Book of Revelation Part 39 An Overview

Transcription

1 Book of Revelation Part 39 An Overview Every book has a Purpose - The Treasure of the Book is found in it s Purpose - Revelation is a Whole Book within a Whole Book called The Bible * The Treasure of Revelation is found in the Purpose of both of these The Purpose of the Bible: God s Relentless Pursuit of Rebellious Man; His Love - From Creation of Humans Purpose: To Walk with God - To the Relentless Pursuit of God after Humans Reject Him - The Story of this Old Earth is for each Human to pass through it and Decide whether he/she will love God back - This Story ends with the Old Earth passing away and the New Earth, Heaven and Jerusalem Story Commencing with those who Chose God The Purpose of Revelation: - Rev. 1:1, A Revelation OF Jesus Christ (NKJV) - Rev. 1:1, A Revelation FROM Jesus Christ to show what must soon take place. (NIV 2011) * FROM puts the focus on END TIME EVENTS * TO puts the focus on JESUS - Rev. 1:1, A Revelation OF Jesus Christ (NIV 1998) - Rev. 1:1, A Revealing OF Jesus (The Message) * END TIME EVENTS are Vague * The Identity of JESUS is Pronounced! - A Revelation of Jesus! - Jesus = The Word of God; A Revelation of the Bible! - The Capstone : - The Bible isn t fully understood without Revelation - Old Testament Prophecies; i.e. - Joel 2:1, Blow a Trumpet in Zion is talking about a swarm of demons that look like Locusts (5 th Seal) - Jesus Words/Events i.e. - the Mount of Transfiguration Every Study will accomplish 1 of these 3 Things: - God s Love - Who Jesus Is (Who is the Manifestation of God s Love) - Explain a portion of Scripture Chapter 1 Jesus is introduced (Heavenly Jesus as opposed to Earthly Jesus) - His Appearance: - Eyes of Blazing Fire - White Hair - Torso of Bronze - Feet of Burning Metal * John doesn t seem to recognize Him terrified - His Character and Credential: - Dead now Alive (Victorious) - Holds the keys of Death and Hades - Alpha and Omega (His Story!) - Desire for Relationship ( do not be afraid ) - Holding the Churches in His Hands - 7 = Perfect - Right Hand = Authority Given - Lampstand = Containing the Light (Jesus) - Love!

2 Chapter 2-3 Letters to the Churches - Jesus recites 7 letters to 7 churches for John to write down on a scroll - Before End Time Events are Revealed Jesus wants to talk to His Beloved Church First - No matter what the Events look like I love you! - Cause and Effect for Obeying or Disobeying - Promises and Encouragements - Warnings and Judgments Ephesus - Hard working Church who forgot to Love God Smyrna - Persecuted and Impoverished Church who needed Encouragement to Keep Going! Pergamum - Faithful Church who needed to be Warned for letting certain sins go Thyatira - Another Faithful Church in Good Deeds but allowed a False Teacher to lead them astray into Sin Sardis: - A Church that looked good on the Outside but was Dying on the Inside Philadelphia: - A Church that was doing everything Right! Jesus cheers them on to Finish Well! Laodicea: - A Lukewarm Church. Not desperately wicked, not overly righteous. Jesus preference was for them to be Cold instead of Lukewarm (but preferably HOT) * Promises: - Eat from the Tree of Life (Live Forever!) - Not effected by the Second Death (No More Death!) - Victor s Crown (Rewards in Heaven) - Hidden Manna (Fulfilled in Every Way (Sustenance)) - A New Name (Past Erased) - Authority over the Nations (Governance Hierarchy) - The Morning Star (A place of Honour/Authority that was originally given to Lucifer, then to Jesus) - Dressed in White (Complete Righteousness like Jesus (not just declared righteous) - Jesus will acknowledge YOU before His Father and His Angels - Jesus will write His Name, God s Name and the New City s Name on them - You will be Rich - Eat with Jesus - Sit with Jesus on His Throne! (Rule and Reign!) * Warnings: - Crushed like Pottery - Eternal Separation from God - Eternal Torment - Eternal Sorrow Note: There is no in-between * Every Letter ends with, whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches! Chapter 4 & 5 Immediately after this, Jesus takes John to the Throne Room in Heaven! - Still the prelude to End Time Events 2 Major Sections: Before and After the Lamb enters the Throne Room 1. Before the Lamb: - The Father in the Centre (never named, The One Who Sits on the Throne ) - The Holy Spirit (7 Fold Spirit) - The 4 Living Creatures (Representing Humankind in God s Image) - The 24 Elders (Representing Victorious Dead Believers) - Angels (Billions and Billions) - Continuous Heavenly Worship of God * John Weeps (Something/Someone is missing; He feels unsafe in a dangerous place)

3 2. The Lamb Enters! - Worship from Earth is now Heard in Heaven - The Lamb is now Worshipped - John feels secure in Heaven - The Lamb has the Authority to Unlock End Time Events (the scroll!) * Once again, reinforcing the Revelation of Jesus! - The Lion and the Lamb: - Jesus (never called by name) appears back and forth as: - The Lamb (welcoming, sacrificial servant) - Eyes of Blazing Fire (don t mess with Me; Almighty) Chapter 6 Now End Time Events Unfold! - Not until Jesus: - Establishes Who He is! (Almighty and In Charge) - Declares His Motivation! (Love) - Talks to the Churches - Shows us the Command Centre: - Ultimate place of Authority, Power, Awe and our Future * Now you re ready to hear about the Events! End Time Events Overview: - Church Age (Current State) - Jesus Dies and Resurrects - Believers are Saved - Tribulation - 7 Years of Hardship: - 3½ years of the Rise of a Satanic 1 World Government - 3½ years of the Worship of the Satanic Leaders & The Persecution of Christians (those who refuse to worship) - At the End of the Tribulation, God pours out 21 Plagues on the Planet to further weed out Believers and Unbelievers - 7 Seals - 7 Trumpets - 7 Bowls of Wrath - It will be Impossible to be Lukewarm during these 7 years - The Rapture - This occurs either at the Beginning or During the Tribulation - Jesus comes in the clouds (without touching the Earth) and Raptures the Church to Heaven - Note: Any believers during the Tribulation are those who converted after the Rapture - Second Coming - At the End of the Tribulation, the people of the Earth will rise up against God and call Him to war - God s Response to this is the Second Coming of Jesus - The Millennial Reign - Immediately after the Second Coming - God establishes His Kingdom on Earth: Mount Zion - Jesus and Believers rule the inhabitants of the Earth for 1,000 Years - At the End of the 1,000 years, once again, Unbelievers will rise up and wage war against God - In a flash, all Unbelievers will be Destroyed - Final Judgment - All the dead from all the generations will rise and stand before God - God will separate Believers from Unbelievers (Sheep and Goats; Book of Life) - Believers will then be Judged according to their Works - The Eternal State - The Old Earth and Heaven will disappear - New Heaven, New Earth, New Jerusalem will appear (God will create again!) - A New Creation, a New System, a New Story!

4 Chapters Seals (on the scroll) - The Lamb (Jesus) unlocks 7 Seals, each unlocking an Event (Judgment) 1. Rider on a White Horse (Bent on Conquest) 2. Rider on a Red Horse (Taking Peace from the Earth) 3. Rider on a Black Horse (Creating Scarcity and Rising Prices on Earth) 4. Rider on a Pale Horse (Power over ¼ of the Earth; Sword, Famine, Plague) 5. Souls under the Altar (Believers Killed during the Tribulation) 6. Great Earthquake (Sun turned Black; Moon turned Red; Heavens Rolled Up; Unbelievers try to Hide) Interlude: - 144,000: - Jewish Men who are Resurrected as Witnesses to Israel that Jesus is the Messiah - The Great Multitude: - Post-Rapture Believers who were executed in the Tribulation - They Resurrect to Rule and Reign with Jesus 7. Peals of Thunder, Rumblings, Flashes of Lightning, Earthquake (Signs of 2 nd Coming) Chapters Trumpets - 7 Angels blow 7 Trumpets one after another each unlocking an Event (Judgment) 1. Hail, Fire and Blood (1/3 of Earth, Trees and Grass Burned up) 2. Huge Mountain on Fire thrown into the Sea (1/3 Sea Creatures Die, 1/3 Ships Destroyed) 3. A Great Star falls to Earth (1/3 Rivers and Spring Waters turn Bitter and Poisonous) 4. 1/3 Sun, 1/3 Moon, 1/3 Stars turn Dark (Leaving 1/3 Day, 1/3 Night with No Light) (The 3 Woes ) 5. Army of Demons come out of the Abyss (Tortured anyone without the Seal of God) 6. 4 Angels are Released to Kill 1/3 of Humans Interlude: - The Angel and the Little Scroll: - There will be no more delay! - John, go and prophecy one more time! - 2 Witnesses: - Possibly Moses and Elijah - A sign to Israel to convince them that Jesus is the Messiah - They cause havoc on Unbelievers; Are killed; Dead bodies are mocked; Rise again and Ascend into Heaven! 7. Peals of Thunder, Rumblings, Flashes of Lightning, Earthquake (Signs of 2 nd Coming) Chapters 12 The Woman and the Dragon - An Event during the Tribulation: Israel is Protected by God until the Second Coming - Satan is finally kicked out of Heaven Permanently Chapters 13 The Dragon, The Breast out of the Sea, The Beast out of the Earth: - An Event during the Tribulation: More Details about the Satanic Earthly Kingdom: - Enforcing Worship - Enforcing the Mark of the Beast (to buy and sell) - The Persecution and Beheading of Believers in Jesus who don t Comply Chapters ,000, the 3 Angels and the Harvest of the Earth - Another Overview of the Tribulation reinforcing the: - The Safe Harbouring of Israel - The Fate of Believers and Unbelievers

5 Chapters 15 Intro to the 7 Angels with the 7 Bowls of Wrath Chapters 16 (We are Here!) 7 Final Bowls of Wrath are poured out during the Tribulation - Each containing a Plague or Judgment * 7 th Bowl = Peals of Thunder, Rumblings, Flashes of Lightning, Earthquake (Signs of 2 nd Coming) Chapters 17 & 18 More information on the Characters and Events of the Tribulation - The Prostitute on the Scarlett Beast - The Fall of the Great Babylon (Satan s Kingdom - Unbelieving Earth) v The MAJORITY of Revelation has to do with the Tribulation Chapters The Second Coming (The Rider on the White Horse) The 1,000 Year Reign (Millennial) The Final Judgment The Eternal State: - The New Earth, New Heaven and New Jerusalem Revelation 1:3, Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it, because the time is near.