Many people think that Revelation is the hardest set of chapters to understand in the entire Bible. Some people say that no one is allowed to understand Revelation. Apocalypse means “reveal”, so why would it be called “revelation” if you weren’t allowed understand it? Here is the most comprehensive blog I’ve written about Revelation.
Jesus speaks against five of the seven churches of Christ. One of those churches He speaks against He threatens to remove altogether. That is the church of Ephesus. How that will be done is it will cease from being a Christian church and become part of the synagogue of Satan. The only two He finds no fault in are the churches of Philadelphia and Smyrna. These churches don’t exist yet. Why I know that is the case is the church of Philadelphia will not be here during the hour of temptation. The church John referred to didn’t exist then. The church of Smyrna will be those who believe the doctrine of the church of Philadelphia to be true. They will be here for the hour of temptation, but their faith will be stronger than those of any other denomination. Remember, for those ‘educated’ ones who think John was speaking about things of his time, Jesus appeared to him and told him what would be at the end.
The church of Ephesus were given ways to test apostles to make sure if they were false to not listen to them. Jesus says they have left their first love and to do their first works. The first love of any Christian is Christ. The first work for any church is to stick to the written Word and to teach it. Next is the church of Smyrna who know those who say are Jews, but are not and found them to be liars. These are Kenites. Jesus says He knows they are not wealthy in the eyes of the world, but He considers them rich for their faith. He tells them they will be tested by Satan, which Jesus referred to in the gospels.
To the church of Pergamos, Jesus said that He knows they are faithful and are in the midst of Satan’s seat, but they have held onto the doctrine of Balaam. Balaam was a prophet who spoke to God, but yet tried to lead Israel astray as Israel was first being established. He also chastized them for believing like the Nicolaitanes (Nicolatians). The Nicolatians were a group of Christians that believed adultery and other abominations were no big deal.
To the church at Thyatira, Jesus said they have followed Jezebel, the prophetess of Ba’al by teaching fornication and to eat foods sacrificed to idols. Jesus said that He will cast them away into a bed with them who commit adultery. This adultery is believing in other gods, namely Satan, who is to come. Even their children will suffer death for their sins, which they refused to repent for. To the church of Sardis, Jesus says their works are not His. He says outside of a few among them, they are dead and defiled their garments.
To the church of Philadelphia, Jesus has nothing but praise for. He said that He has an open door for them no man can shut, because they are the elect and cannot fail. He said they have only a little strength because they are few in number. After this is all over, Jesus will have those of the synagogue of Satan come to worship at their feet, and He will be kept from the hour of temptation that will try the rest of the world. Jesus will brand them with the name of God, the new Jerusalem, and His new name after this is all over. Can’t wait.
To the church in Laodicea, Jesus says their work is neither hot or cold, but lukewarm, and would rather have them be either hot or cold. He said that they are rich in the eyes of men, but their works will not survive the trial by fire. He tells them to buy gold from Him that will stand the test of fire and white raiment. This simply means to fully adopt His ways so they will not be judged against. These are the seven churches.
The four horsemen of the Apocalypse are these: the white horse, the black horse, the red horse, and the pale horse. The rider of the white horse is the Beast. The Beast is the Antichrist human being: a human with the spirit of Satan inside him. He will go forth conquering the world peacefully coming to “save the day”. The rider of the black horse had a pair of balances in his hand. A voice was heard saying “a measure of wheat for a penny and three measures of barley for a penny; see you hurt not the oil and the wine.” This is a plague of great economic woe. A penny is what we would term as a poor working man’s daily wage, as was written in Matthew 20. What it basically says is that it would take a good portion of a working man’s daily wage to be able to buy a loaf of bread. Before thinking this is impossible, think of when the Soviet Union fell. People were lining up to pay the equivilant to $20 for a loaf of bread. Where it says “see you hurt not the oil and the wine” could really have been written anywhere in Revelation. If the price on everything goes up, then so would actual oil and wine, right? Why it’s there is so it gets you to ask “what does that mean then?” What do you do with oil besides cook with it, religiously speaking? You anoint with it. What happens to grape juice during the process of fermentation? Not only does it turn into alcohol, but the impurities come out. What it really says is “see you hurt not the anointed and the pure”. Before casting that doctrine away, consider Psalm 105:15 which says “Touch not Mine anointed, and do My prophets no harm.” Looks like an exact match to me. The rider of the red horse is really like Murphy’s Law. What can go wrong will go wrong. War, famine, pestilence will be more widespread than perhaps ever before in our age. The rider of the red horse really envelopes much of what is continued in Revelation. The rider of the pale horse is Satan himself. The Antichrist human will die in the midst of the Tribulation Period, but he will rise three days later. Satan will give him his life back. Satan will also be here right then or for the last five months. It will be Satan in his angelic flesh. Satan’s name is Death, and Hell will follow him.
The harlot is the revived Roman Empire. The Beast will come from the revived Roman Empire as is written in Daniel 2 and 7. The fourth empire to come will break up and reform. That empire was the Roman Empire. The revival of the Roman Empire will start with ten nations. The eleventh will be the one where the Antichrist will come from. If we are in the last days, the revived Roman Empire could only be the European Union. The EU’s eleventh nation was either Portugal or Spain since they came in at the same time. If the EU is this revival, then the Antichrist will come from Spain or Portugal. This is how the Beast will ride the harlot for a period of time. They will put him in power.
The first day of the great Tribulation Period will be the opposite of what most think of it to be. The tribulation will last seven years. Only for the elect will it be less. The Antichrist in Daniel 9 confirms a peace covenant with many nations that will last for seven years. That is no coincidence. The first day of the tribulation will be the day he confirms the covenant. There will be joyous celebration instead of a day of horror like most think. The human race will think they have evolved from a warmongering species and that we can solve any problem through negotiation. During the next few years, tensions will build to a fever pitch and then war will break out once again. Then Hell will be upon Earth. What I mean by “war will break out once again” is our species only comes with peace covenants after war. That’s the way we are. Peace covenants never come from a time of peace, but only from war. There will be a war involving many nations before the confirming of the peace covenant.
Much of what is written in Revelation is written somewhere in the Old Testament in the books of the prophets, especially Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, and the minor prophets. For example, Revelation 18 goes directly with Jeremiah 50-51. Part of the reason why Revelation is so difficult is because it’s so concise. In the older prophetical books, the prophecies are written in greater detail and length. St. John couldn’t do that or Revelation would be one huge book. Also nothing in Revelation has happened yet. Don’t let anyone fool you otherwise. Reveal… do you reveal the past or the future? The reason why most of it is written in the past tense is because St. John was taken to the future, so to him it was the past. Not our past. When he says that he saw those things, it’s because he saw those things. The last few chapters of Revelation deal with what’s written in Ezekiel 40-48, which deals with the next age and beyond. As is written in the original Greek, when Jesus returns that ends this age. Not the world.
When Satan is kicked down to Earth, he comes with those aligned with him. The fallen angels are the plague of locusts that will have power to torment men for five months, outside those with the seal of God in their foreheads (the 144,000 Jews). Their master is Apollyon, which is another name for the Devil. Their nearly uncontentious power will last for five months. Those five months will be the last five months, and will be known as the hour of temptation. How they will torment men will be to spiritually torment men. It will be the sounding of the seventh and last trump that the mystery of God will be finished. All will know who God is. They’ll also know Jesus is the Messiah. They’ll know the Bible is genuinely God’s word. They’ll know who Satan is. Even with knowing all of that and the mystery being finished, men will still fail to a great extent. Every human weakness will be magnified by the plagues, and Satan with his fallen angels will play on those weaknesses brilliantly. Even though men will know it will be wrong, to seemingly save their lives they will lose them by failing God. That will fulfill a prophecy Jesus made that those who will seek to save their lives will lose it, and those who will lose it for His name’s sake will find life everlasting. The plague of the locusts really is about testing one’s resolve and will to hold onto what is right when it will be so difficult to do so. The stronger your faith, the easier it will be. Paul said it best when he said in Romans 8:38-39 “For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,” “Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” If you hold onto that, you’ll be fine if we are in the last days. If your flight be in winter, meaning too late (a reference when birds fly south), then it’s going to be incredibly difficult. If your flight be on the sabbath day, meaning that period of time right after the covenant is confirmed when most think we have solved all of our problems, then it will be too late to fully prepare for the inevitable time afterward.
Imagine that, even knowing what to do and what not to do many men will still fail even knowing their souls are on the line. I think it says everything about men that it will take the seventh trump before the mystery of God is finished for them. Not any of the other plagues before it coming true like it is written, or the prophets doing miraculous things is good enough for them. It will take the last trump for them. And with them in mind, when it is all over the Song of Moses will be sung which in part shows how the highminded were the real fools. Only a real fool will call a faithful Christian a fool but not consider the Lord that put this creation upon the Earth. The Song of Moses is very apt for the end. Is this the true end? No, it’s not.
After this age ends, a new one will begin. If you don’t take in Jesus’ return ends this age, Revelation 20 cannot be made sense of. I’ve heard some whacky doctrine about Revelation, like it’s already happened. If it has, I’d love to see this bottomless pit. I’d like to know how late God is on His schedule since it was only supposed to last a thousand years. That’s a thousand years off so far. If you take in that Jesus’ return ends this age and begins a new one, then and only then can Revelation 20 be made sense of. Satan will be in the bottomless pit for a thousand years while Jesus returns with His saints. In the eyes of God, a saint is just a faithful Christian as is written in Ephesians 1:1. Paul addressed his epistle to the saints which are at Ephesus. If there was one saint upon Earth, then anyone who has passed with their faith intact has to be a saint since Jesus said that there is no one on Earth better than the lowest in heaven. Try to explain that away. Not only does Satan stay imprisoned in the bottomless pit and Jesus reigns on Earth for a thousand years, but the “dead” don’t live until the thousand years are up. Another thing traditional teachers can’t explain. As I pointed out earlier, much of what’s written in Revelation is written more in depth in the books of the prophets. The temple written in Ezekiel’s late chapters is not a temple made by men. What temple ever in history ever held anything that can even be termed as “the dead”? After the millennium is over, Satan tries to deceive the world once again. Those who follow him try to make war with the saints, but God stops them and ends that age. Those who follow Satan then will forever be judged against. The books are opened and judgment is given to all. The righteous are given their gifts while the damned receive their damnation. Everyone will know what the right choice will be, just as they will at the end of this age. No excuses. When you know something is right, you better do everything you can to hold onto it. Ultimately, it’s all we have you know. We came into this world with our souls and our souls only, and we will leave with our souls only. You can’t take with you money, jewelry, clothes, houses, cars, playstation 3’s, iPhones, or hdtv’s. All you will have is you and what you’ve done. For the sake of your soul, always strive to do what’s right. Even Christians will have their works tested, and that will be judged upon permanently as well. If you know something is right, then it should be worth everything to you to do it. There maybe more at stake than just your soul and well being. Others can hang in the balance.I hope you have learned something here. God bless.
There are so many questions one can ask about what is written in Revelation that it would be nearly impossible for me to get to here, so I will ask that if you have any questions about Revelation to ask me here. Hopefully I can answer them to your satisfaction.
ONE OF THE ELECTION OF GRACE 