh and a judge of Israel. He was called by an angel of God to save the Israelites from the vicious attacks of Midianite raiders [see Judges 6:1-8:32]. His heroism is praised in Psalm 83:10; Isaiah 9:3 and 10:26.
- Barak was a son of Abinaom and from the tribe of Naphtali in the Galilee. He was the general who lead the Israelite army of the judge Deborah. With faith in God and in Deborah, Barak defeated the Canaanite army led by general Sisera at the battle of Mount Tabor [see Judges 4:1-5:31]. He is named as a "deliverer" of Israel in 1 Samuel 12:11.
- Samson, the Nazarite [Numbers 6:1-21] son of Manoah of the tribe of Dan, was a less than perfect hero, with a fondness for foreign women and a weakness for their wiles. He was betrayed by his Philistine mistress, captured, blinded and enslaved. Samson asked God for one last feat of great strength and receiving his petition he pulled the temple of the Philistine gods down upon his enemies [Judges 13:1-16:31].
- Jephthah, the brave but misguided bandit chieftain who became a judge of Israel and led a force of Israelites against the fierce Ammonites [Judges 11:1-12:7]. He is another example, like Samson, that God can even use very imperfect men to accomplish His plan.
Hebrews 12:1-13: God Our Loving Father Disciplines His Children That We Might Share His Holiness
St. Ephraim and other Church Fathers recognized that the call for perseverance in the face of suffering must be accompanied by the hope that faith can sustain the Christian in any trial. Christians must divest themselves of anything that can hold them back, like the love of material goods, or pride or selfishness, in order to have the strength to persevere; for not all trials and sufferings are the work of men but also the work of the great adversary, Satan. St. Ephraim wrote: "Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses" about the weight of our life, that is, about the fact that we have ahead of us a cloud of sad afflictions, which lead many who trust in Christ and die for him to honor, "let us lay aside everything" from us.... And "Let us run with perseverance the race that is set for us: not only by our persecutors but by the devil himself.
Hebrews 12:14-17: A Warning to Persevere in Holiness
Question: What exactly is the warning in Hebrews 12:14-15? See CCC#1854-55; 1856-57; 1861.
Answer: The warning is to strive to remain in a state of sanctifying grace and to remain free of all sin, especially mortal sin, for without such holiness no one will see the Lord. CCC# 1861 teaches: Mortal sin is a radical possibility of human freedom, as is love itself. It results in the loss of charity and the privation of sanctifying grace, that is, of the state of grace. If it is not redeemed by repentance and God's forgiveness, it causes exclusion from Christ's kingdom and the eternal death of hell, for our freedom has the power to make choices for ever, with no turning back. However, although we can judge that an act is in itself a grave offense, we must entrust judgment of persons to the justice and mercy of God.
God manifests His presence in various ways, in a cloud, or a pillar of cloud and fire, a form known as the Shekinah in Hebrew, the "Glory Cloud" and also as a 'dark mist" and the cloud. Coupled with the cloud the glory of Yahweh in the Shekinah is also described as a consuming fire which moves like Yahweh Himself [see Exodus 19:16 and 24:16]. Cloud covered the mountain. The glory of Yahweh rested on Mount Sinai and the cloud covered it for six days. On the seventh day Yahweh called to Moses from inside the cloud. To the watching Israelites, the glory of Yahweh looked like a devouring fire on the mountain top [Exodus 24:15b-17]. But the inspired writer's warning to his audience in Hebrews 12:29 is a warning of judgment'similar to the one he made in Hebrews 11:31, Beloved stay alert and remain faithful: it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God, for God is a consuming fire!
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