Unfolding Revelation: A Study of the Book of Revelation

By William Edward Dewberry

Revelation 12:7-9 And war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer. So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.

Luke 21:25-28 And there will be signs in the sun, in the moon, and in the stars; and on the earth distress of nations, with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring; mens hearts failing them from fear and the expectation of those things which are coming on the earth, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. Now when these begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near.

Revelation 19:11-14 Now I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And He who sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war. His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns. He had a name written that no one knew except Himself. He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. And the armies in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, followed Him on white horses.

Revelation 20:10 The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: May 30, 2012
• ISBN: 9781449759049

William Edward Dewberry

William Edward Dewberry’s life first began in 1930 during the great depression in a middle class family near Cleburne Texas. His first real experience with the Christian religion occurred when he was 19 years old and he read the Bible for the first time. His reason for reading was boredom during a stay in the hospital for leg surgery in 1949. He was confined to bed in a small room by himself most of the time without a radio, television or reading material except for a bible that was placed in the room by the Gideon Society. He began reading the bible and was so spellbound by what he was reading that he spent every waking moment reading until he was dismissed from the hospital. For the next few months during his daily activities his mind dwelled on the scriptures. He left his job and moved to Dallas, Texas to live with his mother who at that time was a regular member of a protestant church. He attended church with his mother a few times then made his commitment to become a Christian one Wednesday evening, by confessing his faith in Christ and being baptized in water. He has attended two Christian colleges and he has taught bible classes and did personal work for the last 60 years. He still loves to teach about the bible but at 83 years of age he confines his teaching to writing.

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Copyright © 2012 William Edward Dewberry

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Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright 1979, 1980, 1982 by Thomas Nelson, inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-1-4497-5304-7 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4497-5904-9 (ebook)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2012908914

WestBow Press rev. date: 05/25/2012

Contents

Preface

Introduction

Section One   Chapters 1 through 3

Letters To The Seven Churches of Asia

Section Two   Chapters 4 through 7

The Open Door in Heaven

The Vision of The Throne Room

Opening the Seals on the Little Scroll

The Fifth Seal is Opened - The Martyrs

The Sixth Seal is Opened - Great Earthquake

The One Hundred and Forty-four Thousand

The Multitude Too Numerous to Count

Section Three   Chapters 8 through 11

The Fifth Trumpet

The Sixth Trumpet

The Mighty Angel and The Little Scroll

The Two Witnesses

The Seventh Trumpet

Section Four   Chapters 12 through 14

The Beast From the Sea

The Beast Out Of The Earth

The Lamb And The One Hundred Forty-four Thousand

Christ Will Come and Reap the Earth

Section Five   Chapters 15 through 16

The Bowl Judgments

God’s Bowls of Wrath Poured On The Earth

Section Six   Chapters 17 through 19

The Woman Who Sits On Many Waters

God Summons His People to Come Out of Babylon

Heaven Celebrates Babylon’s Defeat

A Rider On a White Horse

SECTION SEVEN   Chapters 20 through 22

Judgment of The Great White Throne

The New Heaven and The New Earth

The New Jerusalem

Preface

This is to aid in understanding the book of Revelation by helping to solve some of its mysteries, which are written in figurative language. A good understanding of Revelation requires knowledge of the entire Bible. In searching for an understanding of Revelation, I researched the entire Bible and material from several sources.

Introduction

Revelation, the last book in the Bible, reveals events that will take place in the future. This book tells about the last and final events of God’s plan of redemption and includes the end of time and the destruction of the earth. An understanding of Revelation is important today, because the events of the end time could begin to take place anytime. The end time is a short period of time that precedes the end of time.

When Jesus was here on earth teaching in parables, which revealed the truth about the church, He also taught about the end times when the final judgments of God will take place.

Matthew 13:47-50 Again the kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet that was cast into the sea and gathered some of every kind, which, when it was full, they drew to shore; and they sat down and gathered the good into vessels, but threw the bad away. So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come forth, separate the wicked from the just, and cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth.

The spirit of mankind does not die; life extends beyond the grave, and at the end of time God will deal justly with all people of every time period. According to Matthew’s gospel, people will be divided into two groups: the righteous and the unrighteous. Jesus taught that when He returns the angels, led by Michael, will come with Him, and those who are righteous, will be separated from the unrighteous

At the end of time Jesus and the angels will come back to the earth and take vengeance on the unrighteous. Christ and the angels will be seen descending on the clouds of the sky in glory and great power. Christ’s coming will be a time of grief and sorrow for unbelievers and the unrighteous, but it will be a time of joy and comfort for God’s people.

2nd Thessalonians 1:6-8 …since it is a righteous thing with God to repay with tribulation those who trouble you, and to give you who are troubled rest with us when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The earth will be utterly destroyed at the end of time, but God has prepared a place of paradise in which the righteous will live. The righteous will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and they shall ever be with the Lord. There is also a place of torment reserved for the unrighteous. After the righteous ascend into heaven with Jesus and the angels, God will destroy the earth and everything in it with a consuming fire.

2nd Peter 3:10-12 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.

Matthew 24: 27-31 "For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. For wherever the carcass is, there the eagles will be gathered together.

‘Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.

‘Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds from one end of heaven to the other."

Matthew said there would be a period of time on the earth when there will be great tribulation. The time of tribulation will occur before Christ comes. That period of time is known as the end time. The prophet Daniel, around 530 B.C., prophesied about the end time and the end of time.

Daniel 12:1-3 "At that time Michael shall stand up; the great prince who stands watch over the sons of your people. And there shall be a time of trouble such as never was since there was a nation, even to that time. And at that time your people shall be delivered every one who is found written in the book.’

‘And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life and some to shame and everlasting contempt. Those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the firmament. And those who turn many to righteousness like the stars forever and ever."

There are several references to the end times in the books of the New Testament, but the book of Revelation specifically focuses on the future events of the end times. The complete account of Revelation is divided into sections, and each section reveals events about the end times. Each section presents only a part of the complete account of the events. Every section must be examined in order to get a complete picture of the future events.

The book of Revelation is called the apocalypse, because it contains supernatural visions that reveal past, present, and future events. The events in Revelation that take place during the end time and the end of time are called eschatology, because they reveal the last or final events on earth including death, the final judgment of God, heaven, and hell.

The Apostle John wrote the book of Revelation in the first century A.D. about 50 years after the formal establishment of the church. He was on the Island of Patmos, an island in Asia Minor, when he wrote. It is believed by some historians that Patmos was a barren and unpopulated Island. The Roman government ordered John to stop preaching the gospel of Christ, but when John persisted the Romans exiled him to Patmos in an attempt to put an end to his witnessing for Christ by isolating him. However, God provided a way for John to continue preaching the gospel.

While John was on the Island of Patmos, God sent an angel to him to reveal the things that would take place during the future end times. God chose John to write the book of Revelation to complete the record of His redeeming plan that began in the book of Genesis. The book of Revelation figuratively describes the fate of the church at the end time during a period of great distress, which will last for a period symbolized by 42 months and will be followed by the end of time.

Section One

Chapters 1 through 3

Section one contains the letters that were sent to seven churches located near the Island of Patmos in Asia. These churches were located in what is now Turkey. As John wrote, he claimed that he was bearing witness to the word of God and Christ. Rome was a world empire at the time John wrote Revelation.

Revelation contains knowledge about the past, present, and future of God’s people. The term the time is near does not mean that the time for the events in Revelation were about to take place. In eschatology and apocalyptic literature, the future is always viewed as imminent. We are still waiting for the tribulation of the end time. The statement the time is near relates to being ready at all time, because no one knows when the end time will begin.

John was under the direct influence of the Holy Spirit of God when he received the contents of this revelation. An angel brought the message to him assuring him that he was receiving the word of God and of Jesus Christ. He states that those who read the prophecy of Revelation will be blessed by the message, because it is a message of hope and victory for Christians. Persecuted Christians in the first century were anxiously