The Beginner's Guide to Revelation

By Ray Sullins

Is there another book of the Bible that has generated more curiosity, controversy, and speculation than the book of Revelation? As world events careen toward what appears to be a terrifying precipice and as many people see multiplied signs that the long prophesied end times are rushing upon us, more and more people are turning to the last book of the Bible, the book of Revelation for answers. In Th e Beginner's Guide to Revelation author Ray Sullins has written a comprehensive guide to aid both new believers and long-time students of God's Word in their search for answers in this most mysterious of books. Ray skillfully guides the reader through the maze of imagery and helps to discern the figurative from the literal, and always with the aim of pointing the reader to the central character of Revelation, the Lord Jesus Chris

• Language: English
• Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Feb 6, 2018
• ISBN: 9781641408127

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The Beginner's Guide to Revelation

Ray Sullins

Copyright © 2018 Ray Sullins

All rights reserved

First Edition

Christian Faith Publishing, Inc

New York, NY

First originally published by Christian Faith Publishing, Inc 2018

ISBN 978-1-64140-811-0 (Paperback)

ISBN 978-1-64140-812-7 (Digital)

Printed in the United States of America

Introduction

The human author of the book of Revelation is John, the apostle. It is believed that he wrote the book while in exile on the island of Patmos sometime after AD 90, probably around AD 95 or 96.

The subject of the book of Revelation is that Jesus Christ is coming again. This is plainly stated in chapter 1 verse 7 where John, the apostle, writes, Behold, He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him . . . When Jesus returns to planet Earth, He is coming in great power and glory and every eye will see his return. The events leading up to His return will be a time of great wrath poured out on planet Earth, as well as upon mankind. In fact, it will be such a time of wrath that unless the days were shortened, no one would survive. After the return of Jesus, Israel will be restored and the Millennial Kingdom will begin.

The Lord Himself gives us the threefold division of the book in chapter 1 verse 19. This division is the things which you have seen, the things which are, and the things which shall take place after these things. In chapter 1, John receives the vision of the Lord Jesus Christ and is commissioned to write the things which he has seen. In this introduction to the book, John gives us instructions as a kingdom of priests. In chapters 2 and 3, the things which are, John writes about the church age. Here he gives instructions (blessings and warnings) that pertain not only to the seven churches, which were addressed, but also to the church for all generations to come. In chapters 4–22, the things which shall take place after these things, John writes of the wrath of God in judgment upon planet Earth and mankind. He also writes about the restoration of Israel, which is seen in the Millennial Kingdom. In this section, John also gives us a glimpse of Eternity Future with the new heaven and earth and the new Jerusalem City (see chart next page).

The events that occur during that time of wrath and judgment on the earth and its inhabitants known as the Tribulation are described in chapters 4 through 19. Many people are perplexed by these events and wonder how they should be interpreted—are the events to be interpreted as literal or figurative? For centuries, the majority of Bible interpreters favored the figurative approach, because from the perspective of life earlier than the twentieth century, the scenes depicting the tribulation judgments were frankly too fantastic to be believed if taken literally. For example, in 1611, when the King James Bible was first published, no one could imagine an army numbering 200 million soldiers (Rev. 9:16), when the entire world population in those days was only about 500 million. Or how could the bodies of two dead prophets lying in the streets of Jerusalem (Rev. 11:8–10) be viewed by every person on earth? To anyone born in the nineteenth century or earlier, the notion of such a statement being literal was too absurd to be seriously considered.

But now with the earth’s population in excess of 6 billion, and with 1.3 billion of them in China alone, the existence of such an army seems entirely plausible. Nowadays live coverage of global events is very common, and the idea of everyone on earth being able to view live events occurring in Jerusalem is not at all strange to us. So now the voices calling for the literal interpretation of the events of Revelation 4–19 are being taken more seriously. Numerous books have been written and even fictional books and movies have been made based on a literal interpretation.

On the other hand, there are certain descriptions in Revelation that must be taken figuratively. For example, it is highly unlikely that the Antichrist will actually appear as he is described in chapter 13 verse 2: "And the beast which I saw was like a leopard, and his feet were like those of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion." These characteristics are meant to describe the characteristics and attributes of the man: he will be swift as a leopard, powerful as a bear, and ravenous as a lion in his conquest of the earth.

Another difficulty with interpreting Revelation is the matter of the timeline of events, especially the events depicted by the seal, trumpet, and bowl judgments. Some theologians believe the events occur sequentially, others view them as occurring concurrently. Still others believe they are spaced more or less evenly throughout the Tribulation, while others think they occur with increasing frequency, with the bowl judgments occurring in the few weeks or days just prior to the Second Coming of Christ.

The Bible is not clear regarding an event-specific timeline of the tribulational judgments. Generally, when the Bible is silent on such matters, it is because the Holy Spirit who inspired the human authors of the scripture did not want such details to detract from the deeper truths revealed by the scriptural passages. So regardless of whether the seventh trumpet judgment occurs at the midpoint of the Tribulation, or in the last months just prior to the Second Coming of Christ, we must remember that the goal of these passages of the scripture is to glorify holy God rather than to satisfy the idle curiosity of the reader.

Another point to remember is that the passage of time in heaven is undoubtedly experienced differently by those who are in heaven watching the seals being broken, the trumpets sounded, and the bowls emptied onto the earth. From their perspective, events appear to occur in rapid succession as the raptured saints in heaven experience them, while seven years must elapse on the earth—seven long years of experiencing the terrible wrath of God and the worst plagues to ever be inflicted on mankind.

Also, the reader should be aware that Revelation was written in a style typical of Hebrew literature—with flashbacks and parenthetical descriptions interrupting the flow of events. These factors combined with the mix of literal and figurative imagery make the interpretation of Revelation somewhat of a challenge, especially to the Western mind.

Part One

The Things Which You Have Seen

Chapter 1

The Lord Jesus Christ

The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants what must happen very soon. He made it clear by sending his angel to his servant John, who then testified to everything that he saw concerning the word of God and the testimony about Jesus Christ. Blessed is the one who reads the words of this prophecy aloud, and blessed are those who hear and obey the things written in it, because the time is near.

The first thing we learn about the book is that it is the Revelation of Jesus Christ. The book is not about John nor is the book about the Holy Spirit, although he plays an important role in the book. The book to the chagrin of many is also not about the Antichrist or the devil. Rather, the book is about Jesus, first, last, and always. John writes that the persons who read, hear, and obey the prophecy of this book are promised to be blessed. Thus, this is the only book in the Bible where the reader, listener, and doer of the words of the book will be blessed. Therefore, this is a powerful and relevant book for everyone; it is not a secret or closed book, it is meant to be read. In this section, John is exhorting his readers to live up to being a kingdom of priest to the God and Father of the Lord Jesus Christ. As a kingdom of priest, we are to read and hear and heed the words of the prophecy of this book, 1:3. When John writes that the time is near, it is most likely a reference to the fact that the church fathers believed that Jesus would return in their lifetime. The apostle Paul also refers to that fact in 1 Thessalonians 4, when he writes, We who are alive, referring to the rapture of the church. (The rapture of the church is a future event that involves the sudden removal of all Christians, both dead and alive, from the earth to be with the Lord forever.)

From John, to the seven churches that are in Asia: Grace and peace to you from he who is and who was, and who is coming, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, and from Jesus Christ—the faithful witness, the firstborn from among the dead, the ruler over the kings of the earth. To the one who loves us and has set us free from our sins at the cost of his own blood, and has appointed us as a kingdom, as priests serving his God and Father—to him be the glory and the power for ever and ever! Amen.

The most important personality of the book is the Lord Jesus Christ. Here John addresses his letter to the seven churches in Asia Minor: Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea. While these are actual churches of that period and the book was addressed to them, they also serve as representative churches for the Church for all periods of time and there is much to be learned from them.

Next, John gives us a reference to the Holy Trinity, thus referring to the equality of the three persons of Deity. He refers to God as the one who is, and who was, and the one who is coming. John then refers to the seven spirits who are before the throne of God. It is obvious to this writer that this is a reference to the Holy Spirit; as seven is the number of completion or perfection and we know that the Holy Spirit is the third person of the Deity and is therefore holy and perfect.

Next, John describes Jesus, the second person of Deity, as the faithful witness, the firstborn from among the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the earth. Today Jesus is not the ruler over the kings of the earth, but during the Millennial Kingdom, he will rule the entire earth for a literal 1,000 years.

Then John talks about how Jesus set us free