KEYS TO UNDERSTANDING THE BOOK OF THE REVELATION
(Keys open doors)
INTRODUCTION:
Have you ever looked for the right
key to open a door but could not find it? It is incredibly frustrating . . .
until you put the right key in the lock and the door opens! Success! It is my
desire to give you keys that will help unlock the meaning in the Book of the
Revelation. Hopefully these keys will open up more insight and understanding
which will subsequently lead to greater blessing for you from this amazing
book.
I. Key number one: Revelation
1:10 “I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day. . .”[i]
A. What is meant by “The Lord’s Day?”
1.
Some answer Sunday, the first day of the week. Yes, Sunday does belong
to the Lord and it may mean that, but the scriptures nowhere call it “the
Lord’s day.” And none of the Christian writings, for 100 years after Christ,
ever call it “the Lord’s day.”
2. But there is a “Day of the Lord”
spoken of by prophets, apostles and fathers of the Church. It is that day in
which Isaiah says men shall hide in the rocks for fear of the Lord and for the
glory of His majesty (Isaiah 2:19-21); the day of which Joel describes as a day
of destruction from the Almighty when the Lord shall roar out of Zion and utter
His voice out of Jerusalem, and the heavens and earth shall shake (Joel 3:16);
Malachi says it will be a day which will burn like an oven and which the Sun of
righteousness will arise with healing in His wings (Malachi 4:1-3); It is the
day in which the Apostle Paul said in 2 Thessalonians 2:1-4 “Concerning the
coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him, we ask you,
brothers, 2 not to become easily unsettled or alarmed by some prophecy, report
or letter supposed to have come from us, saying that the day of the Lord has
already come. 3 Don't let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not
come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man
doomed to destruction” (the antichrist); The Apostle Peter said in II Peter 3:7
“By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being
kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.”
3. Is the Apostle John saying that he
in some sense was, by the power and person of the eternal Spirit, “in” that
Day—the Day of the Lord? Before you dismiss this possibility I would like to
remind you that in II Corinthians 12:2-4 the Apostle Paul said he was caught up
into the third heavens, whether in the body or out, he didn’t know. He said he
saw things that he was not allowed to speak. Perhaps God had reserved that
revelation for the Apostle John? The point is that John was given a very
important revelation of the end times!
Did not John say in Revelation 4:1
that he was “caught up into heaven?”[ii]
4. What is the difference between
“The Lord’s Day” and “The Day of the Lord?”
What is the difference between the
Lord’s people and the people of the Lord, or the Word of God and God’s Word?
There is no difference. If John was somehow allowed to “see” the scenes of the
Day of the Lord, the last days, and he wrote about what he saw, what then would
that be? It would be what is written in the Book of the Revelation. It would be
preeminently the revelation or apocalypse (the unveiling) of Jesus Christ when
He comes to judge the world in righteousness. (Know that the Day of The Lord
will be bad for the unbelievers but, fear not, because it will be GOOD for the
believers!)
5. The themes of the Book of the
Revelation are what other portions of the Word of God refer to as “The Great Day
of the Lord.” It is apocalyptic,[iii]
revealing what has been secret or veiled from beginning to end. First it the
apocalypse of Jesus in His glorified state; then His revelation to the seven
churches; next is the apocalypse of His 21 judgments upon the earth beginning
with the seven seals, followed by the seven trumpets, and finally the seven
bowls of wrath; it is the apocalypse of the destruction of both the harlot
Babylon[iv]
and the antichrist along with the false prophet. Jesus will literally be
manifested, unveiled—with every eye seeing Him, along with His Church. Then
will be the apocalypse of His Millennial Kingdom, the Great White Throne
judgment of the unrighteous; and the destruction of death and the grave. This
will be followed by the apocalypse of the final and perfected state of redemption
forever!
6. This is a key to understanding the
Book of the Revelation or the apocalypse of Jesus Christ. It is the Day of the
Lord; it is the fulfillment of the plan and purpose of God in the last days.
This is, I believe, what John was allowed to supernaturally see by the power
and person of the Holy Spirit and write about in The Book of Revelation. “By
the Spirit I was in the Day of the Lord.”
CONCLUSION: I want to end with a personal note to demonstrate the reality of our
relationship with God “by the Spirit” and the hope we have in Him. (Wendy’s
dream about Josh, our son who went to Heaven on March 31, 2019) I believe this
dream came by the same Holy Spirit that spoke to John in the Revelation to
comfort and encourage the Church down through the ages. He is the same
yesterday, today and forever.
“I had a dream we were at church. You
and Connie were up front and Josh was in the middle. He kept trying to go up
and he was happy. He was trying to tell y’all he was home. He had a new body. I
can’t explain how it looked. I don’t have any words to explain. Connie had pictures
of him when he was little. She was trying to hang on to him. He was saying he
was home. I dreamed that twice. I don’t know what it all means but all I know
is I woke up and I felt different this morning and I have struggled if I was
supposed to tell you this. I wish I could describe his appearance. It was not
anything I can compare to. It was beautiful brother Jimmy. He was glowing but
not in a way we see on earth. The happiness was not different than what we have
on earth.” (We will pick up right where we left off! We will be family and we
will love each other like we do now. That part will not change. We will know
each other. We will keep the beautiful memories that we made in this life. It
will be heaven. I have prayed to God that He would let Josh know how much I
love him and miss him. I believe this dream was God telling me that the message
has been delivered and that Josh knows how much we love and miss him, and that
he is at home and happy, and he will see us on the other side). The Book of the
Revelation is God speaking to John through the Holy Spirit letting us know that
the best is yet to come!
And that brings us to key number two.
II. Key number two is
understanding the excursus of Revelation chapter 12.
1. An excursus is a digression in a
narrative. It is seeing and describing the big picture in the middle of the
story. It is parenthetical to the chronological story line. It helps fit all of the different parts
together for a better understanding.
2. Chapter 12 of Revelation gives the
view of the unseen battle occurring throughout history and especially
throughout the rest of the Book of The Revelation. This excursus or big picture
view of history is important in understanding what is happening in the Book of
the Revelation and why it’s happening.
3. This chapter focuses on what
events like the birth of Jesus looks like in the context of the spiritual war
being waged between God and Satan. It gives a view of history concerning
Israel, the Messiah, and the Church.
4. This excursus begins with a great
sign in the heavens. The great sign is a woman, clothed with the sun, standing
on the moon, and wearing a garland of twelve stars on her head. To be clothed
with the sun is to be wrapped in the light of God. The position of the
moon—under the woman’s feet—represents dominion. The crown of stars shows her
regal standing. The twelve stars correlates to the twelve tribes of Israel. The
woman symbolizes Israel, God’s chosen people. And she is in labor according to verse
2.
5. Verse 3 introduces us to another
sign in heaven: a great, fiery, red dragon with seven heads crowned with seven
diadems and ten horns. This beast, the complete perfection of evil on the
earth, corresponds with the ten horns in Daniel 7.
The dragon itself is Satan, the old
serpent represented in Isaiah 27 as leviathan whom God will punish. In this
“perfected” kingdom of evil in the Tribulation Period, Satan will manifest
himself through political leadership in the human realm. Keep in mind that
throughout history Satan has been at war with “the
Seed of woman” (Genesis 3:15) by
persecuting the woman, Israel, through whom “the Seed of woman,” the
Messiah—even the Lord Jesus—would come. (This is the story that God also wrote
in the stars)
6. In verse 4 the action begins as
the dragon’s tail sweeps a third of the stars to the earth, signifying Satan’s
alliance with a third of the angels in his rebellion against God. Satan is the
chief rebel who rebelled against God in the beginning and a third of the angels
joined him in that rebellion. That is what is being referred to here.
7. Israel, the woman, is ready to
give birth, and the dragon waits ready to devour the child, knowing that the
child is “the Seed of woman,” the One who will crush his head and redeem
mankind. The child is Yeshua/Jesus the Messiah who is “to rule all nations with
a rod of iron” (Revelation 12:5).
8. It is clear that Satan is
attempting to destroy Jesus and His work from the time of His birth until His
death on the cross. First, Herod was Satan’s instrument, commanding the slaughter
of babies around Bethlehem in an attempt to kill the Son of God as an infant.
Later he worked through “religious” leaders who sought to kill Him before His
time. However Satan did not prevail. Instead, Jesus died on the cross by his
own volition when He laid down His life, which was His mission and purpose in
redeeming man back to God. After His resurrection, Jesus ascended back to the
Father, or as verse 5 states it, He was “caught up to God and to His throne.”
9. In verse 6 the Holy Spirit takes
John, and us, to the last days and the time leading up to the Lord leaving
Heaven for the second time (the first time was when he became a man in the
Person of Jesus Christ) and returning to the earth to complete the redemptive
plan of God. In this verse the woman, Israel, flees into the wilderness to a
place prepared for her by God. This “time” in the wilderness is described as
1,260 days, 42 months, or three and a half years. (I personally believe God
spoke of this time in these three ways, days, months and years, to make clear
that it is NOT a symbolic time period as some wrongly believe). This will be
the last half of the Tribulation Period, and it will be the most intense time
ever on the earth! It should be noted here that just as God kept His protective
hand on His people when His judgment fell on Egypt, so too during this time
period will God keep His protective hand on His people (Israel and the Church)
as His judgments are being poured out on the Antichrist Kingdom. (Pharaoh was a
type of the end-time Antichrist)
10. The initial conflict of verse 4
is now expanded in verses 7-9. This is the battle between the fallen angels of
Satan’s rebellion and the angels who remained faithful to God. Michael, the
head of God’s faithful angel army, prevails and Satan and his rebellious angels
are cast down to the earth.
11. In verses 10 and 11 we see the
way that God protects His people is through the power of the blood of the Lamb.
He did this through the blood of the Passover Lamb in Egypt when it was applied
to the doors of the Israelites when the plague of death came into the land and
took all the lives of the first born of Egypt. And He will do it again as the
blood of The Lamb of God—even Jesus the Messiah—will protect His people, the
Church and redeemed Israel, in the seven year Tribulation Period as God’s
judgments are being poured out on a Satan and an unbelieving world!
12. When the dragon has been cast
down to the earth, he really goes after the woman, Israel, to destroy her. This
will be anti-Semitism at a level that will surpass anything we have ever
known—even what Satan did to the Jews through Hitler and Nazi Germany. But God
supernaturally protects Israel from Satan’s attacks for these last 3 and one
half years of the Tribulation Period. These years are actually known as the
Great Tribulation. Enraged because he can’t overcome the woman, Israel, he then
attacks the “woman’s offspring” or the Church (verse 17). As I have told you many times, the two people
groups that Satan hates most intently are Israel and the Church. Why? He hates
them because his destruction is tied to both Israel and the Church. First is
Israel because Israel has to be in the land and be in Jerusalem to fulfill the
prophecy of Jesus in Matthew 23:39 where He said to the Jewish leadership in
Jerusalem, “you will not see me again until you say, ‘blessed is He who comes
in the name of the Lord.’” If there is no Israel to welcome Jesus back, then
the prophecy of Jesus can’t be fulfilled and the devil has a little longer to
continue in his rebellion and not be chained in the bottomless pit for a
thousand years. Secondly is Satan’s hatred of the Church because of the
prophecy of Jesus in Matthew 24:14 “And this Gospel of the Kingdom will be
preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end
will come.” What end? Who’s end? Satan’s end! So if there is no Church to
preach the Gospel then the end, Satan’s end, can’t come! Therefore Satan hates
both Israel and the Church because God will use both to bring about his
destruction!
As far as to how God will protect His
people during this time, there will be cities of refuge where God’s people are
in control. These places of safety will be in many areas that God will have
prepared. As far as those who will be called to be martyred, just know “that
not a hair of their head will be lost.” Even in death they will be victorious
because they will ultimately rule and reign with Him forever! Shalom!
III. Key number three in
understanding the Book of the Revelation is knowing the conditions that will
exist at the end of the age, where things are moving.
In Genesis 28:12 the Bible says that
“He (Jacob/Israel) dreamed, and behold, a ladder was set up on the earth, and its
top reached to heaven; and there the angels of God were ascending and
descending on it.”
In Jacob’s dream, he saw a ladder
that gave him access to the heavenly realm in the will of God. And Jesus also
spoke of this ladder, when He was on the earth, in John 1:51, “He (Jesus) said
to him (Nathanael) ‘Most assuredly I say to you, hereafter you will see heaven
open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.’’’
The Harlot Church (mystery Babylon)
in the Seven Year Tribulation Period, at the end of the age, will also have
access to a ladder. This ladder will be to the demonic realm, enabling the
nations to escalate in their experience with sin and with demons. The people of
Babel sought this connection under the leadership of Nimrod, a type of the
Antichrist (Genesis 10:8-10; 11:1ff). In Hebrew the name “Babel” means
“confusion,” but in the Babylonian language it means “gate of heaven.” The
people of Babel were attempting to reach a demonic open heaven under the
leadership of Nimrod. Sin’s effects that began in the Garden of Eden with the
fall of Adam and Eve were escalating at the Tower of Babel. Instead of
worshipping and obeying God, the Creator, they were moving further and further
away from Him in the rebellion of the Serpent and the worship of other things
(idolatry).
Satan and a multitude of demons will
be cast down to the earth from their place in heaven. They will appear to
people and interact with them at a level never known in history!
Revelation 12:7-9 “War broke out in
heaven: Michael and his angels fought with the dragon . . . but they did not
prevail, nor was there a place found for them in heaven . . . The great Dragon
was cast out, that Serpent of old, called the Devil was cast to the earth, and
his angels . . . with him.”
Revelation 13:2 “The dragon gave him
(the Antichrist) his power, and great authority.”
In the end times there will be an
unprecedented interaction between the demonic and human realm, leading to a
worldwide judgment. The time before Jesus’ Second Coming is compared to the
days of Noah, including the demonic realm touching the earth and leading to an
exponential escalation in violence and murder.
In Matthew 24:37 Jesus said
concerning His Second Coming, “But as it was in the days of Noah, so shall it
be at the coming of The Son of Man.”
The people in Genesis 6, the
antediluvians or pre-flood people, walked in a “counterfeit” open heaven as
demons interacted with humans in the natural realm in an evil way (Genesis 6:4;
2 Peter 2:4-5; Jude 6).
At that time on the earth there was an unprecedented connection between the
natural realm and the demonic realm. It resulted in great violence, (remember,
“the thief (Satan) comes only but to steal, kill and destroy . . . “John
10:10a) causing God to destroy the earth with the flood in Noah’s day (Genesis
6:7; 7:1-24).
Genesis 6:5-7, “The Lord saw that the
wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that the very intent of the
thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. v.6 . . . the Lord . . . was grieved in His heart
. . . v.7 the Lord said, I will destroy man . . . from the face of the earth.”
Genesis 6:11-13, “The earth was
corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. So God
looked upon the earth, and indeed it was corrupt: for all flesh had
corrupted their way on the earth. God said to Noah, ‘The end of all flesh
has come before Me, for the earth is filled with violence through them;
and behold, I will destroy them with
the earth.’”
John was surprised that the Harlot
was the mother of harlots,
the source of false religion through history as well as being the primary
source of false religion and abominations in the end times. Her offspring
(false religion through history) will crescendo at the end of the age.
Revelation 17:5, “Babylon the great,
the mother of harlots and the abominations of the earth.”
The Harlot will have a murderous
heart despite her humanitarian appearance (a false justice movement and
so-called tolerance). John marveled at this mysterious plan, which will bring
forth the salvation of Israel as it also purifies and empowers the Church to be
used in the great end-time plan of God. As we understand this prophecy, we will marvel
like John as we feel the weightiness of what is in God’s heart.
Revelation 17:6, “I saw the woman,
drunk with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus.
And when I saw her, I marveled with great amazement.”
In Matthew 13:24-30 Jesus spoke about what
would happen at the end of the age, namely that both good and evil will come to
fruition or be full grown. This is where things are going. These are the
end-time trends.
24 Another parable He put forth to
them, saying: "The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in
his field; 25 but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the
wheat and went his way. 26 But when the
grain had sprouted and produced a crop, then the tares also appeared. 27 So the servants of the owner came and said
to him, 'Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have
tares?' 28 He said to them, 'An enemy
has done this.' The servants said to him, 'Do you want us then to go and gather
them up?' 29 But he said, 'No, lest
while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them. 30 Let both grow together until the harvest,
and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, ‘First gather together
the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my
barn."'
Revelation 13:1-2 “And the Dragon
stood upon the shore of the sea. And I saw a beast coming up out of the sea. He
had ten horns and seven heads, with ten crowns on his horns, and on each head a
blasphemous name. . . The Dragon gave the beast his power and his throne and
great authority.”
The number seven means perfection and
the number ten means completeness. At time of the end of the age, in the last
world empire under the power and authority of Satan and the Antichrist, the
seed of sin and rebellion that began in the Garden of Eden with the fall of
Adam and Eve will be perfected. Evil will reach its’ pinnacle. And like in the
days of Noah, God will have no choice but to destroy this wicked empire from
the earth! Hence, this is the reason for the 21 judgments of the 7 Seals, 7 Trumpets
and 7 Bowls of Wrath released by Jesus.
These judgments of Jesus upon a
corrupt and wicked earth will come through a Church that is also being
perfected and completed. This will be a mature Church “without spot or
wrinkle.” It will be a Church that will be a part of God’s plan through a
supernatural release of intercession and the prophetic on a global scale. This Church will see the unprecedented
Presence and power of God—a ladder between the natural and spiritual realm—with
a combination of what God released in the Exodus and in the Book of Acts—just as
the kingdom of Antichrist will have a ladder of connection into the demonic
realm. It will be the most unique and the intense time that planet earth has
ever experienced! If you can understand what I have just said, you can
understand why that there are those who say that even the first century
Christians will line the balcony of Heaven to see and cheer on this last
generation of God’s Church on the earth! I believe that my kids and grandkids
will very likely be part of that final generation. May God give me the grace to
help prepare them!
Now, as I have said and will say
again and again, there will be some things that will not be fully understood
until they are literally fulfilled. I believe that is how God planned it. But, if you use these keys that we have
taught on, you will be able to understand the Book of The Revelation in ways
that you haven’t known before. And as The Revelation says in 1:3, “Blessed is
he that reads and hears the words of this prophecy, and keeps those things
which are written herein; for the time is at hand.”
[i]
John declares that he was literally “in Spirit on the Lord’s Day.” I believe
that he could very possibly be saying that by the Spirit’s presence and power
he had a front row seat to the end times or to the Day of the Lord. I say that
because what follows in the book is a revelation of the Day of the Lord.
[ii]
Revelation 4:1-2 “After these things I looked, and behold a door standing open
in heaven, and the first voice which I heard, like the sound of a trumpet
speaking to me said, ‘Come up here, and I will show you what must take place
after these things.’ Immediately I was in the Spirit; and behold a throne was
open in heaven, and One sitting on the throne.” John is seeing these scenes by
or through the Person of the Spirit.
[iii]
The Greek word for apocalypse simply means to bring into full view what has
been hidden or veiled. It is making known God’s end time plan.
[iv] The
Harlot Babylon is Satan’s counterfeit kingdom and religion that will seduce the
world, especially at the end of the age. It is “The Lie.”
