Introduction to the Book

Introduction

To the Book of Revelations

Have you ever attempted to read or study the Book of Revelations?

Do you say that it’s hard to understand because of the symbolic terms used?

My only objective on this site is to assist you in understanding what is written in this book of Revelations. You may ask me, what makes my interpretation of this book any different than anyone else’s? Let me explain to you why my interpretation is any different. My explanation of the events covered in this book come mainly from other scriptures in the Bible and a small amount from World History.

Have you ever read any of the “Left Behind” books or watched the movies with that name? How about the end time books and movies about an Antichrist who takes over the World and makes slaves out of everyone? If you have then you have wasted your time on tales of fiction published by someone out to make a name for themselves and lots of money doing it. Everything in those books and movies have been made by taking the scriptures in the Book of Revelations out of context.

Throughout hundreds of years, many theologians have attempted to disclose the meaning about the seven seals, but these have been nothing but futile attempts to explain something that will not be known until all believers are in Heaven and then Christ will make it all known to them.

Do you know for sure who authored the Book of Revelations? No, I’m sure that you don’t and neither does anyone else. Some theologians surmise that it was written by the Lord’s Apostle named John, but then other theologians who have studied the different styles of writing claim that it probably was not the Apostle John. Does it make any difference? Well it could. What if it wasn’t the Apostle John, should we then accept it as being authentic and has really been inspired by God?

If you are the least bit interested and take the time to read what I have written, then I suggest you keep your Bible handy and check out for yourself according to what the Holy Scriptures say.

Now we will get into the Book of Revelations, chapter by chapter and verse by verse.

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The Book of Revelation

Revelation is a Book of Symbols, not with hidden meanings, but a message to all believers that God wants them to understand and the Church to prosper because of their understanding? John was told by the angel that showed him the things contained in this book (22:10), not to seal them up or conceal their meaning, so John didn’t.

Many people over years and years have endeavored to understand the truth of what this book is presenting to us by interpreting it according to their own understanding and have confused the Church because of it. It is my hope and prayer that if it is God’s desire for us to have complete understanding of this book’s meaning, He will reveal to me what the meanings are that His people need to know and understand.

We will start off by quoting one verse in the first chapter that we must consider to be very important and does signify to all of us that it is God’s will for us to understand what this Book of Revelation is saying to us and to benefit from the knowledge of our understanding.

Rev 1:3 Blessed is he that reads, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.

This could be read to clearly state that:

Fortunate are they who read and understand the words of this prophesy and preserve those things which are described because the time is near.

Without a doubt it is God’s will that all who read and understand the meaning of this entire Book of Revelation will benefit from the knowledge received from it. God does want us to understand what this book is telling us and we can understand it if we allow Him to speak to our hearts about the true meaning that He has given to us. Why have so many throughout the years interpreted this book wrong, but only now the true meaning is being revealed? In this third verse He tells us the reason; for the time is near or at hand for these things to be known by the believer to make themselves ready to face the future events which are coming very soon.

To start on this study, we need to understand how John received this knowledge and to see how that happened, we need to understand the meaning and sequence of events contained in verse one of this first chapter. This is quoted below:

Rev 1:1 The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to show unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John:

There are some who say that this book was the Revelation of Jesus Christ because of how verse one started out, but this is a little misleading. It is actually saying that this revelation belonged to Jesus because God the Father gave it to Jesus. In other words, God revealed everything that is contained in the Book of Revelation to His Son, Jesus Christ. So this revelation in the beginning belonged to Jesus and He was to pass this knowledge on to His servants in order for them to be aware of the things that were to come to pass in the future. Now by the term used as His servants does not mean just John alone, but all his servants from that time until the present time. Now the word “servant” does not necessarily mean just a believer, but is descriptive of a person who works for another person and performs services for that person. In this case, the servants of Jesus Christ are the ministers that have been appointed to assist Jesus in the work of spreading God’s Word.

 Jesus, now having received this revelation from God sent His angel to John to make it know to him and in turn, John wrote all these things in the Book called Revelation. The second verse of this chapter tells us that John received this information from the angel by way of visions as he stated that he “bore record of all things that he saw.” John did bear record by writing this book and nothing was left out because all that was shown to him was contained in the book that he wrote.

The first thing that we might ask is why did John use such symbolic descriptions for everything that he wrote if God wanted everyone to understand what he had John write? It was during the persecution of Christians during Nero’s reign when John was exiled to the Isle of Patmos between 54-68AD, about the same time of a Jewish revolt against the Romans when Rome laid siege against the city of Jerusalem which ended in the city being destroyed and most of the Jews being carried off to other Countries.

This writing that John was engaged in was a letter that he was instructed to send to the seven churches in Asia Minor. In order for the letter to reach them, it had to be sent through Roman lines. A lot of what John wrote had to do with what occurred during Roman rule over the Jews and unless John disguised what he wrote by using symbols in his writing, the Romans would have prevented the letter from reaching its destination. What these symbols represent cannot be known by any man’s interpretation, but can be understood by allowing all of the Bible scripture, from Genesis to the present day to provide us with the understanding that God wants His people to know.

John starts off by saying that he was in the spirit on the Lord’s Day. By tradition, this term of the Lord’s Day meant the first day of the week that was recognized as a day of worship. This could have been the day John was speaking about. The term “the day of the Lord” being stated in scripture in several places describes the day of God’s vengeance on the Earth leading up to the final judgment. It appears to me to be the former that John was speaking of here; the Lord’s Day being the first day of the week.

John’s first vision experience was hearing a great voice speaking to him. The voice he heard instructed him to write what he was about to see in a book and send it to the seven churches in Asia. The description of the person speaking to him was clearly the glorified figure of Jesus Christ, who had previously been given all power in Heaven and Earth and now was standing as the Judge over all things and began to instruct John to write those things He was about to tell John. One thing I need to emphasize here about the seven angels spoken of in chapter one and verse 20 is about the seven angels. This was translated to be seven angels, but should have said seven messengers. God does not put angels in charge of churches. These seven were messengers, or pastors, or overseers; earthly men who were over the seven churches in Asia that John was writing to.

After the salutations and the messages to the seven churches was complete, John saw a door open and Heaven came into view by him. John clearly saw a throne in Heaven and none other than God the Father sitting on the Throne and He told John that what he was going to see were things that were to take place in the future. This vision of God the Father, the Almighty, who was the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the ending and is verified by the fact that this was the Creator who had created all things for His pleasure.

After this, as is stated in Chapter five, John saw Him that sat on the Throne having a book which He gave to the Lamb which was no other than Jesus Christ himself since He was the only one worth to look upon the book and loose the seven seals of it. One thing that needs to be noted here is that this event takes place after the first resurrection and the Rapture and is taking place in Heaven. This is proven by the fact as stated in Rev 5:9 thru 11, there are those who had been redeemed out of “every kindred, and tongue and people and Nation on the Earth and they were numbered by “ten thousand times ten thousand and thousands of thousands” of people.

There are four beasts that announce the opening of the first four seals in the sixth chapter and are described here in the fourth chapter. I believe there is some significance to the ap­pearance of these beasts, so I think it is important to under­stand what these four beasts represent in order to place the opening of the first four seals in the proper perspective.

Ezekiel also had a vision where he saw four beasts as is described in the following scriptures:

Ezekiel 1:5-11 “Also out of the midst there­of came the likeness of four living crea­tures. And this was their appearance; they had the likeness of a man. {6} and every one had four faces, and every one had four wings. {7} and their feet were straight feet; and the sole of their feet was like the sole of a calf’s foot: and they sparkled like the color of burnished brass. {8} and they had the hands of a man under their wings on their four sides; and they four had their faces and their wings. {9} their wings were joined one to another; they turned not when they went; they went every one straightforward. {10} as for the likeness of their faces, they four had the face of a man, and the face of a lion, on the right side: and they four had the face of an ox on the left side; they four also had the face of an eagle. {11} thus were their faces: and their wings were str­etched up­ward; two wings of every one were joined one to an­other, and two covered their bodies.”

Again in chapter 10, Ezekiel saw these beasts and this time called them Cherubims. This time when he described their four faces, he said that one of the faces was the face of a cher­ub instead of an ox.

Zechariah also had a vision where he saw four chariots with four different colored horses in them. The colors of the horses were red, black, white, and grisled and bay. He was told that these were the four spirits of the heavens that stand before the Lord.

Zechariah 6:1   “And I turned, and lifted up my eyes, and looked, and, behold, there came four chariots out from between two moun­tains; and the mountains were mountains of brass.”

The four beasts that Ezekiel saw, and the four beasts that Zechariah saw, and the four beasts standing before the altar in Revelations 1:7 are all one and the same. These beasts are Cherubims, special creations that God uses for special tasks, holding a higher office than the angels. In Ezekiel 28:14, God spoke of satan at one time being one of His cherubs.

I believe there is a special significance to the four faces that these beasts have in the fourth chapter of Revelations. This significance will be brought out with the revelation of the first four seals.

The four faces described are like:

1. A Lion:

2. A Calf, or Ox, or Cherub:

3. A Man:

4. An Eagle:

To set the stage for the scripture telling about the opening of these seals, you must realize that, according to scripture, these seals are opened by Christ in Heaven. In addition, the scripture clearly describes that this opening of the seals will come after the First Resurrection and the Rapture of believers from all the Nations. None of this has occurred as of yet.

The following is my own personal belief about what the opening of the seals describes as I have determined by using other scripture to determine what this meaning could represent.

THE FIRST SEAL

Revelations 6:1-2 “And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, Come and see. {2} And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer.”

The first beast, the cherub of God that looked like a Lion, announced the opening of the first seal and said, “Come and see. John saw a man sitting on a white horse. He had a bow. And a crown was given to him. And he went forth to conquer. Throughout the scriptures Christ is portrayed upon a white horse and no one else is, so this must be Christ shown here. The bow He had repre­sents a covenant, a new covenant, just as God put the bow in the sky as a covenant between Him and man, to show that He wouldn’t destroy the earth with water again. The scripture is translated that He went forth to conquer, but a better translation would be that He went forth to overcome, to prevail and get the victory. This is just exactly what Christ did and when He got the victory, He was crowned King of Kings and Lord of Lords. So the opening of this seal portrays Christ in the beginning of creation coming forth with a covenant with which man can obtain eternal life.

Hebrews 12:24   “And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant,”

John said: “In the beginning was the Word”. Christ was that Word, as He appeared in the garden. If Adam would have taken of that tree of life which was in the garden, he would have obtained eternal life.

Genesis 2:9   “And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.”

1 Timothy 6:14   “That you keep this com­mandment without spot, unrebukeable, until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ”: {15} “Which in his times he shall show, who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords”;

Revelations 17:14   “These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful.”

Revelations 19:11   “And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he does judge and make war.”

     The significance of the appearance of the first beast was that he looked like a Lion, representing Christ as the Lion of the tribe of Judah. So, what this seal reveals, is Christ coming to the earth with a new covenant, riding on a white horse, over­coming the temptations of the devil, conquering death and the grave and receiving His crown.

THE SECOND SEAL

Revelations 6:3-4   “And when he had opened the second seal, I heard the second beast say, come and see. {4} and there went out another horse that was red: and power was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another: and there was given unto him a great sword.”

The Beast that announced the opening of this second seal looked like a calf, which represents an object of sacrifice. This second seal reveals the sacrificial deaths of those who were martyred for their beliefs. Also, remember when the prophet Eze­kiel saw these beasts, he said one of them had the face of a Cherub, instead of a calf – keeping in mind that satan was once a Cherub of God.

Ezekiel 10:14   “And every one had four fac­es: the first face <was> the face of a cher­ub, and the second face <was> the face of a man, and the third the face of a lion, and the fourth the face of an eagle.”

Ezekiel 28:14   “You are the anointed cherub that covers; (God was speaking to satan)

This man riding on a red horse is satan himself with a sword of his own, not one like Christ has. Where Christ, being the Prince of peace, came to show people how to live in peace, satan came to take peace from the earth. This red horse compares with the scarlet colored beast in Rev 17:3, symbolizing the spilling of blood. Zechariah also speaks of a man on a red horse walking to and fro through the earth, just as the book of Job describes satan walking to and fro through the earth. The red dragon of Rev 12:3 speaks of a satanic beast.

The red beasts of the Scriptures describe evil or satanic powers and the term used of some­one walking to and fro through the earth speaks of satan. So, without a doubt, the opening of this second seal tells of satan following the arrival of Christ on the earth causing the deaths of the saints of God and attempting to take peace from the earth.

Job 1:7   “And the LORD said unto satan, Where come you? Then satan answered the LORD, and said, FROM going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it.”

Zechariah 1:8   “I saw by night, and behold a man riding upon a red horse, and he stood among the myrtle trees that were in the bottom; and behind him were there red hors­es, speckled, and white.” {10} “And the man that stood among the myrtle trees answered and said, these are they who the LORD has sent to walk to and fro through the earth.”

1 Peter 5:8   “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the dev­il, as a roaring lion, walks about, seeking who he may devour”:

THE THIRD SEAL

Revelations 6:5-6 “And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand. {6} And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a pen­ny; and see you hurt not the oil and the wine.”

Looking at the whole statement and keeping it in context, this black horse rider is bringing dark, gloomy times to God’s people. The balances or scales indicate that there is rationing out the food that the people are getting. The statement: “A mea­sure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny”, clearly speaks of a time of famine. A measure of wheat for a penny translates into: about a quart of wheat for a day’s wages – a small amount of food for a whole day’s pay.

The statement about not hurting the oil and the wine, makes references to God’s anointed, telling the rider to keep his hands off of them. Throughout Bible history, God warned other nations about this when He allowed them to overcome Israel.

1 Chronicles 16:20   “And when they went from nation to nation and from one kingdom to another people”; {21} “He allowed no man to do them wrong: yea, he reproved kings for their sakes,” {22} “Saying, touch not my anointed, and do my prop­hets no harm.”

Psalms 105:13   “When they went from one nation to another, from one kingdom to another people”; {14} “He allowed no man to do them wrong: yea, he reproved kings for their sakes”; {15} “Say­ing, Touch not my anointed, and do my prophets no harm.”

The oil refers to God’s anointed, which in most part were the kings, since the kings were anointed with oil. The wine speaks to being like a stimulate, and makes reference to a stimulation of revelation. In those days all revelations came to the prophets, so the wine is referring to the prophets.

References to the meaning of a black horse in the Scriptures couldn’t be found, but one scripture in Lamentations indicate that black skin is the result of famine, and this seal appears to be speaking of a time when God’s people go through a famine.

Lamentations 5:10   “Our skin was black like an oven because of the terrible famine.”

One thing that needs to be noted here is that this time of famine was not like most of the many famines that God allowed to come upon His people. There was a prominent man involved, as is obvious by the black horse rider being announced by the third beast who had a face as a man.

To aid in recognizing exactly which time of famine this was referring to, for there had been many times of famine, the mys­tery of the fourth seal had to be solved first. Since the fourth seal describes the destruction of Jerusalem and the captivity of the people by Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, the time of the famine described by the third seal had to have occurred prior to that event. The time of this famine must have taken place during the period of time that Joseph, the son of Jacob, was in Egypt. The prominent man riding the black horse that was involved had to have been the Pharaoh of Egypt.

THE FOURTH SEAL

Revelations 6:7-8 “And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see. {8} And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth.”

The fourth beast that announced the opening of this seal was like a flying eagle. The following scriptures, by the mouth of five prophets point to this seal revealing the capture of Jerusa­lem by the king of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar. After the Israelites left Egypt and before they entered into the land promised to them by God, Moses warned the people about what would happen if they failed to obey God’s commandments. Nebuchadnezzar besieged Jeru­salem and many died of hunger before he captured the city.

Deuteronomy 28:49   “The LORD shall bring a nation against you from far, from the end of the earth, as swift as the eagle flies; a nation whose tongue you shall not under­stand”;

Jeremiah the prophet prophesied about Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, conquering Israel and the surrounding nations.

Jeremiah 48:40 “For thus said the LORD; Behold, he shall fly as an eagle, and shall spread his wings over Moab.”

Jeremiah 49:22   “Behold, he shall come up and fly as the eagle, and spread his wings over Bozrah: and at that day shall the heart of the mighty men of Edom be as the heart of a woman in her pangs.”

Ezekiel Hosea and Habakkuk the prophets also referred to Nebuchadnezzar as a great eagle.

Ezekiel 17:3   “And say, Thus said the Lord GOD; A great eagle with great wings, long winged, full of feathers, which had divers colors, came unto Lebanon, and took the highest branch of the cedar”:

Hosea 8:1   “Set the trumpet to your mouth. He shall come as an eagle against the house of the LORD, because they have transgressed my covenant, and trespassed against my Law.”

Habakkuk 1:8   “Their horses also are swifter than the leopards, and are more fierce than the evening wolves: and their horsemen shall spread themselves, and their horsemen shall come from far; they shall fly as the eagle that hastens to eat.”

THE FIFTH SEAL

Revelations 6:9-11   “And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held: {10} And they cried with a loud voice, say­ing, How long, O Lord, holy and true, do you not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? {11} And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellow servants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled.”

It needs to be noted here that the altar referred to, is an altar of sacrifice. The place where Christ was crucified, being the Lamb of God and sacrificing Himself for all people, can also be viewed as an altar. The souls that are seen under this altar are the saints that were killed throughout the years.

The time of the opening of this seal is just after Christ was crucified. At this time He preached the gospel to them who were in the graves and when they asked Him if He was going to avenge them at that time, He told them that the time for judgment and to avenge them was farther in the future. At that time white robes were given to them as a part of their reward. Only after Christ had overcome, could He have given reward to other over-comers. Remember the thief on the cross, as Jesus told him that on that day, he would be with Him in Paradise. The rewards could only come after the sacrifice was made.

1 Peter 4:6   “For this cause was the gospel preached also to them that are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit.”

SATAN CAST OUT OF HEAVEN

After Jesus Christ was resurrected and taken up into Heaven, satan was cast out of Hea­ven to spend the remainder of his time on the earth. This is indicated in the chronology of events de­picted in the 12th chapter of Revelations. With satan being able to concentrate all his attention and efforts on earth, began a period of extreme persecution, destruction and deception towards the people on the earth. This explains the rage of the Roman army against the Jews, the persecution of the saints and martyrdoms during the dark ages and the deception using false doctrines during the last several centuries, which has been instrumental in the division of the churches.

Revelations 12:5   “And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne.” {7} and there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, {8} and prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. {9} and the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the devil, and satan, which de­­ceives the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.”

THE SIXTH SEAL

Revelations 6:12-17   “And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood; {13} And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree cast­s her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind. {14} And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. {15} And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the moun­tains; {16} And said to the moun­tains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: {17} For the great day of his wrath has come; and who shall be able to stand?

There are some signs here that will definitely place these events at a certain point in time. They are “The Sun becoming Black”, “The Moon becoming as blood”, “The stars of Hea­ven fall­ing”, and “The Heaven departing as a Scroll”. These events occur just prior to when Christ returns to the earth for the final judgment.

     The prophet Isaiah said:

Isaiah 13:6   “Howl ye; for the day of the LORD is at hand; it shall come as a de­struction from the Almighty.” {10} “For the stars of heaven and the constellations there­of shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine.”

The prophet Joel also:

Joel 1:15 “Alas for the day! For the day of the LORD is at hand, and as a destruction from the Almighty shall it come.”

{2:10} “The earth shall quake before them; the heavens shall tremble: the sun and the moon shall be dark, and the stars shall with­draw their shining”:

Then Jesus put it in the order it will occur:

Matthew 24:29-31 “Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shak­en: {30} And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. {31} and he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

It is important to note the order that Christ has these events in.

(1) The Sun and the moon shall be darkened, and the Stars shall fall.

(2) They shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds.

 (3) They shall gather His Elect from the four winds.

So the opening of the sixth seal describes the events sur­rounding the return of Christ at the end of the Millennium. Prior to this time the Saints of Christ have been in Heaven for one thousand years but the Jews (His Elect) are still on earth.

THE SEVENTH SEAL

Revelations 8:1   “And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour.”

The opening of this seventh seal had nothing to reveal, the plan of redemption was complete, and this was the beginning of the end for the earth and its inhabitants. At this time the punishments and tribulations occur, which are listed in the 8th, 9th 15th, and 16th chapters of Revelations.

Concerning the examination of the remaining chapters of the Book of Revelations; they will be taken in the order as they appear in the book, but are not necessarily in chronological order.

Chapter eight begins with the opening of the seventh seal which says that there was silence in Heaven for about one half of an hour. After the silent period ended, John saw another vision of seven angels which stood before God. It appears that these angels were not heavenly angels, but were Earthly Messengers instead. This can be determined by two scriptures where two of these angels told John that they were fellow servants and of John’s brethren who were prophets and he should not fall down to worship them. It concludes that if two of these seven angels were Earthly messengers and not heavenly angels, then all seven of them were earthly messengers or prophets of God also.

The pouring out of God’s wrath on the Earth in the last day; re: Rev 8:7 thru 9:21 and 16:1 thru 21.

These seven messengers (angels as was supposed) were at one time and the other were given (1) seven trumpets and seven vials containing the last seven plagues which were the wrath of God to be poured down on the Earth. (Rev 8:2, 15:1 and 15:7).

After John saw the seven messengers with the seven trumpets another angel appeared having a golden censer that he filled with fire from the altar and cast it down to the Earth which resulted in thundering and earthquakes. This occurred before the seven messengers sounded their trumpets. What followed after the seven messengers sounded the trumpets was devastation that occurred on the Earth. It should be obvious that the extent of the devastation that will occur will be the result after seven prophets sound their alarms by way of the trumpets being sounded was God’s final wrath being poured out on those who were not believers. We must keep in mind that all of this occurs after the seventh seal is opened. This pouring out of God’s wrath on the Earth is described in Chapter 8 verse 7 through chapter 9 verse 21. This continues in chapter 16 verse 1 through verse 21.

The Salvation of the Jewish Nation

Which takes place after the opening of the 5^th seal

God turns back to the Jewish Nation after the Gentile dispensation has ended, after the First Resurrection and the Rapture of those who are in the Body of Christ and after the Millennium has ended. The details of this event is depicted in Chapter eleven, starting with verse three through verse thirteen and in Chapter seven, verse one through verse eight.

In chapter eleven it says that God sends two witnesses who are prophets to the Jewish people to deliver the salvation message to those who held to the orthodox belief of their fathers and had not accepted Jesus Christ as the Messiah. These two prophets preach to the Jews for three and one half years and perform great miracles in order to convince the Jewish people that God has sent them. At this time since the thousand years has ended, satan is released from the bottomless pit (Rev 20:2-3) and causes the death of these prophets. After the bodies of these prophets have laid in the streets of Jerusalem for several days, God raises them up and takes them up into Heaven.

After hearing the testimony of these two prophets and seeing the miracles they performed, one hundred and forty four thousand of them will repent and accept the prophet’s testimony and ascension into heaven, becoming believers, and are sealed with the Holy Spirit. (Rev 7:4-8)

The remainder of Chapter 7, verses 9 through 17 depicts a scene that takes place in Heaven where all believers have assembled before the throne of God.

Chapter 10

Revelation 10:1 reads as follows:

John says: “And I saw another mighty angel come down from heaven, clothed with a cloud: and a rainbow was upon his head, and his face was as it were the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire: And he had in his hand a little book open: and he set his right foot upon the sea, and his left foot on the earth,

I believe without a doubt that this angel was actually Christ since He came down from Heaven and the little book in His hand was actually the Word of God, the Holy Bible. John was then instructed to take the little book and using it he was to prophesy before the World. Well John did just that. Even though John is not with us today, he did prophesy before the World by writing this book called Revelation.

About the seven thunders that uttered their voices

In the book of Revelations, chapter 10, verse 3, it speaks of seven thunders that uttered their voices, and when John heard them, he started to write down what they said, but was stopped. John was told to seal up what those seven thunders said, for it was not time to make it known.

Rev 10:3-4 “And cried with a loud voice, as when a lion roars: and when he had cried, seven thunders uttered their voices. (4) And when the seven thunders had uttered their voices, I was about to write: and I heard a voice from heaven saying to me, Seal up those things which the seven thunders uttered, and write them not.”

Because of the placement of these seven thunders in the tenth chapter, many assume that they utter their voices after the opening of the seventh seal, which appears in the eighth chapter, but this is not the case. The chapters of the book of Revelations are not placed in chronological order, as we dis­cover during our study.

With the guidance of the Holy Spirit, I will attempt to show exactly what these seven thunders are, when they will sound, and what their purpose is. To do this I will point to some scriptures that tell us what these thunders are, quote some words that were spoken by a great man of God that I knew, and point out what God has revealed to me about what will happen when these thunders do occur.

We’ll start by quoting what another brother said while de­livering a series of messages on the seven seals during the month of March 1963. This brother was William M. Branham, a man of God who carried a ministry of divine healing around the world, without any doubt sent by God due to the many signs and wonders that were exhibited during his ministry.

While preaching on the seventh seal, Brother Branham said, “The seven thunders that were not written will be revealed to get the Bride together for rapturing.  We hardly have enough faith for healing; our faith must increase to be raptured. We will find where these thunders are written.”

So Brother Branham, who successfully had thousands of veri­fied healings during his services, said that the faith of the believers was not nearly high enough to be ready for the rapture, when the Lord returns for His Bride. Our faith must increase, and it will take the revealing of those seven thunders to do it. He went on to say, “It will take those seven thunders to wake the Bride up.”

Now what are these seven thunders that utter their voices? Let’s look at a few scriptures and see if we can get an under­standing of what they are. The scriptures teach us “by two or three witnesses every word will be established.” Our witnesses will be the prophet Samuel, Job, David, and the Lord’s Apostles.

2 Sam 22:14 “The Lord thundered from heaven, and the most High uttered his voice.”

Job 37:5 “God thunders marvelously with his voice.”

Job 40:9 “Have you an arm like God? Or can you thunder with a voice like him?”

Psa 18:13 “The Lord also thundered in the heavens, and the Highest gave his voice.”

Psa 104:7 “At your rebuke they fled; at the voice of your thunder they ran away.”

John 12:29 “The people therefore, that stood by, and heard it, said that it thundered: others said, an angel spoke to him.”

Samuel, Job, David in his Psalms, and the Lord’s Apostles testify that when God speaks from Heaven, His voice sounds like a great roar of thunder. So many times throughout the scriptures the voice of God speaking is referred to as thunder, and where some may hear the voice, others say that it just thundered.

Take for an example, as is recorded in John 12:28 through 30. When God spoke, some of those present heard the voice of God, and some only heard what sounded like thunder. It doesn’t say who heard the voice and who heard what only sounded like thunder, but I believe that believers were the only one’s that heard and understood the voice, and the unbelievers heard only the sound of thunder.

With­out a doubt, I be­lieve that the seven thunders in Revelations, chapter ten, is none other than the voice of God speaking from Heaven, and the believers will hear and understand what He will say, but unbelievers will only hear the roar as of thunder.

But this is what will wake the Bride up, and this is what will in­crease the faith of those who will be taken in the Rap­ture. Throughout the years, God has sent many prophets, apos­tles, and evangelists to speak His Word to the people and instill in them that only their faith can produce results. Only their faith in His Word can produce healing, salvation, and other works that He would like for His children to be doing. But even with all the miracles and wonders God has exhibited throughout the gener­ations, the faith of the people is still weak.

Jesus asked a question as is recorded in Luke 18:8. “When the Son of man comes, shall he find faith on the earth?” If, as Brother Branham said, “we do not have enough faith for our own healing, how can we have enough faith to believe that we will lift off this earth and meet the Lord in the air when the rapture occurs?” When He returns, will He find faith in us? I think not, because we will not buckle down and believe what His Word says.

So to wake the Bride up and prepare her for the Rapture, God will speak from Heaven and the results of what He says will cause the faith of the saints to increase and prepare them for the Rapture. That is what those seven thunders of Revelations chapter ten are—the voice of God speaking seven times to His people on the earth. And when this occurs, some great and marvelous supernatural things will occur and will get the attention of those who are looking for the return of Christ.

If witnessing divine healing does not produce the faith that God expects us to have, what will? If hearing the testimony of those who have seen the dead brought back to life does not do it, what will?

I believe that God will speak once again to His people, either through an anointed individual or directly to the people on Earth, and will cause some great supernat­ural things to happen that will increase the faith of born again believers.

These seven thunders that utter their voices will be God speaking to His people in these last days and will occur just before Jesus Christ returns for His Bride, the born again, Spirit filled believers, who make up the Body of Christ.

Brother Branham thought that one day we would find in a written form the explanation of those seven thunders, and it would be convincing enough to cause the faith of born again believers to be increased to the level needed in order to be raptured. But it is hard for me to believe that anything written could do that, in light of the fact that we have had the written form of God’s Word for so long and our faith is still insufficient.

In the beginning, God spoke directly to His people. He spoke directly to Adam and Eve in the garden and on down to the time of Moses, until the people became so fearful that they did not want God to speak directly to them any more. Then God began to speak to His people through the prophets.

After the prophets, God sent His only begotten Son and spoke to His people through Him. Since that time in history, we have had God speaking to us through His written Word. God has tried every way throughout the past thousands of years to get the people to hear and believe His Word, but we still lack the level of faith He would like for us to have. Jesus gave an example of the level of our faith in the seventeenth chapter of Matthew when He said that if our faith was only the size of a grain of mustard seed, nothing would be impossible for us to do.

If it is true what Brother Branham said, and I believe that it is, we do lack the faith necessary to be raptured. And if those seven thunders will be the cause of the raising of our faith to be raptured, then what else could they be but the voice of Almighty God speak­ing to His people, once again, from Heaven.

The sounding of the seventh angel!

In Revelation 10:7 it says: “In the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he has declared to his servants the prophets.” This seventh angel messenger is one of the seven who was standing before the throne of God and was given a trumpet and his sounding of the trumpet will be the last to complete all that was in God’s plan for the inhabitants of the Earth.

It tells of the happenings when this seventh angel sounds in Rev 11:15 as the prelude to the great White Throne Judgment. Scripture states that this is the very end when all things have been accomplished according to the will of God.

Chapter 12

This twelfth chapter does not appear in any certain chronological order in the book and could have been numbered with any chapter number without any certain significance. I look at this depiction as described as being just an overview without much detail concerning certain events that occur throughout history.

We begin this study of the book of Revelations with this chapter called “THE OVERVIEW.” In my opinion, chapter twelve gives us a look, just as though it was a snapshot, at some of the events that have occurred from the creation of this world, up to this present time in history. This chapter does not give us a lot of details about the events that it depicts, but it does give us some valuable information about the sequence of some events that are important in understanding how the plan of God unfolds as time passes on to the consummation.

This chapter, as well as the whole book of Revelations,  makes use of a number of symbols to represent certain things and leaves itself open to interpretation as to what the symbols actually represent. The only way to interpret the meaning of these symbols is to attempt to see what a certain one represents throughout the Bible and use that for the best interpretation available. As was stated previously, we should let the Word of God, which is the original inspired scriptures, interpret themselves.

The first verse of chapter twelve starts off by describing a vision that John saw in Heaven.

Rev 12:1 “And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars.”

I believe that the twelve stars represent the twelve tribes of Israel that God has put over all the rest of His creation (Gen 37:10). In the beginning when God made man, He gave him dominion over all things that He had created (Gen 1:26, Psa 8:6). Throughout the Bible, the symbol of a woman is used to portray a city or a church, but I believe the woman in this particular vision represents the earth. The earth as it is portrayed here as a woman represents the mother of all things. As man was taken out of the earth, so are all other things that live and grow. The sun represents the light of God watching over and nourishing all of His creation.

I believe that verse two represents the whole of God’s creation travailing in pain and in misery looking for permanent deliverance from their sinful condition, since up to the time of Christ they had only the blood of animals for temporary atonement.

In verse three, we see a great red dragon that throughout the scriptures represents the devil. As can be identified by comparing (Rev 13:1, 17:3-9), satan appears in the form of the Roman Empire that was governing the land of Israel at the time of the birth of Christ. The seven heads represent the seven hills that the city of Rome sits on; the ten horns are the ten Cae­sars that ruled the Roman Empire during its strongest years. The seven crowns are somewhat of a mystery as to what they represent since the scriptures do not address them. But crowns indicate a ruler or someone in power, and since these crowns in verse three are upon the seven heads, which are the seven hills that Rome sits on, I believe they represent seven diverse nations which had the rule over Israel throughout history, with the Roman Empire being the seventh at the time of Christ.

Verse four speaks of the dragon controlling a third of the stars of Heaven, which represent one third of the angels following satan. The dragon standing before the woman, waiting to devour the child, portrays King Herod, Rome’s representative in the country, attempting to slay the newborn Jesus in Bethlehem.

Without a doubt, verse 5 is speaking of Jesus and gives a very quick snapshot of Him from His birth to His ascension into Heaven.

Rev 12:5 “And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and <to> his throne.”

Verse six should be combined with verse fourteen and will be addressed together, but verses seven through thirteen will be discussed first.

After Christ obtained the victory over satan by overcoming all that satan could send against Him, including death, He ascend­ed into Heaven as is noted in verse five. Then, as ver­ses seven through nine tell us, there was war in Heaven, and satan and his angels were cast out into the earth.

When satan was cast out of Heaven, he began to persecute the Woman, which in this case represents the church of God still on the earth. And according to verse six and fourteen, the church fled from the persecution and took refuge throughout the earth.

I believe that verses six and fourteen both speak of the same period of time, but in different ways. Verse six says for a thousand two hundred and sixty days, which could represent years, and verse fourteen says for a time and a time and half of a time.

The King James Bible says for a time and times and half a time, but I could see no reason in the translation to make the second time plural as times. The same Greek word that was trans­lated into time was translated into times.

If the period of 1260 days/years has some significance, it must be measured from the period that satan was persecuting the church after being cast out of Heaven. The scriptures give no indication of the length of this persecution before the church flees from its influence, but it may have occurred sometime around 758 AD.

If, as this writer has determined, the end of the 1260 years occurs about the year 2000 AD, this would have put the end of satan’s persecution of the church about the year of 758 AD. This writer could not determine the significance of this particular year, but it could be that history has something recorded about it. Even so, I’m not sure that the exact reckoning of this period of time is of any consequence.

After the church flees into the wilderness to escape satan’s persecution, verses 15 thr­ough 17 tell us that satan cast water out of his mouth to overcome them. The significance of water is that which usually represents people in the Bible. So I believe that this speaks of false prophets being sent out to deceive and over­come the church throughout the world, which is continuing until this day.

As can be noted, the writer has made a lot of conjecture in determining the meaning of this chapter, which may or may not be the correct interpretation of these symbols and events. The writ­er does believe the most important points in this chapter that puts certain events in perspective are as follows:

1. Satan and his angels were not cast out of Heaven until after Christ had ascended to Heaven.

2. If the end of the 1260 days/years spoken of in verse 6 is about the year 2000 AD, then something must be recorded in history that is significant to the church, which occurred about 758 AD. This would have occurred during the period of time known as the “Dark Ages.”

3. Verse 12 notes that satan has but a short time from being cast out of Heaven until he is taken out of the way at the start of the Millennium, as is noted in Rev 20:2-3. I believe that this short time is the period of 1260 days/years spoken of in verse 6; then will come the rapture of the church and the binding of satan.

Chapter 13

Chapter 13 starts with a series of visions that John received, some of which have already taken place and continues with events in the future which will occur before the return of Christ.

This chapter deals heavily on events that are recorded in history and has very little reference to the scriptures for iden­tification or verification.

This vision deals with certain king­doms and rulers of those king­doms, and how their influence af­fected the people of God. The time period of this vision begins with the rule of the Roman Empire over the Jews.

We must keep in mind that John was in exile on the Isle of Patmos when this was written. This was a letter written to the seven churches in Asia that John was overseeing. In order for this letter to safely get to the churches, through the Roman lines, John had to use certain symbolic descriptions so the Romans wouldn’t know he was writing about them. This letter was written after the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus in 70AD and John was writing this section to let the churches know what had happened.

Revelations 13:1   “And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.”

 This beast is the same one that is described in the 17th chapter, and represents the Roman Empire. The seven heads repre­sent seven hills that the city of Rome is built upon. The ten horns represent the ten Rulers of Rome that had ruled up to the time of the destruction of Jerusalem in 70AD. The designation of the blasphemous names on the ten heads is the same as is recorded in 17:3 and identifies these beasts as being one and the same.

Revelations 13:2   “And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.”

This description of the beast matches the description of the four beasts of Daniel 7:3-7. This beast looked just like the four described in Daniel, and the fourth beast of Daniel had ten horns just like this beast in Revelations 13 has ten horns, (ten kings).

Daniel 7:3   “And four great beasts came up from the sea, diverse one from another.” {4}  “The first was like a lion, {5}  “And a second, like to a bear, {6} another, like a leopard, {7} a fourth beast, and it had great iron teeth and it had ten horns.”

History has proven what these beasts represent. These were four kingdoms that ruled in that part of the world. The first was the Babylonian empire ruled first by Nebuchadnezzar (The Lion). The second was the Mede and Persian Empires, ruled first by Cyrus (The Bear). The third was the Grecian empire, ruled by Alexander the great (Leopard). And the fourth with great iron teeth was the Roman Empire, which was under the rule of its tenth king when Jerusalem was destroyed in 70AD.

This beast depicted by John in the 13th chapter was the Roman Empire and ruled the Jews just like all the kingdoms before it. Julius Caesar started this Roman rule and even though he was assassinated, the next 11 rulers of the empire continued to use his name, Caesar. But up to the year of 70AD, when they destroyed Jerusalem and took the Jews captive, only ten Caesars, (ten horns) had ruled Rome.

Revelations 13:3   “And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast.”

The head that was “wounded to death” was very likely the first Caesar, Julius Caesar. After his death his successors continued to use the title of Caesar, thus his name continued on as th­ough he continued to live.

Verse 4 describes the Roman Empire to a tee. The people worshipped satan in many ways with their orgies, sacrifices to the gods and other immoralities. At that time Rome ruled that part of the world and no other country was capable of defeating them in war.

Rev 13:4   “And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, who is like unto the beast? Who is able to make war with him?”

Verses 5 through 10 without doubt deal with Titus, a Roman General and the son of the tenth ruler of Rome, who came against Jerusalem in 70 AD and destroyed the city. Because the Jews were all at Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover, over 1,300,000 people were killed and 97,000 were taken captive. Those taken captive were sent away to different countries in slavery.

Revelations 13:7-8 “And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindred’s, and tongues, and nations. {8} And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.

Titus had Jerusalem under siege for about three and one-half years (42 months) and many of the people died from disease, thirst and hunger. After capturing Jerusalem, he made a speech to the remaining Jews saying; “We have given you this land to pos­sess and live on, we have set kings over you of your own people, we have preserved the Laws of your forefathers and allowed you to gather and pay tribute to your God”. Not only did Titus take credit for what God had done for His people (blasphemy), but he also carried away all the sacred vessels of the temple and used them in a pagan display.

Revelations 13:5-7 “And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blas­phemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months. {6} And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven. {7} And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindred’s, and tongues, and nations.”

      John wrote this after the destruction of Jerusalem in 70AD. He was actually looking back over the years and putting into a symbolic description, what he had seen leading up to that present time. Then John was given a vision of future events, which he continued to describe in symbolic language since it continued to speak of Rome.

Revelations 13:11-12 “And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spoke as a dra­gon. {12} And he exercised all the power of the first beast before him, and caused the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.”

This portrays a period of time after the rule of the Caesars in Rome when the church and the government of Rome were on a parallel course (two horns). As time progressed the church began to exercise influence over the government of Rome, even to determine who was selected as the Emperor. Eventually the church and state were joined together in one endeavor with the church exercising con­trol and using the state to keep the people in line with the doctrine of the church.

As additional verification of the interpretation of chapter 13, let us look at chapter 17 where John has another vision of a beast, which looks like the same beast described in chapter 13. Along with this vision comes a description indicating exactly what is being described.

Revelations 17:3   “So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet colored beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.”

Chapter 9 describes part of this vision saying that the seven heads represent seven mountains. It is well known that the city of Rome sits atop seven mountains or hills. Consequently the woman must represent Rome or the church in Rome, since a church is normally portrayed as a woman. Since we have determined this beast is the same one that was seen in the 13th chapter, we know that it represents the Roman Empire. The Woman being described is the church that grew out of Rome.

Revelations 17:9   “And here is the mind which has wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sits.”

The following verse 5 and 6 describe the woman/church and calls its name Babylon and says that it has been responsible for the deaths, both spiritual and physical, of many people. Recorded history testifies to the fact that the Roman Catholic Church was responsible for the dea­ths and martyrdom of thousands, if not millions, of the saints of God since the first century.

Revelations 17:5-6 “And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, and THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. {6} And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration.”

Being called the Mother of Harlots was because all the other church denominations had spun off from the Roman Catholic church down through the ages.

Revelations 17:8   “The beast that you saw was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is.”

Just one comment about the 8th verse, as it is somewhat deceiving about what it is actually saying. The part about the beast that “was and is not” is not actually stated exactly as the original scriptures. In the original writing, the words that I have boldfaced, was and is not, are not there. These words were added by the translators and with them in the text; it says that the beast does not exist at that time.

The scripture actually says, “The beast that you saw shall ascend out of the bottomless pit”. This beast was the devil who will be shut in the bottomless pit for the duration of the Millennium to prevent him from deceiving the nations and will be released for a short time after the thousand years are over. (Chapter 20)

Without these added words this verse would read as follows:

The beast that you saw shall ascend out of the bottomless pit and shall go into perdi­tion.

Revelations 17:10 “And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he comes, he must continue a short space. {11} And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goes into perdi­tion.”

These kings spoken of in the 10th verse are not necessarily kings; they could have been translated kingdoms or powers. There are no real clues in the scriptures or in the recorded history as to what this could be representing.

But I believe that they could be the beasts that have been spoken of throughout the scriptures.  At the time of John’s vi­sion, five were in the past, one existed at that time, and the seventh was in the future. Verse 10 also mentions the eighth being a beast in the future, and going into perdition.

Verses 8 and 11 both speak of this beast as the one that ascends out of the bottomless pit and goes into perdition. This is speak­ing of satan himself that was put into the bottomless pit at the time of the first resurrection spoken of in Revelations 20:3.

These kings or kingdoms or beasts are:

(1) The Serpent in the Garden of Eden

(2) The Egyptian Empire under Joseph’s Pharaoh

(3) The Babylonian Empire

(4) The Mede/Persian Empire

(5) The Grecian Empire

(6) The Roman Empire

(7) The Roman Catholic Church

(8) The Great Dragon, satan, the devil

Throughout the Bible, all of the above-mentioned entities were referred to as beasts, or powers that existed in the lives of God’s people. The first beast that was mentioned in the Scrip­tures was the Serpent in the Garden of Eden and was the object that satan used to cause the fall of man. At the time of John’s vision, the first five had fallen, the one that existed then was the Roman Empire, the seventh that was to continue for a short space was the Roman church, and the eighth is satan himself, prob­ably incarnate in some man.

The last part of Chapter 13 verses 11 thru 18 presents a picture of the power of the Roman Catholic Church working in conjunction with the Roman Empire to control everything that the people could do.

Chapter 14

The 14^th chapter appears to be an assortment of different events that John made statements about which follow no pattern or chronological order. These statements appear to describe certain events as I have noted in the following:

In verses 1 thru 5 John describes Jesus standing on Mount Sion surrounded by the 144,000 Israelites who have been saved and filled with the Spirit of God. John describes these as being the first fruits of God. This cane be verified in Jeremiah 2:3 and Deut 7:6-7 where it describes the people of Israel being the chosen people of God and the first fruits of His increase and has redeemed them because of the oath that He made with their fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

Unlike some religious groups, who are not Jewish like the Jehovah’s Witnesses that believe they are the 144,000, and is defined in chapter 7, these are orthodox Jewish people only.

Verses 6 and 7 speak of an angel, but since angels are not sent by God to preach, this must be an earthly messenger who proclaims the final message to the people as the time of Judgment approaches. This could parallel with chapter 10 verses 9 thru 11. Since this speaks of happening just prior to the final judgment, it must be after the redeeming of the 144,000 Jews.

Verses 8 thru 12 which speaks of the fall of Babylon, which is believed to be representative of the Church of Rome, as stated elsewhere this will occur about the time of the second coming of Christ.

Verse 13 thru verse 20 speaks of those people that remain on the Earth during the Millennium who will be judged at the end by their works since they were not a part of the Body of Christ who were taken in the rapture. These are those who are described in Matthew 25:31 thru 46.

 Chapter 15 and 16 describe the final Judgment for those unbelievers who rebelled against the commandments of God and were left on the Earth in the last days to face His wrath. These descriptions are very straight forward and I see no reason to attempt to interpret any of it with man’s reasoning. All of this occurs long after the second coming of Christ, after the First Resurrection and the Rapture of the body of Christ and after the redeeming of God’s elect, the Nation of Israel. These future events, according to scripture happens in excess of one thousand years from today.

Chapter 17 and 18 describe the fall of the Church of Rome depicted as Babylon in the scripture. As previously noted the fall of  this great church, the mother of harlots as it was called in the 17^th chapter, which spring forth from ancient Rome and its children, those churches which sprang forth from it, all will begin to crumble at about the time of the second coming of Christ.

Chapter 19 continues to speak of the fall of this church, then addresses the marriage of the Lamb when Christ raptures His body of believers into Heaven. Verses 11 through 21 describes the spiritual battle of  Christ and those who are His against the false teaching that occurred on the Earth. Yes, it is a spiritual battle and not a physical one when the truth becomes know and goes against the false teaching of the mother of harlots and her siblings, which results in the leaders of this great church meet their fate, the eradication of their teaching and their lofty positions in their churches.

Chapter 20 continues stating at the beginning of the Millennium, after the fall of the false churches, when satan himself is prevented from his deception of the people left on the Earth, those who failed to make themselves ready for Christ’s return. So for one thousand years, the duration of the Millennium when Christ and His Bride are in Heaven, the Earth will be free from the deception of satan. This chapter continues telling about those who were taken into Heaven and notes in verse 5 that this had just been the first resurrection of those who had died in the Lord.

Please note in verse 6 as it speaks about those who were taken in the rapture and the first resurrection about the second death, which is noted in scripture as the Lake of fire, that these will not face a final judgment and so will have no fear of the second death. Even so, those who will be left on the Earth will face the great white Throne judgment and will be judged by their works, as was described in Matthew chapter 25, starting with verse 32.

After the Millennial reign of Christ in Heaven and on the Earth, satan is released again at the time the two witnesses are sent to preach to the Jews to secure their conversions. This tells that satan will manage to gather together all the unbelieving Nations and send them against Jerusalem which results in the death of these two witnesses that God has sent, This is the time of the battle of  Armageddon also described in chapter 16 verses 14 thru 16 and God destroys this great army and casts the devil in the Lake of Fire for the final end of his existence.

The remainder of chapter 20, from verse 11 thru15 covers the Great White Throne judgment for all who were on the Earth, with the exception of those who were in the body of Christ and were already in Heaven with Christ.

Chapter 21

In the first verse of this chapter it states that there will be a new Heaven and a new Earth for the saved to dwell on. There are some that teach otherwise, saying that this present Earth will just be cleansed and not done away with. This verse says that our present Heaven and Earth will pass away or perish.

Quote Rev 21:1: “And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.

Quote Isa 65:17: “For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind.”

Quote 2 Peter 3:13 “Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwells righteousness.”

Then in the second verse it says that John saw the new Jerusalem coming down out of Heaven prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. There are some who even teach that the new Jerusalem is the Bride of Christ, but that is not what is said here. It says that this city would be adorned in the same manner that a bride would be for her husband and not that this city is the bride. Just another example to dispel false teaching that is being done. Those that teach that the new Jerusalem is the Bride use verses 9 and 10 to prove their point, but the Bride is not the city per say, but those who will be dwelling in that city, God’s elect and the saved out of all Nations on the Earth.

The remaining verses of Chapter 21 and chapter 22 are straight forward and require no explanation or interpretation.

This will be the last of my articles on the Bible to be published on this site.

All that is left to look forward to is

The Second Coming of Christ

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