Revelation Overview

 

Before jumping into the Book or Revelation

…we recommend reading through the Foundations section, the Gospels, The Church in Prophecy, and the book of Daniel section. As Endtimes Bible prophecy is revealed progressively over 1500 years, there is a lot of context in the previous pages to help make sense of the Book of Revelation. Revelation is a book of details, not explanations. It does not contain the complete history and meaning behind those details. The background info we have presented up to this point has done that, or at least that is the goal.

 

How we will handle the Book of Revelation on Endtimes.org

The book of Revelation is complex, weighty and has a lot of symbolic language. Rather than trying to dig too deeply into each verse, (we have recommended commentaries on the Resources page for that), we will focus on the big picture (the timing of events) using visual timelines, and tying together the previous pages of Endtimes.org. The book of Revelation is the finale of all Endtimes revelation. We have the book broken down into two sections, The First Half and The Second Half of the Tribulation, with some commentary for those areas that help piece together the whole picture.

The book of Revelation contains the details of the people, purpose and activities that all Endtimes prophecy to this point has led us to. It should generally feel like a logical conclusion, not a mountain to climb to figure things out. If you expected a book of worldwide Judgement, wild and bizarre supernatural things happening on the Earth, then that’s exactly what you’re going to get. If not, sorry to be the bearer of bad news.

“For then there will be a great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will.” Matthew 24:21

During the first half of the 7-year Tribulation, mankind will experience War, Famine and Death, on a scale unknown in human history, where 1/4 of earth’s population will die – 2 Billion people. That sounds too horrible to be true. Bear in mind that we are talking about only the second time in human history when God will bring worldwide judgment to mankind, the first time being the world-wide flood. In fact the similarities are striking, and the Bible even points this out.

For the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah. 38“For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, 39and they did not understand until the flood came and took them all away; so will the coming of the Son of Man be. (Matthew 24:31-39)

I say this with trepidation for those living here to experience that time. These are not scare tactics, but this comes from the Bible. As the Rapture is imminent, time is growing short. Please continue reading.

Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. (2 Corinthians 5:20, John 3:16, John 11:25, Peace with God)

 

Interpreting the book of Revelation

As we have discussed in the Foundations section, Interpreting the Bible, our method of interpretation instructs us that there is a literal truth to all bible prophecy, even when containing symbolism, and the book of Revelation has plenty of symbolism. Within our Literal-Grammatical-Historical method, we start with a plain reading of the text, keep things in context of the chapter, the book, and the whole bible, and study the language. If, after all of that we still don’t know what the text means, we must do further study and leave the area open for discussion. That will be true for the book of Revelation in some minor parts. The big picture and main points of the book are something we already understand.

 

The Nature of Visions

When a prophet in the Bible receives a vision, it is akin to an 8k movie in your head. This is evident by the extreme detail. It is NOT like a dream that you can’t remember. The Apostle John in the Book of Revelation receives such a revelation in two parts:

  1. The prophecy to the seven churches given by the Angel, possible Gabriel, in the first verse of the book. (The things that are)
  2. The lifting of John to heaven for the full vision of things to come, starting in chapter 4. (The things that will take place)

John sees the glorified Risen Jesus Christ and gets instruction.

When I saw Him, I fell at His feet like a dead man. And He placed His right hand on me, saying, “Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last, 18and the living One; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades. 19“Therefore write the things which you have seen, and the things which are, and the things which will take place after these things. (Revelation 1:17-19)

John is transported (in some way) to the Throne Room of Heaven

After these things I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven, and the first voice which I had heard, like the sound of a trumpet speaking with me, said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after these things.” 2Immediately I was in the Spirit; and behold, a throne was standing in heaven, and One sitting on the throne. 3And He who was sitting was like a jasper stone and a sardius in appearance; and there was a rainbow around the throne, like an emerald in appearance. 4Around the throne were twenty-four thrones; and upon the thrones I saw twenty-four elders sitting, clothed in white garments, and golden crowns on their heads. (Revelation 4:1-4)

Note the amount of detail – you may automatically see the picture in your head. We have God, Angels, Thrones and Elders, and not just some Elders, but 24 of them to be specific, and wearing golden crowns. Was John seeing in realtime into heaven, or are some aspects of the vision symbolic while still clearly accomplishing the goal of showing John what will happen. In this case I’m not sure. The debates have gone on since the book of Revelation was written. Either way, the message is not hindered. It seems obvious that some things later in the book might not make sense to John and therefore he was helped with a visual that he DID understand. 

To conclude this section, it’s easy to see the advantage of the way John received this revelation. He received a visual representation of everything that was going to happen, and God allowed him to retain this to write down. (Write in a book what you see) This resolves any tension or question marks (at least for me) as to why there is symbolism in the book of Revelation. I think that most of us also prefer to see things visually. (thus the modern movie business)

To better understand, imagine the scene in your own mind to get at what the message is.

 

Let’s Look at some Examples:

Revelation 13:

And the dragon stood on the sand of the seashore.

A Plain reading in the context of the Book of Revelation doesn’t come to the conclusion that there is a real dragon in the story, but that the dragon is Satan, referred to as such in Revelation 12. (Rev 12:3-4)

Then I saw a beast coming up out of the sea

The beast coming out of the sea gets authority and a throne. Again this is clear. Animals don’t get thrones. This isn’t Narnia. The name Beast does say something about his nature though.

And the dragon gave him his power and his throne and great authority

The Antichrist then is the Beast, and now we know he is empowered by Satan – the dragon.

And the whole earth was amazed and followed after the beast; they worshiped the dragon because he gave his authority to the beast;

Then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb and he spoke as a dragon. 12He exercises all the authority of the first beast in his presence. And he makes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast

Wow, another Beast (a man) from the earth, like an evangelist, but he speaks like a dragon, and he exercises the power of the first Beast (Antichrist) – This is what we call the unholy Trinity – (Father, Son and Spirit) – Satan’s attempt to be like God, (Satan the Dragon, the Antichrist, the False prophet) 

Rev 20:10 – And the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are also; and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever

It all ties together with the rest of Endtimes prophecy. The lake of fire and brimstone is clearly a literal place, a place that someone can be thrown into. As to what this final Hell (Rev 20:14-15) looks like and whether or not it is pictured literally in every detail, we don’t know. But, this is a perfect example of the way Endtimes prophecy works. God gives us a visual picture to paint an image in the mind, and that image points to a literal reality or truth. Hell is real!

 

What about the Rapture? How does that fit in?

On the Rapture page and the Church in Prophecy page we have made it clear that Christians will depart (be caught-up, snatched away) from this earth just before the events of Revelation (chapter 4  – the Tribulation) begin. (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17) 

 

The Context

Revelation 1 – The Revelation of Jesus Christ… Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last, 18and the living One; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades. 19“Therefore write the things which you have seen, and the things which are, and the things which will take place after these things.

The book of Revelation sets the high-level context in the first chapter. John is to write the following:

  • Things which you have seen: 1:1-20
  • Things which are: 2:1-3:22
  • Things which shall take place: 4:1-22:21

 

The People and Purpose of the Book of Revelation

We have made the case many times on our pages that the Endtimes has clear Purpose:

  1. Worldwide judgement of the Nations
  2. Purge and Cleanse the Remnant of Israel through the saving work of faith and the New Covenant. (Jeremiah 31:31-34, Zechariah 12:10) – when they look on me, on him whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him
  3. Final judgement of Satan and his unholy trinity: Satan-Antichrist-False Prophet
  4. Salvation of a remnant, those who will be saved during the Tribulation (Revelation 7  The 144 thousand and the multitude)
  5. Making an end of sin (Daniel 9:24)
  6. Anointing the Holy Place in Jerusalem

 

The Letters to the Churches:

The letters to the churches first and foremost contain a message from Jesus to real literal churches during the Apostle John’s time. However, as we know, they have application to all churches, and preachers everywhere may preach on one of the churches mentioned here without reference to the Endtimes. However, we may also see some forward looking prophetic text such as we find in the letter to Philadelphia.

Whether the letters have prophetic meaning or not, there are some reasons for allowing a prophetic application.

  • The overall context of the book of Revelation is prophetic
  • The Letters seem to hold a special place in the book, a unique message from Jesus to the churches.
  • The promise made to the church in Philadelphia doesn’t make sense if restricted to the literal Church of Philadelphia, in Asia Minor. (Revelation 3:10) See the Rapture page for more.

 

The Chronology of the book:

Generally the book of Revelation is chronological. This is clear from the chronological nature of the judgements, executed sequentially, one after another. (Seals, Trumpets and Bowls) Note that all of the events in the book of Revelation will take 7-years to complete. We can read the book in a couple of hours. Seven years will seem like an eternity under the circumstances.

While the timeline is progressing, there are sometimes pauses or interludes. Those pauses are to give us additional details. Clearly the things being revealed in these pauses take time, but we don’t always see exactly where they fit chronologically. (Those items are discussed in the Great Tribulation page) The clear division of the timeline is the 7-year length, which breaks down into two 3.5-year segments. (Rev 11:1-3) From those divisions we can place all of the sequential judgments on the timeline. The following graphic will give a visual overview of the whole Endtimes. 

 

 

Conclusion

The book of Revelation is readable and understandable. Some areas may require extra thought and research. To be fair there are prophecies in Revelation that aren’t black and white, so there will be theories and disagreements about what they mean, like the meaning of 666, or the two Babylons) That does’t take away from the fact that most of it is clear. It has purpose and progression. The actors that we have seen foretold in the Old Testament prophecies are easy to identify. The spiritual warfare, the battle between God with his Angels, and Satan and his demons is in the open now. Generally things aren’t hidden.

 

Go to the Tribulation – First Half