REVELATION STUDY INTRODUCTION

Introduction.

With the help and strength of the Holy Spirit, I will endeavor to present a study on the book of Revelation. Therefore I will be dealing with the end times, including the Rapture of the Church, the Great Tribulation, the Day of the Lord and issues related to these events.

What Christians believe about the end times is of utmost, practical as well as spiritual importance. Sadly, many Christians are mistaken in their understanding concerning the events surrounding the return of Christ. These people will be completely unprepared for the momentous events of the last days, as Satan reeks havoc on the earth and attempts to pour out his vengeance on believers and Israel during the great tribulation of Antichrist. The degree to which Christians will be persecuted by the Antichrist and his ungodly forces in the last days (especially during the great tribulation) will be directly dependent on the degree to which we are spiritually prepared. But there is no reason to be unprepared, God has given us His word--to provide everything we need to know for our understanding and preparation for the last days.

1 Tim. 2:15, says to "study to show thyself approved unto God a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of truth." Study does not come easy, it does not come by believing what the preacher says over the pulpit, just because he is the preacher. It does not come by believing some denomination’s traditional point of view so as to not to be looked upon as disloyal. You must search the scriptures and compare scripture with scripture to see if what comes over the pulpit is in line with the Bible and if it isn't, garbage it and believe the Bible instead. God chose not to give us scripture as an ordinary textbook, He chose to give us scripture in a very natural setting, letting us know that truth is there, and He gave us the Holy Spirit to help us dig out the truth that is there. If you don't dig it out you will not know the truth, you will accept whatever is said over the pulpit as truth, this will cause scales to form on your eyes so that when you hear the truth you will not accept it and deception sets in.

With the help of the Holy Spirit and using correct hermeneutics, (taking scripture for what it says) in studying scripture, you will always be on safe ground. Using this method of Bible study, there will be times when you won't like what the Bible says, but that doesn't change its truth. If you are going to study the Bible and interpret it in light of what you believe instead of letting the Bible formulate what you believe then you are in trouble and you will not find the truth that is in God's word.

People you need discernment to know if what you believe is correct, if you believe something that cannot be supported by scripture, stop believing it. I am not out to convince you of what I believe, you cannot get it second hand, I will share the truth of God's word as I understand it. If you accept it only on the basis that I have convinced you, then when someone else teaches another alternative he may convince you otherwise and you will end up in confusion. Read the content then search the scriptures to see if what I have written lines up with God's word, you are to be in prayer about it, and it is only when the Holy Spirit makes it real to you and convinces you of its truth, will you be able to stand against man or devil and present that truth without being deterred from it. A pastor or teacher can be of help and point you in the right path but you are responsible for what you believe. You cannot say, well that is what my church believes, that is what my preacher told me or that is the belief of my denomination and expect to be excused for not believing God's Word. It is your responsibility to be in the book, to be in prayer, to heed the voice of the Spirit, yes, your teacher and preacher will be accountable to God for what he teaches and preaches, but you will be held accountable for what you believe! Your trust cannot be in a preacher or a denomination, it must be in the word of God, for that is the only way you will be an overcomer and understand the truth that is in God's Word.

I am personally convinced that this book is misunderstood to one degree or another by most preachers and teachers, therefore, presented to their congregations from a misunderstood viewpoint leaving a lot of people confused as to what the book is saying. These leaders interpret this book from a point of what they believe rather than letting the book formulate what they believe, because of this we have many man-made doctrines with regard to the end times.

Without the book of Revelation the Bible would be incomplete. Many interesting and important questions concerning the future are revealed in it. Questions regarding eschatology (end-time events) abound in the minds and hearts of people. These questions concern the Rapture, the Great Tribulation, the Antichrist, the Millennium, the Day of the Lord, and other related events. This book when interpreted in light of other scriptures about the end-times will answer these questions.

I am personally convinced that we are living in one of the most crises periods in human history, crises not only in the world but also in the Church! I don't say that lightly, but after a study of God's word and observing the church and world conditions, I believe the statement is valid. But the people who know their God will be strong and do great exploits.

I am deeply concerned that the teaching that has been given from this book has not prepared the people of God for what is going to take place upon this earth. The teaching that has been presented and is being presented is not preparing the people of God to be overcomers. In fact it has caused them to become pew-warmers, sitting back waiting for the Lord to come and take them out of this mess. But is that what the Bible teaches?

In no way do I believe that I have received a superior revelation on the book of Revelation but, I do have a better understanding of the book then ever before, not because I am someone special or a wise person, but because I have an open mind, I am a seeker of truth and because of history. So all the credit goes to the Holy Spirit with appreciation to godly men whose writings I have studied and extensively used.

I am appalled at pastors and leaders today who are so tied to tradition, so dedicated to a denomination, so bound to a constitution, so afraid of losing a position as to go against the clear teaching of scripture. The point is we are to be accountable to God's Word, we are to be submissive to God's Word and God's Word stands in judgment of us. Oh for preachers who will preach the truth of God's Word without fear of repercussion from their denominational Bishops!

It has been said that "something or somebody has poisoned me against my denomination." Let me set the record straight by saying that I am not poisoned against my denomination or any other denomination, but I am poisoned with denominationalism whether it be the one I belong[ed] to or otherwise! This world needs a visitation of God and the church that will experience this visitation will not be an organization or an institution but a living organism, the body of Christ.

Before any group of people can experience a Holy Spirit revival, repentance must take place. Also deliverance from denominationalism, traditions and customs must be realized. Denominational barriers must be broken down.

Now I have nothing against denominations if, by that we mean a society of people called by the same name, who support a particular system, if that system is supported by Scripture. As long as a denomination remains open to the life of Jesus and is submitted to the Holy Spirit, it will accomplish some good, even though it will be still a cause of division in the Body of Christ.

But when a denomination becomes obsessed with self-preservation, it becomes a barrier that dangerously limits greater streams of truth from flowing into it. Elitism, legalism, judgmental attitudes and man-made rules and regulations become the order of the day.

A denomination serves a purpose similar to the scaffolding used to build a structure. Scaffolding is not intended to obscure the building permanently. After serving its purpose, the scaffolding is dismantled so the real building can be seen.

Constructed of human ideologies and doctrines, denominationalism is a man-made structure that obscures the true church that Christ is building. For the life of Christ to be seen in the church the barriers of denominationalism must be torn down.

Denominationalism stinks with human tradition. Tradition is an established pattern of thought or behavior handed down by word or example from one generation to another. The Pharisees once asked Jesus, "Why do your disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat" (Matt. 15:2). If the tradition we hold to is not Bible tradition we have no right to hold onto it!

Jesus condemned their hypocrisy, and He accused them of "making the word of God of no effect through [their] tradition" (see Mark 7:6-13).

Unfortunately, much of Scripture has been "interpreted" for us by carnal speculations handed down from one generation to another. Such traditional misconceptions hinder the Holy Spirit from revealing the truth of God's Word to us. The church today must return to the Word of God and allow the Spirit of Truth to teach us.

The apostle Paul declared he was "exceedingly zealous for the traditions" of his fathers until "it pleased God...to reveal His Son in me" (Gal. 1:14-16). Like Paul, we will be delivered from devotion to religious traditions and customs only as we allow the Holy Spirit to reveal Christ in us.

I am not a date setter, I do not know the day or hour when our Lord will return. No one can biblically with accuracy set dates. But I do believe that we are living in the dawn of the end-times. This book, as well as the book of Daniel was to be understood more fully with the passing of history as we approach the time of the end. I believe that we are fast approaching that time and these books are now beginning to be understood more fully. I think there is an urgency about this moment in history that is unprecedented in the annals of human history.

Having said that and if these things are true, it is time that we have a correct understanding of the book of Revelation. As Genesis is the book of beginnings, the book of Revelation is the book of endings. As everything has its origin in Genesis, everything has its consummation in the book of Revelation.

I am convinced, that the two books that Satan will try to get you not to believe are, the book of Genesis and Revelation. If we don't know how things began or how they will end then everything in between is confusion. Now Satan in his cosmic conflict with God is fighting for people and the last thing he wants is to lose anyone that is in his kingdom, to the kingdom of God. Why is Satan concerned about people not understanding Genesis? Because Romans 1:18-20 says, "For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse."

So every person that has ever been created, whether they have heard the message of Jesus Christ or not, is accountable before God because of the creation. There are two kingdoms, the kingdom of Satan and the kingdom of God. Satan is fighting to keep those who are in his kingdom, in his kingdom, and to get those who are in the kingdom of God back into his kingdom. So it should be no surprise to you when you see the things of the world going the way they are. If the homosexuals, abortionists, murderers, adulterers, child molesters, lazy Christians, and manipulating preachers understood and believed Genesis and Revelation, they would fall on their knees and cry out to God for forgiveness. If Satan can get us not to believe Genesis he can get us to believe a lie, the lie of evolution, which takes the responsibility of this earth out of God's hands, he has won a victory. Because people will not see themselves accountable to God as Romans declares we are.

In the first eleven chapters of Genesis you have four great events, creation, the fall, the flood and the tower of Babel and with that, so many things begin on planet earth. Then from Genesis 12 through 50 there are four great personages, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Joseph. Genesis is about beginnings, of human history, of institutions, of nations, of problems, including man's disobedience, the curse, the involvement of Satan with man and the setting up of godless systems. Now when we get to the book of Revelation, those things that have been expanding, spreading and widening throughout the course of human history are going to be consummated and God is going to gain control over planet earth.

Let me say to you that the least understood book in the Bible, (especially in the New Testament), is the book of Revelation. If you were to read 100 commentaries on the Book of Revelation you would hardly get two that would concur on many things. Please don't misunderstand what follows, there are many commentaries out there that give helpful insights into some of the events in the book. In my research I have not found a published commentary that gives an insightfully, systematically, or a solid unbiased overview of the 22 chapters of the book of Revelation. To my knowledge no such work exists. What I will give you in this study is an unbiased insight that will not be based on traditional interpretations that denominations have made dogmas out of, that blatantly is in opposition to what the bible says. Do not accept what follows as correct just because you read it, but search the scriptures for yourself and allow the Holy Spirit to make it real to you and convince you of its truth. When we are finished with this study you will understand where the book of Revelation is going, where history is going and what God expects of you.

Now as we go through this study, some of your doctrines will be challenged but the dogma of the bible will not be debated. What is the difference between dogma and doctrine?

Dogma is a biblical truth in which there is no room for debate. Dogma is fixed, nonnegotiable and irrevocable, it cannot be changed. Examples of dogma are: the virgin birth, the inspiration of the bible, the deity of Christ, creationism, substitutionary atonement, bodily resurrection, Christ's ascension, heaven, hell, and the second coming of Christ. Now, if a person does not agree with the dogma of scriptures, then, yes it would be grounds for excommunication, separation and the revoking of one's membership.

Doctrine, on the other hand, is a belief that a church holds on the dogmas of the bible. A doctrine can be right or wrong, God inspired, demon inspired or human inspired. Dogma is not up for examination; doctrine should be examined for its biblical correctness.

We are commanded to "grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ" (2 Pet. 3:18). Growing in "knowledge" of necessity includes learning new truth, examining old truth, and correcting what was erroneously held to be truth. The moment we stop learning, examining, or correcting our doctrine when necessary, we stop growing.

So the dogma of Christ's Second Coming we all agree on. The doctrine on the dogma of His second coming, many people disagree on. There ought to be room in a denomination for individuality concerning the doctrine on that dogma.

Doctrines are not easily released and that is the way it should be. You should not release a doctrine that you hold to just because you hear someone else teach another doctrine that sounds good. Hold strongly to your doctrines because there are many false doctrines out there. But sometimes men hold tenaciously to doctrines for many years, preach those doctrines, write about those doctrines, persuade people of those doctrines, and defend those doctrines until the doctrine becomes, in their minds a dogma. They are no longer willing to submit that doctrine to the search light of the Word of God. For anyone to even question that doctrine, is to be viewed as hostile and a trouble maker--and that is sad. Christians need not be intimidated by asking legitimate questions about doctrines. The Word of God is its own defense . My word to denominations is, if you do not examine your doctrines, if you hold to those doctrines as dogma and cement them in a constitution that will not allow a person's individuality regarding these doctrines, then you will be the cause of divisions and splits in your denomination. Listen your constitution ought to be based on the dogma of the Word, not doctrines on a dogma.

Revelation, what is its goal? The primary concern of this book is the return of Christ. If you will just remember that the content of this book is about all of the events that come before the return of Christ and all of the events that occur afterwards, that happens basically, within a seven year period of time, you will have a very good handle of what is going on. The language of the book of Revelation is not difficult to understand, all of the language should be taken in its most natural, normative way. That doesn't mean that it doesn't use figures of speech or symbolic language or poetry, but there is a normal theme that goes through the book and that should always be taken literally. God has not given you a jigsaw puzzle that you have to work through where pieces are missing. Now you have to compare scripture with scripture to get the correct answer. A lot of the scripture we will be comparing will be found in the book of Revelation itself. In the first chapter He says certain things then in the second and third chapter He refers to it. There is symbolism, and when symbolism is used, more often than not, it is explained in the text, we will see this in the first chapter. Symbolism will be clearly shown by such words as, like, and as if. There are times when it will be necessary to go to the OT to determine what the symbolism means. Then there are times when we should be truthful and admit that we don't know what the symbolism is referring to, but that won't be often because when you understand the time line and what is going on, Revelation will take on a correct understanding to you.

Why is Revelation an issue with the Devil? Let me say that for most of my years I thought that the book of Revelation was a book that was too difficult to understand. Have you ever heard that concept? Why many people find it hard to understand is because, when you read and try to understand it from the viewpoint of what is being taught over the pulpits, it does not make any sense. When you look at it from its most natural, logical and contextual setting it does not line up with what preachers are saying. But the attitude is, "he is the preacher, he is the one who has studied at the seminary so I guess he is the one that knows." Because of this Satan has caused confusion and complacency when it comes to this book. If you believe it is hard to understand, then that is exactly what the devil wants you to believe. There are a lot of preachers who are aiding and abetting the cause of Satan. Now many of them are unaware of that fact, but ignorance is no excuse when we have the Bible and the Holy Spirit as our teacher. So the devil is the one who wants you to think that this is a difficult book to understand. People do not study this book because they think it is not applicable to them. "We are not going to be here so why even try to study this tough book," right. Oh, the deception of the devil. The startling fact is, it does apply to us. The church, without question, will go through the Great Tribulation of Antichrist! Christ teaches it, Paul teaches it, Peter teaches it and you will see it clearly in the book of Revelation.

There are basically three views concerning Revelation. (1) There are those who allegorize it, which is to say that it is a story told to explain something. Post Millenniulism, Amillenniulism, etc, view it this way. (2) There is the view that has no scripture, which is Pretribulationalism. There is just no scripture to support this view at all. A professor at the Dallas Theological Seminary was asked to do a term paper defending the pretrib view, he could not fill one page, so he searched scriptures and ended up changing his view, oh for more men who will believe God's word and change when they are wrong. Dr. Walt Kaiser, the former dean of faculty at Trinity Seminary, has made the observation that the prewrath position is the only prophetic position that properly understands and utilizes Old Testament prophecy concerning the Day of the Lord. He also stated that if the fathers of dispensationalism had the choice between posttrib and prewrath, he genuinely believed that the prewrath position would have gotten their vote, hands down. There is just nothing in Scripture to support the pretrib view. (3) Then there is the third view, the PreWrath view. This is the view that was not only taught by Christ, Paul, Peter, but it is the view that all of the early church taught except for Origen and Clement, whose names have become trademarks for the mystical allegorical method of interpretation, that was picked up by the Catholic Church. The prewrath view is based on scripture. So you have one that allegorizes scripture, you have one that has no scriptural foundation, and you have one that is based on scripture. Which one will you believe?

If there is anything that Satan would have you believe as you look at the cosmic conflict between God and Satan concerning Revelation, it is, "don't be concerned about it, you know you are not going to be on earth during the tribulation, you are in a good church that teaches you will be raptured before the events take place, so take it easy and don't worry." I believe that most of the church is duped into believing the lie of the pre tribulation view, so when they realize the fact that they are in the tribulation many will be unprepared to stand against that evil day and many will fall! To the degree that you are spiritually prepared is the degree to which you will overcome and survive it. When we look at Revelation 2 & 3 you will understand this more clearly.

There has never been and never will be again a time like this in history. There are three things that are overwhelming about this time period (the period of the events in the Revelation), and you will see this as we go through the study. (1) How unbelievably great the deception is going to be. The bible says his deception will be so great as to deceive, if possible the very elect of God. That is why we are told by Christ that, "there is going to be a sign, go into hiding, don't follow these false christs, stay put, until you see the sign that will announce My coming." And He tells us exactly what that sign is so we will not be deceived by the great deception. (2) I don't think any of us has any idea how severe the persecution is going to be. Persecutions so sever that if God did not cut it short, not even His elect would survive (Matt. 24:21,22). (Daniel 12:1)says, "it is going to be the worse distress the world has ever known." Because Satan through the Antichrist is trying to annihilate two groups of people, the Jew and the Christian. (3) I don't believe anybody has the slightest idea of the degree of severity that the wrath of God is going to be. There is no natural disaster that can compare with it. These will be supernatural events initiated by God. There are only two things that God compares it to (1) The flood, it covered the entire world, if there were mountains 16,000 feet high at that time, which Mt. Ararat is today, that meant that the water raised 20 feet an hour, 24 hours a day for 40 days. Was there any question that this was a local flood? No, and when the Day of the Lord comes there will be no question that it is God's wrath. (2) The destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah by fire. The destruction of these twin cities was so great that there seems to be no trace that they ever existed.

The critical passage that we have to look at to make the end time events fit together is the Olivet Discourse of Christ in Matt. 24. The disciples came to Christ and said, "tell us Lord when will these things happen and what is the sign of your coming and what is the sign of the end of the age," which He had already explained to them was the Day of the Lord. Then the Lord goes through in, Matthew, Mark and Luke (of which you have to put all three of them together to get and understand the whole conversation) to describe what is going to happen. As we parallel the teachings of the Olivet Discourse with Revelation, interestingly enough we see the same thing taught and taught in the same order, why is that? Christ is the author of the Olivet Discourse. Christ is also the author of the book of Revelation through John. The interesting thing is that what John recorded parallels exactly what Christ taught in the Olivet Discourse. Christ answers the disciples' questions to a point and then stops. Through John He goes on to explain these same questions in greater detail.

Now the Olivet Discourse takes you back to the book of Daniel. Christ says, "when you see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel, standing in the Holy Place, then look out the trouble starts." That was a clear reference to the book of Daniel and in Daniel 9:24-27 it says, "Seventy weeks are determined for your people and for your holy city, to finish the transgression, to make an end of sins, to make reconciliation for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy. "Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the command to restore and build Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince, there shall be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublesome times. And after the sixty-two weeks Messiah shall be cut off, but not for Himself; and the people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end of it shall be with a flood, and till the end of the war desolations are determined. Then he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week; but in the middle of the week he shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abominations shall be one who makes desolate, even until the consummation, which is determined, is poured out on the desolate." These four little verses tell the whole scenario. The setting is, during Nebuchadnezzar’s reign of Babylon the temple was destroyed and some of the Jews have been dispersed. They come to Daniel and say, "Daniel we can't stand this, we know we have been disobedient; how much longer is God going to allow this curse to remain? The curse came because of the unfaithfulness of Israel. It says in verse 24, "seventy weeks are determined... to finish the transgression." We know from history that a week refers to a seven year period, so it means that there is going to be a 490-year period for the nation of Israel while they are in the land. The first 483 years were completed when Christ was "cut off" verse 26, by His death on the cross. Then it says that the city of Jerusalem and the temple will be destroyed, which history tells us happened in 70 AD. Then it talks about a seven-year period that will occur in the last days. At the end of that seven-year period Israel will be saved as a nation and the curse will be over. But until that time the nation will be dominated by the Gentiles. We will look at these eight nations as we go through the book of Revelation concentrating on the final beast empire that will dominate Israel during the seventieth week of Daniel's prophecy which is what the book of Revelation is mostly about.

So the last week is a seven-year period. At the beginning of this period the Antichrist will confirm a covenant of peace with many including Israel, or so they think, in actual fact it will be a covenant with death. During the first three and a half years the Antichrist is building up his forces. At the mid-point he moves into Jerusalem and demands the worship of the world by setting himself up as God. That is when the Great Tribulation begins. That is when the trouble begins, because Satan is cast down to earth and empowers Antichrist, knowing that he has only a short time left (Rev. 12:12). People are given a choice by Antichrist: you take my mark; you worship my image or I will kill you on the spot. God says if you take the mark, you will not only go through His wrath that is still to follow, you will also spend eternity in hell. That is going to be the choice, do I take the mark or do I not take the mark? The reality is that everything is in place for this person to rise and confirm this covenant, starting the seventieth week of Daniel. The question that needs to be asked here is, will discerning believers know when the covenant is entered into letting us know when the seventieth week commences or will they not know until the middle of the seventieth week? I am not sure that we will know when the seventieth week starts. Dan. 9:27, says that the Antichrist "will confirm a covenant with many," does that mean that there will be a new covenant drawn up or does it mean that He will confirm a covenant that is already existing? May I remind you that when the Gulf war was fought, the U. S. entered into secret negotiations with Israel that to this day the public does not know what was contained in that document. It is not at all necessary that a confirming or strengthening of a covenant be conspicuous. The generation that sees these things begin to happen will not die until all of these things is fulfilled and our Lord will return to rapture His Church. Is this referring to the things from the first seal on or is it referring to when the abomination of desolation is set up at the middle of the seventieth week. I don't know for sure, but this thing I am sure of, we will definitely know when the midpoint of the week is. Oh what a blessed hope. No generation has seen it yet therefore, His return is not imminent! If we know at the confirming of the covenant all the better.

People say, "the return of Christ ought to be a blessed hope. What you are describing in saying that the church will go through the wrath of Antichrist are terrible things, you are taking away from us the blessed hope". This truth does not take away from the blessed hope of the church; in fact it makes it more real. If you were to ask most Christians if they would like for Jesus to return right now, the vast majority would answer no. Why? Because they have got it so good, they are so taken up with earthly things; they are so carnal and materialistic in their mind, that in actual fact there is a fear in them about the Second Coming, especially if it were to happen right now. This is also borne out in a lot of Christians by their attitude in demonstrating a tremendous fear of dying. Not too many people desire the return of Christ when things are going so good. We have churches whose preachers preach with such emotion that Christ could come right this minute, yet they have hundred's of thousands of dollars stored up in the barn. If they really believed what they preached, why have they not invested the money into winning souls for God's kingdom? Their head offices are crying out, "missionaries are needed and the only thing stopping us from sending them is money," while churches in their affiliation are hoarding it up. If Christ was to come, as they believe, before the tribulation, they are hoarding up that money for the Antichrist!

The blessed hope is exactly what you see in Luke 18, when the faithful widow comes and pounds against the door of the judge and says open up, open up. Finally it says that if the unfaithful judge will listen to the cries of the widow, how much more will your heavenly Father listen to the cries of His elect. But it says, "when He comes will he find faith on the earth." Will He find you believing and acting on the Word of God, if so, He will find faith, or will He find you believing and acting on the traditions of man and denominations, if so, He will not find faith. I know to me, the return of Christ is blessed, because of what is going on in this world: watch the news, listen to the ads, and observe what is happening in the churches. Listen, during the rule of Antichrist every Christian will realize that the blessed hope of the church is the Second Coming of Christ. They will long for it, they will cry for it, and truly it will be a blessed hope to be removed from it at the rapture and to move forward in the millennial kingdom where Christ rules and reigns. It is the greatest hope any Christian can have, I mean, if you don't want out of this world system, then my question to you is, are you really a Christian. If you like the way things are going in the world, then Christ's return will not be a blessed hope to you. If you are satisfied with the spiritual status quo, then there is something wrong. The Lord says that judgment must start with the household of faith, and He is going to clean up the cesspool that has gotten into the Church, and when that is done He will clean up the world. Oh, praise God, what a blessed hope! Do you know where you stand? The bible says to examine yourself to see if you are in the faith, that does not mean the faith of a denomination but the faith of God's Word, if you are not, you won't want it to happen yet. But if you are in the faith, you will be praying for it to come because God has promised protection to the faithful. The great tribulation of Antichrist holds no fear for the faithful, the wrath of Satan holds no fear for the faithful, the sooner it happens, the sooner this whole world will be ruled over by Christ.

So, never before in history has there been a more appropriate time for a study or for an understanding and a living in the light of the events portrayed in the book of Revelation. So I don't think that you are reading this by chance or by accident but by divine appointment.

Let me give you just a quick overview of the twenty-two chapters.

Chapter one is basically introductory. It is the revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave to John, to show unto His SERVANTS things that must shortly come to pass.

Revelation chapters 2 and 3 deals with the seven churches of Asia. Now there were more than seven churches in Asia at that time, but John was commanded to write to only seven because, those seven churches perfectly illustrated the full scope of the strengths and weaknesses of Christendom during the seventieth week of Daniel. This commonalty allowed the seven churches to be the springboard to give warning to the church at the end of the age. Only this view gives logical justification for the inclusion of letters to seven first-century churches in a book that is otherwise wholly prophetic. By the time we get done with this study you will understand the characteristics of these churches and you will understand what God is trying to reveal to you today, about the church that will enter the seventieth week of Daniel.

In chapter 4, John is caught up to heaven, there is going to be an open door, there is going to be a trumpet and we will be looking at the significance of the trumpet in our study. In this chapter John sees a throne, he is going to see the one seated upon that throne. He is going to see colors proceeding from that throne. He is going to see a rainbow that surrounds that throne, he is going to see a sea of glass, he is going to see 24 elders, and it is going to be a majestic scene beyond our comprehension.

In chapter 5, still focusing in on that scene, he is going to see a scroll, not a book, but a scroll in the right hand of Him who is seated on that throne who is God the Father. He is going to note that this scroll is sealed with seven seals and he is going to hear a strong angel proclaim with a loud voice, "who is worthy to open the scroll and to loose the seven seals thereof." A search is made to see who is worthy to open the scroll, no man will be found worthy and John will sob audible sobs because no man is worthy to open the scroll and loose the seals. In the midst of his sobbing one of the elders is going to say, " stop weeping John for the Lion of the tribe of Judah has prevailed to open that scroll and to loose the seven seals." You will learn what these seven seals and the scroll are all about.

In chapter 6, the seals of that scroll will begin to be broken. In this chapter, six seals will be broken. Then you will read that God's wrath is come.

When you get to chapter 7, which is between the opening of the sixth seal and the seventh seal, for the seventh seal is not opened until chapter 8, you will find a break. Between chapter 6 and chapter 8, in chapter 7 there is an interlude that occurs at that point in time. We will find out why it is there. Then you will read of 144,000 that are going to be sealed, so they will be protected to survive the outpouring of God's wrath. Then you will read of a great multitude that no man can number from every kindred, tongue and tribe, suddenly appearing in heaven. Following that a question is asked inquiring who they are.

In chapter 8, you will read of a silence in heaven, you will learn why there is silence there. Then the seventh seal will be opened. When the seventh seal is opened that will allow the scroll to be unfolded and then the blowing of four trumpets will commence as the wrath of God is being poured out.

In chapter 9, there will be three more trumpets that will be blown; in addition to that there will be three woes, woe, woe, woe, intensifying what is involved.

In chapter 10, there is a mighty angel who is going to stand with one foot on the sea and one foot on the land and he is going to have a little scroll in his hand.

In chapter 11, you are going to be introduced to two witnesses. Who are they? What is their function?

Chapters 12, 13, and 14, form a trilogy. In 12, you are going to see the conflict of the ages, which began all the way back in the Garden of Eden and now is reaching its consummation with Christ as the victor. This will be announced on the stage of human history as you see a woman in travail that gives birth to a male child. And you will see another great wonder, the dragon, yes truly, this is the conflict of the ages. Chapter 13 will focus on Satan and his servants. You will read here also of a beast indicative of the character of the one who has the designation of Antichrist that comes out of the water; another beast that will come out of the land, the false prophet and the empowerment of this beast and his persecution of the saints and what is involved. In chapter 14, it will move from the Antichrist to the true Christ as you read about the Lamb on Mt. Zion with the 144,000.

In chapters 15 and 16 there will be a discussion of the bowls or the vials that are poured out. You have found out about seals that are broken, trumpets that are blown and bowls that are poured out. There are reasons for these particular items, the seals, trumpets and bowls and we will find out what they are. My heart is heavy as I contemplate the significance of the breaking of those seals, the blowing of the trumpets and the pouring out of the bowls. It is a somber, sober, sacred issue that is involved and the world is ignorant of it and so is the Church to a large degree.

In Rev. 22:16,TAB you are going to be introduced to mystery Babylon, the mother of harlots. This religious institution down through the course of history has solicited men and women to prostitute themselves spiritually and to worship one other than the true and living God.

In chapter 18, you have political Babylon and the destruction of the economy of the world in a day.

Then in chapter 19, we have the return physically, tangible, politically of the Son of God to the planet earth. Also we have the marriage of the Lamb, the great wedding feast.

Chapter 20 describes a resurrection and ingredients related to the Millennium and the Great White Throne Judgment.

Then in chapters 21 and 22 we have a new heaven and a new earth and the New Jerusalem. What is that all about?

Let me tell you that as we look at this book I feel that we are treading on holy ground. There is a sense spiritually where we should loose our shoes from off our feet and allow God to speak, as it were from the midst of the burning bush. So with the help of the Holy Spirit I am going to try to share these things with you.

There are a lot of people today, who stay away from the book of Revelation and end-time events; I was one of them. Because what I was hearing over the pulpits did not line up with what the Word of God said. Yes, there was a time when I accepted the pretrib position, but it was only because I believed what the preacher said, after all he was the man of God, so if anybody knows about these things, he does, right. So I did not search the scriptures as the Bereans did in Acts 17:11, to find out if what was being said was scriptural. When I started studying the Bible for myself, I could not, line upon line, precept upon precept as I studied the popular views regarding the rapture, namely pre-trib; mid-trib; and post-trib; find a solid scriptural basis for any of them.

After studying each view, I came to the conclusion that there was not enough bible evidence to confirm that any of these views were correct. So I purposefully stayed away from end-time prophecy. When asked whether I believed in pre, mid, or post-trib, I would respond by saying, "I do not believe any of these positions are biblically correct and that if God laughs, He is smiling and saying, 'people go on believing what you want to about the end-times, when the time is right, I will reveal the truth and it will line up with My Word so you won't have to be confused." And as I began to study the position I hold to now, it came together line upon line, precept upon precept and my spirit came to life with regards to prophesy, and I thank God, that he saw fit to move upon men like M. Rosenthal, B. Vankampen, S. P. Tregelles and others who, have written plainly and biblically, confirming the way I believed for a long time.

Many preachers also stay away from preaching from the book of Revelation and a part of the reason is due to the fact that they figure it is hard to understand. Another reason is, what they believe does not line up with scripture, therefore it is impossible for them to understand the book.

Revelation is by definition understandable and the more so as God opens the book in the time of the end. The word revelation comes from the Greek word APOKALUPIS translated into English as Apocalypse. You may have heard the statement, the four horses of the Apocalypse. This word means an unveiling, a disclosure or a making known, so the very name of the book means disclosure, an opening up or making something to be understood.

Revelation brings history, as we know it to a pleasurable, proper, appropriate, righteous, triumphant conclusion. Without the book of Revelation we would not know how history is going to end.

Let me tell you of at least six major issues referred to in this book:

(1) A warning to the churches, that includes the church today, as we will see a little later. Warning to the churches that if they are not faithful to Christ during this time, now I am talking about the particular time of Daniel's seventieth week and primarily during the great persecution of Antichrist when the final conflict between God and Satan comes nose to nose.

(2) Then you have seven seals. You have a scroll that is secured by seven seals and as each seal is broken different events occur.

In Israel they have a museum where they keep a lot of old scrolls, including the Dead Sea Scrolls. All of these scrolls have one thing in common, that is the way they are sealed especially when there is more than one seal on a scroll. People have been taught that the scroll that contains the seven seals in Revelation worked like this, it was like a roll of paper towels, you took off the outer seal, unrolled some of the scroll, read its contents and then you would come to a seal, something like chewing gum, that sealed the scroll and stopped you from reading further until you removed that seal. That is not what happens. Since most of the scrolls were written on papyrus you would have problems because papyrus would fall apart if handled that way. If you checked at the museum in Jerusalem you would see that the seals are all on the outside. As you take off the first seal there are conditions to be met before you removed the second seal, so the more seals the more conditions to be met before you could get to the contents of the scroll. We will see that before the scroll is opened the question is asked, "who is worthy to open the scroll?" The answer is, "Christ the Lion of Judah is worthy." So each seal is open one at a time and when all of the seals are open and the events of the seals have taken place the scroll can be opened. Do you know what the first event of the open scroll is? The trumpet judgments and they begin the Day of the Lord.So the scroll deals with the Day of the Lord.

The seals deal with the tribulation of Antichrist, none of the seals are the wrath of God, and we will see that clearly as we go through this study. These are events that lead up to God's wrath. The events of the seals are Satan's attempt to destroy the elect of God; it is not the wrath of God against His own. It is interesting to note that the last real call to the believer is just before the seventh seal is opened and just before the wrath of God begins.

(3) You have seven trumpet judgments. You see the angels of God out of the seventh seal and you begin to see judgments taking place, which is associated with the Day of the Lord. The Day of the Lord is God's wrath; Christ teaches that before that Day He will remove the church and this happens when He cuts the Great Tribulation short. Immediately then, the Day of the Lord begins as the wicked are destroyed, you see this in Matt. 24 and 2 Thess. 2. So, we will go through the persecution, He will cut that short, He will rapture the elect and then He will destroy the wicked. Christ teaches in Luke 17:26-30 that both events occur on exactly the same day. "And as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man. They ate, they drank, they married wives, and they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark and the flood came and destroyed them all. Likewise as it was also in the days of Lot: They ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built; but on the day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all. Even so will it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed." The rapture and the beginning of the wrath, just like on the same day He put Noah in the ark the flood began. The same with Lot, on the same day lot was removed from the city, it was destroyed.

(4) Then you see seven bowls, again brought on by the angels of God, which is the final wrath of God.

(5) The battle of Armageddon.

(6) The start of the millennium.

So Revelation is the time for the purifying and ultimate deliverance of the saints. A part of this time period will allow for the purifying of a weak and compromising church and of its ultimate deliverance. It will be a time when the ungodly and the wicked are destroyed. It will be the time when Satan, the Antichrist and the Beast will be destroyed and it will bring forth the glorious triumph of the Lord Jesus Christ and the introduction of His Millennium Kingdom.

You will see that in Chapter 7 we have a break in the sequence of events. This chapter is right between the sixth and seventh seals and in a little nugget of information that is very important and critical to all of us. When we get to this chapter it should become crystal clear that this great multitude that comes out of the Great Tribulation is none other than the Church.

Four times the author refers to himself as "John" (1:11,4,9; 22:8). Early church tradition unanimously attributes this book to John, the author of the gospel of John and the three epistles of John.

The book was written about 95 or 96 AD, according to the early church fathers, including Irenaeus. If you study the early church fathers from the 12 or 13 volumes that show you their works, you will find that they ascribe these dates for the writing of the book. This was during the reign of the terrible Greek emperor Domitian. Another reason for this date is because of the condition of the churches that the book of Revelation is written to. If it had been written before the Diaspora in 70 AD, these churches were not in the condition that is referred to in the book, but by 95 AD. they were. So most scholars agree on the 90-96 AD. writing. Now there are some schools of thought, especially those that allegorize scripture that try to say that it was written before the Diaspora. By the way the Diaspora is an event that started in 70 AD, when they destroyed the temple and began to disperse Israel all over the world. At about 132 AD. they just came in and ploughed it under. They would like to put the book of Revelation before the Diaspora so as to allegorize the book and say that it is talking about the events that occurred between 70 and 132 AD. You can't do that because who is to say how it is to be allegorized. If we allegorize scripture it means that it is subject to what I think it should be allegorized to, there is no common denominator because language has no meaning anymore. 2 Peter 1:20, says, "no prophecy of scripture is of any private interpretation," we should never forget that. If you allegorize you are putting prophecy to your own interpretation.

The early church fathers were the ones prior to the Council of Niceia that occurred in 325 AD. We are told that the last of the disciples died between 90 and 100 AD. So for 200 years the early church fathers were strong Christian leaders of the early church, and you can read about them in the volumes mentioned above. If you went through these writings you would see what their belief was as to where the Church will be during the Great Tribulation. Except for two men, Origen and Clement, all early Church Fathers saw the Church going through the great persecution of Antichrist because that was what they had been taught by Paul and Peter and they certainly knew that was what Christ taught.

Permit me to explain something about prophecy, with regards to the two mountain peaks, the mountain of suffering and the mountain of glory. The prophets saw the peaks, but they had no concept of the valley between the peaks. The reason they did not see the valley was because this time period was a mystery. Read about it in Ephesians, the Church is a mystery, which, Paul says, "in other generations was not made known." It was something that was always in the purpose and the plan of God, but He never revealed the Church or its purpose in the Old Testament. So when the OT prophet looked down, he saw two peaks, Jesus' suffering and Jesus' glorification. They had no concept of the Church age, they didn't know if the time period was two years, 100 years, 500 years, 2000 years or 2500 years, I trust you understand that.

That was the way the prophets viewed it before Calvary. We are now living on the other side of Calvary as compared to the OT people. We are in the Church age. At what point between the two mountain peaks are we at in the Church today? How close are we to the second coming and the glory? Paul thought that this could happen in his life time. Please remember that the Apostles followed the Lord for three and a half years, they lived with Him, they trained with Him, they were taught by him, they saw His power. They were aware of His crucifixion, they were aware of His resurrection and before He ascended He told them that He was coming back. Do you think they even vaguely thought there would be 2000 years before He came back? They were living with the EXPECTATION that He would come back in their lifetime. There was an urgency, do you understand the urgency because of having been with Him, having been taught by Him, having known Him and knowing what He did, having witnessed His death, resurrection and ascension. I mean, He told them that He was coming back, their minds were not thinking about 1900 years in the future, their minds were thinking, he will return in our lifetime.

When Paul wrote 1 Thes. 4,he said, " the Lord will descend with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, with the trump of God and the dead in Christ will rise first," listen to what he says, "and WE which are alive and remain shall be caught up to meet the Lord in the air." Paul, the greatest Theologian in the history of the human race believed the Lord could come back in his lifetime and he was living in the light of that. And so did the believers 50 years later. Incidentally, even though we are in the church age, we do not know when the second mountain peak, (His Second Coming) is going to be reached. It could be 5, 10, 20, 30 years or more, only that generation that enters the seventieth week of Daniel will know that the return of the Lord is getting close. So until the seventieth week begins, all we can see are shadows and events that seem to fit the prophetic pattern, but we cannot set dates now or during the seventieth week.

God intended that every generation believe that the Lord could return in their lifetime, because God could cause the events prophesied in his Word to be fulfilled so Jesus could come in their lifetime. If we really believed that, the way the first century believers did, it would impact the way we live more than anything else on the face of the earth. So the early Church lived in expectancy of the Lord's return, they did not believe in the IMMINENT return that would cause an any-moment, secret rapture to take place. The early believers lived and worked with the expectation that Jesus could come in their lifetime and so should we, so we can be prepared for the events that are associated with His coming, of which we will be taking a look at throughout this study.

Before we get into the book of Revelation, let's take a look at IMMINENCY.

The doctrine of Imminency - The belief as taught and understood today, by pretribulationist, that since Christ's ascension back to heaven recorded in Acts chapter one verses 9,10, and 11, no prophetic event needs to be fulfilled before Christ's second coming. In other words, He could come at "any moment." This position is the critical cornerstone of pretribulationism.

In order for the pretrib view to be correct imminence has to be a sure thing, if imminence is not taught in scripture then the pretrib view crumbles in its own ashes.

Almost 2000 years ago, the LAMB of God CAME to earth to die for the sins of mankind--that is paramount in history. One day the LION is COMING back again to reign as King of kings and Lord of lords--that is inviolable prophecy. For those who believe God's Word, there is no speculation or disagreement about this supreme event.

Jesus is coming again and, in a world beset with indescribable suffering caused by sin, that certain fact stands as a beacon of incomparable and blessed hope of the Church.

But when does the blessed hope of Christ's return to rapture the Church--which we now, through faith, await--happen?

Is His coming for His Church signless and possible at any moment, can He come, as we hear preachers say, "before this service is over"? Or must the Church enter the seventieth week of Daniel and confront the Antichrist before rapture? Obviously, from a human and natural point of view the former is to be preferred, no one relishes the prospect of severe difficulties--but is it biblical? Will one generation of believers be whisk into glory on beds of ease, or will that same generation be called upon to suffer persecution, or even martyrdom, for "His name's sake"? And if so will that generation be spiritually prepared for the conflict?

The Bible is God's revelation to man. Therefore, it is the Bible, not church associations, highly esteemed schools, favorite Bible teachers, denominations, or long held traditions, which should ultimately determine what we believe concerning the Second Coming. God's Word alone should be the final authority.

Only one event, in the still-to-unfold future that awaits mankind, will be able to compare in significance with the first coming of the Son of Man. That event can be summed up in four words: Jesus is coming again.

BUT IS THE RETURN OF CHRIST IMMINENT?

For those who believe and honor God's Word, the fact of the return of Christ to earth is beyond debate. Concerning that return, a large number of Bible-believing Christians believe the bible teaches that Christ's return will be pre millennial that is, after His return He will personally establish a literal, thousand year kingdom on the earth. And with that position, I'm sure you and I concur.

However, there has been considerable, spirited debate with regard to the seven-year period (often, but mistakenly, referred to as the Tribulation Period but rightly known as the seventieth week of Daniel) immediately preceding Christ's physical return to the earth and its relationship to the timing of the Rapture. Some believe that the Rapture of the Church will occur prior to the commencement of that seven-year period, or pretribulationally.

Intimately associated with the pretribulational view of the Rapture is the belief in imminence. Imminence is commonly expressed by the concept of an any-moment Rapture. It is sometimes voiced with the sentiment, "I'm looking for the upper Taker (Christ), not the undertaker (the Antichrist)."

Imminence is also suggested in a number of hymns by their lyrics such as, "When the tribulation enters I'll be gone" or "I don't know when He's coming, He may come tonight.

Many popular seminaries, Bible colleges, denominations and local Churches include imminence in their doctrinal statement. Many Churches believe in it so strongly, they have made a dogma out of that doctrine and will not allow people to be members of their church if they do not believe in imminence.

A number of those who hold to a pretribulational and imminent return of Christ view imminence as an important doctrine, but not a divisive doctrine. Others, however, have "set" pretribulational rapturism "in concrete," and in such circles to even raise genuine questions concerning imminence is to incur wrath and to be held as a suspect that would cause division.

Amazingly, a doctrine, which was virtually unknown in North America, 200 years ago has now become, for some, a fundamental of the faith. Of course, the bottom line--the final authority in any spiritual debate--is to be the Word of God; never tradition, church doctrine, or human preferences.

The Origin and Early Definitions of Imminence.

Some writers have attempted to anchor pretribulational rapturism and its handmaiden, imminence, in the rock of antiquity and the early church. It has been suggested that extant historical documents show that the early church believed in an any-moment pretribulational Rapture. But the facts reveal that quotations from the early church fathers suggest that (1) they believed that Christ could return in their life time, and (2) that his return would be preceded by a period of difficulty. But in no sense did they teach that the Rapture was pretribulational or imminent.

William Kimbal in his book, "The Rapture" p. 20-21 says:

"A review of Ante-Nicene writings overwhelmingly substantiates the reality of this statement. Every Ante-Nicene writer who touches in any detail upon the tribulation, resurrection, rapture, or second coming displays the church on earth while the Great Tribulation is taking place. Neither the writings of Clement of Rome (30-100 AD), "The epistle to Barnabas" (130 AD), "The Shepherds of Hermas" (150 AD), "The Didache" (150 AD), Ignatius (50-115 AD), Polycarp (70-167 AD), Papias (80-163 AD), Pothinus (87-177 AD), Justyn Martyr (100-168 AD), Tatian (130-190 AD), Irenaeus (140-202 AD), etc.) lend support to the validity of a pretribulational rapture."

The following direct quotes from some of the above men give further evidence to that truth.

Justin Martyr: The man of Apostasy [Antichrist]...shall venture to do unlawful deeds on the earth against us the Christians. (Trypho, cx)

The Shepherds of Hermas: Happy ye who endure the great tribulation that is coming. (Pastor of Hermas, Vision Second)

Those therefore, who continue steadfast, and are put through the fire, will be purified by means of it....Wherefore cease not to speak these things into the ears of the saints. This then is the type of tribulation that is yet to come. (Pastor of Hermas, Vision Fourth)

Irenaeus: And they [the ten kings]... shall give their kingdom to the beast, and put the church to flight. (Against Heresies, V, 26, 1)

But [John] indicates the number of the name [Antichrist] now, that when the man comes we may avoid him, being aware who he is. (Against Heresies, V, 30, 4)

John Sproule, writing in defense of pretribulational rapturism in his book "In Defense of Pretribulationism," nonetheless with candor and integrity, noted concerning imminency:

"...One of the recognized deans of pretrib eschatology, refers to imminency as the heart of pretribulationism. Yet he is able to muster only a few vague quotations from the Early Church Fathers plus a few debatable scriptures (Jn. 14:1-3; 1 Thes. 1:10, 5:6; & 1 Cor. 1:7) to support his statement".

Sproule goes on to write:

" Pretribulationalism can ill afford to rest on the shaky foundation of traditionalism and eisegetical [reading into the text what is not there] statements. If its [i.e., pretribulationism's] "heart" is a debatable and inductively determined doctrine of imminency then, an exegetical "heart transplant" may be in order".

Far from having its roots in the early church, pretribulational rapturism and an any-moment rapture didn't exist before 1830, and there is considerable documentary proof that it was initially introduced in England by Edward Irving, the father of the charismatic Apostolic Church, and not John Darby. Edward Irving probably picked up the idea of an "any moment rapture" from his work on the translation of Emmanuel Lucunza's book, "The Coming of Messiah in Glory and Majesty, a Catholic priest who initially wrote the book in Spanish under the pen name of Rabbi Ben Ezra. In reality, with whom the pretrib position originated really does not make that much difference other than the fact that it contradicts the first 1800 years of prophetic thought and contradicts the plain teaching of the New Testament. On the other hand, the basic tenant of prewrath (that the Church will undergo the persecution of Antichrist before the return of Christ) was taught clearly and consistently by the early Church fathers. Among evangelicals, what other basic doctrine of Scripture, other than pretrib has been "discovered" in the past 160 years and directly contradicts the basic, accepted teachings (as a whole) of early Church fathers? There is none. Some pretrib pastors heard in Bible School that, yes, it is correct that the early Church fathers believe that the church would go through the tribulation. But because of "progressive revelation" we know different now. Listen, whatever progressive revelation we come to know it must never be in contradiction to the Word of God. If it is, the revelation that we received is not from God.

In any case, neither its recent origin nor its source proves or disproves its correctness. But if pretribulational rapturism is used for a badge of fellowship and orthodoxy, one is faced with the perplexing question of what to do with the millions of godly believers who, for almost 1800 years, did not hold to pretribulational rapturism. Among them are heroes of the faith like John Wesley, Charles Wesley, Charles Spurgon, Matthew Henry, John Knox, John Huss, William Carey, John Calvin, Isaac Newton, Jonathan Edwards, John Wycliffe, John Bunyan, and many more. Would these men be spurned today because they were not pretribulational?

The pretribulational view of Christ's return made its way from England to North America in the 1870’s and with it, unfortunately, came friction and division. The Scofield Reference Bible (which has helped millions of people in their personal Bible study) made pretribulational teaching a major facet of its 1917-revised edition. Untold multitudes became pretribulational as a result of Scofield's notes which, because attached to his reference Bible became highly authoritative in the minds of many.

It was the Niagara Bible Conference, however, which initially spearheaded the growth of the pre-trib. rapturism and the concept of an any-moment rapture in America. In 1878, the Conference adopted a 14-point doctrinal statement. The fourteenth section dealing with the return of Christ stated:

"This personal and pre millennial advent is the blessed hope set before us in the Gospel for which we should be constantly looking." This was a broad statement that could be embraced by all pre millenarians. However, later that same year, The First General American Bible and prophetic Conference (closely aligned with the Niagara Conference) in New York City passed five resolutions. In article 3 they went beyond the Niagara Statement. Their resolution stated: "This second coming of the Lord is everywhere in the scriptures represented as imminent, and may occur at any moment." Debate on the interpretation on the meaning of imminence followed. Some argued that imminence meant that signs could be fulfilled and that Christ could return within the lifetime of any individual generation of believers. This view of imminence could be better described as expectancy. It conveyed two facts: (1) Christ could return in any generation and (2) signs could precede His coming. If the word "could in point two (2) were changed to "will," their statement would agree exactly with what I believe. A second group argued that imminence meant that the coming of Christ was possible at any hour.

It was the position of this latter group, which, in the years that followed, dominated pretribulational thinking.

With the passing of time, the definition of imminence was more closely defined. John R. Rice wrote:

Christ's coming is imminent. That means that Jesus may come at any moment. That means that there is no other prophesied event, which must occur before Christ’s coming. Nothing else needs to happen before Jesus may come. No signs need precede it. Jesus may come today.

Any moment -- no prophesied event must occur -- nothing else needs to happen -- it could be today; these are the points Rice emphasizes. These points, nowhere in scripture can be substantiated.

John Sproule defined imminence this way:

More representative of the pretrib concept of immanency is the belief that, without qualification, Christ can return for His Church at any moment and that no predicted event would intervene before that return.

In this definition, the emphasis is changed from no prophesied event must occur to no prophesied event will intervene before Christ's return.

It is one thing to speak of the Rapture as imminent and mean by that Christ could come in one's lifetime and signs can precede that coming. It is another thing altogether to define imminent to mean that Christ could return at any moment; that his return is signless, and that no prophecies will intervene before He returns.

IS IMMINENCE A BIBLICAL DOCTRINE?

It has already been noted that there is no historical evidence to demonstrate that the early church believed in an any-moment Rapture. But the early church was premillennial. In fact, biblical statements substantiate that the early church did not believe in imminence. The gospel had to be preached throughout the world before Christ could return (Acts 1:8). For the early church, that precluded an any-moment Rapture. The Temple was to be destroyed before Christ returned (Mt. 24:1-3). For the early church, that did away with an any-moment rapture.

Some, attempting to circumvent this very real dilemma, have suggested that after those events were fulfilled the Church began to believe in imminence. Not only is there no valid evidence for that reasoning, but also it continues to contradict scripture.

Based on Daniel 9:27 and the prophet's words, "he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week," pretribulationist have historically and continually insisted that the Antichrist will make a covenant with Israel to protect her for seven years (the seventieth week of the book of Daniel). It is that event which triggers what has been commonly referred to as the Tribulation Period. But from the defeat of the Jewish nation in 70 AD until the emergence of the modern state on May 14, 1948, no Jewish nation or representative government existed. Could Christ have come before then, no, there was no Jewish nation for the Antichrist to make a covenant with until then.

Hal Lindsey has written:

The events leading up to the coming of the Messiah Jesus are strewn throughout the Old and New Testament prophets like pieces of a great jigsaw puzzle. The key piece of the puzzle that was missing until our time was that Israel had to be back in her ancient homeland, reestablished as a nation. When this occurred in May 1948, the whole prophetic scenario began to fall together with dizzying speed.

It would have been impossible for the Antichrist to sign a covenant of protection with a non-existent nation. An any-moment Rapture therefore was not possible before the modern State of Israel was resurrected out of the ashes of the Second World War. Now Israel could have become a nation in any generation -- but the Rapture could not have preceded that event.

Above all other issues, the fact remains that there is not one verse of scripture that teaches imminence, if by imminence it is meant that Christ's return is signless, any moment, and without the possibility of fulfilled prophecies preceding it. The student of the Word will search in vain for exegetical evidence to support imminency. The fact that men are to "wait for," "expect," "look for," "keep awake," "be free from excess," "be alert," (and similar phrases) does not substantiate the claim that no prophesied event can occur before the Rapture. A chart listing that fact follows:

TEXT	BASIC MEANING
Luke 12:36 Titus 2:13	Wait for, expect
Romans 8:23 Galatians 5:5 Hebrews 9:28	Await eagerly
James 5:7	Expect, wait for
Matt. 24:50 2 Peter 3:12-14	Wait for, look for, expect
1 Thess. 5:6,8	Be sober, self controlled
1 Peter 1:13; 4:7	Free from excess
Matt. 24:42&43 Rev. 16:15	To be awake, to keep awake
Mark 13:33 Hebrews 10:35	To see, look at
1 Thess. 1:10	To wait for, expect, near
Philippians 4:5 James 5:8&9	At hand

If church history and the Bible do not support an any-moment, signless, no prophesied-events-can-occur-first concept of the Rapture, from where did such a concept come, and how did it grow to dominate much of the Bible-believing church.

Pretribulationist have rightly understood that the book of Daniel provides the backbone of prophetic interpretation; that at the end of Daniel's sixty-ninth prophetic week the Messiah (Christ) would be cut off (Dan. 9:26). They also understood that an undefined period of time intervened between the sixty-ninth and seventieth week. Coupled with that was the belief that Israel's prophetic time clock will again commence when the seventieth week is initiated with the signing of the covenant between the Antichrist and Israel. Of necessity, for pretribulationism to be correct, the Rapture must occur before God's prophetic time clock begins again with the seventieth week of Daniel. Pretribulationism requires a signless, any-moment, imminent Rapture of the Church. Without imminence pretribulationism is dead. Or, put another way, if pretribulational rapturism could be exegetically proven, imminence would be demonstrated to be the logical result. Imminence would be the necessary outgrowth of a proven pretribulational Rapture, but an unproved concept of imminence cannot be used to prove pretribulationism. Here is a classic illustration of putting the cart before the horse, and it is routinely done in defense of pretribulational rapturism. The battle cry is sometimes voiced this way: Christ can come for His Church at any moment. Prophetic signs cannot occur. Therefore, the Rapture must be pretribulational.

Pretribulational rapturists believe that the Day of the Lord commences with the Rapture of the Church. The Scofield Reference Bible is typical of this position. It teaches that the Day of the Lord will commence with the translation (Rapture) of the church on page 1,372. However, since the Day of the Lord is a period of direct, divine wrath upon the earth ( Isa. 2:12-21; Joel 1:15, 2:1-2, 10:11, 30-31; Zeph. 1:14, 2:3; 1 Thes. 5:2-4) and since Paul thought that believers are "not appointed ... to wrath" (1 Thes. 5:9), it is convenient for pretribulational rapturists to commence the Day of the Lord with the Rapture of the Church. Doing so, however, has created monumental problems for the belief in an any-moment, no-prophesied-event-can-occur before the Rapture position. We will mention only a few of these problems briefly.

First: The Bible makes it clear that cosmic disturbance must precede the Day of The Lord. See (Joel 2:30-31; Isa. 13:9-11; Matt. 24:29-31; Acts 2:19-20; Rev. 6:12-17.)

Second: There remains a word from the last of the Old Testament prophets concerning that future day. It is a message that holds out some hope. Before the Day of the Lord begins, God will send a messenger to call the nation of Israel to repentance, Malachi, God's spokesman about 400 years before Christ, recorded:

" Behold I will send you Elijah, the prophet, before the coming of the great and terrible day of the Lord; and he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse." (Mal. 4:5-6).

Third: In the clearest possible way, the apostle Paul notes two events that must precede the Day of the Lord. There must be (1) the apostasy which is the great falling away and (2) the revealing of the man of sin in the Temple of God, as confirmed by 2 Thes. 2:2-4, "not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ had come. Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.

The Word of God clearly teaches that cosmic disturbance must precede the day of the Lord, that Elijah must appear before the Day of the Lord, and the apostasy and the revealing of the man of sin must occur before the day of the Lord. Since pretribulationism states that the Day of the Lord starts at the beginning of the seventieth week, it is in direct opposition to what the bible says. And the concept of an any-moment, no prophesied-event-will-occur-first position, is biblically impossible to sustain.

EXPECTANCY - YES, IMMINENCY - NO.

Many believers within the early church had either seen Christ during His incarnation or known fellow-believers who had known Him. Consequently, Christ's life, death, burial, and resurrection were not abstract issues of theology -- they were vibrant realities. His promise of personal return was dominant in their thinking. Their Lord was coming again in power and glory. Things would be different when that occurred. God, not Rome, would be the victor. Christ, not the emperor would reign. Righteousness, not wickedness, would be the order of the day. Unlike today, The heart of the Apostolic Age burned with the prospect of their Lord's return. They knew full well that the Church Age had commenced. Paul had revealed that fact in Eph.3:4-6, by which, when you read, you may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ, which in other ages was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to His holy apostles and prophets: that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, of the same body, and partakers of His promise in Christ through the gospel,

But they had absolutely no concept of its duration. It is easy for believers in the twentieth century to look back through 2000 years of church history, but the first century church had no basis for anticipating that kind of extended period of time between their own day and the return of Christ. They believed that their Savior could return in their lifetime and their lives revolved around the expectation of that event.

That expectancy can be seen in Paul's first letter to the Thessalonians. He wrote:

" But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them who are asleep, that you sorrow not, even as others who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also who sleep in Jesus will God bring with Him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not precede them who are asleep" (1 Thes. 4:13-15).

With the use of the personal we in the phrase, "we who are alive and remain," Paul clearly includes himself among those who could be living at the time of Christ's return. In his second letter to the Thessalonians, he emphasized the same truth. He wrote:

" Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto Him, that ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit or by word as that day of the Lord is present" (2 Thes. 2:1-2)

The adjective "our" in the phrase "our gathering together unto Him" again demonstrates the Apostle's expectancy of Christ's return.

A score of verses teach the Second Coming of Christ. All are consistent with the thesis that Christ could return in any generation. Among those verses are the following: (Titus 2:13), (1 Cor. 1:7), (Phil. 3:20), (Heb. 9:28), and (1 Thes. 1:10).

Expectancy--yes.

Imminency--no.

There simply are no verses in the Bible, which teach that Christ's return can occur at any-moment, is signless, and that no prophesied events will precede it--an absolute necessity to sustain pretribulation rapturism.

What the Word of God does teach is that every generation should be living with the expectation that Christ could return in its lifetime. That fact should be so real -- that expectation so conspicuous -- that it becomes a catalyst for holy living.

But the generation that enters the seventieth week of Daniel will know that Christ's return is near. They will know because indicators will be given to that generation. The Lord taught, "now learn a parable of the fig tree: When its branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, you know that summer is near" (Mt. 24:32). They did not know the hour or day that summer would begin, but they did know the general time period. For the Jewish person of the first century, the fig tree was a sign of approximation. When the branch was tender and put forth leaves, one knew that summer was getting close. That was a non-debatable fact. And then, using the parable, the Lord taught this truth: "So likewise ye, when you see all these things it [ My return ] is near, even at the doors" (Mt. 24:33).

The things that indicated that Christ's return was near had just been revealed by the Lord in Matthew 24:3-28 in answer to the disciples' question. They had asked, "and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and the end of the age?" Those things are (1) the emergence of the Antichrist, (2) war generated by the Antichrist, (3) famine as a result of the war, (4) pestilence because of the resultant unsanitary conditions, (5) martyrdom of some who will not submit to the Antichrist, (6) cosmic disturbance. These events will indicate that the Rapture is near. Like the fig tree, they will be the signs of Christ's return. They will not indicate the hour or the day, but the general time period.

These signs of His coming cannot possibly have reference to Christ's physical return to earth at the end of the seventieth week as some contend. That event will occur precisely three and one-half years (or 1,260 days) after the abomination of desolation occurs at the midpoint of the seventieth week. But nobody will know the precise time of His return for His church.

The coming of the Lord for His Church can best be described by the word expectancy. Jesus can come during any generation of history, but only those who are alive when the seventieth week of Daniel commences will know that the Lord's return is at the door. They will not know the hour or day, but they will know that it is the season because of the indicators that will precede His coming. That is the significance of the Lord's teaching. "Verily I say unto you, This generation [the generation that enters the seventieth week] shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled" (Mt. 24:34).

THE CHURCH WILL ENTER THE SEVENTIETH WEEK

God never exempts His children from the normal and natural difficulties of a sinful, unregenerate world. The destruction of Sodom was God's work -- so He told Lot to get out of the city, God warned him of the destruction of the city and told him to get out. God did not secretly remove him before telling him of the city's destruction. The universal flood was His judgment -- so He told Noah to get into the ark. These men were protected by God while the destructions were taking place. The difficulties of the first part (the first six seals) of the seventieth week of Daniel are the results of the emergence of the Antichrist and the rebellion of unregenerate men against God. From those events the Church will not be raptured, but God will provide protection for the faithful Church (Rev. 3:10). She will be exempted, however, and raptured before God's wrath commences with the opening of the seventh seal (Rev. 6:17; 8:1).

Therefore it must be concluded that the Church has yet before her a period of great difficulty related to the activities of Antichrist before her final deliverance. No normal person enjoys persecution, and the prospect of entering an unprecedented difficult period of time (the seventieth week of Daniel) is not a pleasant prospect. Understanding that fact should not cause God's people to recoil in fear and intimidation. It should be a call to holiness, obedience and preparation.

The Church is the Bride of Christ, and the Bridegroom would never harm His Bride. The Bible teaches that He does not -- He raptures her before His wrath against the wicked commences.

The first part of the seventieth week is not the wrath of God. It is a period of time when the Antichrist will arise; he will deceive many; he will enter the Temple erected for the glory of God; he will demand worship from men that should be directed to the true Bridegroom only. In that day, the true Bridegroom will be under attack through His Church and the Jewish people. While this is taking place a false lover will seek to capture the hearts of men.

It would not be proper for the Bride to be absent herself during such an hour of history. A faithful, true and courageous Bride will want to remain, and if need be give her life in martyrdom, to condemn the false lover and tell the world that Jesus Christ alone is the true Lover of her soul.

Nearing the end of His life and anticipating the approach and anguish of Calvary, the Lord asked three of His disciples to watch and pray with Him. They could have been of great help -- an encouragement to the Savior in His time of need. However, when the Lord returned from His awesomely difficult time in the Garden of Gethsemane, He found His disciples asleep. Then He asked this question, "...What could you not watch with me one hour?" (Mt. 26:40). Gethsemane means olive press, for in the garden olives were squeezed to produce olive oil -- and in that garden the Lamb of God was squeezed as He anticipated that which was before Him and He "sweat ... great drops of blood." He desired the support of His disciples in an hour of great need, but they did not give it.

During the seventieth week of Daniel the Lord will need and want a courageous church to stand for Him and speak of His exquisite perfection and to prove to the world and the compromising church that He is who He says He is, the Son of God, with all of His power working through His Church to stand against the gates of hell that will be arrayed against His character through the Antichrist who will be directly empowered by Satan (Rev. 13:14). Will the Church, His Bride be asleep, having been convinced of an any-moment, signless, imminent Rapture? Will she have become so complacent and worldly that her only concern will be her well being and escape, rather than the glory of the Bridegroom? Will she neglect the oft-repeated warnings to be ready, watching, and expectant?

The apostle Paul taught an important principle that the church in the western world would do well to be reminded of: "If we suffer, we shall also reign with Him; if we deny Him, He will also deny us" (2 Tim. 2:12). This could very well be the generation that will enter the seventieth week of Daniel. Some of us may be called upon to suffer even to the extent of martyrdom. If we are not willing to make such a sacrifice for our Lord, we do not deserve to be called His disciple.

Jesus is coming again. The dead in Christ will be raised, the living caught up -- both to meet the Lord in the air and be forever with Him. The true believer just can't loose -- JESUS IS COMING AGAIN, CHRISTIAN ARE YOU READY.

Now let's begin to take a look at the Book of Revelation. As we approach this work, you should understand that there are three major approaches to the book, and you need to be familiar with these three approaches to better understand the book.

1. There are some who hold to the preterist view. These people believe that the events of Revelation are all history, except for maybe chapter 19. century. They say that John wrote this book to encourage believers who were being persecuted by Rome in the first century. These people approach this book, not in the terms of it being future prophecy to be fulfilled but history that is already past.

2. The second view that many hold to is the historicist view. These people approach Revelation as an allegorical panorama of the history of the Church from the first century to the Second Advent. They would look at the seven churches of Revelation and say that the first church was the apostolic church basically of the first century. Then they would take Smyrna up until maybe 325 AD. Then they would say that Peragmos and say that was the church up until maybe 600 AD. They would go all the way through the churches this way. They would say that Philadelphia was the missionary church of the 18th and 19th centuries. They would say that the church today is in the Laodiceaien period. They would equate a lot of the events of Revelation to the emergence of the Papacy, referring to it as the Antichrist. Some of the events they relate to Islam, more would be tied to the Reformation. So they see Revelation as historical with the events happening over almost the last 2000 years.

3. The Third view is the futurist view. This view acknowledges the obvious influence that the first-century conflict between Roman power and the church had upon the themes of this book. They put the bulk of the events as happening in the future, especially the events of chapters 4 through 22 as happening immediately prior to the Second Advent. So those events are still in the future.

Now as we move along you will see that I believe in a combination of the first and third view, the preterist and futurist. I will suggest to you that the church that then existed had problems, some of them major. They had problems with Rome, problems with persecution, had problems with emperor worship, and the things that the early church was experiencing will parallel, but on a greater scale, the problems that the church is going to experience at the end of the age. So do you understand what I am saying, preterist,some of these things are clearly applicable in the first century but the ultimate will be in the future, at the end of the age. We are going to approach the book from that perspective and you will see why as we move along.

To give you a little frame of reference to this concept of futurism let me refer you to Daniel chapter 2 where there is a description of a great image. Nebuchadnezzar had a dream and Daniel interprets this dream for Nebuchadnezzar about this great statue. This statue depicts the times of the Gentiles. As Daniel is describing this great image, he speaks of the head of gold that is representative of the Babylonian Empire, referring to Nebuchadnezzar's Empire. Daniel then speaks of the chest and arms of silver representing the Medo-Persian Empire. As he continues his description he speaks of the belly and thighs of brass representing the Grecian Empire. He then goes to the legs of iron representing the Roman Empire. You will notice that each successive Empire is diminishing in value, gold is more valuable than silver, silver is more valuable than bronze, and bronze is more valuable than iron. Also note that you have an increasing of strength. Silver is stronger than gold, bronze stronger than silver and iron stronger than bronze. These four great Empires will be persecutors of the nation of Israel. So this great image is depicting the times of the Gentiles when Israel is trodden down by the Gentiles.

Daniel however tells us that there will be a stone cut out of a mountain. This is significant because the ancients believed that their gods came from the mountains, or cut out of the mountains. This stone is cut out of the mountain, however, without hands making this a clear reference to the Lord Jesus Christ the Son of God. This stone is going to smite the image on its feet and when that happens the entire image is going to come tumbling down and great will be the fall of it, for that will be the end of the times of the Gentiles. The Son of God will then establish His kingdom, the millennial kingdom.

I tell you all this to give you a frame of reference for when we talk about Revelation from the futuristic viewpoint. What we are talking about with regard to the times of the Gentiles is represented by the feet of the image.

To whom was Revelation written for? Rev. 1:4 says that it was written, "to the seven churches which are in Asia." They were located in what is known today as Turkey which is just north of Jerusalem. Even though all of the letters are addressed to one of these Churches, notice at the end of the letters it says, "he who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches." As the Spirit is the one who is saying this, understand that it is going way beyond these local churches, because it is talking about the return of Christ, it is talking about the Antichrist and those things never happened during the time of those churches. In fact these churches were out of existence by the second century.

As we study the churches you will see that God employed through His writers what is called a near-far prophecy, that we are after taking a brief look at. He uses something that all of us are aware of. He uses a current event such as; the apostasy that is taking place, and warning the churches of the end time, if you do not repent this is how it will be when I return. So what He does is to take current situation to make a long-term application. A word of caution, don't ever make that application unless the scripture gives you the right to do it. I think we are in grave trouble when you take any passage and say, this has a near, far application without the context allowing us to do so. But as the letter to the church at Corinth, the letter to the church of Thessalonians, etc., has application for the church today, here the warning to these churches has a clear application to the churches in the last days.

Then when it says, "hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches," that is very significant. John is talking to the local churches of his day. According to Jn. 12:15-16, who speaks to us, who gives us understanding of God's Word? The Holy Spirit. So what is said here is, listen, if you have an ear to hear listen to what the Spirit is saying to all the churches about this situation. That includes us, that is why in Rev. 1:3, it says, "blessed is the person who reads, hears and keeps the word of this prophecy," and then warning after warning after warning to the church is made, then at the end Jesus says, "I have sent My messenger to you to give you assurance of these things for the churches..." Rev. 22:16,TAB. Then he says in verse 19, "And if anyone cancels or takes away from the statements of the book of this prophecy [these predictions relating to Christ's kingdom and its speedy triumph, together with the consolations and admonitions or warnings pertaining to them], God will cancel and take away from him his share in the tree of life and in the city of holiness...." Do you want to run that risk? You are not going to see me messing with it or allegorizing it. If I don't know I will say I don't know.

The main issue in the book of Revelation is the return of Jesus and the events that will occur on each side of His coming.