Revelation of Jesus

The Revelation of Jesus Christ is the last book of the Bible. That is the actual title of the book...not the revelation of evil, or the revelation of the antichrist...no! This is the final statement by Jesus to his beloved John regarding who Jesus is, what God's plan is, and the part Jesus' Bride...US...have to play in the return of Jesus. This book is LOADED with information about God's love, His mercy, His beauty, His brilliance, and our high position in His family. His regard for those willing to pay the price to agree with Him is fully seen in this amazing book. All prophecy in the Bible is ultimately and fully fulfilled in the book of Revelation. It is the culmination of the plan of God, ending with what called "very good" in Genesis 1: God with man...Immanuel...this is why Jesus came.


Revelation is the least taught, read, or understood book in the Bible, but is the ONLY book in the Bible with a promised blessing for anyone who would tackle it:


Revelation 1:3 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.


There is MUCH to "keep" in the book of Revelation. To keep means to take in and obey. The book of Revelation isn't just information, it is also full of instruction. It describes how the Church will operate in the outpouring of the Joel 2 revival, which occurs at the 6th seal. It describes how the Church will take in the great harvest, where a "multitude without number" are brought into a saving relationship with Jesus. It describes how the third transitional generation will witness the raw power of God manifest on earth, and the maturing of the Bride, refined in tribulation, living impactful lives even more intensely than the book of Acts describes. It is the end time book of Exodus, combined with the book of Acts, and expanded to a global level. I don't want to approach this book casually, but most of the Church does...or worse yet, they don't approach it at all!


The reason so many avoid it is because it seems "unknowable." This could not be further from the truth. It is actually quite plain once you put to rest a few rumors:


1. It is mostly symbolic. NOT true! There are really only seven main symbolic ideas in the book. They are all "decoded" in the Bible itself. You can nail them down in about 10 minutes, with a little focus. The rule is that the Bible says what it means and means what it says...it is intense, but mostly literal, not symbolic. WE want to make it symbolic to explain away the intensity...but God intended it to reflect accurately the intense thing He is about to do!


2. It is too hard to understand. Again, not true. The Bible wasn't written for theologians, it was written for everyone! The vast majority of people on the earth from the beginning have been poor uneducated people. With the help of the Holy Spirit, it is pretty easy to see how plain and straight forward the book of Revelation, and the Bible itself, are.


3. That your "eschatology" (end time view) doesn't really matter. This is the worst misunderstanding. It REALLY matters what we understand this book to be saying. Jesus said that at the time these events take place "many" who go to church, believe in Jesus, and are looking for His return, will "fall away":


II Thessalonians 2:3 Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition,


Jesus told us HOW it would happen:


Matthew 24:9-13 NKJV


“Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name’s sake. And then MANY WILL BE OFFENDED (emphasis mine), will betray one another, and will hate one another. Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. But he who endures to the end shall be saved.


A lack of insight into Jesus' plan is going to lead to many being very negatively surprised at what He allows to take place. This is what will cause many to turn from Him. The intense pressure that is SOON to overtake planet earth will cause many who approach this season casually to be caught in a storm with no "raingear"...not enough "oil in their lamps to keep them burning" (It isn't just a song from church camp...it is actually Jesus' plan to help us endure).


Their are four main eschatological frameworks. It is important to know which one I am, because MANY teachers have gone into the land. Mixing information from the different frameworks results in much confusion. Because the fundamental theology behind each one is different, only one can be right. It is important to decide for myself which I believe, and then to know which well I am drinking from as I study the Bible. Here are the four popular frameworks:


1. Historic premillennialism: historic=early church premillennialism=Jesus returns before the millennium (thousand year reign of Jesus to renew the earth). This is what the original apostles and disciples believed to be true. This eschatology believes in the literal end-time fulfillment of the prophetic revelations in the Bible. It holds that the Church is raptured to be with Jesus at the 7th trumpet in Revelation, following the Great Tribulation, and then coming into Edom (Jordan) with Jesus to make war with Him on everyone who resists Him as the last 7 bowls of wrath are poured out on the earth. This one believes a victorious church is on earth through all the events of the book of Revelation, walking in the power of the Holy Spirit being poured out on all flesh, bringing in the great harvest during the most intense time in human history. This is my eschatology, and the things I write are from this framework.


2. Amillenialism - believes there is not really a millenium, and that the events of Revelation are symbolic of what takes place in our hearts. To hold this view requires that we believe the 150 chapters in the Bible describing the return of Jesus are primarily symbolic, and that God is primarily interested in us overcoming sin primarily in our own hearts. This view generally promotes a commitment to holiness, which is awesome, but disregards much of the prophetic information in the Bible, which is not awesome.


3. Dispensational Premillennialism - dispensational = God deals with each Church age differently, with different "dispensations" of relationship with God available to each one. Believes Jesus returns to rescue to the Church "from tribulation" rather than keep the Church "through tribulation." Holds extra-Biblical views that Jesus returns twice, and that the gifts of the Spirit experienced by the Acts church stopped operating after the Bible was written. This view was first proposed in 1830 by a man named John Nelson Darby. The Scoffield Reference Bible was written to support this eschatology and the resulting theology that came from it. This view has widespread popularity, although many have mixed views from this eschatology with their own, creating even more confusion.


4. Post Millennialism - holds that Jesus returns after the millennium, and that we are actually in, or nearing, the millennium right now. This view is very optimistic, believing that "revival" will make everything better and better until Jesus returns. This view makes much of Revelation either symbolic, or mostly already fulfilled by past events (like the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 a.d.). Much of the scripture has to be avoided to hold this view, since revelation describes the moon turning red, the sun turning black, massive hail, meteor showers, world war, and famine killing over one half of the world's population in 3.5 years, which has obviously never happened. This view typically focuses on revival and its great effect on transforming the earth and hearts, which is awesome, but it requires disregarding or taking as symbolic much of scripture, which is not awesome.

As world events get more intense, it is important to decide what my eschatology is, and then begin studying revelation within that framework. As I hear different teachers, it is very important to discern what their eschatology is. The Bible says confusion will increase to an unprecedented level in this generation, but the Church isn't supposed to be confused. We are supposed to be a faithful witness, telling the world it is our King in control of the prophesied intense events all the world will see!