The Book of Revelation

STUDY INDEX

Page 1 Introduction, Rapture, Judgement of Christians, Marriage Supper

Page 2 Daniel's Dreams and Prophecies

Page 3 Daniel's Vision of Seventy Weeks; Great Tribulation Period

Page 4 Seven Trumpet Judgements; Middle of Tribulation Period

Page 5 Seven Vials; Great Whore; Second Coming; The Millennium

Page 6 Judgement of the Wicked; New Heaven and Earth; Conclusion

Introduction

This month, we are beginning an exciting series on the Book of Revelation and the end times. I'm sure you will want to follow closely as we take a closer look at what the Bible says about the future of planet earth and God's people. We will also examine the prophecies in the Book of Daniel and find how they fit in with the prophecies in the Book of Revelation.

With all of the current interest in eschatology (study of the end times) and all of the teachings available, many Christians do not understand what is going to happen, or seem somewhat nonchalant or complacent about the whole subject. Many believers don't study prophecy because it scares them, or makes them afraid of what is to come. But for us, Jesus' return should be a factor which governs our day-to-day decisions and actions, and not something which causes us fear. Paul, when talking of Christ's return to the Thessalonians, said, "I would not have you to be ignorant," and also, "COMFORT one another with these words," (1 Thessalonians 4:13,18).

We are instructed that "denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; looking for that blessed hope," Paul called it, "and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ" (Titus 2:12-13). Peter also exhorted believers, not knowing when Christ will return, to look for the coming of the Lord and let it influence your life. Peter said, "But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up." Peter then instructs us, "Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat? Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness." (2 Peter 3:10-13 KJV). Paul again told the Colossians, "When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory. Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry; for which things the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience..... ye also put off these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth." (Colossians 3:4-10).

We will find through our study that, if you are a Christian, saved and washed in the blood of the Lamb, you have nothing to fear. In fact, most of the events prophesied in Daniel and Revelation will not happen to or involve God's people. It is our goal of this study to make Bible prophecy interesting and exciting to you, and to remove some of the fear and anxiety surrounding the subject. Let's now begin our study by looking at the next event to occur in the prophetic timetable, the Rapture of the Church.

The Rapture of the Church

This event, while not called the "Rapture" in the Scriptures, refers to the "catching away" of all true believers, living and dead, to meet the Lord Jesus in the air. This event is often confused with Jesus' Second Coming where He will come back to earth WITH believers to set up His millennial kingdom (we'll cover this in detail later). There are many scriptures which have been misapplied to one event or the other. The Old Testament always speaks of Christ' Second Coming, but the Rapture is purely a New Testament doctrine, spoken of by Jesus and then revealed to the apostle Paul by a special revelation of the Lord.

Paul said to the church at Thessalonica, "For this we say unto you BY THE WORD OF THE LORD, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first; then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air; and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words" (1 Thessalonians 4:15-18 KJV). Think of it! In the twinkling of an eye, the trumpet will sound, millions of graves will be opened, and millions of people will suddenly disappear from the earth to meet the Lord in the air. It will no doubt capture the attention of the media and be the leading news story for months to come. Jesus said, "Let not your heart be troubled; ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions; IF IT WERE NOT SO, I WOULD HAVE TOLD YOU. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and RECEIVE YOU UNTO MYSELF; that where I am, there ye may be also. (John 14:1-3 KJV).

Paul also spoke of this event to the Corinthians, telling them not only that they will be raptured, but that they will all be changed. They have born the earthly, now they will bear the image of the heavenly. Corruption will be replaced by incorruption, and mortality will be replaced by immortality. And it will happen, "In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump; for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed." (1 Corinthians 15:49-57 KJV). Paul again expressed this thought to the Philippians, "For our conversation is in heaven; from whence we look for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body" (3:20-21). As stated earlier, one of the differences between the Rapture and the Second Coming is that, at the Rapture, Christ returns to catch away the saint in the air; at the Second Coming, He will return with His saints to set up His millennial kingdom. Another difference is that there are several prophecies which must be fulfilled before the Second Coming can occur. There are, however, no prophecies that must be fulfilled before the Rapture; it could happen at any moment! Yet another difference is that the Second Coming will occur at the end of the Seven Year Tribulation period, meaning the Rapture will take place at least seven years before the Second Coming.

During the Seven Year Tribulation period, there will be tremendous suffering. "For then shall be great tribulation," Jesus said, "such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be." (Matthew 24:21). The disciples asked Him, "Master, but when shall these things be? And what sign will there be when these things shall come to pass?" (Luke 21:7). Jesus told them that there would be wars, rumors of wars, that nation would rise against nation, there would be pestilences, famines and earthquakes, fearful sights and great signs from heaven; Jerusalem would be encompassed by armies, and there would be signs in the sun, moon and stars. "Watch ye therefore, and pray always," Jesus exhorted us, "that ye may be accounted worthy TO ESCAPE all these things that shall come to pass and to stand before the Son of man." (Luke 21:7-36). Paul told the Thessalonians to watch and to comfort each other, "For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ." (1 Thessalonians 5:9).

What will we be doing in Heaven while the Great Tribulation is unfolding on earth?

Ever been to a banquet, either church or job related, that celebrates the years of service by a group of people? We will be doing essentially the same thing they do: passing out awards and then eating! The Judgment Seat of Christ is different from the Great White Throne Judgment of God. At the Great White Throne Judgment, God will judge the unsaved (discussed in detail later) and it will occur at the end of Christ's millennial reign. But at the Judgment Seat of Christ, all the saints gathered at the Rapture will be judged according to their works. To the Romans, Paul said, "For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God. So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God." (Romans 14:10-12). "For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ," Paul told the Corinthians, "that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad." (2 Corinthians 5:10). "Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. If any man's work abide in which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss; but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire (1 Corinthians 3:13-15).

This may not be a pleasant time for all Christians as our works are tried and examined. Motives will be questioned. Our actions will be placed under the microscope. Our deeds will be tested. "Upon what foundation did you build?", Jesus will ask. Our works will be thrown into the fire. But if they are burned up, we have the assurance "he shall suffer loss; but he himself shall be saved." Paul instructed the Corinthians to judge themselves, that they would not be judged. "When we are judged," he told them, "we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world." (1 Corinthians 11:31-32). Finally, Paul wrote to Timothy concerning this judgment, "I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom..... I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith; henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day; and not to me only, but unto all them that love his appearing." (2 Timothy 4:1,7-8).

After we have stood before Christ's Judgment Seat, then all are invited to participate in the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. John saw in his vision, "And a voice came out of the throne, saying, Praise our God, all ye his servants, and ye that fear him, both small and great. And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth. Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints. And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God." (Revelation 19:5-9). Jesus said in the parable of the ten virgins, "And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage: and the door was shut." (Matthew 25:10). The Marriage Supper will the most grand of all feasts and will be a time of great celebration and praise unto God. Shortly after the Supper ends, Jesus and His saints will return to defeat the Antichrist at the Battle of Armageddon and to establish His kingdom upon earth (discussed in detail later).

From our study thus far, we can see that the Rapture has several purposes in the overall prophetic picture:
(1) To unite all Christians, living and dead, with Christ
(2) To change our bodies like unto His glorious body
(3) To reward all believers for their works and to have the Marriage Supper
(4) To cause us to escape the wrath of God during the tribulation
(5) To remove the hinderer of lawlessness and to reveal the Antichrist.

This last point is described in Paul's second letter to the Thessalonians, "Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our assembling to meet him, we beg you, brethren," Paul pleaded, "not to be quickly shaken in mind or excited, either by spirit or by word, or by letter purporting to be from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. Let no one deceive you in any way; for that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God. Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you this? And you know what is restraining him now so that he may be revealed in his time. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only he who now restrains it will do so until he is out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed, and the Lord Jesus will slay him with the breath of his mouth and destroy him by his appearing and his coming. The coming of the lawless one by the activity of Satan will be with all power and with pretended signs and wonders, and with all wicked deception for those who are to perish, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. Therefore God sends upon them a strong delusion, to make them believe what is false, so that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness." (2 Thessalonians 2:1-12 RSV).

The church here is the hinderer, the one who is holding the Antichrist back. The spirit of lawlessness is already at work, and will remain so until the one who is holding it back steps out of the way. The body of Christ is constantly engaging in spiritual warfare, Paul saying that we "wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of the world, against spiritual wickedness in high places" (Ephesians 6:12). Paul added in 2 Corinthians 10:4-5, "the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds; casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God." In this ongoing spiritual wrestling match, when the church is taken out of the way at the Rapture, there will be no one to prevent the "man of lawlessness" from being revealed, nor the powers and principalities from taking full control and dominion.

Whether the Antichrist is revealed immediately after the Rapture, or after a period of several months or years, is uncertain. It may be immediate as the world gropes for answers to what happened and why millions of people suddenly disappeared. Through his deception, he will bring answers and order, allowing him to take control of the world and also bring a period of false peace to Israel and the Middle East. With the church out of the way, lawlessness, corruption and evil will run rampant throughout the earth without anything to stop it or hinder it. The earth will be plunged into spiritual darkness, ushering in the period of Great Tribulation. We will look at what the Bible says about the Great Tribulation, examining closely the books of Revelation and Daniel, as we continue our study.