THINGS TO CONSIDER ABOUT THE REVELATION

Revelation — an apocalypse or unveiling of those things which had been veiled. A manifesto of the kingdom of Christ. The travelling manual of the Church for the Gentile Christian times. Not a detailed history of the future, but a representation of the great epochs and chief powers in developing the kingdom of God in relation to the world. The “Church-historical” view goes counter to the great principle that Scripture interprets itself.

       Revelation is to teach us to understand the times, not the times to interpret to us the Apocalypse, although it is in the nature of the case that a reflex influence is exerted here and is understood by the prudent. The book is in a series of parallel groups, not in chronological succession. Still there is an organic historical development of the kingdom of God. In this book, all the other books of the Bible end and meet: in it is the consummation of all previous prophecy.

Daniel foretells as to Christ and the Roman destruction of Jerusalem, and the last Antichrist.

But John’s Revelation fills up the intermediate period, and describes the millennium and final state beyond Antichrist.

       Daniel, as a godly statesman, views the history of God’s people in relation to the four world kingdoms.

John, as an apostle, views history from the Christian Church aspect. The term Apocalypse is applied to no Old Testament book. Daniel is the nearest approach to it; but what Daniel was told to seal and shut up till the time of the end, John, now that the time is at hand, is directed to reveal.

God has pleaded with His people down through time to listen to the preachers He sent to warn them of the consequences that would come upon them for their disobedience to Him. With the information, available to us in these end times, we have no excuse not to find out, within a small margin of speculation, what is going to happen to Christians in the last days before Christ returns.

        As we study the Scriptures, it becomes apparent there is a profound unity between the Old and New Testaments. This unity is demonstrated by the fact that over one-third of the New Testament is made up of quotes from the Old Testament. In truth, many Old Testament passages simply cannot be understood without the New Testament. Consider the numerous prophecies referring to Jesus Christ, such as those in Psalms 22 and Isaiah 53. Without the writings of the New Testament, we would never realize that Old Testament texts were Messianic in nature.

        Similarly, dozens of Old and New Testament prophecies regarding the end time cannot be understood without the book of Revelation. These examples demonstrate the unity of Scripture, and are proof of God’s inspiration of the entire Bible as the complete Word of God. In the book of Isaiah God provides us the standard by which to seek Him and understand His word, as well as discern those who speak the truth: Isaiah 8:20 “To the law and testimony! If they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them”.

Revelation 19:10 And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, See thou do it not: I am thy fellow servant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.

        The unlimited freedom which some preachers and teachers take with prophesies of the Holy Scriptures often cause, criticism, confusion and controversy. The apostle Peter says, No prophecy is of any private interpretation. From this I discern that the oracles of God, and especially the prophecies of Jesus Christ to His disciples and apostle John, are in no way dependent upon the solutions and opinions of carnal critics. Anyone can study prophecy and make up a scenario that sounds plausible. The key to understanding prophecy has a lot to do with the history we just waded through about nations and God’s intervention from time to time. The matching of history to prophecy is essential. The knowledge of the origin of nations and where people have migrated helps. Knowing there is a great deception that is behind the scenes of governments of men, religions of men, and the orchestration of demonic spirits in the background makes it quite an adventure.

         Although the past times are blending in with the present, the works of God in ages past are just beginning to develop, especially in these latter times or end of times of the 21st Century.

Let the Spirit of Prophecy bear on us with what Jesus says about the future times, far beyond the kingdoms of men! God gives Daniel a peek at the overall events, just enough so those who are seeking the better way of life can have hope and confidence it will happen. There is very little detail given in Daniel the 9th chapter, but the timeline covers over 2,000 years of living, including the birth of the Messiah, His death, resurrection and second coming! Think about this: Jesus came, pioneered the way of salvation for us, and never wrote down one word of what He taught. It all comes to us through the witnesses that lived with Him, and even those who sought His death, sentenced Him to die, and convinced the Romans to carry out the execution via crucifixion. Christ left a lot of witnesses to testify of His coming and going and coming again. By their acts of treachery and violence, His enemies were witnesses to the life of the Son of God, Jesus the Christ.

     THE SPIRIT OF PROPHECY

        So it is with the Spirit of Prophecy. Its writings, spiritually discerned, produce both hope and confidence. While it is often, on the surface, speaking to individuals and nations, at the same time it is referencing doctrines and principles of a holy life as much as is possible while in this flesh. The reason prophecy is so important to the 21st century believer is its Spiritual authority in prophetic vision as set forth by the commands of God to regulate human life in preparation for ETERNAL LIFE! We as Spiritually begotten Christians are privileged to understand these things by the power of the Holy Spirit given to believers as they accept Jesus Christ as Master and Savior of their lives.