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Transcript 186A — The Book of Revelation – An Overview
HC: Good evening. Welcome to Open Forum.
CALLER: I was wondering if you could give an overview of what you think the Book of Revelation is. And how would you subdivide the book? Maybe the first three chapters would mean a certain thing to you, and then the next ten would mean that, and maybe the latter eight would mean something else. So I was wondering if maybe you could donate a little time to the Book of Revelation, because I personally find that a lot of people are having problems interpreting it.
HC: All right. Fine. Thank you for sharing that question.
The question is raised concerning the last book of the Bible, The Revelation. What is its nature? What is God really doing with this? How could we subdivide it? And so on.
Now in Revelation 1 it starts out to give us the purpose of the book. "The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show to His servants what must soon take place. And He made it known by sending His angel to His servant John, who bore witness to the Word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw."
Now God is going to give the apostle John a series of visions, in order that through the writings of John, who is the instrument in God's hand, He might give us the Word of God, because the Book of Revelation, like the rest of the Bible, is part of the divine revelation of God. And it's concerned with the events that are going to transpire. And, of course, in places, as we'll see when we study the Book of Revelation, the Book of Revelation goes all the way back to the beginning of time, or to the cross, in order to develop the context and bring us to the New Testament period, or to the end of time.
I suppose the main focus of the Book of Revelation is the victory of Christ over Satan. If you ever wonder about the difficulty you are facing personally as a Christian, or if you wonder about the difficulties that this world is facing, as it is reeling and rocking under the hammer-blows of the rule of Satan, sit down and read the Book of Revelation in one sitting. And you will see, shining through the Book of Revelation, the victory of Christ over Satan. Even though at times it looks like Satan is winning, again and again and again the conclusion comes through that Christ has won. He is King of kings and Lord of lords. And of course it ends with the last two chapters, where we have visions that deal with the New Heaven and the New Earth.
Now in the first chapter we have a vision of Christ Himself, indicating that He is the First and the Last. He is the one who rules and conquers. He has the keys of death and Hades. And He is the one who is the head of the churches.
In Revelation 2 and 3 God gives us a description of seven of the churches that existed in that day, in order to do two things. These seven churches are typical of the churches that would exist at any time in history. On the one hand these descriptions are given to encourage. No matter what happens, we know that Christ is aware of what happens. "I know your works, your love and faith." "Do not fear what you are about to suffer." Christ is always there, and is aware of what is happening in the church. "I will confess his name before My Father." "He who conquers, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God." And so on.
The first thing that we find in these chapters 2 and 3 is the fact of Christ's awareness of what is happening here on earth, in the body of believers, and that He encourages us. But also in these two chapters we find many many warnings. Watch out that you are not snared. Watch out that you don't fall. "I have this against you, that you tolerate the woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess. Behold, I will throw her on a sickbed, and I will strike her children dead, and all the churches that know that I am He who searches mind and heart," and so on.
He warns, "I know your works. You are neither cold nor hot. I would that you were cold or hot. So because you are lukewarm and neither cold nor hot, I will spue you out of My mouth. Those I love I reprove and chasten. So be zealous and repent."
On the one hand, there comes the encouragement. On the other hand comes the warning. The church that has become apostate will be cut off from Christ. It no longer will be a church of the Living God.
Then in Chapters 4 and 5, particularly, we have visions focusing on Christ. The vision is in Heaven, four and twenty thrones around the throne of God. And these four and twenty thrones would be a revelation of the church as it reigns in Heaven. When we leave this earth, we go to live and reign with Christ in Heaven. But the focal point is on Christ Himself.
Verse 11 of Revelation 4: "Worthy art Thou, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power. For Thou didst create all things, and by Thy will they existed and were created." Or again, in verse 9 of Revelation 5: "Worthy art Thou to take the scroll and to open its seals. For Thou west slain and by Thy blood didst ransom men for God, from every tribe and tongue and people and nation, and hast made them a kingdom and priest to our God, and they shall reign on earth."
We see in Revelation 4 the emphasis in this paean of praise to Christ that He is the Creator, in Chapter 5 the fact that He is the Redeemer. Now let me interject right here that the Book of Revelation is not chronological. It is not an unfolding of a time plan of the end of time. Many many teach that it is chronological.
They begin already with the seven churches, and they say that the first church was the church right after the disciples. And then the second church was in its period in history, and so on. And we perhaps are in the period of the seventh church. That is not suggested anywhere in the Bible. And it's certainly not suggested in the Book of Revelation.
If the Book of Revelation were chronological, then everything past Revelation 6 would have to be in the New Heaven and the New Earth, because in Revelation 6, beginning with verse 12, we have a vision of Judgment Day itself. Each chapter, each paragraph, has to be looked at on its own merits. It's a separate vision from the visions before or after, and has to be analyzed on its own merits.
Now in Revelation 6 we see the vision of Christ going forth to conquer. And as the church goes forth to conquer with Him, they are persecuted, as seen by the second horseman. They become apostate, as we see by the third and fourth horsemen. And then God gives us a vision of the end of those who have persecuted the church, and those who have remained faithful, and those who have not remained faithful.
In verse 9 we see the souls of those who have been slain for the Word of God, the martyrs. They are in Heaven, and God emphasizes here that it's going to be a while before the end will come. But they must patiently wait for the vengeance of God.
And then in verse 12 and through to the end of Chapter 6 we see a dramatic account of Judgment Day, as the universe begins to collapse, as the world falls apart, and as the unsaved call upon the mountains to fall on them and the rocks to crush them, for the great day of their wrath has come.
Now in Revelation 7 we have a preparatory statement to the final warning judgments that God is going to bring against the world and which are outlined in Revelation 8 and 9 and Revelation 15 and 16. The thrust of this passage is, first of all, that God is not going to allow these final warning judgments to come upon the earth (and I say allow because Satan will be the instigator of these, as we shall see in a moment) until all whom God plans to save will have been saved.
He says in verse 3, "Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees until we have sealed the servants of our God upon their foreheads." And the number sealed are 144,000, a symbolical number in this context to indicate the fullness of all believers. God is not going to allow the final trauma that will envelop the earth (and this final trauma will be just ahead of Judgment Day itself) until everyone has been saved whom God had chosen to be saved.
And then the veil is pulled back, from verse 9 to the end of the chapter, and God gives us a picture of all who have been martyred throughout time, all of the believers throughout time, who are in Heaven. And there is a vast multitude, "which no man could number, from every nation and every tribe and people and tongue, standing before the throne and before the Lamb." Here again we see that beautiful picture of the victory of the Christian.
Now these are those who have "come out of the great tribulation." The Christian's walk in this world throughout time has been one of tribulation Now this scene is offered here in Chapter 7 perhaps because of the traumatic events that are going to envelop the world beginning with Revelation 8 and 9. And the assurance is that no matter what happens on this earth, no matter how great the tribulation might be, we cannot lose, because the moment we die we go to live and reign with Christ in Heaven. We will be included amongst that vast throng that we see in Revelation 7, beginning with verse 9.
Now in Revelation 8 and 9 we see here a description of final plagues, or warning judgments, that will come upon the earth. And the instigator of these is Satan himself. They are brought as an effort to try to destroy the body of Christ. This I believe is the reason that constantly we find here the numeral 1/3. I believe it relates back to Zechariah 13:8, where God assigns the number 1/3 as a symbolical number representing those who are being saved.
And the purpose of these plagues is to try to silence the Gospel. And possibly Satan will be able to do this. But in doing this, actually he will bring terrible trauma to the unsaved of the world. We read in verse 6: "In those days men will seek death and will not find it. They will long to die, and death will flee from them."
This will be a self-destructive activity of Satan himself. And while it will be directed at the world, to try to silence the Gospel, actually he cannot harm the born again believers. We read in verse 4 of Revelation 9: "They were told not to harm the grass of the earth or any green growth, or any tree, but only those of mankind who had not the seal of God upon their foreheads." While the born again believers may die in this nuclear war, or whatever it may be, he cannot really hurt them because they will simply change their residence, and go to live and reign with Christ in Heaven.
But it will be a vast warning judgment upon the unbelievers. Now in Revelation 15 this same event is pictured again, in Revelation 15 and Revelation 16, through verse 11. Only this time it is pictured from the vantage point of the judgment of God, as the anger of God. Not the final wrath of God, not Judgment Day. That is not in view here as yet. But it is a great warning of God, a warning judgment of God. It's instigated by Satan, as we can gather from Revelation 8 and 9, but it will be used by God against the unsaved of the world, as a warning judgment against them. And it will transition finally into Judgment Day itself, as we see in Revelation 16 beginning with verse 12. Revelation 16 ends with Judgment Day, just as Revelation 6 ended with Judgment Day.
Revelation 10 is a transition paragraph, which is simply indicating that when the seventh trumpet-blows, that is, when Judgment Day comes (and it's coming; it's very close), then everything is going to be revealed. Now in Revelation 11 God backs up, and he's going to talk about the church. He's going to talk about how they bring the Gospel throughout the New Testament period. And finally they will be silenced. Now that was the purpose of Revelation 8 and 9, to silence the Gospel. And Revelation 11 will show that this really happened.
It begins with measuring the temple. In other words, the implication here is that God defines the timing of the earth's existence by the number of the born again believers rather than by the names of the unsaved. Once that temple is complete then Christ will return.
And then it speaks about the church as it witnesses, prefigured by the two witnesses. And finally they are killed. And then this is followed by Judgment Day. And so Revelation 11 ends with Judgment Day.
Now Revelation 12 looks at the whole package of salvation, or the conflict between Satan and Christ, from another vantage point. Here it's the dragon that's going to devour the child. The child is Christ. And it gives us an insight into what is happening to Satan and his angels as Christ goes to the cross. We see that Michael and his angels cast out the dragon and the fallen angels, so they no longer have a place in Heaven. They were defeated by the blood of Christ. And then it declares that the serpent goes after the woman, which is the body of Christ. But she is nourished, during the New Testament period, by Christ Himself.
Revelation 13 backs up again and indicates the authority of Satan, as he rules in the world. He's symbolized here by a beast with seven heads and ten horns. And it indicates his total rule over the earth, including that of religious rule, as prefigured by the beast that comes out of the earth, that has two horns like a lamb and speaks like a dragon. And it really discusses the control that Satan has over the peoples of the earth, throughout the New Testament period.
Revelation 14 continues with another vision. And here we see a vision of the victorious church in Heaven. It is under the figure of 144,000, the fullness of all the believers. Now in Revelation 12 and 13 we see the church on earth, as the woman that's nourished in the wilderness. And it has its troubles, because the serpent is after it, trying to destroy it. In Revelation 13 we saw that the vision indicated the rule of Satan, both religiously as well as politically, and in every other way, and how most of the peoples of the earth worshipped Satan.
But in Revelation 14 we see that for the born again believers there is victory. No matter how powerful Satan had looked, there is victory. We see them in Heaven, as we saw them earlier, in other chapters of the Bible. And they are victorious. In fact, in the last half of Revelation 14 it speaks about the wrath of God being poured out on the unsaved. And the chapter ends with Judgment Day, even as Revelation 6 ended with Judgment Day, and Revelation 11 ended with Judgment Day. So Revelation 14 ends with Judgment Day.
And as we saw already, Revelation 16 ends with Judgment Day. Now Revelation 17 and 18 deal almost exclusively with the judgment of Satan's kingdom. It indicates the fact that they come under the wrath of God. There's an implication in these chapters of the fact that Satan's kingdom had begun at the very beginning of time. Of course, it goes all the way back to Adam and Eve, in the Garden. But finally they are judged. "In one hour thy judgment has come. Fallen, fallen is Babylon the Great!" Babylon being a figure of the kingdom of Satan.
And then in Revelation 19 we find again an account of Christ coming to judgment. Verse 11: "I saw heaven opened and behold, a white horse. He who sat upon it is called faithful and true. And in righteousness He judges and makes war." And it goes on to describe Judgment Day. You notice how again and again in the Book of Revelation God gives us a word picture of Judgment Day, how awful this will be for the unsaved.
Revelation 20 is a book that approaches the whole New Testament period from a slightly different vantage point. It shows why the Gospel can go out. That is because Satan has been bound. And it shows that even though he is bound, he can still martyr. "I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded. They reigned with Christ a thousand years." Satan is bound, but he can still martyr the believers.
But he doesn't win, because they are in Heaven reigning with Christ. And then it gives us the information, very important information that relates back to Revelation 8 and 9, that right near the end Satan will be loosed, that he will again deceive the nations. He will assault the born again believers. And he will seek to destroy them. But Judgment Day comes upon him. "Fire came down from heaven and consumed" these wicked, all of the kingdom of Satan, wherever it is found on the earth.
And then again we have a description of Judgment Day, in the closing verses of Revelation 20. Revelation 21 and 22 are visions concerned with the New Heaven and the New Earth. They look beyond time into eternity, and complete the victorious account of what happens to people who belong to the Lord Jesus Christ.
You see, the Book of Revelation is a whole series of visions. They are listed under trumpets, under bowls of wrath, under seals. But it isn't a chronological opening. It's simply a series of visions to give us insights as to how Satan is going to be working throughout the New Testament period, how Christ is going to be working throughout the New Testament period, what happens to us when we are martyred, when we seem to be defeated by Satan.
And again and again the theme is, Christ has won. He has conquered. And Judgment Day is portrayed again and again and again, because Judgment Day is when everything comes to an end, and all the wicked are cast into hell.