Bible Study Seattle

Have you ever read the Beatitudes and thought that the meek get one gift, the peacemakers another, etc.?  Or are these describing different attributes of a saint and therefore all the rewards apply?  Similarly, if we take Revelation 2-3, we might see that different Christians through the Christian age get different benefits.  Or is it a composite of the overcomers that all the benefits apply?  To the church at Ephesus it says, “I will give the victor the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in God’s paradise.”  Revelation 2:7.  To the church at Smyrna it says, “The victor will never be harmed by the second death.”  Revelation 2:11.  To the church at Pergamum it says, “I will give the victor some of the hidden manna.  I will also give him a white stone, and on the stone a new name is inscribed that no one knows except the one who receives it.”  Revelation 2:17.  To the church at Thyatira it says, “The one who is victorious and keeps My works to the end: I will give him authority over the nations—and he will shepherd[t] them with an iron scepter; he will shatter them like pottery—just as I have received this from My Father.   I will also give him the morning star.”  Revelation 2:26-28.  To the church at Sardis it says, “In the same way, the victor will be dressed in white clothes, and I will never erase his name from the book of life but will acknowledge his name before My Father and before His angels.”  Revelation 3:5.  To the church at Philadelphia it says, “The victor: I will make him a pillar in the sanctuary of My God, and he will never go out again. I will write on him the name of My God and the name of the city of My God—the new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God—and My new name.”  Revelation 3:12.  To the church at Laodicea it says, “The victor: I will give him the right to sit with Me on My throne, just as I also won the victory and sat down with My Father on His throne.”  Revelation 3:21

These victory passages show that the overcomers have many rewards.  The first reward is eating from the tree of life.  This destroys the idea that Christians receive instant immortality at death.  Immortals do not need to eat.  The third reward is similar – the hidden manna, much like the manna that the Israelites ate while wandering about the wilderness with Moses – symbolic of the Millennial Reign.  The second reward speaks of escaping the second death, again in the Millennial Age.  The later rewards speak of reigning with Messiah and being a part of God’s temple.  This speaks of the Millennial Age and also the ages beyond.