ENHANCE - 1st Quarter 2023

Christian Friends of Israel
United Kingdom
Editorial
Jacob Vince
Revelation –
write it down
About us
CFI UK seeks to bless Israel by
means of practical and moral
support, and to serve the Church in
teaching about God’s purposes for
Israel and the Hebraic heritage of
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CFI UK also produces a monthly
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East Report and distributes the
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ENHANCE Magazine
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Front cover photo:
Church of The Holy Sepulchre, Jerusalem
‘Write on a scroll what you see
and send it to the seven churches:
to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum,
Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and
Laodicea.’ (Revelation 1:11)
In the centuries since
Jesus’ first coming, which
includes the current
century, we have had the
privilege and responsibility
of receiving the entire written
word of God.
Of all the books in the Apostles’
teaching, Revelation has by far the
highest number of instructions to
‘write it down’ – twelve in fact. It
might be that the one who saw the
visions was so taken up by them
that he kept forgetting to write
things down, but even if this is
the case, it was important to the
messenger that what was seen was
written down, preserved for some
2000 years until now. From this we
can deduce that it was relevant not
only to the Church at the time, but the
Church throughout history, and not
simply a book about the end times.
Although individual letters were
written to specific churches, the
writer was instructed to send
all the letters to all the churches.
Indeed, in his introduction the
writer addresses the Revelation to
all seven churches.
John, to the seven churches in the
province of Asia: Grace and peace
to you from him who is, and who
was, and who is to come, and from
the seven spirits before his throne,
and from Jesus Christ, who is the
faithful witness, the firstborn from
the dead, and the ruler of the kings
of the earth. (Revelation 1:4-5)
As John is once again instructed to
write, there were aspects of what
he wrote for that time and others
for the future.
‘Write, therefore, what you have seen,
what is now and what will take place
later.’ (Revelation 1:19)
Nonetheless, it was to be read by
all seven churches at the time and
recorded for every generation
since, including ours.
Interestingly, alongside the
instructions to write, there is one
instance of an instruction not to
write, so that part was not intended
to find its way into Scripture.
And when the seven thunders
spoke, I was about to write; but
I heard a voice from heaven say,
‘Seal up what the seven thunders
have said and do not write it
down.’ (Revelation 10:4)
We should not speculate about this,
otherwise we disobey the message.
Like Jesus in his parables, all seven
letters end with, ‘He who has an ear,
let him hear what the Spirit says to the
churches’ (Revelation 2:7, 11, 17, 29;
3:6, 13, 22). So, if we see ourselves
as part of the Church, Christ’s
body, whether or not we meet in
a formal setting, which appears to
become the normative position in
the Bible (see Hebrews 10:22-25), the
letters are written for us all.
Turning to the letters themselves,
it appears that throughout history
there have been concurrent
instances of all seven churches,
rather than a sequence. Today
there are examples of many
concurrent features of these seven
churches. In some churches there
is hard work and perseverance,
affliction and poverty – yet
richness, those who remain true to
God’s name with others tolerant of
false teaching. In other churches
repentance is needed, and let’s not
think this is just for ‘them,’ it might
be for ‘us’ – remember Daniel
repenting on behalf of Israel.
There are also persecuted churches
in many countries of the world
alongside those, perhaps largely
western, that have lost their first
love and become lukewarm.
So how are we to respond to the
instructions given?
2 ENHANCE • 1 ST Quarter 2023