This lesson explores the concept of the “figurative song” mentioned in the Book of Revelation. It explains that a “song” spiritually represents the word of sermons or the word that God asks His chosen one to deliver to the people. The “new song” specifically refers to the gospel of the fulfillment of prophecy – explaining what prophecies from the past have now been fulfilled.

The lesson covers the three key “songs” from God’s perspective in Revelation – the Song of Moses (the Old Testament/old covenant), the Song of the Lamb (the New Testament/new covenant brought by Jesus), and the final “new song” about the fulfillment of prophecies concerning the Second Coming of Christ.

It emphasizes the importance of being able to “sing” or preach this final “new song” by understanding what prophecies are being fulfilled in the present day, rather than only looking to the past. The lesson warns against being deceived by “Satan’s song” of false words and testimonies. Overall, it stresses discerning where the true, current “new song” is being taught and acted upon.

 

Study Guide SCJ Bible Study

Secrets of Heaven: Figurative Song

 

What is the figurative song? And the new song? This will be very important.

Overcoming our Flesh

Some interesting things are happening in the last days of Jesus before his crucifixion. Jesus is going up to the mountain to pray. As he is praying, he tells his disciples to keep watch. And for how long did Jesus instruct his disciples to watch, or how long before he came back down?

 

For 1 hour. Would you not keep watching for 1 hour? How long is the class? Oh! Lessons are about an hour, right? So, what happened as Jesus went up to pray? A deep sleep fell upon the disciples. Was this a natural deep sleep? Or was there someone trying to prevent them from keeping watch with Jesus?

 

That’s why Jesus said, “Pray. Pray that you will not fall into temptation.” What kind of temptation was a threat to the disciples? And what kind of temptation are we under threat from? What is the enemy or the tempter trying to lure us into?

 

And Jesus said something key: “The Spirit is willing.” We know what we ought to do. We know what we want to do. But it is very difficult for us to do it oftentimes. And it’s like we have to wade through muck just to be able to study the word. Where it’s like being in that hallway, and you’re running, but the door keeps getting further away.

 

Man, why is it so hard? Or like you’re coming around, you’re running the 400 meters, for those who ran track. And you’re coming around that last bend, and like a gorilla jumps on your back. It gets harder when we’re getting closer to the end. It’s not an accident. Even the disciples, they struggled.

 

Moments before Jesus was to be arrested and crucified, they were falling asleep. “The spirit is willing, but the body, the flesh is weak.” So we really have to pray to overcome our flesh so that we don’t fall into temptation. It’s much easier to fall into temptation when our body is weak, and we give in. Fight at this time.

 

Especially now that we are learning the open word, Satan is going to be fighting you harder. I’m sure the fight has been increasing. Have we noticed that? Things are getting harder. It’s not an accident. That means we’re on the right track.

 

Stay the course. Don’t be like Peter who did this, looking both ways, right and left when he was trying to walk towards Jesus. All these waves over here. He sank. “Why did you look at the waves, Peter? I’m standing right here.”

 

What’s the equivalent for us today? “Why are you looking at the waves? I’m right here, the word” Stay focused. Keep running towards me like that. The word will be our strength. 

 

Okay, so now let’s look at the new song.

 

There are a lot of things to cover today. A lot of things that help us discern. Especially for today.

Figurative Song

Main Reference

Very fascinating what we’ve just read. I can’t wait for us to go over this content. We see about seven angels who have seven last plagues. But then we see an interesting group of people – those who have overcome the beast, his image, and the number of his name. They are gathered before the throne, before the Lamb. They’re singing two songs here. What were the two songs that they were singing? According to verse 3, they sang the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the Song of the Lamb. However, there are two other songs mentioned in Revelation.

 

Revelation 14:3 says, “And they sang a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders. No one could learn the song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth.”

 

The third song of Revelation is revealed here, and we’ll talk about the fourth at the end of the lesson. It is not a good song, but there are three songs that belong to God: 

 

1. the Song of Moses, 
2. the Song of the Lamb, and 
3. the New Song. 

 

So then, what do these mean? We’ll discuss them today. Each of these songs is very important for God’s people to understand so that we can sing them too. Right? I want to sing the new song. I want to sing the song of Moses. I want to sing the song of the Lamb. I want to be part of those people.

1. Physical Characteristics of a Song

 Romans 1:20 and Hosea 12:10

When you think of a song, what comes to mind? What are some characteristics of a song? It has lyrics. So, what is a characteristic of lyrics? 

 

In order to sing those lyrics, what must you do? You have to know the words, which means you have to go into a time of study.

 

1. You have to learn the song before you can sing it. This means you have to go into a time of training. You have to learn its different melodies, its structure, the beat, and its timing. There are many things you have to learn in order to be able to deliver that song.

 

2. Oftentimes, songs have a theme or a message that the song is conveying. It could be a love song, or a breakup song, which seems quite common in our times with pop music. “Oh, he was the worst. Right? Put a ring on it.” Right? It could be love songs or songs like that. But there could also be songs of sadness, about losing a loved one, and the song expresses pain. It could be a song of healing or religious songs, a song of praise, or gospel songs. Right, songs have a theme; they have a message behind them.

 

So, you have to learn the song before you can sing it, and songs have a theme. Now, let’s look at this through a spiritual lens, through the lens of the Bible, and explore the ways that songs were used by God. Let’s turn to the book of Psalms.

2. Spiritual (True) Meaning of a Song

ONE – Your decrees, your laws, your word are the theme of my song. What words need to be sung at any given time? 

They need to be God’s decrees and His laws. If one sings God’s decrees and His laws, they become embedded in their heart and mind. They can then recite those same decrees and laws. 

So, if the law or the word is in one’s heart, that person can then sing it or speak it to others. 

Song represents the word of sermons, also known as the word that is taught when one stands in front of others to teach. 

Spiritually, when someone is teaching the Word to others who are listening, it is as if that person is singing to them. From God’s perspective, that’s what it looks like. That person is singing to them the words that they had put in their hearts prior.

So then, what about the new song? If the song is the word of sermons, then what is the new song? 

New meaning has never been heard before. Songs are sung throughout, but a new song is sung only at a proper time. When? When things take place. So, the new song is the gospel of the fulfillment of prophecy. Songs are sermons that are taught daily, and the new song is the song that can only be sung at a proper time when prophecy is being fulfilled.

TWO – My tongue will sing of your words, for your commands, your decrees, your law. Your words are righteous. So, let us be those who are able to sing God’s Word. But first, we need to correctly learn it. 

And so, what is the process of God’s Word to reach us? Because there is a process.

.

 

THREE – We observe a significant sequence of events here. 

God is speaking to Moses, instructing him to transcribe the words of this song and recite it to the Israelites. Moses is conveying the words of the law, which were imparted to him, to the Israelites.

 

A crucial flow is occurring here, from God to Moses, and then to the Israelites. 

 

The flow was not directly from God to the Israelites. It was from God to Moses, and subsequently to the Israelites. And the Israelites were often displeased with the manner in which God conducted this process.

 

They frequently asserted, “God speaks to us directly.” But that’s not how events unfolded.

This is a very important passage about how God’s Word often flows. 

 

It flows from God to the one whom God has chosen to sing or deliver that song. And God said something really key here: to the others, I speak in riddles, parables, and visions. But to Moses, I speak directly because he is the one I have chosen. How dare you speak against Moses?

 

God was angry. So when Moses was reciting the words, he was not reciting his own words but the words that God had given him directly. Therefore, to lift up arms or be angry at Moses really means that you are lifting up arms or you’re angry against God because God was working through Moses. 

 

Let’s go back to Deuteronomy 31 and look at what God had spoken through Moses to the people, what he warned them about, and what will take place with them.

 

In Deuteronomy 31, let’s look at a few things here. Why did God tell him to write it as a song? 

 

What do we think he did it that way? So that people can remember it. And Moses recited that song in verse 30, and he sang it to them. 

 

He taught them the decrees of God, and he did so in song form.

 

The song was a way to internalize the sermon so that people could remember it, particularly the song that God told Moses about. It was a song about which time? If we go to verse 21, it says, “When many disasters and difficulties come upon them, this song will testify against them. It will not be forgotten by their descendants. I know what they are disposed to do, even before I bring them into the land I promised them on oath.” So what is the essence of the song that is being sung to the people? What is God telling the people?

 

A promise. What’s another way of saying promise? Prophecy.

 

The song that God is telling Moses to sing to the people is actually a prophecy, a promise of what will take place. 

 

So then a new song must be sung later to declare what the song had promised, the reality of that song. 

 

So let’s look at it because now we’re looking at the time of Moses.

 

The song of Moses should actually start to come into a little bit more clarity now. So let’s look at it like this: if the song is the word of sermons, especially prophecy, and the song of Moses would be the words of the Old Testament, the sermons of the Old Testament, the law, what had been declared in the first covenant? And then when Jesus came, Jesus brought a new song, how the Old Testament had been fulfilled. And then Jesus gave a new covenant at that time. So, the Song of the Lamb equals the New Testament.

 

The new song on the first coming, the new song generally, in the contents of the new song. And then we’ll look at the new song at the first coming and the second coming. But the song of Moses? Well, the words that God gave to him to declare to the Israelites contained prophecy and encompassed the Old Covenant or the first Covenant or the first or Old Testament.

 

And Jesus brought a new word at the time of the first coming. He sang a new song at that time, the song of the New Testament or the Song of the Lamb.

3. New Song

Some very important things are declared here.

 

So, what do we see in verse 9? We see that the former things have taken place.

Hmm, that language should set off alarm bells. What is being talked about here?

 

What are the former things?

And what does it mean that they have taken place?

It means that what has been prophesied has been fulfilled.

Now that it has been fulfilled, people need to hear about it.

 

That’s what the new song is about. Verse 10 says, “Sing to the Lord a new song, His praise from the ends of the earth, you who go down to the sea, and all that is in it, the coastlands and their inhabitants.”

Before they spring up, I will announce them to you. The new things I declare. So the former things have taken place.

 

People need to hear about what has been fulfilled. That is the content of the new song. The former things have been fulfilled, and people need to hear about it.

 

So, sing to the Lord a new song.

4. New Song at the First Coming

We see a prophecy in the book of Isaiah 9, which states that the people living in darkness in Galilee will see a great light. If there was a teacher, pastor, or priest during that time, they would preach about this prophecy mentioned in Isaiah. They would open the scroll of Isaiah and read it to the people in the synagogue: “A time is coming when the people in darkness will see a great light.” Even in Galilee, they would roll up the scroll and preach on the prophecy or sing about it.

 

However, if someone were to ask, “Dear priest, what is the light that is to come?” They could respond in a few ways. They might say, “I don’t know,” which could make people question whether they should listen to this person. Instead, people tend to speculate, “Oh, I believe this great light is the light of God. It must come from heaven, and it will be so bright that we cannot see.” The people would then respond, “Oh, okay, got it.”

 

They would continue by opening another prophecy in the prophet Isaiah. But when could the true meaning of that light be known? When it is fulfilled, as described in Matthew 4:12-17, which talks about the one who was the reality of that light. He could then testify to what he had seen and heard, what was given to him by God. At that time, God descended upon his son. Just like Moses, God gave him a word that he was to deliver to the people. “The words I speak are not my own.”

 

He belonged to the Father who sent him.

God would give Jesus the Word, and then Jesus declared that word to many people. If someone wanted to follow God, they needed to follow Jesus. It was no longer enough for people at the time of the first coming to follow the law of Moses, partly because they weren’t even doing it in its original way that the people at Moses’ time did it. But in reality, because an old era had passed away, and a new era had come to replace the old era.

 

 

However, people with the mindset of the old era often rejected what the new era was doing. “I don’t know. That doesn’t make sense. We like the law of Moses. That’s the song that we know how to sing.” And so they denied, oftentimes, the words that Jesus spoke. They rejected, oftentimes, the song that he was giving. But there were 12 who accepted the word of Jesus, as mentioned in Luke 24:44, to truly understand the song that Jesus needed to deliver to the people – that light that came out of Galilee.

This is what I have told you: everything recorded in the prophets must be fulfilled. These things written about me must take place; they must happen.

 

And when they occur, people need to understand that they have happened because it won’t be obvious to everyone that they have been fulfilled. So, they have to be taught. It has to be declared to them what has taken place.

 

That’s why I’ve been training you for three and a half years. The time we have spent together is not just for you to be filled, but so that you can then turn around and fill others.

 

But the time when Jesus came to speak to his disciples was very concentrated. There wasn’t enough time for fluff. We had to get to work. You have to understand this word I am declaring to you. You have to go through many trials so that you’re ready for the time when I return to the Father, and you’re on your own like that.

 

When I’m not standing here right next to you to guide you, to pick you up when you fall, you have to master this word first.

 

Let’s see how Jesus did the work of explaining the prophecies concerning himself to the people.

According to the Bible, what did Jesus say here? He had to explain to them everything concerning himself that was recorded in the law, the prophets, and even in the time of Moses.

 

When the people heard these words of Jesus and truly accepted them, it was as if they were listening to the most beautiful song.

 

Recall an experience when you’ve heard a song that touched you so deeply, it moved you to tears.

 

When someone hears a word like this, they too are moved to tears. I’ve noticed some of you experiencing this during the class, by God’s grace. Or you feel the spirit moving because the word has truly resonated with you, and you’re moved to tears.

 

That’s how the word should feel. That’s how the word should be delivered. When someone understands what has been fulfilled, those who were in darkness now understand the light.

 

The one who came in accordance with the light, when the song is sung correctly. So, the song that Jesus delivered at that time was a new song.

 

And then it became the Song of the Lamb. Now, let’s look at the new song at the second coming.

5. New Song at the Second Coming

On Mount Zion, where the Lamb is, a new song will be sung, not just by John who witnessed these things but also by a group of people – the 144,000 who have been sealed and redeemed from the earth. They will then perceive that new song.

 

This new song will travel to many peoples, nations, languages, and kings. As they hear the song, they will realize that things are finally taking place, and it is time to flee, to come out and gather at the place where that song is being sung – the only place where it can be taught.

 

What differentiates this type of place from all others? 

 

Now is the time to be direct. Am I at a place that delivers the new song? What new song do I need to hear? Not what was fulfilled 2,000 years ago, which we must know to understand today. But if they only talk about 2,000 years ago and have no interest in what is happening today, can I be sealed at that location?

 

Sometimes we might think, “Oh, the place where I am, they know what we’re learning here in the class, though I’ve never heard it before.” But to know something as impactful as the open word and not deliver it to your congregation would be deep malpractice. That person should step down from their position.

 

If we’re hearing this for the first time now, what does that mean about the place where I have been? And can I know this new song continually at that location? Or do I need to be a conduit that God is using to deliver it to them because God chose me at this time?

 

You are not here by accident. You were not called by mistake. You’re here on purpose. You were called. But as Jesus said many times in parables, “Many are called, but few are chosen.” Jesus spoke to everyone in parables, but only the disciples listened and understood.

 

What about our time now? Are we here for head knowledge? “Oh, that’s nice. Now I understand the figurative song.” Then I go about my business. Or should I be thinking, “Oh my goodness. I’m learning the new song. It’s time to go. Like that. Things are happening. It isn’t playtime anymore. It’s go time.” How are we reacting to what we’re hearing?

 

“Take notes, okay. Close the book. Now go do other things.” Or “Oh my goodness. Are my hearts burning like the disciples of that time?” So it’s really time to discern.

 

When you look at the time of the first coming when Jesus worked with his disciples, they went about and healed people. They spoke to people. They took care of people. But the most important job they did was to deliver the new word that needed to be spoken. That was job number one. It superseded everything else that Jesus asked them to do. It was their number one purpose.

 

“Make sure people hear this word. Make disciples of me. Help them to live according to the way that I live according to the words of my father.” Not according to the traditions of men for which they were used to, which put them in darkness, not understanding anything.

 

“Teach them the way that I have taught you. And make them disciples like you.” The number one most important factor of discipleship is this: Number one, it’s not volunteering, it’s not mission trips, it’s not concerts. It’s the word. Is the word at that place and not just any word, but the most important word for people to hear at this time.

 

Now! What is God doing today? This is what people need to be hearing.

 

But there are two ways to react when someone hears this word.

These people struggled to comprehend the era they were living in, even though the gospel was preached to them. They did not combine the words they were hearing with faith. They did not value the words that Moses taught them from God. And because they did not appreciate the significance of the events unfolding in their time, they could not enter the rest. Did you know that there are multiple Gospels in the Bible?

 

When we hear “gospel,” we often think only about the first coming.

But “gospel” has a broader meaning: good news that God has fulfilled what he promised. That’s the essence of the gospel. So, every gospel in the Bible falls into that category, that God has accomplished what he had promised.

 

 

Therefore, when we hear in our time today what God has done, as he promised, we should listen and then act swiftly, listen and then flee, listen and then take action. Are we grasping the importance? 

 

How can we comprehend the revealed word today? It cannot be something that can be predicted beforehand. That’s not what “revealed” means. Revealed means explained after it has been fulfilled.

 

Let’s proceed, time is of the essence. Let’s master the new song together because it is being sung. So, where are you hearing that song?

6. Satan’s Song

We must also avoid Satan’s song, as mentioned in a passage similar to the trumpets in Revelation 18:22-24. This passage speaks of Satan’s song, which consists of false words and false testimonies that must be avoided by those who have added to or subtracted from the word. Therefore, we must steer clear of Satan’s songs. At the time of the fulfillment of Revelation 18, these songs will cease to exist. They will be no more, and the true new song will take precedence, becoming the chief song to be sung.

Memorization

 

Let’s Us Discern