The Book of Revelation* “Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand. (Revelation 1:3) *All rights reserved. Cooper P Abrams III

INTRODUCTION TO THE BOOK ITS CURRENT SIGNIFICANCE “And he saith unto me, Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book: for the time is at hand.” (Revelation 22:10)

The Key to the Book: “Write the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter.” (Revelation 1:19)

The Lake of Fire

The Book of Revelation can be contrasted with the Book of Genesis: l. Commencement of life. Gen. l Consummation of heaven and earth. Rev. 21:1 2. Entrance of sin into the world. Gen. 3:1-19 End of sin. Rev. 21:27; 22:3 3. Dawn of Satan. Gen. 3:1-7 Doom of Satan. Rev. 20:10 4. Tree of life relinquished. Gen. 2:9,3:24 Tree of life restored. Rev. 22:2 5. Death enters. Gen. 2:17-5:5 Death exits. Rev. 21:4 6. Sorrow begins. Gen. 3:16 Sorrow banished forever. Rev 21:4

SCHOOLS OF THOUGHT AS TO THE INTERPRETATION OF THE BOOK SCHOOLS OF THOUGHT AS TO THE INTERPRETATION OF THE BOOK. The Four Main Views of Interpretation. Preterist View: Book is symbolic and events are past. Historic View: False view. Events of book have all happened in the past. Idealist or Spiritual View: The book has not reference to history, past, present or future.

Prophetic School or Futurist View: The book as being the actual recorded events of past and future history. Chapters 1-3 - Beginning in John's day an unfolding of the church history ending with the Rapture. Chapters 4-18 - Future events of the coming Great Tribulation ending at the Second Coming of Christ. Chapter 19 - The Second Coming of Christ. Chapter 20 - The Millennial reign of Christ. Chapters 21-22 - Events at the end of the Millennium, the New Heaven and Earth and Eternity.

INTERPRETIVE VIEWS OF THE BOOK OF REVELATION

Post-Millennial View: - Merges Israel with the churches. No literal Millennial Kingdom on earth. One general resurrection of all living and dead. Ignores dispensational truths. Missionary efforts will bring about Christ’s return After the events of WWI view was mostly abandoned.

Amillennial View: -"A“ in Amillennial: means = "no" thus Amillennial means no Millennial Kingdom of Jesus Christ. World is in the Tribulation. One general resurrection of sheep and goats. Israel is set aside and churches inherit their promises. Rejects a literal interpretation of Book of Revelation Held by most Protestants, and Southern Baptist schools.

Mid-Tribulation, Pre-Wrath, Pre-millennial View Christian will go through part of the Tribulation. Christians will not go through the wrath of God. Wrath of God is pour out on the earth in the middle or first 3 ½ years of the Tribulation. Ignores Revelation 5:5 and Revelation 6 will plainly teaches Jesus Christ pours out the Seal Judgments which begin the Tribulation.

Pre-Tribulation, Pre-millennial View Book of Revelation is to be taken literally. Next prophetic event is the rapture, seven year Tribulation, Second Coming of Christ, Millennium, GWT, and New Heaven and Earth. Churches are not in the Tribulation. Rev. 4-21.

DEFINITION OF TERMS. Rapture Taken from the words "caught up" in 1 Thessalonians 4:17. "Rapture" is the derived from a Latin word “repere” meaning "to catch up" or “snatched away in body or spirit.” It is used to refer to when Christ returns to earth and takes His bride (Rev. 21:2), which is made up of all saved people living and dead since Acts 2, when the Church Age began. This event is the resurrection of the believers in the who will have lived in the dispensation of the Church Age only. (See 1 Thess. 4:13-18; 1 Cor. 15:51-52)

The Tribulation ( Daniel’s 70th Week) This is the seven year period of time in which God will again begin to work with Israel. It is referred to as the "Daniel’s Seventh Week" based on the time table of Daniel 9:25-27. It begin after the Rapture. It is the period when God will pour His wrath on earth in the Seals, Trumpets and Bowl judgments described in Rev. 6:1-18:24. It is the time the Antichrist and the false prophet will reign on earth. It will also be a time of great evangelizing of the world by the 144,000 saved Jews who accept Jesus as their Messiah (Rev. 7:1-8, 14:1-5).

The Great Tribulation The term “Great Tribulation” was used by Christ to refer to the events years of the seven year Tribulation. “For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.” (Matthew 24:21) The word “great” is an adjective and is referring the magnitude of the events of these seven years.

Second Coming Christ will return to the earth visibly and will come to purge the world of sinners and set up His Kingdom over which He will reign for one thousand years (Acts 1:11, Matt. 24:29-31, Rev. 19). The Second Coming is divided into two parts taking place seven years apart. The first part of the Second Coming is when Christ comes for His bride at the Rapture. (1 Thess. 4:13-18; 1 Cor. 15:51-58) At the end of the Tribulation Jesus will return and destroy the Antichrist, the false prophet and remove all the unsaved on the earth.

The Millennium The word "Millennium" means one thousand and stands for the one thousand year reign of Christ on the Earth following the Great Tribulation and the Second Coming of Christ. After Christ returns to earth He will set up His Kingdom in Jerusalem and then rule on earth for one thousand years. It will be a time of peace on earth with Satan and his evil angels locked up in the "bottomless pit".

Pre-Millennium The prefix "pre" added to the word Millennium means “Before” the Millennium. This is the position that the Rapture and the seven year Tribulation and Second Coming of Christ will happen before the Millennium. This biblical view is based on a literal interpretation of Scripture and sees the Rapture, Tribulation, Second Coming and the Millennium as actual prophet events in the future. This view is held by fundamentalists and conservatives.

Pre-Tribulational It means the rapture of the church is "pre" (before) the Tribulational and will occur before the seven year Great Tribulation period when God brings the various judgments on the Earth prior to His Second Coming. This is the correct view.

The Great White Throne Judgment Jesus Christ is the Judge. This is the final judgment of the unsaved. This occurs after the Rapture, the Tribulation and the Millennium. The unsaved will be judged according to their works and all will be cast into the Lake of Fire for eternity.

The New Jerusalem This is the beginning of eternity or the eternal state of things. (See Rev. 21:1 - 22:19) The earth will be destroyed and purged of all sin. Then the new order will be set up with a new heaven and earth. (See Isa. 65:17, 66:22, 2 Peter 3:13, Rev. 21:1) A New Jerusalem will be set up on earth by Jesus Christ.

The New Heaven and Earth After Satan’s final revolt at the end of the Millennium, Revelation 21:1 states that God will create a new heaven and earth and the first earth will pass away. The New Jerusalem and New Heaven and Earth will be eternal and all the saved will be with the Lord in this final kingdom forever.

INFORMATION ABOUT THE BOOK OF REVELATION Title: Correct title is “the Revelation of Jesus Christ.” It is falsely titled by some the “Revelation of John or John the Devine.” The word translated "revelation" is the Greek word "apocalypse" and means, "a manifestation, or to uncover, unveil or disclose."

The Reason God Instructed John to Write the Book. Note the stated reason is, "to shew unto His servants which must shortly come to pass." Clearly, the book was written to the "servants" of God which would include all believers.

How did message come? Verse 1, states that this Scripture came to John “from” God “by” an angel (messenger). (Rev. 1:4, 9; 22:8) John says he is on the aisle of Patmos a prisoner. (Rev. 1:9) The Isle of Patmos was a fifty mile square island located in the Aegean Sea, southwest of Ephesus.

The Promise of the Book. (Rev. 1:3) “Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.” (Revelation 1:3)

"Blessings" can be found in the book 1. Challenge 1:3 (Read and follow) 2. Comfort 14:13 3. Cautiousness 16:15 4. Calling 19:9 5. Conquest 20:6 6. Cherishing 22:7 7. Conformity 22:14

THE TIME FRAME OF THE BOOK: "FOR THE TIME IS AT HAND?" (Rev. 1:3) Verse 1, states, "things which must shortly come to past." The word "time" means "season." So far this “season” has lasted 2000 years. However, Christ’s Second Coming is presented always imminent.

The Book Begins with a Promise and Ends with a Warning (Rev Revelation 1:3, “Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.” Revelation 22:18-19, “For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.”

Are There Modern Prophets? This verse is clear that there are no modern day prophets because the Bible is complete and is God's total and final Word or revelation to man. A preacher or Bible teacher can "prophesy" by teaching the revealed prophecies and doctrines of the Bible, but God is not giving new information that He has not previously given. This is the last Book of the sixty six books of the Bible which is God’s whole and completed revelation to man. (Rev. 22:18-19)

HISTORICAL INFORMATION ABOUT THE BOOK. Within the Book the writer claimed to be the brother of those suffering persecution. He stated his name is John in Revelation 1:1,4,9; 22:8. The most substantiated evidence, both internal and external place the time of the writing during the time of the Roman Emperor Domitian. It was Domitian who had John banished to the Isle of Patmos. (Rev. 1:9) This would give the book a date as early as 90 AD or later to 96 AD.

John states he is addressing the seven churches of Asia. (Rev. 1:4) The character of the seven churches spoken of in the book very closely resemble that which typified the various character and historic events of churches down through history. The Lords addresses to each of these churches reveal the mind of Christ concerning faithfulness and relationship of all churches to false teachings and teachers.

Why did God use Symbolic Language in the Book? First, the prophecy about the future and is given to a prophet in his own time. The prophet's understanding of the future is limited by his knowledge which is restricted to the time in which he is living. The second reason God used symbols is that much of what prophecy foretells regards to future nations. If God had given the specifics of the future in detail, men would have used the information to try and manipulate history. "Symbolic languages confuses unbelieving skeptics without necessarily frustrating believing Christians."

End of the Introduction to the Book of Revelation