The Book of Revelation

“And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.” (Revelation 11:15)

As promised, we kick off our study in the book of Revelation this Wednesday night. I have gotten more interest in this study than anything else we have done in many years. With world events as they are, the fascination with end times and Bible prophecy is at a fever pitch. All of us want to know what the future holds. The passion for knowledge is inbred in human nature from the Garden of Eden. Eve fell into sin through the temptation to “…be as gods, knowing good and evil.” (Genesis 3:6) Prophecy students and seminar gurus fall into the same temptation with the book of Revelation because they are desperately trying to gain some secret insight into the events of the future. If they can know something that no one else does, it gives them a thrill and rush. That is where the Harold Campings of the world live and breed.

One of the downsides of a study like this is trying to position yourself properly as a teacher of prophetic events. I do claim to know a few things about the future, but only as I find them in the Bible. But much of the prophetic structure of the Bible is vague and ambiguous. God did it that way on purpose; primarily to keep man from getting “too big for his britches”. I don’t care how much you know, God has you trumped by a wide margin. Job 5:13 says, “He taketh the wise in their own craftiness.” When some prophecy “expert” claims a special revelation, God pulls the rug out and lets him know who is still running the Universe. I will have much speculation in my study of the book of Revelation, and I will be right up front with it throughout. I reserve the right to be proven wrong. I have changed some things that I used to teach – not the basic truths and structures, but the details as we see life and history unfold. If I teach Revelation again in a few years, I will probably have to change a few more details. I will try to give everyone the best I have on it right now, but since these events are all future, we won’t be able to see every detail until it happens. The basic principles are factual. There will be a rapture (I Corinthians 15:50-52, I Thessalonians 4:13-18). Jesus will come to earth and reign in Jerusalem (Jeremiah 23:5). Israel will be the “head of the nations” as it was told them in Deuteronomy 28:13. A period of tribulation will overtake this world and be unlike any time this world has ever seen or ever will see (Matthew 24:21). The antichrist will dominate the world through his 666 mark and system (Revelation 13:16-18). But the specific details are yet to be revealed.

People are making fun of the rapture now because of idiots like Harold Camping. The event he is talking about will happen. The unintended consequence of his blathering is that people are now ignoring the event because it didn’t happen on May 21 as he said it would. First of all, the moron should never have set a date. Why is it we can’t learn from the failures of so many before us who have tried the same thing and become laughingstocks? But then instead of admitting that he is a fallible human with limited knowledge, he tried to justify his prophecy and explain away his failure. Now he says that the rapture really did happen, but it was spiritual and none of us could see it. Then why is he still sucking God’s air? Now he claims it will happen on October 21. When he is proven wrong again, why would anyone believe him or give him money?

It is interesting to study what the Bible says about the end times and the course of the history of humanity as God has revealed in his word. But one of the main issues in the book of Revelation is found in the first phrase in the very first verse. This is the “Revelation of Jesus Christ.” Rather than trying to gain some secret knowledge about future events that will happen to other people, keep your focus on the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. Far more important than what tomorrow holds is knowing the one who holds tomorrow.