Understanding Bible Prophecy
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Thomas Green
May 5, 2011, 9:19:58 PM5/5/11
to A Walk in Faith
Many have considered the book of Revelation to be a sealed book and
unable to be understood. However, the word Revelation comes from the
Greek name Apokalypsis, which means a disclosure, a revelation or
manifestation and to be revealed. So we find that the book of
Revelation is not only an open book but its contents are definitely
intended to be revealed and understood by us. It is in fact a
revealing of Jesus Christ Himself. Note carefully these first three
verses of Revelation.
Revelation 1:1-3 “The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto
him, to show unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass;
and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John: 2 Who
bare record of the word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ,
and of all things that he saw. 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.”
So we see that this Revelation is the revealing of Jesus Christ and
that the message originally came from God the Father but since the
introduction of sin, all communication between heaven and earth has
been through Jesus Christ as He is the only mediator between God and
man. We also see that the events that are outlined in the book of
Revelation were in the future at the time that they were given. The
word of God is none other than Jesus Christ, the creator of all things
who was manifest in human flesh and dwelt amongst us. So it is He that
John bares record of here and thus this is a message from Jesus, not
from John. Revelation 19:10 states that the testimony of Jesus Christ
is the spirit of prophecy and so John is bearing record of the gift of
prophecy as it is revealed through Jesus Christ. John saw the
testimony of the Old Testament prophets concerning Jesus Christ
fulfilled in Him and heard the words of life as they came from the
Father through Jesus. Note that a blessing is pronounced upon those
that read this book and those that hear the words of this prophecy and
those that follow its teachings. Also, the time for the fulfilment of
these messages is now at hand.
There are literally hundreds of different interpretations on
Revelation Bible prophecy and especially on the issue of who is the
antichrist, 666 and the mark of the beast and the battle of
Armageddon, the key word being “interpretations.” This is the first
mistake the majority make as we are told not to have private
interpretations of prophecy at all and neither do we need to. God’s
Word gives us all we need to know without any speculation whatsoever.
Note carefully what the following scripture says.
2 Peter 1:20 “Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is
of any private interpretation.”
Note also that the book of Revelation ends with a severe warning
telling us not to add or take away from the prophecies written in this
book or there are very serious consequences.
Revelation 22:18-19 “For I testify unto every man that heareth the
words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these
things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this
book: 19 And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of
this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life,
and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in
this book.”
Adhering to the warning of these two scriptures will help prevent us
from going to far wrong. These verses inform us that everything we
need to know about end time events will be stated in the Bible and we
will not have to add extra doctrine or our own interpretations or fill
in the gaps, for we are told not to add to it.
The moment you hear or read statements like, “this must be that
country because or…”, then stop reading right there. If we have to add
or take from what the Bible tells us, then there is no doubt we
already have it wrong. In fact, once you understand the principles for
understanding Bible prophecy, it is a lot more simple than you could
ever imagine. Some people what to turn it into something complicated
and feel that if it is not, then it cannot be correct. They could not
be further from the truth.
One of the keys to understanding Bible prophecy is laid out in the
principle of the following verse:
Isaiah 28:10 “For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept;
line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little:”
To quote one example, in Revelation 13 we find a bizarre beast coming
out of the sea with ten horns. Do we make wild guesses as to what a
beast is or what the meaning of the ten horns or the sea or water is?
Absolutely not, let the Bible explain itself.
A large amount of what we need to know can be found by referencing the
book of Daniel. In fact two thirds of the book of Revelation can be
found in the Old Testament and that is a very large key to finding our
answers, “precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a
little, and there a little.” Note the following three verses, which
are significant to understanding many key Bible Prophecies, for
instance the word “Beast” occurs more than 55 times in Revelation.
This verse tells us the meaning of the waters or sea in this case.
Revelation 17:15 “And he saith unto me, The waters which you sawest,
where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and
tongues.”
The next verse which was divinely given to Daniel, informs us very
clearly what a beast is in Bible Prophecy. There is no need to guess,
just let the Bible explain itself.
Daniel 7:23 “Thus he said, The fourth beast shall be the fourth
kingdom upon earth, which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and
shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in
pieces.”
As for the meaning of the ten horns, again, just let the Bible explain
itself.
Daniel 7:24 “And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that
shall arise: and another shall rise after them; and he shall be
diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings.”
There is always so much speculation as to what the Mark of the Beast
is or more to the point who this antichrist beast power is. Many
believe it to be one individual at the end of time. Is this true? No!
This is also not what all the early protestants believed either and
that truth has been lost over the last few centuries. The real truth
was even known by the translators of the King James Bible and Sir
Isaac Newton. How did this truth get lost by the majority of all the
early Churches that once taught and knew the truth?
For those who want to research and study history a little will be
shell shocked to find out what the real truth is. You will ask
yourself why more people don’t know the truth. This is how Satan
works. He starts with a small lie and perpetuates it until it gets so
big that nobody will entertain the idea of it ever being wrong. Even
some theologians who first hear Satan’s perpetuated lie in a
traditionally accepted teaching without questioning it, tend to end up
establishing their theology around that lie that becomes a mind set.
The following pages are a scripture by scripture commentary on the
book of Revelation and many historical quotes are also given to
reinforce the truth. Note that the book of Revelation is NOT a
chronological book and this tends to confuse many people. Note also
that Revelation chapters 14 through 22 are still are work in progress
but some have optional links that cover the main topic of the chapter.
Select Bible Prophecy Symbols if you would like to view a
comprehensive list of Bible symbols and their meaning before
beginning.
unable to be understood. However, the word Revelation comes from the
Greek name Apokalypsis, which means a disclosure, a revelation or
manifestation and to be revealed. So we find that the book of
Revelation is not only an open book but its contents are definitely
intended to be revealed and understood by us. It is in fact a
revealing of Jesus Christ Himself. Note carefully these first three
verses of Revelation.
Revelation 1:1-3 “The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto
him, to show unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass;
and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John: 2 Who
bare record of the word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ,
and of all things that he saw. 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.”
So we see that this Revelation is the revealing of Jesus Christ and
that the message originally came from God the Father but since the
introduction of sin, all communication between heaven and earth has
been through Jesus Christ as He is the only mediator between God and
man. We also see that the events that are outlined in the book of
Revelation were in the future at the time that they were given. The
word of God is none other than Jesus Christ, the creator of all things
who was manifest in human flesh and dwelt amongst us. So it is He that
John bares record of here and thus this is a message from Jesus, not
from John. Revelation 19:10 states that the testimony of Jesus Christ
is the spirit of prophecy and so John is bearing record of the gift of
prophecy as it is revealed through Jesus Christ. John saw the
testimony of the Old Testament prophets concerning Jesus Christ
fulfilled in Him and heard the words of life as they came from the
Father through Jesus. Note that a blessing is pronounced upon those
that read this book and those that hear the words of this prophecy and
those that follow its teachings. Also, the time for the fulfilment of
these messages is now at hand.
There are literally hundreds of different interpretations on
Revelation Bible prophecy and especially on the issue of who is the
antichrist, 666 and the mark of the beast and the battle of
Armageddon, the key word being “interpretations.” This is the first
mistake the majority make as we are told not to have private
interpretations of prophecy at all and neither do we need to. God’s
Word gives us all we need to know without any speculation whatsoever.
Note carefully what the following scripture says.
2 Peter 1:20 “Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is
of any private interpretation.”
Note also that the book of Revelation ends with a severe warning
telling us not to add or take away from the prophecies written in this
book or there are very serious consequences.
Revelation 22:18-19 “For I testify unto every man that heareth the
words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these
things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this
book: 19 And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of
this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life,
and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in
this book.”
Adhering to the warning of these two scriptures will help prevent us
from going to far wrong. These verses inform us that everything we
need to know about end time events will be stated in the Bible and we
will not have to add extra doctrine or our own interpretations or fill
in the gaps, for we are told not to add to it.
The moment you hear or read statements like, “this must be that
country because or…”, then stop reading right there. If we have to add
or take from what the Bible tells us, then there is no doubt we
already have it wrong. In fact, once you understand the principles for
understanding Bible prophecy, it is a lot more simple than you could
ever imagine. Some people what to turn it into something complicated
and feel that if it is not, then it cannot be correct. They could not
be further from the truth.
One of the keys to understanding Bible prophecy is laid out in the
principle of the following verse:
Isaiah 28:10 “For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept;
line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little:”
To quote one example, in Revelation 13 we find a bizarre beast coming
out of the sea with ten horns. Do we make wild guesses as to what a
beast is or what the meaning of the ten horns or the sea or water is?
Absolutely not, let the Bible explain itself.
A large amount of what we need to know can be found by referencing the
book of Daniel. In fact two thirds of the book of Revelation can be
found in the Old Testament and that is a very large key to finding our
answers, “precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a
little, and there a little.” Note the following three verses, which
are significant to understanding many key Bible Prophecies, for
instance the word “Beast” occurs more than 55 times in Revelation.
This verse tells us the meaning of the waters or sea in this case.
Revelation 17:15 “And he saith unto me, The waters which you sawest,
where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and
tongues.”
The next verse which was divinely given to Daniel, informs us very
clearly what a beast is in Bible Prophecy. There is no need to guess,
just let the Bible explain itself.
Daniel 7:23 “Thus he said, The fourth beast shall be the fourth
kingdom upon earth, which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and
shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in
pieces.”
As for the meaning of the ten horns, again, just let the Bible explain
itself.
Daniel 7:24 “And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that
shall arise: and another shall rise after them; and he shall be
diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings.”
There is always so much speculation as to what the Mark of the Beast
is or more to the point who this antichrist beast power is. Many
believe it to be one individual at the end of time. Is this true? No!
This is also not what all the early protestants believed either and
that truth has been lost over the last few centuries. The real truth
was even known by the translators of the King James Bible and Sir
Isaac Newton. How did this truth get lost by the majority of all the
early Churches that once taught and knew the truth?
For those who want to research and study history a little will be
shell shocked to find out what the real truth is. You will ask
yourself why more people don’t know the truth. This is how Satan
works. He starts with a small lie and perpetuates it until it gets so
big that nobody will entertain the idea of it ever being wrong. Even
some theologians who first hear Satan’s perpetuated lie in a
traditionally accepted teaching without questioning it, tend to end up
establishing their theology around that lie that becomes a mind set.
The following pages are a scripture by scripture commentary on the
book of Revelation and many historical quotes are also given to
reinforce the truth. Note that the book of Revelation is NOT a
chronological book and this tends to confuse many people. Note also
that Revelation chapters 14 through 22 are still are work in progress
but some have optional links that cover the main topic of the chapter.
Select Bible Prophecy Symbols if you would like to view a
comprehensive list of Bible symbols and their meaning before
beginning.
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