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New Testament Survey: Revelation

CCEA School of Discipleship

November 3, 2024

Introduction

If you were in person for the class, you’d be given a chance to share what you’ve picked up from the homework this week – our reading assignment in Halley’s Bible Handbook.

(in class – take five minutes to talk about your homework reading assignment in small groups)

Revelation

Background

Historical

The first worldwide persecution of Christians started with Caesar Nero, AD 64-67.

This was when Paul and Peter were martyred in Rome.

The second persecution came with Emperor Domitian (AD 95).

Halley tells us 40,000 Christians were tortured and killed.

John was banished to Patmos during this time, and this is when he receives this book.

The third persecution is right around the corner under Emperor Trajan (AD 98)

If you want to read more about these persecutions and the next seven that are to follow, I recommend you get a copy of Foxes Book of Martyrs, a classic.

Some will hold to the idea that the book of Revelation is solely meant to encourage the church through those coming persecutions.

But the book is way bigger than that. It may be born in a time of persecution, but the events laid out will stretch far into the future, beyond our present time, and lead to the actual return of Jesus Christ.

The Title

The book is called “Revelation” in most of your Bibles (not “Revelations”)

In the Greek text, the book is called ΑΠΟΚΑΛΥΨΙΣ ΙΩΑΝΝΟΥ, or “Revelation of John” because John is the one who receives this revelation.

The Greek word is Ἀποκάλυψις (Apokalupsis), from two words that mean “away from” (apo) and “veil” or “hide” (kalupto) – the idea is taking a veil away from…. So the word carries the idea of “making something fully known”, “disclosure”, “unveiling”, or “revelation”.

We get words like “apocalyptic” or “apocalypse” straight from this word.

In English, those words tend to carry the idea of the end of the world, but that’s not the original meaning.

The book begins with these words:

(Revelation 1:1 NKJV) The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show His servants—things which must shortly take place. And He sent and signified it by His angel to His servant John,

So it’s a single “revelation”, and it’s an unveiling of “Jesus Christ”.

Interpretation

In your homework reading in Halley’s Bible Handbook, you read that there are four different ways of interpreting this book.

We hold to the “futurist” view

The idealist takes everything symbolically and sees the book about good overcoming evil.

The preterist view believes that everything in the book has been fulfilled in John’s day.

There are some prominent believers today who hold to this view. The problem I see is that Jesus hasn’t come back yet. Is He going to come back or not?

The historical view sees the whole book painting a picture of church history.

The futurist view holds that chapters 4-22 are in the future.

The events of chapters 6-18 (The Tribulation) have not yet happened. Jesus is still going to come back.

There’s a lot more to what is behind these views, but let me just say this –

One main tenant is that we believe that much of the book is literal (unless John tells us that it’s not). There is no need to make each word have symbolic value.

Another key building block of our view has to do with the nation of Israel.

We believe that Israel is indeed the chosen people. God has never changed His mind on this.

(Jeremiah 31:35–36 NKJV) —35 Thus says the Lord, Who gives the sun for a light by day, The ordinances of the moon and the stars for a light by night, Who disturbs the sea, And its waves roar (The Lord of hosts is His name): 36 “If those ordinances depart From before Me, says the Lord, Then the seed of Israel shall also cease From being a nation before Me forever.”

The moon and stars are still around, so even though the Jewish people have not yet as a whole believed in Jesus, they are still chosen by God.

In contrast, there is a view in some Christian churches that God is finished with the nation of Israel, and His promises to Israel are now transferred to the church – that we are now “Israel”.

We may share in some of the promises for Israel, but the church is NOT Israel.

It’s this view that will tend to lead to other views we disagree over, including the Pre-trib rapture (They say that if Israel will go through the Tribulation, then that means the church will too…).

So how do you read the book of Revelation?

It’s good to have some background to the book, but other than that you just need to read it.

Don’t let the images and the crazy whacked out interpretations of some keep you from the blessing of reading it.

ALSO, there are a lot of pictures and allusions to the Old Testament.

Each time you read through your Bible, read to learn. You will begin to see more and more connections between the two Testaments.

Outline

Revelation 1 – Jesus Glorified

There is a phrase that will pop up a few times in the book, all referring to God (some of the artwork in the slides are from Pat Marvenko Smith – I purchased these pictures years ago – good stuff!)

(Revelation 1:4 NKJV) John, to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from Him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven Spirits who are before His throne,

I used to think this was talking about God in three “tenses” – past, present, and future.

That’s not exactly the way it is written because the Greek tenses are actually “present, imperfect, and present”.

It’s more literally “He who is being, He who was being, and He who is coming”

That phrase “who is to come” has a hint of the future in it since Jesus will one day “arrive” back on this planet. Yet it’s not “He will one day come”, but that He is already is coming.

Jesus isn’t going to just one day appear. He is literally “on His way”.

This same phrase will be used in Revelation 1:8; 4:8; 11:17

(Revelation 1:8 NKJV) “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End,” says the Lord, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”

(Revelation 4:8 NKJV) The four living creatures, each having six wings, were full of eyes around and within. And they do not rest day or night, saying: “Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, Who was and is and is to come!”

(Revelation 11:17 NKJV) saying: “We give You thanks, O Lord God Almighty, The One who is and who was and who is to come, Because You have taken Your great power and reigned.

In contrast, the “beast” or “antichrist”…

(Revelation 17:8 NKJV) The beast that you saw was, and is not, and will ascend out of the bottomless pit and go to perdition. And those who dwell on the earth will marvel, whose names are not written in the Book of Life from the foundation of the world, when they see the beast that was, and is not, and yet is.

The Greek verb used, erchomai – “to come” – is found 37 times in the book of Revelation. It’s a major theme of the book – what is “coming” or “who” is coming.

In the chapter, John will see a vision of Jesus in His glorified state in the middle of seven lampstands (the churches)

The key to the book:

(Revelation 1:19 NKJV) Write the things which you have seen, and the things which are, and the things which will take place after this.

The things you’ve seen – Chapter 1 (the vision of Jesus)

The things which are – Chapters 2-3 (the seven churches)

The things which take place after this – Chapters 4-22 (The tribulation, Jesus’ return)

Revelation 2-3 – Letters to the churches

Jesus addresses seven churches in Asia Minor

There is an order to the letters

They follow a postal route (see map)

I believe they also follow history

Each letter contains the same types of things:

The address (to the angel/pastor…)

Description of Jesus (mostly from chapter 1)

Commendation of the church

Not all churches get a commendation

Rebuke for the church

Not all churches get a rebuke

He who has an ear…

Promise for the overcomers

Who do these letters apply to?

The real, specific, historical church of each city in John’s day

Each letter applies to all churches (all churches have a bit of each letter in them)

To every believer (we all have these characteristics)

We all have “ears to hear”

The “Church” through history

There is a general flow of history in the order of the churches. It’s hard to not see it.

Ephesus – The Early Church of the apostles, starting at Pentecost

Smyrna – The Persecuted Church, starting around AD 100

Pergamos – The Compromising Church, starting around AD 300, corresponds to the Orthodox churches.

Thyatira – The Corrupt Church, starting around AD 1100 when the church in Rome split with the Eastern Orthodox churches, corresponds with the Roman Catholic church

Sardis – the Dead Church, beginning around AD 1500 with the reformation, corresponds to the Lutheran church.

Philadelphia – The Missionary Church, beginning around 1850, corresponds with the Evangelical movement.

Laodicea – The Lukewarm Church – that’s where we are presently.

Today, we see all the other churches (except for Early Church) present as well.

Revelation 4-5 – Heavenly Prelude

(Heaven)

I’m going to try and point out from here on where the scene that John sees switches between heaven and earth)

Before the Tribulation breaks out on earth, we see important things happening in heaven first.

These chapters start with

(Revelation 4:1 NKJV) After these things I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven. And the first voice which I heard was like a trumpet speaking with me, saying, “Come up here, and I will show you things which must take place after this.”

The phrase “after these things” in Greek is meta tauta, the same Greek words used in Revelation 1:19 for that third section of Revelation.

It’s after “WHAT” things? After the church age of Rev. 2-3.

Some see John as representing the church and he is “raptured” into heaven. The Tribulation is about to start.

What we have is an amazing picture of heaven.

It’s amazing how many parallels you can make between these chapters and the descriptions of the Tabernacle and the Temple in the Old Testament.

That’s because those structures were meant to be models of the real thing – heaven. The writer of Hebrews tells us that the priests…

(Hebrews 8:5 NKJV) who serve the copy and shadow of the heavenly things, as Moses was divinely instructed when he was about to make the tabernacle. For He said, “See that you make all things according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.”

Some of the important elements:

Throne – the mercy seat/Ark of the Covenant

The One on the throne (God)

Twenty-four elders

Could be the church (Bob)

I’ve often wondered is it could refer to leaders of both the 12 tribes and the church (12 apostles) (12+12=24)

Who knows?

Lamps of fire (like the Menorah)

Sea of glass (compared to a “sea of bronze”)

Living creatures (cherubim on the mercy seat)

An altar of incense (in ch. 8, like the “golden altar”)

When you read through the Bible, you are going to find that John’s vision isn’t unique. In fact it fits what others have seen as well.

Moses and his elders caught a glimpse (Exodus 24)

Isaiah saw it (Isaiah 6)

Ezekiel saw it (Ezekiel 1, 10)

Daniel saw it (Daniel 7)

And there is worship:

From the cherubim:

(Revelation 4:8 NKJV) The four living creatures, each having six wings, were full of eyes around and within. And they do not rest day or night, saying: “Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, Who was and is and is to come!”

From the elders:

(Revelation 4:11 NKJV) “You are worthy, O Lord, To receive glory and honor and power; For You created all things, And by Your will they exist and were created.”

In Chapter 5 we are still in heaven and we see a Sealed Scroll and the Lamb

You are watching a legal contract being dealt with in the same manner as the Old Testament.

The “courts” were held at the city “gates” where the “elders” hung out.

You can see a picture of this in Ruth 4 when Boaz claims Ruth as his bride.

The contract in Revelation 5 (the sealed scroll) is the title deed to the earth

Revelation 6 – Tribulation Begins

The chapter involves the Seven Seals, which are the “seals” on the “sealed” scroll from chapter 5.

As each “seal” is opened and the scroll is unrolled a little further, something happens.

(Earth)

The first four “seals” involve four horsemen bringing difficult things to the earth.

These are known as the “four horsemen of the apocalypse”

The first seal reveals a conqueror (antichrist)

The second seal brings war on the earth

The third seal brings famine

The fourth seal brings death (1/4 of the population dies)

(Heaven)

The fifth seal takes us back to heaven where we see the martyrs crying out “How long O Lord… before you avenge our deaths?”

(Earth)

The sixth seal takes us back to earth where we see all kinds of cosmic things happening – earthquake, sun darkened, moon turning red, stars falling, etc.

The great men of the earth hide and …

(Revelation 6:16–17 NKJV) —16 and said to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! 17 For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?”

This is where we identify all these events as the “wrath” of God.

Revelation 7 – Servants of God

(Earth)

On earth we see the “sealing” of the 144,000

These are twelve thousand from each of the twelve tribes of Israel, and they are given a special mark on their foreheads to protect them for a time.

(Heaven)

In verses 9-17 the scene switches to heaven and we get a glimpse of the martyred Tribulation Saints before God’s throne.

They are wearing white robes and worshipping God.

Revelation 8 - Trumpets

How many seals were there? (7) How many have been opened? (6)

Now we see the seventh seal opened and the seven trumpets are about to begin.

The judgments in Revelation come in groups of seven:

Seven seals

Seven trumpets

Seven bowls

Some see them as overlapping.

The idea is that they all happen at the same time – the first seal, trumpet, and bowl all happen at the same time.

Some like this because some of the things in each group look similar.

Some see them as being consecutive.

The seven seals are opened and done. Then the seven trumpets blow and are done. Then the seven bowls are poured out.

We prefer to see them kind of like those Russian nesting dolls known as “Matryoshka” dolls.

There’s a big hollow wooden doll that opens up. Inside is another doll, and inside that doll is another, and another, and another.

The idea here is that when you get to the seventh seal, it doesn’t just lead to the first trumpet, it contains all the trumpets. When you get to the seventh trumpet, it includes all the bowls. In this view, the seven-sealed scroll contains all the events of the Tribulation.

Yet before the trumpets start blowing, something else happens first:

(Revelation 8:3 NKJV) Then another angel, having a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne.

The image here comes right from the book of Exodus as God was giving instruction to Moses on the Tabernacle and how prayer was to be conducted.

Quiz Alert!!!

In heaven we see a picture of …

Lesson

Fragrant prayer

Incense is a lesson on prayer. The smoke rises up, our prayers rise before God.

There was a special golden altar inside the Tabernacle that was designed for this incense. That’s the “altar” that we see in Revelation 8.

There was actually a special formula for the making of the Old Testament incense.

(Exodus 30:34–35 NKJV) —34 And the Lord said to Moses: “Take sweet spices, stacte and onycha and galbanum, and pure frankincense with these sweet spices; there shall be equal amounts of each. 35 You shall make of these an incense, a compound according to the art of the perfumer, salted, pure, and holy.

Alfred Edersheim tells us more about Jewish practice:

The incense burned upon this altar was prepared of the four ingredients mentioned in Ex. 30:34, with which, according to the Rabbis, seven others were mixed, besides a small quantity of ‘Ambra’ (amber from Jordan) and of a herb which gave out a dense smoke. To these thirteen substances salt was of course added. The mode of preparing the incense had been preserved in the family of Abtinas. The greatest care was taken to have the incense thoroughly bruised and mixed. Altogether 368 pounds were made for the year’s consumption, about half a pound being used every morning and evening in the service.

When you put the right ingredients together in the right way, the incense smelled wonderful. (I’ve got some frankincense from Israel here…)

God chose “incense” to represent prayer, not old cheese or burnt toast.

When we pray well, prayer smells sweet, not stinky.

When we pray poorly, our prayers are a little stinky.

(Proverbs 28:9 NKJV) One who turns away his ear from hearing the law, Even his prayer is an abomination.

A person who isn’t walking with God has “stinky” prayers.

When our prayers have the “right” ingredients, it is a wonderful thing that comes before God.

(Pr 15:8 NKJV) The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord, But the prayer of the upright is His delight.

What’s the right “formula” for prayer?

I think that’s partly what Jesus was teaching us when His disciples asked Him how to pray. Let’s read it together …

(Matthew 6:9–13 NKJV) —9 In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. 10 Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven. 11 Give us this day our daily bread. 12 And forgive us our debts, As we forgive our debtors. 13 And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.

These aren’t words to necessarily memorize, but a pattern to follow.

That phrase “Your kingdom come” is probably a large part of this particular batch of prayers being poured out in heaven.

The most important thing is to have the “right heart”.

(Earth)

The Trumpets bring…

1^st – 1/3 Vegetation burnt

2^nd – Mountain into the sea – 1/3 sea creatures and ships perish

3^rd – Star falls onto 1/3 of fresh water – Wormwood kills many

4^th – Heavens struck – sun, moon and stars reduced by 1/3

Revelation 9 – Hell’s Armies

The fifth trumpet sounds

Strange creatures like locusts come out of the “bottomless pit”.

They torment the earth with pain for 5 months

This is called the “first woe”

The sixth trumpet sounds

Four angels connected to the Euphrates River are released to kill 1/3 of mankind.

An army of two hundred million come from the east.

This trumpet will last from chapter 9 through chapter 11

This is called the “second woe” (there will be three “woes”)

The seventh trumpet isn’t going to sound for awhile and there will be several things happen before it sounds and the seven bowl judgments begin.

Revelation 10 – The Mighty Angel

A mighty angel comes down from heaven and “seven thunders” utter their voices.

(Revelation 10:4 NKJV) Now when the seven thunders uttered their voices, I was about to write; but I heard a voice from heaven saying to me, “Seal up the things which the seven thunders uttered, and do not write them.”

We aren’t going to know everything in the future from this book. John wasn’t allowed to write everything down.

It’s similar to what happened to Daniel:

(Daniel 12:4 NKJV) “But you, Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book until the time of the end; many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase.”

This mighty angel declares …

(Revelation 10:7 NKJV) but in the days of the sounding of the seventh angel, when he is about to sound, the mystery of God would be finished, as He declared to His servants the prophets.

This is that “seventh trumpet”, which we aren’t going to hear until chapter 11.

Then John is given a “book” by the angel.

(Revelation 10:9 NKJV) So I went to the angel and said to him, “Give me the little book.” And he said to me, “Take and eat it; and it will make your stomach bitter, but it will be as sweet as honey in your mouth.”

Ezekiel waw also given a scroll to eat, and it caused him to prophecy of things to come. (Eze. 3:1-2)

(Ezekiel 3:1–2 NKJV) —1 Moreover He said to me, “Son of man, eat what you find; eat this scroll, and go, speak to the house of Israel.” 2 So I opened my mouth, and He caused me to eat that scroll.

This is kind of like us when we “eat” God’s word by reading and studying it.

For both John and Ezekiel, after they “ate” their scrolls, they are then told to “prophesy” – to share from what they’ve consumed.

Revelation 11 – Two Witnesses

(Earth)

The chapter opens with two mysterious figures that we call the “Two Witnesses”

They are connected to a rebuilt Temple in Jerusalem.

They are also connected to a prophesy in Zechariah 4, where Zechariah has a vision of two olive trees that feed oil directly into the lamps of the Temple.

There are lots of ideas as to who they are, but since these fellows have the ability to turn water into blood and call down fire from heaven, I’d say they were most likely Moses and Elijah.

By the way, who appeared with Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration? Moses and Elijah.

They represent “the law and the prophets”

These fellows will have a ministry for 1,260 days, or, 3 ½ years.

They will be killed by the antichrist, but will rise from the dead after 3 ½ days.

Remember the “first woe” (Rev. 9)? Look what happens after the two witnesses …

(Revelation 11:14 NKJV) The second woe is past. Behold, the third woe is coming quickly.

So all this was in the sixth trumpet, also called the second woe.

(Heaven)

Then the seventh trumpet sounds and we will hear from the elders in heaven again…

(Revelation 11:15–19 NKJV) —15 Then the seventh angel sounded: And there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!” 16 And the twenty-four elders who sat before God on their thrones fell on their faces and worshiped God, 17 saying: “We give You thanks, O Lord God Almighty, The One who is and who was and who is to come, Because You have taken Your great power and reigned. 18 The nations were angry, and Your wrath has come, And the time of the dead, that they should be judged, And that You should reward Your servants the prophets and the saints, And those who fear Your name, small and great, And should destroy those who destroy the earth.” 19 Then the temple of God was opened in heaven, and the ark of His covenant was seen in His temple. And there were lightnings, noises, thunderings, an earthquake, and great hail.

I think you could make the case that within this “seventh trumpet”, we will see God’s judgment complete and Jesus returning.

Remember the Matryoshka, the Russian nesting dolls? Everything here on out is within that 7^th trumpet.

Revelation 12 – The Woman and the Dragon

(… still Heaven)

Up to this point, I would pretty much stay away from trying to make everything that has happened out as symbolic. But something changes here as John is given a glimpse of Israel’s history through time:

(Revelation 12:1 NKJV) Now a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a garland of twelve stars.

I think John’s use of the word “sign” gives us a clue to look at this next chapter as highly symbolic.

The symbols aren’t too hard to make out.

The woman clothed with the sun, etc. is the nation of Israel. This was the picture in Joseph’s dream of his family (Genesis 37:9-10)

(Genesis 37:9–10 NKJV) —9 Then he dreamed still another dream and told it to his brothers, and said, “Look, I have dreamed another dream. And this time, the sun, the moon, and the eleven stars bowed down to me.” 10 So he told it to his father and his brothers; and his father rebuked him and said to him, “What is this dream that you have dreamed? Shall your mother and I and your brothers indeed come to bow down to the earth before you?”

There’s a red dragon, and we’re told that this is Satan (Rev. 12:9)

(Revelation 12:9 NKJV) So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.

Jesus is in this vision, born by the woman.

As the woman is persecuted, she flees to the wilderness and is protected there for 1260 days (3 ½ years).

This should remind you of Jesus telling His disciples to flee when the abomination of desolation appears (Matt. 24:15-16)

(Matthew 24:15–16 NKJV) —15 “Therefore when you see the ‘abomination of desolation,’ spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place” (whoever reads, let him understand), 16 “then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.

War breaks out in heaven and Satan is defeated by Michael the archangel and is cast out of heaven.

Note: Satan still has access to heaven where he accuses us night and day.

He will be cast out of heaven at the midpoint in the Tribulation (3 ½ years)

(Revelation 12:10–12 NKJV) —10 Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, “Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down. 11 And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death. 12 Therefore rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell in them! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea! For the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, because he knows that he has a short time.”

The dragon will wage war against the believers left on the earth.

Notice the word “woe” in verse 12. This is that “third woe”.

Revelation 13 – Two Beasts

(Earth)

Two individuals enter the world stage at this moment, the same moment that Satan is cast down to the earth. I believe this is when the antichrist will be “possessed” by Satan.

These individuals are called “beasts” (Greek: therion), a word that is used to describe wild beasts or monsters. It is not the same Greek word that the Old King James calls the cherubim when it calls them “beasts” (Rev. 4), where the Greek word is zoon which means “living being”.

Here, the first “beast” is the antichrist.

The second “beast” is called “the false prophet”.

Yes, this is the chapter that talks about the number “666” (or as some manuscripts have it “616”) and the “mark of the beast”.

That’s enough talk about those guys.

Revelation 14 – Meanwhile in heaven…

(Heaven)

Remember the 144,000 Israelite witnesses that sealed in chapter 7?

They are now in heaven giving praise to God.

I imagine their “protection” was removed and they were martyred.

Three angels will appear –

One is preaching the gospel to the earth from mid-heaven

One is declaring that Babylon is fallen

One is warning the earth to not worship the beast.

Note: A lot of people are afraid of accidentally “taking the mark of the beast”. Yet look what it is ALWAYS associated with:

(Revelation 14:11 NKJV) And the smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever; and they have no rest day or night, who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name.”

We used to be afraid of having debit cards because they had numbers on them and are used to buy and sell stuff.

But the “mark” is always associated with the worship of the antichrist.

Is the “thing” you’re afraid of associated with the worship of somebody?

More angels come out of heaven and there are two “harvests” of sorts. I’ll let Bob give his interpretation when we get to Revelation 14 on Sunday mornings.

Revelation 15 – Heaven’s Perspective

(Heaven)

The scene is still in heaven:

(Revelation 15:1–4 NKJV) —1 Then I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvelous: seven angels having the seven last plagues, for in them the wrath of God is complete. 2 And I saw something like a sea of glass mingled with fire, and those who have the victory over the beast, over his image and over his mark and over the number of his name, standing on the sea of glass, having harps of God. 3 They sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying: “Great and marvelous are Your works, Lord God Almighty! Just and true are Your ways, O King of the saints! 4 Who shall not fear You, O Lord, and glorify Your name? For You alone are holy. For all nations shall come and worship before You, For Your judgments have been manifested.”

Lesson

It’s ALL good

Sometimes we tend to struggle with things here on earth and we wonder what God is doing?

We can have a hard time with this verse:

(Romans 8:28 NKJV) And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.

We have a hard time because Good people are suffering. Evil people are doing well.

The people in heaven singing this song are those who said “no” to the antichrist, and have most likely been martyred – they are after all in heaven when they sing this song.

Some of us might look at their suffering and wonder, “Why God?”

But they look at what they’ve been through and worship God.

Illustration

There’s an old story about a Chinese farmer who had a horse. One day his horse ran away. All the neighbors came around that evening and said, “That’s too bad”. He said, “Maybe”. The next day the horse came back and brought seven wild horses with it. All the neighbors came around and said, “Well that’s great, isn’t it?” The farmer said, “Maybe”. The next day his son was attempting to tame one of those horses and was thrown and broke his leg. All the neighbors came around and said, “Well that’s too bad”. He said, “Maybe”. The next day the conscription officers came around to force young men to join the army. They rejected his son because he had a broken leg. All the neighbors came around that evening and said, “Well isn’t that good!” He said, “Maybe”

From our perspectives, like those neighbors, we are constantly making judgments over things and whether they are good or bad.

From heaven’s perspective, we will realize that ALL that God does is good.

Chapter 15 goes on to show us seven angels given seven “bowls” that will finish up the wrath of God.

Revelation 16 - Bowls

(Earth)

The seven “bowls” are poured out on the earth and things go from horrible to super horrible.

People are covered with sores, waters turn to blood, the sun scorches men with fire, and tons of pain.

When the sixth bowl is poured out, the Euphrates River dries up, and those armies from the east go marching along with armies from all over the earth. They are all gathered to Armageddon.

The seventh bowl brings the worst earthquake the world has seen as well as huge hailstones weighing 100 pounds each.

Revelation 17-18 – Babylon Falls

(Earth)

These two chapters are about the fall of “Babylon”.

Chapter 17 is about the fall of the worldwide false religion that will be around in those days.

Chapter 18 is about the fall of the political empire of the Antichrist.

Revelation 19 - Jesus Returns

(Heaven and Earth)

This is the moment we have all been waiting for.

Jesus returns on His white horse from heaven.

He is followed by the armies of heaven (most likely we are included in this)

All unbelievers are put to death.

The antichrist is defeated and thrown alive into the Lake of Fire along with the false prophet.

Revelation 20 - Millennium

(Earth)

Satan will be found in the bottomless pit, and Jesus will reign over the earth for 1,000 years, known as the “Millennial Kingdom”

We will rule and reign with Jesus during this time in our glorified bodies.

During these 1,000 years, those believers who managed to survive the Tribulation will marry, have kids, and repopulate the planet in their old pre-resurrected bodies.

At the end of the 1,000 years, Satan is loosed once more and he will go after those who do not have glorified bodies to tempt them away from God, and a great multitude will rebel against Jesus.

After a short spell, Jesus will step in once again, and this time Satan is cast into the Lake of Fire forever.

After this, final judgment known as “The Great White Throne” judgment will start.

All unbelievers will be thrown into the Lake of Fire.

Revelation 21-22 - Eternity

(New Heaven and Earth)

Welcome to Eternity.

The universe will begin again with a “new heavens and new earth”.

We will dwell with God in the New Jerusalem.

It will be beyond our imagination.

And it will be forever.

This is what Paul was referring to when he wrote to the Corinthians –

(2 Corinthians 4:16–18 NKJV) —16 Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. 17 For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, 18 while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.

Quiz

Fill in the blank:

In heaven we see a picture of _______ prayer.

Final

Take a sheet of paper and write out your verse. Briefly tell me why you chose that verse.

Homework

No more homework! Hooray!