On Understanding the Book of the Revelation
By Lambert Dolphin
Blessed
is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those
things which are written in it; for the time is near." (Revelation 1:3)
When I came into a
personal relationship with Jesus Christ over four decades ago I rushed right
home from my pastor's office and read the Book of the Revelation straight
through. As one might expect, the Apocalypse made little sense to me at the
time, though it certainly intrigued me.
The Bible is an
integrated document--in order to understand the individual books of the Bible,
one must understand the whole--and vice versa. One by one the great themes of
Scripture emerge in Genesis and are woven together throughout the Old and New
Testaments. In Revelation these themes are all brought back together in a grand
consummation of earth history requiring just over 400 verses.
Almost weekly some
Bible prophecy enthusiast emails me his new interpretation of the Revelation.
Or events in the news may trigger someone else writing to insist that a
marvelous prediction in the last book of the Bible is right now being fulfilled
before our very eyes. I was once in this class of Bible enthusiasts--excited
and eager to jump to conclusions--so I don't mind reading far out ideas in the
field of prophecy.
But also, a good many
sincere and dedicated Bible scholars differ in their presuppositions about how
the Book of the Revelation is to be interpreted. I am comfortable with what is
called the "futurist" interpretation. My brief notes below follow
that position.
The Apostle John, while
imprisoned on the island of Patmos late in the First Century received this book
by divine revelation. The original author--God the Father--addressed this
letter to Jesus Christ, His Son--asking that it be passed along to John and to
us. The Apocalypse is a unique book of the Bible in many ways.
In Chapter One we are
given a grand picture of Jesus Christ as He is now in eternity. Especially
emphasized is His role as Great High priest and Lord over the church.
Behold,
He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him, even they who pierced
Him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him. Even so, Amen.
"I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End," says the
Lord, "who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty." I, John,
both your brother and companion in the tribulation and kingdom and patience of
Jesus Christ, was on the island that is called Patmos for the word of God and
for the testimony of Jesus Christ. I was in the Spirit on the Lord's Day, and I
heard behind me a loud voice, as of a trumpet, saying, "I am the Alpha and
the Omega, the First and the Last," and, "What you see, write in a
book and send it to the seven churches which are in Asia: to Ephesus, to
Smyrna, to Pergamos, to Thyatira, to Sardis, to Philadelphia, and to
Laodicea." Then I turned to see the voice that spoke with me. And having
turned I saw seven golden lamp stands, and in the midst of the seven lamp
stands One like the Son of Man, clothed with a garment down to the feet and
girded about the chest with a golden band. His head and hair were white like
wool, as white as snow, and His eyes like a flame of fire; His feet were like
fine brass, as if refined in a furnace, and His voice as the sound of many
waters; He had in His right hand seven stars, out of His mouth went a sharp
two-edged sword, and His countenance was like the sun shining in its strength.
And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead. But He laid His right hand on
me, saying to me, "Do not be afraid; I am the First and the Last. "I
am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I
have the keys of Hades and of Death" (1:7-18)
Chapters 2 and 3
(widely neglected today) contain the direct words of Jesus to seven
representative local churches. From these letters we see the commendations and
corrective admonitions from Jesus Himself which are perfectly applicable to
churches today. A progression of church life down through the past 2000
years is evident in these letters. We are very likely now near the end of the
age--in the final stage of church before the Lord returns:
"I
know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold
or hot. "So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I
will vomit you out of My mouth. "Because you say, 'I am rich, have become
wealthy, and have need of nothing'--and do not know that you are wretched,
miserable, poor, blind, and naked--I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in
the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed,
that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with
eye salve, that you may see. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore
be zealous and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears
My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he
with Me. To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I
also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne..." (3:15-21)
Chapter 4: An
abrupt transition occurs at the end of these seven letters. John is caught up
out of time and invited into the throne from of God. He sees events which for
us are yet future and haven't happened yet. The principal activity of
heaven is said to be worship and this is what one sees in Chapter 4.
Innumerable angels are gathered in constant worship, singing and praying around
the throne of God the Father. The Father is holding a mysterious seven-sealed
scroll. A search is made of heaven and earth for a person who is qualified and
worthy to receive this scroll and to execute its divine commands. Jesus--the
slain Lamb--the Lion of the Tribe of Judah--is the only qualified recipient.
When Jesus takes the
scroll from the hand of the Father the center of worship in heaven shifts to
Jesus. The time has come for Jesus to invade earth's long dark history and to
bring in God's kingdom on earth among men.
Come, Thou long expected Jesus
Born to set Thy people free;
From our fears and sins release us,
Let us find our rest in Thee.
Israel's strength and consolation,
Hope of all the earth Thou art;
Dear desire of every nation,
Joy of every longing heart.
Born Thy people to deliver,
Born a child and yet a King,
Born to reign in us forever,
Now Thy gracious kingdom bring.
By Thine own eternal Spirit
Rule in all our hearts alone;
By Thine all sufficient merit,
Raise us to Thy glorious throne.
(Charles Wesley 1744)
Revelation, as it is
written, describes events occurring in the heavenly realm and then jumps to
consider events happening on earth. However, earth clocks and heavenly clocks
are not usually in lock-step! There are many symbols in the book of the
Revelation, but most of the book is quite literal and real at the same time.
Revelation is easier to understand if one can keep these discontinuities in
time in mind--and the transitions back and forth between events in heaven and
events taking place on earth. One must stop frequently and ask if something is
symbolic or literal--or both. Often "both" is the best answer.
Revelation lays before
us three sets of seven great judgments of God which will come upon our earth at
the close of the present age. In between each of these sets of judgments we are
given several "interludes" in which other important end-time events
take place in heaven or on earth. Again, these other events are not necessarily
in time-sync with the material just presented. The first such interlude, for
instance, is actually a flashback of the type commonly used by an author who
stops his story and backtracks to fill us in with events that have already
taken place.
We
are seeing here, then, not chronology but degrees of intensity. It is as though
God keeps probing deeper and deeper into the events of the last days. The
judgments of the seven seals give us a quick trip through this seven-year
period that Daniel identifies as the last days. The trumpets, however, return
as it were to a section of the last week and give us a different facet of
judgment. That is what we are looking at in Chapters 8 and 9. When we come to
the bowls of the wrath of God we will see still greater depths of earth's
agony, but just how to fit it all into a time sequence is difficult. This is
made still more confusing by the fact that certain break-off periods --
intermissions I have called them -- which focus on events of special interest,
are occurring during this time.
The great judgments of
the end-time: the seven seals, seven trumpets, and seven bowls of wrath all
cascade together and each series brings us to the very verge of the Second
Coming of Jesus to earth. The index marker that points to this climax of
history is a great earthquake.
The first set of
judgments of God upon human evil is brought about largely by God's releasing
the usual restraints of evil that are now in place in society. The subsequent
sets of judgments invoke cosmic disturbances in sun, moon and stars, and quite
possibly one or more collisions of asteroids or comets with the earth. Nature
is disrupted catastrophically--ruining the environment. Increasing demonic
deception and oppression are unloosed on an unrepentant mankind. Nuclear
exchanges, near and far, and the release of biological and chemical weapons can
easily be fitted into the imagery of the book.
...all
through the Bible you see that God's love is manifest to men everywhere in urging
them to escape this judgment. God in love pleads with people, "Do not go
on to this end!" But ultimately he must judge those who refuse his offer
of grace. He says, in effect, "I love you and I can provide all you need.
Therefore, love me, and you will find the fulfillment your heart is looking
for." But many men and women say, "No, I do not want that. I will
take your gifts, I will take all the good things you provide, but I do not want
you! Let me run my own life. Let me serve my own ends. Let me have my own
kingdom." To such, God ultimately says, "All right, have it your
way!" God has three choices: First, he can let rebellion go on forever and
never judge it. In this case the terrible things that are happening on earth,
all these distressing injustices, the cruelty, the anger, the hate, the malice,
the sorrow, the hurt, the pain, the death that now prevails will go on forever.
God does not want that, and neither does man. Second, God can force men to obey
him and control them as robots. But he will never do that because that means
they cannot love him. Love cannot be forced. Therefore, third, the only choice
God really has is that he must withdraw ultimately from those who refuse his
love. He must let them have their own way forever. That results in terrible
torment of godlessness. If God is necessary to us, then to take him out of our
lives is to plunge us into the most terrible sense of loneliness and
abandonment that mankind can know.
Early in Revelation (Chapter 7) we are made aware that millions of people will
come to know the Lord Jesus Christ during the seven-year end-time tribulation
period. 144,000 Jewish evangelists trained and led by Jesus Himself will
undertake this bold, final campaign of worldwide evangelism. Most of the
converts will be quickly hunted down and executed by the united world
government of that day--a government fully controlled by Satan.
Two "great"
end-time world leaders are presented to us in Chapter 13. These men may seem to
earth-dwellers to be great and charismatic leaders ready to save the world, but
God refers to them as wild beasts. (This imagery is drawn from the prophet
Daniel). The secular, military and political seat of world power of earth's
final governmental system will arise out of the now-developing European Union
of nations. Religious inspiration (ultimately, the worship of man), and a
temporary Middle-East peace treaty, will be promoted by a false Messiah, (the
second beast) who comes to power in Israel.
"...But
you [Jews] do not have His word abiding in you, because whom He sent, Him you
do not believe. You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have
eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me. But you are not willing
to come to Me that you may have life. I do not receive honor from men. But I
know you, that you do not have the love of God in you. I have come in My
Father's name, and you do not receive Me; if another comes in his own name, him
you will receive. How can you believe, who receive honor from one another,
and do not seek the honor that comes from the only God? Do not think that I
shall accuse you to the Father; there is one who accuses you--Moses, in whom
you trust. For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me; for he wrote about
Me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My
words?" (John 5:38-47)
In Revelation Chapter
12, the long history of believing, (true) Israel is portrayed as a woman
wearing a crown of twelve stars, clothed with the sun and with the moon under
her feet. We also see Satan exiled from heaven and cast down to earth by the
archangel Michael. Satan is now furious, "knowing that his time is
short." He wages war vigorously against the remnant of believing Jews who
are exiled in Bozrah and Petra (Southern Jordan)--and he seeks out and kills
anyone, anywhere, who would dare to name the name of Jesus.
Jesus Himself leads
two great judgments described in Chapter 14. The long promised separation of
the wheat and tares (announced by Jesus during his First Advent, Matthew 13)
takes place.
Jesus also judges
unbelieving Israel as one of their own kinsman who now has the role of the
Avenger of Blood. Demonic forces unloosed by God have drawn together the armies
of the world, numbering 200 million men--and the battleground of this terrible
last war is within the tiny nation of Israel. Much of the blood shed will be
Jewish blood. Jerusalem will be plundered and pillaged one more time by foreign
armies (Zechariah 14).
"the
angel thrust his sickle into the earth and gathered the vine of the earth, and
threw it into the great winepress of the wrath of God. And the winepress was
trampled outside the city [Jerusalem], and blood came out of the winepress, up
to the horses' bridles, for one thousand six hundred furlongs [200
miles]." (14:19-20)
Revelation describes
the final overthrow of what the Bible calls "the present world
system." This occurs in two phases. The seven-year tribulation period
begins soon after the removal of the true church at an event called the
rapture. Left behind is a
counterfeit ("harlot") church whose influence in world affairs grows
very strong for the next several years. Then the world-ruler--beast number
one--insists on being worshipped as God and stops tolerating even that false
church which previously worked in his favor. The judgment of all false
religion--the great harlot--is portrayed for us in Revelation 17.
"The
waters which you saw, where the harlot sits, are peoples, multitudes, nations,
and tongues. And the ten horns which you saw on the beast, these will hate the
harlot, make her desolate and naked, eat her flesh and burn her with fire. For
God has put it into their hearts to fulfill His purpose, to be of one mind, and
to give their kingdom to the beast, until the words of God are fulfilled. And
the woman whom you saw is that great city which reigns over the kings of the
earth." (17:15-18)
Revelation 18
describes the sudden and violent overthrow of the commercial, economic,
political power structures of the world system, also part of Mystery Babylon.
This seems to occur at the end in conjunction with the actual Second Advent of
Christ:
"And
there were noises and thunderings and lightnings; and there was a great
earthquake, such a mighty and great earthquake as had not occurred since men
were on the earth. Now the great city was divided into three parts, and the
cities of the nations fell. And great Babylon was remembered before God, to
give her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of His wrath. Then every
island fled away, and the mountains were not found. And great hail from heaven
fell upon men, each hailstone about the weight of a talent [75 lbs.]. Men
blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail, since that plague was
exceedingly great." (16:18-21)
In Chapter 20, Jesus
steps out from behind the scenes of the invisible heavenly places and boldly
assumes rule over the world. His return to the Mount of Olive in power and
splendor initiates the last great worldwide earthquake, the destruction of the
major cities of the world, and drastic topographic and geological changes over
the face of the whole planet. The assembled armies of the world now turn to
fight against God, but Jesus Himself overthrows them. The beast and the false
prophet meet their appointed end. Jesus begins his thousand year rebuilding
program for a devastated earth, establishing new worldwide governments based on
truth and righteousness.
Now
I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And He who sat on him was
called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war. His
eyes were like a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns. He had a name
written that no one knew except Himself. He was clothed with a robe dipped in
blood, and His name is called The Word of God. And the armies in heaven,
clothed in fine linen, white and clean, followed Him on white horses. Now out
of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it He should strike the nations. And
He Himself will rule them with a rod of iron. He Himself treads the winepress
of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And He has on His robe and on His
thigh a name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.
Then
I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to
all the birds that fly in the midst of heaven, "Come and gather together
for the supper of the great God, "that you may eat the flesh of kings, the
flesh of captains, the flesh of mighty men, the flesh of horses and of those
who sit on them, and the flesh of all people, free and slave, both small and
great." And I saw the beast, the kings of the earth, and their armies,
gathered together to make war against Him who sat on the horse and against His
army. Then the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet who worked
signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who received the mark of the beast
and those who worshiped his image. These two were cast alive into the lake of
fire burning with brimstone. And the rest were killed with the sword which
proceeded from the mouth of Him who sat on the horse. And all the birds were
filled with their flesh. Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having
the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. He laid hold of
the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for
a thousand years; and he cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and
set a seal on him, so that he should deceive the nations no more till the
thousand years were finished." (19:11-20:3)
Revelation 20 also
describes for us the great final judgment of the unbelievers of earth down
through all of history. Every individual will receive a fair trial according to
what was written "in the books"--but only those whose names are in
the "Lamb's Book of Life" can move on into the kingdom of God.
The Apocalypse closes
with brief description of the great heavenly city of New Jerusalem--apparently
a satellite city almost the size of the moon--which perhaps orbits the earth.
The magnificent city has plenty of room for the saints of all ages--God's
people--to dwell in comfort and with great joy.
The final and total
end of all evil is promised in Revelation 21-22--a "new heavens and a new
earth." God's people can look forward to adventures beyond his present
life which will be grander than anything we can now imagine. The good news is
that the invitation to join in and be part of all this is still open to all of
us today.
"Do
not seal the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is at hand. He
who is unjust, let him be unjust still; he who is filthy, let him be filthy
still; he who is righteous, let him be righteous still; he who is holy, let him
be holy still. And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to
give to every one according to his work. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the
Beginning and the End, the First and the Last. Blessed are those who do His
commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter
through the gates into the city. But outside are dogs and sorcerers and
sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and whoever loves and practices a
lie. I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things in the
churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the Bright and Morning
Star." And the Spirit and the bride say, "Come!" And let him who
hears say, "Come!" And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let
him take the water of life freely." (22:10-17)
Should we read the
Book of Revelation? Indeed, we should get to know it well. The age we live in
is already an age of terrible deception and this will grow worse. Yet earth's
long-awaited golden age may be a mere seven years away from us. Every day we
live brings us one day closer to the time on God's calendar when the great
events of the last book of the Bible will unfold.
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