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 present on Endtimes.org does that.

How we will handle 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 in the Resources page) we prefer to focus on the timing of events, using graphic timelines, and tying together the previous pages of Endtimes.org. The book of Revelation is the Finale. We have the book broken down into sections, and those areas that piece together the whole of Endtimes.org will have some commentary to add clarity.

Remember that 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 under cloudy skies. If you expected a book of worldwide Judgement, wild and bizarre supernatural things happening on the Earth, a clear focus on the Jews, the land of Israel and especially Jerusalem, then that’s exactly what you’re going to get. If not, sorry to be the bearer of bad news. During the first half of the 7-year Tribulation the earth and it’s people will experience War, Famine and Death, where 1/4 of earth’s inhabitants will die – 2 Billion people. I don’t say this without trepidation for anyone left here during that time. 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)

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. 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 Revelation, but only for parts of the book, not the whole. The big picture and main points of the book are something we already understand.

Look at one Example:

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, commonly referred to as such in Revelation. (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. It describes 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; ⁴they 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 (man) from the earth, but he speaks like a dragon, and he exercises the power of the first Beast (Antichrist) – This is the unholy Trinity, Satan’s attempt to be like God, (Dragon, Antichrist, and 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, 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. Revelation has a purpose or objective.

 

What about the Rapture?

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

The Context

Revelation 1 – 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. Anoint the Holy Place in Jerusalem

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. 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 promise made to the church in Philadelphia doesn’t make sense only in the context of the literal Church of Philadelphia, in Asia Minor. (Rev. 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 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 about the People, Places and Purpose. Clearly the things being revealed in these pauses take time, but the only clear division of the  timeline we know about is the 7-year length, which breaks down into two 3.5-year segments. (Rev 11:1-3) From those divisions we can place things in a general sense.

For example:

Revelation 6: The Lamb of God opens the first Seal, and then Seal two, etc.

Revelation 7: Pause to reveal the 144,000 Jews that are sealed to be protected, and the martyred Tribulation saints.

Revelation 8-9: The Angels blow the first six of seven Trumpets, one after the other

Revelation 10: Pause to introduce the next scene – the Seventh Trumpet. (Birth pangs are increasing in speed)

Revelation 11a: Pause to reveal the Two Witnesses

Revelation 11b: Continue with the seventh Trumpet judgement

The rest of the book progresses in the same way. The Pauses are meant to add details. With a story as complex as this one, the form makes sense. 

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. 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 and his Angels and Satan and his demons is in the open now. Generally things aren’t hidden.