REVELATION
Revelation is the last book of the New Testament (Revelation 1:1). The word “revelation” has the idea of revealing something; it is translated in other places as “be revealed.” And God reveals to His children things that will happen (future).
Errors that some have made in connection with the book of Revelation include believing that because all these things will happen that therefore there is nothing we can do. If someone really believes that Christ could come back at any moment, then he will live like it. He will not be a part of the problem but will let his light shine.
Paul the Apostle believed Christ was coming back in his lifetime: “Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up” (1 Thessalonians 4:17). Paul was the human author in God’s hand (2 Peter 1:21) who wrote this passage, and he said, “we,” not those who will live sometime in the future. He had a hope that in his lifetime Christ would come back, and he was out starting churches and winning people to Christ and proclaiming God’s Word to all who would listen. The apostle Paul did not say, “There is nothing we can do; the Bible says it will get worse toward the end.” No. Instead Paul went out and “turned the world upside down” (Acts 17:6). Paul was ready for Christ’s return had He come back in his lifetime, and he was ready for when he died and stood before Christ. Christ wants every generation to have this hope that He will come back during their lives. And this is one reason He gave us no date. “And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power” (Acts 1:7).
The second major error in connection to the book of Revelation are the false ways of interpreting this book. There are those who say that the book of Revelation is only symbolic, that the events it talks about will not literally happen (see INTERPRETATION). The Old Testament has many prophecies regarding Christ’s first coming to earth, and all those prophecies of Christ were fulfilled literally.
Then there are those (preterists, preterism) who teach that the book of Revelation is to be fit in during the church age. They will force different events that have happened in the past and try to make them fit with what the book of Revelation says, but this cannot be sustained. When Revelation 6:8 says, that one-fourth of the people of the earth would die from one plague, has that ever happened yet? Or that one-third of the remaining people on earth would die from another plague (9:15–18)? Or that a third part of the sea would become blood (8:8; 16:3)? I could go on, but the point is, none of these things have ever happened; they will, but not yet. And it should be made clear that these plagues were for all the world, not just some local plagues that would fall on Israel: “unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people” (14:6) and “of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues” (7:9; see also 11:9, 18; 12:5; 13:7; 16:19; 17:15; and many other verses). There are those who interpret Revelation and the events of the great tribulation as something that has already happened during the first century, but again, when did any of the things happen that were mentioned above? Some have used Matthew 24:34, where it says, “This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.” And they would believe that “this generation” was the Jews who were living in Christ’s day. But Christ did not say, “Your generation,” and in the context it was the generation that would see all these things. Some use the words of Christ that appear to say He would come back during the lives of the apostles or right after their deaths: “I come quickly” (Revelation 22:7); “the time is at hand” (v. 10); “things which must shortly be done” (v. 6). This was explained in the last topic (see RETURN OF CHRIST).
Revelation is the last book of the New Testament (Revelation 1:1). The word “revelation” has the idea of revealing something; it is translated in other places as “be revealed.” And God reveals to His children things that will happen (future).
Errors that some have made in connection with the book of Revelation include believing that because all these things will happen that therefore there is nothing we can do. If someone really believes that Christ could come back at any moment, then he will live like it. He will not be a part of the problem but will let his light shine.
Paul the Apostle believed Christ was coming back in his lifetime: “Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up” (1 Thessalonians 4:17). Paul was the human author in God’s hand (2 Peter 1:21) who wrote this passage, and he said, “we,” not those who will live sometime in the future. He had a hope that in his lifetime Christ would come back, and he was out starting churches and winning people to Christ and proclaiming God’s Word to all who would listen. The apostle Paul did not say, “There is nothing we can do; the Bible says it will get worse toward the end.” No. Instead Paul went out and “turned the world upside down” (Acts 17:6). Paul was ready for Christ’s return had He come back in his lifetime, and he was ready for when he died and stood before Christ. Christ wants every generation to have this hope that He will come back during their lives. And this is one reason He gave us no date. “And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power” (Acts 1:7).
The second major error in connection to the book of Revelation are the false ways of interpreting this book. There are those who say that the book of Revelation is only symbolic, that the events it talks about will not literally happen (see INTERPRETATION). The Old Testament has many prophecies regarding Christ’s first coming to earth, and all those prophecies of Christ were fulfilled literally.
Then there are those (preterists, preterism) who teach that the book of Revelation is to be fit in during the church age. They will force different events that have happened in the past and try to make them fit with what the book of Revelation says, but this cannot be sustained. When Revelation 6:8 says, that one-fourth of the people of the earth would die from one plague, has that ever happened yet? Or that one-third of the remaining people on earth would die from another plague (9:15–18)? Or that a third part of the sea would become blood (8:8; 16:3)? I could go on, but the point is, none of these things have ever happened; they will, but not yet. And it should be made clear that these plagues were for all the world, not just some local plagues that would fall on Israel: “unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people” (14:6) and “of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues” (7:9; see also 11:9, 18; 12:5; 13:7; 16:19; 17:15; and many other verses). There are those who interpret Revelation and the events of the great tribulation as something that has already happened during the first century, but again, when did any of the things happen that were mentioned above? Some have used Matthew 24:34, where it says, “This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.” And they would believe that “this generation” was the Jews who were living in Christ’s day. But Christ did not say, “Your generation,” and in the context it was the generation that would see all these things. Some use the words of Christ that appear to say He would come back during the lives of the apostles or right after their deaths: “I come quickly” (Revelation 22:7); “the time is at hand” (v. 10); “things which must shortly be done” (v. 6). This was explained in the last topic (see RETURN OF CHRIST).
