Revelation Lesson 2a

Revelation, Lesson 2
Bro. Charley Buntin

Vocabulary

tribulation (small “t”) normal things we must endure just because we are human and we are here.

The Tribulation (big “t”) the seven years following the Rapture

The Great Tribulation—the last 3½ years of the Tribulation

The Blessed Hope—another name for the Rapture

Rapture—the snatching away of the church, prior to the Tribulation

The Glorious Appearing—the second coming of Christ at the end of the Great Tribulation.


1. Review

a. The basic understanding for all end-times studies is the place of Israel in God’s Plan.

(1) To help us all understand this principle, I am going to have an “Israel Passage of the Week…”

(2) In this week’s Israel passage, we see God’s first Territorial Promise to Abraham— (Gen 12:6-7) " . 6 Abram passed through the land to the place of Shechem, as far as the terebinth tree of Moreh. And the Canaanites were then in the land. 7 Then the LORD appeared to Abram and said, "To your descendants I will give this land."

(3) This land promise was specified later: (Gen 15:18) "On the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying: "To your descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the River Euphrates…"

(4) And God has never abrogated this promise—Israel will one day possess all of the land, but it will not be accomplished by the earthly weapons of Israel nor of the US, but God will give the land.

b. There are five basic principles we are following in teaching Revelation

(1) The book of Revelation is important for us to understand.

(2) The book of Revelation is NOT hard for us to understand.

(3) The book of Revelation outlines itself (Rev 1:19).

(4) The book of Revelation teaches itself.

(5) The meaning of the book of Revelation is best stated in one phrase: Jesus Wins!

c. Five problems with the way people have interpreted Revelation

(1) They make everything into allegory

(2) They use ancient manuscripts which are not Biblical to interpret Revelation

(3) They speculate about modern day explanations for images Revelation or characters seen in Revelation. Example—(Rev 9:1-11) There have been various attempts made to find some modern mechanical thing that this “stands for,” when the scriptures are plain that these “locusts” are supernatural creatures, demonic in nature.

(4) They identify The Man of Sin with a current historical character

(5) They do not read the book as it was written


d. From last week—“…the Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show His servants…”

2. The Doctrine of Imminence—“…things which must shortly take place….” …(Again)—“…1:3—for the time is near [soon]…”

a. Nearness—

(1) Personal nearness—We all have a date with death

(2) And the time of the rapture is certainly closer than it ever has been—but this just makes the skeptics continue their blasphemy—(2 Pet 3:3-9) "knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, 4 and saying, "Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation." …7 … the heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. 8 But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. …”

(3) Yet it has been the proper attitude for all believers in the church age to expect Christ’s return at any time—

(a) Job saw it indeed, far off—(Job 19:25) "For I know that my Redeemer lives, And He shall stand at last on the earth;"

(b) The Church of Corinth was on watch—(1 Cor 1:7) "… waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ …"

(c) Paul expected it—(Phil 1:20) "According to my earnest expectation and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed…."

(d) The Thessalonians were in wait for Him—(1 Th 1:10) "And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come."

(e) Paul celebrated both parts of the second coming and urged that believers should be looking—(Titus 2:13) "Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;"

(f) All true believers are looking for Him—(Heb 9:28) "So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation."

(g) Peter wanted his people to be anxious and pulling for it to be close—(2 Pet 3:12) "Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God…"

(h) Jude wants us to look for God’s Mercy to us—(Jude 1:21) "Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life."

(i) Paul spoke of the crown of righteousness that all those will receive who loved His appearing—(2 Tim 4:8) "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 also that love his appearing."


(Rev 22:7) ""Behold, I am coming quickly! ...""

(Rev 22:12) ""And behold, I am coming quickly,."

(Rev 22:20) "He who testifies to these things says, "Surely I am coming quickly." Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus!"

(4) So, believers are to always be on the watch, ready to meet our Lord in the Rapture, because the Rapture is the next thing on God’s prophetic clock

b. There are distinctions, often overlooked, between Israel and the church on this matter—

(1) The Rapture is for the church, the Glorious Appearing is for the Tribulation Saints.

(2) The Rapture (the catching away, Latin)—the Harpazo (Greek)

(a) The church is waiting for Christ and is told to look for Him—we are waiting for no other signs, as there is nothing left on the calendar for the church except to be the church (Chapter 2)

(i) (John 14:2-3) ""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. 3 "And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also."

(ii) (1 Cor 15:51-52) "Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed; 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed."

(iii) (Col 3:4) "When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory."

(iv) (1 Th 4:16-17) "For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord."

(3) The Glorious Appearing—

(a) Believing Israel (and the other Tribulation believers) are will be enduring the Tribulation and looking for the Glorious appearing—Mat 24—and they are given many signs that must take place before the Glorious Appearing.

(b) The Great Tribulation will be worse than any time of trouble that ever has been.

(c) The Tribulation will be so bad that if God did not end it, everyone would be wiped out

(d) People will be claiming that Christ has already come

(e) False Christs and false prophets will arise and deceive many

(f) Christ will return to defeat His enemies and set up His kingdom.

3. The Revelator [God the Father] Revealed The Revelation to Christ Jesus, Who revealed it to John, Who Revealed It To Us—“… And He sent and signified it by His angel to His servant John, {2} who bore witness to all things that he saw…”

a. The Message sent— Apostello

(1) The word means sending someone as a representative, with a mission to accomplish, under the authority of the person doing the sending

(a) An example

(Mat 2:16) Then Herod, when he saw that he was deceived by the wise men, was exceedingly angry; and he sent forth and put to death all the male children who were in Bethlehem and in all its districts, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had determined from the wise men

(2) This verb is the verb form of the word “Apostle,” God’s special messengers who brought us the Gospel

(3) The Verb form is used by Paul, sending people to certain places—(2 Tim 4:12) “… And Tychicus I have sent to Ephesus….”

(4) It is used of God sending forth the Apostles—(1 Cor 1:17) “…For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel…”

(5) It is used of anyone who is sent to preach—(Rom 10:15) "And how shall they preach unless they are sent? …”

(6) It is used of the angelic beings sent by God to serve believers—(Heb 1:14) "… ministering spirits sent forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation?"

(7) It is used of the Spirit being sent—(1 Pet 1:12) "…the Holy Spirit sent from heaven…”

(8) And it is used of Our Savior being sent to live, die, rise, and come again for us— (1 John 4:9-10) "… God has sent His only begotten Son …”into … He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins."

(1 John 4:14) "… the Father has sent the Son as Savior of the world."

(9) But here we see the Word itself being the “apostle,” the “preacher,”

(a) The word is being sent, as a unified single message—who Jesus is, what He has done, and what He is going to do…

b. The essence of the message of this book

(1) Is that God is going to formally, personally, and absolutely establish His Sovereign rule over all, and particularly against the evil world system, now in abject revolt.

(2) Jesus Christ is going to be finally and definitively owned and crowned as King of Kings and Lord of Lords,

(3) And this message will be sent—as information for the edification of our minds.

(4) So, in a sense, the written Word becomes the apostle.

4. The Message signified— (Rev 1:1) "The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show His servants; things which must shortly take place. And He sent and signified it by His angel to His servant John,"

a. This word refers to communicating Truth by using symbolic language—for example, here we see Jesus showing in visual language that He will die on the Cross—

(1) (John 3:14) ""And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up,"

(2) (John 12:32) "And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself 33 This He said, signifying by what death He would die…”

(3) (John 18:31-32) “… Then Pilate said to them, "You take Him and judge Him according to your law." Therefore the Jews said to him, "It is not lawful for us to put anyone to death, that the saying of Jesus might be fulfilled which He spoke, signifying by what death He would die… " [The Jews did not crucify, they stoned.]

(4) (John 21:18-19) "Most assuredly, I say to you, when you were younger, you girded yourself and walked where you wished; but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will gird you and carry you where you do not wish." This He spoke, signifying by what death he would glorify God. And when He had spoken this, He said to him, "Follow Me."

(5) Here again we see our basic principle:

(a) Revelation is meant to reveal Christ, not to conceal anything, except the exact time of His coming—Mark 13:32 "But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father…”

(b) Even the symbolic language of Revelation is meant to reveal

(6) This message is partially given in signs and figurative language, so that we may understand it on levels other than strictly verbal.

(7) John also saw things that defied any words he knew—which is the same experience Paul had.

b. “…by His Angel…” Who was the Angel who delivered this book?

(1) It was not a human being

(2) It was an angelic being

(3) Revelation is unique among New Testament books, in that angels had a hand in delivering it.

(4) There are over 60 direct references to angels in Revelation—again, it is a supernatural book.