Revelation means "the veil roll aside."
The visions recorded in the book of Revelation seen by John the beloved disciple while marooned on the Isle of Patmos written about the year of our Lord 96. We can do the math and learn how long after the crucifixion of Christ that it was before John wrote the book. That time span is important when we began to study the history of the Church.
The book of Revelation has three divisions. This threefold division is found in chapter one. "Write the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter." (Revelation 1:19) This verse is the key that unlocks the interpretation and the understanding of Revelation. Verse 19 speaks of the past, the present and the future. Overlooking this date stamp allows us to shape the prophecies and turning them into a polluted and unbelievable mess. If we view the prophecies from the writers perspective dating the prophecies of Revelation should be an easy task, we are not living in John's past nor are we living in his present. Therefore, the prophecies future should concern us.
Every book in the bible has a key verse that establishes perspective and context. Sometimes the key is hanging at the very entrance of the book and this is true with the book of Revelation. There are times when the key is in other books of the bible. Keys are important to Understanding the Word of Good, without them, we can become guilty of promoting the Word of God as a confusing and polluted mess.
In verse 19, John is instructed to "write the things which thou hast seen." What John had just seen was recorded in verse 10 through 18. Christ was seen in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks. These are the central objects of these verses, and the time is past tense. Was Christ actively involved in the Church during John's past? Yes, He was seen in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks, signifying his presence in and attendance to the church.
The second part of verse 19 John is instructed to write the things, "which are." These things that are recorded in chapter two and three. In these chapters, the professing church is traced through it stay upon earth. Seven representative churches that document the condition of the church in John's day and had been in progress since the day of Pentecost and it will continue. This part of the prophecy attests to the condition of the church in John's day. The church now suffers the condemnation of Christ. This poses a thorny dilemma that we shall explore later.
The third part of the Key was that John was instructed to write the things, "which shall be hereafter." The literal translation reads, "After these things," or the things that shall happen after the church age. The third division of Revelation begins with chapter 4 and continues through chapter twenty-two, verse 5. It is essentially the prophetic part of the book of Revelation. The third division is John's future, our present.
Two questions need studying. We know the event that signals the end of the church age, and that much of Revelation deals with the tribulation. The questions are when do the church age end and the tribulation began? The answers to these questions has far-reaching implications, such as will the church go through the tribulation or are we are going through the tribulation now?
The book of Revelation encapsulates the entire focus of the Bible, as to the purpose of the creation, the love of God, the outpouring of his wrath and the final dispensation of things. Revelation reveals the place and purpose of the church, The Jews and the nations in the kingdom of God. The book of Revelation does not support the thesis that Heaven is a place where we all will assemble and have nothing to do but fly around all day long shouting Holy, Holy, Holy. Revelation is also a book that is filled with woes, warning and prophecies, so that those who are seeking to reign with him will not be caught off guard during the oncoming tribulation. "Reign with him" is another word or phrase that has been casted aside in favor of "Going to Heaven"
The validation of the book is set forth in Revelation 1:1. The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants' things, which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John. The importance of the book is confirmed in Revelation 8:13 And I beheld, and heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabiters of the earth by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels, which are sounding now or yet to sound! The Book of Revelation encapsulates the whole plan of God.
The book of Revelation narrates or depicts a series of visions, which have been almost universally accepted to prefigure a series of events, which were to take place in the present and future history of the church, the world and humanity. Thus, it begins with seven letters to seven representative churches. He not only counsels the churches, he threatens his church and demand that they repent. It is for this reason that many religious and world leaders seek to impugn or discredit the status of the book. Revelation does not fit the narrative of a modern-day pessimistic society nor the church as an apostate an organized body. The statement of John in verse 3, "...for the time is at hand" has allowed many to conclude that the book of Revelation is a dated book and most of the events if not all, have already been fulfilled.
Over the course of man's history, he has orchestrated many prophecies changing events. There are events that had been initiated within the world and the church that if they had been allowed to proceed would have been destructive to the prophecies of God. Hitler's attempt to destroy the Jews, or even the church laying claim to the blessings of Abraham, both are an attempt to destroy or change the prophecies of God. It is the consensus of the righteous that the prophecies of God are unchanging, unfolding and the evidence of their fulfillment can be seen.
There is, perhaps, no book in the New Testament which is more clear and intelligible, and on which commentators are better agreed, in respect to its direct and immediate meaning. But the attempts which have been made to determine the historical events, which are to be considered as represented by its various symbols, have resulted in a vast variety of conflicting opinions. Many of the conflicting opinions are based upon a failure to understand the symbolic language of the book. Another reason for a variety of conflicting opinions is the attempt to interpret the book in a manner that fits our personal, denominational or worldviews. The bible should be allowed to speak and interpret itself.
The world is moved closer to World War 3. The nations are gathering in the Middle East. Nations that once stood with Israel once again are now turning their back on her. The lessons of Rome, Germany, and Great Britain are lost on a modern day America as we dance on the newly created precipice of hate. The judgment of nations has always been and always be based upon how these nation treated "the brethren", not the church as some suppose but the Jews.
(Many World leaders and groups have attempted to destroy the Jews as a nation and a people, claiming their birthright for themselves. If this was allowed to happen, the written Bible prophecies would fail and it is the thinking of the Devil (Antichrist) that Jesus Christ would not have a reason to return to this earth. Even religious organizations have unwittingly participated in this Unholy scheme. Many still wonder, what was Hitler’s real reason for trying to destroy the Jews. Understanding the Bible prophecies will help us understand what has been and still is going on in the Middle East.)
The Greek word "ethnos" here translated "Nations" occurs 158 times in the New Testament. It is translated "Gentiles" 92 times, "Nation" or "Nations" 61 times, and "The Heathen" 5 times, but it is never in any instance (unless it is this) applied either to the "dead" or the "resurrected."
As this is a judgment of nations only, the Jews cannot be in it, for they are not reckoned among the nations. Numbers 23:9. And as the Church will be associated with Christ in this judgment, for the "Saints" (the Church) shall judge the "World" (the Nations) (1st Corinthians 6:2), the Church cannot be in this judgment either. As we have seen the Church and the Jews have been already judged, so the "Judgment of the Nations" cannot be a general judgment. Who then, is asked, are meant by the Sheep? Do they not represent the Righteous, and all the Righteous from the beginning of the world to the end of Time? And do not the Goats in like manner represent all the Wicked?
If the Sheep are the Righteous, and the Goats the Wicked, then who are the Brethren? If they are the "followers of Christ," as some claim, they should be classed with the Sheep. The Scriptures teach that the Righteous are saved by "faith," and the Wicked are lost because they "reject Christ," but in this judgment scene the Sheep inherit a "Kingdom" and the Goats are commanded to "depart," because of their treatment of the Brethren.
All the confusion is caused by trying to make a judgment of "nations" mean a judgment of "individuals." The Sheep represent one class of Nations, and the Goats another class, while the Brethren represent the Jews (Christ's brethren). We must bear in mind the time and place of this judgment. The time is the "Revelation of Christ" when He comes to set up His "Millennial Kingdom" on the earth. The place is the "Valley of Jehoshaphat" in the vicinity of Jerusalem.
"For, behold, in those days, and in that time, when I shall bring again the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem, I will also gather ALL NATIONS, and will bring them down into the `Valley of Jehoshaphat,' and will plead with them there for MY PEOPLE and for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the Nations, and parted my land." Joel 3:1-2.
This prophecy clearly states that there is to be a "Judgment of Nations" on the earth in the "Valley of Jehoshaphat" at the time of the restoration of the Jews to their own land and that the basis of judgment is the treatment by the nations of Christ's brethren-- The Jews.
During the "Tribulation Period" the Nations that treat the Jewish People kindly, feeding and clothing them, and visiting them in prison, will be the "Sheep Nations," while those who neglect to do so will be the "Goat Nations." At the "Judgment of Nations" the King (Christ) will say to the "Sheep Nations," inasmuch as ye have been kind to My brethren (the Jews), "Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world." This Kingdom is the "Millennial Kingdom" that the "Sheep Nations" as Nations will "inherit" and possess during the Millennium. And as they are to be among the "saved nations" of the New Earth (Revelation 21:24) it can be said of them that they, or at least the righteous individuals of them, shall enter into life eternal. Matthew 25:46.
Christ's sentence upon the "Goat Nations" will be-- "Depart from Me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the Devil and his angels," and "these shall go away into everlasting punishment." The "Goat Nations" will at once be destroyed as Nations, not one of them shall get into the Millennium, and the wicked individuals that compose them will perish and be eternally lost.
Before we began another in-depth study of the book of Revelation, I extend to you an invitation to take the blinders off and see reality, which is increasingly hidden from us by the government and mainstream media, for what it is and what God Word has to say about it. The trends point us towards the fulfillment of six primary "End of the Age" Bible prophecies:
