Paul's Passing Thoughts

In our series on the book of Revelation, we are seeking to begin with a basic framework that is objective and then fill in the minor details as we go with more objective truth.

last Sunday, we made some observations. The majority of the book focuses on a three-and-a-half-year period preceding the visible return of Christ to set up his 1000-year kingdom on earth.

The revelation is written to the assembly of Christ, and the assembly is responsible for disseminating and protecting its truth.

The Bible is full of a mass of details regarding the end of the age. We believe the purpose of these details are clarity, not confusion.

The seals of Revelation unveil a scroll; undoubtably, the revelation that Daniel was told to “seal up until the end.” Revelation is the unsealing of Daniel’s revelation. The six seals are an overview of the “day of the Lord” which is a seven-year period. Its beginning is marked by a treaty that Israel will sign with the antichrist. The sixth seal clearly describes the last day of the seven-year period, and thus indicating that the seals are an overview of the entire period. Note that the seals unveiling the document are not opened sporadically throughout the book. They are an overview, and then details are filled in later.

Matthew chapter 24 is key to understanding Revelation. Christ provides a timeline of the major events, the framework. The “beginning of sorrows” take place in the first 3-and-a-half years and result in the death of 25% of the world’s population through wars and famine. But, as Christ states, “the end is not yet.” Seals one through three, “wars and rumors of wars” lead up to catastrophic events that destroy a third of the world (Revelation chapters 8 and 9).

In the midst of this, the antichrist sweeps into Jerusalem, enters the third temple, sits in the Holy of Holies, and declares himself to be God. He then sets out to destroy the Jews in a wholesale genocide, but, somehow, some way, “on the wings of a great eagle,” the Jews are protected until Christ’s visible return.

The result? The antichrist seeks to destroy the remnant of Judaism, non-Jewish believers; this is the fifth seal. The slaughter of the saints during the last three-and-a-half years of the tribulation period is a direct result of the Jews being protected somehow. The focus of the antichrist’s wrath is then focused on non-Jewish believers.

The destruction of one third of the earth’s geographical regions and 50% of its population to this point, coupled with miracles performed by the antichrist et al, lead to the rest of the world falling in line with anything the antichrist proclaims. Jerusalem is then the center of an apocalyptic spiritual warfare for the remaining 3.5 years involving two prophets from God.

Meanwhile, the rest of the world is thriving under a spectacular city that is the center of economic prosperity while also being the epicenter of all sorts of evils and abominations. The last part of this period culminates with the destruction of that city and the visible return of Christ.

paul