Focus On Jerusalem

Title

“THE REVELATION”
or the Unveiling of End Time Bible Prophecy
Introduction by: Darrell G. Young ( 2002 )



The book of The Revelation is a dynamic, symmetrical, panoramic sweep of the history of mankind. Conveyed to us by the Creator of the cosmos, the one and only God, a being that is beyond our dimensional bounds, ( Alpha and Omega ) and reveals the destiny of our world. Furthermore, it conveys a message of hope, blessed assurance, encouragement, and Divine Providence. It is in essence a love-letter from the “Bridegroom” ( Jesus Christ ) to his faithful “Bride”, ( the Church ) informing her of the spiritual environment of her travail in this world while awaiting the majestic appearance of her betrothed. Much like a master artist using a broad sweep of his painters brush across the canvass to layout the overview and background for a beautiful masterpiece, The Revelation is a broad-sweep of unveiled information exposing the revelation of God's climactic episode with his creation. The Greek word for Revelation is apokalupsis which literally means, "unveiling" or " to remove from covering", or to “open and unloose (unseal) the detail”. Old Testament Prophet Daniel was informed to “seal up” the prophecy concerning these things until “the time of the end”. The book of Revelation however unseals that epic volume, and is in fact the unveiling of Jesus Christ. It is the unveiling of Jesus Christ because only he is worthy to open, or unveil, and remove the covering from the previously sealed book of prophecy. The book unveils his relationship to the church throughout the long drama of the Church Age, his judgments of this world, and the nations of the world, and it conveys to the present world things that shall come to pass in the near future. The purpose of the Revelation is also to reveal to Christ's watchful servants, all the details concerning the things that must shortly take place, in the interim leading directly to our Lord's grand return to the world stage. He will return as a conquering King, the Lion of the Tribe of Judah, which is the exact reversal of his first advent when he came as a meek, humble sacrificial Lamb, a lamb slain even before the very foundation of the world.

      The book of The Revelation was written by the apostle John, who at the time of the recording was imprisoned on the island of Patmos, located in the Aegean Sea, just off the western coast of the modern day nation of Turkey. The island of Patmos is today part of Greece. It is located among the Sporades group of islands in the Aegean Sea. It is relatively small, measuring only about 6 by 10 miles (10 by 16 kilometers), with a very irregular coastline made up of volcanic rock. The island of Patmos was not a vacation resort, or a picture of paradise. It was a quarry mine for the Roman Empire, and was home to many political and religious prisoners or slaves. John, the beloved apostle of Jesus, was being held as a prisoner of Rome on this island for his incessant preaching about Jesus. Rome believed that banishing the old man John to the remote and forsaken island of Patmos, that his voice would be quieted. John was aged in years, and close to the end of his life, probably sent to Patmos in the year 95 by the Roman emperor Domitian, who was reportedly angry at the fact that John was not killed when he was dipped in boiling oil. Since John was a contemporary of Jesus, John would have been by that time, well over 90 years old - making him very likely the only apostle to survive to such an old age. The rest of Jesus apostles and disciples were martyred decades earlier. It was as if God supernaturally preserved John to bare record of The Revelation!

     John was ever faithful and constantly praying, and being a servant so closely in tune with the Holy Spirit, he began to receive supernatural visions given to him by the Lord Jesus Christ through the Angel of the Lord. You might say he received an Angelic-e-mail-o-gram. Included in these visions were signs and symbols of things that were to happen in the Last Days. Much in the visions represented historical paradigms, depicting the broad scope of world history, with explicit detail regarding the character and personality of the last world empire, but some of it is related to events outside the realm of earth's time domain. The stage for John's record of The Revelation takes place in the year of our Lord about 95 A.D. John experienced being propelled 2,000 years out into the future, in a time-travel epilogue that included a narrative with the Angels of Heaven. John was caught up into Heaven, and granted the opportunity of a lifetime, and then in the waning years of his earthly mission of service to Jesus, he bore a heavenly record of that Divine transmittal.

      There are many, many great and wonderful resources on The Revelation in book form, and on various web-sites, and through other Ministries, but for this Focus on Jerusalem Study-room endeavor, I have relied solely on the prayerful leading and guidance of the Holy Spirit. While there are four prophetic views on the book of The Revelation, this Ministry relates most closely with the Futurist prophetic analogy, but for this particular study, I will refrain from using too much eschatological technical dialogue. The Revelation of Jesus Christ is really a fairly simple transmittance from Heaven. It was conveyed for the express intention to provide understanding by all spiritually enlightened Christians, and to be utilized by those Christians for analyzing and measuring the Christian pilgrimage in an alien world. The “Unveiling,” of Jesus Christ should never be allowed to become clouded in a new type of Veil! The purpose of Jesus Christ was to inform his followers, and to equip them with power and hope! Many times over, Jesus began a discourse on future things with his apostles by saying, “brethren, I would not have you to be ignorant” of all these things.

  • Preterest (The Preterest view holds that the events of the book have already happened in the Roman 1st century. They also explain it away as highly symbolic in nature. )

  • Historical ( The Historical view maintains that the book covers all the events of the Church age, until the Second Coming of Christ )

  • Symbolic or Allegorical ( The Symbolic or Allegorical view maintains that the book is purely an insight into the spiritual realm )

  • Futuristic ( This view maintains that the Revelation is explained by itself. It is the prophecy “of things to come”. ) ( Revelation 1:19 Write the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter; )


     I hope that you will enjoy studying this heavenly journey into “The Revelation”! The Revelation carries within it a blessing to those who dig into its deep treasury. It is unlike any other book in the world. ( Revelation 1:3 Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand. )

This pictograph of the Apostle John on the island of Patmos was provided by Pat Maravenko Smith of Revelation Productions. John must have had some awfully trying and lonely times while imprisoned on Patmos. Thanks to the beloved John, the barer of the record of the book of The Revelation, we as Christians today need never be sick at heart, wondering about the details of future events, as poor Daniel was 2600 years ago! Daniel 7:27-28 And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him. Hitherto is the end of the matter. As for me Daniel, my cogitations much troubled me, and my countenance changed in me: but I kept the matter in my heart.)

     Let us all as Christians today march forward into the future with great confidence because we can know we serve a risen savior, and we know we are soldiers under a mighty and triumphant returning KING! Let us keep that matter in our hearts until the King indeed comes!





SEE “THE REVELATION” CHAPTER 1







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