In the last chapter of Revelation,
Jesus declares to John -
“I Jesus have sent My angel
to give you this testimony
for the churches.
I am the Root and the Offspring
of David, the bright Morning Star.”
‭‭Revelation‬ ‭22:16‬

“The Morning Star”

Now why would Jesus call himself
the same name that Isaiah gave to Satan?

Why does Jesus refer to himself
as the Morning Star?

Let’s dig in and compare
some other scripture.

Revelation‬ ‭2:26-28‬ says,
“And to the one who overcomes
and continues in My work until the end,
I will give authority over the nations.
He will rule them with an iron scepter
and shatter them like pottery --
just as I have received authority
from My Father.
And I will give him the morning star.”
‭‭
In Revelation, Chapter 22,
the Morning Star is capitalized.
The noun and the name
represent the Risen King
whose name is Jesus.

In Revelation, Chapter 2,
the Angel of the Lord is speaking to John
and asking him to speak to the churches.
The angel says,
“He who has an ear, let him hear
what the Spirit says to the churches.”
‭‭Revelation‬ ‭2:29‬

Father God - give me ears to hear
and understand your Word.

The morning star, in this instance,
probably represents 
a small beautiful light
that breaks the night -
a dawning of sorts -
a reflection of the Son
before He comes.

Peter wrote,
“We also have the word
of the prophets
as confirmed beyond doubt.
And you will do well
to pay attention to it,
as to a lamp shining in a dark place,
until the day dawns
and the morning star rises
in your hearts.
Above all, you must understand
that no prophecy of Scripture
comes from one’s own interpretation.
For no such prophecy
was ever brought forth
by the will of man,
but men spoke from God
as they were carried along
by the Holy Spirit.”
‭‭2 Peter‬ ‭1:19-21‬

According to Peter,
The morning star rises
when the Word of God enters our hearts.
This makes sense,
because as Jeremiah said,
“The heart is deceitful
above all things and beyond cure.
Jeremiah‬ ‭17:9‬

The Word of God is the Light of Christ,
and washes away the deceitful flesh
when we open our hearts to Christ.

But this does not answer the question -
why would Jesus call himself the same name
that once belonged to Satan?

Why does Jesus refer to himself
as the Morning Star?

Well, the answer is simple.

Jesus is the Light of the World,
and before Satan fell out of God’s Will,
he was also referred like any follower of Christ
as a morning star.

Isaiah said,
“How you have fallen from heaven,
O day star, son of the dawn!
You have been cut down
to the ground, O destroyer of nations.”
‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭14:12‬

Day star is often used
to describe the dawning
of the morning - and in Satan’s case,
he had been cut down.

Why?
Well that is easy -
It’s because of pride.

The sons of God are often called stars -
because they give light to the dark.

Lucifer was once one of them.
In fact, I have heard
that he was once a glorious angel.

“You said in your heart:
“I will ascend to the heavens;
I will raise my throne
above the stars of God.
I will sit on the mount of assembly,
in the far reaches of the north.
I will ascend above
the tops of the clouds;
I will make myself like the Most High.”
But you will be brought down to Sheol,
to the lowest depths of the Pit.
Those who see you will stare;
they will ponder your fate:
“Is this the man who shook the earth
and made the kingdoms tremble,
who turned the world into a desert
and destroyed its cities,
who refused to let the captives
return to their homes?”
‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭14:13-17‬

Satan desired in his heart
to take the place
of the Most High God -
and so he was cast down from Heaven,
and given temporary authority
over this fallen world.

He was placed in a position
to rule over the dark,
at least until the breaking dawn.

We currently live in an age
when Jesus came to take our sin away.

He was the fulfillment
of what the Law of Moses could not do.

He was the spotless Lamb of God
who took away the sins of the world.

And now we just wait for Him to return,
as our King -
and when he does
He will be bringing God’s judgment down.

Our faith in Christ is what brings us back
into relationship with Him.

​I believe “the morning star”
is anyone who believes
and reflects the Light of Christ.

Jesus said,
“I am the Root and the Offspring
of David, the bright Morning Star.”
Revelation 22:17

What does Jesus mean?

I believe Jesus is saying
that He is the Root of David
which comes from the stump of Jesse:
“Then a shoot will spring up
from the stump of Jesse,
and a Branch from his roots
will bear fruit.
The Spirit of the Lord will rest on Him -
the Spirit of wisdom and understanding,
the Spirit of counsel and strength,
the Spirit of knowledge and fear of the Lord.
And He will delight in the fear of the Lord.
He will not judge by what His eyes see,
and He will not decide
by what His ears hear,
but with righteousness
He will judge the poor,
and with equity He will decide
for the lowly of the earth.
He will strike the earth
with the rod of His mouth
and slay the wicked with the breath of His lips.
Righteousness will be the belt around His hips,
and faithfulness the sash around His waist.”
‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭11:1-5‬

The stump of Jesse
and the Root of David
come from the same family tree -
the same genealogy.

The “root” of a family
comes from the same originator,
often known as a forbearer
or an ancestor,
and Jesse was King David’s father.

The genealogy found
in Matthew Chapter 1
and Luke Chapter 3
show that Jesus descended
from the line of Jesse
and his son, King David.

The Hebrew word
used for “root” is sheresh -
and it implies that a root will remain alive
by the branch that shoots up from it.

Now the God of Israel chose their fathers;
and He made them into a great people
during their stay in Egypt -
and with an uplifted arm

He led them out of that land.
He endured their conduct
for about forty years while they were
wandering through the wilderness.

And having vanquished
seven nations in Canaan,
God gave their land
to His people as an inheritance.

All this took about 450 years.

After that, God gave them judges
until the time of Samuel the prophet.
Then the people asked for a king,
and God gave them forty years
under Saul son of Kish,
from the tribe of Benjamin.

After removing Saul,
God raised up David as their king
and testified about him:
‘I have found David son of Jesse
a man after My own heart;
he will carry out My will in its entirety.’
From the descendants of this man,
God has brought to Israel
the Savior Jesus, as He promised.
Before the arrival of Jesus,
John preached a baptism of repentance
to all the people of Israel.
As John was completing his course,
he said, ‘Who do you suppose I am?
I am not the One -
But He is coming after me
whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.’

Children of God -
It is to us that this message
of salvation has been sent!

The people of Jerusalem
and their rulers did not recognize Jesus,
yet in condemning Him they fulfilled
the words of the prophets
that are read on every Sabbath.

And though they found no ground
for a death sentence,
they asked Pilate to executed Him.

When they had carried out
all that was written about Him,
they took Him down from the tree
and laid Him in a tomb.

But Death could not hold Him down,
and Jesus rose again!
Hallelujah!

For many days Jesus was seen
by those who had accompanied Him
from Galilee to Jerusalem.

These were the first witnesses
to the resurrection of the Messiah -
and then, after walking the earth
as a resurrected man,
Jesus rose on a cloud
and ascended into Heaven.
His disciples were with Him -
and they testified to His ascension.
And now we proclaim the good news:
What God promised to the fathers of Israel,
He has fulfilled!

By raising up Jesus -
Jesus has become the Messiah
for the Gentiles and the Jews.
As it is written in the second Psalm:
‘You are My Son;
today I have become Your Father.’
The Lamb of God, stood without sin,
and offered himself
as a living sacrifice for us.

Through Jesus
everyone who believes in Him
is justified from everything
that humans could not do
by the Law of Moses.

Now we live by the Law of Christ.

We must remember
Jesus did not come
to abolish the Law or the Prophets.
He came to fulfill them.

He is the Son of God
who stands without sin.
We must be cautious,
because the adversary of God
is crouching at the door,
waiting to find someone to devour.

All Christians are currently
in the Lions Den.
We are all sheep among
ravenous wolves.

We must keep our eyes
focused like Stephen - on Jesus.
Watch out, then, that what was spoken
by the prophets
does not happen to you:
‘Do not spend too much time
denying God because you will perish!
The Lord Jesus
is our Savior and our King,
and He will soon be coming back again.

Will your oil be ready?
Will your lamp be burning?

Most of the words of this poem
come from Acts‬ ‭13:16-41‬.

Tomorrow I will focus in
on the Morning Star.

I believe I wrote about it before.
I will have to go back
in my poems and explore.

In Revelation‬ ‭22:16 Jesus said,
“I, Jesus, have sent My angel
to give you (John) this testimony
for the churches.”

I have to stop and separate
this detailed Word of God.

Within this verse is so much
Holy Spirit inspired knowledge.

First, we must understand
that the Book of Revelation
IS the Word of God!

The information contained in this book
IS the message that was given
by God to His Son to share with us.

Jesus, by the Angel of the Lord,
gave John knowledge and wisdom
that is totally mind-blowing!

In the last chapter of Revelation,
Jesus said,
“I, Jesus, have sent My angel
to give you this testimony
for the churches.”

The first chapter of Revelation
opens with the same information.
John writes as a true witness.

John wrote, 
“This is the revelation of Jesus Christ,
which God gave Him to show His servants
what must soon come to pass.
He made it known by sending His angel
to His servant John,
who testifies to everything he saw.
This is the word of God
and the testimony of Jesus Christ.”
‭‭Revelation‬ ‭1:1-2‬

Don’t you get it?
The Book of Revelation MUST be read!

It is the revelatory knowledge
that brings true wisdom!

There is no book in the Bible
that is more important
to those who love Christ
than the Revelation
that was given by God to Jesus to John,
by the Angel of the Lord.

The information
contained in this book
is designed specifically
for the Body of Christ!

It was written to the Church!

As obedient children,
it is our duty and responsibility to dig in

John was told,
“Blessed is the one who reads aloud
the words of this prophecy,
and blessed are those who hear
and obey what is written in it,
because the time is near.”
‭‭Revelation‬ ‭1:3‬

The Lord desires for us
to read the Revelation.

The Lord desires for us
to speak and believe
the words contained in the Revelation.

The Lord desires for us
to hear the Spirit of Revelation
so that we can have Holy Spirit,
divinely appointed wisdom.

The Lord desires for us
to obey the message
given to the seven churches,
and to have confident hope
that He is coming back for us.

The Lord is not trying to keep secrets.

He wants us to know
exactly how much He loves us.

He loves us so much
that He allowed the Lamb of God
to be sacrificed for us.

The Lord wants us to know
that end of this age is coming soon.

And while the Antichrist
is currently being restrained,
“the coming of the lawless one
will be accompanied by
the working of Satan,
with every kind of power, sign,
and false wonder, and
with every wicked deception
directed against those who are perishing,
because they refused
the love of the truth
that would have saved them.
For this reason
God will send them a powerful delusion
so that they believe the lie,
in order that judgment
may come upon all
who have disbelieved the truth
and delighted in wickedness.”
‭‭2 Thessalonians‬ ‭2:9-12‬

The Day of the Lord is near.

The Antichrist will soon be revealed.

But do not fear -
because the Lion of Judah
is coming back as our King!

The Lord Jesus will slay the Antichrist
with the breath of His mouth
and annihilate the Antichrist
by the majesty of His arrival.”
‭‭2 Thessalonians‬ ‭2:8‬

Know this -
God will be bringing His judgement down;
and only those who are covered
by the blood of Christ
will be invited into the Kingdom of God.

The end of the age
and the Day of he Lord
IS recorded in the Book of Revelation.

Followers of Christ
are called to be watchman.

Jesus said,
“Do you think that I have come
to bring peace to the earth?
No, I tell you, but division.”
‭‭Luke‬ ‭12:51‬

He said,
“You know how to interpret
the appearance of the earth and sky.
Why don’t you know
how to interpret the present time?”
‭‭Luke‬ ‭12:56‬ ‭

Jesus also said,
“Blessed are those servants
whom the master finds on watch
when he returns.
Truly I tell you,
he will dress himself to serve
and will have them recline at the table,
and he himself will come
and wait on them.
Even if he comes
in the 2nd or 3rd watch of the night
and finds them alert,
those servants will be blessed.”
‭‭Luke‬ ‭12:37-38‬

It does not matter if you are 10 or 100,
God is a good, good Father.

He is always ready
to welcome the prodigal son!
He leaves the 99 to chase after the one.
His desire is for you to come home.

Those who love Christ,
I implore you to read
the Revelation of Jesus NOW!

The time has come
for you to wrestle with God.

The time has come
for you to abide in His Word,
and ready yourselves for His arrival.

​Here is some godly wisdom -
Prepare with the end in mind.

To the Church, those who represent
the Great Witness of Christ,
“Do you solemnly swear
to tell the truth, the whole truth,
and nothing but the truth?
So help you God.”

Truth is a noun -
that which is consistent
with the mind, will, character,
glory, and being of God.

Truth IS God's Holy Word -
and through His Word
all things were made new again.
In His Word is the light of men -
the light that gives life again;
and the Light
that shines from God’s Holy Word.
The Word brings light to the darkest night;
the light pulls out
that which is good, right and true.

Therefore I say, test and prove
what is pleasing to the Lord -
live out your faith
according to God’s Holy Word.

Do not be imitators of the world.
Do not exchange
the TRUTH of God for a lie.
Out of respect for Christ,
we are to provide
a powerful witness to humankind; 
that is right,
"the world" - the place that David describes
in Pslam 23, as the Valley of the Shadow of Death.

We are to testify to the Truth
and lead people to the Holy Word.
For these words are faithful and true.
“Behold, I am coming soon.
Blessed is the one who keeps
the words of prophecy in this book.”
‭‭Revelation‬ ‭22:6-7‬

The TRUTH is God alone is Lord;
and the Bible is God’s scroll -
the Word of God
that was communicated
by His Holy Spirit
into the hearts and minds of men.

The TRUTH is God is sovereign,
and no matter how much
or hard we try -
unrighteous acts cannot be justified.

The TRUTH is
it’s only the blood of Christ
that can wash away our sin;
it’s only God’s Holy Word
that can make us whole again.
You see, before we were saved,
we stood before God as filthy rags -
slaves to uncleanliness.

Sin sure knows how to leave ugly stains;
we are all in desperate need
of God’s cleansing!
But the moment we believe
that Jesus is our Savior and King,

God immediately forgives
all of our sin -
“He is faithful and righteous
to forgive us our sins and cleanse us
from unrighteousness.”

The blood of Jesus
even cleanses our conscience,
the leading part of our human spirit.
Hebrews 9:14 says,
“How much more
will the blood of Christ,
who through the eternal Spirit
offered Himself to God
without blemish,
purify our conscience
from dead works
to serve the living God?”

The TRUTH is Jesus,
and God’s Holy Spirit;
and the true witness is the one
whose heart is covered
by the blood of the Lamb.

I tell the truth,
when we accept Jesus as Lord,
we become His Children -
adopted into His royal family
and citizens of Heaven.

And the moment we proclaim
Jesus as Lord,
God sends His Holy Spirit
to make us born again.

​The TRUTH will set you FREE!