REVELATION 1-3
Lessons From the Past

This book does not cover the historical and instructional aspects of chapters 1, 2 and 3 of Revelation. These chapters contain warnings, instructions and encouragement to seven specific churches of Asia that were located in Turkey at the time John received the revelation from God. Jesus was addressing the spiritual condition of each church and instructing them on what they needed to do to maintain their spiritual vitality.He then pointed out the consequences, positive and negative, for obeying or disobeying the commands of God. If we take heed to the things Jesus communicated to these seven churches, those things will become spiritual guidance for our own day, both in our personal lives and in the life of the churches of which we are a part. If we learn from the successes and failures of those who went before us, we will be better prepared when Jesus returns for His spotless church, and the statement that Jesus made in Revelation 3:5 willbe true in our own lives: “He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels.” Beyond the wisdom we are able to extract from the first three chapters, we don’t find much there that adds to the prophetic revelation of the coming end-times, which is what this book is about. However, we are going to look at the following portion of Scripture from chapter 3 for some clarification. First read the verses, paying particular attention to the words in italics.

Revelation 3:7-11

7 And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write; These things saith He that is holy, He that is true, He that hath the key of David, He that openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth;

8 I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept My word, and hast not denied My name.

9 Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee.

10 Because thou hast kept the word of My patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.

11 Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.

Some people take these verses to mean that true believers are going to be raptured before the Tribulation as Jesus told these believers that He would keep them from the hour of temptation because they kept His word. The removal of saints by Rapture is not what is being conveyed here at all. The verses above do not say Jesus is going to take us out of here to avoid any temptations or hardships at all, but rather, He is going to keep us in a protective sense during the hour of temptation. The word “keep” used in verse 10 means to guard from loss or injury by keeping an eye upon, to hold fast to or to keep in safety. The word “kept” in verses 8 and 10 is the exact same word as “keep” in verse 10.He is going to keep us in the same way that we keep His Word. We keep His Word while we are in the midst of adversity by guarding over it, keeping our eyes upon it and by doing what it says. The Word (Jesus is the Word) keeps us from being consumed by adversity by guarding over us and protecting us—both externally by controlling certain events around us, and internally by holding on tight to the reins of our hearts and empowering us in our times of need. Even when you take this verse as a specific promise, it is a promise made to one of the seven churches in Philadelphia, located in the far midwestern half of Turkey, which puts it right in the midst of the empire of the beast and the nations of Gog. If this church still exists today, God is going to keep them while the world is being tried in the hour of temptation that will come upon all of the earth—the Great Tribulation.

Proverbs 7:1-5 is very similar to what we just read. Paraphrased, it reads: “Keep my word and my word will keep you from the strange woman that flatters with her lips.” God’s Word does not rapture us out of this world every time we encounter a whorish woman, but rather, it (Jesus is the Word) does whatever is necessary to protect us from her as long as we are in this world and abiding in the Word. Proverbs 7:1-5 is not an end-times prophecy, but it very well could be. If we keep God’s Word, His Word will keep us from the endtimes delusion of that great whore called Mystery Babylon that is mentioned in Revelation. Nowhere in the Bible does the word “keep” mean to remove or to avoid altogether. To the contrary, it is often used to mean to confine, as with a prison keeper. Thank God that is not the meaning being used here. God is the keeper of our souls, but He does not keep our souls by force under lock and key; He keeps our souls safe by watching over them and helping us in our times of weakness. Consider the following verses that use the same type of language and are, in fact, saying the exact same thing. The words to “keep from” are never used to mean to “take away from” in the Bible.

John 17:15

I pray not that thou should take them out of the world, but that thou should keep them from the evil.

Of course,He has promised to come and take us out of the world, but not until the end of this age when it is time for the judgment of wrath, which is not the same as the Tribulation. Notice that this verse uses the same phrase “keepÉfrom” that verse 10 and Proverbs 7:1-5 use. He does not take us out of the world to keep us from, but rather, by His power He empowers us to overcome and thus keeps us from evil, temptation and delusion while we are still in the world. The next three verses all use the word “temptation” in the same way Revelation 3:10 uses it. These are just three of the nineteen times that the word “temptation” is used in the New Testament. It was translated as “try” one other time, as in ”the trying of our faith,” but it always means the same thing—temptations and trials.

Matthew 26:41

Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.

Verses 8 and 10 from Revelation 3 could be rephrased like this: “You are weak (a little strength), but because you keep my word and name, I’ll keep you in the time of temptation.” Despite the weakness of our flesh if we watch and pray always, we eventually will be rewarded because we will be kept from every hour of temptation we are faced with in this life, even up to the very end of the world.

James 1:12

Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love Him.

James informs us that we will receive a crown of life after we endure temptation, so it should seem odd to us that so many people would interpret the verses above to say we will be delivered out of this world as soon as things begin to heat up a little in the end-times. If Jesus takes us out of here to avoid the trials of the Antichrist, He is, in effect, denying us the crown of life that will be ours if we endure during that time. We are going to see over and over again that the Tribulation is from Satan and the Antichrist and that God has only given us a free pass out of this world when it comes to His wrath, which will be poured out upon sinners after the Tribulation.

Matthew 6:13

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.

God does not lead us into temptation as Satan does, but He has left us on this earth to be tried by temptations nonetheless. We all have to decide for ourselves how committed to God we are going to be. Anybody can say they are going to live for Christ for the rest of their lives no matter what, but what really matters is how we actually behave when the real trials come our way. Are we willing to stand up for God only until it gets uncomfortable, and then we run and hide, or even worse, try to blend in with the unrighteous. Are we willing to stand even if it costs us our families, our livelihoods, our investments and retirements, our nice homes and new cars, and everything else we have invested our lives into? Are we willing to stand even if it costs us the very breath of life?

For those who think that God wouldn’t do something as unthinkable as to leave us here to suffer the trials of the Great Tribulation, all you have to do is read Hebrews 11, the Book of Acts, the Old Testament or the newspaper to see that He does allow His people to go through persecutions, tortures and even death. Some He delivers, and others He just receives their spirits into heaven after they depart their tortured bodies. Keeping us from the hour of temptation is a matter of giving the strength to stand firm on the Word of God even if it costs them their lives, giving many others deliverance during the hour of temptation and, in the case of at least 144,000 in Israel, it is giving them a place in the wilderness where they will be cared for for three-and-one-half years during the Tribulation. This is not meant to scare anybody, but it is time to wake up and accept what the prophecies have been saying to us all along. We have to decide beforehand to stand for Christ even after the Tribulation begins, regardless of the cost.

Think about it!

­Are these chapters speaking about the future or the past?

­Can the things written in these chapters be applied to our lives today?

~Selah~Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come. 1 Corinthians 10:11

REVELATION 4
Enthroned in Glory

As we begin in Revelation 4, we are starting over with the same theme and sequence of events we saw in Matthew 24. The only relevance chapters 4 and 5 have pertaining to the end-times, however, is they show that there is only one Person in the universe who is worthy to open the book that reveals the coming end-times and the judgment of God. That in itself may be the most significant point of the entire Revelation, but other than that, these chapters just lead into chapter 6 where the book is opened and the end-times begin to be revealed. In the first verse of Revelation 4, John is told that he will begin to see things that will be hereafter or which is to come in the future. Everything that he saw in the previous three chapters dealt with the present situation of the Asian church at the time John wrote Revelation.

Revelation 4:1

After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter.

As Revelation 4 and 5 bring us into the Throne Room of God, Jesus is declared to be the only one worthy to open the book that will reveal the events of the end-time. From time to time, God allows us a little peek into heaven by way of the Scriptures. The following is a description of God seated upon His throne and the creatures that are before Him giving Him praise and honor. There are 24 elders before the throne, but there is no mention of the rest of the redeemed of the Lord. The Rapture has not yet taken place; therefore, God’s redeemed have not been gathered into heaven. After this brief look into the Throne Room of God and some of the activities that take place there, chapter 5 shows God holding the book with the seven seals in His hand. That book will show us how things will unfold in the end-times just as Matthew 24 did.

2 And immediately I was in the spirit: and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and One sat on the throne.

3 And He that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone: and there was a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald.

4 And round about the throne were four and twenty seats: and upon the seats I saw four and twenty elders sitting, clothed in white raiment; and they had on their heads crowns of gold.

5 And out of the throne proceeded lightnings and thunderings and voices: and there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God.

6 And before the throne there was a sea of glass like unto crystal: and in the midst of the throne, and round about the throne, were four beasts full of eyes before and behind.

7 And the first beast was like a lion, and the second beast like a calf, and the third beast had a face as a man, and the fourth beast was like a flying eagle.

8 And the four beasts had each of them six wings about him; and they were full of eyes within: and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come.

9 And when those beasts give glory and honour and thanks to Him that sat on the throne, who liveth for ever and ever,

10 The four and twenty elders fall down before Him that sat on the throne, and worship Him that liveth for ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying,

11 Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for Thou hast created all things, and for Thy pleasure they are and were created.

Think about it!

­Who is seated on the throne?

~Selah~And above the firmament that was over their heads was the likeness of a throne, as the appearance of a sapphire stone: and upon the likeness of the throne was the likeness as the appearance of a man above upon it. And I saw as the colour of amber, as the appearance of fire round about within it, from the appearance of his loins even upward, and from the appearance of his loins even downward, I saw as it were the appearance of fire, and it had brightness round about. As the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud in the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness round about. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD... Ezekiel 1:26-28

REVELATION 5
Worthy is the Lamb

1 And I saw in the right hand of Him that sat on the throne a book written within and on the backside, sealed with seven seals.

There is no man found that is worthy to open the book until the risen Christ enters the room. The rest of this chapter proclaims the worthiness of Jesus Christ to take the book out of the right hand of God and to open it and declare its contents.

2 And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, Who is worthy to open the book, and to loose the seals thereof?

3 And no man in heaven, nor in earth, neither under the earth, was able to open the book, neither to look thereon.

4 And I wept much, because no man was found worthy to open and to read the book, neither to look thereon.

5 And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof.

6 And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth.

7 And He came and took the book out of the right hand of Him that sat upon the throne.

The twenty-four elders are presumably the twelve patriarchs of Israel and the twelve apostles of Jesus Christ. John, no doubt, if he got a good look, saw himself in this lineup. He would have also seen Mathias who replaced Judas Iscariot in Acts 1:26. In verse 9, we see that they are redeemed men, and in verse 10 that they are expecting to reign on the earth again sometime in the future. Notice once again that there are twenty-four elders, four beasts and many angels, but the redeemed of the Lord are not shown until later in Revelation when the Rapture is revealed. The Rapture will not be revealed until Jesus opens the sixth seal of the book that He just received out of the hand of God, and then it will be repeated from several different perspectives later on in Revelation.

8 And when He had taken the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints.

9 And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for Thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by Thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation;

10 And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.

11 And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne and the beasts and the elders: and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands; (100 million angels, and then some)

12 Saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing.

13 And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto Him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever.

14 And the four beasts said, Amen. And the four and twenty elders fell down and worshipped Him that liveth for ever and ever.

Think about it!

­Who is the lamb who was slain to redeem from every nation and tongue to God by his blood.?

­Do you suppose that the four beasts and twenty-four elders are the only ones redeemed, or is there more to come?

~Selah~Now unto Him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy, To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen. Jude 24 & 25

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