Understanding the Book of Revelation 1 of 3 Greg L Bahnsen Basic Training in Last Things

This recording has been released into the public domain by the Bonson Institute, where we aim to bring into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.

Father, we come to you this day and ask that you would open our hearts and our minds to receive your word with gladness. We pray that we would come with a teachable spirit. We know that as we approach the subject of what you intend to do in the future, that we approach a difficult landscape, that there are many potholes for us here and many debates and difficulties that the Church has struggled through and argued about. About these matters. We ask that you would give us a humble spirit, a teachable spirit, and that you would clear our minds and above all, that you would make us enthusiastic for what you intend to do. Help us to understand it, that we would be faithful in carrying out the Great Commission. For we pray in Jesus blessed name. Amen. I'm really glad you can be here for our conference having to do with the future. Everyone likes to talk about the future. Boy, I tell you, if you want to make money, write about the future. If you're in economics, people love it. If you'll write about the future, if you can really let them know what's predictable, then of course you can get ahead in the market, can't you? Or you might be able to get ahead politically or socially if you could just know what the future has to hold. But it isn't just for personal gain, economic or in terms of our own reputation or political aspirations, that people have an interest in the future. I think we're just prone to be curious about such things. We'd kind of like to know what's going to be. What's going to happen down the line. Well, from a Christian standpoint, our interest in the future goes way beyond mere curiosity and certainly goes beyond personal aggrandizement. We'd like to know what God has in store for the future of planet Earth because we're part of his kingdom, we're part of his plan, and we need to be thinking his thoughts after Him. We need to get with the program. If I can put it very simply, what is it that God intends to do in the future? Now, Christians have argued about this for a long time. They continue to argue about it. That's one problem. On the other hand, sometimes this issue of what God intends to do in the future is a very difficult one for people. They say, well, how can you understand all these prophecies? And how can you make the Bible come together in a coherent way? So we're intimidated by what appears to be the difficulty of the subject. So you have Christians arguing over it, and you have the difficulty of the subject. And the end result is the vast majority of people in the pew. I'm convinced. Just say, I can't figure this out. And so what I want to know is, what are you all doing here today? Because I bet you've had that problem too. You say, I don't know what's going on. I hear all these different theories, these different interpretations of the book of Revelation or the Olivet discourse, whatever it may be, and it can be really mystifying to us. And I will have accomplished my goals what I've been praying the Lord will help me do. I will have accomplished my goals. If when we get done with these three lectures, you leave saying, you know what? This makes sense now. Not because I'm going to answer every question. I couldn't possibly do that. In fact, I wonder if maybe those who are putting on this conference thought the Age of Miracles was not passed. They want me to come in and spend three hours and get all this eschatological stuff settled and get this in this hour, and I've already used part of it in this hour. We're going to go through the whole Book of Revelation, get that settled. Now, I realize that the Age of Miracles is not still with us, and I'm not going to be able to answer every conceivable question. I may not be able to persuade you of every point, but if you'll pay attention in a teachable, humble spirit, listen to what the Spirit of God says in the Scriptures, I think you will leave here encouraged. Encouraged, first of all, because this area of theology, this portion of God's holy word, is not somehow so obscure that you cannot understand it. And you'll be encouraged, secondly, because God has good news for the future. I'm one of those weird creatures, a theologian who's not a pessimist about what's going to be happening in the future. I don't think this is the late, great planet Earth. I think there's a glorious future ahead. Now, I believe that there may be many judgments and many tough times that we have to go through in the process of reaching that ultimate goal. But I have no doubt in my mind that the Bible teaches us that God, who is sovereign over all affairs, is not going to turn over history to the devil, and he's not going to let planet Earth just totally degenerate, that in fact his kingdom is going to be the final word, that he is going to govern the nations upon the earth. And that means we have a glorious future to look forward to. Now, I could probably sell you optimism. I could sell you wishful thinking, because there's something in all of us who wants to believe that's true. The good news I have for you today is it's not going to be just, oh, I hope, I hope, I hope. I'm going to show you that God's Word actually gives substance to that. So it's not just wishful thinking. There is a glorious future. We have great hope for the Kingdom of God if we pay attention to what God's Word teaches us. So what is it about the future that I would like to teach you in these three hours? If we as Christians are going to get things put together, we might as well go to the very heart of the problem. There's no reason to put it off. Let's just get to the Book of Revelation and see if we can get this thing straightened out. Okay? So please open your Bibles to the Book of Revelation and I will try to do the miraculous job of expounding it in one hour's time or less. Paul tells us in 2 Timothy 3, 16 and 17 that all Scripture is inspired of God. And because it's inspired of God, it's God's own word, it's profitable, it's beneficial to us. It's beneficial for teaching us and correcting us and reproving us and, and giving us instruction and righteousness that we may be thoroughly furnished to every good work. All Scripture has that beneficial character. And that means that this book that's open before you now, if you've opened your Bibles to it, this Book of Revelation is beneficial to you. But how can the Book of Revelation be beneficial to you if you don't read it? You're supposed to think that somehow just having the Book of Revelation in our Bible is like a magic charm or something. Carrying it around is going to make it beneficial. It's going to be beneficial because you can open it up and put your hand on it and pray to God while your hand is on the Book of Revelation. Of course, nothing so ridiculous as that. It can only be beneficial to you if you read it. And it can only be beneficial in your reading if you understand it. And that's where many of you, of course, have started out. Very hesitant because you say, how can you understand it? Such a difficult book. I want to begin by looking at the title of the book. The book is called Revelation. You know what Revelation means in Greek? Apokalupsis. It means unveiling, pulling back the veil. And the sad fact is that most Christians look upon the Book of Revelation not as a pulling back of the veil that we might see the truth, but rather what God pulling the veil together and obscuring it so that we won't be able to catch on. Rather we'll be confused and there will be all this controversy and so forth. But I want you to take heart just from what the book itself is. It is the unveiling. God says, look, you want to know what history is all about. You want to know where things are going? Let me pull back the curtain for you. This is the revelation, not the obscuring, not the pulling of the veil together, but the opening of the veil that you might be able to understand what God intends to do. God does not want to blind us in our outlook and our attitudes. He wants to open our eyes that we can see. Moreover, you'll notice that in the Book of Revelation, for instance, chapter one, verse three, we are told that God expects us to respond in a certain way to the blessed is he that readeth and they that hear the words of the prophecy and listen and keep the things which are written therein. God expects you to keep the Book of Revelation. That doesn't mean keep it in hand, that means to respond to it obediently. God is calling on you to act a certain way in your life, in the midst of history, because of what he's going to unveil to you in this book. And so if you don't read the book, if you don't bother to understand it properly, then how can you obey it? You can't keep the Book of Revelation. You can't profit from the benefit that God intends by it if you won't pay attention to it. If nothing else, I hope that this hour together will stimulate you, will maybe give you a kick right in the pants to get more faithful, more responsible about reading the entire Bible, including the Book of Revelation. Oh, but the book is so difficult, you see, the book is so difficult. I want to look at a couple of things in the Book of Revelation with you to convince you that God doesn't intend for it to be difficult. Turn with me to chapter 17, the book of Revelation. We'll just take one illustration for the sake of time. After John has been shown in what we call the 17th chapter of Revelation, a very distressing picture of a harlot who has sprawled out over the heads of a seven headed beast whose name is Babylon, the great mother of harlots, and all the abominations of the earth. At the end of verse six, John says, when I saw her, I wondered with a great wonder. Now the sense of wonder is not just standing back in curiosity with John going, wow, what does that mean? But the wonder here is a trembling kind of wonder. John says, wow, this was really distressing, very confusing. What do I make of this? He wondered, in that sense about it. And notice what verse seven says. And the angel said unto me, why did you wonder? I will tell you the mystery of the woman and of the beast that carries her, which has the seven heads and the ten horns, the beast that you saw. And then the angel goes on to explain, isn't that a comforting verse? The angel says, why are you so confused? Why are you trembling in confusion and distress? John, I'll tell you what it means. God did not give us the Book of Revelation to make us stand back and go, what on earth could that mean? And just say, well, we'll have to leave it to the guys who are preaching, close our Bibles and go our way. God wants you to understand this. God wants you to read His Word, get the benefit that he intends from that word. He wants you to understand this. And that's why along the way, he explains what the book is all about. When we get done here, I think I can convince you of that. The book is not really all that difficult to put together. Particular sections or images may be hard for us, but overall, I can show you what the Book of Revelation is about. I believe, of course, the book is going to undoubtedly be troublesome. If you try to read it for something it doesn't intend to be, you always have that kind of trouble. You know, if you take out your instructions for putting together a bicycle and try to read it according to the same principles of poetry, not going to make a whole lot of sense out of putting the bicycle together. And if you think reading your last will and Testament is the same as reading the TV Guide, and you try to apply principles for the TV Guide to that, you're not going to be able to make any sense out of it. If you don't come to the Book of Revelation and respect the kind of literature it is, of course it's going to be nonsense to you. And what kind of literature is it? To put it simply, it's highly figurative literature. There are visions here and symbols, so forth. And so what happens is many Christians, in fact, there's a whole school of thought that's become famous for doing this. Many Christians go to the Book of Revelation as though it's a newspaper account written ahead of time. You've noticed that? Maybe, yeah. And then from the newspaper account we can build our charts and do all that sort of thing. But let me ask you, is the Book of Revelation written like a newspaper narrative? Is it a report similar to what you might see in the New York Times or whatever it may be? Of course not. The Book of Revelation is very figurative. It has a lot of imagery, a lot of symbols and so forth. And so when people say, with a kind of pride that is unfortunate in believers, I think when people say, well, we interpret the Bible literally, please understand that nobody who has really thought it through can, without hypocrisy, make that claim. No one reads the Book of Revelation literally. Now, if you mean by literally according to the words rather than according to some preconceived idea, some spiritual insight you get between the lines, fine by the letter. Literally. We read the Book of Revelation and interpret it. But we don't think that the Book of Revelation and all of what it has to say is devoid of figures of speech or images that have to be interpreted. There is in chapter 13 of the book of Revelation, the description of the beast. The beast has seven heads and ten horns, comes up out of the Mediterranean Sea. That could be literal, but I don't know anybody in the Christian church that interprets it as an actual monster God has created for the occasion. The Book of Revelation is not read literally by anybody. And yet there is a particular school of thought we might as well identify. Because I don't want to be coy with you, but it's not my intention to be mean spirited here. But the dispensational approach to reading the Book of Revelation, I think, has a lot of hypocrisy on its hands that it needs to be washed clean of. Because over and over again, people are browbeat who are trying to be faithful and honest in reading God's Word, and they're browbeat by dispensationalists who will say, if you don't interpret it our way, you're not being literal, therefore you're playing fast and loose with the text of Scripture. Well, I'm here to tell you dispensationalists don't read the Book of Revelation literally. They couldn't. Nobody with any literary sensibility could. And so that's okay. I don't mind that dispensationalists will interpret the Beast in a figurative way. What I mind is that when I interpret things differently than they do, they turn around and say, the problem is they're literalist and I'm not. No one reads the Book of Revelation literally. You have to understand the kind of literature it is. It's very visionary, very dramatic, highly figurative. And that, of course, increases the distress of those of you who are hesitant to begin already and say, well, how can we be sure how to understand these things? Remember the angel. Why are you so upset? I'll tell you what it means. God is going to tell us what these things mean. I also have fundamental confidence in every one of us having an ability to take a piece of literature, at least if it's clearly written as this book is, and to make sense out of it, even though it's highly figurative. And I think that you'll see that once we go through the outline of the book, it's not really all that difficult. When everything is said and done, what is the book all about? That's what we want to know. What's the bottom line? After you've interpreted all these figures, after you go through the outline, as you explain everything, what does God want us to know from the Book of Revelation? Very simply, God wants you to know that his kingdom, the kingdom of his son, Jesus Christ, is going to triumph over all opposition. Where was John when he wrote the Book of Revelation? It was on the island of Patmos for the Word of God. John was being persecuted. He was now exiled because of his testimony to the Word of God. And the Christian church was undergoing persecution as well in the days of Nero, the emperor. You need to be aware of just a little bit of historical background. In the days of Nero, Christians were persecuted in such a way that they would be impaled alive, impaled on a stake, and then pitch would be put on their body and they'd be lit on fire. And Nero would take these burning Christians and light his garden parties at night with their bodies. There was that kind of hatred for those who named the name of Christ. In the early days of the Roman Empire, there was in Asia Minor the development of what came to be known as the Emperor Cult, the worship of the emperor as God himself. And that eventually spread throughout the entire Roman Empire, but especially beginning in Asia Minor, where, of course, the churches of Jesus Christ are identified, the seven churches of Asia Minor on that very soil. Persecution came to those who would not put incense on the bust of the emperor and say, caesar is Lord. When Christians said, no, Jesus is Lord, and we will not give that title to Caesar. Then they were killed, often thrown to the lions, put into the stadia for people to look upon as they were being killed and to get their entertainment from them. There was great hatred of the Christian church. And on top of that, the early days of the church were terrible because those who should have been the closest to Christians in understanding the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy, those who had been traditionally, historically identified as the people of God, the Jews themselves persecuted the Christians. The Jews stirred up trouble for Christians read the Book of Acts over and over and over again. Luke points out to us how it's the Jews who created difficulty for those who had come to see Jesus as the Messiah. And so on the one hand, you have the Jews persecuting the church and stirring up trouble for it. On the other hand, the. The Roman world in Asia Minor and in the very heart of the empire is persecuting Christians. And John is exiled to the island of Patmos for the word of God. And it's the midst of that that he writes and he says, here's good news for you. Jesus is going to triumph over all opposition. That's the theme of the Book of Revelation. What period of time is it talking about? Well, if you look at the Book of Revelation closely, you'll notice that it itself identifies for us when the main body of prophecies is going to be fulfilled that are found in it. Let's look at Revelation, the first chapter, and then we'll turn to the last chapter. The significance of that is that both at the beginning and at the end, John tells us, this is what I'm talking about. Listen closely. Revelation 1:1. The unveiling of Jesus Christ. The revelation of Jesus Christ which God gave him to show unto his servants, even things which must shortly come to pass. And he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John, who bear witness of the word of God and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, even of all things that he saw. Blessed is he that readeth and they that hear the words of the prophecy and keep the things which are written therein for the time is at hand. The book begins by saying, why are you worried about Henry Kissinger being the beast? Why are you projecting all these things way out into the future? John says, what I'm talking about is right near at hand. Now, there's nothing in human communication that requires that every single thing that John talks about has to be near at hand. He's generalizing. He's talking about the most basic, essential purpose of the book. And he says, what I'm talking about here is a prophecy of what will shortly come to pass by the way, this is a great verse to take back to our dispensational friends, not to needle them, but to maybe help them and say, how about that? Are you a literalist about that? How is it that shortly to come about being near at hand turns out to be 2,000 years later? There's nobody in his right mind who thinks shortly to to come about near at hand means 2000 years down the road. The Book of Revelation tells us at the very beginning that the main body of what John's talking about is in the near purview of future for John and his hearers, the ones who are undergoing this persecution. Now let's turn to the last book of Revelation. We'll see that it's repeated for us there, so that we have a kind of bracketing device at the very beginning. And at the very end, the same thing is said. Revelation 22:6. And he said unto me, these words are faithful and true. And the Lord, the God of the spirits, of the prophets, sent his angel to show unto his servants the things which must shortly come to pass. Jump down to verse 10. And he saith unto me, seal not up the words of the prophecy of this book. Why? Because the time's at hand. John, don't bother to seal up this prophecy as though it's for a long time away. Some future day, the time's at hand, these things are going to begin happening right away. So at the beginning, at the end of the Book of Revelation, we have been told clearly by God. And it's to our shame and it's our fault if we don't understand the book, because we're all caught up in whether Hitler or Henry Kissinger or Bill Clinton, whoever it may be, is found in the Book of Revelation. The main body of teaching in this book has to do with John's own day, the generation shortly to follow the early days of the church. Let's see if we can outline the Book of Revelation. The book has its own outline. You know the old saying, when all else fails, read the instructions. Well, if you're having trouble understanding the Book of Revelation, you haven't been paying attention to it, because the Book of Revelation has its own interpretive guide built right into it. We'll see it in chapter one, verse 19. What has led up to verse 19 is that John has been given a vision of the glorified Christ. And he describes this glorious vision of Christ for us in the middle section of chapter one, verse 12 says, I turned to see the voice that spake with me. And having Turned I saw seven golden candlestands. And in the midst of the candlestands, and then he describes this glorious person. All right. Now, when he gets done seeing and describing this, John is really taken aback by it. Verse 19 gives his commission. We read, therefore, write the things which thou sawest and the things which are, and the things which shall come to pass hereafter. That's it. Very simply, John. Write about what you have seen already. Write about the things which are contemporary, currently the case, and those things which will shortly come to pass hereafter. Now, if you keep your finger there and turn to chapter four, verse one, we have language that helps us if we're trying to be good interpreters of Scripture, good detectives. Here. Chapter four, one, after these things I saw, and behold a door opened in heaven. And the first voice that I heard, a voice as of a trumpet speaking with me. One saying, come up hither and I will show thee the things which must come to pass hereafter. So chapter one, verse 19 says, you have three sections in this book. What you have seen, what is now the case, what will be hereafter. Chapter four, verse one says, now I'm going to show you the things hereafter so we know where we can find the breaks. What has John seen previously? Well, that's chapter one. That's the vision of the glorified Savior in the midst of the seven candlestands. The candlestands are the churches. And Jesus says, I'm with the church. I walk in the midst of the church. And I walk in the midst of the church, not as some ethereal spirit, but as a glorified sovereign Savior. Sound like anything else you've heard in the New Testament? What does Jesus say right before he's ascending to the right hand of God? All power and authority in heaven and earth is given to me. Lo, I'm with you always, even to the end of the age. This is God's glorious, symbolic, figurative repeating of that promise. Jesus said, I am with my church, and I'm the glorified Savior. I am the Sovereign One. I govern and judge over all. John, write what you have seen. And so he gives us. This is the first third of the Book of Revelation. Maybe not in terms of total words, but but in terms of the outline that God has in mind. The first thing you need to know about this book is that it assures us, in the midst of persecution, in the midst of terrible times for God's people, Christ is with his church and he's the Sovereign One. And then John is Told write the things which are now which are the case. So you look at chapters two and three. We do this by subtraction, right? We know chapter four begins hereafter. We know chapter one was the things that previously. So that leaves chapters two and three. And lo and behold, when you look at them, chapters two and three are what letters to the seven churches in Asia Minor? And in these letters to the seven churches, what persistent theme do we find? There is a pattern for all of these letters, with one little exception. But the general pattern we find in all seven of these letters to the churches of Asia Minor is that first of all we have an address to the angel, the minister of the church, the one who is the messenger of God to the Church. And then Christ is given a particular designation that is taken from the vision in Revelation 1. There's a commendation of the church, a rebuke of the Church, an exhortation. Then the formula, he that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. And then a promise is made. And in every case, the promise has to do with overcoming, triumphing. He who overcomes, he who perseveres in victory, the following promise is given to him. And so I've explained 2/3 of the book of Revelation to you already. How much time do I have left? Boy, we're flying. Of course, the tough part is yet to come. But nevertheless, in terms of what God wanted John to give you, you now understand 2/3 of the outline. The first thing that you need to know is that Christ, the sovereign, glorified Savior, is in the midst of his church. Secondly, he speaks directly to his church. He says, repent of the things that are wrong, be encouraged by my presence, and know that I will give a reward to those who overcome, those who are victorious in my name. And then we come to chapter four. And as I say, we now begin the things which shall be hereafter. Now, how far hereafter are we talking about? For the most part, we're talking about the generations of the early church, because the beginning and end of the book has already told us these are things that are shortly to come to pass. That does not prevent John from eventually looking ahead to the second coming of Jesus Christ and the new heavens and the new earth. But that's the P.S. almost at the end of the book, because the main body of the prophecy of the things to take place hereafter, chapters four through mid 20, have to do with two particular dramas that John is going to play out for us. Now, how do I know that this section is to be broken down into two particular sections. There's a literary clue here that we have to pick up on. It's not esoteric, it's not difficult. I'm sorry that so many people have kind of suppressed it and not paid attention to it. But you'll notice that in chapters four and five, John has introduced to him a seven sealed scroll. A seven sealed scroll. This scroll, which is rolled up has seals along the edge, seven of them. In order to get into the contents of the scroll, obviously you have to break the seals. At the breaking of each one of these seals, John gets a preview of what's to come. Why do I say that? Well, just think about it. He isn't into the document yet. He hasn't broken all the seals. It's kind of like when you buy a book. I mean, this is a rough analogy when you buy a book and you open it up and you see on the dust cover a description of what's going to be inside the book. So John gets these previews of important elements of what's going to take place once the scroll is opened up. So we have the seven sealed scroll. But then later in the book, John is given another book and he's told he is to prophesy again. Let's turn back there so you can be aware of this. I think it's important enough for you to see. If you turn to the tenth chapter, and I'll begin reading at the seventh verse. But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he is about to sound, then is finished the mystery of God, according to the good tidings which he declared to his servants, the prophets. And the voice which I heard from heaven, I heard it again speaking with me and saying, go take the book which is open in the hand of the angel that stands upon the sea and upon the earth. And I went unto the angel saying unto him that he should give me the little book. And he saith unto me, take it and eat it up. It shall make thy belly bitter, but in thy mouth it shall be sweet as honey. And I took the little book out of the angel's hand and ate it up. And. And it was in my mouth sweet as honey. And when I had eaten it, my belly was made bitter. And now listen. And they say unto me, thou must prophesy again over many peoples, nations and tongues and kings. All right, so at the beginning of the things to happen hereafter section John is given a scroll, or he's shown a scroll that has seven Seals. And when that is opened and finally God has explained to him what that's all about, then he encounters another, a small book which is in the hand of this angel whose foot is upon the sea. And at the end of this section, or near the end of the section, John is told, now go pick up that book and eat this book, because you're going to prophesy again. Well, again, what are we asleep at the wheel? We can figure this out. He has one prophecy, the Spirit, seven sealed scroll. And now he's going to prophesy again. Now, the little book. And this time he's told, you're going to prophesy over many people, tongues and nations. Previously he's prophesied about one, and now he's going to prophesy about many. And so there's two prophecies here. To put it very simply. Y' all tracking with me. If I lost anybody, nod your heads or wake up or do something. So we have a prophecy about a particular people or nation, the seven sealed scroll. And then John's going to prophesy again, now internationally over many peoples. Then at the end of the Book of Revelation, we will see a reference to what God's going to do at the end of history. But the important thing for the church living in persecution in John's day is to see that Christ is going to defeat all of their enemies. We're going to see the victory of Christ's kingdom. And so there's going to be a judgment prophecy against a particular nation. And I'll identify that nation for you. That's Israel. God is going to finally be done covenantally with these people who have crucified the Messiah. And so John sees a prophecy where Israel is going to be destroyed by God. And then there's going to be an explanation in chapter 12 of how that victory was possible. And the explanation always has to do with things that are behind the scenes. You remember how Paul says, we wrestle not with flesh and blood, but with principalities and powers and so forth? Well, that truth is seen here in the Book of Revelation. We'll see earthly events where Israel is being destroyed and the kingdom of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, is going to ascend. But if you want to know how that's all possible, you have to go behind the scenes. It's a battle between principalities and powers. And so John will explain to us that Satan has been cast down from his position of ascendancy. He's been cast down to the earth, and he's not been successful in persecuting the woman who brings forth the man child. The woman who brought forth the man child is the Jewish church. And Satan is going to persecute the Jewish church, but he will not in fact destroy those who are faithful Jews who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. Jerusalem will be destroyed, but God's people will escape to the mountains, those who truly belong to him. Satan will then be wrathful all the more, having been cast down to the earth. And then in chapter 13, John turns and he sees Satan is now working with another power. And this is where the beast rises from the Mediterranean Sea. I mean, I almost wish I could make a movie out of this. People have done such a bad job of trying it, I guess I won't. But you know, it really is, if you follow this as a drama, it's not difficult at all and it's quite impressive. Satan is behind the scenes and Satan himself is foiled when God destroys the Jewish people. He did that in AD 70 when the Roman army went in and finally destroyed the temple. The abomination of desolation plowed the ground over the temple as a way of showing that this was finally done. But before the Romans did that, they had pulled back from the city for a short period and according to Jesus own instruction, those who believed in him fled the city of Jerusalem. Christians were not destroyed in AD 70. Only the unbelieving Jews were. And so Satan didn't accomplish what he was hoping to accomplish. And now he goes to persecute the rest of the seed of the woman that are throughout the world. That is the Gentile Church. And now we see the beast rise from the Mediterranean Sea. Who's the enemy of the second section of the Book of Revelation? Well, if you're in Palestine, you look across the Mediterranean Sea. What are you looking at Italy? You're looking at Rome. And so the Jews who persecuted the people of God are going to be dealt with in the first scroll. And then Satan will go to persecute the people of God internationally in the Roman Empire. And the Roman Empire will be dealt with then in the small book where John prophesies again, but this time over many tribes and peoples and tongues. You see how it all fits together now since chapter 12 has explained how it is that Satan was foiled with respect to the first enemy of God's people, the Jews. It shouldn't surprise you that after John talks about the fall of the Roman Empire and the ascendancy of the kingdom of Jesus Christ in chapter 20, he's going to go again behind the scenes and Say, and here's what explains it. Not only has Satan been cast down to the earth, Jesus bound him and put him in the pit of hell for a particular purpose and with a particular intention in mind, which we'll talk about in our second lecture. So the book of Revelation tells us, here's what's going to happen hereafter. God's going to judge those who persecute you, who are apostate Jews. Jerusalem will fall. And the account of that is that Satan has been cast down to the earth. He's going to then go and persecute the rest of the church and the empire, and the Roman Empire will persecute you. But God will destroy the Roman Empire and only the kingdom of Jesus Christ will be sustained in history. Then he goes behind the scenes to show that the reason for that is that Satan has been bound, that he will not deceive the nations anymore. Now the Great Commission can be fulfilled. And at the end of that period in Revelation 20 where Satan has been bound so that the church can now proclaim the good news, the Gospel, and fulfill the Great Commission, at the end of that time, God will, for a very short season, release Satan and there will be apostasy. And Jesus will then return in judgment upon the world. After we've seen this great worldwide victory for his kingdom, then there will be a final apostasy and Jesus will return. And that's where we have the account of the great White Throne judgment and then the introduction of the new heavens and new earth. As I say, the wonderful P.S. it's not really a P.S. but at the very end of the book, the then looking ahead to the eternal future that will belong to God's people. So now let's see if we can put all this together. I'm going to go back and try to prove this to you in just a moment. But I just want you to see the flow of the Book of Revelation right now. Jesus begins by saying, I want you to know that I'm the glorified sovereign Savior and I'm with you. I know that you're having a tough time. The Jews hate you, the Romans will persecute you. But I'm with you. And I have all power and authority in heaven, on earth. Therefore, you're going to do what I told you to do. You're going to disciple the nations. In chapters two and three, Jesus writes to the seven churches. He goes, listen, I've got things that I want to commend. I've got things that I have to rebuke. In you repent. He who has an ear to hear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes will have the following promise given to him. I expect you to be a victorious church, an overcoming church. I want you to surmount this opposition. My kingdom is going to prevail. So let me tell you what's going to happen hereafter. In the first place, I'm going to judge those wicked Jews who are persecuting you and creating trouble for you. They have now filled up their wickedness to the uttermost, and God in history is going to repay them. And so we see the judgment on the Jewish people, and then we find out that's because Satan has been cast down to earth. God's people are going to see the victory even over the Jews, because Satan is being controlled and being dominated by God himself. But Satan's not satisfied. He's going to go out and persecute the church and the Roman Empire as well. And you're going to see now the Roman Empire rise against the Church, but I will destroy it as well. And the vision of God destroying the Roman Empire is capped in Revelation 19 with the vision of Jesus himself riding forth on a white horse, going out to conquer all opposition. Now, when you read that story because he is slaughtering everybody who's in his path, you might think, well, that's got to be a vision of judgment. Look at all that blood. Look at all that gore. This is terrible stuff. Until you remember that this is figurative language, symbolic language. And John conspicuously tells us in Revelation 19 that Jesus rides upon this white horse with the sword that proceeds from his mouth. This is not Jesus taking a literal sword and hacking his enemies to death, he has the right to do that. Don't get me wrong. But that's not what John is talking about. He's talking about the sword that comes out of Jesus mouth. Now, anybody who has read his Bible should be able to figure that out. I will grant there are some new Christians who may not have gotten around to that, but that's such common biblical imagery. You know what the sword of the Spirit is, right? Right. It's the word of God. And so Jesus now proclaiming the word of God upon a white victorious horse goes out and he defeats all opposition. That's the Great Commission being fulfilled. But we're going to ask ourselves the question. Well, if God's going to destroy the Jewish persecutors and he's going to destroy the Roman persecutors, and his kingdom is going to be the One that conquers the nations, not the Jews, not the Romans, and so forth. How is that possible? That's where we get the millennial explanation that John gives in Revelation 20. Because God is restraining Satan that he will deceive the nations no more. Now the word of God is going to conquer the nations, not Satan. He may be active in the world, but with respect to deceiving the nations, he's restrained, he's on a chain. And then at the very end of history, if you want to look ahead, we'll see that even there, when there's a final apostasy, Jesus will return in judgment and introduce a new heavens and a new earth wherein righteousness dwells. And God will wipe every tear from our eyes. You know, I think if I were sitting in prison in Patmos, that would really encourage me to know that makes no difference what the Jews say against me, what the Romans want to do to me. Jesus is going to have the final word. He's going to have the final word in history. His kingdom is going to be victorious over the nations. He's going to have the final word in eternity. And in eternity he will comfort me. All of what I have gone through, all of this tribulation will have been worthwhile. I think that's what the book of Revelation is teaching you. Now, I can only touch down on a few spots in the minutes that are remaining for us to try to demonstrate this thesis to you. So let's follow through real quickly here. I said, the enemy of the first prophecy, that first scroll that is spoken of is Jerusalem. And one of the ways in which you can see that is that in chapter six, where we have the seals being broken, there's a correspondence between the breaking of the second seal, which is warfare, to Matthew 24:7, the Olivet discourse. Correspondence between the third seal, famine, and the Olivet discourse. Matthew 24:7, the fifth seal, murderous persecution. Matthew 24:9, the sixth seal, the shaking of the heavens. Matthew 24:29. As it turns out, if you go back and look at Matthew 24, when Jesus gives that prophecy in his own words there at the 34th book verse of Matthew 24, that is, remember, the seals of Revelation correspond to these elements. From Matthew 24, Jesus himself says in Matthew 24:34, verily I say unto you, this generation shall not pass away till all these things be accomplished. Jesus had already taught the church these sorts of things are going to take place as God judges the Jewish people, and it's going to take place in this generation. By the way, it did take place in that generation because Jerusalem was trampled down by the Gentiles in AD 70. Back in Revelation 6:16, as part of this prelude to the judgment of the first prophecy, we read and they say, to the mountains and to the rocks fall on us and hide us from the face of him that sits on the throne. In your Bibles, turn to Luke 23:27. Luke 23:27. Here in the midst of the account of our Lord's crucifixion, we read, and there followed him a great multitude of the people and of women who bewailed and lamented him. But Jesus turning unto them, said, daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. For behold, the days are coming in which they shall say, blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bare, and the breasts that never gave suck. Then shall they begin to say to the mountains, fall on us, into the hills, cover us. For if they do these things in the green tree, what shall be done in the dry? You see Jesus, as he was going to be crucified, told those who were bewailing him, you ought to weep for yourselves, because God is going to judge you for what you're doing. When did God judge the Jewish people for crucifying Christ in AD 70. And so Jesus uses the very language that now appears in the book of Revelation. So once again, from Matthew 24 and now from Luke 23, we see that John is giving an account that Jesus did when he prophesied judgment on the Jews that would come from God for their rejection of the Messiah. Turn to Luke 21:24. Jesus says, and they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led captive into all the nations. And Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled. Jerusalem is going to be destroyed by the Gentiles. That's what he's talking about. The Jews will be judged of God as he brings the Romans in to destroy their city. And now in Revelation, going back to revelation the 11th chapter, I'm going to point to a few real quick indicators of the situation when this judgment comes. First of all, Revelation 11. 1 and there was given me a reed like unto a rod, and one said, rise and measure the temple of God and the altar and them that worship therein. At the time of this judgment, the temple is still standing because John is told symbolically to measure it. Verse 2. And the court which is without the temple, leave without measure it not, for it has been given unto the nations. The Gentiles. And the holy city, shall they tread underfoot 42 months. Luke 21:24. We just read that same language. And the Gentiles will tread it underfoot. And what is this city that's going to be trodden under the feet of the Gentiles? Verse 8 of Revelation 11. And their dead bodies lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified. Where was Jesus crucified? In Jerusalem. Verse 13. And in that hour there was a great earthquake, and the tenth part of the city fell, and there was killed in the earthquake, 7,000 persons, etc. In terms of the symbolism, therefore, of what Revelation 11 tells us, Jerusalem is still standing, but it's going to be trodden under the foot of the Gentiles. The city is going to fall, the city where our Lord was crucified. Now, there's much more that I could do here to try to prove my point, but I hope that you at least find some credibility to this interpretation then, that the enemy of the first section is the city of Jerusalem. The Jews who have apostatized and not accepted the Messiah, for but in fact have persecuted the Messiah's people. They now are going to come under the judgment of God. Revelation 12:13. And when the dragon saw that he was cast down to the earth, he persecuted the woman that brought forth the man child. He persecuted the Jewish church that it brought forth the Messiah. And there was given to the woman the two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness. In Luke 21, Jesus said to his people, those faithful Jews who believed in him. He said, when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then flee to the hills. And according to Christ's instruction, those who were faithful Jews escaped this persecution and they fled. And this is what Revelation is talking about now, verse 17. And the dragon waxed wroth with the woman, and went away to make war now with the rest of her seed to keep the commandments of God. The testimony of Jesus. And now chapter 13 introduces us to the beast, the second enemy, the second great enemy of God's people, the beast coming up out of the sea. That empire that is from across the sea, that empire which demands blasphemous worship of the emperor himself. In chapter 16, verse 10, we read of the seat of this empire. And the 19th verse of chapter 16 is a great city which falls. But it's chapter 17 that helps us the most to identify who this beast is. Chapter 17. The angel says to John in verse seven, I'll tell you the mystery of the woman and the beast and so forth. And for the sake of time, I'll just whet your appetite by looking at verse nine and a few others. Here is the mind that has wisdom. That's John's way of saying, now stop, you can figure this out. Here's the mind that has wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits. What's the woman's name? Babylon. Who's the ancient persecuting political force of the Old Testament? Babylon. And so John's using against symbolic language to speak of that great city that runs the empire, that persecutes the people of God. But this Babylon is a woman set on seven hills. In all of ancient literature, Rome was known for that poetic title, the city set on seven hills. So Babylon the whore is the city of Rome. But then John's told the seven heads are also seven kings. There's a double imagery here. The beast has heads. If the beast is the empire, then the heads of the empire are what? The emperors, the kings of Rome. And that's exactly what we're told. And they are seven kings. The five are fallen, the one is, and the other is not yet come. And when he comes, he must continue a little while. There are seven emperors of Rome. In terms of this vision, John goes on to talk about an eighth and more that will come. But nevertheless, he says there are seven. Five have fallen and the one now is. And so John explicitly identifies who it is that's the head of the empire, the head of the beast. At this point, it's the sixth emperor of Rome. And he says when the seventh comes, he'll rule but just a short time, which is exactly what happened. Galba followed the sixth emperor of Rome. I'm going to come back and talk about the sixth emperor. Galba followed the sixth emperor of Rome and lasted only seven months because of the internal civil war in Rome. Then there were two others at three months and another seven months, something like that. And then finally Vespasian came to the throne. But John is told specifically, I'll tell you what I'm talking about. It's the city of Rome set on seven hills, and it's the sixth king of Rome. Now, who was the sixth king of Rome? The Jews considered the first emperor of Rome to have been Julius Caesar. Julius took the title Imperator. He was the emperor as far as he was concerned. As you know, though, he never made it to the Senate. For them to declare this, he was assassinated. But the Jews, I mean, that's a minor detail. To the Jews, he acted as an emperor and he took the title to himself. They accounted him the first emperor of Rome. If you count down from Julius Caesar, the sixth emperor of Rome is Nero, the man I told you, who was persecuting Christians by lighting them on fire, impaling them and lighting his garden parties. Nero, beastly ruler Nero. And the sixth emperor being Nero. Fascinating. If you turn back to chapter 13 for just a moment, we're told this at the very end of the chapter, verse 18, here is wisdom. He that hath understanding, let him count the number of the beast, for it's the number of a man, and his number is 666. In ancient cultures, the letters of the Alphabet often served as numerals so that every name would have its numerical equivalent. We read graffiti from Pompeii that says, I love her, whose name is 5:45. That is a way of declaring your love. But then you got to figure out whose name adds up to 545. So we know what this is all about. If you use your mind, if you have wisdom, you can tell who John is talking about. His name equals 666 in the Talmud. And in the Aramaic document that has been unearthed at Meriba', at, we know that the Jews referred to Nero as Neron. I guess you know where I'm going. If you add up the numerical equivalent of the name the Jews used For Nero, it's what, 666. This is not all that hard a book to figure out. Why did John obscure it? Well, where did he write the book from exile? Who's going to carry this book to the mainland? Roman people are right. Probably soldiers. He's not going to come right out and foment more trouble for the Christians who believe in Jesus by just saying, nero's this beast, and so forth and so on. He uses symbolic language, but he keeps winking at his audience. He goes, if you have wisdom, you can figure out what I'm talking about. It's the sixth king of Rome, whose name is 666. And so I maintain that the internal indicators in the book should make it clear to us that the second enemy of the people of God that is destroyed in the book of Revelation is the Roman Empire. And these, of course, were things that took place near at hand in the early days of the church. Jerusalem fell, A.D. 70. But in the next 250 years, Rome was finally sacked and done away with. As Jesus said, you have nothing to worry About I'm in your midst and it's your kingdom, the kingdom that I have given you that's going to prevail in history. We come to Revelation 19, and I've already explained this to you. We see now Jesus riding forth, conquering the nations in all opposition with the word that proceeds from his mouth. Here then is the course of history. According to the book of Revelation, Jesus is with his church and has established a kingdom. The Jews who persecuted are going to be destroyed by God. The Romans who persecuted are going to be destroyed by God. And then the Word of God is going to conquer the nations. The Great Commission is going to be fulfilled. And at the very end of history, Jesus will come back in judgment and he will introduce the new heavens and the new earth, where every tear will be wiped from our eyes and everything will be perfect. That's good news for a persecuted church. I hope this lecture has also been good news for you. I hope it's good news because now you say, well, you haven't explained everything in the book, and I know I couldn't do that, but I think I've given you the outline in such a way that you can say, this makes sense. It flows together. And of course, I do have more tapes. Not that I'm trying to be a commercial here, but I do have more tapes to deal with this. In fact, one of them 60 plus lessons that go through all the verses of Revelation according to this pattern. But enough has been said. I hope to encourage you that this is not a book to be set aside. It's not a book to be ignored, nor is it a book to mystify you. God has given this for your benefit, that you might gain doctrine and reproof and correction and instruction in righteousness, that you might be built up in the faith and understand what he intends to do in history. And no matter what persecution has come to us, even if it is as bad as the early days of the Church, we are on the winning side. In history, God will have the final word and the kingdom of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ will prevail throughout history. Now, if I have encouraged you by this, I hope you'll come back. And in our second lesson, I'll try to explain more in detail what this millennial reign of Jesus is all about. Thank you.

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