Understanding the Book Of Revelation
ASK, SEEK, KNOCK
The Bible is like a huge jigsaw puzzle made up of thousands of tiny pieces which all look the same. Many times you will find a piece of puzzle (scripture or verse) seeming to fit perfectly where you believe it should go. Do not assume that what you think you know is correct. Do not try to fit verses where you think they should go, have an open mind when you read the Bible and allow the puzzle to reveal itself. By it’s own admission, the Bible is written “here a little and there a little, so that they may fall and go backwards”. (Isa.28:13) There is little continuity in the Bible, the scholar must diligently search out the passages that ‘without doubt’ go together. (if there is any doubt or obscurity, do not use that particular passage to “prove something you already believe”).
Three Steps to help you Understand the Bible:
ASK: Ask God to guide your open mind and show you the truth.
SEEK: Do not attempt to crack the code of the Bible by going to a church, or any member of the clergy or any other ‘expert’ on God’s word. Bible aids (apart from a good Concordance); bible helps; booklets; pamphlets or other literature written by men. If you do, you will only discover MEN’S attitudes and ideas of the bible, NOT the truth. Seek the truth from God's inspired Word alone, do not put your trust in any other source.
KNOCK: There will come a time when a lot of knowledge has been revealed to you and it will be time to make a decision. This time is akin to the part in the movie MATRIX when Neo is offered 2 pills, the red pill will reveal things and set him on a path of enlightenment, the blue pill will blot out what he has already learned and he will be back where he began and be the same as everyone else under the veil of deception. Understanding and living by the Word of God is NOT the easy path, but it is the most fulfilling way this life has to offer.
The Book of Revelation is Prophecy for Your Future and the Future of the Whole Earth:
In the books Matthew 24:1-30, Mark 13:4-30 and Luke 21:7-27, His disciples asked Christ “What will be the signs of Your (2nd) Coming and the end of the world? Christ replied “Be careful that no man deceives you, because many will come in My name and deceive many. There will be wars and rumours of wars, nation shall rise against nation, there will be earthquakes in unusual places but the end is not yet....when you see the abomination of desolation stand in the holy place (Luke translates this, when you see armies surrounding Jerusalem) then you will know that the end is near. Luke 21:20.
Prophecy for Future of this Society: Matthew 24:, Mark 13:, Luke 21: Revelation 6:2
The “Four Horsemen of the Apolcalypse”. A rider on a white horse, carrying a bow, a crown is given to him and he goes forth conquering and to conquer. This appears to be Christ.
But read the true description of Christ in Revelation 19:11. I (John) saw the heaven open and a white horse, He that sat on him was called Faithful and True and in Righteousness He judges and makes war. The first “white horse” mentioned in Revelation 6:2 is linked in order to Matt 24:, Mark 13: and Luke 21: as the ‘signs’ (of) ‘Religious Deception’, Christ said “Many shall come in My name and shall deceive many”. The other horses mentioned in Rev 6: reflect the next order of predictions (red horse of war, black horse of famine etc).
Revelation 19:9
When the 5th seal is opened I saw under the altar of God, the souls of those killed for the word of God. Matthew 24:9 Then they shall deliver you up and kill you and you will be hated of all nations for My (Christ’s) name’s sake (religious persecution of christians).
Matthew 24: 23-27
If any man says to you Christ is here or there, do not believe it. There will arise false Christs and false prophets and shall show great signs and wonders that if possible may even deceive the elect. If they say He is in the desert or hidden in some place do not believe them. Matthew 24:29 Tells us that this is a time of great tribulation (religious persecution).
Mark 13:11-20 When they deliver you up to be afflicted the Holy Spirit will bring to your mind the scriptures you have read, brother shall betray brother, father betray son, children rise up against their parents and cause them to be put to death, you will be hated of all nations for My (Christ’s) sake, when you see the armies surround Jerusalem, then flee immediately because then will be great tribulation such as was not from the beginning of creation. “If God does not shorten those days, there would be no flesh left alive on earth” (this IS prophecy for OUR FUTURE).
KEY to Prophecy is The Book of Revelation:
Revelation 6:2 - 17. The 7 'Seals' - Also called “The 4 Horsemen” (This is the vision God showed to the apostle John AFTER Christ’s death, AFTER the Apostles began the Christian church, AFTER the persecution of the early Christian church) - THIS IS THE FUTURE!
The 1st of the 7 seals, opened to release the '4 horsemen of the Apocalypse' This began in the early days of Christianity, when the Apostle John was not received and the brethren were cast out of their own churches. III John 9,10. II Peter 2:1-3, Acts 20:28-30.
The first 4 'Seals' were opened to reveal the 4 Horsemen of Revelation:
- White horse of Religious Deception
- Red horse of War
- Black horse of Famine
- Pale horse of Disease and Death.
- The 5th Seal - 'Religious persecution'. “those slain for the word of God & the testimony they held”
- The 6th seal - JESUS CHRIST'S SECOND COMING, 'the Great Day of the Lord is Come': there was a great earthquake, the sun becomes black, the moon becomes red, stars of heaven fell, mountains and islands moved out of their places, kings of the earth and captains of armies hid in caves from the anger of the Lamb of God. (This is OUR FUTURE)
Revelation Chapter 7:3. The earth and certain people on it, are ‘sealed’ for protection before the opening of the 7th seal.
Revelation 8:1-12 When he opened the 7th Seal there were 7 angels standing before God with 7 trumpets prepared to sound.
- The 7th Seal = “7 TRUMPETS”.
The 1st Trumpet sounded and hail and fire mingled with blood, was cast upon the earth and 1/3 of all trees and green grass was burned .
The 2nd Trumpet sounded and a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea and 1/3 of the sea became blood, 1/3 of sea creatures died, 1/3 of ships are destroyed.
The 3rd Trumpet sounded and a great burning star fell from heaven onto 1/3 of rivers and fountains of water and the water was poisoned, many men died because of the water.
The 4th Trumpet sounded and 1/3 of the sun, 1/3 of the moon and 1/3 of the stars were darkened.
Revelation 9: 1-11
The 5th Trumpet sounded and an angel with a key opened the bottomless pit and smoke arose from the bottomless pit and the sun and air were darkened, and locusts came out of the smoke (with power like scorpions) they were commanded not to hurt any green thing but only those men which do not have the seal of God in the foreheads.They did not kill but torment for 5 months and the torment was like the sting of a scorpion.
Revelation 9: 7 And the shape of the ‘locusts’ was like horses prepared for battle, their heads had something like crowns of gold, their faces were of men, hair of women, teeth of lions, their breastplates of iron and the sound of their wings was like the sound of chariots of many horses running to battle.
The king of these ‘locusts’ was the angel of the bottomless pit. (The Apostle John who is recounting these visions lived 2000 years ago, before anyone could imagine modern day warfare and vehicles of war such as helicopters etc)
The 6th Trumpet sounded and 4 angels in the River Euphrates which had been waiting for one year, one month, one day and one hour, were loosed to prepare men for battle. The number of the men for the battle was 200,000,000 having breastplates of fire and brimstone, the heads of the horses were like lions and out of their mouths came fire and smoke which killed 1/3 of men.
(Compare this with Revelation 16:16 and Revelation 19:19) (are there 200 million potential soldiers on earth today?)
Revelation 11:15 THE "DAY OF THE LORD" THE "LAST TRUMP"
(Mankind has had 6000 years from the sin of Adam, which brought eternal death (MORTALITY) to mankind. Making it necessary for Jesus to become human, live according to God's Will whilst denying His Own Will, and then being 'slain' like a sacrificed lamb in order for us to again have access to the "Tree of Life" which is IMMORTALITY.) Genesis 3:10,19,24.
JESUS CHRIST BECOMES KING OVER ALL THE EARTH:
When the 7th Trumpet sounded 'voices' in heaven said "THE KINGDOMS OF THIS WORLD HAVE BECOME THE KINGDOMS OF OUR LORD." (This has NOT happened yet!)
Revelation 19:11-21
And I (Christ’s apostle John) saw in vision, the heavens opened and a White horse and He that sat on him called Faithful and True and in Righteousness doth judge and make war. His eyes like flames of fire, His head had many crowns and He had a name called “the Word of God”. His clothing was dipped in blood, and the armies which followed Him upon white horses were clothed in white linen.
Out of His mouth goes a sharp sword and He will rule the nations with a rod of iron. His name is 'King of Kings' and 'Lord of Lords'. Christ is Not Dead. Christ is Not a baby. This time Christ is Coming to Earth as King!
BUT will the people of the earth receive Jesus Christ when He returns?
Revelation 19:11-17-21
CHRIST returns to earth to rule the nations...The fowls of the air bidden to come and eat the flesh of the men killed in the battle against Christ; the BEAST and the Kings of the Earth which had gathered to make war against Christ.The FALSE PROPHET who had performed miracles to deceive those who followed the BEAST were cast into the lake of fire.
THE OLD TESTAMENT BOOK OF DANIEL PROPHESIED WHAT WILL HAPPEN IN OUR FUTURE AND IDENTIFIES THE 'BEAST' OF REVELATION.
The book of Daniel which was written 600 years before Christ came to earth the first time, tells us that 'BEAST' means KING, KINGDOM, EMPIRE,GOVERNMENT. Daniel 7:3-14 and Daniel 7:17-27.
Revelation 13:1-18 I (Christ’s apostle John) stood on the sands of the sea and saw a BEAST rise out of the sea having 7 heads and 10 horns and upon his heads 10 crowns and upon his heads the name of BLASPHEMY. The Beast was like a LEOPARD, feet of a BEAR, mouth of a LION and the DRAGON gave him power.
Revelation 13:3. One of his heads had been wounded to death and the deadly wound had been healed and the world was amazed at the BEAST and worshipped the DRAGON which gave it power. He opened his mouth in blasphemy against God for 42 months (3½ years) and this BEAST made war with the saints and killed them, he had power over all kindred, tongues and nations.
(AN EMPIRE WHICH HAD EXISTED IN CHRIST'S DAY; APPARENTLY DIED; CAME BACK TO ITS FORMER POWER; PERSECUTED CHRISTIANS; AND AT CHRIST'S RETURN WAS RULING OVER THE ENTIRE WORLD)
Revelation 13:8. ALL that dwell on the earth whose names were not written in the book of life, worshipped the BEAST.
Revelation 13:11. ANOTHER BEAST came out of the see with horns 'like a LAMB' but spoke as a dragon! (Christ is represented as a'Lamb' because he was killed as a sacrifice so that humanity could have access again to the 'tree of Life" = immortality) This King or Ruler 'appeared as a lamb', but spoke Satan's words.
Revelation 13:12-18. He had all the power of the first Beast (King, Ruler, Kingdom, Government or Empire) and he caused all who dwell in the earth to worship the first beast whose deadly wound was healed, he did great wonders and caused fire to come down from heaven and deceived them that dwell on the earth by his miracles. He caused all to receive a mark of the BEAST in their hand that they could not buy or sell unless they had the mark or number of his name. The number of the BEAST is the number of a man 666.
This BEAST is a powerful Empire or Government which was thought to be finished but has Revived and is ruling over the entire world, with a leader who appears "Christian" but follows Satan the Devil.
THE PROPHECY FOR OUR FUTURE MADE BY DANIEL- 600 YEARS BEFORE CHRIST:
About 600 years before Christ was BORN as a human, the book of Daniel 2:32-45 records that King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon dreamed about a huge statue with a head of gold, breast and arms of silver, belly and thighs of brass, legs of iron and feet of part iron and part clay. In his dream he saw a 'stone formed without hands' strike the feet of the statue,smashing it to bits, it then grew into a huge mountain which filled the whole earth.
DANIEL'S GOD GIVEN INTERPRETATION OF THE STATUE OF NEBUCHADNEZZAR
Daniel 2:36-39. The INTERPRETATION of the dream is that King Nebuchadnezzar is the head of gold, the Babylonian Empire 625-536BC and after him would arise another inferior kingdom, Medo-Persian Empire 536-330BC then a third kingdom will rule over the earth, the Macedonian Prince, Alexander the Great's Greek Empire. On Alexander's death his Empire was divided into 4 under his 4 Generals 330-166BC. The fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron and break in pieces and subdue all things as iron that breaks in pieces it will break and bruise = The Roman Empire 166BC-476AD. The Roman Empire was divided into 2 parts in AD286 (symbolized by the 2 legs of the statue). The western (Roman) part of the Empire fell to the Vandals, Heruli and Ostrogoths until 554AD when IMPERIAL RESTORATION occurred and both the Eastern and Western Roman Empire was ruled by Byzantiam Emperors until 800AD.
In the Western part of the Empire, Pope Leo III crowned Charlemagne Holy Roman Emperor in 800AD. In 962AD Otto the Great was crowned Holy Roman Emperor and 1273AD Rudolph I became the first of the 'Hapsburg' Holy Roman Emperors. In 1530 Charles I of Spain became Holy Roman Emperor and in 1804 Napoleon was crowned by Pope Pious (Napoleon abdicated in 1814) and the 4th Empire of Nebuchadnezzar's dream appeared 'dead'.
In 1957 within 12 years of World War II, the 'common market' was formed, instituted by the "Treaty of Rome". This was the forerunner of today's EUROPEAN UNION. In November 1982 in Spain, Pope John Paul II gave a speech expressing his fervent wish to establish a UNITED EUROPE, saying "revive your roots".
PROPHECY OF GOD'S KINGDOM COMING TO EARTH:
The prophecy for the future continues in Daniel 2:41,42. The feet of the statue are partly iron and partly clay, this kingdom will be partly strong and partly broken (The Roman Empire was of 'iron') Daniel 2:44. In the days of those kings, shall the God of Heaven set up HIS KINGDOM which shall never be destroyed and it shall break in pieces and consume all these other kingdoms and GOD'S KINGDOM shall stand forever.
Revelation 18:2-24.
That great city BABYLON which was the beginning of all these Kingdoms of MEN will be destroyed and there will be nothing remain of them WHEN Christ returns as King of God's Kingdom on earth.
Revelation 20:1-4.
God's Kingdom will begin with the imprisonment of Satan the devil who is the current ruler of this earth. Satan will be bound for the period of God's Kingdom, the 1000 year 'Sabbath of God's Rest'. God's will, will be done, finally there will be PEACE and LOVE abounding on this earth - at least for the 1000 years of God's Kingdom.
Revelation 20:5 Every person ever conceived will have a chance to experience living under God's laws of love.
Revelation 20:7 Satan is released again at the end of Jesus Christ's 1000 year reign and then all humanity will be tested for their obedience to God even under Satan's influence.