This is my fifth study on the book of Revelation. In my first study I focused on a phrase I found during my first two trips through the book. The phrase was: the secret thing foretold by the prophets but revealed by Jesus. In that study I also noted a large company of people an elder showed John and asked, “What are these?” Through that study, I realized the large company of people the elder showed to John was the raptured from earth. They had received white robes from the Christ but had washed those robes in the blood of the Lamb.
Most Christians today cannot distinguish between the Lamb and the Christ and therefore have no idea there is a distinction being made in Revelation 7:14. My second study began when I went back to find the scripture references for the phrase, the secret thing foretold by the prophets but revealed by Jesus, and could not find it. I was faced with the concept that I had seen something in the scripture that was not in actuality there. As I struggled with that concept, the Lord reminded me of Romans 9:33.
Now Romans 9:33 reveals the Father put a stumbling stone in Jesus’ Church and in Acts 1:4, Jesus reveals the baptism with the Holy Spirit to be the Father’s gift to the Church. A baptism with the Holy Spirit is not possible without the gift of tongues. That the whole of Christianity stumbles over the gift of tongues to one degree or another goes without question but the question to me was: Why would God place a stumbling stone in Jesus’ Church?
All of this ties into the verse in Deuteronomy 29:29, “The secret things belong to our God,” and Jesus’ statement revealing all secrets will be made known before the end, Luke 8:17. My third study in Revelation began after my fourth trip through the book of Revelation and the verse that caught my attention was Revelation 5:6, “And I looked and in the midst of the throne… stood a lamb as it had been slain.”
When most Christians look at the throne of God, they see the Father setting on His throne and Jesus setting on a throne at His right hand. When Stephen was given a glimpse into heaven just prior to his death, he saw Jesus standing, not sitting. There are things that have been revealed to me, through my own personal studies of the scriptures, which have not been widely revealed to Christianity.
As I stated in my two previous studies, the world of Christianity does not believe 2Corinthians 5:17, “That if any man be in Christ Jesus, he is a new creation; old things have passed away and all things have become new.” The world of Christianity believes Christians must continue to repent of sins against the Ten Commandments, in spite of being new creations. The world of Christianity fails to believe on the only begotten Son of God and fails to realize Jesus offered Himself as a sacrifice for sin in heaven, after He had redeemed mankind from the curse of the law on earth. The world of Christianity fails to believe the core principals at the heart of Christianity.
The Jews were not instructed to torture and crucify the Passover lamb. The contrast between Jesus’ death on the cross and the sacrifice of the lamb could not be more contradictory, to me, yet most Christians don’t see it or question. I’ve also noted that the churches Jesus dictates letters to in chapters 3 and 4 are represented by golden candlesticks in Jesus’ hand, even though Jesus is displeased with all seven.
It seems apparent the world of Christianity is called from among the dead and given a second chance to believe on the Lamb. The Father, by hiding the truth through placing a natural stumbling stone in the church, has reserved believers in the Christ, so that, Jesus has an army to raise from the dead at the end of the age; an army that will follow Him perfectly.
Ezekiel relates how the Spirit of God led him out into a valley full of very dry bones and asked him, “Can these bones live?” Ezekiel doesn’t know the answer to this question and neither would I. I have been pursuing this Bible study now for several years and had decided those who did not keep Jesus’ commandments would not go to heaven. The last chapter of the book of Revelation issues a warning, “If any man take away from the words of this book, His name shall be taken away from the Lamb’s book of life.”
Most of Christianity takes the commandments Jesus issued in Acts 1:4-8 out of the book and replaces them with something else. While it was clear to me all humanity’s name was written into the book of life because of Jesus’ death on the cross, if anyone failed to keep Jesus’ commandments, their names were removed. Yet here is Ezekiel, led out into a valley of very dry bones, and asked, “Can these bones live?”
Of course they can; nothing is too hard for God, the question should be, Does God want them to? And again, God is not willing that any should perish, so of course He wants them to, and Ezekiel is instructed to speak to the bones. This story, found in Ezekiel 37:1-14, sounds amazingly similar to the story of the rapture. Jesus descends from heaven with a loud command just as Ezekiel speaks to the bones. He descends from heaven with instructions, just as Ezekiel gives the bones. And Jesus blows a trumpet blast to call an army of dry bones to Himself, just as found in Ezekiel’s story.
Can the dead in Christ live again? Emphatically yes! Will they recognize the Lord who calls them back to life? No! The Jesus who calls them back to life is the Lord of the new covenant age. The dead in Christ followed the Father; they were the sheep of the Father’s pasture. This Lord is the one who issued the commandment to wait for the baptism with the Holy Spirit; He is the Lamb of God; the begotten Son of God. The dead in Christ do not know this Jesus. Ezekiel’s story also relates how the dry bones do not know the Lord who calls them.
The trumpet blast was used to assemble an army in early Israel. Now, the book of Revelation is not an easy book to understand and Paul makes a unique statement in 1Thessalonians 4:17, “Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up with them,” meaning the dead in Christ. This phrase, “alive and remain,” though, whatever could it mean. It might make more sense if we overlap the first few chapters of the book of Revelation with a few of the next chapters.
What I mean is this: In the beginning of the book of Revelation, there are competing story lines. John is shown what happens in overlapping visions. Very early in the tribulation period, the dead in Christ are called back from the dead, and are assembled into an army, which then goes out preaching a message that is offensive to the established church, the devil, and his demons. The established church, the devil, and His demons wage war on the dead in Christ. Some believers who are alive at the time join in this fight and some are killed and end up under the altar. It is those who are alive and remain that are caught up with the dead in Christ and rise to meet Jesus in the air.
Remember, Jesus was killed when His actions and teachings threatened the very existence of the Jewish Nation. It is well known the Catholic Church put thousands of people to death during the dark ages for heresy when the church viewed them a threat. The Catholic Church sought to put Martin Luther to death, because in its view, Martin Luther’s teaching threatened the existence of the Catholic Church. The Lutherans thought to put the Ana Baptists to death for heresy. When Jesus unleashes an army of dead on the earth preaching a message contrary to the accepted normal gospel, some part of the church will rise up against it.
The phrase, “Which are alive and remain,” essentially speaks of two groups of people. The raising of the dead in Christ, the voice of the archangel, and the trumpet blast will divide the church into two groups, essentially believers and non-believers. The first group is believers who are alive during the tribulation period. The second group is those who remain till the time when the dead in Christ rise to meet Jesus in the air.
Now, remember, Paul said he knew a man who was caught up to heaven and heard things he was not permitted to speak. We know the secret things belong to God but Jesus said, “There will not be one single secret that will not be revealed.” It would be naïve not to consider 1Thessalonians 4:16-17 contains a few secrets; secrets that are to be revealed before the end. Since we are living at that time, this is the time for the revealing of secrets. We all know the preaching of the baptism with the Holy Spirit is offensive to certain church members and the gift of tongues is a dividing line in the church. Add to that Jesus commands each believer to speak with tongues daily until they have saturated themselves with the Holy Spirit and you have just divided the church into two groups that are naturally hostile to one another. Satan will side with one group and Jesus will side with the other.
Now you have two parties that will naturally draw interest from secular groups. Governments will either join one side or the other, depending on which side they identify with. Now we have the world, or world system, in battle with the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. The symbolism of the book of Revelation begins to make more sense. The book is not written chronologically; it is written as story lines, lines that cross and overlap.
So let’s consider the book of Revelation again in the light of what we know. We know Jesus came not to destroy the law but fulfill it. We know a destruction of the law would have dishonored the Father but a fulfillment would honor Him. We know Jesus said, “I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in my Father’s love,” and we know in order to fulfill a covenant, each clause, or law, of the covenant must be fulfilled. Therefore we know Jesus kept each commandment perfectly and died according to the penalty of disobedience of each commandment. We know Jesus established a new covenant and a covenant is a legal document controlled by law. This means the new covenant has commandments and in order to live in right standing with Jesus, mankind must keep those commandments. Jesus said, “If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love.
Further we know Jesus issued three commandments to His followers just before He ascended into heaven and we know the church by and large does not keep them. Now, according to 1John 2:2, we know Jesus propitiated our sins but not ours alone; He propitiated the sins of the entire world. We know this made the entire world right with God and this gave each man, woman, and child, a white robe of Jesus’ righteousness but we also know, “it is by faith that it might be through grace.” We know to disobey Jesus’ commandments is sin; and sin soils the white robes. We know that some wash their robes in the blood of Jesus and the blood that cleanses sin was poured out in heaven; after Jesus arose from the dead on earth and ascended to the Father.
We know the Father was Lord of the old covenant, but Jesus is not just Lord, He is King of Kings and Lord of Lords, under the new covenant. The Father gave all power in heaven and earth to Jesus when He raised Him from the dead and gave Him a name above every other name. If we consider the book of Revelation from this perspective, it begins to make sense.
There are two forces arrayed against Jesus. There is the traditional force of Satan and the demons he oversees but there is also the unlikely force of the established church. There is a gospel preached today that is false and gives false hope of eternal life. Those who preach this gospel, however, believe in its authenticity. The Jesus that returns is a very different Jesus from the one who left and most church members will not recognize Him. Moreover, the church will see this Jesus as a threat to its doctrine and existence, much as the Jews saw Jesus as a threat to their existence and doctrine and rallied to put Him to death.
The book of Revelation is a book about supremacy. Our Father God gave up His power to Jesus, making Jesus supreme ruler of all things; all things bow to Jesus but Jesus bows to nothing. The book of Revelation chronicles a battle to overthrow Jesus as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. It begins when Jesus begins to exert His authority. Up until now, the devil has exerted his authority on the earth and since Jesus’ death; the church has exerted its authority. The church has become a world-wide organization.
We are now 1,993 years past Jesus’ resurrection from the death of the cross and 5, 993 years past the creation of Adam in the Garden of Eden. Since 1,000 years is as a day with the Lord, we are now at sunset of the sixth day of mankind and the seventh day, the day in which God rested, is upon us. The age of man will close with Jesus, the God who was man, standing as supreme ruler. The last seven years are an opportunity for men to swear allegiance to Jesus. They do this by keeping Jesus’ commandments.
Mankind has always rebelled against authority and the greater the authority, the greater the rebellion against it. Thus, when Jesus begins exerting the authority of king of kings and Lord of Lords, authority granted to Him by His Father, the rebellion of all creation against that authority becomes more and more extreme, as chronicled by the book of Revelation. Even the church, who views the Father as greatest, rebels against this Jesus, who fails to recognize His place at the right hand of God, and in the view of the church, seeks to overthrow God.
Thus in chapter 1 we see Jesus as God and in 3 and 4 we see Jesus having authority over the churches and in chapter 4 we see one sitting on a throne who is like unto God but His name is Lord God Almighty and it is said, you have created all things, a title ascribed to Jesus. In chapter 5, we again see one seated on the throne with a scroll in His hand sealed with seven seals, the perfect number and there is only one found who is worthy to open the book and break the seals and it is Jesus. So far, if we have seen the Father (and my contention is we have not), He serves Jesus.
I believe the one who sets on the throne and holds the book in His hand is Jesus, just as the one who is worthy to open the book and break the seals is Jesus. In chapter 6 we see Jesus executing His authority and delegating it. The war that ensues is a war of ideas; it is a war of dogma, and the question is, “Whom do you serve?” To serve Jesus is to keep Jesus’ commandments. To serve God, in keeping the Ten Commandments, is to be against Jesus; it is to be anti-Jesus.
In chapter 7, we see Jesus calling up 144,000 Jews into service and at the end of chapter seven, the raptured are found in heaven. In chapter 8, we see the wrath of Jesus being poured out on the disobedient. We are now half way through the tribulation period. It is blatantly obvious, mankind cannot understand much of the events of the tribulation period, much of the events of the book of Revelation, so what are we supposed to get out of the book? The book of Revelation is the only book of the scriptures that pronounces a blessing on readers and hearers; it is perhaps the most significant book.
Mankind has sensed the significance of the book of Revelation and ever since the book has been written in the language of the people, people have longed to understand the hidden meaning. The hidden meaning is not found in the parts that are not understandable however. The hidden meaning is in the parts of the book that are very understandable. The hidden meaning is the supremacy of Jesus.
Throughout the book we see Jesus as supreme ruler. While most Christians view the Father as supreme, Philippians 2:9-14 reveals the Father God highly exalted Jesus; gave Jesus the name above every other name; made Jesus Lord; gave Him authority at which every knee would bow; and power at which every tongue would confess Jesus as Lord, all to the glory of God the Father. The book of Revelation reveals this and this is the point of the book.
There have been two covenants between God and man: the old covenant with ten commandments and the new covenant with three. The old covenant never promised eternal life and cannot deliver it no matter how well you keep it. The new covenant not only promises eternal life, it delivers that promise to those who attempt to keep it. Perfection is not required. Jesus died twice to provide this eternal life. Once on the cross to fulfill the old covenant, then He poured out His own blood in heaven to ratify the new covenant.
The book of Revelation is about mankind’s rejection of the new covenant after Jesus suffered and died to provide it.