Getting Started with
the Book of Revelation
“For the
revelation awaits an appointed time;
it speaks of
the end and will not prove false.
Though it linger, wait
for it; it will certainly come and
will not delay.”
Habakkuk
2:3
l 1 l 2 l 3 l 4 l 5 l
page 1
The Big
Picture
In the simplest terms,
the book of Daniel reveals two great
truths for the final generation.
First, the five prophecies in Daniel
operate like “our
Grandfather’s” clock that
is faithfully counting off the years,
which God has predetermined for the
duration of sin. In this sense, the
rise and fall of kingdoms are like
the swing of a great pendulum. The
second truth is that God has a
definite plan for Earth. He has not
abandoned or forgotten this tiny
fallen planet. God is not preoccupied
with more important things in His
ever-expanding universe. With
infinite wisdom and foreknowledge,
God has identified the nations of
Earth and their duration. He has
numbered each of our years and
limited sin’s existence. (Daniel
2:45; 4:17; 5:26) The book of Daniel
emphasizes this second point by
deliberately using six prophetic time
periods.
The book of Revelation
also contains two great truths for
the final generation. First, Jesus is
not to be confused with the icon that
people have made Him to be. During
the past 2,000 years, Christianity
has distorted the character,
authority and teachings of Jesus, and
a great gulf exists between
today’s degenerate perception of
Jesus and the actual truth about
Jesus. During the Great Tribulation,
this icon will be shattered and the
truth of Jesus will unfold. The
second truth is that humanity has a
malicious and deadly enemy who is
intent on our destruction. Because we
cannot see Lucifer and his angels, we
grossly overlook the fact that
Lucifer and his demons have a
powerful influence over the
attitudes, decisions and passions of
people. Therefore, our perception of
life and human history is incomplete
because we cannot see the
intervention and influence of demons.
However, this will change. During the
Great Tribulation, God will permit
the final generation to see Lucifer
and his demons physically so that
incarnate evil might be fully
exposed. (Revelation 17:8)
When the books of
Daniel and Revelation are properly
aligned, one harmonious story
unfolds. Daniel reveals that
Earth’s days are numbered and
Revelation discloses the importance
and majesty of Jesus. These two books
assure us of a wonderful truth: In
God’s time, righteousness will
triumph over evil and the saints will
inherit the earth. Jesus will use
circumstances during the Great
Tribulation to separate people who
love truth and righteousness from
those who do not. At the end of the
Great Tribulation, Jesus will appear
in the clouds of the brightest glory,
majestically personifying the values
and ideals for which many saints will
die.
Obstacles in
Understanding Revelation
Before we examine the
book of Revelation, a few
introductory words may be helpful.
Everyone, including me, approaches
the book of Revelation with
ignorance, bias and baggage. Because
apocalyptic prophecy reveals the
comprehensive ways of God, the books
of Daniel and Revelation are not easy
to understand at first. It takes
determined effort to become
acquainted with all of the parts and
pieces. For this reason, Jesus
promised to generously bless us with
inexpressible joy and peace if we
push forward with determination to
understand His Word. (Hebrews 11:6;
Revelation 1:3) Various obstacles
often skew the intended meaning of
prophecy and here are three
significant hurdles that you should
consider.
1. Traditional
Views Conflict with End Time Truth
Because the book of
Daniel was sealed until the time of
the end (Daniel 12:4,9), we must
realize that Daniel cannot be
completely understood until the
appointed time arrives. As it turns
out, the intended meaning of
Revelation has also been sealed
because many prophecies in Revelation
depend upon certain facts established
in the book of Daniel. The net effect
is that traditional views on prophecy
become obsolete when Daniel is
unsealed. Discarding the old and
embracing the new is not easy, but we
have to press forward in faith.
Longstanding views on Daniel and
Revelation cannot be deemed accurate
and reliable unless they conform to
the rules found in Daniel.
Since the rules of
interpretation were sealed in the
book of Daniel, there was no need for
God to seal the book of Revelation.
(Revelation 22:10) When these books
are properly aligned, we can observe
that Daniel mainly concerns the past
and Revelation mainly concerns the
future. We also learn that Daniel and
Revelation overlap on five prophetic
events. This overlapping is important
because it proves that Revelation
uses the same rules as Daniel. We
have twenty-six centuries of history
and fulfilled prophecy with which to
test and verify the rules in Daniel.
If we apply Daniel’s rules to
Revelation, we find perfect harmony
between Daniel and Revelation. Once
we have confidence in the validity of
the rules, we then assemble and
understand obscure and mysterious
portions of Scripture with a higher
degree of certainty.
During the past two
thousand years, Bible prophecy has
received a lot of interest, but not
much respect. The problem is that
prophetic views come and go like
newspapers. Hundreds, if not
thousands, of prophetic views have
been published, and few of them have
proven to have any lasting value.
Nevertheless, Bible prophecy
continues to be a subject of interest
because human beings are inherently
interested in “future
telling.” Unfortunately, the
failure of prophetic exposition in
ages past has predisposed many
Christians to fall for the argument
that a careful examination of
prophecy is not important. Many
Christians justify their indifference
toward Daniel and Revelation with
this argument: “All that matters
is my salvation.” Loving the
Lord and submitting to the authority
of Jesus is the first step in
salvation, but learning and growing
into the character of Christ
(sanctification) through a study of
His Word is not optional. (Ephesians
4; 1 Thessalonians 4; Revelation 2
and 3) Bible prophecy reveals
God’s character, plans and
purposes. Is it possible to
truly love our Savior, eagerly await
His arrival, and yet refuse to
examine His purposes and plans? Could
our perception of God and the reality
of God be improperly aligned in our
thinking? In other words, will you be
able to explain and justify the
actions of God to others when His
wrath breaks out against Earth? This
is one of the benefits of
understanding Bible prophecy. We have
time to study and reflect on the ways
of God so that when He does act, we
will not be overwhelmed with surprise
or discouragement.
We live in a world of
many diverse religions that have
enormous blinding power, so God has
to level the playing field for all
mankind during the Great Tribulation.
He will test everyone with a simple
test that will not favor any
religious body! Everyone will be
forced into making the same simple
choice. The choice will be whether to
reject traditional views that are
vigorously defended by religious
leaders, or accept the new light
shinning from God’s Word. God
will test Christians and
non-Christians to see who will
receive His truth and reject their
religious heritage. Of course, this
will be very hard to do. Jewish
leaders could not bring themselves to
do it when Jesus came to Earth.
Later, Catholic leaders would not
accept the claims of Protestants when
Luther revealed God’s truth to
them. Unfortunately, the book of
Revelation predicts religious systems
of the last generation will not be
able to abandon their traditions when
the truth is finally revealed.
However, there will be individuals
who will abandon the old and grasp
the new because they love truth. If
we exalt religion and our
longstanding traditions above the
clearest presentation and evidences
of God’s truth, is that
blasphemy? (Mark 7:7) However, giving
up a “comfortable” church
family for the isolation that often
follows a new understanding of
God’s Word can be a very large
obstacle. Incidentally, this same
obstacle hindered Nicodemus’
interest in Jesus for several years.
(John 3)
2. Revelation
Depends on Daniel
The book of Revelation
is a continuation of the book of
Daniel. If the book of Daniel is not
properly understood, the book of
Revelation cannot be correctly
understood either. These two books
produce one integrated story written
by two men who lived about seven
hundred years apart. Because God
designed the visions given to Daniel
and John, they are in perfect harmony
and, together, produce a matrix of
data, which positions the timing of
each prophetic event. This matrix
spans more than 3,500 years and
includes all the prophetic elements
found in Daniel and Revelation. Some
elements in Revelation require the
timing established in Daniel to make
sense, and the opposite is also true.
The story that unfolds from both
books is comprehensive, and it takes
diligence, time and determination to
mentally surround all of the parts
and pieces. Unfortunately,, this
prerequisite is a serious obstacle
for many people who are too busy to
study God’s Word.
3. Five
Essential Bible Doctrines
The books of Daniel
and Revelation require an
understanding of five essential Bible
doctrines (the five S’s) shown
below:
1.
Salvation through faith in Christ
2.
The State of man in death
3.
The Second Coming
4.
God’s seventh day Sabbath
5.
God’s use of parallel
Sanctuaries or temples
Notice how these
doctrines contribute to
Revelation’s story. First, the
doctrine of salvation through faith
in Jesus explains how a numberless
multitude of people, coming from
every culture, religion, nation and
language, will be saved during the
Great Tribulation. (Revelation
7:9-14) Second, the doctrine of soul
sleep explains the necessity of two
resurrections – the resurrection
of the righteous will occur at the
Second Coming and the resurrection of
the wicked will occur at the end of
the thousand years. Since people do
not go to Heaven or Hell at the time
of death, the doctrine of parallel
temples explains why and when the
judgment of mankind occurs. The
judgment of the dead began in 1844
and the judgment of the living will
begin with the commencement of the
Great Tribulation. The perpetuity of
the Ten Commandments, particularly
the fourth commandment, explains, in
part, how the world will be trapped
in a conflict over worship during the
Great Tribulation. The laws of
Babylon and the Antichrist will
oppose the laws of God. The conflict
over worship will separate the people
of Earth. One group will choose to
obey God’s commandments, while
the other group will choose to obey
the laws of Babylon and the devil.
Finally, the
comprehensive doctrine of the Second
Coming merges apocalyptic prophecy
into a grand schematic revealing
God’s plan to terminate the
problem of sin. Since most of
Christianity rejects one or more of
the five doctrines, most Christians
struggle to understand the intended
meaning of Daniel and Revelation.
This is most unfortunate because the
five essential doctrines explain
“why” God will do what He
has to do, and apocalyptic prophecy
reveals “how” and
“when” God will do all
that, He has to do.
God’s Word is so
vast and man is so finite. Even
though the book of Revelation
contains a mere 617 sentences, it
speaks volumes. Contrary to what many
people think, the book of Revelation
is not concentrated on the end of the
world! Instead, the book of
Revelation is focused on revealing of
Jesus Christ and His termination of
the sin problem. The book
of Revelation describes an intricate
process that climaxes with the
glorious disclosure that Jesus Christ
has the same authority, power and
prerogatives as God the Father. This
is why the last book in the Bible is
named, “The Revelation of Jesus
Christ.” (Revelation 1:1)
It is ironic that many
people call this book by its
shortened name,
“Revelation,” or
“Revelations,” without
realizing that it predicts the
revealing of Jesus. Most Christians
associate the book of Revelation with
the Antichrist or mysterious beasts
rather than the Lamb of God. This
perception will change for many
people during the Great Tribulation.
Man’s great need of Jesus will
become evident during the Great
Tribulation. The good news, beaming
from the book of Revelation, is that
we have an Almighty Savior in Jesus
if we are willing to love Him and
submit to His authority. The bad news
is that we have an omnipotent enemy
in Jesus Christ if we cling to
falsehood and insist on rebelling
against Him. For this reason, the
book of Revelation describes Jesus as
a lamb and a lion. When He appears in
glory, the righteous will see Him as
“a lamb” slain for the
foundation of the world, and the
wicked will see “a lion”
from the tribe of Judah.
Five Types of Prophecy
in the Bible
1. Messianic
prophecies: These prophecies concern
the appearing and ministry of Jesus
in either His first or second advent.
Some scholars say there are more than
450 Messianic statements or
prophecies in the Bible. Here are two
examples of Messianic prophecies in
the Old Testament: Isaiah 53 and
Psalms 22. Here are three examples of
Messianic prophecies in the New
Testament: John 14:1-3; 1
Thessalonians 4:13-18 and Matthew
26:64.
2. Judaic
prophecies: These prophecies were
given to the biological offspring of
Abraham. When God renewed His
covenant with Israel at Mt. Sinai, He
promised to send blessing or curses
depending on Israel’s
faithfulness to the terms and
conditions stipulated in the
covenant. (Exodus 19, Leviticus 26,
Deuteronomy 28) This is a point that
many Christians overlook, even though
the Bible clearly states the promise
contains the possibility of
blessings, as well as curses. Most of
the wonderful things God promised to
Israel were not fulfilled because
Israel repeatedly violated their
covenant. Therefore, God implemented
the curses instead of the blessings
He promised. (Daniel 9; Hebrews 3:19;
Romans 9-11) After the Jews rejected
Jesus (John 1, Matthew23), God redefined
the nation of Israel. Believers
in Christ became the “seed”
(Greek: sperma) of Abraham
– the twelve tribes. (Ephesians
2, Galatians 3:28, 29, James 1:1,
2:1) Judaic prophecies were
abandoned in accordance with the
terms and conditions of the covenant.
Judaic prophecies were not to be
confused with the unconditional
promises given to Abraham. (Genesis
15-17) Everything promised to Abraham
will be fulfilled to the redefined
seed of Abraham. (Ephesians 2;
Galatians 3,4; Romans 11; Hebrews 11;
Revelation 7:9-11)
3. Day of
the Lord prophecies: These prophecies
are numerous and are scattered
throughout Scripture. Ultimately,
these prophecies predict the triumph
of God and/or the vindication of His
people. Elements within these
prophecies are general enough that we
can see parallels between them at
different times in human history.
Many Bible students (and scholars)
succumb to the temptation of applying
ancient “Day of the Lord”
prophecies to modern settings. For
example, Isaiah 24 and Ezekiel 7 are
“Day of the Lord”
prophecies that would have been
fulfilled if Israel had been faithful
to God (what I call “Plan
A”). These prophecies did not
happen because Israel rejected God
and God has implemented a new
covenant (what I call “Plan
B”). However, there are direct
parallels between ancient “Day
of the Lord” prophecies and
modern “Day of the Lord”
prophecies. It is important to keep
“Plan A” and “Plan
B” prophecies separate and
distinct. For example, Matthew 24
concern the end of Jerusalem and the
other specifications apply to the end
of the world. A Bible student must be
careful when studying these types of
prophecies to be sure the
specifications are assigned to the
right time period. In other words,
details concerning the end of the
world do not belong to the fall of
Jerusalem in A.D. 70. “Day of
the Lord” prophecies are noted
for their ominous warnings and
God’s vindication over evil
through warfare.
