Sunday 8 7 22 Overview studies in the book of Revelation

Good morning everyone. Welcome to the All Things Fulfilled broadcast this morning, and we're going to begin a series on the Book of Revelation to just do a few overview studies in the book. One reason is because there's a lot of confusion over what the book is talking about, and I have to admit that in some passages, for sure, I may be a little confused as well. It's I am confused over some things. However, I believe there's enough that we can know about the Book of Revelation that will help us to understand it in a way in which it was intended, that we can get the basic fundamentals of the book and be able to use that in a way that helps us to understand and conforms to the teaching of Scripture elsewhere. And so this is what we're going to look at. Good morning to you, Daniel. And these lessons are going to, you know, be pretty much overview lessons. As we move along, there certainly will be a bit more detail going on as far as the messages are concerned, and we'll just take a little bit at a time, kind of see how things go. But I haven't studied the Book of Revelation in a while, but we'll talk about that as we go. We're going to begin, of course, in the first verse of the book and talk about that just a little bit, and we'll come back and maybe talk about in more detail some things relating to the dating of the book and overall perspective of the book. But I just want to do some things that were basic this morning as we get into this study. The Book of Revelation is believed by many to have one method of interpretation called the historical method, where it is drawn out over the years and we see various prophecies unfolding. Even in our time, there are others who believe that the book would be, you know, future to us, that it's describing things that are going to come, things that are on the horizon, some of them which have passed. And I'll touch on the verse here in a moment that people use to talk about the Book of Revelation in terms of how they understand it to be fulfilled or is being fulfilled. And then we'll look at a view that I think is a much more accurate way of looking at the book, and more and more people are beginning to understand that as we move forward. So let's go ahead and approach the book. Now it starts with the first verse, the revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants things which must shortly come to pass. And he sent and signified it by his angel to his servant John. I'll read the entire sentence here because it stops at verse 3, who bore witness to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ to all things that he saw. 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. So this is where we begin in the Book of Revelation. And with that, I'd like to start with the very first word, and that word is the word the. This is important because it is a definite article and points out something very, very specific. And so it's important for us to understand that this is not the revelations of Jesus Christ, so there is no such thing as the revelations of Jesus Christ. In other words, there are some people who think, OK, we have the book of Matthew. We have the book of Mark. We have the book of Luke. We have the book of John, etc. Acts and all the epistles. And then we have the Book of Revelation. But in addition to the Book of Revelation, they believe that there is another revelation of Christ. In other words, that somewhere God is going and at some point in time God is going to reveal Christ apart from the Book of Revelation. And the revelation is the message of the revealing of Christ. Now there are events, of course, that are surrounding that, which the Book of Revelation describes. But we're not going to get anything else as far as inspiration is concerned that reveals Christ to us. This book describes a particular event that was the revealing of Christ. And we'll be talking about that. Good morning to you, Eric and Beatrice and Benita. And who else do we have on this morning? Gail. All right. Thought I saw someone else. All right. So appreciate that. So it is the revelation. So we're not going to get other revelations. We're not going to get people who claim that they have another revelation of God, that they're getting private revelations, private messages that's telling them what's going on. In other words, we don't have a crystal ball where people can look into and claim that they can predict the future or such things of that nature. None of that is the case. So this book is it as far as the revelation of Christ is concerned. Now let's look at the term revelation. So we have the revelation. It's a specific revelation, but that word itself means unveiling. It is from the term apocalypsis, and it means unveiling, to reveal something that is disclosed, something that was unknown and unrevealed about Christ. And that tells us what revelation it is. It is the revelation of Jesus Christ, the unveiling of Jesus Christ. So there was something that was hidden about Christ during his ministry that he gave glimpses of throughout the ministry, especially as he began to teach and interact not only with his disciples, but also with the Jews. He gave glimpses of that, but there were people who were unable to see what he was trying to reveal. He would tell them who he was, but they couldn't see that. They saw things about him that were external. In other words, they knew, for example, his father. They knew, or at least Joseph, who was supposed to be his father. They knew his mother. They knew his brothers and sisters. They knew where he was from, etc. They knew a lot of things about him, but they didn't really understand the true essence of who he was. And that's what the book of Revelation is for. It's to reveal in a more detailed way who Christ really was. And you may understand that because they didn't know him, they crucified him. Let's look at just a couple of passages on that. In the second chapter of 1 Corinthians, beginning in verse 6, the Bible says, however, we speak wisdom among those who mature, yet not the wisdom of this age, nor of the rulers of this age who are coming to nothing. But we speak wisdom of God, the wisdom of God, in a mystery, the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the ages for our glory, which none of the rulers of this age knew. For had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. And all through the Gospels, when you see Christ, let's say another good example would be in John chapter 10, but you can find them in John 5 and John 8 and several other places. But in John 10, Jesus was trying to reveal who he was to them, letting them know and through his work that they would understand who he was. And so in this particular case, they took up stones to stone him because he was speaking about his relationship to the Father. In verse 29, it says, my father who has given them to me, this is John 10 in verse 29, is greater than all. And no one is able to snatch them out of my father's hand. So while he's saying my father, he's making a declaration about himself. He says, I and my father are one. Now, immediately after making that statement, the text says, then the Jews took up again to stone him. So it wasn't the first time that they tried to kill him and stone him to death. And so Jesus answered many good works. I have shown you from my father for which of those works do you stone me? And the Jews answered saying for a good work, we do not stone you, but for blasphemy and because you being a man, make yourself God. So here was something about Jesus that they didn't understand. They didn't know that they refused to believe, et cetera. And so in order to explain that to them, Jesus quoted a text from the Psalm. He said, is it not written in your law? I said, you are God. If he called them gods to whom the word of God came and the scripture cannot be broken. Do you say of him whom the father sanctified and sent into the world? You are blaspheming because I said, I am the son of God. And then if I do not do the works of my father, do not believe me. But if I do, though you do not believe me, believe the works that you may know and believe that the father has sent me or is in me and I in him. And so they sought again to seize him, but he escaped out of their hands. So you can see what was going on in the new Testament when Jesus was making these declarations about who he was. Good morning, Timothy. And so he was trying to tell them about his relationship with the father, that he was the son of the father, that he was the son of God. Of course, they understood that message to be a claim that he was God. Yet they were blinded to the reality of it for the most part. And particularly many of them were blinded to that. And of course, that's what ultimately led to his crucifixion. So God would set forth a message that would reveal who Jesus really was. And this is what we have in the book of Revelation. That's why it says the revelation, the unveiling. Now, Christ came into the world. He had to be manifested. He had to be revealed the first time that he came into the world because the people didn't know who he was. You can go back to the gospel of John. And as we look at the gospel of John, they asked of John who he was, that is John the Immerser. And when they asked about John the Immerser, the text says in verse 19, it says, now this is the testimony of John with this chapter one, in verse 19. Now, this is the testimony of John when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, who are you? Because of John's work in baptizing, because of what he was doing, they wanted to know who he was and perhaps was he the Messiah. So he confessed and did not deny, but confessed, I am not the Christ. So this tells you that they did not understand and recognize. I'm sure, I'm here to make sure you have a pretty shirt. Okay. But at any rate, they didn't recognize who he was. They didn't know who he was. And so John confessed, you know, they were thinking John was perhaps the Messiah because of the work that he was doing. So he confessed and did not deny, but confessed, I am not the Christ. And they asked him, what then? Are you Elijah? He said, I am not. Are you the prophet? And by that they were suggesting that he might be the prophet that Moses talked about, that God would raise up like him, which of course would also be the Messiah. Maybe they didn't understand clearly everything that was related to that. And he answered no. And they said to him, who are you? That we may give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself? And so, of course, John tells them about the mission that God had for him being one who would prepare the way for Christ. And so it says in verse 24, now, those who were sent from the Pharisees or were from the Pharisees, and they asked him saying, why then do you baptize? Now watch this. Why then do you baptize if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the prophet? They knew all of these things were related to this mission of baptizing, to this work of righteousness that John was doing. And so they also knew that the prophets had spoken of the Christ who was to come. They were in expectation of him during that time. They knew that it was referring to that Elijah had to come prior to, and they also knew that, you know, of course, this is the time of the prophet, as we said. And so John answered them saying, I baptize with water, but there stands one among you. Now watch whom you do not know. So even when Christ came the first time, they did not know who he was. And since he was in obscurity, since he was unknown, he had to be revealed in some way so that they could understand and recognize who he was. And so here's what John says. It is he who coming after me is preferred before me, whose sandal strap I'm not worthy to lose. These things were done in Bethabara beyond the Jordan, where John was baptized. The next day, John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, behold, the lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world. This is he of whom I said, after me comes a man who was preferred before me, but he was before me. Watch John says, I did not know him, but that he should be revealed, manifested, made known to Israel. Therefore, I came baptizing with water. So the means of revealing Jesus Christ to Israel in the natural realm, when he came as the word being made flesh was through the baptism of John. Now, if we were to go to Matthew chapter three, a text that we all know very well, beginning at verse 13, it says, then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him. And John tried to prevent him saying, I need to be baptized by you. And are you coming to me? But Jesus entered and said to him, permitted to be so now for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness. Then he allowed him when he had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately trying to read too fast from the water and behold, the heavens were open to him. And he saw the spirit of God descending like a dove lighting upon him. So he sees something happening. And then it says, and suddenly a voice came from heaven saying, this is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. So in that act of baptism, Jesus has been revealed as the son of God. God said, this is my beloved son. They saw the vision of the Holy spirit descending as a dove upon him. They also heard the voice from heaven saying, this is my beloved son in whom I'm well pleased. So there is the revealing or the manifesting of Jesus in his personal ministry as he has been revealed in the flesh. However, it was something much deeper than that, that had not been revealed. And that was what the book of revelation is all about. It's the unveiling of Jesus in his deity as the divine son of God, as that high priest who was to come all of those things that relate to his work as, as the king and as the Lord of Lords and et cetera. And that's what the book of revelation is all about. It is the revealing the unveiling. Now you have several passages that relate to the revelation of Jesus Christ. Let me give a few of them so that as we talk about these, you will see that the revelation of Jesus Christ has to do with his return or with his appearing a second time. If you please, in the 17th chapter of the book of Luke, Luke chapter 17, this is a very interesting chapter as well, because it ties together things in passages such as Matthew 24, Luke 21, and also Mark 13. But in Luke chapter 17, beginning in verse 30, the text says, even so will it be in the day when the son of man is revealed. There's your same word, Apocalypse, the same word unveiling. And so he's talking about the day when the son of man is revealed. And of course he gives some events regarding that. And this is what the book of revelation is, is telling us. Next, we have a text of course, in first Corinthians chapter one. I'm just going to mention these very quickly so that you are aware of them. But in first Corinthians one and verse seven, it says, so that you come short in no gift. This is speaking to the Corinthians who had been the miraculous gifts had been bestowed abundantly upon them through the hands of Paul, et cetera. So he says that they would come behind in no gift, eagerly waiting for the revelation, the unveiling of Jesus Christ, all right, of our Lord Jesus Christ, who would confirm them until the end that they would be blameless in the day of Jesus Christ. Then if we go to a text in the epistle to the Thessalonians, I believe it's second Thessalonians chapter one, we have the word again, that God would repay those who brought tribulation to the saints. And then he says to give you who are troubled rest when the Lord Jesus is revealed out of heaven with his mighty angels. All right. So again, all of those passages referring to the revealing of Christ. And then you have one in first Peter chapter one, and I believe it's verse 13 or so first Peter chapter one and verse 13. All of these are focused on the same event. And he says, therefore, gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. So here's the unveiling in each of these verses. It speaks of things that were to happen in the lifetime of those to whom the epistles were written. So whether it be the Corinthians, whether it was the generation that was living during the time of Christ, whether it was to those who were the audience of Peter, because Peter clearly said, these were the things that the prophets had spoken about, and they were now being revealed. In each of those cases, as we understand audience relevance, it's speaking about things that were to be revealed to them. Now, as we look in revelation one, notice the text, it says the revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants things which must shortly take place. Now there's a huge barrier to understanding the book of revelation, and yet God placed, and it's also the key to understanding the book of revelation. But the problem is when I say it's a barrier, it's because people do not pay attention to that very important statement that is mentioned in at least three other ways to indicate the eminence of the events which were about to take place. He says things which must shortly take place, and he sent and signified it by his angel to his servant John. Now what we have then in the book of revelation are things that are signified, meaning that there are signs and symbols that describe the events that were to take place, but with all of that, or within all of that, they were shortly to take place. When we begin to talk about the book of revelation, and we say that it's been fulfilled, people begin to ask all kind of questions about, well what about the beast? What about the new heavens and new earth? What about, you know, this event, etc.? What about the kings of the earth? All of these things. What about the thousand years reign? What about the great white throne judgment? Well here's the what about. The what about is all of those were things which must shortly take place. Now that is a hermeneutic principle for understanding the book of revelation. That is a guideline in terms of trying to interpret or understand what those things are all about. All right, here's something else that's important. Of course he sent and signified it by his angel to his servant John, and the Bible says who bore witness to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ to all things that he saw, blessed is he who reads. I came from a background where they shunned the reading of the book of revelation, and of course this is written primarily to those in the first century as far as the blessing that was to be pronounced upon them, but it's a blessing for all to read and study, and I can surely say that from my point of view and the things that I learned from it. It's truly a blessing. The inspiration you get from it, the motivation as well, and understanding of the word of God, but he says blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy. Now that's important because the book of revelation is not many prophecies. It's one single prophecy. It is, let's go back to the verse, verse one, the revelation, the unveiling of Jesus Christ, and so the text says who bore witness, or rather blessed is he who reads, and those who hear the words of this prophecy. Now there are many facets to the prophecy. There are many parts and pieces of it, but it is one single prophecy. Good morning to you, Israel, and when we look in the later chapters of the book, you can see in revelation 19, verse 10, he says the same thing, and I fell at his feet to worship him, but he said to me, see that you do not do that. I am your fellow servant and of your brethren who have the testimony of Jesus. Worship God for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy, and again, I believe it's found in the last chapter of the book that once again talks about the singleness of the prophecy. Look in verse seven, revelation 22, in verse seven, behold, I am coming quickly, blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book, and again, I think at the very end when he says in verse 18, for I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book. If anyone adds to these things, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book. If anyone takes away from the words of this book or the words of the book of this prophecy, so that's very important as well to understand that the apocalypse or apocalypse of Jesus Christ is one prophecy that simply has many various points or pieces related to it. Then he says, blessed is he who reads those who hear the words of this prophecy and keeps those things which are written in it for the time is near. So that's the second time that John has said that the time is near. So once again, we're talking about something that was near in their time. We have to read it from their perspective, and this again is what we call audience relevant. So John is not writing the book today in the 21st century and telling us these things are near. We have had so-called prophets, false prophets since the first century prophesying that the events of the book of Revelation were near to them, and yet those things never being fulfilled because they disregard what the text says in the very beginning. And so John says these things were near. The time had grown near. This was an appointed time. It had been designated in the prophets, and now he says the appointed time has grown near. One other text on the time that I would like to refer to, and that is the text in verse 19. This is another text that is often misread, misunderstood, and there are so many references to the word that is used here in the book of Revelation that should help us to understand the importance of it. But this is found in verse 19. So I'm, like I said, I'm kind of doing a survey, overview of it, but let's look at verse 19. Now in this text what we are told in general is that John saw things in the past, he saw things in the present, and he will see things in the future, and by the future they mean things that are in our day and time. And again I'm saying to you that that is not what the apostle said. Remember he's already said these were things shortly to come to pass. He said that the time was near, and now listen to what he says in verse 19. Write the things which you have seen, and the things which are, so that would cover things that John had already seen, and then things which are things which he was presently seeing, but watch the next statement, and the things which will take place after this. Now if we leave it like that, it would appear that John was simply talking about things that would be stretched out for the centuries. That's the way people understand it, but that is not what the text is saying. It actually uses the word mellow in this text, the word that is never consistently translated in the New Testament, at least not in most translations, and I believe it occurs at least 111 times in the New Testament, and the range of times that it is translated as an imminent meaning, with an imminent meaning, ranges from less than 10 to maybe at a maximum of 50 times or so. However it appears 111 times in scripture, but notice the text. It says again if we use the word mellow, which is in the original, and I could put this up on the screen so you could see it, but he says write the things which you have seen, and the things which are, and the things which are about to take place. That's what the text actually says. As a matter of fact, maybe I will try to put this on the screen. Let's see if I can get it on the screen for you and let people see exactly what the text is saying. Let's go to the book of Revelation and look at verse, look at chapter 1 and verse 19. All right, because some people of course are not going to believe unless they see it. So this is, this is the New King James Version Translation, and as you notice it has all of Strong's words listed here. This is the e-sword by the way, but here's the word that we're talking about. It's Strong's 3195. There's the word mellow and notice in the definition it says to be, about to be. So it means about to do something, to be on the verge of doing something, something that is imminent. I'm about to close the lesson. Well, do you think it's going to take me 2,000 years to do it? No, that's not, that's not the case. And so you'll find this word woven throughout the book of Revelation, and we'll point out some of those passages as we go to talk about certain events that were about to take place. But all of that sort of forms a triad of time in the first chapter that these were things shortly to be done, the time was near, and they were about to happen. So the things that were future in the book of Revelation were not in the far distant future. They were things that were imminent. They were things that were shortly to come past, to come to pass. Now what I'm going to do is, as we close the lesson, I'm going to just point out one other point on the time frame, and then next week we'll get into some other points regarding the book. If we were to look in the middle of the book, and I'll point out some of these other time statements, but I just want to give one from chapter 12. And even when you look at the war that took place between Michael and his angels, and the dragon and his angels, and the dragon being cast out, it says in verse 12, Therefore rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell in them. Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea, for the devil has come down to you having great wrath, because he knows that he has a short time. So there again is the term used referencing a short time at the very end of the book. And this is what we would call an inclusio, which shows that the beginning of the book, as well as the end of the book, uses the same words to talk about the time. So in Revelation 22, beginning at verse 6, it says, Then he said to me, These words are faithful and true. And the Lord God of the Holy Prophet sent his angel to show his servants things which must shortly take place. We found it in verse 1. We now have it in chapter 22, in the very last chapter of the book, that says they were things which must shortly take place. He says, Behold, I am coming quickly. Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book. There's that singular prophecy again. And then in verse 10, he says to me, Do not seal the words of the prophecy of this book. Why? For the time is near. Now, it's understood that the book of Revelation speaks about the things that are also found in Daniel. And the reason is because Daniel wrote concerning the time of the end. However, in Daniel chapter 12, when Daniel is given information regarding the Great Tribulation, in other words, the time of affliction, when he is given information about the time of resurrection, and also when he is given information concerning the time of the end, he is specifically told to seal up the book. Now, there's something that we should understand about that relative to time. Daniel chapter 12, verses 1 through 4. He talked about this appointed time when Michael would stand up, the great prince who stands watch over the sons of your people, that it would be a time of trouble or affliction or tribulation, such as never was since there was a nation, even to that time. And at that time, your people shall be delivered. So every time he uses the word time, it's the word kairos in the Greek. It is an appointed time. And that's what he's talking about, just as we saw in the book of Revelation. And he says, Many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake some to everlasting life, some to shame and everlasting contempt. Those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the firmament and those who turn many to righteousness like the stars forever. But watch, Daniel is told to seal up the words, shut up the words and seal the book until the time of the end. So if you think about the time that Daniel wrote, you know, he was a contemporary prophet with Jeremiah and with Ezekiel, both of whom prophesied the destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians in 586 BC. So his prophecies and Daniel was in that captivity. So that's the historical time reference for Daniel, about roughly 600 years before the events or the time of the book of Revelation in time of its writing. So we've got about 600 years. And that means, if you think about it, if you reason about it, that if John is told 600 years before, I mean, if Daniel is told 600 years before John pins the book of Revelation, and Daniel is told to seal up those things until the time of the end, and then when John the apostle writes about them, he is told, do not seal the sayings of this book for the time is near. And he's talking about the same time of the end. Well, that means just logically speaking and thinking, using reasoning that the events of the book of Revelation cannot extend beyond 600 years, they cannot be longer than the period that Daniel was given when he was told to shut up the words of the book, because the time was not near. He says, seal it up until the time of the end. But that also tells us that when we do encounter the book of Revelation, that it was the time of the end. And that's a message that is given over and over again, in the book of Revelation, and one that we should recognize and understand as we as we examine the book. So that is the that is the message that I wanted to share with you this morning. And we will come back to that and pick up from that point or those basic points regarding time, we'll have, you know, more to say on them, as we compare them with the things that are in the epistles. And then we'll get into some of the what I would call some of the important messages of the book of Revelation that harmonize with what he says about the time of that event. So with that, we're going to conclude the lesson and trying to find where I am. Because I've lost the screen somewhere. And just can't figure out where it is. All right, here it is. All right. So with that, let's let me read a few of these comments before I leave and acknowledge these, these comments. Okay, I lean towards thinking that this angel is Daniel. All right. I'm not sure. And I have no, no comment on that one. As far as that goes, it says that background, which still discourages their disciples from reading the revelation. Thank you, Bobby. And I know what where you what you're saying, and where are you coming from? Because you and I share, you know, a similar background. They discourage people from reading the book of Revelation. And I don't know why I don't know what they think they're going to find in there that's going to be harmful to them. Let's see. Beatrice says studying the revelation made me study the Old Testament. Now that is a fact. That is definitely something as a matter of fact, I was reading it last night and found something in the Old Testament that I hadn't seen before, either in the book of Revelation and had not correlated before, but I think it is a direct correlation. And we'll look at that in time to come. All right. It says helped me to study the Old Testament. It was such a blessing and still is because now I know if I study, I will add to my knowledge and blessing. All right, very good. And then we have a comment from Stacy that says, right, the time of the end was when the gospel began to go out, Daniel 12 and three. It began after the power of the holy people were destroyed, which was old covenant Israel being taken out when their temple was destroyed. This was 70 AD. All right. Very good. And all right. Thank you, Jack. We appreciate it. I appreciate you being a great audience. All of you. God bless you all. We'll see you all next week. And we'll continue our survey and study of the book of Revelation.